Chapter 69: I See Floating Words

"What... is this?"

Rhos asked the question in an uncertain tone, keeping his voice low enough that it wouldn’t carry through the apartment.

The hour had deepened into the night, and the eastern lower ring gradually surrendered most into peace and quiet.

Though it wasn’t completely quiet, especially not this far down where too many people lived inside too little space.

But the sounds filtering through the apartment walls had diminished to the occasional footsteps in the hallway, the distant sounds of machinery and the muffled voices from the neighbors.

Koa was asleep in her bedroom, apparently sharing her bed with the little girl who now possessed the name Morri. In truth, Rhos did not expect this.

Despite outward appearances, Koa was surprisingly good with children. She wasn’t affectionate in the traditional sense, nor had she suddenly become bubbly or maternal, but Morri seemed comfortable around her.

The little girl had taken to her almost immediately, allowing Koa to feed her, clean her and lead her into the bedroom without resistance.

Meanwhile, Rhos had failed awkwardly at every attempt to connect with the child.

He tried talking to Morri using what Koa taught him about body language, only for the girl to stare at him as though he were an especially stupid animal. He tried offering her food but she was already full. He even tried to pat her head but she immediately swatted it away with enough hostility to discourage him from trying again.

’I’d make a terrible father’

Rhos really tried but nothing he did worked. The ability to connect with a child right off the bat must have been a woman thing. Or Koa must have been better at this than he was.

With a sigh, he tried not to think about it too deeply. Something else concerned him.

Despite knowing Morri was somewhere inside Koa’s bedroom, he could not actually tell that she was there. The only way he knew she was inside was because he watched her go in.

Just like before, he couldn’t sense her spiritual energy. Even his natural senses couldn’t pick her out.

His enhanced hearing couldn’t distinguish the tiny movements someone her size should have made while sleeping beside Koa. His nose couldn’t isolate her scent from the bedroom either.

The territorial awareness that normally allowed him to construct an imperfect mental understanding of his surroundings treated the space beside Koa as empty.

’That isn’t creepy at all’

Yes. It was just unsettling.

Rhos was certain he established some kind of connection with Morri. Naming her caused something inside his soul to respond, so logically he should have been more capable of knowing where she is at all times... right?

He had more questions regarding that but they weren’t as immediate as his current problem.

It was the strangest thing.

Words were floating in front of him.

Rhos sat alone on the sofa with the apartment lights turned off. Although his eyesight was considerably better than an ordinary person’s, complete darkness was still complete darkness. He could still make out the vague shapes of furniture through what little light entered from outside.

As such, the bright, perfectly legible words suspended in the darkness without any visible source stood out.

They read as follows:

[You have a new Record in your Spirit Archive]

They had been there ever since he named Morri, without changing.

At first he assumed the strange sensation following the naming had temporarily affected his vision. But that didn’t appear to be the case.

He seemed to be the only one who could see them too because he tried asking Koa if she could see anything floating in front of his face and she shook her head.

Judging by the look she gave him afterward, he successfully made himself seem insane.

Following that, he concluded he was seeing things and tried to ignore the message.

He finished his dinner, washed himself, changed clothes and spent a long while lying on the sofa with his eyes closed, hoping the words would disappear.

But they did not. The red light coming out from them made it irritatingly difficult to sleep.

[You have a new Record in your Spirit Archive]

"What is it?"

Now sitting cross legged on the sofa with his two fingers placed against his chin. Rhos tried to say something to show he acknowledges the words, but nothing happened.

"Am I hallucinating?"

Maybe it was the healing pod.

Rhos had never used one before. Perhaps being submerged in spiritually saturated water while machinery forced his heart to regenerate had some unusual neurological side effects he wasn’t warned about.

Although hallucinating a perfectly stable sentence seemed strangely specific. Also, he didn’t think hallucinations worked like that.

Well, when dealing with strange stuff like this, there was one person to call...uh, creature to call.

First, he willed his awareness to spread through the apartment and into the immediate surroundings. Koa remained in her bedroom. Nobody stood outside the door and the nearest neighbors were either asleep or distracted with their own lives.

This was good enough. Nobody paid any attention to him at this moment.

His voice dropped into a whisper as he called out:

"Neth"

A small flash of golden light illuminated the room and from it, a tiny figure with six translucent wings quickly zipped through the darkness.

[Human!]

[Rejoice! Rejoice! Rejoice!]

Its sudden loud voice nearly made him jump off the sofa.

"Be quiet!"

[You have done it!]

[Your first Spirit has been successfully established! Record! Named! Recognized!]

It completely ignored his words. It flew around his head excitedly, leaving thin trails of light behind it.

Even though he didn’t know what would happen if he touched it, Rhos snatched at it, but it effortlessly flew beyond his reach.

"Keep your voice down. There are people sleeping here"

And it might attract unwanted attention.

[The habits of lowly humans are not relevant to me]

Neth stopped directly in front of his face, its single hollow vertical eye stared at him.

[Nevertheless, congratulations are appropriate. Morri is quite the name. Concise. Distinct. Easily carried. Pleasantly suited to your Spirit]

Rhos spent a considerable amount of time stressing over the right name. Being acknowledged felt strangely satisfying.

"The name really mattered"

[Of course!]

[A name is not merely a collection of sounds when given under the correct circumstances. You recognized something that lacked an established identity and gave that identity form. She recognized your intention and accepted it in return]

[Even simple things possess more weight than humans generally appreciate]

’Well, that explains the sensation earlier’

Rhos looked toward the bedroom where the two girls were sleeping. He sighed.

At this point, he had learned not to expect Neth’s explanations to make complete sense on the first attempt.

He pointed toward the floating message.

"Can you see that?"