By the time that Adam and the others got back to Hessler, the sun had already disappeared beyond the horizon. The return trip was even more grueling than the first day's journey through the forest had been. They had already put in quite the effort during the hunt and skinning the pigs, even if they didn't help that much.

After they had arrived at the city, Adam and the other boys separated from the Silver Saviors so they could return home. They would deal with their payment at a later date, all the boys wanted right now was to sleep in their very comfy beds.

When they arrived at Madame's, Vivienne and a few others were eagerly waiting for them. Vivienne quickly trotted to Adam careful of that leg she broke. Her leg had already healed as far as it could. She could walk and stand for hours with no trouble. But if she went to quickly or put too much weight on the leg, it would still hurt.

Just as she went in to give Adam a hug, she finally caught a whiff of the boys. Suddenly stopping, she waved her hand to disperse the smell. “Ugh, what is that terrible smell!? Adam, go to the bath and clean up before you do anything else!”

Against their wishes, all the boys were forced to go bath before they could eat or rest. No matter who it was, they really could not stand the horrible smell that the boys did not even now they had. They had put in so much effort while hunting, they had worked up quite the sweat and smell. The smells from gutting the pigs did not help at all, either.

Hansen decided to bath separately from the boys, so they could talk freely. They would be able to relax more without a stern adult like him looming around. After scrubbing themselves down in the showers, the boys relaxed in the hot water bath area. The warm water eased the weariness out of their bones as they enjoyed the soak.

The boys then started to talk among themselves. Truthfully, they had little time to talk to each other over the lasts two days. It was hard enough walking through the forest without talking, even harder with as it would disturb your breathing.

They talked about the hunt, of course. They talked about what it was like killing the pigs, none of them relished the job. They also talked about how disgusting it was to gut the pigs. Eventually the conversation turned to Adam as Alfred asked: “I hope you don't mind me asking, but what made you run away from the pigs?”

Adam was a little hesitant. Not because he didn't want to talk to them about it, but because he did not like thinking about what had happened to the pigs souls. Adam was a little shaky as he recounted what had happened and what he had seen. Alfred felt guilty as he watched Adam shake. Still, Adam did not ask for them to leave him be or let him stop. It was a little easier to remember what happened now, then it had been earlier that day.

The boys were shocked by Adam's version of events. They were so distracted by all the blood, they didn't even pause to think about what the pigs were feeling, let alone what was happening to their souls. They other boys did not understand what a soul was, as much as Adam, Nor had they been hoping to see their family's souls somewhere, so they were merely shocked. They were not as deeply impacted by this as Adam had been.

The boys were silent for time, after Adam had finished talking. Alfred suddenly had a thought and asked: “Hey, did you ever ask your teacher about what happens to a person's soul, after they die?”

Adam responded: “Cathryn? No I haven't. It's always been a thought at the back of my mind, so I have not been actively asking about it. But...”

Adam started thinking to himself and a small glimmer of hope appeared. Maybe animal and human souls were different. Adam felt a little better with this thought and nodded his head. “The next time I see Cathryn, I will ask her!”

After this, the boys were finally done relaxing in the hot water. After dressing themselves, they found a small meal hot and ready for them in the cafeteria. It was after the normal dinner time, but the boys were hungry since they had only eaten a light meal on the road back.

After eating, the boys decided to go to bed and rest. After Adam entered his room, Vivienne gave him a warm hug to welcome him home and let him go to bed. The next morning, Vivienne finally started to ask how the hunt went. She hoped that it had not been too hard on him. Adam talked to her about what happened to the pigs and what he saw. Seeing Adam shake as he talked, Vivienne was extremely worried about him and started to wish she had not allowed Hansen to take the boys out hunting.

Before they could talk in depth about what happened, Adam left so he would not be late for the morning training. Vivienne wanted to hold him back, but Adam still decided to attend the morning training.

Adam lined up with the others before Hansen. They each carried their swords with them. Hansen was happy to see that they had each come this morning. He had wondered if anyone would stop after the experience from the hunt, especially Adam.

Hansen told the boys: “Draw your swords and present them to me!”

He examined the swords to see if there was any left over blood from the hunt. Satisfied at the maintenance the boys had done themselves, he started to speak: “The swords you hold are no longer the same as before! Each of you used to swing those swords without worry, just immersing yourself in the practice of the swing. After the hunt, you should now be able to feel that each of these practice swings has the potential to kill!”

The boys paled a bit at the thought. In their practice, they were simply mastering the sword. But their practice swings would become what they used to fight others. These swings would be used to kill other people or animals. This was the intended use of a sword, after all. To cut and kill!

Even though Adam had not personally killed any of the pigs, he had easily seen what was done. He knew how easy it could be to hurt or kill a defenseless person with his father's sword.

Hansen continued: “After the morning exercises, I will have you all go grab your wooden swords. You will spar against each other, but this time I want you thinking a little differently. As you spar, think of how your sword would effect your opponent if you hit them! How would it hurt them, cut them, bleed them, how would it kill them?! Each of you have your own reasons and resolve to practice the sword. One thing they all have in common is to defend against those who would hurt you, against bandits or cutthroats. If you continue down this road, you will have to kill someone!”

The boys were a little shaken by Hansen's words. Since the first day they started with training the sword, Hansen had not tested their mentality, only their willingness to practice. Now he was thoroughly testing their state of mind and their resolve. Soon enough they would become adults and be able to leave Madame's on their own. He would make sure they are ready to face the hardships they will have to face, if they pursue a career that involves the sword.

During their sparing session, the boys were much more cautious then they had ever been before. They were trying to imagine that the wooden swords they held were real, and what would happen if they hit someone with them. Also, what would happen if they got hit by the sword! They were changing their mentality of this being a simple spar to a life and death struggle, where a single swing of the sword could end it all!

Any who came to look on as the boys trained were surprised by the solemn atmosphere they gave off. It was completely different from the previous years of training they had. It frightened the spectators to wonder just what had happened to give this change to the boys.

After the morning training, the boys went about their day as usual, though more tired than normal. The hunt was more tiring than they had imagined from both the physical and mental aspects. Still they were able to go about business as usual, without problem.

Later that evening, Adam went to the wall garden on his own. After making sure there was no one around to get hurt, he pulled out his sword, instead of his flute. He started to utilize some of his practice swings. He imagined others in front of him and how he would strike out at them. He also imagined what his sword would do to them.

There were many times where Adam's sword would pause. He didn't like the thought of cutting into another living being, but if it would protect his family he should get used to the idea. As he continued swinging, Adam started to flow into a good tempo. The sound of the sword gently swishing through the air and moving the sword from one swinging movement to the next. He practiced at his own speed without any type of distraction around him. Even as he swung at his invisible opponents, it felt more refreshing then when he practiced with the others.

After a time, Adam stopped practicing with his sword and pulled his flute out. He played to relax before he worked on gathering spirit essence and trying to control it again. After a time with no success, as expected, Adam left to return home.

The days that would pass after this were all much the same. The only day where something different would happen, would be when he went to meet with Cathryn. When Adam described what happened at the hunt and asked what happens to a person's soul when they die, she was a little surprised.

This subject was typically not relevant to any path, so spiritualists do not normally pursue what happens to the soul after someone dies. There are those who have studied it, however. Mostly it was those who were blind but had an elemental sight like Adams, as they could more easily see what was happening to a soul than other spiritualists who would have to have direct contact to investigate the condition of another person's soul.

Still, there was plenty of information as to what happens to a person's soul, and Cathryn divulged it all to Adam. There was no doubt that after a person dies, all the spirit essence they have collected from their birth, naturally or otherwise, will disperse back into the world.

There is one additional element to this, however. It is that those with elemental sight seem to see a last spark of the soul that exists after all the other essence dissipates! It would have been that tiny spark that Adam saw dissipate last, after the pigs died. This is the only time that this spark, that doesn't seem to be a part of any known spirit essence, can be observed.

Since a person's soul escapes from their body after they die, only those with elemental sight can actually see when this spark appears! Normal spiritualists can only see the spirit essence of the soul start to disperse as it leaves the person's body. Afterwards they can feel the rest of the soul's spirit essence disperse in the area around them, but they cannot sense that last spark.

Since this is the case, there are many spiritualists that say this last spark does not actually exist and that it is some weird quirk of the elemental sight. Though there are just as many people who believe in this last spark of life that exists after a soul dissipates.

There are three main theories that exist because of this division over the last spark of life. The first is that the spark doesn't exist and that the soul simply dissipates back into the world. This theory is still romanticized by the thought that spirit essence is constantly recycling itself and that even if a person dies, a part of them still remains in the world. That being the spirit essence they had collected through their life.

The second theory mirrors the first but believes in this last spark of life. They believe that this last spark was created by an interaction of all the spirit essence inside the soul, but it too dissipates back into the world after a person dies. They hope that if they understand this spark, they would take a gigantic leap towards truly understanding what spirit essence is and it's interactions within the world.

The last theory is that the last spark of life seen is the true soul. All our thoughts and memories are collected into this spark. When this spark disappears, it does not actually dissipate! Instead, it passes itself into the realm of the spirits, to which ever one the soul has the most affinity with, and exists there with the spirits. In fact, they believe that these souls can be sent back to be reincarnated or even become spirits themselves!

Those who believed in the last theory ended up creating a religious organization called the Church of Spirits. It is not restricted to spiritualists and many commoners believe in this church as well. In fact, it is currently the most popular and powerful religious organization. Luxom and Heider are small kingdoms and don't presently have a branch of the Church of Spirits present in their lands, so Adam had never heard of them before.

Adam dearly wanted to believe in that third theory. He wanted to believe that his father and Emilia were somewhere better and that those pigs could also be somewhere better. It would make it easier for himself if he could believe in the Church of Spirits.

Vivienne was unsure of what to think about this, when Cathryn was explaining it to Adam. She didn't want to prevent Adam from thinking that Alaric's and Emilia's souls went to a better place. She even wished it was so, herself.

When it came time for the next hunting trip, Adam went with the others. That time, he was able to quickly use his sword to kill one of the pigs they were hunting. As Adam saw the pigs soul escape and disperse, he still vomited! He felt that he would never get used to that scene. All the boys were also able to stand gutting the pig a little longer before having to vomit.

A whole month passed by. Each week the boys would go hunting for two days. Out of no where, though, they were suddenly told that they could no longer go hunting. When Hansen announced this one morning he was quickly asked why this was so. Even if the boys would still occasionally vomit, they understood how important this was to their development. Hansen answered the boys: “I don't know if you have heard, but the wolves have been getting more and more aggressive, of late. The Silver Saviors took a contract to hunt these wolves, but it was decided that it would be too dangerous for you lot. You will resume hunting after this issue with the wolves has quieted down.”

There was no room to argue, so the boys could only continue to train normally through the week. It was a couple days after this announcement that something interesting happened to Adam. It was evening and he was at the wall garden by himself, again. Ever since the first hunt, he would practice sword swings before gathering spirit essence. He had long ago developed a rhythm, that almost felt like a song, when practicing with the sword.

He was taking a break from gathering spirit essence and trying to find a way to control it. He had been playing his flute to relax. While he was playing, he was thinking about how the hunt was canceled and that they would only be training, when a thought seemed to tug at his mind. The thought was to put that rhythm from practicing his sword into song.

Adam thought it was a weird thing to think, but didn't fight it. Carefully he compiled everything into a song. Every swing, every thrust, cut, dodge, block, and evasion that he could do, he added into the song. Each movement had it's own part in the song and each part could be moved as he pleased. He found that he could easily create a fight in his mind using this song. He could depict how he would move and attack if he fought someone.

As he played this fight out in his mind, he could clearly see the sword he was using. It was highly detailed and in the image of his father's sword, the one that currently hung at his hip. As he continued to play the image of Adam holding the sword started to fade away. Soon it was only of the sword, just the sword swinging and fighting. Adam's mind was thoroughly immersed into this sword's fight until he finally noticed a complementing sound emanating from his hip as something vibrated there.

When Adam managed to tear his mind away from that battle, he finally noticed that all the spirit essence he had accumulated this evening had left! He only saw the last bits of it entering his sword after he tore his mind away from that battle!

Adam was bewildered: “What... what does this mean?”

Confused, Adam pulled his sword out of it's sheath. The sound it gave was clearer then it had ever been before. As Adam examined it, he noticed that the amount of spirit essence that was contained within it had increased. Adam remembered one the lessons that Cathryn gave. It was about spiritually enhancing items. Spiritualists could make weapons, armor, or anything really, stronger and harder by packing more spiritual essence into them. Perhaps he had stumbled on a way to spiritually enhance things?

Adam placed the sword across his lap before he brought his flute back up to his lips. First he gathered some more spirit essence before playing that song he had just made. After immersing himself in the song, it once again started to fade Adam out and became more about the sword than himself. At this point, he kept playing the song while trying to pay attention to what was happening with the sword and his spirit essence.

Sure enough, the spirit essence he collected started to dance it's way out and into the sword! As it entered the sword, it started to vibrate and resonate with the song Adam was playing! He noticed another thing as he watched. Not all the spirit essence was going into the sword. Only the earth element essence was actually going into the sword. Adam was confused by this, but still extremely excited, he had finally learned how to control spirit essence!

Adam wanted to experiment some more, so he placed the sheath on his lap next and tried to enhance it instead. He brought the flute up and thought for a moment.... nothing came to him. The song he played for his sword just had his sword in it, there was no room for the sheath! Adam tried to replace the image of the sword with the image of the sheath in the song, but nothing happened at all!

Adam was disappointed, he had hoped that he had finally taken a giant step forward in his path. It seemed, though, that he only took a small half step and that was all. Adam decided to call it a night at that point. Tomorrow he would go see Cathryn, even though it wouldn't be Zonntock. She had said he could come any time if he felt it was important and he thought that this was important.

The next day Adam surprised everyone by telling them he wanted to go see Cathryn. It took a little time to get a carriage, but Vivienne still managed to get Adam to the institute. Cathryn was also shocked to see Adam this afternoon. As Adam explained what happened, first she was ecstatic and then bewildered.

Cathryn said:“Your path can't be this absurd, can it? Have you tried enhancing any other types of swords besides your own?”

After Adam responded that he hadn't, Cathryn retrieved a sword from a receptionist and had Adam try to enhance it. He played that song, but it was only his father's sword that was slung on his hip that started to resonate with his song.

Cathryn gave a distant look as she internally raged: “How can there be a path this ridiculous and absurd!? I now seriously doubt that any branch of SILU anywhere would have any information on Adam's path!”

Cathryn calmed herself before speaking to Adam. The conclusion that she came to was that for each and everything that a spiritualist does, Adam would have to create a unique song for it! In this case, Adam made a unique song that sung to the essence of his sword. Not all swords were made the same, as techniques change from smith to smith. Even metal nuggets used in smithing could be vastly different from one another, even if they come from the same mountain!

Adam's song probably sung to the true nature of his particular sword, as much as his spirit gathering formation sings of the true nature of spirit essence! Also, the reason why only earth spirit essence was actually put into the sword was because it was made out of metal. Metal comes from the earth so it is heavy in earth essence and only trace amounts of the other types. To strengthen the sword, it mostly requires earth essence, while most of the others types will not be absorbed.

Cathryn also figured that the thought that tugged on his mind was some form of intuition that guided Adam to this song. If he followed these tugs he could possibly advance more quickly through his path, but it would probably only get him a single song that could only be used for a single purpose.

Adam was a little dispirited from this. It seemed that for every step forward he took, as a spiritualist, he made it so that it would be a hundred times harder for him to take the next step! He likely would not advance far through his path, no matter how much he tried!

Adam thanked Cathryn before he left. After returning to Madame's he made his way to the wall garden once more. Up on the battlements he simply looked out, trying to digest everything. It seemed to him that it would be far easier to become a mercenary then to continue trying to be a spiritualist!

Night fell and Adam listened to the distant howls of the wolves. He still felt that he could almost understand these howls, but he did not put too much effort into figuring them out tonight. He turned around and went back home.

O before I foget. Thank you to vipers2304, SirKulinski, and Lasiefo for your various posts. I feel it's kinda silly to thank posts that simply thank me for a chapter, but I do appreciate it!