Chapter 227: Siren’s Kiss
Kael continued scrolling.
HEAVEN GRADE
Soul Cage — 8,000 SC
Traps a target within interlocking soul force chains. Restricts movement and disrupts soul-mana connection, interfering with technique formation. Lasts 10-30 seconds depending on target’s soul cultivation. Range: 5 meters | Cooldown: 10 minutes
Soul Lance — 18,000 SC
Condenses soul force into a single high-density projectile that penetrates all known soul defenses below Soul Tempering stage. On impact, the lance embeds itself in the target’s soul structure and detonates, creating a shockwave of soul force that causes severe internal soul damage. Targets below Soul Core stage may lose consciousness. Targets at Soul Core stage suffer significant soul cracks that take weeks to heal. Range: 50 meters | Cooldown: 10 minutes
Soul Executioner’s Mark — 25,000 SC
Marks a target with a soul sigil that slowly corrodes their soul structure over 30 seconds. Each second weakens the target’s soul defense by 2% and causes escalating soul pain. At the 30-second mark, the sigil detonates, dealing catastrophic soul damage to anyone below Soul Tempering stage. The mark can be removed by the target if they possess soul healing capability and detect it within the first 5 seconds. Range: 15 meters | Duration: 30 seconds | Cooldown: 30 minutes
Soul Severance — 35,000 SC
The ultimate offensive soul technique below King Grade. Channels the user’s entire soul force reserve into a single devastating attack that can cleanly sever a portion of the target’s soul from their body. Does not kill directly but can permanently remove a target’s access to soul-based abilities, destroy their soul sense, or fragment their soul structure beyond natural repair. Requires direct physical contact and 5 seconds of unbroken channeling. Leaves the user soul-fatigued for 1 hour afterward. Range: Touch | Channeling: 5 seconds | Cooldown: 1 hour
Soul Fortress — 20,000 SC
Creates a multi-layered spherical barrier of soul force. Each layer absorbs one major soul attack before shattering. Maximum of 7 layers. Also passively weakens all non-soul attacks passing through by 25%. Can protect multiple people if they stand within the barrier. Radius: 10 meters | Duration: 5 minutes or until all layers destroyed | Cooldown: 30 minutes
Kael studied the list for a long moment. While most were quite enticing, he had a limited amount of system credits.
The practical choices were clearer.
Soul Whisper for communication and psychological warfare. Soul Spike for direct offense — the same technique Thessik had used, but now in Kael’s own arsenal. Soul Shield for defense against soul-based attacks. And Soul Veil — the ability to hide his soul presence entirely, essential for evading the Patriarch’s presumed territory-wide soul sense.
He selected all four.
[PURCHASE CONFIRMED]
Soul Whisper — 3,000 SC
Soul Spike — 2,000 SC
Soul Shield — 2,500 SC
Soul Veil — 4,000 SC
Total Spent: 11,500 SC
Remaining System Credits: 7,000 SC
The techniques settled into his consciousness like new muscles.
In the evening, Kael returned to the soul well chamber. He sat at the edge of the misty lake, scrolls spread around him, reading through the soul technique theory that Goran had provided while simultaneously cycling soul force through the Breath of the Deep Green.
His soul sense rippled outward idly as he read — twenty-five meters of passive awareness that tracked every insect and root worm in the chamber. The late stage of Soul Awakening was approaching. He could feel the threshold, like a wall just beyond reach.
Then he heard something.
Faint at first. A soft sound carrying through the root tunnels — muffled by earth and wood but distinct enough to register on his enhanced perception.
"Mmn... ah..."
A moan.
Kael paused. His eyes lifted from the scroll.
He stood silently and moved toward the source. The general soul well was one of three, each separated by thick root walls. The Zorath Clan well was on the other side of the left wall — a massive root structure nearly two meters thick, rising from floor to ceiling.
Kael activated his darkness ability and scaled the root wall silently, his claws finding purchase in the bark. He reached the top and peered over.
Seraya.
The Patriarch’s daughter lay on a woven mat at the edge of her clan’s soul well, her black garment hiked up around her waist. Her legs were spread, one hand between her thighs, two fingers moving in slow, deliberate circles. Her other hand gripped the mat beside her, claws digging into the woven fibers. Her golden eyes were half-lidded, hazy with pleasure, her lips parted.
"Ah... mmn... yes..."
Her back arched slightly as her fingers moved faster. The bioluminescent moss cast a soft blue-green glow across her pale green skin, illuminating the sheen of sweat on her stomach and thighs. Her emerald hair fanned out beneath her like a dark pool.
"Ahhnn... harder... mmn..."
Kael watched with an amused expression. He pressed a finger to his lips, suppressing a chuckle.
Well, that’s a sight you don’t see everyday.
He observed for a moment longer.
Now that I think about it, there is no better way to access the Zorath clan than through the daughter of the Patriarch himself.
He activated his darkness manipulation fully, cloaking himself in a shroud of shadow that absorbed light and muffled sound. Then he settled in and opened the System shop.
"System," he murmured silently. "What’s the price for an aphrodisiac?"
Special Consumables.
Near the top sat a single item.
Siren’s Kiss (Consumable) — 5,000 SC
A concentrated aphrodisiac distilled from Siren Flower extract and refined with mana. A single drop applied to skin or ingested in liquid induces overwhelming physical arousal within thirty seconds. Effects last approximately 5 hours regardless of the target’s cultivation level or willpower. Cannot be detected by normal sensory abilities. Soul-sense users may detect foreign mana if they scan within the first ten seconds of application.
Price: 5,000 SC
Note: Antidote available separately.
Kael stared at the price. "Yeah, five thousand system credits, you damn thief. Just give me the vial. And the antidote."
[Siren’s Kiss Antidote — 1,000 SC]
Contains 3 pills. Each pill neutralizes Siren’s Kiss effects within 30 seconds of ingestion. No side effects.
[PURCHASE CONFIRMED]
Siren’s Kiss — 5,000 SC
Siren’s Kiss Antidote — 1,000 SC
Total Spent: 6,000 SC
Remaining System Credits: 1,000 SC
A small glass vial materialized in his palm, filled with a clear liquid that faintly shimmered pink. Beside it, a small pill bottle containing three white tablets.
Below the vial, the System displayed the note again: A single drop lasts at least 5 hours.
Kael glanced back over the root wall. Seraya was still going — her breathing heavier now, her fingers moving faster, soft whimpers mixing with moans that echoed off the chamber walls.
"Ahh— ah— mmn— yes—"
Kael smiled slowly.
"Well, well, Seraya. You will have to be my key for completing my mission here." He tilted his head, watching her arch off the mat with a particularly loud moan. "And once I have what I need, you’re going to be a very obedient little pet."
He uncorked the vial and carefully tipped it, letting a single drop of the clear liquid fall onto the inside of the vial’s cap. He recorked the vial and slipped it into his storage ring.
The drop sat on the cap, shimmering faintly pink in the darkness.
Got to keep the rest for later.
Below him, Seraya’s body tensed. Her thighs clamped together around her hand, her back arching off the mat as a long, trembling moan echoed through the chamber.
"Ahhhhnn—!"
She collapsed back onto the mat, chest heaving, her golden eyes glazed and unfocused.
Kael watched her catch her breath, then silently descended the root wall and returned to the Nesh soul well. He had planning to do.