Mir's request was met with a long, calculating look.
"Why?" She asked in the end. "You know you can't eat them, right? And they'll do more harm than good to your body and mind if you try to bond with them; that is IF you find a soulbeast among them, which would be incredibly rare considering how low their intelligence is."
Her response was the same as the other Transcenders whom he had spoken to about the matter. And this time, Mir had his excuse ready.
"I want to keep a few as pets. All of these Skin-leeches are grade-1 mutants, presumably. I have always been curious about how they mutate to grade-2 or grade-3. Being so low-maintenance, they'd make some easy pets to rear."
"Skin-leeches can't mutate to grade-3," She replied. "The second grade is the highest they'll grow to. And from what I can recall, their mutation doesn't bring any big changes in them, just makes them stronger parasites."
"That's the best I can afford, to be honest," Mir said, doing his best to sound despondent. Lips twitching, the woman sighed and craned her neck around in the same way Murray had a minute ago, making sure that nobody was within earshot.
"I can allow you to take a handful. But what are you willing to compensate me with? Don't forget that I was the one who saved your hide, literally and figuratively. I haven't even asked for anything in return for that."
"The Church asked you and your colleagues to stay behind after the flood to handle the aftermath. Naturally, the Church will compensate you," Murray said.
"You might be a deacon in training, but your brother doesn't seem to belong to the Church of Sunbreaker," she replied lazily. "And don't give me that crap about not wearing uniforms. Sunbreaker's aura isn't present on his body."
She could sense that?!
Mir mentally put a red mark on his impression of her strength. This woman was definitely an experienced powerhouse. Meanwhile, Murray thought for a second and turned around. Another second later, he faced her with something extra in his hand that hadn't been there before– a silver coin.
Her eyes widened instantly. Her surprise had nothing to do with the 500 units worth hard currency; it was the display of Murray's ability. As she snatched the coin out of his hand, she muttered, "Clever boy... Is it some kind of cloaking ability that neutralizes the alienation power here? That's quite the foresight. Kids your age have a different notion of 'cool' abilities."
"So can we take some Skin-leeches out now? Or should we wait a while?" Mir asked impatiently.
"How are you going to take them out? With your hands?" the woman scoffed. "You're fortunate to have met me, someone who's very easily satisfied. Just do whatever you came here to do and then leave the taboo zone. I'll meet you at the station and let you pick your pets."
With that agreement concluded, she left to join the other Transcenders. Mir and Murray moved a little further from the crowd, sitting on top of a rock at the far end of the cavern. Here, they could communicate with much more ease.
"The tunnel you spawned inside wasn't wet?" Mir asked.
"Nah, but it was pretty hard to navigate through. Felt like I was walking in circles for half an hour before I reached this place."
"How is your body reacting to the diary's commands? Do you feel sensitive to the environment here?"
"Yes," Murray nodded. "I can feel a growing itchiness all over my skin. The density of active viruses in taboo zones and sacred grounds are definitely leagues beyond what we experience outside. Not even the sunlight makes me feel so heavily infected."
"Then you need to enter the Philosophy Corridor as fast as possible. The diary's commands might not hold out for long," Mir said. "I asked one of those older Transcenders and he said that the flood hasn't affected the sacred ground, just the tunnels outside. Go inside and give it a shot."
"I will. But clear this doubt of mine first. Are you really planning to contract a Skin-leech?" Murray said. "Are you sure the diary can help you with that? Any backlash from a failure will be deadly, you know that!"
Mir took a deep breath as he recalled the pivotal information he had dug out of the Church's database.
"Murray, what do you know about soulbeast bonding? Are you clear on the actual process?"
"Kind of...?" Murray shrugged. "First, you have to beat the mutant creature into submission. If it's a soulbeast, it will release bursts of spiritual energy when fatally injured. If it can sense that its death is inevitable, it'll invade your consciousness through an instantaneous transmission of energy and try to dominate you spiritually. If it succeeds, well... you're dead, because your body will belong to it."
"And the way to win against the soulbeasts in a spiritual battle is...?"
"Firstly, you need to have a large soulslot space. Soulslot space acts like a magnet for them, condensing them into soulbeast imprints inside us. Secondly, you have to be psychologically strong and hold your ground stubbornly during the battle. For us rookies, the soulbeast itself shouldn't be too highly mutated, or such a different life-form that we would be hard-pressed to dominate them in the spiritual battle, such as these Skin-leeches. And oh, there's also a 'seduction' method, where you consume a lot of mutant beast meat from the soulbeast's species to fool it, making yourself attractive to the soulbeast. But that one's not very reliable."
Mir nodded slowly. "Yeah, the last one, the seduction method hasn't yet become popular because of its unreliability, right? Want to know what the latest research on it came up with?"
"What?" Murray sounded suspicious and eager at the same time, staring at him with eyes lit up in interest.
"They've concluded that since soulbeasts are made up of energy, what they're attracted to is not the mutated meat we eat, but the energy the meat's virus produces while dying. In fact, it doesn't even have to be the meat of the same species, as long as you have eaten enough of it and started a breakdown of the virus in that meat. The soulbeast will behave like a pet dog looking for treats inside your soulslot."
"Can it feed on the energy?" Murray asked in confusion.
"No, unfortunately," Mir said with a sigh. "Things would be so convenient if that was possible! Just get a low level soulbeast, start feeding it energy every day, and BAM! A few years later, your soulbeast breaks past the Primitive Rank!"
"...Okay, so how is this discovery beneficial to us right now?" Murray muttered. "If soulbeasts are attracted to the viral energy, we can eat and stand in the sunlight to create the perfect environment for them to be seduced. Anybody can do it, right? Not just us!"
"Nope," Mir said, raising a couple of fingers. "Firstly, the energy inside you must be controlled and streamlined like it behaves inside strong mutant creatures. Chaotic energy would just make the soulbeast see you as weak! And secondly, while you're trying to control the energy, you still have to fight a spiritual battle, albeit not as dangerous, because the soulbeast will try to verify whether you really are as strong as the energy inside your body indicates. For normal humans, dividing their attention span between two fields like that is nearly impossible. Unless..."
"...Unless you can use an artifact like this diary," Murray concluded, the look of realization dawning on his face.