Chapter 78: Soul Breakfast

The next morning was sunny.

Rhos sat at the kitchen counter with a bowl of oatmeal in front of him, eating slowly while trying to not stare at the words floating inches from his face.

Their sitting arrangement was nearly identical to dinner the previous night. Koa held Morri’s bowl and fed her one spoonful at a time while the little girl happily ate.

She seemed to enjoy that now. So in an effort to connect with her and of course, prove he wasn’t completely incompetent around children.

He tried to feed her himself, but that didn’t go well. Morri had just stared at the spoon in his hand with a glare.

Rejected, he chose to give up and focus on his own breakfast. There was other stuff demanding his immediate attention anyway.

There wasn’t much conversation. Koa didn’t speak much, Morri spoke a language neither of them understood and Rhos wasn’t in the mood to socialize.

That left him with plenty of time to investigate something more important.

Yesterday, he was too tired to continue going through the Spirit Archive. After returning from the rooftop, he first made sure to confirm whether Ripley was telling him the truth about the neighbor she had impersonated.

Rhos found the man exactly where he didn’t expect him. Due to some interference, he didn’t go out for his midnight smoking stroll. Right now, he slept peacefully beside his girlfriend, completely unaware someone had temporarily altered his spirituality.

At the very least, one good thing came out of her visit.

Drawing from experience, Rhos knew how terrible addiction affected a person. Even he almost fell to it due to his interest in alcohol prior to leaving the Biome.

But he had not touched a drop of liquor in these past three months, so he was dealing with it slightly better than the man was.

After getting his reassurance, he went to sleep immediately.

Now that his mind was clearer, he summoned Morri’s Record again through the same process.

The familiar interface unfolded across his vision

[Record 001]

[Name: Morri]

[Grade: 9]

[Spiritual Essence: Tundra Blood Wolf]

[Evolution Stage: Beast — Initial]

[Totem Ability: Blood Manipulation]

[Totem Arts: Blood Forging | Red Moon | Bloodstain]

[Spirit Attributes: Dead Soul | Living Mane]

Rhos chewed while carefully reading the Record.

He learned from yesterday’s embarrassment with Koa and made a conscious effort not to focus too obviously on empty space.

Every so often he moved his gaze on his breakfast, Morri or somewhere else in the apartment as though he was in deep thought.

For someone his age, this behaviour was not unusual.

He already went through most of the Record, with only one section remaining.

[Spirit Attributes: Dead Soul | Living Mane]

In the Academy, he was taught that Spirit Attributes were distinct characteristics engraved into the spiritual existence of the individual.

They were fundamentally different from Totem Abilities as they originated from the Patron Spirit, a power granted through spiritual essence and shaped by its nature.

Whereas a Spirit Attribute belonged solely to the individual.

They could affect one or several components of existence: the body, soul or spiritual energy, sometimes creating abnormalities that conventional Patron Spirit classifications couldn’t properly explain.

Not everyone was blessed enough to have even one. Rhos, who wasn’t as loved by the world as most people he knew didn’t.

Those fortunate enough to possess one generally acquired it in one of two ways.

Some were born with an innate Spirit Attribute. It could remain dormant for years or manifest immediately depending on its nature, but it was part of the individual from birth.

Others developed one or two during evolution. This way was rare.

Evolution could force profound changes through the body, soul and Patron Spirit simultaneously, and under extraordinary circumstances those changes could permanently engrave a new characteristic into the person’s spiritual existence.

More often than not, these altered how a person fought and lived their lives.

Apart from Morri, the only other person Rhos encountered with a Spirit Attribute was… Nimra.

His spoon, suddenly feeling down.

Leopard Cat Nimra possessed the ability to imbue objects with her spiritual energy, allowing her influence to persist beyond the normal limitations of just being able to circulate it through her body.

Rhos disliked the woman, but whatever he felt about her didn’t make the ability any less valuable.

He pushed the thought of her away and focused on Morri’s Spirit Attributes.

[Dead Soul]

[The spirituality produces absolutely no externally perceptible presence. The soul, spiritual energy, spiritual essence exist, but none can be perceived]

Rhos stopped eating and moved his amber eyes toward Morri.

Even knowing exactly where she was, his senses gave him no confirmation that a living creature occupied that chair.

He could see her, yes, but that was all to it. His eyes were his most reliable proof that she existed and he understood why now.

“So that’s what it is…”

Koa looked at him curiously, but he immediately took another spoonful of food and rambled some other nonsense, pretending he was talking to himself.

Her hollow eyes remained on him for another second before returning to the little girl.

Rhos sighed internally. Now that he knew of her Spirit Attribute, it made Morri look less like an eldritch horror.

That made him feel somewhat at ease.

[Living Mane]

[Every strand of hair functions as an extension of the body and spiritual pathways. Each strand may be independently manipulated for various applications]

The long white strands flowing past her shoulders, gradually becoming crimson toward their ends. At the moment, they looked perfectly ordinary, but Rhos had seen first hand how quickly that can change.

He hadn’t seen them much in action so he couldn’t really gauge their effectiveness in a fight.

‘Can hair really be that dangerous?’

When he thought about it, if every strand could function as an extension of her body, then Morri could possibly control thousands of appendages that can be used as weapons, shields, tools for movements and other stuff he couldn’t think of at the moment.

Overall, this girl was ridiculously blessed that it seemed almost unfair.

It made him wonder….

‘Do I get anything out of this?’

Rhos almost died multiple times to feel like he deserved something tangible. At most the only thing he got was physical enhancements and a perception he didn’t clearly know how to use in a combat effective manner.

Morri was his Spirit, but she was also a person with independent thoughts. From what he could tell, she didn’t seem to be under any obligation to serve him.

There had to be something on his side of the arrangement.

Rhos stared intently at the Spirit Archive, and that was when it collapsed. Every line disappeared at once, letters drawing together until only a single phrase was left suspended before him.

[Soul Bond]

“Red Deer…”

His name was called by Koa across the counter, continuing to feed Morri. She wasn’t looking at him, but the words she said next made his eyes widen.

“I found you a job”