It has been a week. Kev studies the Martyr every day, diligently writing down every anomaly he find.
Every day, Jin Mei lock him in the secret room, before letting him out before dusk.
Aside from that, she's as nice as before.
She is willing to lend him books, she is an avid teacher, plus she gives him a salary every day without fail.
As for reaching Spirit Refinement stage, it would seem that useless cultivation technique is actually needed.
Not to grow his spiritual power, but to estimate his own level.
Otherwise, his only way of knowing how much spiritual power he has is through looking at the light coming from his Soul.
Luckily, he only had to absorb the memories of zombies, rather than actually waste time on learning the technique.
He was currently at the second level of Spirit Refinement stage.
It was strange. If he believed Jin Mei, the third level of Refinement stage should barely take a few days to attain for him, who could easily see and absorb Spirits.
Either way, if he continued slaughtering zombies with as much energy as usual, he would attain third level in time.
Despite that, Kev was tempted to take a bit more… risk.
He looked toward the shadows. Further away from the sect, he could observe monsters much larger than zombies.
He knew instinctively to be scared of them. Yet he wanted so badly to slash through them.
He was growing more bloodthirsty these days. Good.
But, he didn't feel ready to take the monsters on. He better wait until he reached the third level of Spirit Refinement.
Until then he would settle for the normal zombies, he thought, reaping another of them to shred.
He took its Soul without any problem.
He wondered if he could take the Soul of a living being. Unlike dead Souls, the Souls of people still alive clung to their body, and din't go toward Kev.
Living Souls were also stuck deeper into their owner's ribcage. If he wanted to force out a Soul, he would first need to immobilize a zombie.
That would be easy. He just needed to take off all its limbs.
He looked around. Shit. He might have killed too many zombies.
There were no more monsters in his surroundings. He looked back once again at the shadows where bigger monsters were hiding.
The light of their Souls allowed Kev to distinguish their features.
The monsters farther from the Sect were much more varied than the zombies who all resembled each other.
If he went too far from the Sect, they would no doubt ambush him.
It was an assured death. That's why he should wait until he was stronger.
But their globulous eyes and shiny Souls attracted him. He longed to feel the warmth of their Souls.
He heard a noise from behind him. He turned around.
Kev kicked away the zombie that had lunged at him before it could even touch him.
Its body went flying, it crashed against a wall. Guess he wouldn't have to go to the monsters.
He should feel relieved. Yet he felt more… disappointed.
He approached the zombie. It was weakened by Kev's kick, but not dead.
He straddled the zombie's powerless form, approaching his knife to cut off its limb.
He removed its arms then legs. Its screams were even more human than usual.
" Pl..ea..se…" It rasped in an inhuman voice.
Kev paused. He looked at its face. It was unmistakably the face of a monster. Yet its eyes held something akin to intelligence.
His eyes looked down, where its Soul shone. Now that he was closer, he could see it wasn't a pure white like every other undead's Soul.
It had a slightly blue tint. And its impurities weren't as numerous as usual.
It seemed this thing had never completely given up its humanity. That meant it either possessed incredible will, or it simply wasn't a zombie at all.
Could he really take its Soul when it arbored such unique traits. No, it would be such a waste.
But where should he put it ?
Hiding it outside while everyone could find it was too risky.
He wondered, would Jin Mei let him store it in the secret room ?
After all, the room had practically became his. He spend all his time there.
Plus, Jin Mei was very lax with him. He doubted she would refuse lending him the room if it were for such a specimen.
Kev walked to her house. The body in his arms didn't gather much attention. It was normal for people to carry corpses inside the Sect.
He knocked. She should still be awake at this hour. And sure enough the door opened.
" What ? " Jin Mei realized it was him. " Oh, hey kid. Forgot something ? " Her eyes wandered to the body in his arms. " Ooh. You found something interesting. "
She opened the door wider, signaling him to enter. He obeyed.
" Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to know if I could store this in the Martyr's room. "
She nodded.
" Sure. But this one's gonna die soon enough if we don't heal it. " She told him.
She didn't wait for his answer and took the body from his arms before laying it down on a table. In a true physician's manner, she always had a spare table to this design.
" There. " She dumped the kit in his hands. " You do it. "
She had already shown him how to sew up wounds. Kev wouldn't call himself proficient, but his skills were good enough.
" Should I disinfect its wounds first ? " He asked.
He knew that would be the proper procedure with an actual patient. But it seemed a bit wasted on a mere zombie.
" You do you. " She told him.
Kev hesitated. In the end, he cleaned the wound with disinfectant. He would hate for it to die from an infection.
Its limbs, its face, its breathing ; it all made it seem very human. Kev petted its face.
For a zombie, its face was particularly well preserved. Its chest however, held a large wound.
Its ribs stuck out.
" Do zombies need to eat ? " He asked Jin Mei.
" They can and want to eat. But it is not a vital need for them. Sure, they might eventually die from starvation, but that process takes decades. Sometimes centuries even. " She answered him. " You know, I'm glad you're taking such a liking to the art. " She turned her back on him to reach for something. " Here. These are the keys to the secret room. You can come in and out anytime. "
Kev caught the keys.
" Oh. Uhm, thanks miss. But why so suddenly ? "
" It's your reward for bringing in such a cute thing. "
" That's quite the reward for such a small deed that also benefits me. "
" I know right, aren't I just the best ? " She flips her hair in a playful manner. " If you find what makes Martyrs special, I will give you a much better reward. "
She pat his head. Kev looked at her thoughtfully.
" Well, it's getting late. I'm afraid I will have to leave you if you'll allow me. " Kev said, already getting up.
Jin Mei nodded. Kev left, his pocket heavy with the keys.
Everyone had already gone back to their houses. Seeing as nobody was around, Kev allowed himself to catch and eat a few stray Spirits.
The taste was as sweet and as warm as always. He licked his lips. It felt even more addictive than usual.
Hah… With all of this, he forgot to try to take a Soul from a living being.
Well, with the Spirits animating his body, sleep was getting less and less necessary. So it should be fine if he went back outside to seek another zombie.
Plus, if he was lucky, the zombies would have came back in his absence.
He pulled out his knife. He observed his surroundings.
Hm. There were only a few zombies. But he didn't need more than one.
He hit a zombie from behind. Its body gave out with a loud crack.
He blinked. Shit. He was stronger than he thought. Well, it was a good thing, he just needed to control himself a little more.
He looked around for another zombie. Instead of blindly hitting it, Kev simply dodged.
There weren't many zombies left, and he would hate to kill the last of them.
He patiently waited for it to tire itself out. Worn down by exhaustion, it paused.
He lunged at it to cut off one of its arms. It screamed. Kev cut off the other arm.
Once that done, Kev could safely immobilize it to approach his hand to its chest.
His fingers traced its ribs. He felt the warmth of its Soul stuck beneath its skin.
He saw it move, trying to come out, but without success.
The zombie screamed louder, animated by more than the pain from its cut-off limbs.
Kev ignored it. No, it was more accurate to say that he didn't even hear it.
His eyes were stuck on the glowing light of the Soul. It was the first time he was so close to a living Soul.
It called to him.
Yet, it didn't seem any closer to coming to him. He sighed.
Maybe he could try keeping the zombie alive, and cutting it just enough to get rid of the skin.
But… the Soul seemed much too close to the vital organ for him to keep the zombie alive.
He would probably need Jin Mei's surgical tools. But he wasn't going to bother her again. Plus, it was getting so late, she might already be sleeping.
Well, he could always try now without tools, and retry again tomorrow.
He approached his knife. He carefully cut through its flesh.
It continued moaning, that was a good sign, right ? As long as it made noise, it wasn't dead.
But since it wasn't dying, the Soul wasn't leaving its confines either. He sighed. The things he did for his curiosity.
He put his hand inside the wound, guided by the warmth of the Soul.
The zombie started choking on its own blood, but it was still breathing.
As soon as he touched the Soul, new memories burned themselves in his mind, like usual.
Was this it ? He was kind of disappoi-
His vision went black. He was choking. He opened his eyes.
He was lying on the ground. He tried to use his arms to get up.
The pain registered. He realized his arms weren't here anymore. He tried to scream, but blood obstructed his mouth.
His Soul, usually so warm, seemed so devoid of life. He felt so cold.
He breathed with difficulty. He felt a warm liquid on him.
He looked at the open sky. It was the only thing he could do.
His body got colder and colder. His heartbeat slowed down. He stopped breathing.