Kapitel 16: System’s Shop

"Hey Olive – a trustworthy source mentioned it might be difficult to summon me again, so take your time and don't stress about it. It's probably already stressful enough. Anyway – thanks for the Lost Soul. If you happen to find more I would really appreciate it. Alright well that's all – talk later."

I mentally 'unclicked' from the text box hovering before my eyes and sent the message. I have to admit, it was a one-take job, but without any context for how to send System messages – I mean what am I supposed to do?!

Do I treat it like an e-mail because a text box appeared? Should I have started with "Dear Olive?" I certainly don't think so.

But I also don't know how the System message actually sends. Although I'm 'talking' in my mind to record it, the message probably won't be audible.

Wait.

Then why did I record it like a phone-call?

Well it's too late now.

After closing the System message screen, my original Status screen appeared – exactly like closing a tab on a computer. Out of habit, my eyes skimmed my Status and before I could mentally close out of it, my eyes caught on to something unexpected.

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Lost Souls Collected: 1

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My eyes immediately widened upon realization. Baku had always mentioned that the System used Lost Souls, but I never explicitly knew what he was talking about. The first Lost Soul I collected was immediately used upon entering the System – probably to initialize the System in the first place.

And since I haven't bothered to conjure another Lost Soul because I've been entirely focused on training, I haven't actually seen what the Lost Souls do within the System.

So first I 'clicked' on Domain.

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Domain:

…

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A list several times longer than exposed appeared before me and after finally scrolling to the end, I quickly backed out and opened the Shop.

Like the Domain tab, the Shop tab is organized the same way with rows upon rows of various personal belongings I could buy. An interesting difference – however – is that everything sold in the Shop seems to possess an item description whereas the items in the Domain tab, although items, appeared to be mundane.

Meaning, the Shop only sold magical items: armor sets, weapons, pieces of jewelry, and other miscellaneous, somehow magical goods. Scrolling to the absolute bottom of the rings tab, for example, presented me with something called "Pocket World."

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Pocket World Description: A planet sealed within a ring – habitable for carbon-based lifeforms.

Cost: 1,000,000,000 LS

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A billion Lost Souls?! How the hell is that supposed to happen?!

Returning to the previous tab, I excitedly scrolled through every nook and cranny of the Systems new mechanics. Hundreds of incredible things caught my eye from the wings of a Fallen Angel to lighting trapped in a bottle.

In addition to those incredible things, there were also a ton of items that completely went over my head. Most of the item descriptions are intentionally vague, but leave you with some sort of subtle understanding of what the item or Ability might do. But this time around, a ton of items had a description that made absolutely no sense!

On top of all of that, everything provided within any of the shops is ridiculously priced! The cheapest thing I could find in the Shop tab sold for 100 Lost Souls and it's just some rusty old bell that "causes uneasiness and a vast sense of longing" and boy does that sound like a real great purchase!

Moving on, the Empower tab is unfortunately grayed out and unable to be used which was incredibly heartbreaking. Afterall, my number one priority at the moment is gathering strength and what better way to do that than by empowering myself? Or maybe my Abilities? It's gotta do something good, right?

Returning to the Domain tab, I found the cheapest thing possible and immediately purchased it. Suddenly, the screen disappeared and a deck of playing cards instantaneously appeared out of thin air, in the exact plot of space that the screen itself occupied.

The deck of cards fell into my open palm and I felt the cool, refreshing feel of glazed cardboard against my skin. Unsealing the pack, I tossed the box to the ground and unpeeled the cards. Shuffling them in my hand and feeling them flutter between my fingers, an uncontrollable smile forced its way onto my face.

"Hey Baku –" I smiled viciously, "let's do another type of training!"

***

Olive burst awake. Her heart beat aggressively and she could immediately feel the dampness of her skin from the cool breeze that constantly blew against her. Looking around, she saw evenly placed boards of wood and a desk placed in the corner, similar in color to the walls, with a torch lit upon it.

"You're finally awake." A man's voice interrupted Olive's thoughts, appearing directly behind her.

"Who are you?!" Olive yelled while she spun her body around in bed.

Behind her, sat leaned forward with his hands clasped together and his eyes glued ahead, Admiral Adams stared at Olive.

"You slept for three days, you know. Lily found you." Admiral Adams said indifferently, his gaze still drilled directly into Olive's eyes.

"Three days?" Olive repeated in surprise.

"That can't be ri –"

"To be honest I'm not here because I'm interested in your health – I'm interested in the ritual you were performing before you collapsed." Admiral Adams cut her off.

"And before you berate me for invading your privacy, I refuse to allow some hormonal little girl to gate-keep valuable information in a situation as dire as ours. I have already completely copied the engravings you made in the dirt and have someone ready to try and activate whatever it is. So if something bad is going to happen – it'd be wise to tell me now." Adams glared at Olive.

Olive's head slightly recoiled in disgust.

"I'm sorry, but who the fu –"

"Olive!"

Then Lily came running into the room.

"Are you hurt?! Are you okay?! Do you need water?! Wait! Let me go outside to make a flower! I'll be right back!" Lily ran all over the place.

"Lily, just come here!" Olive yelled.

"Yes!"

Lily sprinted to Olive's bedside and wrapped her arms around her, embracing her in a wild hug.

"It seems we can finish this discussion another time." Admiral Adams stood up amidst Lily's attack. He offered his farewells and quietly left the newly constructed infirmary, a fact Olive just learned from Lily.

Later on, both Isaac and Church arrived in the infirmary as well, along with a man named Tyler Holmes, but by now everyone appeared to call the man Doc in oad to his godsend Ability |Regenerate|.

By making skin to skin contact, Tyler is able to completely regenerate a portion of a person's cells to their optimal state. This includes natural and symbiotic bacteria, exterminates viruses and infections, and even stimulates the hosts needed cells by a miraculous margin. The Ability itself is extraordinary and immediately places Tyler at the top of the 'people to protect' list.

In addition to his invaluable awakening, the man himself appeared to be of good faith. Thirty-three years old and father of two girls, the messy-blonde headed man wore round glasses and waved at everyone he passed.

Almost like a physical manifestation of his Ability, Tyler rejuvenates peoples spirits with his soft-hearted smile and ocean-blue eyes. Saddened by his separation from his family, he wears a brave face to make every shitty moment a little more bearable.

After consulting with Doc, Olive and the others left the infirmary and headed to the dining hall to debrief the past three days that Olive had missed.

First, Admiral Adams isn't so bad – at least, underneath all of his unnecessarily aggressive bravado. Olive immediately told the others what the Admiral had said to her upon waking up, including every nasty look he decided to give her.

Following that, Isaac recounted his experience with the Admiral the last few days and they seemed to be similarly aggressive, but consistently effective. Even looking back, although a dick, the Admiral did make a valid point.

They were trapped here together and as the first group of people summoned it is almost their duty to collect as much information as possible so that those in the future can arrive better prepared – it is the nature of humans, almost; to write down their discoveries, to create history.

And quite frankly, again although a total dick, Adams immediately brought forth a question Olive had never even considered; can someone else use the Summoning Circles? Which brings forth another question, is her Ability, then, not the summoning itself but rather the knowledge of how to perform it?

Can Lily teach someone else how to create her flowers? Everyone here uses mana, right? If the source of power is the same then surely the products can be the same too. That would mean it is merely the manipulation of that mana that differentiates the results and if that's the case then couldn't those with Abilities be teaching those without Abilities right now?

Olive sure as hell didn't know, but the mere idea is valuable. To be entirely honest with herself, Olive doesn't have the first clue when it comes to anything mana related. She can't feel it or manipulate it. As far as she's concerned, she's still a normal person who, if she wants to actually use mana, has to draw a stupidly complex formation on the ground!

Following that train of thought, the formation itself is taking the role of pulling mana out of Olive and directing it in the appropriate direction – whatever that means to end up actually summoning something.

"But you mentioned that what the Admiral copied was not a Summoning Circle, right?" Church asked, clearly confused – probably since the Circle system operates entirely differently from how his Sacrifice system works for his vodou.

"That's right. Adams copied a Transfer Circle and not only that, he copied a Transfer Circle that directly links to Cain." Olive confirmed.

"What does the Circle do?" Isaac asked.

Olive shook her head. "I'm not one-hundred percent sure. The first time I used it was when I passed out and I transferred something called a Lost Soul. In response I heard an overwhelming voice – that's what made me pass out."

"A Lost Soul?" Isaac questioned.

"What does Mr. Cain do with souls?" Lily asked.

"I suppose it is easy to forget that man is a demon." Isaac commented from the side, still brainstorming on the meaning behind 'Lost Soul.'

"Could it have been his voice that you heard?" Church asked.

"I guess? I can't really remember it." Olive quickly denied the question.

"You don't remember?"

"Well, it's more like the voice can't be discerned. Like it was every voice put together at once, and they were yelling, but it felt like a whisper. I'm sorry I'm making zero sense." Olive gave up.

"Hmm." Church shrugged his shoulders, "Well if Lost Souls have anything to do with actual souls, and so presumably come from things dying, then I think I have good news for you."

"What is it?" Olive asked.

"The Admiral is setting up another raid into the jungle like the ones you guys left on before, not to the same extent it's just supposed to be training, but that's gotta be the best place to get Lost Souls, right?"