C174: Alan Coins infused with spirituality
“This ability…” Arnold eyed the green page skeptically.
Arnold pointed at the page and directed his question to Davis. As expected, the man proved equally puzzled by this.
"I am... not certain regarding this one, junior. I have never before encountered this particular color in all my years."
Inside Arnold’s mind, Izzy contemplated that sentence.
‘A color that has never been seen before.’
Izzy—or rather, the main body, Isidora—had been using this color as their energy reserve. They had even given it a name: life energy, or life essence.
But here, even Davis confessed to having never encountered such a thing.
Izzy directed Arnold to pose additional questions, and slowly, a comprehensive picture began to outline itself within her mindscape.
'Pure Yan, orange color. Harmony Yan, yellow. Violence Yan, crimson. Pure Yi, blue. Cold Yi, violet. And Serene Yi, gray.'
There were many familiar terms. Yan and Yi. They bore a striking similarity to Yang and Yin, the energy classification system that existed in Izzy's original world, employed by those self-proclaimed cultivators of the Eastern Republic.
'Is it possible that the original creator of these terms... also originated from my world?' Izzy found herself deeply intrigued by the names. 'Did they truncate the final syllable out of fear of copyright infringement?'
That seemed implausible. It had to be a coincidence.
The matter wasn’t important, so Izzy redirected her attention back to the green page before her.
"Unseen Hands."
Judging by the name alone, it sounded almost identical to their Psychokinesis.
It also aligned with Isa’s flower color.
‘Now that I think about it…’ Inside his mind, Izzy tapped her chin thoughtfully.
The first time they had discovered Psychokinesis, Isa had mentioned something relevant while teaching Izzy how to master the ability.
Something about imagining the ability as invisible hands, moving objects around.
'Unseen Hands… Could there be a connection between this ability and Psychokinesis?'
Izzy glanced to her side, looking at Isa.
Uncharacteristically, the girl said nothing, only staring at the paper in Arnold's hand.
"Isa?"
"Yes!" Isa jolted visibly in her seat, immediately restoring her full, energetic demeanor.
“Your hand is trembling. What’s wrong?”
Isa's hand had been trembling for some inexplicable reason.
"Ah."
Isa immediately withdrew her hand from Izzy's.
“Nothing! I, Isa just, er… just didn’t expect something like that to exist, that’s all!”
“Right, is it?” Izzy nodded. She completely agreed with Isa.
She controlled Arnold again and stared at Davis, her gaze carrying an unspoken meaning: ‘Give me a proper explanation.’
“Junior, even if ya look at me in such a manner…” Davis slumped his shoulders as if he had been caught.
He sighed. "Very well, ya got me, junior. Actually, I do possess some knowledge of the matter. It is simply that..." He looked at the page in Arnold’s hand with complicated eyes. "To explain it fully here would prove lengthy and complicated, junior."
He scratched his head, then raised four fingers, beginning his explanation.
"In the Stagefarer world, there exist twelve official Paths, spread across four Factions, each bearing its own color: the Harmony Faction with the yellow color code, the Violence Faction with the crimson color code, the Moon Faction with the violet color code, and lastly..." He pinched the final finger, his brow furrowing. "I’m uncertain of its name, and its color... gray?"
He shook his head, then raised his thumb.
"However, beyond those four established Factions, there exist additional, more mysterious Factions that have not yet received formal discovery. Each of these unofficial Factions contains its own distinct Paths."
He regarded the green page with grave seriousness.
"We call them the Deviant Paths."
Arnold remained crouched before the page, his brow furrowed in puzzlement beneath the bandages.
“What does that have to do with this?”
Davis shrugged his shoulders.
"Essentially, junior, should you encounter any strange color other than the four established faction colors, it signifies that the ability originates from a Deviant Path."
He gestured toward the page lying on the ground. "That thing serves as an example. I have never before witnessed that emerald color. Therefore, it must unquestionably derive from one of the Deviant Paths."
He continued, eyeing the page with interest.
"But it’s also a most intriguing discovery, ya see.
“Most of the time, the Deviant Paths manifest themselves as Curses. So the presence of one of these odd pages here confirms that the Deviant Paths Stagefarers do, in fact, exist. And it further implies that this assassin possessed some rather precious connections within the underworld's inner circles."
Arnold's eyes lit up with curiosity. "What do you mean?"
"I regret to say, junior, I possess not the slightest idea regarding the underlying reason. But, I can venture an educated guess." Davis spoke in a casual, offhand manner. He cleared his throat before continuing.
"Since the Deviant Paths remain so mysterious, it logically follows that advancing through their stages must prove exceptionally dangerous.
“Therefore, I would surmise that a great many Stagefarers lose control while attempting to advance, transforming into Curses rather than ascending."
Arnold nodded, tapping his chin in contemplation.
He was intrigued by this knowledge, but it was not as though he needed to concern himself with such matters, since he was, after all, just a disposable vessel.
For now, he set the green page aside with the other scattered pages and turned his attention to the leather pouch filled with Alan coins that had been recovered from the assassin's belongings.
'Twelve Alan coins, sixteen shillings, and some coppies.’
After carefully counting and sorting the coins, Arnold noticed that some of the coins appeared markedly different from their counterparts.
Some Alan coins emitted a strange, faintly luminous aura that only became discernible when Arnold focused his Field Vision.
The shimmer played across their golden surfaces like heat haze rising from sun-baked summer stone.
Conversely, other coins had lost their expected brilliance of gold. Their surfaces reduced to a dull shade that reflected no light whatsoever, as if something within them had already been drained away.
"Those are special Alan coins that have been infused with a Stagefarer's spirituality, junior." Without Arnold needing to voice a single inquiry, Davis had already anticipated the question and presented him with the answer.
“Alan Coins infused with spirituality?”
"I will provide a simpler explanation for your understanding.” Davis began his explanation, yet again. His tone carried the weary familiarity of a tutor long accustomed to his student's ignorance.
“It’s merely another name for the energy we employ to activate our abilities, junior. Some folk prefer to call it spirituality; others call it energy. All these terms describe the same thing."
Arnold could not help but form a wry smile. It appeared that in Davis's eyes, Arnold had now established himself as nothing more than a clueless yet dangerous lad who had absolutely no knowledge of the world whatsoever.
Davis continued his impromptu lecture, unaware of Arnold's private thoughts.
"It is said that because Alan coins, or gold itself, stands as the material closest to the divine. A Stagefarer can perform a ritual to mark the coin, granting it a special capacity to hold one type of energy, or as some call it, one spirituality." He gestured broadly at the scattered coins. "And with this preparation, they can use the coin to provide energy for Cursed tools originating from different Paths."
He pointed at one of the coins lying beside one of the contract pages, drawing an invisible connecting line between the two items.
"Ya could observe this one as an example. I myself belong to the Violence Faction, and can therefore produce Violence Yan spirituality," Davis said, raising his open palm into the moonlight.
Upon the closest inspection, one could discern a faint crimson aura emanating from his hand, wisping upward like blood-tinted smoke, and his eyes flickered briefly to a dangerous shade of red.
"So naturally, I cannot utilize that [Ice Bullets] contract page, since it belongs to the Moon Faction and requires Cold Yi spirituality to activate."
"However, I can use this [Combustion] page, since it channels the ability of a Path belonging to the Violence Faction, and therefore consumes Violence Yan spirituality, which my body produces naturally."
Arnold's eyes widened with sudden comprehension. He immediately directed his gaze toward the coin that Davis had indicated, the one emitting a faint yellow smoke that curled into delicate, soft wisps.
"So this coin has been infused with Harmony Yan spirituality, and I can use this coin to activate the [Barrier] Contract Page?"
Davis nodded approvingly. "That is correct, junior."
"Then, if my understanding serves me well, I believe I could use both the [Barrier] page and this [Combustion] page by employing a Pure Yan Essence bottle as a substitute?"
“That’s a great observation, junior!” Davis snapped his fingers with approval. "Indeed, the Pure Yan essence bottle can serve as a universal substitute for both Violence Yan and Harmony Yan requirements. The same principle applies to the Pure Yin essence vial, which functions as a substitute for both Cold Yi and Serene Yi applications."
'I see. So that is the reason why I could activate the cane's ability after pouring the Pure Yan essence bottle upon it!'
Arnold nodded his head, the pieces of a puzzle finally assembling into coherence.
'So I can use my only Pure Yi essence vial to activate both the [Masking] and [Ice Bullets] pages. That’s great to know.'
That was the only vial they had, obtained after killing Benjamin.
There were a total of six Alan coins bearing the distinctive colorful aura within the loot: five coins gleamed with the crimson signature of Violence Yan, and a single coin radiating the soft yellow glow of Harmony Yan.
Since Roson was a Dhampir from the Moon Faction, she would have had no need for violet coins infused with Cold Yi spirituality, her own Path generating that essence natively in abundance.
And, most significantly to Izzy's observations, there was no green-aura coin whatsoever among the loot.