Spiriture

Chapter Three

The following weeks have been rather ordinary, Lucas spent all his time catching up with the Spiriture related work that he missed out on. Also enraging strangers around the school and running away. However as his Spirit power and physical quality increased, Lucas ran out of elixirs and substances to increase his quality in Bronze. Realising his ignorance on the improvement brought by external sources, Lucas dragged Pake to the black market on the weekend.

“Bro Lucas, how did you even find this place?” Pake asked in frustration as he never heard of such a market located in the countryside away from cities.

“I saw it while mountain walking once.” Lucas replied honestly as he could feel the abundant Spirit power inside, which made him confident that it was a black market for Spiritures.

Black markets are illegal as objects in here are shipped or created without authorisation or genuine guarantee. Suggesting the unreliability of the objects, but it’s still extremely popular among the Spiritures because of the abundance within these markets as anything could be sold here. Occasionally people could purchase some hidden treasure with cheap prices.

Lucas and Pake walked towards the entrance of the long and simple building, the market is designed like a street with ceiling continuing sideways along the mountain. As Lucas and Pake tried to enter the building, a security guard on the side blocked their way.

“Only adults are allowed to enter.” The security said emotionlessly without even looking at them.

“Please sir, we won’t do anything.” Pake intended to earn another chance.

“No,” The security guard simply replied, expressing his silver ranked Spirit power.

“You have a lettuce on your teeth.” Lucas pointed out unexpectedly.

The security guard looked at Lucas in annoyance but subconsciously licked his teeth.

“Nah you are l*****g the wrong side.”

The security guard pulled out his phone to check for the lettuce, after realising there was nothing on his teeth, Pake and Lucas already ran off.

“What do we do now?” Pake asked after running away from the entrance.

“Guess we’ll have to leave then.” Lucas signed.

Just before Lucas turned back, he saw a familiar figure walking towards the entrance.

“Is that Anna Miller?” Lucas questioned pointing at a girl, the girl was beautiful and elegant, her blonde hair was smooth like silk. Her flawless skin shined under the sun appearing like an angel expressing the coldness within her personality. Lucas had seen the girl before at class, she was named to be one of the greatest geniuses in the history of Lensland. Her Spirtiture of a light angel is one of the best assistant and combat Talents recorded, her ranking has already reached silver 3, phenomenal progress for her age.

Following behind her was another person Lucas knew, called Kenny, he was a famous admirer of Anna. Unlike the elegance from Anna, Kenny was an arrogant rich child who often liked to harass and bully kids from other classes. Lucas has an awful expression towards him because of his arrogance and loudness in class. Especially when he realised Lucas is only a Bronze 2, he felt like Lucas didn’t belong in class one. He didn’t know Lucas’s talent because that will just attract unnecessary attention and danger, so Kenny always thought Lucas was a useless kid who got into class one by bribery.

“Yeah that is.” Pake answered seeing Anna and Kenny, walking into the entry without interference.

“Hold up, let me see why they can get in.” Lucas immediately teleported behind a tree next to the entrance and called out Anna.

“Hey Anna,” Anna looked back at Lucas waving towards her.

“What is this kid doing here?” Kenny also looked over at Lucas.

Although Anna didn’t appreciate the sudden interruption, she still walked over politely.

“What do you want, kid?” Kenny asked first before Anna replied. Anna expressed a quick flash of abomination but quickly recovered before Kenny saw.

“I just wanted to know how you guys got in, as we were just stopped by the security guard.” Lucas questioned while pointing at the security guard on the side who was staring at him furiously.

“My dad owns a part of this market.” Anna replied graciously, Anna also has curiosity towards Lucas because she understands how strict Michael Brown is. There is no chance for an ordinary student to get into class one without magnificent talent.

“Can you please bring us in as well then?” Lucas asked mannerly, as Pake arrived by his side.

“Yeah that’s fine,” Anna said looking over at the security guard for access.

Though the security guard seemed reluctant, there’s no way he would resist Anna’s will.

“Some people are so shameless, counting on women to get what they want.” Kenny said sarcastically following behind Anna.

“Who’s barking?” Lucas said ignorantly without looking at Kenny.

“Do you actually think you can actually belong to our class?” Kenny bursted into anger being insulted in front of Anna. He rapidly stepped in front of Lucas and grabbed hold of his collar.

“Stop Kenny,” Anna demanded coldly, “Don’t cause chaos in my dad’s place.” Anna then walked away from them.

“You are lucky,” Kenny warned, then immediately followed behind Anna.

“Lucas fighting over a girl,” Pake teased after Kenny left, he really enjoyed that scene, but if Kenny actually made a move. The fireball within his fist will be sent to his mouth instantly.

“Shut up bro,” Lucas said as he observed around the market.

The huge population offered him a chance to seek a mission and also an opportunity to gain Emotion Points.

Lucas then suddenly yelled loudly in the front of a crowded medical store. “I want to tell you all a joke,” Lucas paused then continued. “A woman gets on a bus with her baby. The bus driver says: “Ugh, that’s the ugliest baby I’ve ever seen!” The woman walks to the rear of the bus and sits down, fuming. She says to a man next to her: “The driver just insulted me!” The man says: “You go up there and tell him off. Go on, I’ll hold your monkey for you.”

The crowd grew silent, then gradually sounds of laughter carried throughout the street.

“What I really want to say is, when I walk in the market, I expect to see treasures, but you monkeys need a warning sign on your face.” As Lucas finished the crowd turned into extreme anger, none of the people coming to buy drugs are kind people. So Lucas has no sympathy about insulting them.

However, the crowd slowly walked towards them, all of the people were dressed to be homeless or horrible people. Lucas instantly teleported away from the store leaving Pake alone in the centre. The crowd became confused, but soon converted their anger onto Pake who was next to him.

“Do you guys believe… that I don’t know him?” Pake asked hesitant towards the crowd of people that stared at him like a starving wolf. As they stepforward Lucas immediately sprinted off.

“Lucas, I hate you!” Pake yelled after escaping from the crowd, kicking Lucas on the bottom.

Just when they were joking around along the street, a mission suddenly appeared in Lucas’s mind.

(Purchase the rock on the right side of the street- rewards: medium amount of Spirit power.)

Lucas stopped from laughter, noticing a rock on the right side reflected glaring red light that was materialised by the system. Lucas walked over to the store seeing a middle aged man lying lazily on the table. In front of him was a box of ordinary black rocks.

There were no clients near the store, the dust on top of the various rocks proved how awful the income of the store is. The rocks within the box showed no special perspectives, they just seem like the ordinary rocks you’ll find on the street. Lucas glanced within the box, what attracted his attention was the red light in his mind reflected upon a brown sandy stone at the bottom.

Lucas pulled out the stone from the bottom, “How much does this cost?” Lucas asked, waving at the owner who nearly fell asleep.

“A thousand.” The owner turned back to look at Lucas.

“Fifty bucks.” Lucas asked for a different price.

“Deal” the man suddenly stood up with bright light through his eyes.

Lucas saw his reaction and regretted his offer, should've said ten, Lucas thought silently.

“What the hell?” Pake watched the purchase in shock, none of what happened made sense to him. Why did Lucas run straight to a random rock, and how did a rock go from a thousand bucks to fifty in second?

Lucas did not confuse the confusion he caused Pake, Lucas felt the large amount of Spirit Power rushing into his body as the reward of the mission. He didn’t have time to check the uniqueness of the rock, instead he sat down on the street seeking an opportunity to break through the barriers of Bronze 2. Pake viewed the peculiar actions of Lucas, shockingly seeing the Spirit Powers around the atmosphere get absorbed into Lucas in rapid succession, by the time he realised what’s happening, Lucas already became a Bronze 3 Spiriture.

“Bro what the hell?” Pake asked in anger and astonishment. How come he spent nearly a year to become a Bronze 3 ranked Spiriture but it only took Lucas a few weeks.

Lucas stood up seeing the gaze from Pake and other people walking past them. Lucas felt the improvement with the volume of internal storage and additional length to teleport. Lucas finally got a chance to depict the rock he just purchased. Ignoring the shock from Pake, he took a grasp on the rock feeling then sniffed on the rock. It seemed like just a normal sandy rock, Lucas suddenly pegged it to the ground. In the shocked eyes of Pake, the rock broke into pieces but within the rock, a beam of glimmering lights shone throughout the store. What’s left on the ground was a Spirit stone filled with blue lights. Lucas felt the rich Spirit Power inside the stone and realised that it was a gold ranked Spirit stone, but what’s more surprising was the element of the stone. Space it was a space related Spirit stone, seeing what the stone is, the owner of the store turned into jealousy, regretting the deal with Lucas. Knowing that selling a gold ranked spirit stone could replace years of working.

“Bro how did you know, this is actually not possible.” Pake asked in bewilderment, realising that Lucas is becoming more and more mysterious to him. He use to think that he knew Lucas from head to toe, but after Lucas gained his Talent, Lucas had become so skilled and talented that he felt strange.

“I guess space has some sort of connection within each other, I can feel the element of space within the rock.” Lucas lied, as Pake won’t believe him even if he told the truth, plus he enjoys remaining as a mystery to everyone.

Lucas and Pake continued walking around the market, they both bought some elixirs for improvements of quality. Lucas also walked around annoying random strangers, then Lucas decided to sing, he also bought a speaker to increase the volume of the “mesmerising music” which also caused some people to chase after them but Lucas just teleported away.

Just when they walked by a street, the system's voice ringed in his mind again.

(Mission: save Anna from assassination. Reward: teleportation level and internal storage level +1)

Although the power of skills varies, the level of skills can be improved by proficiency. The highest skill level anyone reached was level 10. It was estimated by the professors that every 10 levels, the skill will experience a qualitative change, developing additional functions.

As the sound of the system occurred, a beam of red light arose from a man wearing a dark suit, sitting in the corner of a*****e. Following his view was Anna and Kenny who were also in the store.

Lucas dragged Pake into the store, “Later, when I say attack, shoot at that man in the corner with your greatest power ok?” Lucas instructed Pake while pointing at the man sitting in the corner staring at Anna.

“Bro why?” was confused by all Lucas’s weird behaviours, although Lucas was quite odd before, but today all his actions seemed random.

“Just trust me yeah?” Lucas said as he pulled out his sword to secretly sneak behind the man. He knows Pake will trust him, just like he always did.

Just when Anna was about to leave the store, the man followed behind her, silver lights came out of his palm materialising a dagger. The man dashed towards Anna, the Spirit power of silver 7 expressed from his attack.

“Now,” Lucas yelled, hearing Lucas Pake threw the prepared fire ball into his body with maximum power, Lucas then teleported and stopped the dagger from stabbing Anna in the back. But the difference between ranks was huge, Lucas flew out of the store by the giant force from the assassin.

Anna turned back immediately then witnessed the attack and Lucas’s protection. The wings of an angel appeared on her back, then flew out to the sky leaving Kenny alone in the store.

“I don’t know her, I don’t know her!” Kenny yelled in frighten after realising the rank of the assassin. then sprinted away from the assassin.

Anna didn't find Kenny's departure surprising, and in fact, she felt a sense of relief that he had finally left.

Lucas approached, joining Anna and Pake as they encircled the assassin. Anna activated her zone alongside Pake and Lucas, causing an immediate surge in their Spirit power and strength. Lucas could feel his Spirit power level rise to bronze 5.

"This is what a zone feels like," Lucas gasped in amazement at the tremendous effect the zone was having. He had heard of zones before; they were unique skills that Spiritures could develop when they reached the Silver level. However, only one in a hundred Spiritures had the potential to develop a zone. A zone could enhance the power of others and the individual within a specific area.

Pake's power also increased to the Silver level. The assassin, realising that the mission had been exposed, still made a desperate dash toward Anna, seeking one final chance. Anna conjured a sword of light within her palm, materialising it with her power. She swung the sword of light to confront the charging assassin.

Seeing an opening, Lucas and Pake simultaneously launched their attacks on the assassin. Fire enveloped Pake's fist as he delivered a powerful blow to the assassin's back. Meanwhile, Lucas swung the sword with precision, slashing at the assassin's shoulder, causing further injury.

Realising he was outnumbered and facing imminent capture, the assassin attempted to escape. But just as he rushed out of the encirclement, Lucas suddenly teleported in front of him, causing the assassin to trip and fall to the ground. Before he could react, Pake's fireball followed, hitting the man's back and engulfing him in flames. The assassin rolled on the ground, desperately trying to extinguish the fire.

A beam of light crashed down on the man once more, eliciting a pained yell. Seizing the opportunity, Lucas retrieved a large metal chain from his internal storage and expertly tied the man up.

"Thank you," Anna approached Lucas, her eyes filled with appreciation and astonishment at his talent.

"All good," Lucas replied simply, feeling the levels of his internal storage and teleportation skills increase by one.

"Is your talent Space?" Anna asked, seeking confirmation.

"Yeah," Lucas confirmed. At this point, there was no reason to hide his talent, and Anna seemed astute enough to have guessed.

"Anyways, thank you very much for saving me today. My family will certainly return the favour," Anna said resolutely.

"I'll tell you what I need when I know," Lucas smiled in response. He knew from George that Anna belonged to the Miller family, one of the most prominent Spiriture families in Lensland, boasting thousands of advanced Spiritures.

Lucas and Anna walked away toward the exit, leaving Pake to carry the captured assassin.

"Where's Kenny gone?" Lucas asked casually, despite having noticed Kenny's hasty departure when danger had arisen.

"You don't actually think we're together, do you?" Anna replied with a smirk.

"No, of course not," Lucas quickly clarified.

"We're family friends. My family wants me to maintain a decent relationship with him, at least for now," Anna explained softly.

As they exited the market, people from Anna's family arrived to pick up the captured assassin. Among them was Kenny, who rushed toward Anna with a display of concern.

"Are you okay, Anna?" he inquired, feigning worry. "I was so worried."

"I'm fine," Anna replied before turning her attention back to Lucas. "Thank you, today," she expressed her gratitude. "Tell me if you ever need anything. I'll tell my dad about you saving me," she added.

"Don't worry about it, but do be cautious. He clearly knows where you've been," Lucas cautioned, looking over towards the assassin, concern evident in his voice.

"I will," Anna asserted. "Well, see you at school," she said before purposefully walking past Kenny. The guards escorted the captured assassin to a waiting car, while Anna was guided into another luxurious vehicle.

As Lucas prepared to leave with Pake, Kenny blocked his path.

"Don't get any ideas about Anna," Kenny warned, his eyes revealing a sinister intent.

"You're truly absurd," Lucas retorted, walking past Kenny. Anger flared in Kenny, but he was too intimidated to confront both Lucas and Pake simultaneously.

"Be careful," Pake advised, recognizing the despicableness in Kenny's gaze.

“It’ll be fine,”