Finally...
We're inside the club room now and Alicia was still so full of energy.
Well, she always was.
"Anthony, explain." Gino said looking exhausted.
We both barely listened to the lectures, and was busy babysitting Alicia.... discreetly.
Cynthia was crouching handing Alicia a candy. Thinking she would like it. Also waiting for my explanation.
Sarah was also with Alicia, making sure she's comfortable.
While me? I sighed.
They all deserved and explanation why I brought her along. And Cynthia needs to catch up on the details too.
I explained it to Cynthia first, the same one I gave Gino and Sarah about Alicia's case. She nodded and felt sad about my sister.
Then I continued...
"Alicia's essence is currently leaking out. Droplets. Not much but enough to lure stronger ghost eaters towards her. Who wanted to devour her soul. And Millien said, she's safer with me."
I let out a breathe and leaned back on my chair.
"So, your saying, before you find a way to patch that tiny hole up, she's gonna be with you 24/7?" Gino asked, already thinking of ways to make the situation easier.
"Yes. That's the plan."
"That's alright. We can help too." Cynthia said with a smile.
And Alicia was all over the club room. It was understandable. She was holed up in our house, and the church was the furthest she had been.
Now, she's freely looking around and feed her curiosity.
"Kuya, candy. Can I eat this?" She handed me the candy Cynthia gave.
"I don't know. Well, I'll open it and you can try."
I fed her the candy but she wasn't able to taste it just fell to the ground, when I put it in her mouth.
Alicia felt so sad about it, that made me browse on the system shop for anything.
"Have some cookies for now." I handed her and Millien a cookie each and they munched on it.
"Why can she eat that but not the candy?" Sarah asked, watching Alicia enjoying it.
"That's special. It's made for them." I said casually.
They all just nodded and accepted the answer without too much inquiry.
And while we were gathered in the club room, we all brainstormed on how to make our website. We started with just a few designs that Sarah made. Then added more options to it.
When we were satisfied, we saved it first for more tabs and other icons we will be adding next.
When 6 pm hits, we went our separate ways. Alicia, Millien and I commuted, while I was pretending Alicia wasn't playing with a baby in front of us.
Lola Aurora said before that babies can see entities. That's why they laugh and cry, even if they're alone.
And Alicia was making funny faces giggling as the baby giggled too.
The mother looked at me and was also giggling on how contagious the baby's giggle was.
But there was a problem. The baby was laughing at Alicia not me. And I was not even making the baby laugh.
Which was a bit awkward. And embarrassing. I felt like the baby was laughing at my face.
That's what they thought. But it's quite alright. As long as Alicia was happy.
And when I looked down, that's when I noticed a bead forming on Alicia's head.
[PURE ESSENCE]
What the actual....tang ina... So this was what it looked like. The essence Millien was talking about.
[PUT THE ESSENCE INSIDE A VIAL. TO SECURELY KEEP IT.]
I pretended to play along at the baby's continued laugh my way, and used it as a cover as I scrolled through the shop.
And it got more items now after leveling it to level 4 with 5k points from selling stuff to Cynthia.
And level 5 needs 8k points. Which was ridiculously expensive given that, points doesn't give much. I need to work hard for it. Or start opening that store or sell my services.
For now, I bought a vial, worth 100 points. Closed my palm as soon as it materializes, and let the essence drop into it.
The vial wasn't even that big, just two inches max.
When I secured the essence, I put the vial back to my system inventory.
Which was only useable to store purchased items. And if I store something it would make me pay for the slot.
I've tried it but didn't do it. Points were treasures.
When we arrived home, I looked into the pure essence that came from Alicia's head.
And I'm also aware now, that the hole came from the ghost eater's bite mark. It tried to pierce through Alicia's head but didn't succeed. And it was just as small as a dot.
Nothing too urgent but needed a solution for it.
I kept checking the shop for new items and bought things that can be sold for later, and just stored them first.
Then one item got my attention.
[SOUL PATCH (CONSUMABLE): 5000 POINTS]
[DESCRIPTION: HEALS UP ANYTHING]
This is it! That's what I needed. But...
[TOTAL POINTS: 1,873]
I need to earn more points to help Alicia. And I think, hesitating with the physical store wouldn't help. If I need to gain points the easy way, selling is the right course of action.
Tomorrow at Cynthia's house, I'm gonna have that talk with Mr. Bartolome. And work around it without sacrificing my studies.
I can do this.
[HOST, THE PURE ESSENCE CAN BE EMBEDDED TO OTHER ITEMS AND WILL AMPLIFY THEIR FUNCTIONS.]
[EXAMPLE: ADD IT TO THE HOLY ROSARY, AND ITS ABILITY TO WEAKEN A POSSESSED HUMAN FOR EASIER PURGING WILL BE AMPLIFIED]
Oh crap. Isn't that a cheat?
But that's Alicia's essence. I shouldn't be greedy.
"System, can you calculate the essence forming on Alicia's head, in hoe long each one would show up?"
[24 HOURS TO ACCUMULATE ONE FULL BEAD OF PURE ESSENCE]
I thought about it. Since I'm lacking the points, I'll collect them. Just until I've had enough points to buy the patch.
But I won't do it without permission.
So I walked towards Alicia and crouched, meeting her eye to eye.
"Alicia, will you let me gather your essence whenever it appears?" I said gently.
And Alicia looked at me and smiled.
"Okay po. You can have as many as you want." She said without even hesitating.
I ruffled her hair and gave her a cookie, and thanked her for it.
I swore to protect her, with all my heart.