Kaiser of the New World

No pain no gain (57)

Unlike when he did this before, Kai was trying to sense his soul inside him, not look at it through his reflection.

While the latter would be much easier, the prior would be much more important to comprehend early on. He wouldn't be able to see his reflection anywhere he went after all.

Well... Maybe if I had a mirror.

Alas, a mirror was a luxury Kai could not afford.

Kai lost track of time as he immersed himself into the act of soul searching, literally, not metaphorically.

All that mattered was successfully finding his soul and living long enough to actually become proficient in soul related abilities.

If souls were to be the root of his growth, it would be much better to actually be able to use his abilities to their full capabilities.

Since the soul of everyone and everything he's gazed at so far has been in their chest area, Kai focused his search on there.

Being able to narrow down where it was helped with not having to waste time checking other parts of his body, but it still would not be easy to find.

The whole time, Kai felt as if he was grasping at straw, about to get a good handful yet it always slipped through his fingers.

Thinking back to how he managed to do it the first time, Kai tried to spot any possible hint or thing that he's doing wrong that would affect not being able to find his soul.

Maybe I do need to just use my eyes... It is called Soul Sight after all.

Opening his status, Kai glanced at the description of the skill once more for any hints.

A soul is one's being, peering at one's soul could almost be called perverted. This is a passive type skill. Allows the user to perceive the souls of sentient beings. The difficulty of viewing the soul is based on the user current Mana pool.

Well, it does just say perceive...

Inwardly groaning, Kai continued to intolerate the cold which was slowly seeping into his bones as he closed his eyes and concentrated on finding his soul.

His soul was elusive, dull. It would be nearly impossible for him to-

*Thump*

What?

Suddenly, Kai's chest flared up in pain as he fell down into the water he was meditating in.

Nearly drowning himself by accident, Kai clawed at his chest, trying to get the pain to stop.

A gut-wrenching scream escaped his mouth, but it was muffled as he thrashed around in the shallow water.

Fucking pain!

It was like there was a ball of magma cooling in his chest. He couldn't breathe properly, his throat felt like it had a lit match stuck inside it.

The pain in his chest was unbearable, tears welled up in Kai's eyes but he did not cry. Kai bit down on his lower lip to stifle any more shouts as he tensed his whole body, trying to make it numb to the pain.

After what felt like an eternity of torture, the heat started residing. The intolerable scorching feeling left his body.

Shockingly, some of the water that Kai was lying in started to steam, but it only lastsr for a few seconds.

Panting, Kai grew limp in the shallow pond, his nose and mouth barely above the surface of the water.

His whole body hurt, especially his chest. It felt as if his organs were being rearranged by something inside him.