"Can a person contract more than one spirit on a single visit?" Arthur asked while looking at the black blade. If the night sky was a broken glass, its sharpest shard became the Stars Reaver. It had no outline or a gleam but looked like a black crack in the world, reflecting nothing. 

"No, and unless you contract a spirit, there's no way to leave the Realm." The doll said as its joints creaked. "Spiritual Weapons are different, as they have a spirit attached to them. If you contract that spirit, then you can use the weapon. Sometimes, like our friend here, it's the opposite."

"Are you going to try?" Arthur nodded and asked Li. The warrior, to Arthur's approval, shook his head.

"There's a thin line between bravery and foolishness," Li said as he turned around and left the hall. "I'm not going to fight a battle I can't win."

"Might not be a battle, but I see your point," Arthur said with a grin. Li left, and only the two remained in the hall in front of the spirit. The doll turned to Arthur questioningly.

"You should be capable of seizing this spirit and weapon," The doll questioned. "Do you crave not the power held within the weapon of a demigod?"

"I see," Arthur turned toward it. "You wanted to see my greed and thirst for power, didn't you?" The doll was silent. "Well, I can certainly feel the power within it."

Arthur said as he walked toward the throne. The masked spirit rose as the gravity increased by ten folds, a hundred folds, a thousand folds. However, Arthur walked unbothered toward the sword.

"Phew..."

The sword let out a whistle as it cut through the air. The spirit raised it and slashed toward Arthur. The chains blocked the attack, and they didn't budge an inch.

"These chains are stronger than the weapon of a demigod?" The doll muttered in shock. "No..." It retreated. "They aren't even on the same level to be compared."

"I don't know about demigods, but these bad boys can never break," Arthur said with confidence as the chains approached him like obedient snakes. He patted them with his finger as he walked back.

"Are you... one of The Nine?" The doll asked with fear. "But they shouldn't exist anymore."

"Are you talking about guardians?" Arthur was curious. "No, I'm not. Were the guardians Spirits Contractors as well?"

"That's for another day." The doll grabbed its arm and walked away. Arthur looked at its lonely back and fluttering cloak with interest. Then, he felt the gravity spirit try to make a contract with him.

"I'm sorry, but you are fated to have a contract with my friend."

***

The lonely breeze traveled between the empty buildings, whistling as they passed through the narrow gaps. Arthur swung his feet as he sat on the edge of the carpenter's roof.

A doll below him stumbled into the building, a sight that Arthur got used to by now. After a few minutes, the wooden figure walked out of the carpenter's workshop without its previous gait.

'The spirit sure is devoted to its profession,' Arthur thought to himself with a yawn. 'This place is boring,' He turned his eyes toward the figure sitting on top of the building opposite to him.

Li sat cross-legged on the roof, meditating. The meditation session started two days ago when Li came back from the palace. He hadn't said a word since then.

Arthur was simply wandering around since then. Gala wasn't in a hurry to die since they have already reached the Spirits Realm. She was also in the Skyey World, but Arthur had to stay here with Li.

Maybe that was just an excuse to delay the inevitable.

'I have to do it for her sake,' Arthur knew, but he was unwilling. As he brooded, the door below him opened. The carpenter walked out with his cloak wrapped tightly around him. It ignored him and walked toward the outskirts of the city.

"You are rather cold," Arthur said and jumped to land next to it. "After two days of being inside, you are finally out to get some fresh air?"

"You are annoying," The carpenter scowled at him. "Leave me alone. I'm sure your friend needs a lot of help doing nothing."

"He can handle it. I'm more interested in your purpose of leaving the workshop."

"... fixing things."

"Are you the one who built this city?" Arthur asked with interest. "Why would anyone build a ghost city?"

"You are in the land of Spirits, human. Spirits aren't that different from ghosts."

"Not even spirits reside in this place," Arthur noted. "Are you just bored?"

"That explains my whole existence, thank you." The spirit said mockingly. "Now, leave me alone."

"No,"

The doll snorted and kept walking, ignoring Arthur completely. Arthur followed after it toward the outer parts of the city. They stopped at an empty land in the middle of several wooden houses.

Arthur turned to look at the line of houses. Half of the street was full of houses, and the other half was not. Then, the spirit in front of him took out a small wooden object.

'A small house?'

In the spirit's hand was a small wooden house that looked like the rest. The doll placed it on the empty land before walking away. Then, under Arthur's astonished eyes, the tiny house grew into a big one.

"So, this is how you build houses," Arthur said with awe. He looked at the doll as it walked to the empty land beside the new house and placed another small one, which also grew.

The doll raised its arms, and the houses grew pillars into the ground. Just like that, it built three houses before turning to leave. Arthur followed after it silently, watching as it went on around the city building and fixing things.

"What's your purpose?" Arthur asked.

"None of your goddamn business," The carpenter spat.

"Understandable,"

The two walked back toward the carpenter's workshop. Arthur noticed that the doll slowly walked as if it had a limp. He kept his pace slow to walk beside it.

"When are you leaving?" The carpenter asked exasperatedly. "If you are going to annoy me like this every day, I'll leave this island for you two."

"That's a lax attitude toward your life's work," Arthur was amused. "I'm staying here until Li contracts the spirit."

"Then you'll be staying here forever." The carpenter spat. "Your friend is not growing any stronger by sitting around. If that was the case, then anyone can grow stronger."

"Do you know of a way to increase Spiritual Energy?" Arthur asked with interest. The doll ignored him. "If you do, then wouldn't it be better to tell us so that we leave earlier?"

"Conceited humans," The spirit spat and didn't say anything else. Seeing it like this, Arthur wanted to change the subject.

"Were the guardians spirit contractors as well?"

"Obviously. Every human who reaches the Astra-rank can contract a spirit. You should have seen it before." The doll said.

Arthur thought about the Astra-Rankers he met. The Awakeners President of the Yalveran Union used its ethereal giant eagle to fend off against the attack of the forest.

The other one was the man who chased after him from the Ilios Empire and also the one who fought against Lilo's mother. He had a giant white tiger that almost shredded Arthur to pieces as a spirit contractor.

"Can people who are below the Astra-rank contract a spirit?"

"How can you be this clueless about the Spirits Realm while being in it?" The doll mocked. "Spiritual Energy is the sole requirement. If you have enough to open a portal to the Infra World, then you can contract a spirit."

That explains how Li, who was only at the Deme-rank, was a spirit contractor. It also explains how he contended against countless Astra-rankers and his abnormal strength.

The only question is how did, or would, Li end up with Sier, and that was something that Arthur couldn't try to enforce. Time was a delicate thing, so he only attempted to guide things, not pursue them.

"As for your friend, tell him that in the Spirits Realm, everything is spiritual." The doll said as they reached the workshop, and it went inside without explaining further. Before Arthur could follow it, it closed the door and locked it.

Arthur sighed because he had more questions. However, he didn't want to push the limits of the carpenter. At least, he was answering his questions, even if not all of them.

His chains impaled to the ground and levitated him up. Arthur landed on the roof beside Li, who was still sitting quietly. If he didn't know that humans had no form in this realm, Arthur would have thought he was a statue.

"Did you hear what the carpenter said?" Arthur sat next to him.

"I did, but understanding it is a different matter." Li's response came after a while. "I know that everything is spiritual, but how do I make everything my own?"

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