Author Notes:
I think I really cooked with the newest OBOM chapter. Like, I don't even know where I pulled all of the information from. Liteally just chugged an entire 750 ml mug of coffee and rolled a Fuck it, We Ball and started writing, one draft after another until voila, the new chapter hit the 3k words mark.
I think I officially deserve a freaking sleep after two days of writing with only 3 hours of sleep in between lol. No joke, I am mad like that.
Moving on, well, it would seem the Monthly Recruitment Drive is nearly over, ain't it? Come on, don't any of you guys want to experience the newcomer discount and the wealth of Early Access Chapters and potential cameos? You will even help Mom and me saving up for a future house moving as well! That's a good deed, no?
Anyway, the important thing is... Enjoy! And have a great day!
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https://www.webnovel.com/book/my-soul.-occupied-body---please-the-other-me...!_35377211308783905
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Reizen is taking some alone time, kneeling by the graveyard I dug for Knight Riders that I now know is affiliated with the ERS Voyager, a while back. In her hand is a carving knife that she uses to inscribe words on a stone slab in the middle of the graves. I have a good guess as to what's being denoted, and a part of me is glad that Reizen is here to turn the place into a proper memorial site.
As for me, I am at a bit of a short distance away from Reizen, taking the moment to wipe down the Rover of the mud and dirt that accumulated on its hull after some time spent navigating the rivers and plains. The good old mop, bucket, and rag combo may not give the Rover the cleanest wash, but it's more than enough to keep the Ivory Clam coating on the hull well-maintained, thus sparing me further trouble of having things rusted or deteriorated. I also take the opportunity to investigate the Rover for any visible damage or indentation, being very thorough in the task, as this is what Aurea and I co-designed; something to be cherished, especially since the Rover and White Pearl are still our only viable means of long-distance transportation.
As I continue working on servicing the Rover, this time refueling its diesel tank with a jerry can while mentally instructing Aurea on the more sophisticated aspects of vehicular engineering, our new neighbor for the last couple of days appears right next to me.
"Hello there~!" Says Sapientia, the Ember Goddess who seems to have too much free time on her hands.
"Sapientia, don't you have a country to run?" I greet her with a wave before adding. "By the way, Aurea sends her hello."
"Aww, hi Aurea~!" Sapientia greets as she steps closer to put her face between mine and the diesel tank of the Rover, interrupting my refueling task. At first, those unfocused emerald eyes of Sapientia can be quite unnerving to look at, but after so long, all of us are used to them by now.
"I would like to chat with you in person one day, Aurea." Sapientia adds with a gentle smile. "No pressure, of course, it's just that you feel like a cute girl to me, cuter than Umbra here, at least. And a cute girl deserves some attention from this lovely goddess of yours."
I roll my eyes before using a free hand to push Sapientia's face away.
"Narcissist much?" I quip. "And you haven't answered my question."
Sapientia huffs as my hand leaves her face.
"For the record, my nation hosts a wealth of capable people who can be entrusted with running the Theocracy in my absence. And it's not like I am that hands-on with running the nation anyway. In fact, not many of us Divines do so for a variety of reasons, with politics being the chief culprit."
"Right... I can only imagine the mess that is Divine-level politicking; it must be a whole other level than the interplanetary counterpart." I commented before finishing filling up the diesel tank, then closing the cap on both the tank and the jerry can.
"You have no idea." Sapientia chuckles wryly.
Storing the empty jerry can back into the Inventory, I use a clean towel to wipe my hands clean, an action that is keenly noted by Sapientia.
"You really dared to use an unclean hand to push my face away, rude." Sapientia says with a mock pout.
I shrug, not falling for it. "Shouldn't have interrupted a grease monkey, Ember Goddess or not. And frankly, you kinda ruin any reverence we have for you when you keep barging in whenever it's meal time. Seriously, why are you so engrossed with the bog-standard stuff we eat, anyway?"
Sapientia puts a finger on the corner of her lips, head tilting up as if reminiscing about the things she smooched off of us recently.
"They may not taste the greatest, but the food you girls have is, how should I say this... Homely? Cozy? They certainly grant me a certain level of satisfaction whenever I dine with you, Reizen, and even Aurea, who is present non-physically. Feels better than eating the stiff, culinary experience for the Divines."
"Heh, thanks for the compliment, I guess." I chuckle. "Anyway, anything new today, or you're just here for some chow. And can you do something about your aura? Poor Alpha keeps losing its marble whenever you come around."
Taking a look at Alpha, which is doing its very best to stay away from Sapientia by sticking close to Reizen in a protective posture, the Ember Goddess makes an "Oh" sound.
"Sorry. Sorry... I keep forgetting that." Snapping her fingers, she adds. "There, Alpha should be more comfortable now. I gotta say, this is the first time I've come across such a sensitive and smart Horned Wolf."
I raise an eyebrow. "Not normal?"
Sapientia nods. "Indeed, not normal, but that's a topic for another day. Today, I come bearing gifts~!"
Out of nowhere, Sapientia pulls out some scrolls and various boxes of knick-knacks.
"Some of these Mother Arcadia instructed me to bring along when she learned that I was prepping something for your coming journey. These should help you tide over some of the risky events, if there are any." Sapientia says with a smile as the stuff levitates off her hand and the ground with a flick of her wrist.
"How kind of Mother Arcadia and you, Sapientia." I give the stuff an appreciative glance. "Just put them in the back of the Rover, we can sort it out once we're done here."
"Alrighty then~!"
As Sapientia hops away with a musical hum and a bunch of boxes and et cetera floating behind her, I once again note how this Ember Goddess neighbor of ours lacks any gravitas befitting of an actual goddess.
[Ehm... Is it possible that she is at ease because she is with us, Umbra?] Aurea makes a comment, having been privy to my thoughts.
[Heh, I sure hope so. Otherwise, I have no idea how she can lead the Theocracy when she can't inspire any reverent.] I reply to my Other Me before giving the Rover's exterior a final look over.
I nod, pleased, as I see yet another maintenance job well done. "All fine and dandy... And just in time as well."
I turn around, seeing Reizen walk over with Alpha in tow, having finished whatever needed to be done by the memorial site. "How are you feeling, Reizen?" I ask my female partner in a gentle tone.
"At peace." Reizen replies simply. Although she doesn't smile, her eyes are clearer than ever.
"Peace is good." I smile. "Peace is good... Come on, let's get you cleaned up and charged up before we make the last stretch to the home-away-from-home Aurea, and I built. Also, Sapientia came over with gifts; we should check them out later."
"Understood." Reizen nods before she and Alpha follow us to the back of the Rover, where Sapientia is already making herself at home. Reizen and Sapientia exchange greetings, while Alpha gives Sapientia an annoyed look for being scared out of its fur, again. The Ember Goddess giggles and puts her hands together as an apology to the Horned Wolf.
After Reizen washes herself, we reheat some leftover stuff from breakfast for lunch. We enjoy a spread of fish soup and bread, perfectly healthy, before going on to tally what Sapientia brought over.
Holding up a bunch of scrolls, some with aged papers, but the words and drawings on them are still very visible, I give Sapientia a look, asking.
"And these are?"
Sapientia looks over to see the scrolls in my hands before smiling. "Since you took up on my offer, this is my way of building proper rapport for that..." The Ember Goddess then snaps her fingers, leading to a surprising change.
In front of Reizen's and my eyes, the scrolls disappear into thin motes of light. Before the motes dissipate, my System suddenly interjects.
[System upgrade detected:
Map Module unlocked.]
[Map updated.]
The System's announcement comes with a blazing new feature that surprises both Aurea and me.
[H-Huh? Isn't this like a, really, really good thing?] Aurea exclaims.
In the System interface, Aurea and I come to see the new Map feature. When we inspect it, we come to see an interactive global map of the planet Arcadia, and it even displays details about the regions we have explored while greying out the areas we haven't been to. Unsurprisingly, the visible portion of the map is minuscule compared to the unviewable parts. Aurea's knowledge is limited to the general geography and hand-drawn maps that may or may not be accurate, whereas I have only ever been on Eden, so it's understandable that we won't be able to make use of many of the features. However...
"Ignoring how you just suddenly gave the System an upgrade for a bit, you're giving us the map of the local sea around Eden?" I ask with a bit of a pleasant surprise.
"And the island chains around it as well." Sapientia nods with a smile. "Many of which have been marked by yours truly to be good places to build up your faction's power base. Now, aren't I generous?"
Seeing the Ember Goddess' haughty appearance with her hands on her hips, I do want to roll my eyes in exasperation, but she really did give us a lot. Reizen comes closer to me as she gives me a scan from top to bottom, perhaps trying to see if Sapientia has pulled a trick on my body with that light show or not.
"I'm fine, Reizen. It's just that Sapientia gave us a big gift. Things like mapping data and handwritten notes on what to look out for out in the vast blue ocean." I assuage Reizen's mild concern with a smile. "Still, thank you, Sapientia. This really is above any of our wildest expectations. You have just saved us a lot of time in the scouting department... That is, if the details you have given are all correct."
"I ain't gonna double-cross you, if that's what you're worrying about." Sapientia makes a move to look over her shoulder, warily. "Ain't wanting Mother Arcadia to ground me for good, or the very worst case scenario to happen."
"And that is?" Hearing the sincere concern in her tone, Reizen, Aurea, and I focus our curiosity on Sapientia.
"As someone with a Divinity in the Wisdom department, I may know some stuff, but that doesn't mean I could just waltz in and give your System an upgrade, Umbra. Mother Arcadia had to interject on my behalf to get some of the permits rolling, and that comes with the obvious red tape that would screw us over if we strayed from the little alliance we have made." Sapientia explains after mulling her words for a bit. "Look, it's a bunch of that godly business stuff. Things that are way too complicated to explain in their entirety. You just have to know that the personage that sent you, Umbra, to Arcadia is your biggest backer, and I don't want her to sic a potential caffeine-addict champion to pulverize everything because I somehow fail the Wisdom check. Jeez, I need a drink after that bit..."
Hearing the explanation that made Sapientia winded, the best I can offer is this. "Right... Here, have some water." I pass the helpful Ember Goddess a water bottle, to which she accepts with a thank you.
"So, let's drop the godly business stuff then, seems way above our pay grade at the moment." I say, after checking that Reizen and Aurea are fine with me moving the topic along.
"You will be wise to do that, yes." Sapientia nods after wetting her lips and throat with mineral water.
"Ok, let's reconfirm some of the primary objectives of this partnership of ours..." I look into Sapientia's unfocused gaze steadily. "We're to leverage the System to build a powerful faction that can kickstart a healthy rivalry with your Theocracy, and perhaps to revitalize other factions that have been so contented with the norms that the Theocracy is invincible. Additionally, we're to maintain a protective posture around Eden and its surrounding sea regions in the future, preventing any attempt at colonizing or extracting resources from the Island of Divines. Bonus will be given if we do things in an interesting manner... Seems right so far?"
Sapientia gives me a thumbs up. "Ain't nothing wrong about the stuff you said."
"Good. But if there's anything that needs to be negotiated, then don't hesitate to pop in whenever you're free in the future." I suggest, to which the Ember Goddess chuckles.
"It's only a real issue if you're thinking about mass-genocide."
I actually leveled her a dry, serious look that put a damper on her smiley face. "Even when they deserve it?"
"... Just pray to me if, and only if, you come across a situation necessitating such a killing spree." Sapientia loses her smile, replying calmly. "I will help you handle the aftermath."
"Understood." I nod simply.
While the topic causes Aurea to gulp meekly, Reizen seems nonplussed, though it's understandable, given her experiences.
"Moving away from the dreary topic... What is the remaining stuff Mother Arcadia sent over, Sapientia?" I ask, looking at the numerous boxes that the Alpha is lying next to in the corner of the Rover.
Sapientia is quick to reacquire her cheery manner, as if we hadn't just casually discussed potentially wiping countless misguided souls off the face of Arcadia.
"Oh, these~? Some of the boxes contain medical potions. Others house magic theories and spell tomes. There are also primers for designing Knights. It's a lot of the perfect basic stuff to get you and your future faction, a bit of a kickstart in swiftly becoming a national power worth looking out for. Look, isn't Mother Arcadia helpful?"
"That is indeed very helpful and kind of her." Reizen interjects from the side, her blue eyes displaying an obvious interest. "I must admit, I have been very curious about the potential divergence in the supernatural and scientific techtrees of Arcadia."
[I-I also want to improve on my knowledge base as well... H-Hopefully there are some tomes I haven't read before. P-Please thank Mother Arcadia for me, Umbra!]
I smile, hearing their replies. "Well, there you have it, Sapientia. Again, please pass on our gratefulness and regards to your Mother."
"But of course, Mother Arcadia will be happy to see and hear your appreciation of her little gift package." Sapientia nods, and suddenly, we feel a gentle gush of refreshing winds flowing into the Rover from the opened ramp door.
It's as if the Will of the Planet Arcadia is showing affirmation to what Sapientia said. While it's a bit odd to know that everything you do may be put under the microscope purview of a higher entity, it's one of the things that you know and just ignore for the sake of your sanity.
As such, I go on to say.
"Alright, let's get this all sorted out before we'll go our ways. We're burning daylight as is."