In the Freewind town, the waitress wondered what she would do with those two booked rooms when suddenly 4 people entered her inn and casually went upstairs.
The waitress looked at them, confused.
'Well, whoever they are, as long as they don't bring trouble to my inn, there's no reason to ask them to leave after they have paid in advance.'
Though she still felt quite uneasy with such customers, money comes first.
…
Inside the room, Vincent calmly stood by the window as he looked in the direction of North Star city.
"This is not yet over. He'll send another group to check why the first didn't come back. And once they'll also disappear, he might bring high level authorities onto the scene. At that time, it'll be impossible for us to stay in the city and even here."
"Then what should we do? Leave farther away?" Vanessa asked with worry.
Vincent didn't reply but turned around to look towards the trio at the table, "No. I'll end it before it escalates to the point of no return."
"What do you mean?" Alisia asked as she stood up and went to him.
Vincent glanced at her and asked calmly, "Who's the source of our problems?"
Alisia suddenly froze, "Me?"
Vincent's brows slightly raised in amusement, "The captain named George. Here's the sole reason we're in this situation."
Alisia suddenly understood the implication of his words, "Wait, are you telling that-"
"I need some rest. I'll be at sunset. Don't worry, you'll be safe the next 2 days at least," Vincent casually interrupted her midway and walked towards the door before leaving the room.
Alisia was stunned as she looked at the closed door.
'I'm worrying not about myself, but about you. You're not asking for any help nor if what you plan to do is right.'
There was fear in her eyes.
…
Vincent left the inn and went towards the nearby forest.
There he casually looked around and found a massive thick tree not far away.
Arriving, he bent and jumped at 3-4 meters with ease, grabbing the branch and then climbing higher onto the tree.
Once he found a thick enough branch to sit, he stopped.
Vincent calmly looked around.
It was very peaceful and the scenery was silent. Perfect for his current need.
He sat into a meditating position and slowly closed his eyes, gradually freeing his mind from external thoughts and other disturbances.
Around half an hour later, Vincent's soul force was suddenly activated and transparent fire started to burn at his forehead.
Inside his mind, though his eyes were closed, he was observing an entirely different world through his soul sense that covered around 70–80 meters around him.
What he saw was somewhat hard to describe with words.
Though he was unable to see physical objects, he was able to see something that eyes cannot observe.
In the darkness of his mind where no other sensation could be felt, little wisps of grey fire were moving here and there.
Souls of animals.
'They're incomparable to those of humans in terms of size and form. Why, though? Is it due to their low level of intelligence that their souls cannot get the shape of their physical bodies?' he wondered.
Vincent's face gradually became more and more pale as he forcibly used his soul force as the key to glimpse into a spirit world that was supposed to be an exact copy of the physical world from the The Threefold Origin tome.
Currently, he was trying to get used to the pressure from the spiritual world that was extracting him away from there.
According to the information from the old tome, only animals' souls have permanent dwellings there since they are unable to consume the spiritual energy due to their low intelligence.
Humans and other highly intelligent beings could only temporarily enter it to bathe their souls in dense spiritual energy that was filling this mystical dimension.
But the longer one's soul stays in that dimension, it gradually becomes corrupted and turns more greedy for more spiritual energy.
Vincent was not an exception.
Currently, he was able to regain clarity of mind only for several minutes inside the spiritual world. If he continues and tries to stay longer, the corruption will be irreversible and he'll not be able to come back.
But the tome didn't state exactly how long the limit is so he can only find it himself, though it's very dangerous.
Though he had no idea what would happen to his soul once it was trapped in the spiritual world, he was almost sure it would be irreversible.
Currently, Vincent is very close to reaching Stage 3 - Soul Expansion.
'Ican feel it… A few more sessions and I will be there. Maybe if I try to extend the session, I'll reach the requirements sooner.'
Vincent hastily shook his head trying to get rid of those thoughts as his heart slightly raced. He had almost succumbed to the desire to absorb more spiritual energy ignoring the danger.
Taking a few deep breaths, he calmed himself.
But due to this mysterious corruption, he can't immediately enter that dimension right after the session is over. He'd require several days of self-cleansing with the physical world's essence.
Vincent took one more deep breath and weakly opened his eyes. His face was pale.
He looked at his palm as he slowly opened it and closed.
Vincent was in anticipation.
After 7 years as he stepped onto Soul Refinement path, he was about to reach Stage 3 and come closer to completing the Beginning Phase.
This will increase his survivability to possible assassinations in the future.
Yet, he was very much fearful of the drawbacks.
'I should be able to handle the emotional alteration of Stage 3 in my current state. But the next stage…'
Alisia's image appeared in his mind as he calmed himself.
Whatever will happen in the future, he will not allow himself to forget those feelings of holding her in his arms.
Vincent slowly stood up on the branch.
His long black hair slowly moved in the calm wind and he jumped down.
His focus had shifted towards the enforcer captain.
'It ends tonight.'