Night fell quickly, and the sun began to set in the sky in dark orange hues behind the thick clouds, with a light breeze stirring the air with a pleasant coolness.
Leeward arrived at an inn south of the village of Morge... It was a simple inn.
He rented a private room after paying the fee, then entered carrying two burlap sacks; one containing the silver he had taken, as well as Calvin's beast tongue... and the other containing the items he had bought from the spirit-waterer's shop.
The room he took was entirely wooden, with minimal furniture... a bed in one corner, a small safe against one wall, a large wardrobe, and on the other side a washbasin with a mirror in front of it.
He took off his shoes first, then went to the bed, placed the burlap sack full of silver on it, and immediately opened the second sack.
There were several spirit tools he needed...
He first took out five spirit elixirs, then took short steps and placed them on a low cabinet.
The elixirs were in beautifully shaped white vials with fine blue lines. Then he took another, transparent black vial from the burlap sack; the color of the liquid inside could be seen upon closer inspection.
He then pulled out a gray, ethereal piece made of khamr stone, resembling a diamond in shape, and placed it on the table with the other items he had brought.
He set the sack aside, then reached into his pocket and took out a piece of arrow ether, adding it near the collection on the table.
He then removed his black robe and threw it onto the bed, then went to the sink and stood before the mirror to see his features... and his disheveled hair.
It's not time yet. I'll find my doppelganger first.
He whispered to himself as he considered changing his appearance.
This decision was a result of the tangled troubles he had gotten himself into... he had no choice but to alter his appearance, then find a suitable opportunity to leave the village with the wealth he had stolen
For now, I'll focus on breaking into the Solid Warrior rank first. After that, I'll go to the Sanctum and present that piece of Arrow Ether; it's not mine. Also, until I prove.
My spiritual level is higher.
The Sanctuary is a special place for those who have advanced, where the spiritual level is fixed.
An advanced person, having broken through to a new rank, must fix their rank with a Spirit Level Fixation Elixir.
This is an elixir whose materials are made from rare and hard-to-find elements, so the only place where the level can be fixed is the Sanctuary.
The Sanctuary is also used to store spiritual instruments...
such as ethereal objects, which are given to them to search for their owner or rightful heir, and then returned to them.
Leeward turned on a brass-colored tap, and water began to fill a metal bucket at the bottom.
He washed his face thoroughly... then washed the blood off his feet.
He took off all his clothes, and was naked, then began using a small metal bowl to clean his body with water from the full bucket...
until he was completely finished.
The wooden floor on that side of the room became soaked.
But Leeward didn't care... wood absorbs water, that's normal, so he didn't bother trying to mop the floor.
He went straight to his bed, completely naked.
Before that, he brought the spirit elixirs and placed them on the floor near the bed, then took the silver pouch and put it deep under the bed.
He climbed onto the bed and took the first elixir...
It was a Level 1 spirit elixir.
He opened the neck of the bottle, and a sharp smell rose to his nostrils, making him shudder for a moment.
He quietly released his spirit field... and although it had been previously depleted, the renewal of his spirit field compensated for the deficiency.
The density of the spirit field returns to its previous level within a certain period... often within a day, as the person goes to sleep and then wakes up to find that their field has returned to its previous density.
But for some people, restoring density takes longer...
And this difference is due specifically to the type of stenma.
Leeward possesses a supreme stenma... therefore, his density regenerates faster than ordinary people; his field takes approximately eight decades to fully regenerate.
He placed the mouth of the bottle against his lips, then drank the elixir in one gulp, setting the empty bottle aside... and closed his eyes, lying back on the bed.
Leeward's consciousness drifted to his inner soul...
which was centered in his stomach.
While the stenma energy was concentrated in his heart.
His soul was like a hazy, silvery sphere with no fixed shape.
The elixir reached his stomach, releasing its spiritual energy into Leeward's body...
His soul responded immediately, attacking the elixir's energy... because it was foreign to it.
But before a violent clash could occur, Leeward lessened his soul's hostility toward the elixir's energy and began to control it.
He gathered all the elixir's energy near his spiritual foundation in his stomach...
Then he expelled a portion of it as a light, hazy, sphere-like mass.
Small - and surrounded it with his own spirit.
He began to press down hard on it.....
until the blue color of the elixir's energy gradually turned gray.
Although the elixir's energy resisted fiercely, the density of Leward's Spirit Foundation overcame it.
After a period of refining....
The color of the elixir's energy turned completely gray and became part of Leward's spirit.
Leward continued in the same way, refining quietly and with concentration...
He had decided that after finishing all the Level 1 Spirit Elixirs, he would proceed to refine the Level 2 Spirit Elixir....
The one he extracted from the Spirit Foundation Stone of the Adult Stone Cat.
At the same time, inside the village graveyard....
A large number of people had gathered, and many were prepared.
The graves for all the dead who fell that day, buried as the sun set.
Jeshi stood near his brother's grave, surrounded by members of the Kantem Monoth family... grief was etched on all their faces.
"He didn't deserve what happened to him."
Rishi, his wife, wept bitterly over the grave, embracing the earth that now separated her from it.
Jeshi looked at her miserably... no one in the family pitied Rishi; everyone knew she had married Overd only for his wealth.
"What a good actress. The least saddened person by my uncle's death is you, you damned woman."
Rod whispered angrily, unable to bear the sight before him.
"Let's go back now. Overd is dead and gone. Mourning him now won't do him any good."
Although Jeshi was the one most affected by his elder brother's death, he remained stern in his demeanor... he knew perfectly well that Overd was dead and would not return, and that mourning him would change nothing.
Big brother, life has turned so ugly for you, brother."
Meldy was the only one who could attend her brother's funeral.
Tears slid slowly down her aged cheeks... delicate tears, carrying within them a hidden anger at his death... not that he died, but that he was murdered.
Geeshy gently took his older sister's shoulder.
"Should we tell Furz now or wait until he returns? I don't want him to lose focus on his work in Romeca."
"No, we must tell him. Keeping this news to himself until he returns would not be something Furz would accept."
The two of them moved a little away from the rest of the family, walking silently across the dirt... returning alone toward the family home.
Geeshy lowered his voice and whispered in her ear:
I have resolved, sister, that I will find the murderer, and I will repay him in the worst way possible. There are two men I suspect. The first is Leward Keshin, a slave who was Overed's and gained his freedom the night he died. The second is that ugly old man, Yegi Revel Monoth. But I have no acquaintances likeof connections you do. I need your help with this."
Meldy looked at him with half-sleepy eyes... the deep wrinkles on her face seemed to hide untold stories.
"I have a lot of things I want to talk to you about, Jeshi. O'Verd's wife... Rishi... she's been cheating on him with Higgy for some time now, especially after O'Verd's last decision to create the Danic Arena. After that, O'Verd was murdered. What do you want to do about this?"
Jeshi froze in shock.
He had never expected this...
But as serious as what he'd heard was, the evidence was still too far from providing any clear clue amidst this mess.
"I want to hire a squad of mercenaries to kill Higgy and the slave Leward. That will be the first step, and later I'll look for any evidence to incriminate Rishi and prevent her from inheriting O'Verd's estate and put her in prison."
His thinking was cunning... he moved with calculated steps
"I can arrange this for you. Meet me tomorrow night at my house. I'll bring a mercenary squad I know."
Meldy's expression was serious, showing a clear determination to carry out her plan.