The swoosh of an automatic door opened and a young man walked out of a room with a grim face. This familiar face was none other than the exorcist who tried to make Mark pass on but failed when he didn’t expect him to be able to open the door with physical touch.

To him, and possibly most of the people in his organization, this is a major blemish. Despite hunting for Mark for a full day, he had to give up and to make up for his blunder he went to purify the vengeful spirit that Mark made.

He vented his frustration on the spirit and purified it completely before looking over the house. Since 5 years ago, the state of the house was even worse and had only been visited once. There were several skeletal remains, one of which was at the entrance but the spirit, for one reason or another, seemed to envelop it in a sort of illusion for others to be unable to see. Naturally this was low leveled and the exorcist saw it immediately along with the other corpses it had killed.

Most of the bodies had long become skeletons in this hot and humid weather. The poor condition of the house also allowed insects to access the body and the hot and humid weather was perfect for bacteria and fungus to proliferate.

After 5 years, it was impossible to tell which corpse belonged to who without DNA testing. If it was someone who never had their DNA tested, they might not even be in the database.

Still after purifying the spirit, he took the time to chant several mantra to dispel the huge buildup of negative energy throughout the house. He had to do that for all rooms including the attic and basement so that it would not attract new ghosts that could become corrupted by this negative energy.

As one can expect, a loose spirit or soul is directly influenced by the energies in nature compared to one protected by the shell known as the mortal body so places filled with death or places where evil spirits once lived for many years usually become targets of exorcists to purify the place.

Graveyards in particular have people coming routinely purifying the land and air allowing the dead to sleep peacefully instead of being affected by the negative energy coming from the buried corpses.

Common people today do not know but undead are real and exist but due to humanity's numbers being so large, naturally the number of people that were part of the organization of exorcists this young man was a part of is naturally just as big. It made checking graveyards an easy enough task that it basically sent undead to extinction.

As the young man left his room, a grinning young woman with bright red hair stood there. “Who would have thought that mister show off himself would let a common ghost with no innate control of spiritual power escape.” she said sarcastically.

“Shove it Morgan, how was I supposed to know the ghost wasn’t bound to the building and instead it was an item. Furthermore, how was I supposed to know that it was an exorcist wannabe who had a spare energy focusing medium.” He scornfully retorted the girl.

“True enough, although you got rid of a vengeful spirit and its domain, did you know the brass are actually more worried about that ghost than about the spirit?” she said, unaffected by his tone. “Did you know that they were thinking about punishing you for not following protocol and quickly making it pass on?” she said.

“I did do that and I followed protocol to figure out its regret but the stupid thing actually wants to be an exorcist that has his name resound throughout the world. How stupid can he get if he thinks about doing something even us, from the IEO, can’t openly do?” He said.

IEO is the abbreviation for the organization, it stands for International Exorcist Organization. It’s an organization formed by many leading religions such as the catholic church, Buddhism, hinduism and several others which have always displayed great ability for exorcism.

“Even if you say that to them, Josh, you know it won’t help much. They are afraid that ‘they’ might get another powerful ally.” She said.

Josh, the young exorcist, narrowed his eyes when she spoke of that. “Watch your tongue. You know how sensitive the people upstairs are to the simple mention of those guys.” Josh said.

“So what, it is neither a crime or a sin to speak their name. If it was then all the times someone speaks the name of the devil himself would have been a crime yet every priest will either say Satan or Lucifer when referring to him. Why can’t we refer to them even by ‘they’?” Morgan scoffed in complaint.

“Trust me, it is better to avoid saying that.” Josh said and started to walk down the corridor.

“So what are you going to do about the ghost?” Morgan asked.

“I already did.” He replied, “I prayed to all the corpses in the house. Now if it is touched by any spiritual being, I will know it is being moved and if it absorbs the corpse like those guys do to try and reform a physical form, I will be able to directly pinpoint his every location.” Josh said grinning at the plan.

Behind him, Morgan rolled her eyes but did not want to ruin his mood but still had a thought. “But those guys have ways of cleansing foreign energy from objects and spirits anyways.”

The two continued into the building to be updated on their next assignment or if they were free to go about training or having free time.

***

A faint sigh came from Mark as he looked at his hands or better yet his entire body. Going with his idea, he went to a small thrift shop carefully stealing winter clothing and shoes. He focused his spiritual powers on his skin and dressed up.

The costume was naturally finished by a hat, scarf and winter glasses, the kind that is one way only.

As for the electronic tag on the clothing, naturally he stole the clothing at night so he just had to sneak the clothes to the counter machine and unbuckle them and wait for the morning when people began to walk in and out and sneak out.

As for talking, he naturally had to go with the idea of a mute who did not speak in sign language.

Still, he did not like that he had to resort to theft to obtain a semi-solid form. Furthermore he felt tired having to focus so much spiritual power into his skin and maintain it like this.

He returned to the theater and snuck up to the roof and entered into the attic.

“I wonder how long I have to live like this.” He muttered before closing the window but not moving far as he pulled an old chair and sat down. He removed the hat, scarf and glasses he was using to cover his head.

If anyone saw him as it was they would think it was a dullahan, or better known as the headless horsemen.

He just sat there but he hated that he had to always concentrate or he would relax his hold on his spiritual power and it would return to the rest of his body making the clothing slip off.

He sat there for part of the night but became bored just staring out. Having nothing to do he took out the post it notes and began to practice his talisman making as a ghost and see if they give different effects if it used spiritual power instead of mana.

Surprisingly, when he made a spiritual blockade talisman and put it on the window he stared at, he was shocked that his arm passed but the normal clothing he wore didn’t.

He frowned greatly at this because it meant that although it worked on material objects, it would not work on spiritual ones. It defeated the purpose unless he decided to fight crime as a ghost and slap post it notes to criminals' foreheads and seal their movements.

He sighed in defeat as he dropped the notes.

“Well now, why so defeated?” A voice with a country accent asked.

“The talismans using spiritual power don’t affect ghosts or spirits.” Mark replied unconsciously before freezing, “AHHH!” he jumped back and even let go of his control, making his clothing drop and leaving him with only what he had as a ghost.

Mark looked, half in the wall, at the man that was sitting just three steps away, “W-who are you?” he asked.

The man that looked like a cowboy chuckled and picked up a guitar box next to him before kicking the box he sat right in front the one Mark sat on and gestures. “Don’t worry, I’m also a spirit, and not an evil one mind you. Most evil ones instantly attack when they see anything that moves and possesses any mental capacity.” He said.

Seeing that the man knew much more than himself, Mark naturally knew this was a ghost that had lived as a spirit much longer.

Mark timidly came out and picked up the things he dropped but didn’t hide the quartz beads or Vajra and most of all he grabbed and held the book.

The man just smiled, “I see you are a ghost bound to that book. Oh don’t look at me like that. The way you are holding that thing is the same way I held Betty when I became a ghost as well.” He said and patted the case next to him and opened the latches before pulling out a shiny and well maintenanced gibson les paul guitar.

"Nice guitar." Mark said.

"Thank you, this is the thing that binds me to the earth. I got it in 1953." He said passing his hand over the guitar.

"1953? Weren't Les Paul guitars made and sold in mass in 1952?" Mark asked.

The cowboy smiled, "Yes they were, if not for trouble with how to mass produce it they would have been the first to be mass producers of electric guitars." He replied. "That said we aren't here to talk about me but about you." He said, tipping his hat up to widen his view.

Suddenly while Mark was looking, he suddenly felt this cowboy had changed and countless lines of spiritual power flowed through his body making a huge pressure.

Mark fell to his knees and felt like he was in the cold but also like he was burning up.

Instinctively he gathered spiritual power to a small point in the center of where his heart once was.

Before that was completed though the pressure vanished and the cowboy sighed.

"A ghost with an energy manipulating medium but your mind is weak, kid. That thing you just did could have killed you." He said, nonchalantly said and took out a cigar and light and took a puff. "Guess we should get down to business, kid." He said and lifted his suit and dug around his inner pockets. A frown appeared on his face, "Dang nabbit, where did I put that darned thing." He said and began to look through all his pockets before he seemed enlightened and snapped his fingers.

Sitting down again he took off his boots and pulled out a pure white card.

"Alright kid, make sure to confirm and fill in the blanks. The eggheads can only get so much on nameless wandering spirits much less their exact death date and conditions." He said and held the card and narrowed his eyes. "To hell with those guys for making the letters so small… urg so Mark… is it Black?" He asked.

Mark was still in a daze, just nodded unconsciously and actually began to wake up because of that. "Huh…" he muttered and started to blink in confusion.

"Date of birth and cause of death unknown. Got any ideas for this kid?" He asked.

"Why are you asking for my information… urg." Mark said getting up from the ground but his legs almost gave way and supported himself on all fours before using the box to sit down.

"Oh, you woke up already. Well that is surprising, it usually takes at least 5 minutes for the spiritual power to redistribute and wake your consciousness up but it seems you have a stronger soul then I assumed." He commented and took a strange silver pen and poked the paper a few times. "So… cause of death and date?" He asked.

"You still didn't answer my question." Mark replied.

"Ah yes, I am Billy Madison, born in 1915 died 1954. My biggest regret is never being able to become a voice that helped popularize country rock." He said with a smile.

"Country rock… I guess there are a few crazy country singers but never heard anything I could easily identify as country rock." Mark replied. "That is besides the point."

"I'm getting to it kid. I am part of a group we call the Soul Society and…" as he was about to continue he saw Mark's face. "What?"

"Sorry, it just reminds me too much of a cartoon I once watched." Mark said.

"Ah hell, not this again." Billy cursed. "Don't start with me kid, the pile of horse shit that made that bull crap wasn't even born and we already existed in this world." He stomped his foot angry at the comparison, clearly not having done this only once or twice.

"Anyways, we are the Soul Society. An organization of spirits who work to maintain order among spirits and prevent dangerous beings from encroaching upon mortal territory." He said.

"Mortal? Don't you mean human?" Mark asked.

"Kid, you know nothing about this world. Humans are indeed the most populous but mythical but still mortal beings exist everywhere blended into the human world. You don't hear about it because we take care of it all." He said with a serious expression. "Date and death…" he said once more.

Mark sighed, "June 23, 2015 and I died to a vengeful spirit who I thought I had sent on. I was an amatur exorcist." Mark said.

"We know that part, the book shop you got that from belongs to one of our very low key people who doesn't want to be involved in violence. In fact, that isn't the only copy of the book and all of them are enchanted with special spiritual magic that makes it hard for them to be noticed which is why we know about you since you obtained that." Billy explained.

"Is it because exorcizing ghosts produces karma and helped piece together my soul?" Mark asked.

"Ah… did you meet one of those stuck up idiots?" Billy asked.

"You mean exorcists? Well I did hear from him that I was causing lots of problems." Mark said.

"So he didn't tell you huh. Well he was from the IEO, the International Exorcist Organization. An organization of hypocrites whose sole purpose is to 'keep humanity safe from evil beings.' They are nothing but murderers for all magical beings and their most hated target are spirits. And before you say it, to them good spirits only exist when they are born from the soul of their own people." He said and spat in anger.

Mark somewhat guessed this might be the case from the difference in attitude between the two people with the young man being cocky about his profession.

"Do you guys also exorcist evil spirits?" Mark asked.

"If they truly are evil then of course. Evil spirits are born from a disruption in the natural order in the soul. Did that idiot explain it in detail?" He asked. Mark shook his head and Billy sighed and decided to put off the data gathering. He stretched his hand out, “give me the notes." He said.

Mark looked through the jacket and gave him the post-it pack.

Billy took several pieces and stuck them next to each other to form a piece the size of a regular piece of notebook paper but that was just with a tiny connection between them all but the next thing he did blew Mark's mind.

He blew on it and gave it a smack and suddenly all the pieces merged into a single paper but the glue one the back was still there for use.

"A little work but post it paper is really convenient." He said before taking out a pen and drawing on the paper. "Alright kid, the soul is made of 10 vital parts which no part can be excluded no matter what. Three of them are even more vital than the rest and are also the smallest pieces."

He drew on the page and showed a graph with one tiny piece at the center and a circle with a line between them surrounding it.

"The centermost piece is consciousness, yep, it is your main consciousness and this includes the subconscious as well. The two pieces around it protect the conscious and are referred to as wisdom and intelligence." Billy explained.

"It feels like some explanation for a game." Mark said

"Don't start with me boy." Billy threatened to which Mark raised his hands in defense. Rolling his eyes, Billy continued, "Intelligence, if you must know, is where all your stored knowledge and wisdom is where all your lifes memories are. Normally the two are one piece in a living body but in ghosts and spirits they broke off. It is one of the things that cause spirits to degrade into evil spirits as their wisdom might slowly break down before it was gathered back up into the main ghost body. If it forms instantly into a ghost, it is likely that the shock of death will inhibit and injure these two vital pieces." He said

He drew another circle which was broken into 6. "These are the six major emotions, happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, anger and surprise. We didn't have much way of figuring this out until the Psychologist Robert Plutchik published his thesis on the wheel of emotion and its effect on humans." He explained.

Mark slowly counted, “so what is the last one?" Mark asked.

Billy smiled weakly and drew an erratic circle with many types of spikes and needles trying to penetrate. "Sin, it is a piece of soul existent in all creatures with life but only sentient mortals actually have a concept of sin and some understanding of it. We, in Soul Society, actually believe this huge piece of soul can actually be broken down into further pieces but we never succeeded in doing so. All sins of a human gather in this area." He said.

"It looks so strange…" Mark asked.

"That is because it is. This portion of the soul follows and forms naturally around any being with a conscious and despite all our studies we only discovered one thing. Sin exists to destroy the soul." He said serious.

Mark gulped down in fear but a sudden laugh from Billy left him dumbstruck. "Don't look like that kid. It is called natural death. This exists to put weight and stress on a mortal soul which helps it keep to its lifespan. If it did not exist, I am sure all beings would live much longer but also have less reproductive desires." He explained.

"Oh… I see." Mark said.

"You still have to be careful though. Souls who do too many sins strengthen this part of their soul and it could slowly infiltrate your other parts until you become an evil spirit." He said and finished the explanation and took out that piece of paper once more. "Now let's finish this up before I get a call from the brass." He smiled.

After death and the date, his bound item came next, his biggest regret and finally "So what do you want to do with your new life?" He asked.

"You mean from now on?" Mark asked.

Billy nodded, "Just so you know, we have extensive knowledge in exorcism that ghosts can use on both magical creatures, humans and other spirits." He said.

Mark frowned and thought for a while. "I think I just want to start basic and try to regain a body like you. I am not sure how my new life will be so I think that is a start. As for continuing the exorcist thing… Although I love it and it is my regret, I still need to think if I want to follow through at this time." Mark said.

"I see, well then… regain solid form and current objective is a casual life." Billy said and pointed at the book in Mark's hand. "Let me see the book so I can add the information you need to be able to get your body." He said.

Mark was very hesitant before handing it over. To his surprise, the book began to shine and formed an amazing design on the cover before it began to form pages out of thin air which attached themselves to the book.

"Heh, like it? This is a special book that only members with authority can activate and do this." He said and tossed it back.

He then took a long 15 cm long 5cm wide paper and began to draw a very complex design on it with amazing penmanship. At the end he just blew on it to dry the ink and nodded.

"Here kid, you will need this for your task ahead." He said. "The book will explain what it is. Also I have updated the information just a little to allow you to use the skills on both mortals, magical creatures and spirits. Anymore and it is beyond my authority unless you join us completely. I wish you luck and you do not need to worry about dealing with things like your death and documents. Just focus on getting a body and by the time you finish the basic tasks we will have dealt with it." He said.

He nodded and suddenly everything that was his, including the solid guitar vanished like it never existed.

Mark looked down at the book he got and smiled weakly before opening it to study the new content but not about the body but about the updated skill.