SPIRIT SOUL

If someone were to tell Gaby that she would reveal her deepest thoughts to someone she didn't even know, she would have probably laughed it off.

Ever since that fateful day of the attack she had confined herself to the walls of the Guildhall.

For the last three years she had kept her worries, agonies and hurt to herself and put on a mask of indifference and cold. That was until a complete stranger had shown up.

Something about the blonde-haired youth told her that she could trust him, that he could somehow help her.

Her gut feeling told her that she could unburden her thoughts in front of him, so she did just that.

Just because she sensed something from him, something that made her trust him, she would be called a hypocrite for staying shut-in inside the Guildhall for the last three years!

Words came tumbling out of her mouth as she spoke her mind in what felt like an eternity.

Meanwhile, Kyle only listened to her intently!

"I can't simply kill Dirk without disappointing Laila and being thrown out of the Guild and town. As such, I would have to search for clues about the real reason for Dirk to leave the defensive line!

I doubt that he did everything on a whim. After I've found the necessary clues, I would wait for him to be exiled before killing him outside the town!"

The intention to kill leaked from her body as the surrounding temperature plummeted.

But Kyle was unbothered by the sudden change and gave her a faint smile in return.

He had expected her to be fueled by wrath and the urge to avenge her family.

Nevertheless, he was glad that Gaby could still think rationally, at least to some extent.

Despite not knowing who Laila was, he liked her reasoning which caused him to make an offer.

"If I were to offer you to tend the contamination in your eyes, what would I receive in return?"

Kyle's voice was casual but his offer made her squint her eyes. She felt as if something was off all of a sudden.

Instead of rushing outside the Guildhall in order to hunt beasts, he patiently waited for her answer!

The other receptionist, who was next to Gaby, wanted to intervene.

Her face clearly showed her expressions of contempt, thinking that Kyle was making fun of her friend.

p But before she could do so, she was distracted by another cultivator who demanded her service.

As such, nobody noticed that Gaby pondered about an answer before replying,

"If you can provide proof about your capabilities...you can think of a reward!"

All of a sudden, her mind told Gaby that she had to be careful of Kyle

As Gaby was uncertain about Kyle's intention, she was trying to remain calm.

She tried to not let her emotions betray her and answered with a stoic face.

He was definitely one of the oddest people she had seen in a long time, which made things quite difficult too!

In the end, there was no reason for her to trust Kyle. Consequently, she had no reason to be biased or prejudiced towards him.

He was a blank sheet for her, with the exception of him being an adventurer with an extremely low cultivation base!

Hearing Gaby, Kyle didn't think of wasting anymore time.

Thus, he lunged out and took her hands in his hand before he responded.

"This should be proof enough!"

Saying so, he activated the Nurture ability with the excessive soul force that swirled through his body.

He didn't use any soul force that had been stored inside the vessel he was establishing.

But, there was still more than enough energy left to act as evidence for his capabilities.

Hiding the Nurture ability might be better in certain circumstances, but Kyle had a plan.

If he could reap more benefits by revealing his ability to certain individuals that wanted nothing but to be healed, revenge, or both, it couldn't be really considered a disadvantage to him as long as they didn't obstruct his plans!

From what he had heard, Gaby was at the mid or even higher ranks of the Vitae stage.

Thus, if he were to heal her successfully, it would open doors for both him and Selene to make use of Gaby's gratitude in numerous ways!

Kyle didn't plan to run around and announce his ability to everyone in the entire Sadorla forest.

But sometimes giving others a sneak peek was the most efficient way to acquire what he wanted!

Gaby's first reaction on seeing Kyle's hand reach for her hand was to avoid him.

However, she was a fraction of a second too late in pulling her hand back.

Thus, Kyle's finger lightly brushed her hand.

It was enough to transfer a fraction of power from his Nurture ability towards her.

In the end, it was not much, but it was good enough to work in his favor.

Kyle was sure that it would have been more efficient if he were to come in touch with the closest area of what he wanted to nurture.

But for now, it was enough to give Gaby a little demonstration.

Only a fraction of a second later, Gaby's retracted hand shot out at him.

Her primal instincts had reacted subconsciously the moment she noticed that Kyle's simple touch was soothing the pain in her eyes.

At the same time, she felt as if the clock had stopped ticking.

She had been helplessly watching each day pass, knowing that she would turn completely blind one day.

But now Gaby felt as if that day had been postponed if not terminated.

Thinking about it, her blindness might only be postponed by a few hours.

It was not even worth mentioning under normal circumstances, but Kyle's hand had barely grazed hers!

Thus, grasping his hand, she felt the entire effect of the Nurture ability hit her as Kyle didn't stop utilizing it.

He didn't expect Gaby to react so quickly after retracting her hand earlier.

But he was fortunate enough to have found her.

This lucky encounter allowed the young and nearly blind receptionist to understand that he could heal her.

It took only a few seconds before Kyle's Nurture ability was void of energy.

He hadn't supplied lots of soul force into it, which disappointed Gaby for a moment before a faint smile emerged on her face.

Loosening her grasp around his hand, Kyle was able to retract it as he looked at Gaby.

"I understand now...your proof is definitely more than enough…" It was not difficult to understand that Kyle had an Innate ability.

It was extremely rare to naturally awaken, let alone to be born with such an ability!

She herself had only established a connection with an affinity seed when she broke into the Vitae stage.

This was already extremely rare, even more so in the Sadorla forest.

Despite that, she didn't know anyone with an Innate ability.

One was normally born with abilities and they could have a variety of effects.

But, the most important fact was that they were in most cases stronger than normal abilities.

One could awaken innate abilities later or replicate them through the use of affinities!

Vila town's healer had a faint connection to the light affinity.

Owing to this he could heal flesh wounds, inflammations, and other minor injuries.

But, even he couldn't help Gaby.

As such, he would know the worth of Kyle's ability and how fortunate Gaby was to have found him.

His ability could prolong the pace at which her blindness progressed.

So in her eyes, he was nothing less than a godsend.

She also understood the trust he had placed in her by revealing his ability!

Owing to that, and the ray of hope that ignited within her, she couldn't back off now.

"What is it that you want??"

Gaby was already imagining all kinds of treasure Kyle could demand from her.

She recalled that he had asked her for the catalogue of the Guild shop.

Items that could be used by a young man at the Fortification stage weren't necessarily expensive or hard to procure.

Thus, Gaby's biggest worry was that he might ask for a spatial ring with large storage space, or even worse, something more 'compromising'!

But when Gaby saw the Lohar next to Kyle, it made her believe that he had someone to 'satisfy' him.

As such, he would not resort to anything he didn't really need.

He seemed to be too calm and serious to ask for anything weird too.

However, when she heard what Kyle asked for, she couldn't help but be stunned for a moment.

"Huh?? What did you just say?"

Kyle just smiled lightly before he repeated himself.

"I want you to go out and hunt with Selene and me on your next day off!"

Even Selene found this trade weird. But after thinking about it for a moment, she couldn't help but stare at Kyle with wide eyes.

'Is that what he had planned??'

Before, Selene was not sure what Kyle wanted.

However, she was beginning to understand everything. This only caused her reverence towards Kyle, her master, to increase even further.

While she stared at him with gleaming eyes, Kyle didn't notice anything.

He was looking at Gaby, who was visibly confused.

'Does he think that hunting with me will give him a better return in loot than asking me for a spatial ring with large storage capacities? Beasts at the Vitae stage are expensive but a proper spatial ring is on a completely different level! Just what is he scheming?'

Kyle noticed that Gaby was deep in thoughts, trying to analyze him.

As such, he decided to let her think more about it.

"Just tell me when you've made your decision. I'll have to return to the Guildhall a few times today, either way!"

With that being said, Kyle decided to leave. He picked up the three spatial pouches he had rented by their straps before turning around.

It was only then that he noticed Selene's stare.

He didn't think much about that and simply grabbed her hand to drag her out of the Guildhall.

She was still staring at Kyle, but didn't even notice being dragged away. Kyle walked out of the Guildhall and stopped once they were in the open streets.

He let go of her hand and handed her two spatial pouches before wearing the third around his waist.

In his opinion, he had already accomplished everything he wanted to for the entire day.

Despite not venturing out to hunt, he had earned something much more valuable. Paying a total of 10 Pryr- and 2 Maest crystals, and staying inside the Guildhall for much longer than expected had awarded him with Gaby's interest!

This interest was mainly focused on his ability to cure her blindness which would allow him to make use of Gaby's expertise if she were to agree to his request!

It may not sound like much to the young receptionist, but to Kyle it was a unique opportunity. Through this, he could become extremely powerful in no time!

Smiling brightly, he knew Selene had realized the same.

As such, he simply said.

"Let's hunt!"