Kev was running all around the place.
Jin Mei had given him a list of chores to do. He didn't know if the rules were still as strict as before, so he would rather avoid slacking off.
Since his Master's previous servant had died, all her inventory was disorganized. And now it was up to Kev to clean it all up.
He sighed. The things he did to stay alive. Sometimes he wondered why he gripped life so tightly.
It's not like his life was particularly good. Whatever. It didn't matter why he wanted to live.
He wanted to survive, and so he would try his best to do just that.
Uh. He held out a strange plant in his hand. It clearly didn't belong there, but he had no idea where to put it.
Couldn't she had stayed just a few more moments to explain the workings of this mess.
Another annoying Spirit came from the garden. There were so many, Kev could barely see.
He glared at the ball of light in front of his face.
Kev narrowed his eyes and hummed thoughtfully. He opened his mouth and took a bite out of the Spirit.
His eyes widened. It tasted so… good. It was warm, and melted in his mouth. It was so sweet too.
He opened his mouth and swallowed the Spirit whole. He must look insane to any non-spirit user.
But he found he didn't care, not when he got his hands on something so great.
He hesitated about taking a break. Whatever, it wasn't like anyone was there to tattle on him this time.
His eyes turned to the many lights invading the room.
He swallowed as many as he could. He barely had to chew with how fast it melted.
Shit, he cursed. His body had became warm with the Spirits, too warm even.
And his stomach hurt. An acidic mouth started going up his throat. He ran to the toilet and vomited.
Only bile came out.
He squinted. Kev couldn't quite tell where Spirits were between the realm of material and immaterial.
He grimaced, the taste stuck to his palate.
Uh, he already risked death more than once with his disobedience, he couldn't steal her water as well.
He better get back to work before the mistress came back and scolded him.
He diligently sorted everything out. In his mind, he kept track of where he put everything.
He didn't yet know what each plant did, but when he did, he was sure to steal as much as he could.
Kev wondered if his Master had any book about plants. Kev had always been curious about plants when he was a child.
But given his mother's lack of knowledge on the subject and the lack of plants in the outer courtyard of the Sect, his interest had never given place to anything more.
Now, he supposed, he had better things to do than wast his time on some plants.
" Ah, you're there kid ! " Jin Mei opened the house.
Of course he was there. It was his job. Kev turned around to look at her.
Oh. She was holding something in her arms. Or rather… someone.
Kev smelled the air. There was the familiar scent of blood. He tilted his head.
" A corpse ? " He asked. " Mistress. " He hastily added.
" None of that mistress stuff. " She waved off. " And yes. That is an, almost, perfectly preserved corpse. " She explained.
She brought the body to a long empty table covered by a white sheet , before gently setting it down.
Kev observed its pale face. Jin Mei was right, its body was exceptionally well conserved.
Looking down, Kev saw a familiar white glow coming from its ribcage.
He carefully observed Jin Mei's face, but she was fully focused on the body and eyes never stopped on the light.
Kev wondered if the light he saw coming from the ghost and this corpse were Spirits. He doubted it.
When he absorbed the light from the ghost, he briefly saw all its memories. The same couldn't be said for regular Spirits.
Kev discreetly observed Jin Wei's ribcage. He could barely see it through her clothes, but he could distinguish a slight light.
He wondered, were those things… souls ?
" Anyways, as I greatly care about the education of my apprentices, I got this corpse specifically to show you the inner workings of the human body. " She clasped her hands with a smile on her face.
The inner workings of the human body..? He stared at the corpse.
He didn't think a mere servant would need to know about the human body. But if she wanted to waste her time teaching him, then it wasn't his problem.
" It would be an honor to learn from you Jin Mei. "
The physician pulled out her equipment from some drawer.
She started opening the body with a scalpel and told him the name of each organs.
For multiple instances, Jin Mei handed him the scalpel to hone his 'surgery skills'.
Never mind that said skills were entirely nonexistent. Despite that, Kev found that he appreciated going through the movements all the same.
He observed intently the inside of the corpse. There were a few spots in the body where a noticeable amount of Spirits had accumulated.
Although no glow was as noticeable as the one in its ribcage, Kev had taken to calling it a Soul to differentiate it from average Spirits.
" And that's it ! That's all that I need for you today. "
" Huh ? " Kev looked outside at the still-bright sky. " The sun hasn't even begun to fall, though ? "
" Maybe. But there's really nothing else for you to do today. You just need to memorize everything I've told you for today. "
" Ah, uh… Well, thank you. "
It was an unexpected kindness. Kev didn't really know how to react.
" And by the way, here's your salary. " His master threw a pouch at him.
A salary ? But shouldn't any salary earned be given by the administration staff ?
Wait, that aside, he was a slave. He didn't even get salaries.
His eyes widened slightly. She didn't know he was a slave. Of course she didn't. He had no collar.
The reminder put all her actions into perspective; the way she tried to teach him, her easygoing nature.
" Thank you, miss ! " He smiled brightly and quickly pocketed the pouch.
" And take that too. " She threw a pin at him. " You can't freely move inside the Sect without these. "
Kev caught the pin. He nodded.
The design of the pin was rather pretty. Prettier than it should be, for something connected to the Demonic Sect.
Kev remembered what he wanted to ask. It felt much easier to ask for a favor now that he knew she thought him to be a free servant.
" By the way miss, do you have any books on herbs and plants ? "
" Ah, you seem more at ease now that you've got your pay, huh ? But yes, I do have a book or two for you. "
She went to her shelves full of books and took out a few. More than a few, it was actually more of a small pile.
She put all of it in his arms. He braced for the weight, but it was actually much lighter than it seemed.
No, more accurately, he was much stronger than he should be. He thought it might be because of the Spirits he absorbed.
After all, cultivator grew stronger the more Spirit they had.
Whatever. He thanked the woman and left.
At this hour, no one was in the servant's quarters, they were all about and working.
While Kev, could just laze around all afternoon.
He threw himself on one of the beds in his room. Normally, he was left to sleep on floor, with just a thin mattress separating him from the cold hard floor.
While Jin Mei was showing off the organs to him, he brushed the Soul of the corpse.
What he saw was… life-changing. He smiled.
The corpse had been once been a warrior from the Holy Sect, not just a warrior, but a cultivator too.
From its memories, Kev had gotten a lot of knowledge.
When he closed his eyes, he could still feel its body move through its drills like it was Kev's own body.
It was a fighting technique. And in its memories was a spirit reinforcing technique.
That was the weirdest part actually. Despite being a cultivator, it hadn't been able to see Spirits while it was alive.
Sure, it had occasionally felt it when using its spirit reinforcing technique.
But… Kev could compare the feeling of using the corpse's spirit reinforcing technique and just eating the Spirits.
And he could definitely say that the latter was seemed more efficient.
Now that he thought about it, his strength and vitality had noticeably improved.
That meant… If he could grow stronger, he could show off his strength to the right people.
He could be recruited by the Demonic Sect. Not as a slave, not as a lowly servant. But as an actual disciple.
He smiled just thinking about it. To not have that a rope constantly hanging around the neck.
Nobody to hit him.
It would be like a dream. And he just had to grow stronger, huh.
Kev looked outside. The Spirits, who had seemed so numerous to him, were actually few compared to inside the Sect.
No ghosts were here either. Not at this hour.
He thought back to the ghost he killed.
The first Soul he absorbed had no fighting technique. The second Soul had a technique so simple it could barely be called that.
But what would the third Soul hold ? What about the fourth and the fifth ?
Surely at one point, one of them would have a good enough technique.
Sure, he had been scared, but fear was nothing in the face of his greed.
He wanted more out of life than constantly cleaning and obeying.
He took the knife he had hidden. He had never cleaned it, and the blood had dried.
If he squinted, it almost looked like rust.
Come nightfall, Kev was determined to kill more than just one ghost this time.
In the meantime, Kev took a moment to just lay around.
It was rare that he got so much time to himself. He better take advantage of it while he could.
He looked around. He was craving a Spirit to eat.
Not only did it make him stronger, but it tasted so good and gave him warmth in such a cold environment.
Hm. There was indeed a lot less than a place like Jin Mei's home, who was full of spiritual herbs.
But there was still a lot more in this room than in anywhere else in the outer Sect. He wondered why that is.
His eyes went to the pillow beside him. It was warmer than anything else in this room.
And as Kev was quickly learning, warmth meant spirits.
He turned over the pillow, but nothing. It was like it was coming from inside it.
He took his knife and stabbed the pillow, his roommates ire be damned.
He searched through the stuffing and there was… a …pill.
A pill. A spirit pill. It was a ressource only available to disciples. No, not just disciples but inner disciples at the very least.
He took the pill, rolled it between his finger. Why did any of his roommates have this ?
Kev shivered. He hadn't just been sleeping in the same room as people stronger than him.
He had been sleeping with an actual cultivator. A man who, with just a movement, could have killed him.
No, he shouldn't be jump to conclusions. Maybe one of them had stolen this.
But… either way, couldn't that mean Kev could steal it.
He smirked. Whichever of his roommates hid it, none of them could report him for stealing the pill.
If they even thought Kev stole it in the first place.
After all, none of them knew he had gotten back early.
And if he was going to kill ghosts all night anyway… He might as well go inside once they were all asleep, and none of them would suspect him of stealing the pill.
The idea was more and more tempting.
Kev pocketed the pill and replaced the ripped pillow with one from a neighboring room.
He was sure they wouldn't miss it too much.
Kev watched attentively as another Spirit appeared from the pill.
Kev happily munched on it. He never tasted anything as good as this.
Although he hadn't tasted much in his life, so it wasn't saying a lot.
He looked outside. It was getting late. He should hide outside to avoid Fang who would get back soon.
He took his borrowed books with him. If he had to loiter outside, he might as well read a little.