CHAPTER 29: COST OF TAKING A DAY OFF

"Young master..."

Deklan glanced at Marsha across from him and raised a brow.

"Sup?"

"Are you going to continue staying in your hut?"

"Oh? Aren’t you becoming too bold now? Are you suggesting that I should stay here close to you?"

"What—?" Marsha blinked, her face flushing crimson again as she waved both hands frantically. "That is not what I meant, young master! I’d never suggest something like that! I was only asking if you are planning to return to your family."

"My family?" Deklan bites a big piece from the loaf, filling his mouth. "Why do you ask?"

"You’ve become an Exorcist, so I’m sure your family will accept you again," Marsha answered.

And for a second, Deklan found it plausible.

Based on the previous Deklan’s memory, he was exiled because he was trash with no talent, and also because of something bad that he did. I can’t really remember what he did, but it must be really, really bad.

Deklan recalled the Marquis’ face that was twisted in unbridled anger.

It was clear in his memory, but he couldn’t remember what the previous Deklan did, no matter how hard he tried. Forcing himself to recall that specific memory made his head hurt, so he didn’t push it any further.

He was sure that it’d come back naturally.

Besides, I couldn’t return right now.

"No—I’m not going to return to my family any time soon," Deklan said as he placed down the loaf and pivoted his position to face Marsha properly; his face looked serious. "To tell you the truth, recently I have been possessed by an unknown Spirit or Ghost, I don’t know..."

Marsha was taken aback by what she said.

She thought he was preparing to tell her something about her family, not this.

"A Spirit or a Ghost?"

"Hmm... Whatever it was, it changed me. I’m not an Exorcist. I don’t even have any Mana Veins."

"Then how did you...?" Marsha blinked before her pupils dilated in realization.

"Yes," Deklan nodded. "Somehow, I become a Ghost. My body can use mana the way Ghosts do."

It was a big revelation.

For a good minute, Marsha stared at Deklan blankly.

One could see the gears in her mind were working hard to process what she had just learned.

Deklan peeked a glance at her.

Damn, did I make a mistake? I thought I’d be open to her.

Instead of beating around the bush, Deklan was hoping that he’d at least secure someone with who he could share his concerns. Hiding the fact that he has a Ghost physiology would be harder, and harder as he grew stronger, so he thought making Marsha aware of this early would save him the trouble.

But the silence must mean she was not on board.

He underestimated Humans’ problems and views towards Ghosts.

It seemed he was too hasty.

Sigh... I’ve got no choice but to kill her then.

[So much for not killing the elderly, women, and children.]

Hey, I’d uphold that vow when there are people to judge me around. But when alone? That’s different.

[Right... You really want to go home, huh, host?]

Desperately.

Just as Deklan was about to make it quick, he stopped.

"So that’s why you’re that strong, young master," Marsha leaned back on her chair, almost as if she was relieved to hear about Deklan’s condition. "I’ve been stupid..."

"Huh?" Deklan tilted his head, confused. "Why do you look so relieved?"

"It’s... It’s nothing," Marsha fanned her face with her hand sheepishly. "All this time I thought that I’m so weak in comparison to the other Exorcists—that even the young master, who only trained without mana, was stronger than me."

"..."

Deklan stood up suddenly, approached Marsha, and pulled on her cheek again.

"You should really stop underestimating yourself; it’s annoying to hear." He said, clearly annoyed.

"Oww~!" Marsha whimpered helplessly. "Don’t be mean to me, young master..."

"Anyway," Deklan let go and shrugged his shoulders. "I’m not going back to my family until I get my Mana Veins."

"Got your Mana Veins? You can only be born with them, young master?"

"Who said that?"

Deklan walked out of his house with a chuckle as he got exactly the item that’d help me with that.

Before doing anything, he exercised in the back of his lodging to build up his body.

For someone who used to be a bully, it’s annoying to see that literally every man in the hamlet has more muscles than him. If all the men were lined up, Deklan would look like the perfect victim to be bullied, with how scrawny he was.

One might even think he’d topple over from a strong breeze.

His exercises were simple but effective.

A few laps around the hut, a hundred push-ups, sit-ups, and squats.

All done without using mana, of course.

Once he was finished, he dropped to the ground like an autumn leaf and panted heavily.

Marsha brought him water to satiate his thirst—and in a couple of minutes, after he caught his breath, he could feel his mind clearer than ever. He leaned against the wooden stake and opened the new item he gained.

...

[Awakening Ritual]

Rank: S

Description: A powerful ritual that would tap into the hidden talent inside the host’s body and awaken the dormant Mana Veins; the more mana harvested from the sacrificial material, the stronger the result of the Mana Veins would become.

...

"Hmm... Sacrifice materials? What’s that?" Deklan folded his arms, contemplating. "In horror movies I watched, sacrifice materials would be the blood and flesh of people or even a cursed item. Does that mean I have to kill people or search for a cursed item? That’s... dark."

"Young master!" Marsha emerged from around the corner, snapping him out of his daze.

In her hand was a worn-out pouch, but she was showing it like it were something worth showing.

"What did you bring?"

"You’re careless, young master. How did you not take the dusk fragments back with you?"

"Dusk fragments?"

Deklan took the pouch in confusion and looked inside, finding small pale white fragments inside.

All of them contained mana, not much, but it’s there.

"What’s this?"

"Dusk fragments from the Ghosts you killed. Brian picked them up near the river and told me to give them to you." Marsha placed a finger on her chin, looking at Deklan suspiciously. "Are you testing the people, young master? I found it hard for you to be the careless type."

"H-How can you say that to me?" Deklan smiled acutely. "I was not testing anyone."

[She’s beginning to see you for who you are, host.]

Shut up!

Deklan rubbed his forehead as Marsha must’ve viewed him like this because of that night.

In any case, he took one of the Dusk Fragments and inspected it.

Appearance-wise, the Dusk Fragment in his hand is a thin, sharp of pale green crystal that shimmered faintly as though threads of liquid light swirled within. Deklan could feel the mana inside—and there’s also something more.

But he couldn’t quite grasp what it was.

Curious, Deklan tried absorbing the Dusk Fragment.

Since his body has the anatomy of a Ghost, he could absorb it seamlessly with his body alone.

A surge swelled from within; it brought the same feeling as eating Basic Mana Candy or a Mana Apple.

However, the mana he could absorb isn’t that much.

I can only absorb about sixty percent of its mana—the rest just slips right through me. Compared to a Basic Mana Candy or even a Mana Apple, this thing’s inferior. Still, it’s good to know. If weaker Ghosts like the Pale Draggles drop these, then stronger ones must carry far better Dusk Fragments.

"Here, use this for yourself," Deklan handed the pouch back to Marsha.

"Eh?" Marsha accepted the pouch in confusion. "How can you give this to me, young master? You’re the one who single-handedly killed those Ghosts. I’ve done nothing but give you trouble. I don’t think it’s right for me to use them?"

Deklan looked at her with a blank gaze.

Then, he stood up, grabbed the pouch again, and walked away.

"If you don’t want to use them, then I guess I’ll throw them away."

"W-Wait a minute! Throw them away? Alright, young master, I’ll use them!"

"Heh," Deklan gave the pouch back and rubbed Marsha’s head. "If I say use them, then use them. I’m not stingy enough to hog all the resources to myself. I did show you something bad that night, but I’m not always like that."

"Y-Yes..." Marsha blushed and nodded.

Deklan walked past her, heading back to his lodging as he picked his ears.

Of course, I’d hog all the resources, but I’m rather bloated. Besides, those things aren’t worth keeping.

As he headed back to the lodging, he exhaled through his mouth.

He was planning to laze around after working hard to get good grades in the finals, but now, it seemed like he was forced to work hard again to go home. I took a couple of days off to recover my mental state, so naturally, things that I needed to do piled up.

Whatever... One thing at a time.

Later that night.

Deklan was now sitting on the bed with a book in hand.

Since he needed to find a way to handle this bloated situation or else he’d be stuck at the third-star iron rank, he scoured the Shop in search of something that could help him. Fortunately enough, he found what he was looking for in the Consumables section.

It was a book called Beginner Ghost Manual costing a meager 20 Spooky Dollars.

From killing the Pale Draggles, completing the sudden quest, along subtracting the items he bought to handle the mother and son duo, Deklan currently has 87 Spooky Dollars. And after buying the book, he was now left with 67 Spooky Dollars.

[Do you want to learn the content of the book instantly, host?]

"I can do that?" Deklan laughed, tapping his knees. "I guess you can be really useful, system."

"Do it!"

As soon as he gave the word, the book began to ooze with mana.

It floated from Deklan’s hand and fired a mental beam towards his head as page after page turned, with each beam instantly drilling information into Deklan’s mind. Expecting the process to hurt, Deklan was surprised to find that it didn’t.

Rather, it almost felt like his brain was directly massaged directly.

The process only took about a minute, and when it was done, Deklan opened his eyes again.

His lips curled into a smile.

"As I expected, to truly reach the bronze-rank, I need to begin forming my own Minor Presence," He thought aloud, replaying how the Pale Night Lady was using her own Minor Presence to influence him badly that night. "There are a few selections. I wonder... which one should I pick?"