"But these things aren't..." Red struggled to find the right words.

"Physical? Material?" Eiwin completed his sentence. "You're right, and that is exactly what makes Spiritual Energy so special."

"How does it manifest?" The boy followed up. "I can imagine what Fire Energy can do, but what about... Emotional Energy? Martial Arts Energy?"

"There's actually a story in this book depicting the discovery of this process."

She pointed at the illustration of the swordsman and the forest on the page.

"A long time ago, when humans were still figuring out the specifics of Spiritual Cultivation, a certain group of warriors stood at the very vanguard of humanity's war against monsters." Eiwin told the tale. "One of the preferred weapons of this group were swords, which they used to cut through the thick hides of their enemies. They used to practice their swordsmanship in a certain forest valley where the density of Spiritual energy was very high. Every technique, every tactic, every breakthrough in their cultivation - it was all developed in that place.

"Thousands of disciples came and went - great heroes who could call that forest home." She continued. "At one point, something started to change in the valley. It wasn't an immediate transformation, but rather a gradual one that happened over centuries until someone finally noticed it. The Spiritual Energy in that place had changed..."

"Changed how?" Red questioned.

"It had taken on a new attribute." Eiwin explained. "The Wood Energy which was most abundant in that forest was still there, but it had evolved into something else you couldn't find in other places. The practitioners started to notice that when they used the Spiritual Energy of that valley to practice, their Sword Arts would be much stronger when compared to other places. The accepted explanation was that after centuries of people practicing and developing their swordsmanship in that valley, the Spiritual Energy there was influenced by their spirit and emotions, and became something never before seen in the world: Sword Spiritual Energy."

"And I assume that's not the only different type of energy they discovered?" The explanation started to clear Red's doubts, but he still had many questions about the process.

"Not at all." Eiwin shook her head. "That was merely the first one. After that, cultivators started to discover all types of different Spiritual Energies. Some of those had always been around, but people only noticed them when they looked at them with a new perspective. For instance, a dying person would emit Death Spiritual Energy, while a newborn baby would be full of Life Spiritual Energy. A battlefield between two armies would be filled with a turbulent and chaotic Spiritual Energy, influenced by the emotions of thousands of soldiers fighting to the death. On the other hand, a centenarian scholar academy would be saturated with an orderly and flexible Spiritual Energy.

"They learned that in the same way nature could influence Spiritual Energy, so could human actions and emotions, and they learned to manipulate that property to their own benefit."

"From what you're saying though, these transformations take hundreds of years to happen. Isn't that far too slow?" Red asked.

"Indeed, but through a lot of experimentation, they found ways to induce those transformations far more quickly. One of them is by using an organ of vital importance in Spiritual Cultivation..."

"The Spiritual Veins." The boy completed her sentence as he recalled Viran's explanation.

"Correct!" She smiled. "By circulating Spiritual Energy through our veins and acupoints in different patterns, we can force it to change at a much greater speed. Of course, there are also limits to our transformation capabilities. For instance, if you tried to transform Water Spiritual Energy into Fire Spiritual Energy, the process would be much harder and you would end up wasting the majority of the energy. This is why the original attributes of the Spiritual Energy you absorb in the first place is still of vital importance to cultivators."

"But all this is only possible after opening the Spiritual Sea, right?"

"Yes." Eiwin nodded. "The Spiritual Sea not only allows you to control Spiritual Energy, but also to store it inside of you. Those are two things you can't do with just the Spiritual Veins."

Red stopped asking questions and tried to absorb the information. There was much more to Spiritual Energy than he first thought. However, while the subject itself was fascinating, he would only be able to directly interact with it after opening his Spiritual Sea. And who knew how long that would take?

The eagerness was almost eating him from the inside, but he recalled Viran's advice of not trying to bite off more than he could chew. He still had a lot of veins to open, so it would be counter-productive to focus on a future that was out of his reach.

"What about this valley?" Red changed the subject. "Does it still exist?"

"It does." The woman nodded. "It's considered a holy site for Spiritual Cultivation, and it's home to one of the oldest and more powerful sects in the world - Hallowed Valley Sect."

That was another unfamiliar name to add to Red's growing list of powerful organizations.

"I assume these Sects are quite... Different from our own, right?" The youth tried to approach the question without offending her as he did to Hector.

"They are much more powerful." Eiwin confirmed his suspicions with a helpless smile. "It's impossible to even begin to compare the two, and we are quite often mocked by others because of our name."

The boy could now understand why they had introduced their organization as a Guild when they first met.

"So why does Hector call it the Water Dragon Sect?" Red followed up with another question.

"Master Hector is one of the few survivors of a now extinct Sect." She explained with a sigh. "He considers it his responsibility to make sure the name of the Sect lives on through the next generation. For that, he chose the lot of us to be responsible for it."

"What happened to his Sect?"

"...The Empire happened." Eiwin answered with a bitter voice and shook her head. "We shouldn't change topics, though. You will have the opportunity to learn all about that eventually, and there is still something important you have to know about Spiritual Energy."

Although Red was still curious, he agreed with the woman. There was no point in rushing to learn about these things.

"I explained to you why it's called Spiritual Energy, right?" She asked.

"Because it can both influence and be influenced by its surroundings." Red repeated her words.

"That's right." She nodded. "And in the same way humans can influence Spiritual Energy, they can also be influenced by it."

"In what ways?" Red frowned.

Eiwin closed the book and looked at the boy with a grave expression.

"Red, it's important to know that Spiritual Energy can be influenced by absolutely everything humans do." She replied. "This can be both the good things and the evil things. Intense emotions and feelings, like pain, fear, rage, greed, all of these things will convert the Spiritual Energy into a wicked and twisted form. More often than not, these negative emotions will be more intense than the positive ones. Once the Spiritual Energy transformation reaches a certain level, it will also start to change people who come into contact with it.

"That corruption process is called demonification."

For some reason, Red shuddered as he heard that word.

"What happens then?" The boy asked, although he felt like he somehow already knew the answer.

"The first stage of demonification is merely a change in temper." Eiwin explained. "Someone's personality will become twisted over time, and they will start acting on their baser instincts depending on the type of corruption they were affected by. After that, comes the second stage, where a person's very own body is transformed into... something horrible to witness. The third stage is the completion of the process, where the original individual is completely gone and in its place, only a demonic monstrosity remains."

Red felt his blood run cold.

"You see, it's particularly important for Spiritual Cultivators to know about this." She continued. "They come into constant contact with Spiritual Energy and compared to normal people they are far more sensitive to its changes. This corruption may happen due to external influences, but it can also happen from the inside out. If a cultivator is to lose himself to his emotions, then the corruption process would start from within, and the Spiritual Energy inside their body would slowly become twisted..."

Eiwin paused as she noticed the youth's silence.

"I don't mean to scare you by telling you this." She tried to comfort the boy. "But it's important to always have your emotions in check if you choose to continue cultivating. This doesn't mean you should be emotionless, but rather you should never become lost in your feelings or let them cloud your judgment and reasoning. Many heroes fell into this same trap and ended up unleashing disaster upon this world. Their downfall serves as a cautionary tale for future generations."

Eiwin tapped her temple.

"While there are plenty of external threats to worry about out there, never forget the danger from within..." Her serious expression dropped and a smile returned to her face. "I'm sorry that we have to end today's lesson with such a grim topic, but it's something every Spiritual Cultivator should know."

"I understand." Red replied, but he seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. "Is that all for today?"

"Yes." The woman nodded. "As much as I would love to continue talking, it's important to let you reflect on what you just learned. I can see you have a lot of things to think about."

He didn't respond.

"...Can I go to my room?" He asked after a long silence.

"Sure. You don't need to ask for permission." Eiwin laughed. "I still haven't prepared your room, so you can continue using mine. I'll be here for a little while organizing this..." She waved at the books and scrolls spread around the table. "Mess."

Red nodded but didn't immediately leave.

"Is there something else?" Eiwin asked, confused. "Do you need me to bring you there?"

"Not really." The boy shook his head.

"Then... Aren't you gonna go?"

"...I suppose so." The youth snapped out of his daze.

Red got up from his chair and left the library under Eiwin's inquisitive gaze. Closing the door behind him, he wandered through the courtyard in the direction of his temporary bedroom. However, as he was walking, his attention wandered off and he looked up at the starry night sky.

The moon was different today. The bright section seemed to have diminished compared to when the boy first saw it a few days ago, and the light it emitted had decreased. Red slowed down until he finally came to a pause in front of his room.

He remembered something Eiwin had just mentioned.

'It's called demonification.'

Then his mind wandered further back, to his encounter with the insectoids when he was close to escaping the underground.

'Disease.'

Red shivered. He recalled the feeling of the crimson aura, the overwhelming smell of blood. It didn't invoke any negative emotions within him at the time, but the consequences of coming into contact with it hadn't made themselves apparent yet.

Had the boy's temper changed? Not that Red could recall, but this kind of corruption was insidious and slow as Eiwin had explained. Although no changes had happened up until now, he couldn't guarantee they wouldn't come to pass eventually.

Besides, that was not the only thing the youth had to worry about. There was also the curse the blob mentioned. What if that was yet another source of corruption which was currently acting over Red?

Now that immediate death was no longer a concern, the boy found himself wondering about an uncertain future. However, not all was hopeless.

There were the special acupoints the youth had opened. Viran had told him that he would understand their use once he left the underground, but as of yet Red had not noticed anything special about them. He didn't think the man would lie, though, and he expected their true purpose would eventually be revealed.

The best he could do right now was open as many acupoints as soon as possible, and walk further down the path of a Spiritual Cultivator. Possibilities and opportunities would present themselves to him if he did so.

Red now knew for sure, it was only by seeking this power that he would become truly free to do as he pleased.