Clarice seemed visibly hesitant to speak, but once again, those stern eyes induced an unnatural state of fear in her. It was an annoyance feeling all these emotions. What she wanted was her powers to suppress them.
"Your spirit body! Normally, the spirituality of a human is weaker than that of a penitent as such they don't emanate like such. But they still exist in the spirit body. But yours is nothing. There is absolutely no spirit body in your body, and this is why I thought you don't have a spirit creature because if you did, I would have seen that spirituality seep out from your body."
Spirit body, Spirituality, spirit creatures. Keifer repeated the keywords.
So the spirit body is clearly something akin to a soul, and spirituality is the energy of the soul. Naturally one would expect that what is transmigrating to be a soul, but if I never had that, then what am I? Is the real me even alive or existing? Keifer mulled over the troubling question for a minute.
"Tell me, if a thing does not have a soul...spirit body, then what is the implication of it?" Keifer asked calmly.
"A living creature without a spirit body will be considered to be an undead. Something like a ghoul, or zombie. Normally, such things can be created using special methods available in specific penances, but even then, the undead still have some spirituality that drives them. What you are is like a Penitent who has suffered imbalance and had their souls crushed." Clarice responded with eyes locked with a certain fear.
So I'm an anomaly. Even undeads have certain spirituality but I don't. But if that's true, wouldn't acquiring tremendous spirituality be the way? Keifer discovered a theory, which he quickly inquired about,
"How exactly can an undead stop being that?"
"Ressurection!" Clarice blurted out after a bit of deliberation.
"Resurrection? Or isn't simply absorbing enough spirituality enough to rectify the issue?" Keifer wanted to confirm.
"Yes, but trying to just absorb raw spirituality is only possible for creatures born as natural spirit beings. As for humans? You need to either acquire the corresponding power from a penance or simply advance by completing more penance and gaining the advancement in spirituality." Clarice explained.
So I can either complete a penance that has the ability of resurrection, but the power must be quite strong which means that the penance must be difficult as well. Keifer recalled Clarice's words of his spirit crumbling if he gave up on a penance after deciding to start it.
But I don't have a spirit body, so where would the penance even imprint itself? I don't know this, which means the consequence is unknown and potentially dangerous. But the safer route would be to complete weaker penances and grow strong enough to complete stronger ones. But there has to be some rules governing the completion of penances, or are ther-
Knock Knock Knock!
A sequence of knocks echoed around the apartment and, as such, interrupted his thoughts.
...
The Stormlight Ferry, parked in a harbor in Port Santa.
Walking out from a carriage with her bodyguard, Melina stood proudly staring at the massive ship before her eyes.
In the Public port not far away, there was a large ship docked on the sea. It did not have any sail, leaving the body completely clad in shimmering iron, with towering triple chimneys that puffed black smoke into the air and four turrets at the back of the ship. The ship appeared narrow with a poised tip.
It was so gigantic that seemed like something built by giants and could only be ridden by such.
The cohort gathered below the ship all marveled at the technological genius, but unlike them, Melina Vox had a different opinion.
With long silky black hair which was a trait that marked her heritage as a born of Port Santa, Melina Vox dressed in brown leather trousers, black boots, a sleek black shirt, a dark blue unbuttoned jacket, and a vibrant red scarf around her neck.
Her jacket specifically was thick and seemingly made from a unique material that made it extremely thick and foamy.
And perhaps like a finishing touch. A silver star-shaped brooch was placed on the left chest of her jacket. She seemed like a traveler. A person with a raggard temperance.
With her piercing blue eyes, she glanced at her bodyguard who stood beside her, saying, "You know this thing wasn't built by the techno priests or any inventor of the millennium. It was actually scavenged from the underground ruins of Uruk, which I think was once the place the capital city of banklund of the heimpharos empire stayed. You know, before it vanished mysteriously."
Flashing a smile, Melina turned around, raised her hand, and made a free fall backward.
Startled by this, the bodyguard quickly stretched out his hand and cut her in his arms.
With a smile, Melina bobbed his nose before asking, "Oi Ace. What millennium do you think the heimpharos empire was active?"
The bodyguard, with midnight blue silky hair and deep sky-blue eyes, had a stern expression. His chiseled jawline made the entire scene of him catching Melina seem like something retrieved from a soap opera. He was very handsome.
He was dressed in a black tight shirt with a golden shoulder holster and black trousers. His shirt's collar was stretched out and two of the upper buttons were left open, showing a significant portion of his chest.
He helped her to her feet and said in a deep smooth voice, "It was during the second millennium. And I was the one who even taught that to you."
Waving her hands, Melina protested, "Nah, I think it was me. No way you could have. Like, 'Never'." She deliberately emphasized the 'never'
Sighing in defeat, Ace Wonder asked after a few seconds, "Why are we using the Stormlight ferry to go to canen? You have ships. Twelve the last time I counted."
"Yeah but none of them are ancient structures from the second millennium. And plus I wanna get away from Authur. Chances are the next time I wake up I too may have a part of me replaced with iron."
"You are aware that's not his fault. He was part of the Iron Brotherhood before the inquisition of Port Santa eliminated them all. And those people are more heretic than the public can ever know."
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"Yeah yeah." Melina paced around, "But I still don't want to wake up with a mechanical arm."
"Ok." Ace looked away from her and glanced at the iron-clad ship, asking, "Why do you think the empire rebuilt an ancient weapon and simply decided to use it as a public transport ship."
Melina stopped pacing and responded, "Possibly the empire wants to finally destroy the sea pirates by tricking them into invading a public ship only to be decimated by the weapon in disguise. But in case," Melina took out a box of cards from her jacket, "In any case, we know why we are going there. I must find a way to become a penitent in that city and also attend Mr. Lucas's party and if possible stop the shepherd pirates from stealing the desert ruby."
"For yourself?" Ace asked to confirm.
"You wanna bet on it, you know whether or not I can steal the desert ruby under the nose of both Mr. Lucas and the shepherd pirates?" Melina took out one of the cards from the box and looked at it.
"You do know that the Canen City Inquisition will also be paying attention to that ruby," Ace asked with a bothered tone.
Smiling, Melina showed the card in her hand to Ace.
It was a white card with the image of a king dressed in royal attire, holding a symbol of power, and decorated with the red diamond suit symbols. It was the King of Diamonds!
Glancing at Ace, she said softly with a smile, "I have the king of diamonds. So business is going to be good!"
Ace simply stared at her and sighed,
"Deal!
...
Listening to the persistent knocking, Keifer glanced at Clarice and warned, "If you want to be burnt at the stake, make a noise."
With a deep breath, he left the room, passed through the twilight-lit living room, and opened the brown door leading out of the apartment.
Standing in the corridor, bathed in the flickering and buzzing light of orange bulbs, was Annessa, the woman who had visited the apartment the other day.
She was clad in a gothic black dress with short sleeves and a veiled bonnet. A black umbrella, serving as a walking stick, was gripped in her right hand, while a dark brown purse hung over her shoulder.
With a smile that seemed to be hidden beneath her bonnet, Annessa spoke with a distinct accent that mimicked the city's but carried a unique lilt. "Are you still not ready? Do you think Allan will wait for us?"
Without waiting for acknowledgment, she stepped into the apartment and made her way to the brown sofa, crossing her legs after taking a seat.
Keifer sighed quietly, closing the door behind her, and followed. "You came too early. I don't even think it's 10 yet."
Annessa narrowed her eyes and pulled a golden pocket watch from her purse. Snapping it open, she sighed. "It's already 9:45. Do you still want to sleep? I swear, I don't know when you became this lazy. Just go bathe yourself. And before we go, we need to get you a new coat, shoes, and everything." She waved her fingers, pointing at various parts of Keifer's disheveled appearance.
With another sigh, he turned and walked to the drawer in the living room. Opening it, he took out a white shirt, black trousers, and a pair of worn-out shoes. His clothes were few, barely numbering ten, but they were neatly arranged on iron hangers.
Keifer hated clutter in his living space.
Carrying the clothes, he headed towards his room but stopped abruptly when his stomach growled, causing his head to spin momentarily. He remembered the food he had bought but hadn't eaten, likely stale by now.
He sighed, realizing he was still adjusting to a world where food was scarce and unaffordable. It was probably spoiled, but with only ten pounds left, he couldn't waste it unless absolutely necessary.
I should just eat it as it is. With this body, I won't survive without food, even if it's spoiled. He resolved.
He turned and went into the kitchen.
Annessa, still seated on the sofa, watched his abrupt pause and change in direction. She muttered silently, "Is something wrong with him?"
.....
Inside the kitchen, keifer found the brown bag tucked inside a cupboard.
He retrieved the cans from the bag before calmly uncapped them. This was easy because although their body was made from a zinc-like material, the caps were rubber and suction was the only thing that kept it on.
As soon as the caps opened, the stomach-churning scent winced his nose, his eyes bubbled slightly with tears.
How am I supposed to eat this? Maybe, I can recook it...
Keifer was in no way good at cooking, his skills were subpar at best, which was strange considering he was likely the most experienced person in the world. But cooking seemed to be a skill that eluded him.
But it wasn't that he did not know how to cook, it was simply that no matter what he did, his meals could be considered poison, and at some point in his life, it was!
Sighing, he heard the grumbling of his stomach which made him realize it was better to eat poison than die from starvation, He could not discern how long his body could last without eating. After all, it seemed each time his stomach grumbled, he would be hit with a wave of nausea.
Throwing away his confused thoughts, Keifer grabbed a pan from one of the cupboards and placed it atop the gas cooker. The sleek, stainless steel appliance gleamed with two burners, each equipped with sturdy grates. The control panel behind the burners sported knobs to adjust the flame, while a thick black pipe connected the cooker to the gas supply in the walls.
Gas pipes threaded through the walls fueled all the cookers in the building, providing both comfort and a potential hazard if they leaked.
Keifer sighed, trying to push the worry out of his mind. He placed the pot on the cooker and turned the gas. The fire sparked to life, burning with an orange radiance.
Orange fire, he thought. This will take some time. Better to prepare myself. I can't have the lady in the room go into my bedroom.
Nodding to himself, Keifer emptied a can of stale beans into the pot and stirred them with a spoon.
Although still uncertain about his relationship with the woman, he deemed it close enough to ask for help without raising suspicion.