"Can you take me to the snowy mountains in the north?" Arthur asked, and the stone man looked speechless. Then, finally, he sighed in a very human-like expression and nodded.

"You simply ignored my baby being the greatest ship in existence?" The stone man shook his head. "Not to mention the snowy mountains. I can even take you to other worlds."

​​

"You can?" Arthur asked with suspicion while scanning the ship. Despite being beautiful, he couldn't feel any unique qualities that would make it transcend worlds.

"Do you have a doubt, son?" The stone gave a proud smirk.

"I'm not your son."

"Someone is edgy," the stone man whistled as he walked away from the edge. Arthur frowned, feeling like this spirit would be troublesome.

Not all spirits sought his companionship, as some simply didn't want to contract anyone. Not everyone wanted to go on adventures in the physical world or ascend higher realms. Instead, some of them tried to build cities or build a ship.

"Hop on, boy. We are sailing!"

As the stone man said that, the ship began to move off the shore. Arthur was amazed as he saw the boat move on its own without an engine or sails. The hull gave a loud screech as it slid off the shore toward the ocean.

Arthur hurried to use his chains and jumped on the deck. As he landed, he got to see the ship's marvelous design. However, it lacked as most of the items on board were made of smooth stone.

"Welcome on board, seeker," the stone man said with a grin as he stood on the ship's figurehead. "Make sure to befriend the people on board. They are quite the interesting folk."

"There are others?" Arthur looked around. The ship was gigantic, so it didn't make sense for him to be the only passenger. However, he didn't feel the presence of anyone else.

"The stone respells any type of sensory abilities so that no one can find us in the ocean," the stone man explained before he jumped from the figurehead to land on the deck. He was as tall as Arthur. "Behave on my Gwynevere, boy."

"I'm not a boy," Arthur looked at the stone man, trying to judge his age.

"As long as you are on my ship, then you are," the captain said with pride. "Furthermore, I'm a few hundred years old, so you are like a toddler to me."

"What's the price for being on your ship, captain?"

"Pay your share of spiritual energy in the core room," the stone man pointed toward a section of the ship. "There's a daily fee, so don't try to leech off."

"I understand," Arthur nodded as he felt that the process was too smooth. "When are we reaching the snowy mountains?"

"Three days," the stone man said before he disappeared somewhere, leaving Arthur alone on the ship. Then, as he grew confused about what to do now, he heard a meow from behind him.

Turning around, Arthur got to see a black cat sitting on top of the mast. It looked down on him, and Arthur realized that it had three eyes, one being in its forehead.

Its eyes were golden.

'They look familiar,' Arthur frowned and took a step forward to get a better look. The moment he did, the cat disappeared.

***

It has been half a day on the ship, and Arthur got to take a tour around. There were indeed other seekers, but most acted like hermits on a mission to achieve enlightenment. That's why Arthur spent his time alone, walking around, gazing at the sea, or looking for the cat with golden eyes.

However, it disappeared as if it was a fraction of his imagination.

"A cat?" The stone man was confused when Arthur asked him. He was hammering the mast, each strike making the mast grow taller. "The ship carried countless spirits, and the process of taking the fee is automated. I don't know every being on my ship."

"So, you don't know if there was a cat,"

"I never met a cat," the stone man nodded. "Maybe the small girl can help you. She seems to be fond of animal spirits."

"The small girl?" Arthur was confused, but it seems that the stone man grew disinterested. Then, before he left, he reminded Arthur to go and pay his fee.

If he stays on the ship without paying for a single day, the ship will throw him off. After learning of this fact, Arthur was quick to visit the core room.

The core was a crystal of greyish light, and it seemed to absorb a part of the spiritual energy of the world around them. Arthur walked toward it and touched the sphere.

It lit up like a miniature sun.

"Whoa,"

Arthur let go of the sphere when a feminine voice gasped behind him. The crystal returned to its previous color, but it looked as if the greyish light faded a bit.

As he turned to see the source of the voice, Arthur got to see a small head. He looked down and found a short girl looking at him. She was also of ethereal light, but she was made of green.

"Mister, it's the first time I see that ball light up like that," the short girl said in amazement. "Are you a powerful master?"

"I don't know, are you?" Arthur didn't know how to answer her question. Then, he realized this girl must be the one fond of animals.

"I may be, I may be not, hehe." The girl said and ran away. Arthur was confused, as he never learned how to deal with kids. His mother's only method of raising them was to slap their heads if they misbehave.

Arthur walked out of the core room and found the girl looking over the railing. He peeked at what she was doing and found out that she was talking to a fish spirit in the sea.

"Did you ever see a black cat on the ship?" Arthur asked at long last after waiting for her conversation with the fish to be over. It did not.

"Mister is rude. The fish ran away!" The girl said with a pout before snapping her head toward him. "Did you say a black cat?"

Her voice held recognition and surprise. After seeing Arthur node, the girl skipped steps toward him and tried to lift herself to his eye level.

"Did you see the black cat too, mister?" The girl was surprised. "I told everyone about it, but they didn't believe me! Wait for a second..." she took a step back and looked at Arthur's body. "You have the same color as its eyes!"

"That's why I'm looking for it," Arthur nodded with a smile. "Do you know where I can find it?"

"Nope!" The girl shot down his expectations ruthlessly. "I saw it when I first arrived on this ship, but I never got to see it again," she sighed in disappointment.

"And how long have you been here for?"

"A year!"

"Oh damn," Arthur couldn't help but exclaim, and his words made the girl angry.

"Mister, cursing is bad!" The girl raised a finger. "And a year is not that long!"

Arthur nodded, but he knew that was not the case. To spend a year in the Spirits Realm could only mean two things: no spirit wants to contract you, or you are simply fleeing from the real world.

"Where are your parents?"

The girl flinched at his question, and Arthur sensed fear and terror. She took a step back as she shrunk a bit, her aura wavering.

"They are not around," she said, voice trembling. "Mister is annoying. Go away!" She barked before running away. Arthur looked at her disappearing figure with a sense of pity.

When Arthur learned about entering the Spirits Realm, he knew that such a case would exist: someone hiding from the real world in the Spirits Realm.

However, he can also tell that staying here at away a person's spiritual energy. Humans needed their physical bodies to survive. If someone spent a lot of time without going back to their bodies, they would lose the link and then disintegrate into nothingness.

'Is she running away from abusive parents?' Arthur wondered, rage filling his being for the first time in the Spirits Realm. The simple thought of people abusing their children made him angry.

However, he wasn't a savior. He didn't have the duty of saving anyone in suffering. Furthermore, thinking that he could rescue everyone was simply incomprehensible.

'However, why can't I save those I want to save and come across? I want to help her,' Arthur thought to himself as he sighed. At that moment, he heard a meow behind him. Arthur turned and found the black cat showing itself again.

It was standing on the railing, a few meters away from Arthur. It looked at him silently with its golden eyes. Then, it nodded as if agreeing with Arthur's thoughts.