Fair Punishment and Divine Remuneration

"... And with that, I decree the Inspections Head-Officer Lorenz, the merchant Silver Hawk and his accomplice Daure, and 12 other involved members guilty of kidnapping, slave-trading, tax-evasion, destruction of property, formation of corrupt organizations and murder."

"They will each be taken into custody for a range of 25 to 100 years, depending on their involvement in the aforementioned misdeeds. There will be no chance for Cultivation while imprisoned."

City Lord, Orald announced his decision loudly in the Main Plaza of Monsoon City. He continued:

"The assets and possessions of the Silver Hawk Group will be expropriated, and will be managed by the City Mansion, with 50% of the current wealth being compensation to the victims of slave-trading and property destruction."

Silver Hawk, who knelt on on the plaza, still bound with chains, widened his eyes in horror and screamed out:

"NO! Y-YOU... You can't do this! I EARNED MY MONEY THROUGH FAIR AND HARD WORK! Y-hmph... mphmmm."

Orald glanced down in spite, and motioned a Monsoon Sect Cultivator to gag the sentenced merchant. When the noise died down, he coldly said:

"You should have never plotted against innocent people, you greedy idiot."

The masses of people and Cultivators gathered at the plaza cheered, scoffed or voiced out angry complaints, obviously not happy with just incarceration.

...

Alessandro and Joey stood next to each other at the edge of the plaza, their own feelings about the verdict buried silently in their mind.

Alessandro clicked his tongue.

"Tsk, should've killed him when I had the chance..."

Joey arched his eyebrow and replied in a nonchalant manner:

"Well, even as a Qi Realm Cultivator, he'll be an old man when he gets out a hundred years later."

He sighed and straightened his gaze to face the effigy of Monsoon, the Spirit-Beast of Monsoon City's founder, centuries ago.

"Perhaps, that fate is even worse than death..."

The blacksmith was a bit unhappy with that train of thought, but steered the topic in a different direction.

"That boy... Spark, has he still not woken up?"

Joey frowned and solemnly shook his head:

"Not yet, we'll have to wait patiently. The doctors said it is only a matter of time until he does."

"It has been three days already!" the blonde giant hissed with a complicated expression.

Joey stayed silent, before slightly nodding and whispering:

"It's only a matter of time..."

...

In the March abode, Spark rested on his bed with closed eyes. He was still in the same position he was placed in three days ago.

But for the first time in a while, his body twitched and shuddered, before suddenly excreting black liquid through his pores in a massive thrust, as if unclogging and venting all toxins inside at the same time.

There was not too much of the black mass, but somehow, it was unbelievably darker and more foul than the one he shedded after eating the Bone Marrowing Pill.

It seemed like every single fibre of his being had rid itself of all excess that was not important for its performance.

Spark's nose twitched and scrunched up.

His eyes ripped open, and in instinctive movement, he pinched his nose immediately.

'FOUL!'

Retches climbed his throat, but first and foremost, an amalgation of physical sensations filled his mind.

He felt hungry, stiff and... different.

His body felt weird, something deep inside of him swirled around in untangible mystery, but he couldn't quite put his finger around what it was.

At that moment, a row of runes shimmering in dark light glared up in front of his face.

[Part-Divine Awakening was successful.]

Spark's heart missed a beat when he finished reading the sentence.

Memories of the Battle of the Night flashed to his memories, a scorching pain suddenly boiled up in his abdomen, but when he double-checked it was just an illusion.

"I really am... alive."

He shuddered and couldn't supress a relieved smile from forming. He was really alive... That night, he had thought his second life was over.

After three measly days, he died again, trying to save a dozen of slum kids like a heroic martyr.

'I'm so foolish...' he thought, a wet membrane forming on his eyes before taking his head into his palms and entertaining another fact:

'I'm so weak...'

The young man then stared at the ceiling before adopting a bearing of resolve, and promising.

'I... I need to become stronger... I don't ever want to feel like that again.'

'For my life to be in the clutches of another man... A man that wasn't exceptionally talented... not even that strong... and not even... fucking... witty.'

'For such a measly bastard to...' he hit the wall with his fist, and his face contorted to a shudder-inducing myriad of fury, self-deprecation and determination.

Tears of rage dropped on the bedding.

A deep unwillingness clobbered his heart. A feeling of shame and apprehension rose up inside him.

Immediately, he willed the black runes to appear.

---

[Théo Floga's Soulslate]

[Cultivation: Late Body Foundation[Part-Divine Awakened]]

[Elements: ?, ?, ?, ?, ?]

[Spirit Bond: not acquired]

[Soul Bounds: not acquired]

[Skills: Foreign Being , The Favored Prospect , Cochlean Implant, ? , ? , ? , ? , ?]

---

Spark's eyes turned to bowling-balls.

"What the hell?'

He couldn't process what he read.

"Is this because I partly Awakened?"

It took him a while to recover and ask in a stammer:

"So... what this means is I have awakened 5 Elements and 5 Skills, which I cannot access as of now?"

Spark was incredulous. He wouldn't believe it before the question marks turned into something he could work with.

"But... are 5 Elements even possible?"

And he had only reached the Late-Stage of the Body Foundation! He did not even enter the Qi Realm.

"This is truly a divine Awakening..."

"I doubt I would receive another Element when I break through to the Element Awakening Realm..."

"It seems I received my blessings beforehand!"

Spark crossed his arms in thought.

"But how do I access them? Do I just break through?"

A deep sigh left his lips, as he stood up and waked out of the door.

...

"Spark is missing!"

A couple of voices screamed out in panic, upon entering an empty room.

Soon, Robert and Sona rushed into the room with widened eyes.

He really was missing!

Anxiety rose up in them instantly.

...

A short moment later, the bathroom door opened and Spark walked out nonchalantly, dressed in a fresh pair of clothes. A wet towel hung over his shoulders.

The group stared at him with gaping mouths.

Tali, Terry, Heel, Berenya, Leonard and Kiana stood next to Sona and Robert and looked at the grinning young man.

"Oh, good afternoon, everybody."

Kiana ran to him first, tears forming in her eyes. Immediately, the rest followed and jumped onto the young man with cries of relief.

Spark was thrown to the ground, and gave a pained chuckle, "Was I out for so long? You guys acting like we didn't see each other for a dozen years."

Sona came closer and gave him a hug. Her eyes were red and sobs mixed with her words:

"Don't ever do something that dangerous again, promise... Don't just leave a little writing on the ground and think you're good to do dangerous stuff."

Spark remembered the note he left on the ground in front of the house and instinctively rubbed her back and sighed:

"I promise... I promise..."

Robert and Terry seemed to be very emotional, too, judging by their faces.

Not surprising considering that Spark practically left Terry's flat to go and nearly die a couple hours later!

His own family didn't even know about the impeding danger, so he could assume why they reacted like that. He was randomly brought back home in an unconscious state.

When everyone calmed down and expressed their relief, the emotional moment was disturbed by a loud rumbling.

All gazes turned to Spark, making him a bit uncomfortable. He scratched his temples in embarassment and asked:

"Is there anything to eat in the house?"

...

"I was out for three days?!"

Spark was shocked when he was told how long it had been. No wonder he felt so hungry!

Berenya, a girl with dark hair and blue eyes chuckled and gave a comment:

"Yes... It's been three days! Uncle Joey and the rest will be so glad to hear you finally woke up."

Spark gulped down a piece of bread, after carefully disassembling it into thousand pieces with his teeth.

He knew not to rush with the food after starving for such a long time, and slowly gulped down his food, piece by piece.

Sona stood in the kitchen and prepared a feast for everyone to enjoy. The mood in the March abode has turned festive after Spark woke up.

Robert went to the market to prepare drinks and more food, and in the meanwhile Heel went to inform the others, who currently stayed at Joey and Jessie's.

Spark nodded in understandment:

"No wonder you were so shocked! Hahaha"

Trying to downplay the whole occurence, he made light of his situation by saying:

"It seems I overestimated myself a bit. No need to worry about it, it was nothing too serious!"

Berenya's face turned into a sad frown. She remembered the night, Spark's sacrifice, and his bloodied body in Joey's arms. She couldn't utter another word. Unbeknownst to Spark, who was busy eating, her face turned staid and determined.

Kiana, who still grabbed on his clothes, knitted her eyebrows and exclaimed:

"What do you mean, nothing serious! I thought you would never wake up... idiot."

Spark glanced at her and gave a deafeated chuckle:

"Shouldn't you pray for me to wake up as soon as possible?"

...

The door opened up and bartender Joey, well... former bartender Joey, stormed in along with Jessie, Borza and the rest of the kids.

The scene of before repeated until everyone finally calmed down.

Spark was a bit overwhelmed by the array of emotions everbody showed.

He hadn't experienced something like this in a long time. Was there someone in his former life, who cared so deeply about him?

Perhaps, only a handful of friends...

A slight smile urged itself onto him.

Robert has returned by now and March's abode was filled with laughter and levity. A grand feast was prepared, with many dishes and snacks.

The men old enough, enjoyed beers and ales, while the mature ladies drank cups of wine.

Spark cooked up a Spiritual Plant for the younger kids, and for himself of course, who slurped it up with surprise and deep enjoyment.

...

"What?! We actually receive 50% of Silver Hawk's businesses and of his private property, too?"

Joey laughed wildly, "Yes! The City Lord is a fair and generous person! I admire him very much!"

"It's for the compensation of all the victims."

Spark, a bit light-headed by now, slurped on a beer, and chuckled back:

"So, there is such a thing! You heard that kids?! Your fate is already starting to change!"

The kids laughed cheerily and their hearts filled with complicated emotions when Spark joked around like that.

"With that, you don't even have to involve yourself further in dangerous situations! You can just move into the Inner City and live the life you deserve!"

Some of the kids showed shocked expressions, while others kept silent. Spark looked around, seeing the disparity of the faces.

"You brats, that's a thing to celebrate!"

He lifted his cup into the air, toasting with every person in the room. His mood was excellent. Not only has he awakened Elements, granted, not fully, but the financial future of the kids was also secured!

That evening, everybody in the room was huddled around Spark like a fence. He was the main focus. Meaningful gazes stared at him the entire time, with him being somewhat oblivious to it.

The evening switched into night quickly, until the party was finally over at some point.

Seeing his father and Joey passed out on the couch, Spark, Jessie and his mother chuckled heavily.

The kid's were lying around the living room and bedroom chaotically, sleeping in futons and bedding. It was a funny sight.

He bade his mother and Jessie goodnight, and left the living room, being extra careful to not step on anybody lying on the ground.

Going to his room, he saw Borza spreaded out on the floor in a obscene position. He snored loudly and scratched his furry body. Kiana was sleeping soundly in his bed, mumbling something under her breath.

He positioned the blanket over her neatly, before smiling slightly and vanishing through the wall.

A crescent moon shone softly on the outskirts that night. Cold gusts of wind blew on Spark's skin, but he hardly felt it.

It was as if the cold welcomed an old friend.

He unsheathed a sharp iron sword from his waistband, and brandished it in the air.