The hooded man only observed and didn't take any action. Despite him trying to remain as still as possible, exhaustion was evident in his posture. His breaths too were laboured.
Hidden within his coat were six more spheres. Everyone part of the Essencer Guild in this town apart from Eldna had been killed.
Originally, he came here to deal with her too, having the means to track her whereabouts despite her change in appearance. But, upon observing that she was now a Spirit, he decided to stay his hand.
After all, the previous battle with the Spirit had exhausted him considerably. He was short on materials for another battle, having just now dealt with the regular Essencer Guild members scattered throughout the town.
'She's a Spirit and feels stronger than the one from before.' He frowned in response, 'Her accumulations seem to be lacking, but she has absorbed some rather tricky abilities.'
He had just tracked her when she was about to exit the textile shop, noticing her pocket the shopkeeper. 'She has somehow managed to subdue and absorb the essence of an unscrupulous merchant. That gives her too much foundation to improve upon.'
He turned around, no longer remaining at the place, deciding to make preparations accordingly. After a walk spanning an hour, he arrived at a shack and entered it, staring at the old cot and the table beside.
He slid underneath the cot and pulled a hidden lever, causing a small latch to open. He plunged into it, dropping a dozen metres freely before a shadow tentacle extended to coil on the floor, acting as a spring to cushion his fall.
The hooded man landed on the floor and closed the latch, gasping as he removed the cloak, revealing a body that seemed to be a patchwork at best, barely held together by tentacles of shadow.
The room was created out of marble, looking expensive, with signs of cutting-edge technology. It was masked within that poor man's shack.
It was illuminated by a tube light, something that wasn't available anywhere else, signalling the extent of knowledge that he had obtained through blessings. He stared at the large mirror before him, sighing in response.
A youth seemingly in his early twenties, but more than half his face seemed to have been burned up. One eye and ear were non-functional while the other eye only retained some level of sight.
Only a small patch of his head had hair that he seemed to have shaved off.
Large sections of his limbs were just shadowy stretches. The bones, nerves, etc. were all made from shadows, pumping out body fluids accordingly.
Some of his internal organs too were missing, replaced by their shadow counterparts that were somehow maintaining the function of the original. But, it was obvious that he was just prolonging his life like this.
He was constantly in pain and every action was a form of overexertion that further taxed his body. But, it didn't matter, for he didn't plan to rest until everyone from the Essencer Guild was destroyed and his blade reached the neck of the Devil they worshipped.
Hatred was all that fuelled his drive.
The mirror stretched for a few metres, with more than half of it taken up by writings of various sorts. There were names, affiliations, relation charts, rumours, news, etc. that he had collected over the years.
'There's just one more left in this town.' He thought before closing his eyes, resting as is. He couldn't sleep like a regular human, as a fraction of his body's involuntary process was being done by his shadow.
And even though it could operate on its own, he shared the mental load of the faith flowing through him. Therefore, if he fully relaxed, the faith might stop flowing into him, for his body was already tethering on the edge of death. He offered his usual prayers, 'A bit more, continue to watch over me.'
Two hours later, he got up and clicked a button on the wall, watching the doors open to reveal a futuristic lab in which countless solutions, vials, extracts, etc. were stored.
There was a screen on the wall, displaying some flickering output and numbers while the whirring sounds of machines softly filled the place.
'The target has an unscrupulous merchant's powers. So, there's a good chance she could simply hide within their exclusive dimension. That means any attacks I use on her should have adhesive properties. Any other attack won't work well.'
He continued to imagine countless battle scenarios, working up solutions accordingly. After a few hours passed, he exited his shack and returned to spy on Eldna, gathering as many clues as possible.
After all, going against a Spirit from the Essencer Guild wasn't an easy feat, especially for someone without powers like him. The majority of the shadow he got was used in keeping his body functional.
"Mom, that guy looks scary. He's fully covered up…" A boy said while pointing at him.
"Shush, don't speak nonsense." His mother hurriedly shut him up and dragged him away. Moreover, while going away, her attention fell on his feet, staring at the sky to see the evening sun.
She stared at her son, gazing at the long shadow he cast, trailing her gaze on the hooded man, observing a lack of shadow trailing from his feet, 'That's not a human.'
In fear, she pulled her son away as hurriedly as possible, quickly returning home.
Of course, the hooded man didn't bother with them, only focusing his entirety on observing Eldna. If any of the ordinary people were frightened by him, he couldn't help it. After all, he couldn't become invisible. Secondly, he might miss out on a lot of clues if he only went around during the night.
"Excuse me, sir?" Suddenly, a priest of the city serving the God of Rain approached him, staring at him with a hint of suspicion, "I've received numerous reports about you recently. Can I ask you to spare some time with us?"
"Sure," The hooded man didn't even display a hint of displeasure, pointing at the nearest prayer hall meant for the believers to pray in peace, "Let's talk somewhere safe."
The priest was surprised by his action as he didn't say anything and led the hooded man to the prayer hall. It was indeed the safest place, for plenty of priests were located there. So, should the hooded man try anything funny, he would be neutralised swiftly.
But the fact that he took the initiative to suggest it meant either he was confident in his strength or sincerely didn't mean them any harm.
The priest stared at his back, 'Which one are you?'
