I Died and Became a Noble's Heir-Chapter 435: Mistborn

Loryn's purple eyes gleamed with respect. "Young master, you're planning to hunt spirits. Entities that most people would consider beyond mortal reach."

"I'm planning to eliminate Ren's enemies," Jack corrected. "Which serves multiple purposes. Revenge for a future-bound ally, removal of potential threats, and acquisition of powerful souls for my army."

"The question is whether it's even possible," Kaedor said thoughtfully. "Spirits aren't like creatures or demons, Master. They're pure elemental manifestations, entities of magic given consciousness. Can such beings even be... captured?"

It was a good question. One Jack had wondered about himself the moment he'd learned about the seven spirits who'd betrayed Ren.

Jack remained silent, but he was already querying the system internally.

'System, can I bind spirits using the Chain of Soul Warden?'

The response appeared in his vision swiftly:

[Query: Spirit Binding Capability]

[Answer: YES - with conditions]

[CONDITION 1: EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS]

[Soul Warden Set completion required: 3/3 pieces]

[Current Status: 2/3 pieces acquired (FRACTURED)]

[- Mask of Soul Warden (FRACTURED)]

[- Chain of Soul Warden (FRACTURED)]

[- Third Piece: UNKNOWN LOCATION]

[Minimum Requirement: At least ONE piece must be RESTORED to full functionality]

[Current Status: All pieces FRACTURED - INSUFFICIENT for spirit binding]

[Spirit binding requires integrity that fractured equipment cannot provide]

Jack's jaw tightened behind his visor. So even if he had the tokens, even if he could defeat a spirit, he couldn't bind one until he either found the third Soul Warden piece or restored at least one of his current pieces.

The system continued:

[CONDITION 2: DEATH TOKEN COSTS]

[Spirits are entities of pure magical essence - binding costs reflect their fundamental nature]

[Spirit Ranking and Associated Costs:]

[Common Spirit: 250,000 Death Tokens]

[Rare Spirit: 1,000,000 Death Tokens]

[Unique Spirit: 10,000,000 Death Tokens]

[Legendary Spirit: 100,000,000 Death Tokens]

[Mythical Spirit: 250,000,000 Death Tokens]

[Primordial Spirit: 1,000,000,000 Death Tokens]

Jack studied the numbers carefully. The seven spirits who'd sealed Ren were almost certainly Mythical-rank at minimum, possibly Primordial for someone like Astrape who'd led the formation.

"Master?" Loryn's voice pulled Jack back to the present. "You were quiet for a moment. Did you reach a conclusion about the spirits?"

"They're a long-term project," Jack replied carefully. "Not something to attempt until I'm better equipped. For now, they remain on the target list, but not an immediate priority."

Kaedor's rings clicked with what might have been relief. "A wise decision, Master. Spirits have existed for millennia. They're not going anywhere. Better to prepare thoroughly than rush into a confrontation you're not ready for."

Jack nodded his head in agreement.

He turned his attention back to the swamp, where ninety-three Mistborn cores still floated in the stagnant water, their physical forms dissolved but their souls still present and waiting.

Jack raised one hand, and the Chain of Soul Warden materialized. The chain extended outward, growing longer and splitting until ninety-three separate strands reached toward the floating cores.

Each core pulsed with faint light.

The residual essence of the Mistborn who'd been eliminated. Their bodies were gone, dissolved into mist and scattered across the swamp.

But their souls remained, anchored to the physical world by the cores that had served as their centers of consciousness.

[Soul Detected: Mistborn] ×93

[Rank: Dread]

[Average Level: 28]

[Status: Deceased - Body Dispersed]

[Binding Cost: 50,000 Death Tokens each]

[Total Binding Cost: 4,650,000 Death Tokens]

[Warning: No physical bodies present. Regeneration will be required.]

[Proceed with binding?]

[YES] or [NO]

Jack selected yes without hesitation.

[Purchase confirmed: 4,650,000 Death Tokens spent]

[93 Mistborn bound]

[Current Death Tokens: 68,569,250]

[Souls Bound: 112/500]

The chains pulsed with energy as the binding completed, each Mistborn soul anchored.

Through the Soul Link, Jack felt their consciousnesses awakening to their new reality. Confusion at first.

The disorientation of finding themselves bound when moments ago they'd been free.

Then acceptance as the binding settled into place, rewriting their fundamental nature to include absolute loyalty to Jack.

It was different from the Panthers' binding. The Mistborn had been killed first, their deaths creating a blank slate that the binding could write on without resistance. They had no memories of freedom to conflict with their new servitude.

Only the reality of belonging to Jack felt natural and correct to them now.

Perfect loyalty through death and resurrection.

"Master," Kaedor said quietly, watching the process with his analytical eyes. "They're bound, but they have no bodies. How will you manifest them?"

"Regeneration," Jack replied. "Their souls will rebuild their physical forms from nothing, just like the panthers did."

Unlike the panthers' visceral reconstruction of bone, muscle, and organs, the Mistborn's reformation was more ethereal.

They were creatures of mist and magic, their physical forms more construct than biology.

Cores formed first, glowing spheres of condensed essence that served as both heart and brain for the creatures. Each one materialized in the air where Jack's chains had bound the souls, pulling together from ambient magical energy and the swamp's natural moisture.

Then the mist gathered around each core, pulled from the air itself, shaped by the soul's imprint of what form it should take.

The process was almost beautiful.

Watching pure magic and water vapor coalesce into living beings, guided by nothing but consciousness and the system's facilitation.

Humanoid shapes materialized in the air above the swamp water. Five and a half feet tall on average, bodies made of condensed fog that shifted and flowed like living smoke.

The cores in their chests pulsed with a steady rhythm, visible through the translucent bodies like hearts made of pure light.

Each Mistborn was slightly different in appearance. Some were thicker and more substantial, their forms dense enough to almost seem solid.

Others were wispy and barely visible. Their cores varied in color, too. Pale blue, deep violet, ghostly green, probably indicating slight variations in magical affinity or power levels.

The entire regeneration process took perhaps ten minutes. Much faster than the panthers' hour-long reconstruction, but then again, the Mistborn had far less complex biology to recreate.

They were essentially animated fog with a consciousness.

Ninety-three Mistborn now floated before Jack, their eyeless faces somehow conveying absolute focus on their new master despite lacking any visible features.

They were freshly regenerated, barely level twenty-six to thirty-four based on what they'd been when killed, their abilities diminished from whatever peak they'd reached in life.

Time to fix that.

Jack opened the Soul Management interface, examining the newly bound Mistborn with analytical precision.

[Mistborn ×93]

[Rank: Dread]

[Level Range: 26-34]

[Average Level: 30]

[Status: Bound - Regenerated]

[Enhancement Available]

Jack selected all ninety-three Mistborn at once, then accessed the enhancement menu.

[Enhancement Target: Level 49]

[Current Average Level: 30]

[Average Levels to Gain: 19]

[Cost Calculation:]

[Levels 26→49: 23 levels = 132,250 tokens]

[Levels 27→49: 22 levels = 121,000 tokens]

[Levels 28→49: 21 levels = 109,750 tokens]

[Levels 29→49: 20 levels = 100,000 tokens]

[Levels 30→49: 19 levels = 90,250 tokens]

[Levels 31→49: 18 levels = 81,000 tokens]

[Levels 32→49: 17 levels = 72,250 tokens]

[Levels 33→49: 16 levels = 64,000 tokens]

[Levels 34→49: 15 levels = 56,250 tokens]

[Total cost for 93 creatures: 10,750,500 Death Tokens]

[Confirm enhancement?]

[YES] or [NO]