With my decision made, I walked up to the entrance of the Spirit Confluence. A young man stood guard at the entrance and a receptionist looking lady sat nearby.
"Twenty silver, sir" the guard said, intensely scrutinizing my face.
"What? The sign says fifteen right there," I retorted, pointing at the large board.
With a stern expression, he started to reply "Special circumstances. It's—"
"Tim! You can't go around slapping a 33% pretty fee on every handsome boy you see!" The receptionist lady cut in, getting out of her seat.
As she met my gaze, a blush colored her face. "Ahh sir, sorry about that. I-it's five silver, sir" she said, doing the 👉👈 gesture, which was pretty cute.
"Wendy! You can't go around giving pretty boys a 66% discount! What will your father say!"
"I have the authority to give discounts!" She shot back, her blush disappearing in an instant.
After they finished their squabble, I handed her fifteen silver against her insistence, and we walked into the small building.
Soon, I saw a worn-down interior, and was greeted by a middle aged man who I can assume to be Wendy's father.
"Looking for your first spirit, young Awakened? Or are you already Spiritbound?"
"My first," I replied curtly.
"Ah, I see." Giving me a cheery smile, he led me into a door of dark stone veined with faintly glowing formation lines. Behind the door was another door of the same caliber.
"Based on the reading conducted this May, there should be 43 Lesser grade spirits and 26 Aspect ones here. The Aspect ones have been here for a while, their wills worn down."
Then, he turned to look at me with a faint smile. "Who knows, maybe you'll be the one to secure one. When did you Awaken?"
"Fifteen."
A surprised expression flickered across his face. "That's young. Do you really need to come to a place like this for contracts? I thought you'd be swarmed by potential-seeking spirits.
I know spirits can be quite peculiar, but there's a good amount who seek talent and hard work."
At his words I frowned as I realized something: I've never been approached by a spirit… Not an Aspect grade, or even a Lesser one.
For comparison, the average Awakened is approached by around 1.5 spirits before 18. If they Awakened by 16, the average is around 4. For 15, it should be in the double digits. Yet, I hadn't been approached by a single one…
Is there something wrong with me?
"I guess I've just been unlucky," I eventually mumbled after a long pause.
"Alright, you can go in," he said, brushing off my strange circumstances as the second door opened, revealing an ordinary looking garden.
What set it apart was the air, dense with spirit essence.
"If no spirits attempt to form a contract with you after ten minutes, just leave. Lingering longer will do nothing except waste our time."
"Okay."
The realization still persisted in my mind, perturbing me as I circled the garden.
Why had no spirits ever approached me? I was talented, hardworking, intelligent, and very cute—so why? Was I haunted? Am I some kind of spirit lncel?
Questions plagued my mind as I walked around the small area.
Originally, I had worried about the possible stipulations a spirit's contract might impose; perhaps I'd be forced into pacifism by an overtly kindred spirit, or mass slaughter by a malevolent spirit, or saddled with some other clause that would cripple me.
But now, I face bigger issues as no spirits approached me.
My celibacy from spirits wouldn't be voluntary anymore… I'd be involuntary celibate… An lncel…
NO, no, no. Surely, I just haven't found the right one yet. Let me just spend ten more minutes walking around this place.
…
Why are we here, just to suffer?
I held my head low as I walked out. "So you didn't get one huh. What was weird was that all the spirits seemed to be purposefully avoiding you, like me and women.
It was quite hard to discern though, the equipment is pretty low quality, but it seemed like the spirits always ran to the polar opposite side. I've never seen something like that happen before. Did your ancestry do some terrible spiricaust in the past and cursed your bloodline?" He remarked amusedly.
"Well, looks like you can only rely on subjugated spirits. Hope you'll find a way to scrounge up the money for that."
Smiling bitterly, I bit my lip. It seemed like I really was cursed.
For the future, I'll need to rely on Subjugated spirits. They were typically superior to wild ones, but costlier and had one major drawback… also very unethical I guess.
Once a Spiritbound with a Domain grade spirit reaches the Ascendent realm, they are able to 'subjugate' low grade spirits within their domain by breaking their will, forcing them into submission.
Afterward, such spirits could be sold in Spirit Emporiums for exorbitant prices. Unlike wild spirits, they would bind to anyone, impose no clauses, and grant abilities that were known and guaranteed in advance.
Their only downside—and a significant one at that—was their poor spirit essence output.
With their wills broken, these spirits generated only a fraction of the essence wild ones could, forcing Spiritbound to be reliant on their own regeneration and conserve it well in fights.
Because of this, many Awakened with great ambition for power—and perhaps, little money—preferred forming natural contracts.
I was one of them, which was why I spent most of my money on a storage ring rather than purchasing subjugated spirits.
Now, that plan was destroyed.
The purchase wasn't detrimental though, I could always resell the ring for around the same price. It wasn't like a car which lost 50% of its value the moment it was driven off the dealership. Not to mention, in this upcoming journey, the ring will be very convenient.
"Just you? And where's your luggage?" The inspector questioned, studying my young face as I handed him my ticket. I had made my way back to the caravan line.
"I have a storage ring. Yes, only me," I replied.
The officer's eyes widened at my words, perhaps thinking I was some rich prodigy Spiritbound when I was a broke… lncel…
Actually, I should stop calling myself broke.
Nineteen gold is a pretty substantial sum of money, possibly allowing me to live comfortably for over a decade or two.
…If I chose to live normally that is.
However, obviously I wasn't.
I was going to become a Spiritbound, ascend the realms, and gain true strength; that moment still ringing vividly in my mind.
I've talked about how meeting Selene initially pushed me to work out and step on the path of awakening, but more importantly, was the rift-break I witnessed when I was fourteen.
I'd only seen it from afar, but watching people utterly helpless before the rampaging monsters filled me with terror. Through the news and T.V., I always knew those events happened, yet I always thought I lived far removed from it.
From then on, that fear drove me to train even harder and grow stronger now with a real goal: desiring the strength to protect myself and never feel helpless, not just getting into a girl's pants.
One step along that path was leaving home for the Etern Empire.
Unlike the Vance Empire, which hoarded authority within its royalty and entranced nobility, Etern rewarded accomplishment over lineage.
Commoners could earn noble titles, and powerful guilds were permitted to form—institutions influential enough to rival high noble families and even hold seats in the Imperial Council.
That was why when I decided to leave Edgelorn, the Etern empire became the choice, rather than simply settling in another city.
Finished with the vetting process, I was about to head onto the caravan when an old lady asked if I wanted to purchase a luck charm to keep me out of danger.
I politely refused, wishing to save as much as feasible for future Spirit Emporium visits.
Not to mention, what can possibly go wrong?
The travel agency promised 101% security if I remembered correctly.