Chapter 254 Soul Link & Halys’s Restoration Soup

"The effects are very low, but I don't think I can." Ritsuka shook his head. "I've tried to use Obsidian Glass abilities with it, but I don't think it's possible. It would honestly be cool if I could do that down the line, but I'm not entirely sure if it'll be possible."

"This reminds me!" Keng interjected. The two boys turned to look at the excited Fox Spirit. Keng moved his hand to point at Lee Seng. "Did you tell him about the Ability Mutation thing?"

"I think I did." Lee Seng began to ponder if he had really told him.

"Just in case, Lee Seng does have a Biohuman power. It's the ability to mutate and maybe create new abilities." Keng explained. "We know for a fact it can augment the Fox Spirit abilities we get. It happened recently with our evolution to three-tails, but I'm really interested to see if it's possible for Lee Seng to mutate others' abilities."

"When did you have time to think about that?" Lee Seng asked.

"Well, I heard some people talking about Eshra. They say Eshra mutated and gave some people some abilities."

"Where is he now?"

"I think someone said he's off Realm. Nobody but the Nine-tailed foxes know where he is."

"You're going off of what others have been saying about this 'Eshra'?" Ritsuka questioned. "What if it doesn't even work like that?"

"Well, I did technically get a serum based on Eshra's blood." Lee Seng spoke. "So we could technically try. Just have to have a willing participant." Lee Seng and Keng both looked over at Ritsuka.

"What?" Ritsuka started to back up. "You're really not asking me to be a guinea pig, are you?"

"Why would I do that?" Lee Seng slowly leaned over. He made it to the edge of his chair before he stopped. Ritsuka had gotten up and moved over to the other side of the cabin. The door clicked and the three of them looked at the door. Halys swung the door open, narrowly missing Ritsuka as he dodged the door.

"Oh, you're back." Lee Seng recognized. "Where's your… spoils?"

"Outside. It's cooking." Halys pointed behind him.

"You were back already and didn't say anything?" Ritsuka shivered. Keng shivered at the thought of eating another batch of Halys' soup.

"You, uh, really don't have to, uh, feed all of us that soup." Keng's voice shook.

"This will be good for all three of you. It'll help you with harder training tomorrow since Lee Seng is joining us." Halys nodded in satisfaction.

"Okay. Your soup must be some godsend miracle then." Lee Seng nodded.

"Yeah… Godsend… You could say that." Ritsuka gulped. Florabelle flew into the cabin.

"Halys, your food is gonna overflow, again!" Florabelle began to pout. Halys sighed and moved back to the front door. "You say you're making more for one more person, but that doens't look like one more person!" Florabelle followed after Halys.

"Y'know, if you want it to be more effective, add some Terralus Roots. It'll get all of them up and going after a couple of hours." Florabelle added.

"I don't want their bowels to release on them as they eat it." Halys told the small Sprite.

"Well, you can add some of the petals around here to counteract that."

"That'll make the soup taste strange."

The two continued to go back and forth as Florabelle suggested more ingredients to add. Halys continued to list off strange aftereffects of each ingredient. The two moved off to the side of the cabin as Lee Seng turned to look at Keng and Ritsuka.

Some Time Later

The three Foxes, single human and single Sprite sat around the table with hot and bubbling thick soup. Lee Seng looked at it with very hungry eyes. The soup had a brown/orange color with bright colored chunks and meat sticking out of it.

"What did you even put in here? These colorful chunks are so cool." Lee Seng spooned a chunk out and sniffed at it. It had a pleasant aroma and he couldn't really tell what it was. He took a bite and felt the colorful chunk instantly dissolve in his mouth.

'It dissolves so easily and the soup tastes pretty good.' Lee Seng spooned for some colorful chunks and meat. He took another bite, pleased. Ritsuka and Keng watched for a reaction out of Lee Seng, but he never gave one out.

"You have to teach me how to make this. This is really good!" Lee Seng pointed at the soup as he looked up to Halys.

"Deer meat, some root vegetables that grow around here and a special concoction that should be taking effect by now." Halys spooned the soup into his mouth. Lee Seng looked down at the soup. He had finished it faster than expected. He began to ask 'what effect' when he felt it. His whole body froze and his muscles began to flex uncontrollably.

"What the…" Lee seng managed to let out before his face muscles went under the same effect.

"Jyrus Powder from the Jyrus Desert. A mixed powder that focuses on repairing muscle strength, body fatigue, and soreness. Powerful stuff that'll make you feel weirded out the first few times you take it." Halys chuckled.

'That's why they reacted that way.' Lee Seng thought as he continued to feel his muscles contract and expand. Keng and Ritsuka gave him worried looks as they slowly spooned more soup into their mouths. Lee Seng could feel muscles he hadn't use, expanding and contracting. He couldn't tell if his muscles were going to loosen up but it was hard for him to even try to stand.

"I wouldn't stand if I were you." Ritsuka spoke. "You're just gonna fall."

"How… do you even… Am I supposed… to just sit here?" Lee Seng struggled to even form a sentence, let alone a clear one.

'And I wanted more soup…' Lee Seng thought.

"You want more soup?" Keng turned to look at Lee Seng. He couldn't believe someone would want more soup after going through the painful experience after eating the soup.

"Ha, nobody ever says that." Halys chuckled. "You're brave to want more! I'll get you loads more then!" He grabbed Lee Seng's bowl and stood up. "Anyone else want more?"

"Ooo, I want more!' Florabelle lifted her bowl.

"Come with me then, Sprite." Halys moved.

"Aw come on! Why can't you get some to me too?" Florabelle complained as she followed after him.

"You're immune to the effects of the powder and your body isn't spazzing like those newbies." The two seemed to always be bickering with each other. Lee Seng's body finally finished and he let out a loud set of coughs.

"Oh my god." Lee Seng covered his mouth while pounding his chest.

"Drink some water." Keng lifted Lee Seng's cup up and Lee Seng took some gulps in between coughs, spilling some water as he forced it down. The coughs ended and Lee Seng wiped his wet face.

"That was intense." Lee Seng cleared his throat. "And it wasn't that bad. I dunno why you two don't like it. The food is great."

"It isn't about the food." Ritsuka began to complain. "It's the spazzing that happens afterwards." He looked down at his finished bowl and groaned. "And now I'm gonna–" His body began to twitch. It didn't look as bad as Lee Seng's from Keng's perspective, but Lee Seng watched with interest. "It… Isn't as bad as the first o-one."

"See, what's to fear?" Lee seng pointed out. He watched as the spazzing started up. The muscles flexed and Lee Seng slowly nodded. "Nevermind. I guess it does take more time."

"Here ya go, boy! Eat up!" Halys and Florabelle moved into the room. Florabelle took her hovering spot off to the side as Halys set the bowl down.

"So will you teach me how to make this?" Lee Seng asked.

"I can. You'll just need to get your hands on the Jyrus Powder from those Desert Foxes in the West."

"Oh, that reminds me, General Halys!" Lee Seng spooned some more soup into his mouth before continuing. "I know this might be too personal, but I just wanted to ask something about Eshra." Halys' ears perked up. He kept his composure and nodded at Lee Seng to continue. "Y'know that I have the results of his blood as a serum, right?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?" Halys had an idea where this was going.

"I have his Mutation ability. That's my initial ability. When God King gave me Keng, I mutated a new Biohuman ability, Gravity. I just wanna know if Eshra could do those things and maybe even mutate and/or give others new abilities, too." Halys licked his lips and set his spoon down. There was a long pause before he looked at Lee Seng.

"Eshra can mutate abilities, yes. It's really rare for a new ability to even manifest within himself, but he could do it. As for the second part, I'm not entirely sure, but Eshra never showed anyone his true capabilities with it. I've heard and seen people who had totally different abilities than what they have now. They claim Eshra mutated their abilities and in some cases, some got new abilities. Eshra doesn't share these things with others openly." Halys cleared his throat. "I would ask Eshra, but nobody knows where he is currently. He was put out on a mission. Directly from the God King, but hasn't returned in many, many years."