Kyros was chained by the four pillars and prevented him from moving. And there was a continuous wave of red electric attacks that continuously hurt Kyros's soul. There was no harm done on his physical body, but Kyros's soul was hurt.
Calaminus had left Kyros's body since the attack would harm him as well.
Soul Shackle was a powerful curse that cages the soul of a being by adding constraints to it. When placed on normal mortals with weaker souls, their physical bodies die as the soul is unable to function at all.
Those who manage to train in the soul can function better as they are able to move their bodies but with great difficulty with such a seal.
Kyros learned in the few years traveling through time that his soul was sealed and that it could not grow stronger. Soul Shackle was inhibiting Kyros from ever absorbing any soul strengthening powers.
Calaminus stated that it was a miracle that Kyros even managed to enhance his soul to the point that it caught up with his level. In Calaminus's own analysis, Kyros should not have reached his real level of 53. It stated in his status that his level had reached max cap. But the truth was he was always at max cap since level 30.
Most mortals had level caps of under 40. The inferior ones that would never qualify as knights would have an estimated max level of 20. But raising this level cap could be done through various means. There was through creating potions, pills, and herbs, rituals that allowed mortals to merge with monsters and other races, inheritances, bestowals, power transference, and through intense training.
But the goal of most of this was to strengthen the soul. Kyros knew this well. But now, the seal was weakened!
"How do I get out of here?!"
"I could tell you, but I want to see how smart you are. But the trick in getting out is understanding why the soul weakened!"
"How did the seal weaken?" Kyros asked with a pained expression.
"Remember our little lesson about the soul?"
"It's a bit blur... The memories are all jumbled up, and I can't concentrate on this pain!"
"Alright. Let me remind you. The body is the water, and the soul is the vessel. While it sounds like the opposite is true, our soul is the one that can wield energy! Be it Force Energy, Magic Energy, or God Energy, the soul is capable of wielding it. Are you starting to remember now?"
"Yeah. You were shackled with the same seal as me to have a very weak soul so that they can make you mortal. The larger my soul is, the better it is, the higher my max level can be. In short, my physical body, my Magic Pool, and my Force Pool can only reach the next level if I increase my soul."
"Correct! So you do remember! Now, think. You have De-Smart and De-Wise. You should figure out how you got stronger."
"I thought my max level was 34. I went through hellish training and consumed various elixirs to strengthen my soul. I was always poor at it, but that was really because of the Soul shackle. But through training, I managed to increase my max level to 47 through various means. And finally, the Celestial Code, allowed me to reach up to level 70. And I was able to forcibly increase it still through all those life and death experiences and reached 99. But that was what I thought my levels were because I followed the standard that mortals have. If I follow the Status Level by Potential that you use, my real max was 20. I managed to raise it 30-something and got the rest when I acquired the Celestial Code."
"Good. You managed to deduce it at a very accurate level."
"But something doesn't feel right. My soul was shackled with a powerful curse. Could it be that when I acquired the Celestial Code, it was the remnant soul that Greater God Daradiel left on me that continuously got stronger?"
"Very perceptive! It looks like your intelligence is finally showing!"
"The Soul Shackle Seal should have prevented me from leveling up. Those various means of forcibly increasing my level had nothing to do with strengthening my soul, but it was like I was connecting more pieces of stuff to make my soul larger. And finally, Greater God Daradiel's soul became the final piece in making me stronger."
"Getting warmer." Calaminus laughed.
"Then that means... that the reason why the Soul Shackle Seal is weakening is that my current soul has grown stronger!"
"Ding Ding Ding! Correct!"
"What's ding ding ding?" Kyros asked.
"Oh, sorry. It's because I'm a Time God! I rule over time and even the alterations of time. Because of this, I am somehow connected to the other versions of myself that exist in the multiverse. Imagine that this entire universe that we live in has separate versions that make up a totally different world. I exist in those worlds where cultivation is way different than how this universe is defined! I exist in universes that are vastly different than this. I even exist in multiverses where it is impossible to cultivate! In one universe, I'm a slime monster. In another, I'm also a time god. In other universes, I'm a famous gamer who trolled countless enemies, some literally to their death. In yet another one, I'm a writer of some sketchy sci-fi, cultivation fusion story with reincarnation."
"I have no idea what that means."
"It means I can break the fourth wall."
"What does that mean?"
"I have no clue. But it's because of this that I managed to create the whole level system used here. One of my incarnations is what they of that universe would call a weeb and a nerd. I defined this system that allowed you to view the level, which by the way, has been passed on, and even Mortals use it. And so, that is why you get these odd terms that don't make any sense."
"Like De-Spacito?"
"Yep. It's because in one of my multiverse incarnation that words mean slowly."
"So those weird things you were teaching me?"
"Yep. Some of them I learned in those alternate worlds."
"Ah. That makes sense. So Ding Ding Ding means I'm right?"
"Yes. Don't ask. I don't usually know what these things mean. You'll get used to it. The Ancients liked it. Although, I think that the Greater Gods betrayed me because they hated this whole thing."
"Anyway... Going back to my theory... My soul increased... but why?"
"Why indeed?"
"Can you just tell me? My body is hurting everywhere, and my memories are a mess! I can't think straight!"
"Exactly. That's why your soul increased!"
"Because I am in pain?"
"No. Because the current pain you are feeling is something, you can easily resist! Do you know, the current pain that you feel is directed to your soul! This could have been why you never woke up for nearly three decades! You were constantly knocked unconscious from the immense torturous pain of this contraption! Remember your stats? What was your bone age, and compare it to your soul age!"
"My bone age was 37, and my soul was 63... Then..."
"That's right. In this torturous state, your soul would have been knocked out and remain in an unaging state. Your soul grew older, but your mortal body didn't grow. Oh, and don't worry. Your physical body now is technically ten years old. And that will be your physical age."
"So I am not knocked out now... because I spent nearly two years of being conscious while time was reversing. Wait. You didn't suffer from time-reversal! Is it because of your soul?"
"Yes! Although the soul Shackled me, I was already an Ancient God then. It's like having a small box and trying to fit an entire person in! The best they could do was find a slightly smaller box than my soul and force me into it. Of course, limiting my soul was only step one of the plans. The real reason was so that they could turn my physical body into a mortal!"
"So your soul was strong enough that time reversing didn't bother you... But how come now... Your soul is very... small."
"Time reversing magic isn't just any form of magic, you know. It eats up my soul. If I weren't mortal and still at my peak, my magic could turn back over a thousand years. Right now, my soul is very weak, and since it is a sealed god's soul, it will take a lot of effort to replenish it. But since I'm betting on you, freak, I'm sure it will work out. Now I've given you a hint. Figure it out! Why did your soul seal weaken?"
"I get it!" Kyros grunted.
"My soul was strengthened during the time-reversal. The Soul Shackle wasn't functioning to its maximum efficiency there, and my soul had already grown stronger. By the time I traveled back in time, my soul was already several times larger and stronger than what it was."
"Righto! If I were to use my earlier analogy, you used to have a box that so little because your soul was little, but now! Poof! Your soul suddenly grew bigger and bigger than the Soul Seal couldn't properly contain you!"
"Then how can I get out of this torturous device? How did I get out the last time?" Kyros looked around.
"Well, I think the real answer was that those mortals that I can sense outside might have found a way in here or broke something that caused this device to lose power. But that should happen nearly ten years from now."
"What?! Ten years!"
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