Christopher and Tamas made their way out of the Adenium Church, and Tamas guided them to the location of the Butterbash Inn. While they walked, the sun finally set, but surprisingly darkness did not descend over the city.

To his amazement, the city was transformed. Now that the last light had crept over the horizon, a blue misty soul light lit up the city of Lumen. On the streets, metal plates were applied to many of the buildings. They lit up the surroundings with a blue misty light. It achieved a similar but more beautiful result than Earth’s street lanterns. Light leaked out of the arched windows from the many residences that they passed. Clearly, the city had its own magical equivalent to electricity. As if the city is not fantastical enough already, thought Christopher

“Lumen is so beautiful at night, are all these lights created with the use of Soul Force?” He asked Tamas.

“Yes, there is always a high demand for people that are able to imbue materials with a stable infusion of soul light. When done well the light can remain for months before another infusion is needed. Some materials like Metals are more efficient in retaining the soul light”

Tamas stopped next to one of the metal plates lining the street. The soul light from this plate was much dimmer compared to many of the other ones in their view. She put the palms of her hands against the metal plate and the Soul Force could be seen leaking from her hands into the metal. The bronze circle immediately lit up with a now much brighter glow. It even shone more brightly than all the other plates. Christopher looked on with wonder as the magical blue glow shifted over the gorgeous Tamas.

Tamas started lecturing. Christopher looking on enraptured. “This soul plate will now be able to light up for a few more months. However, the Soul Force I just expended will take multiple hours to regenerate, thus there is a limit to how much I can imbue with light. A normal person trying to infuse a soul plate would spend much more soul force for a much shorter result, sometimes only a day.

That is why skilled Soul infusers are in such high demand. Without them, lighting up a city like Lumen would be impossible. When our family creates decorative items, we sometimes add some metal patterns to efficiently imbue with soul light.”

They resumed their walk-through Lumen.

“Soul Force really has a surprising number of applications. And you must have a great understanding of the intricacies of Soul Force.”

“I suppose that’s true. Since I was a little girl, I always loved learning more about the possibilities of soul force. Apparently, I practiced so much that I passed out countless times from overuse, which was a great worry to my family during those days. Grandpa also had a few books on Soul Force that I must have read a thousand times. My application gradually grew more efficient, and my soul force also grew stronger.”

Listening to Tamas, it seemed that becoming a skilled user did not necessarily mean that you were born with a large amount of soul force. It seemed to have a lot to do with training and hard work. It gave him hope that he would be able to successfully increase his own soul force attribute.

“That is amazing, it seems that your hard work has been rewarded. Personally, I seem to have no knowledge of how to use it myself. Could you maybe give me a quick lesson in the coming days?”

“Sure, that is simple enough. Also, I am sure that there should be an educational book on that subject at the Inn somewhere. The Church is circulating those guides all over at great expense. But I should warn you that about twenty percent of the population cannot apply their innate Soul Force, so please remember that possibility.

Oh no, was that why he had completely failed to summon even a shred of soul force so far? The thought horrified him. After being summoned to a world full of magic, it would be a severe downer to be completely unable to summon any of it himself. It would be just his luck.

“Christopher, have you managed to regain any of your memories? I figured that since you received the healing potion, that it might have fixed whatever problem was causing your memory loss.

“I’m afraid not, sometimes it feels like I was just summoned here with no knowledge of this world. It feels frustrating to know so little of this place.”

He felt bad about having to lie about his memory loss. But he was pretty much forced to blend in. Disclosing his real origins was just not allowed and would supposedly result in intense pain. He was confident that it had been the truth, and thus had no intention of testing the veracity of that claim

As they resumed their way to the Butterbash Inn, they passed through a Lumen shopping district. Build-in that same natural free-flowing style, there were a variety of both familiar and fantastical shops. Many shops were still open, and the streets here were filled with all kinds of people. The entire street was bathed with soul light.

He started to see some cultural signs in the way that people presented themselves. Many women had their hair intricately braided into beautiful patterns. Woman’s clothing was designed to look feminine, but also to allow unobstructed movement.

The men kept their hair short, no longer than ear length. He also spotted many men and woman that wore strange armor pieces. The patterns and designs indicated that they were mostly decorative. He speculated that such a trend was not all that surprising in a city where the strongest warriors were pretty much worshipped. He was sure that many wanted to emulate them. They walked past an elegant woman, that had some kind of supersized hamster riding on her shoulder, clearly some kind of pet. It still felt somewhat unreal for him to be in this place.

A sampling of the different products could be seen behind the store windows.

Reading the lit-up signs, it was clear that a lot of the stores were selling items that had been crafted with the aid of soul force. There were stores selling impressive-looking weapons and armors. One of the signs indicated that they were imbued with self-healing properties. Potions were also sold here, apparently not exclusive to the interface store.

None of the store signs indicated anything about an item being soul bound. Those might be exclusive to the interface store. He speculated. If he could buy soul bound items in Lumen, then it would make more sense to save his soul points for only skills. He would have to figure it all out soon.

Many of the signs indicated the price of different merchandise. Those prices did not really tell him a lot though, since he did not entirely understand their relative valuation. The prices clearly ordered from bronze, silver to gold coins though. Not that he even had a single bronze coin to his name.

The smell of delicious foods drafted from one of the buildings, making his mouth water.

“Christopher, stop dawdling, unless you are leaving Lumen in the immediate future, there will be plenty of time to explore the city and shops later.”

Damn, he really wanted to take a look, but he knew Tamas was right.

“Yes ma’am” he joked.

After walking for a little longer, they made their way to a large wooden building, two floors high. A sign in the front indicated that they had in fact reached the Butterbash Inn. The place looked a bit eccentric as if the builder suddenly had crammed too many ideas within one building. But it still looked somehow inviting.

“We are finally here, let’s go, I am starving.”

Christopher could only agree with that statement.