When Nulambart and Ana left the basement, they could see how the sun's rays filtered from the library window to the floor that covered the entrance to the basement, and feeling the breeze that came from outside the mayor's house, they realized that the day was just beginning.
"Are you sure you're leaving the basement?" Nulambart asked, surprised by Ana's incorporation.
Ana, who had been analyzing the entire situation inside the basement previously, decided to use her soul will in the form of a phoenix to come out at the last second to support Nulambart.
"You know Nulambart... Elena is the only friend I have in the village and she is the only real bond I have managed to form since I arrived in this village 5 years ago, after... well that doesn't matter," replied Ana, who looked forward with empty eyes and gave a sigh full of thousands of memories.
But, the next moment he seemed to remember something, because his empty eyes found focus again, filling with regret and he continued:
"When the demi-humans arrived that night, the village elders, experts in sensing the natural energy and cultivators, immediately learned that our village could not face the enemies, so they stayed with your parents and other members of the village to try to buy time for the mayor and the most talented geniuses in the village to take refuge," Ana explained while her hands moved slightly in a sign of fear and anxiety.
Nulambart then remembered that after he went to sleep before the attack, he felt an explosion in the village, and an old man came to look for his sister and parents.
Before they left, Nulambart's parents told him that everything would be fine and, before leaving, but in less than 10 minutes a surprising aura left him unconscious.
"Your sister Elena helped evacuate most of the people who could not defend themselves against enemy attacks, and when we were all going to enter the basement, a 2-meter-high demi-human with golden hair who had a lot of power appeared," Ana mentioned.
It was the prince of the Stella Kingdom, Nulambart thought as he listened.
Then Ana suddenly clenched her fists and continued: "Knowing that the Mayor's formation could not be enough to block him, she let everyone enter, and when we all thought she would enter, she used her special soul will to seal the basement, that is why we are currently alive," Ana finished saying, who relaxed her body with a sigh of great regret.
Nulambart, upon hearing the explanation of everything that had happened, also understood that it had been the prince himself who kidnapped his sister, and since Ana did not know what situation anyone was in, Nulambart told her everything that had happened.
"Sister Elena… Sister… You actually sacrificed yourself for us," said Ana, who subsequently collapsed to her knees against the ground.
Nulambart, upon seeing Ana, could not help but feel that they both shared the same pain, so he raised the possibility of trying to console her, although he really did not know how to do it since he had never interacted much with other people.
Just when she was trying to find something to comfort her, Nulambart felt a refreshing wind hit her face and move her hair, which is why she felt that something was eminently wrong, since the sea breeze should not be felt when the mayor's house is closed.
"Oh… No, I don't think it's possible," Nulambart suddenly realized a possibility that he had completely forgotten about. That's when he runs towards the direction of the mayor's house.
"Wait Nulambart... What's happening?" Ana asked concertedly, who stood up immediately and proceeded to follow Nulambart quickly.
Upon reaching the place he had searched, Nulambart found 4 broken ropes that he knew perfectly well, since they had been used to tie the guard.
It was at that moment that Nulambart remembered the lessons he had received from the Mayor on the levels of martial cultivation, and cold sweat began to run down his back.
"We have a big problem Ana… There is an enemy guard loose in the town right now, who from what the Mayor warned me, has a minimum cultivation level of the spiritual path stage level 5," Nulambart said to Ana, who had her eyes slightly open for a few brief seconds, before composing herself and looking at Nulambart decisively.
"Nulambart, we have to come up with an emergency plan to be able to survive and help the villagers, we cannot give up," said Ana calmly, who extended her power of soul will, so that a phoenix of approximately half a meter in length manifested in the form of an aura.
Said aura took Nulambart and took them both towards the outskirts of the village in an eastward direction. Since the sea was towards the west side of the village, in the northern area there was the Sword Demon Cavern which was a taboo area and in the southern area there was a forest full of wild beasts that housed beasts even of sacred avatar level, so the only safe entrance and exit to the village was the eastern area.
"Wait Ana!" Just when she was about to reach the outskirts, Nulambart tried to stop her path and talk to Ana. The next moment the phoenix stopped her path and Ana looked at Nulambart to know what was happening.
Nulambart looked at Ana with doubtful eyes, until she clarified her ideas and said: "Ana, in the Southeast area is my parents' house, I need to try to save them with this vessel," said Nulambart resolutely, who held the vessel at all times, showing it to Ana.
Ana, surprised by Nulambart's resolution, immediately responded: "Nulambart, I know that you want to rescue your parents as soon as possible, but I know the limitations of that vessel, and my cultivation is not enough to activate it, it is better that we look for an expert in one of the 3 large neighboring cities."
Without a doubt, given the situation they were in, looking for an expert was the best option, but Nulambart knew something that Ana still didn't know, so she didn't give up and said:
"The mayor told me that my parents have a higher cultivation rank than him, so they could be of great help in rescuing everyone, and if we go to the other cities it could take us weeks to return," Nulambart explained astutely.
Upon hearing this revelation, Ana seemed doubtful in her eyes until she agreed to help, so they quickly headed to Nulambart's parents' house.
"Thank you, Ana," said Nulambart, who after a few minutes saw her parents' house in the distance.
Then Ana said, looking towards the house: "Even if my cultivation cannot be enough, I will try my best to try this time." Ana, who had remembered how Elena had saved her, seemed more determined to help this time.
Once they arrived home, both young people entered the house and Nulambart led the way to the place where he knew he would find his parents, in his and his sister Elena's room.
"Father, mother, I have saved them again," Nulambart said softly, his eyes glassy with the excitement of seeing his parents again.
The next moment, Nulambart knowing that he could not do anything with his current power, handed the vessel to Ana, who had the highest cultivation.
"Nulambart, this vessel can only be awakened by those with cultivation of the sacred avatar, and I am currently at the level 5 nascent avatar realm, it is a big difference in ranks, but I will do what I can," said Ana, who held the vessel and the next moment the energy began to circulate throughout her body.
Sensing the level of cultivation and the kind and noble aura she emanated, Nulambart could not help but sigh and admit that she truly was a great genius in martial cultivation.
Then when Ana released much of her energy, red lights were emitted from the vessel in 5 of the 10 slots that it had.
When Ana looked at this, she knew that this was not enough, so the next moment she made various seals with her hands and said:
"Release of the eternal ethereal pillar!", and in the next moment a visible phoenix made of aura materialized above Ana, measuring one meter in length. This aura materialization was definitely larger than the one previously displayed by Ana.
It is then that Ana's power became even stronger, because the eternal ethereal pillar allowed the power of the soul to be increased by increasing the capacity to store energy within it.
It is due to this increase in aura that 3 more lights could be lit in the vessel, reaching 8 runes on the vessel illuminated, of the 10 that were needed to activate its power.
However, Ana was already using her maximum power, even surpassing the limits of her aura capacity through a technique that only geniuses can perform. Due to this use of power, Ana began to shiver with her entire body, her eyes full of previous resolve were now tired and without their previous brilliance, and her nose began to bleed.
The next moment, the phoenix that was above Ana could no longer help the work and disappeared, and with that Ana fainted before Nulambart's eyes.
Even with its full potential, we couldn't get the vessel to use, Nulambart thought.
However, just when he was about to give up, he could see that the 8 runes on the vessel were still emitting the lights without any sign of going out for the moment, so he made a decision.
"Now I am also a martial cultivator," shouted Nulambart, who in the next moment began to circulate his aura throughout his body.
Feel your breath, feel the world, relax your senses and sharpen your perception, was what Nulambart told himself to find his own energy.
As he circulated his aura, he slowly felt his body fill with energy, so he touched the vessel to try to light the runes. However, he failed to ignite any runes despite circulating his aura.
"I am too weak… Father… Mother… Sister… Master," Nulambart said between sighs as he focused with all his might on circulating his energy into the vessel.
Then he remembered all the efforts they had made in their training, the words of encouragement from his parents and sister who supported him so much. He also remembered that right now he had a teacher and that for some reason that he didn't know he had decided to rescue him.
Have confidence in yourself Nulambart and if you don't want to, remember the trust your parents placed, Nulambart thought.
"Ha, ha, ha, what a fool I was, I was never weak… Now I understand everything," said Nulambart while remembering the support of his family and the training he had done.
"Even if the majority of the world despises you, you will never be weak as long as you have someone who believes in you," Nulambart continued with a sincere smile on his face.
"In the past I didn't believe in myself, but my family blindly believed in me, so it's time to believe in myself too," Nulambart concluded, with a wide smile and determined eyes.
Then remembering Ana's previous display of power, Nulambart also decided to use the same method. What Nulambart did not know was that this technique could only be performed by cultivators with great talent in the realm of the spiritual avatar, and Ana, since she had outstanding talent, was able to perform it in the realm of the incipient avatar.
"I am no longer weak… No… I never was"
"Release of the Eternal Ethereal Pillar!" Nulambart exclaimed.
The next moment, Nulambart felt an extremely domineering pressure in his soul wanting to come out, but the body of a cultivation path novice person was extremely limited.
This is why as he let out the aura from his body, Nulambart's body suffered more injuries, having swollen veins and blood vessels, but he did not give up and continued standing holding the vessel with both hands.
Suddenly Nulambart's aura began to emit two flashes of color, a deep white color that exuded a feeling of bravery, in conjunction with an eminently sacred golden aura.
That's when another rune from the vessel lit up. Only one more was missing to achieve it.
"I will bet my life on this opportunity," Nulambart said as he resisted the pressure emanating from his own aura, and unleashed every ounce of power and willpower he had left.
Then he squeezed both hands and filled his entire body with energy to the point of almost losing consciousness, but just when he was about to faint he remembered his father's words.
You must protect the family, son, Nulambart reminded his father.
Remembering this, Nulambart entered a state of absolute concentration, where time seemed to flow in a completely different way, and he could see that his perception increased greatly.
Feeling that amount of information so suddenly, Nulambart tried to explain what was happening, so he could only come up with a name.
"Time wander!" shouted Nulambart, who in this state expanded his soul energy beyond its limits for 1 second.
The next moment the white and golden aura transformed into a white cat and a golden lotus made of aura, measuring half a meter each, and he could notice that the power of the white cat was incorporated into the vessel, while the lotus dissolved to form vines that transformed into a crown of vines, with a golden lotus in the center, which allowed the energy that Nulambart's body could withstand to increase.
¡Meow…Meow!
The white cat with its sacred aura looked at Nulambart with a face of tremendous happiness, and later touched the pot with its paw.
Clank Clank
The next moment the vessel emitted one more color to completely illuminate all the runes, so a suction power began to emanate from within.
"I have achieved it… Father, mother… Please resist this," said Nulambart, who with his power managed to move the vessel in the direction of his parents.
Thus the suction effectively began to drain the dominant aura that existed within Nulambart's parents. It's really black, and it's extremely strong, thought Nulambart.
The minutes passed and after 10 minutes of using the vessel, Nulambart continued to suck more and more aura from his parents, and from the first second Nulambart had already exceeded his limits.
In fact, if anyone had seen what he had just done, they would probably fall on their back, as he had inconceivably managed to extract power unimaginable for his cultivation rank.
Clank Clank
Suddenly, the vessel stopped sucking aura and the runes stopped emitting lights.
Nulambart's parents, who until then were holding hands in the same position as Nulambart had first seen them, now fell onto their sister's bed, who luckily was next to them.
With a thought, Nulambart stopped emitting his aura, so the cat and the lotus that surrounded him disappeared, so he was also able to rest from that desperate situation.
After fixing her breathing and calming her down a little, Nulambart went and checked on the situation of Ana who had helped him to the point of exhaustion previously, he found that she was fortunately fine, she was just fainted from exhaustion.
It was then that he could see the situation of his parents, touching their body and circulating aura, then he found no trace of the black aura that enslaved the entire village. My parents are cured, thought Nulambart.
"They probably haven't eaten in a few days and Ana has crossed all their limits, I will have to protect them while they are unconscious," said Nulambart softly, who proceeded to rest for a few hours.
After largely recovering from his physical and mental exertion, Nulambart saw the condition of his parents and Ana again, and was able to realize that their condition was not as good as he had previously thought, probably due to his fatigue in saving them.
This was because Nulambart circulated his vital energy to make sure his parents and Ana were well. He had learned this after training hard with his mother, so even before he was a martial cultivator he could perform this procedure.
However, being a martial cultivator was of great help, since Nulambart could clearly say by circulating his energy that the soul of Ana and her parents was cracked, and that they showed no signs of recovery with the passage of time.
This is why Nulambart knew he had to do something, since he urgently needed some kind of solution for his loved ones, but he could not count on the mayor, nor could he seek help from nearby cities, because they were weeks away.
Then an herb that he had read previously in the texts he had found in the library where it strengthened his soul to be a cultivator came to mind.
"The Holy Essence Herb," Nulambart said to himself, as he recalled the information he had read earlier.
This herb was found in the southern forests of the village, in the so-called Elvareth Forest, home to countless wild beasts and spirit beasts that can even rival and defeat martial cultivators.
Even beasts with power levels rivaling cultivators in the sacred avatar realm in their early stages had been recorded in this forest.
Given the danger of this forest, for hundreds of years entry to this forest was completely prohibited for the villagers who simply could not face the beasts and could not allow the beasts to follow them to the village.
"I will have to go to the Elvareth Forest, south of the village, to find the herb that heals the soul," said Nulambart with determination, who prepared a backpack at his house, and left towards the south having made sure that his family and Ana were fine.