Before grazing the Wraith Steve, Silas first examined the sheep inside his body.
His spirituality extended forward, grasping the soul of the "Interrogator" Katie, and amid her struggles, pulled her out.
He needed to make room for a new sheep.
Katie's soul was pinched in his left hand.
Compared to when she was first grazed, her soul had suffered some wear, looking quite depleted.
"No! Spare me!"
Katie's soul screamed, trembling in the palm of his hand.
Silas ignored her, instead silently sensing that deepest location within his body, where Cecilia's soul was tightly yet gently wrapped by his flesh and blood.
But even with such tight protection, her soul was still minutely deteriorating.
He couldn't deny it.
Keeping his sister's soul inside his body wasn't a long-term solution.
Could it be that putting Cecilia in that sea really was the correct choice? But if he just put her in directly, the dangers were unpredictable.
If some irreversible consequence occurred, he would only regret it bitterly.
Hmm? Wait a moment...
Amid his hesitation, Silas suddenly thought of something and shifted his gaze to the soul in his hand.
He could test it with this person's soul first!
Let her be the guinea pig, soak her for a while, and see the effect.
If it nourished souls, that would be best. If she was harmed by the seawater, it wouldn't cause him any loss...
Thinking this, he couldn't help but show a cold smile.
Originally, he'd planned to directly crush this person's soul and only keep the Beyonder characteristic to sell.
Since she still had some use, he'd preserve her for a while... With this thought, Silas turned his gaze to Steve's corpse on the ground, opened his empty right hand, and aimed at the body.
"Whoosh..."
In the howling wind, the latter's soul wrapped around the Beyonder characteristic was forcibly yanked out by him and swallowed into his body, placed in the slot originally occupied by Katie.
"No!"
Steve cried out in despair.
He hadn't expected that even after death, he would still be experiencing pain.
The Shepherd's ability allowed Silas to forcibly communicate with his spirituality and learn the "Wraith's" related abilities.
Besides the "Wraith Transformation," "Possession," and "Mirror Blink" that Sharron had told him about, the Wraith also mastered "Ice Control," "Manipulating Undead," "Spiritual Intuition," "Wraith Shriek," and other abilities, as well as all abilities below Sequence 6 "Zombie."
Silas could only fix three abilities.
After some consideration, he decided to keep "Wraith Transformation," "Possession," and "Mirror Blink."
"Wraith Transformation" went without saying, it was the foundation for the Wraith's other abilities. "Possession" was likewise a very powerful ability.
What Silas was particularly interested in was "Mirror Blink."
This ability allowed spirit bodies to jump between surfaces that could reflect images, with an effective distance of 300 meters.
Fortunately, Steve hadn't been able to use this ability at the time, or he might really have escaped.
No matter how unwilling, Steve's soul still couldn't resist the Shepherd's ability.
The connection between them was irresistibly established, and he was forcibly trapped inside Silas's body.
After this, he used Blood Magic to dispose of the corpse and quietly left.
In the early morning hours, Silas safely returned to his residence.
"Meow."
The black cat Luna was crouched on the hallway cabinet, tail covering her front paws.
She tilted her head to look at Silas, her blue eyes seeming to carry a reproachful meaning.
"Why aren't you asleep?"
Silas reached out to pet Luna, but her body yielded accordingly, and his hand grabbed empty air.
She was sulking.
"Sorry, Luna. I shouldn't have thrown you earlier."
But Luna only swished her tail without responding.
Seeing this, Silas could only shake his head, turn around, and head up to the second-floor bedroom.
Tonight he'd done too many things. He'd consumed quite a bit of spirituality and was mentally exhausted.
He planned to lie down and rest briefly, recovering his spirituality through meditation.
"Meow~"
Luna lightly jumped down from the cabinet, following at his feet.
She seemed interested in the transparent soul Silas was pinching in his hand and wanted to pounce up to look.
"You can't touch this."
Silas raised his arm.
He thought for a moment, then directly stuffed Katie's soul inside his body.
This was different from grazing.
It was just roughly storing it temporarily in his flesh. After doing all this, he felt somewhat tired.
Without even taking off his clothes, he collapsed on the bedroom bed.
Before falling asleep, he briefly reviewed tonight's events and took stock of his gains:
Because his sheep had been attacked, he'd discovered that one of the rules for acting as a Shepherd was "protect the sheep."
Following the werewolf's trail, he'd traced it to the Rose School of Thought and reestablished contact with the out-of-touch Sharron.
He'd successfully killed members of the Rose School of Thought and Count Andes, eliminating an enemy.
As for spoils of war...
He'd obtained a Sequence 6 "Zombie characteristic" and grazed a Sequence 5 Wraith, while that Beyonder item "Crimson Crown" had been taken by Sharron.
Speaking of Sharron, he hadn't expected they'd meet again in this way.
The Fourth Epoch ancient tomb exploration they'd previously agreed on could now probably continue.
In that tomb was the Human-skin Shadow characteristic that [The World] needed.
Besides that, perhaps they could also discover some more valuable things in the tomb that could be given to [The Sun] to persuade Silver City's Chief to hand over the Black Knight potion formula.
At the next Tarot Club meeting, he should remember to communicate with them.
Also, [The Hanged Man's] Beyonder item should be given to him.
Additionally, when he woke up, he needed to remember to conduct experiments on that sea.
He also needed to properly console his flock and hold funerals for the dead...
Countless thoughts filled his brain. Silas suddenly felt genuinely exhausted.
I really want to rest...
He fell into a deep sleep.
Crimson moonlight slanted through the window, making the bedroom not quite so dark.
In a few more hours, night would end.
The black cat Luna agilely jumped onto the bed without stepping on Silas.
With her azure eyes, she looked at Silas's face illuminated by moonlight.
That face looked somewhat haggard.
The black cat watched him quietly for a while, then lay down beside his neck, curling up.
Soon, she began making purring sounds.
***
The night quickly passed.
Silas rarely had a good sleep and didn't see any strange visions in his dreams.
After washing up, feeding the cat, and replenishing his own raw meat, he locked the door and sat down on the living room sofa.
He reached his hand into his body and pulled out Katie's soul.
"Come out."
He called to M.
The latter cooperatively appeared, still with her consistently composed expression.
"How do I bring a soul up to that sea?"
"Just wrap it directly with spirituality, then the main body can take it up."
M said.
You should have said so earlier. You made me pull her out for nothing.
Silas glanced at her, then stuffed Katie's soul back into his body and summoned the tide.