Several days passed as Kalen took Adaire sightseeing around the world. Many areas of the earth were uninhabited because of great cataclysms that had happened in the past, whether natural or man-made.
There were also many areas where people lived in extreme poverty and malnutrition, areas that were of no interest to Adaire, so he only visited places that still retained the ancient beauty that the land once had.
Those places tended to be cities, where the challengers and the creators met, and where the few pillars of humanity tended to live.
Kalen had hardly rested, Adaire had no need to sleep, so Kalen could only rest in those moments when Adaire got bored of walking and started watching anything on the televisions in the nearby hotels.
More than buying clothes and other material things, Adaire was obsessed with trying all kinds of extravagant foods.
Kalen had good savings, being an agent of the Atlas Circle paid well, but he saw less and less money in his account.
'I'll get my money back later...'
Kalen sighed and looked at Adaire, who was sitting on the couch eating sweets and watching TV again.
Adaire noticed Kalen's presence and turned to him.
"I have bad news!"
Kalen was both surprised and concerned.
What could be bad news for Adaire?
"What happened?"
Adaire feigned sadness and spoke in a tearful tone.
"Today my holiday is over... and we have to go back"
Kalen stood with his mouth open, not knowing what to say.
'That's good news'
But he didn't say it out loud, just nodded silently.
"So where are we going?"
Adaire jumped up from the couch and smiled.
"I heard about a tropical place... Hmmm, what was it called? Ah yes, the Island of Holy Paradise!"
Kalen closed his eyes, remembering Yale and Shella's gift.
'The home of the wind column... I hope nothing happens'
The first problem was that Adaire did not like to take any kind of transport, as it was too slow. So, the girl preferred to fly, and since Kalen could not fly... he had to endure a difficult journey.
And so, they arrived at the harbor of the island of Holy Paradise.
Kalen learned not to eat breakfast until he arrived at his destination, so he wouldn't have anything in his stomach to throw up. Still, it took him a few seconds to recover from the dizziness.
Meanwhile, Adaire looked around with curiosity and pleasure.
As the home of the Pillar of Wind, Holy Paradise Island was one of the most prosperous places on Earth.
Tourism and fishing were the island's main sources of income, but the constant flow of challengers and creators in and out of Urasis was also a source of income.
The harbor, one of the most iconic places on the island, where dozens of small shops stretched along a large and long street, several kilometers long, called the Street of Fortune, where you could find anything you wanted.
And since Adaire was so fond of looking at exotic things, this place was like paradise to her, as the name suggested.
As Adaire entered the shops, Kalen also noticed some interesting things on the counters. Most of them were of no use, but some of them were.
There were so-called relics, strange and unique objects brought from Urasis that had some kind of function or property.
All the relics were behind safety glass and had a piece of paper underneath describing their function. But even though he read the description of some relics, he did not even think about buying them.
The price of a single relic was absurdly astronomical, only a rich person could afford one. Besides, some relics were useless, to say the least.
Kalen continued to browse, waiting for Adaire, when he felt a tug on his shirt.
"Are you done...?"
Thinking it was Adaire, Kalen hurried to ask her, only to find that it was not her, but another girl, even younger than Adaire.
The girl had tanned skin and her hair was a strange dark green color, she was wearing a simple white one-piece dress and had several bracelets on her right forearm.
The girl looked at Kalen with her green eyes, and Kalen didn't know what to say.
"Are you lost?"
The girl shook her head and pointed to another shelf where sweets were displayed.
Kalen frowned slightly and the girl tugged at his shirt again.
'Really?'
Kalen sighed and smiled at the girl.
"Do you want some candy?"
The girl felt brisk and started to walk towards the candy shelf as Kalen followed her.
The girl picked out several pieces of candy and placed them on the counter, smiling at the cashier. Kalen saw the amount of sweets and sighed.
'Why am I buying sweets for a girl I don't even know?'
Anyway, Kalen sighed and paid with a somewhat forced smile.
Just then, Adaire arrived at his side and noticed the girl looking at her with interest.
"Ohh?"
The girl looked back at her and smiled, but with some caution.
Adaire stopped looking at the girl and looked at Kalen.
"You know her?"
Kalen shook his head as he put the sweets into a bag before handing it to the girl.
"No idea... she just appeared beside me"
"Um... I see"
The three of them walked out of the shop as the girl rummaged through the bag of sweets. At that moment, Kalen felt a heavy gaze on his back.
He turned quickly and looked in the direction from which he felt he was being watched.
At the end of Fortune Street, on top of a mountain in the center of the island, a grand and iconic mansion stood with grandeur.
'The Pillar House?'
Kalen gulped and looked at Adaire and the girl, but she had disappeared.
'Huh?'
Kalen looked around for the girl, but Adaire stopped him.
"Don't bother, she's already gone"
Kalen looked at her questioningly.
"Gone?"
Adaire looked in the direction of the mansion and smiled for a few seconds before looking back at Kalen.
"She went back home"
Kalen didn't understand what Adaire was referring to, but he didn't have time to ask as she started to walk away towards another shop that had piqued his interest.
"Hey, wait!"
Kalen sighed and started to follow Adaire again.
***
Inside the large mansion, a black-haired, green-eyed woman watched Fortune Street from her office through a large glass window.
Suddenly a green light materialized just above her legs and a few seconds later the same girl who had asked Kalen for candy appeared.
"You left without my permission"
The girl shivered and turned to look at the woman with sad eyes.
"Mari felt something in him!"
The pale woman looked at the girl with cold eyes.
"Did you feel something?"
The girl nodded and began to take a candy out of the bag.
"Yes! It was just like you!"
The woman frowned and looked at the young man who was still walking behind what looked like a ten-year-old girl.
"Like me?"
The girl nodded as she started to eat one of the sweets.
"Ujumm, she was like mummy, she felt she had a connection with someone like me"
The woman frowned even more but didn't bother to keep looking at Kalen from a distance.
'Like me, does anyone else have a contract with a resident spirit?'
The woman denied her own thoughts.
'No, that is not possible. Only one resident spirit has ever been born on Earth... which means he comes from Urasis'
The woman began to take an interest in Kalen.
It's a problem that I can't get close to him... that girl would finish me off'
Even for the woman, Adaire's presence on her island meant danger. But when she saw that Adaire didn't seem to have any bad intentions and was just sightseeing, she let it pass.
The woman snapped her fingers and the office door opened, revealing a man in a bodyguard's suit.
"Yes, Lady Sill?"
The woman called Sill looked at the man as she pampered the girl on her lap.
"Check out all the young men between the ages of 18 and 24 with black hair and blue eyes who are on the south side of Fortune Street right now. I just want their profiles"
The man nodded and left, closing the door behind him.
The woman concentrated on the girl on her lap.
'Was a resident spirit born without my knowledge...?'
While the woman was still lost in thought, the girl continued to eat the candy Kalen had given her.
Almost half an hour later, the man knocked on the door and Sill invited him in.
"Here are all the profiles that match your description, Lady Sill"
The woman took the tablet offered by the man and ordered him out.
She began to scroll down the screen, looking at each profile until Kalen's picture appeared after about fifty people.
Sill read Kalen's description, but sighed when he finished and saw that there was nothing special about him.
"Who are you, Kalen Nohak?"