8. Aspern City

Artax continued to lay on the ground for another five minutes before finally opening it's eyes and standing up. The excitement was shining in his eyes.

"So how do I look? Mom said I was the most handsomest steed you know."

"Haha, you did get more handsome."

Seraph had a lot more good will towards Artax now compared to at first. The soul binding they went through brought them a sense of closeness but after the strange qi was absorbed by Artax he felt even closer. He could feel the foal's excitement and he didn't want to ruin it.

[Where did those bastards find these weirdos. Summoning the Blooming Spirit Tree is a legendary occurrence and there's two variants of it together on a damn lower ranked world, not only that it's a broken world!] Cal lamented in his mind.

[You need to kill something. We need some venting!]

"Uh, we?"

[Are you deaf? Kill something!]

"I'll pass Cal. I, need to get back home and figure out what to do with you."

Cal went back to pouting. He had just latched onto a new host so he was weak at the moment.

He gave Artax some vegetables and they started heading west, using the sun as a compass.

——————

They continued through the forest for a week. Seraph was about to go insane. Cal, never, stopped, talking. And everything he said was disturbing and horrific. Every night he went to sleep he had nightmares filled with murder, disasters, and destruction. His initially thought keeping Cal would just be annoying but there was more to it.

They had finally arrived on the edge of forest after a week and half of walking. Before them were rolling plains. Seraph and Cal never wanted to see a tree again.

"So now what? I've never left the forest before you know."

"Well, continue west till we see remnants of civilization I guess" Seraph muttered. He wasn't paying much attention to his surroundings after the initial surprise of leaving the forest.

He was reading the soul technique called Eyes of Multitude Mysteries. It was the only book in the space that didn't belong to the Keepers of Calamity. He had read the basic history books but there was no important information there. It only exalted how important and noble their cause was. When he tried to cultivate the technique though it would make his eyes hurt and give him a headache. Without opening the necessary meridians he wouldn't have much success in the technique.

The book that the Eyes of Multitude Mysteries inside was the only one without an ankh on the cover. Even the enormous encyclopedic on meridians had an ankh on its cover. That book combined with the large number of soul pieces was his greatest treasures. After every spirit summoning, humans had to open 12 ether points before connecting to another spirit. With the size of the book, it had to have countless ether points he could open. Normally these would be a sect or countries greatest asset, but he now had countless.

The Eyes of Multitude Mysteries was an illusion technique that made use of the opponents subconscious and life experiences to put them under an illusion. Basically, this technique would put the opponent under an illusion that they create themselves. There were other factors of course like willpower but the main component was still the opponent itself.

The blindfold Bloom gave him allowed him to see outside but no one could see his eyes. This was to protect others since in the beginning it's really to hard to control the technique. The technique also required him to open a hidden ether point in his eyes using a spirit piece from 9 Lives Spirit Cat.

Before connecting to another spirit, you have to open 12 ether points around the body. There are a countless number of them around the body and each one strengthens a different aspect of the body. Most are basic and just strengthen a limb or improve hearing, but hidden ones are found through years of research and have amazing powers when paired with the right technique.

Without a cultivation technique though Seraph couldn't try it. He had the gray fog Qi already in his soul, but he didn't know how to move Qi at all. He also had the small amount Qi that moved naturally around his body, but it wasn't very useful.

Ignoring his chapped thighs from riding a horse for so long, they continued for another week before finding a city.

They had arrived at Aspern City. An outpost city that focused on agriculture on the borders of Ageaen. He was happy he landed within Ageaen, where he at least had a better understanding of the terrain.

It would take a few more weeks on the back of Artax to reach Agea, the capital. He could only hope they could catch an air ship or just a faster mode of transportation than a foal.

[Finally some more people. Let's find a whorehouse, or we could just grab 'em off the streets hehehehe.]

"I'm six years old you dimwit."

Cal just growled through his teeth. Seraph noticed Cal's anger and anxiousness steadily build and it worried him. Cal was very violent and if he could take control of his body like he attempted while they were in the forest, the end would be horrific.

"Artax, head towards that gate there. Don't speak to anyone but me. Beasts who can speak are rare here."

Artax didn't respond but he started walking towards the gate. Maybe he was getting into character as a normal horse.

There was only a few people ahead of them getting inspected. Within a few short minutes they finally appeared in front of the guards. The guards all had at least 6 totems created.

"Name and reason for entry. Huh, it's just a foal?"

"Seraph Esprit, fourth son of the house of Esprit. Take me to the Mayor's Manor."

The guard's eyes went big in surprise that he didn't see him at first and he hurriedly called for the others in the tower.

"Th-The young master has returned! Hurry and prepare an escort!"

Seraph let out a breath of relief that they believed him. It was probably the fact that the guard didn't see him at first that gave it away. It was a pretty popular rumor that the 4th young master could turn invisible. The black hair too, since only the Esprit family had black hair within the kingdom.

Six guards surrounded him and escorted him through the streets. Aspern was agriculture focused so it wasn't as developed as other areas and most people's totems here had to deal with agriculture in some manner.

The distance to the manor was relatively short since the city itself was small. Besides a market, residential area, and few shops there was a satellite school of the Stone Steeple School. The martial arts school sponsored by his father that found talents from all over the fiefdom.

The mayor was already standing outside sweating buckets. It seemed he took advantage of the food surplus and was as round as a ball.

"Haha, young master is truly a talent seen once in a hundred years. The Master and Mistress will be beyond pleased to hear of your return."

Seraph dismounted and looked to the mayor who was trembling slightly. It seems he didn't have much experience dealing with superiors.

"Thank you mayor. I would have to ask for you to accommodate me till an escort arrives" he replied with a relieved smile. A bath, he wanted a bath. And warm food, preferably not vegetables.

"Of course young master, not as issue at all. What of the foal you brought with you?"

"His name is Artax and he is my new pet. Feed him your best oats and prepare me a brush so I can brush him after I finish my bath." He knew Artax wouldn't like being called a pet but he couldn't let others know he had a spirit totem at 6 years old.

"Of course, of course." That was followed by a whistle and a few maids came out. They escorted Seraph to the bath as the mayor went off to send the message.

The hot bath was long overdue. Traveling on horse back for two weeks left him covered in a thick layer of grime. As he was to start scrubbing, a few of maids walked in with towels and soaps. They only had on a minimal amount of clothing and caused Seraph's face to turn bright red. He wasn't a virgin in his past life but his only partner then was his wife. Now he was surrounded by three almost naked women in a bath.

The maids took the soapy rags and began to scrub him clean. He calmed down eventually and just enjoyed the treatment. That was until his hand moved on its own and ripped the towel of the maid on his right. She jumped at the sudden action but didn't seem to mind. Cal was cackling in his mind.

The rest of the maids removed their towels as well and after giving each other a glance, they climbed into the tub with him. Seraph was so embarrassed his face looked like it was about to burst from all the blood rushing to it.

Seraph crossed his arms and focused hard to not allow any stray movements again. He managed the entire bath and dinner without another mishap. At dinner, the head instructor of Stone Steeple here in Aspern joined them. After brushing Artax, who learned he absolutely loved being brushed, he settled in the room they prepared. Tomorrow he could go home. He let out a breath of relief that contained all the stress he built up in the past few weeks.

Then he slapped himself. Or, Cal did. Seraph had trouble falling asleep after that.