Though the third quest had offered a generous reward for passing the floor in a week, Joe all but ignored it. He had never completed the third quest and didn't expect this time to be any different, and now with his life on the line, he couldn’t afford to take any unnecessary risks.

“Slow and steady wins the race,” Joe muttered to himself.

Instead, he took the next day off to spend in relaxed bliss, taking time to rest his weary body and mind while enjoying the soothing water from the healing fountain. The fountain helped speed up the recovery process, fully healing his body in under a day. The efficacy was lower than healing potions but still saved him days of discomfort. During that time, Joe caught up on some much-needed sleep while contemplating what to do about the orb in the Angel's hand.

Along with the healing waters, the fountain also contained a bluish orb in the outstretched palm of the statue. It pulsed with magical energies that caused the hair on Joe's arm to rise in trepidation. Nothing felt sinister about the item, but he wasn't precisely an expert on the matter. Who knew what it did. It could be a powerful artifact that gave one unparalleled strength or a bomb capable of leveling a city.

So far, the Tower had never handed out easy rewards leaving Joe feeling pessimistic about the entire situation. Greed and avarice were powerful motivators that were frowned upon by most religions. Perhaps this was the Tower's way of filtering out those unpure of heart.

However, Joe quickly shook his head at such a notion. Nothing he had seen so far suggested that the Heavens were the paragons of virtues depicted in the stories of old. If anything, they encouraged people to grab power at every chance to become strong. After all, the Heavens wanted warriors, not monks, to fight their wars.

Eventually, Joe decided to bite the bullet and risk it. He was going to need every advantage he could get to pass the black floors, and he couldn't afford to be indecisive when opportunities presented themselves like this. Joe took a deep breath to steady himself, then climbed into the basin and reached out his hand to grab the sphere. The moment his finger touched the surface, the orb lit up, enveloping Joe in a cascade of light that lit up the entire room.

A downpour of information flooded Joe's mind. Images, concepts, and teachings wormed into his thoughts and memories like a data download, bombarding his mind, causing it to overload. An intense wave of vertigo slammed into him, forcing Joe to one knee. He tried to let go of the orb, but an invisible force held him in place. With no other choice, Joe clenched his eyes shut and did his best to filter and organize the data flooding into his mind. The wave of information was overwhelming, but fortunately, Joe had invested heavily in Willpower, giving him a more robust mental fortitude than the average person. Eventually, he overcame the deluge and began parceling the information into absorbable chunks until, finally, he could see what the orb was trying to teach him.

Joe's whole body shuddered in excitement, causing him to lose concentration momentarily. Another wave of dizziness slammed into his mind, forcing Joe to grit his teeth and reconcentrate. The orb wasn't a skill like he expected, but an instruction manual for a technique that taught a method to control Spiritual energy. So far, Joe had only used his Spirit to charge skills. However, such a simple ability only touched the surface of what it could do.

According to the packets of information entering his mind. It was possible to unleash the power of one's Soul using a technique called Spirit Aura. It allowed for the manipulation of energy around the outside of the body. Doing so would allow him to empower his attacks, increase his body's natural defense or give him a boost of speed to evade attacks.

What's more, this ability was achievable without requiring a skill sigil. The downside with skills had always been the cost and limitation placed on the number of skills a person could have at any one time. For Joe and other mortals, that limit was three. However, for techniques, there was no such limit, only time and talent determined if you master it.

Discovering other ways to become strong in this world filled Joe with renewed hope. He had wanted to find a way to increase his combat ability, and the Heavens had finally delivered an ability he could work with. Joe focused his mind, using the time to absorb as much information as possible. However, eventually, the light faded, and the connection to the sphere broke, causing Joe to collapse into the fountain's basin, exhausted but not disappointed by the ordeal.

The skill orb had provided him with a complete set of instructions to release the spiritual energy in his body to create an Aura. It contained descriptions of the human body, ways to manipulate energy using pathways, breathing techniques, and a method to empower his muscles. Joe’s hands shook in eagerness. Though nothing in the orb showed him how to fix his Soul, it did provide answers to long-asked questions. Joe gathered himself and stood up. His knees shook, and dark circles under his eyes made it look like he hadn't slept for weeks. Joe contemplated taking the orb off the statue but quickly noticed the shimmering blue light in the sphere had dissipated, leaving a hollow dark globe. He tried to pick it up, but the orb cracked and shattered into pieces. Joe could only sigh with a downcast expression. It seemed this was a one-time opportunity only.

Joe sat next to the statue's base in deep thought, doing his best to comprehend the knowledge he had just acquired. He was still wet, and his head continued to pound with a dull ache. However, Joe didn't mind. The most important thing for him to do right now was to retain as much information as possible.

The first important piece of helpful information he had gathered was about the existence of the Soul. He had already suspected as much from his own experiences respawning but now had confirmation. The body and Soul were two sides of the same coin. Every living thing had one. Strength, Agility, and Vitality were stats that improved the body, while Will and Spirit were attributes that improved the Soul. Yet, these two categories weren't entirely disconnected. All things require balance. A strong soul without a strong body risked being unable to contain the power inside. In contrast, a strong body with a weak soul left itself vulnerable to soul-based attacks.

The other important discovery was about how the Spirit and Will attribute worked. The Spirit attribute was indeed similar to mana. It was pure energy created from one's Soul, helping to power all Skills and Magics in this world. Willpower, in contrast, represented a person's control over this energy. It was the mental component over the Soul, increasing a person's mental fortitude and allowing them to manipulate and control Spiritual energy.

“Hmmm. It’s like an old-school RPG game,” Joe mused.

He thought back to the old games he had played as a kid. If Spirit was similar to Intelligence, then Will Power was like Wisdom. One increased his total energy capacity, while the other enhanced his energy control. With higher Spirit, he would be able to execute more attacks, while with Will Power, he would be able to perform more complex techniques while reducing the energy cost of his skills.

However, at the same time, there was more to Spiritual energy and the Soul than just skills. The third fundamental discovery he made was the possibility of manipulating this energy through training. For example, Spiritual energy absorbed by the muscles and tendons of the body would give a person the power to move mountains and shatter rocks. It effectively gave a person superhuman-like abilities without needing a skill sigil. Other techniques he had managed to glimpse included the ability to envelop this energy over the body to increase the power of an attack or even create a defensive barrier. The possibilities seemed limitless.

Unfortunately, the orb had only taught him how to unlock the first technique of Spirit Aura: Body Enhancement. It was the most rudimentary technique which used Spiritual energy to empower the muscles, bones, and tendons. However, Joe wasn't disheartened. He paced around the room with unbound excitement as he contemplated how he could incorporate such a technique into his fighting style. However, he eventually calmed himself down. After all, the first step was to unlock his Aura.

Unable to hold back any longer, Joe decided to put the theory to the test. He closed his eyes while simultaneously calming his breathing using the improved breathing technique. It took a few attempts to get it right, but finally, his mind focused, allowing his consciousness to reach a tranquil state.

Suddenly Joe could feel the energy coursing through his body in greater detail than ever before. It criss crossed his body, following set pathways that flowed from his head to his toes. However, the flow felt erratic. Some areas were blocked off, preventing energy from entering certain sections of his body, while others acted as bottlenecks impacting the speed. Joe noticed many of these blockages were in key intersections where multiple pathways crossed. However, he decided to ignore them for now and focus his attention on a central point just below his navel. Here, he could feel the core of his Spiritual energy concentrate into a tiny nucleus, acting as his Spiritual heart.

“So this is my Spirit, or is it my soul?'' Joe mused.

The Spiritual heart was the source of one's spiritual energy. It was a small ball of pure power that burned at the core of every living being. Joe could feel it pulse, sending streams of energy across his body. Yet, the more he concentrated, the more his brows furrowed. The nucleus pulsed erratically, with energy leaking from his core like a sieve. He had wondered if his Spirit had been damaged by continuously respawning, and here was the first piece of evidence confirming that fact. It helped explain why his energy flow and regen rate had decreased, making it take longer to recharge his skills. Joe sighed. There was nothing he could do except wait until he reached the fourth floor. Hopefully, there, he might finally be able to access the Divine Store and find a cure.

While his Spiritual heart appeared damaged, it didn't entirely prevent him from using skills or techniques. Thus, Joe refocused back on the task at hand. The first step to releasing his Aura was to direct the flow of energy through the correct pathways. At first, the energy produced by his spirit heart churned and stuttered, causing a backlash that caused him to spit up a mouthful of blood.

The damage to his Soul was worse than he had expected, preventing him from using his full Strength. To compensate, Joe used his Will to intervene and help stabilize the energy output from his Spirit heart, reducing the flow from a regular stream to a light trickle. Eventually, the energy flow slowly smoothed out and then shifted to the new pathways, causing Joe to grit his teeth in discomfort. The feeling was akin to using a new muscle for the first time.

However, his efforts paid off. Suddenly a light glow emanated from his pores, creating a shroud that covered him in a layer of light that looked like a white hue. Joe fist-bumped the air in success. However, the impulsive movement caused the effect to flicker and cancel out. Joe clicked his tongue, berating himself for his carelessness before starting again. It took several attempts and significant concentration to maintain the technique, but Joe finally succeeded. His Aura was weak and flimsy, sputtering around him like an out-of-control flame; however, he managed to retain it until his energy reserves ran out. The orb dictated that one's Aura needed to be smooth and stable to unleash the technique's full potential, which only meant one thing. It was time to practice.