SL Chapter 16 Spirit Lord


    "I need a moment alone." spoke Eric. Madam Selena gently squeezed his hand through the bandage, giving him a worry filled gaze. She might have sensed something. But she didn''t linger, instead, taking the initiative to drag Allan outside the room.


    She must have been curious to find out what had happened, yet she hadn''t voiced the question. The sadness that had been suppressed by him was finally given free reign, with tears streaming down his face as he thought about the love his mother had given him, her struggles, and most of all, her sacrifice.


    Even when she had been at her limits, she had still been thinking about how to reach his side. What had happened to his father? That was a question he still didn''t have any answers to. Would he find out the truth one day? He wondered.


    -----


    The final two hours passed in that manner as he dealt with his grief. Though, he also managed to take notice of the fact that the pain was disappearing bit by bit, until, it finally went away.


    When it did, he rolled off the bed and placed his feet down. Then, with impatience, he tore off the bandages. He was certain that now, he had awakened, becoming a Spirit Lord. After the task of guarding the boss lady ended, he was going to direct his resources into searching for those people who murdered his mother and annihilated his clan.


    He stretched upon standing up, with his steps taking him to the window, which he scrutinized extensively, before actually touching the damn thing, finally finding out that it was just a screen. He really had to praise the camera and visual technology that had went into it. The visual feast of Kampala city''s skyline was really interesting, complete with real-time movements.


    As he was admiring it, he felt the door sliding to the side, attracting his gaze over, after which, he felt some embarrassment creep up on him when he saw the person who had entered. It was the boss lady herself! And it seems that he wasn''t the only one, as the woman did her best to avert her purple flower pupils away from him. His entire upper torso was bare. And since there was no attire within the room, he couldn''t even hurriedly put on a shirt!


    "I- came to see whether--you had recovered."


    ''Hey! Why are you peeking here?! Shit! Should I run to the bed and drape the sheet over myself? No! That would expose me as a virgin! I should stay in place. It''s better if I act unfazed. Good thing Rabid dog Iris isn''t in the room, or else she would have been glaring at me right about now!''


    "Surely that couldn''t be the only reason, right?" Eric was surprised by his own boldness.


    "There is crucial information that-t must be passed on, about Spirit Lords. The others have already been briefed... You were the last one. Could you please, find something to c-cover your self with?"


    "Mmmmm?! I don''t see any problem, boss lady." teased Eric.


    "Do you want to die?" a powerful killing intent burst out of the woman, bringing a chill to the room, with his face turning pale. He hurriedly went back into the bed and lay within it, covering himself with the sheets.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Abruptly, the murderous intent vanished, with an abnormal expression crossing the woman''s face for a moment before she coughed and began expounding upon knowledge that Eric hadn''t known about Spirit Lords before.


    "When you take the Spirit awakening potion, it doesn''t reach the stomach because it instantly transforms into energy of an unknown dimension, though, most people call it the Spirit plane. It''s a metaphysical plane of existence theorized to house the soul of a human, yet also tethered to the body... " she paused here. Her voice was beautiful. Eric would have been mesmerized if the contents of her words hadn''t been even more attractive to him.


    "... The potion''s job is to stimulate the metaphysical space. You should have appeared within that space when you took the potion. It contains your experiences and memories. When a mist-like substance known as Spiritual energy appears, the awakening is deemed to be successful."


    Joy bubbled up within him when she reached here. Though he had been certain that he had awakened, having it confirmed still brought joy within him.


    "After awakening, you are considered to have entered the Gaseous stage."


    "Gaseous stage?" parroted Eric. He remembered that there had been an instance when his father had spoken about Crystal stage Spirit Lords.


    "Yes. There are three levels to a Spirit Lord. First comes the Gaseous stage, then Liquid, and lastly, Crystal. So far, there hasn''t been anyone who has managed to surpass Crystal."


    ''Not even. His Excellency, the Progenitor of Spirit Lords?'' Of course the question was kept to himself.


    "Every Spirit Lord, upon entering the Gaseous stage is required to imagine their object of intent or, maybe a body part, or even the whole body..." Here, Eric started not to comprehend.


    "...Let me give an example. Within your mind, you have to imagine something. And that something will act as the vessel through which your spiritual powers can manifest in the outside world. If you were to imagine, let''s say, a sword. It will appear right in the centre of the void within your mind, acting as the anchor of your powers. And you will even be able to manifest it in reality, even having the capability of using it."


    An exclamation of amazement left his lips.


    "An anchor is something that can never be changed once manifested. So, everyone has to choose very carefully as any imperfections will stay with you for the rest of your life!"


    "When you set an anchor... Let''s still go with the sword. You have a chance to assign an ability to it in the form of a phrase. Like, ''cut through everything, Elongate, sever everything, undodgable... Essentially, the power is limited by the imagination. But, the phrase that can be carried is also just a single one. Meaning, it should be carefully thought about before it is made concrete."


    After finishing that, she went to a certain part of the wall, with a compartment sliding out with no visible input from her. On the tray situated upon it, there was glass filled with water. She lifted it up with both hands, brought it to her lips, took a long drink until it was all finished before loading it back, with the compartment once again vanishing into the wall.


    ''How convenient!'' Thought Eric in envy. If his apartment had had such a contraption, it wouldn''t have been cluttered!


    His mind drifted back to what she had divulged an instant later. According to what she had said, it meant that there could be many different combinations, far surpassing even the number of stars in the Universe. And that scared him. He could still remember the ability his mother had used to reverse her injuries to her opponent. Just the thought of facing a Spirit Lord with an unknown ability was enough to induce chills within him.


    "A Spirit Lord is capable of shaping reality to their whims. It''s the reason why those with no brains are the first to die in a battle between Spirit Lords. Never ever expose the limits of your phrase! There are some people arrogant enough to speak of theirs, but those are a minority... "


    ''Like that masked guy. He said something along the lines of his flames spreading like a plague. That must mean that they don''t need fuel, and they can even spread to other objects upon contact.'' Eric analysed.


    "I won''t say anything about the Liquid and Crystal stages as you will get to learn more about them in the future. The Gaseous stage also gives you sublime control over your body. If you want, you could even slow down your aging, or get rid of some of the old cells, replacing them with new ones. Basically, a Spirit Lord will never catch ordinary sicknesses."


    ''Really?! Wow!''


    "I will send some clothing for you. You should get dressed. The next activity is learning martial arts. Fantasy-like powers aren''t the only tools in a Spirit Lord''s arsenal. I will-l also say this. Among all I have chosen, you are the most trustworthy. So, make sure that you are on guard against the others at all times!" She exhorted while walking to the door.


    "Also... You should reconnect with that metaphysical dimension of yours. I believe your image and phrase should have manifested."


    "Automatically?!"


    "That''s what I believe." And with that, she vanished, leaving behind a puzzled Eric.


    ''According to her explanation, the person has to actively take part in the process. Why would I have both an anchor and phrase ready? There must be something at play!''


    With that thought, Eric closed his eyes and tried to sink into that void filled with memories. When his spiritual self appeared within that void, he was taken aback by how easy it had been.