Buried within the memory of a conflicted little girl was a peculiar scene. A scene filled with the blood of people whom she held dear.

Standing among the mass of bodies was an individual. One who donned the very nature of passion on his bones.

His eyes gleamed an ominous red as he glared at the helpless girl covered in the blood of her relatives.

Her voice wavered as she took several steps back. She kept moving farther away, but the distance between them never changed.

"Why?", she whimpered as tears rolled down her eyes. "Why did you do this!?"

Flames erupted over the scene, decimating whatever was to be revealed next.

In order to achieve a certain desire, a certain goal, bloodshed was essential.

At least, in this cruel world

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(Spirit realm - Pristine forest's outer edge)

"If it hurts you so much… so much that it'd make you cry within…", Zanetor suddenly spoke up. "Then why did you come here in the first place?"

…

Leticia turned to the heavily wounded shadow soul and stared at him for a few moments.

Her eyes expressed a bit of disbelief. Did he catch her crying?

"I could ask you a similar question", she knocked the question to the back of her mind. "If it hurts so much to force your will on your heart… why wield it in the first place?"

"Hm?", Zanetor's eyebrows furrowed. "What do you mean? I feel no pain."

Leticia seemed surprised, but that only lasted for a mere second.

"Shadow souls truly are pitiful beings", she glared at him with a glint of hate in her eyes. "Do you know just how much of a danger you are to the balance between this realm and the others?"

A cold expression appeared on Zanetor's face.

"I care less", he sharply retorted. "Truly, I give no damn about this place. To me, only one place exists and certainly, it isn't here."

"Tch", a vein popped up on Leticia's forehead. "You're so annoying!"

The little girl was about to release her spirit energy when a cloaked figure landed right between the rising tension.

"Now now", Edem's heterochromatic eyes gleamed with a certain mischief. "I believe we've had enough fighting for today. Fret not little Leti, we're leaving later today."

"What?", Zanetor turned to Edem. "But, what about my training? We have about two days left, right?"

The cloaked figure smiled, "Change of plans. That spirit warrior is sure to give a report to the other spirit warrior corps. If we stay here, they'll track us and that wouldn't be good for the forest."

Edem then glanced at the little girl who seemed to be staring at the sky, aloof.

"Also", he began. "If there's anyone who knows that better than I do, it's little Leti here."

There was an awkward silence between the three entities as they stood several feet away from the pristine forest's edge.

Leticia clenched her fists and started walking towards the maliciphant behind her.

The large spirit beast lowered itself, gently carried the little girl with one of its trunks and placed her on its back.

"Papa said to get everyone back after I was done with the enemy", she said in a nonchalant tone. "He knew you'd want to leave immediately… but, he had something to say to uncle."

With that, the maliciphant began to head towards the forest.

Zanetor stared at the beast as it left. Something seemed to strain him and it was uncomfortable.

The torrent blazer in his hand suddenly transformed into a levitating stream of water and then dispersed into the atmosphere as tiny water droplets.

"Good job!", Edem lightly tapped Zanetor's shoulder. "Turns out that you summoned part of your heart! That was the torrent blazer!"

"Torrent blazer?", a curious glint appeared in the shadow soul's brown eyes.

"Yup!", Edem enthusiastically nodded. "Since that's the torrent blazer then it means the other pistol rests in the ownership of your left hand. Your heart's a dual-weapon type!"

The cheerful air around the cloaked man dropped in an instant as he waved his hand.

"That chain doesn't seem like it would let go of the other part though", his eyes narrowed.

Golden circles then appeared all around Zanetor's body. He felt somehow warm as his body slowly rose into the air.

"I'll help you out", Edem clapped. "Y'know, since you're all battered."

"Where will we be going after you see the forest guardian?", Zanetor stared in the distance.

"Now Now", the cloaked man raised a finger. "You should replenish your energy before we talk about that."

…

Edem began to walk in the direction of the forest. The aura around him suddenly made Zanetor unwilling to speak as they both returned.

Several hours passed and the bright sky was replaced with a deep blue night sky. Gracing the vast blanket were tiny specs of light that added to the night's mysterious allure.

There was no moon, yet it shone as if it were there.

Within a certain part of the forest, a little girl stared at her reflection in a crystal clear lake.

She donned no clothes as a strange creature took care of her wet hair.

The creature looked like a stag however, there were vast differences. It had abnormally long, seemingly indefinite antlers and its fur was a deep blue that faded into a black colour from its head downwards. In addition to its fur were white spots, resembling the night sky.

What was also strange about it was that it stood on its hind legs while it gently handled Leticia's hair with its scrawny arms that seemed to have human fingers at their ends.

There was an intense silence between the two and the only sounds that were present were the cries of the spirit beasts that only came out at night.

Leticia's reflection contorted as ripples emerged on the lake's surface, following the gentle breeze.

"Nox…", the little girl suddenly uttered. "Is what I'm doing right?"

The spirit beast that carefully braided her hair paused for a moment and began to speak without its mouth moving at all.

Its voice was like that of a lady. It was calm and soothing.

"Questions like those are truly answered by the one who asks them", the creature stared at the little girl's reflection. "I can only offer advice."

Leticia then turned her head and gazed upon the tall beast with worry in her eyes.

"Then please do! Advice me!", she pleaded. "I mean, if I do it… If I go back, I may not return."

"Hmm", Nox looked up into the sky. "Is your existence more important to you than your goal? I believe the answer to this question may help you."

The night sky was reflected in the beast's perfectly clear eyes as it spoke. Tiny flecks of light slowly revealed themselves from within the surrounding trees and hovered around its antlers.

They too were spirit beasts, bearing great similarities to fireflies.

"Once you humans die, you appear in this realm and continue your lives as souls. It doesn't end there as a similar question appears… 'What is my purpose here?'", Nox continued.

"Your nature requires that you ask yourselves questions in order to find answers to them. It is what your kind has done since the beginning of time. To the point where you all have established your dominion over this realm and the material realm."

Sweat began to run down the little girl's face as she thought

'Dang, Nox is really going at it'

"Your kind believes that every question has an answer. So much so that even the answer, 'this question has no answer' exists", Nox looked down and tilted its head. "In the end, it boils down to one thing… We spirits, born of nothing but residue energy from the universe, can and will never be able to answer the questions that linger deep in the heart of humanity."

"Uh", the little girl looked back at her reflection. "It's a question whose answer will come to me naturally huh."

Just then, rustling sounds could be heard coming from the trees on the opposite sides of the forest.

"Someone's coming", Leticia narrowed her eyes and immediately hid behind one of the trees. "This messed up spirit energy I'm sensing means only one thing…"

A few moments passed and a humanoid figure emerged from the rustling bushes. He wore a blue black trench coat that seemed to reveal its faint blue tone amidst the light darkness.

"It's him, the shadow soul", Leticia whispered.

Zanetor sat at the side of the lake. The expression on his face was that of fatigue and discomfort as he took off his coat.

He hung it on a nearby branch and looked at his reflection in the lake. Slight surprise appeared in his eyes as he seemed to have noticed something he didn't before.

"Isn't this my school vest?", he muttered as he stared at his clothing.

He wore a black vest and within it was a black short sleeve shirt. His blue black trousers also seemed very familiar.

"The heck. These are my school trousers. My school clothes just changed colour? No, I wasn't even wearing the vest before", Zanetor rubbed his chin. "Hmm, the only unfamiliar clothes are the trench coat and these boots."

Leticia seemed quite confused at the sight of the young boy who looked shocked for some reason.

"What's he doing?", she raised an eyebrow. "Is that his first time realising he had clothes or something?"

Zanetor began to take off his garments, "I don't even care. I'm just going to take a dip in this lake. I wonder if Edem was playing around when he said this lake could heal anything. He's really hard to read."

"H- He's taking off his clothes?", a faint blush spread across Leticia's face. "Hold on. Why am I even embarrassed!?"

The young boy, oblivious to the presence of another soul, took off his vest and shirt. He revealed a light muscular frame and was about to unbuckle his belt when his eyes glanced in a certain direction.

"Huh?", he raised an eyebrow.

There, staring at him from the other side of the lake was some sort of creature. Its body was like that of the night sky and its antlers were abnormally long.

…

A long silence ensued between the two entities as they stared at each other for what seemed to be an eternity.

"Uh", Zanetor's expression turned blank. "Do you mind?"

Nox gave a very awkward smile in response.

"His spirit energy is nasty, but he seems like a good guy", the creature muttered. "I wonder why you dislike him"

Nox turned back, but to its surprise… no one was there.

"Lady Leticia?", it looked around. "Ah well…"

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Morning came after some time had passed. The sky began to light up and unlike the material realm, one was uncertain of this light's source since a sun was non-existent in this realm.

An individual stood at the edge of the forest, covered entirely in a cloak that fluttered in the wind.

"Edem", a familiar voice called out.

The cloaked man turned around and was met with the sight of Zanetor, donned in a similar cloak as his.

"Looks like you're ready to move out", Edem smirked.

"Yes", the shadow soul's eyes gleamed briefly. "Did you talk to the forest guardian?"

"Oh, you need not worry about that. I bade farewell on your behalf!", Edem gave a thumbs up.

"I don't care about that", Zanetor's gaze turned cold. "I just want to be assured of no distractions."

"Hmm?", the cloaked man smiled. "You need not worry about that either. Though, we do have one more member joining us."

Edem pointed in a certain direction.

The shadow soul turned around and noticed a smaller, cloaked individual emerging from the bushes.

Their identity was concealed by the hood however Zanetor knew immediately who it was. There was only one person he had met in the spirit realm who was that short.

"The annoying little girl?", he raised his eyebrows.

Leticia pulled the hood back and stared back at Zanetor with an expression that was less friendly.

"Honestly…", she began. "I would've preferred to stay here and protect the pristine forest for eternity."

She kept silent for a brief moment, shifting her vision to the ground below. There seemed to be a conflicting look on her face as she lightly clenched her fists.

"But, there are things I need to take care of and even if it means travelling with a shadow soul…", she raised her head and displayed eyes filled with determination. "I'm willing to do just that."

Zanetor actually never cared about her reasons for wanting to join Edem and him. There was only one thing that popped up in his head the instant he heard her talk about travelling with them;

Was she going to be of any use? Would she be a factor that would help him get closer to finding his mother?

Then again, he thought.

From what he witnessed yesterday, it seemed like the annoying little girl had some kind of powerful presence around her. Also, with Edem willing to help him, he had little doubt that things would go wayward.

The Shadow soul's eyes slightly narrowed

Then again, deep down he couldn't trust Edem

He did however, need their assistance

It was inevitable.

"Whatever", Zanetor turned around. "As long as you don't get in my way."

Leticia clicked her tongue. That ego of his was starting to bore her.

"How great!", Edem suddenly clapped. "Now that all's settled, why don't we get moving."

"Wait, where exactly are we going?", Zanetor raised an eyebrow.

A mischievous smirk appeared on the cloaked man's face the moment he heard the Shadow soul's question.

"The Great Eye City", he answered.

"The Great Eye City?", the shadow soul took a step forward.

"Yes", Leticia suddenly interjected. "One of the major cities on the mainland."

The expression in her eyes grew stern.

"And…", she began. "One of the branch headquarters of the Spirit Corps."

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