Autophagy

The ghost trio pushed Song Lei aside and started pouring the soul fragments into their existence.

"I guess you liked it..." Song Lei muttered with an awkward smile plastered on his face. He sighed deeply and watched the trio gulp down the meal he had prepared for them. He knew that this was a normal thing. After all, ghost or human, it didn't matter. Eating was a need for all of them. And starving was an equally horrifying thing for both.

"Fuah! Thanks!" Mia said as she wiped her mouth. Surprisingly, she was the first one to finish her meal. She got up and ran towards Song Lei before jumping and hugging him tightly. Song Lei chuckled at the fact that a ghost could act this way and hugged her back.

Soon enough, Aston and Isabel also finished eating.

"How did you... Create these?" Aston asked curiously.

Song Lei sighed deeply. He wasn't sure how to explain it. He knew that he could be honest with them, however, it was still a bit hard to explain his abilities to people that were oblivious to modern-day video games.

After taking a deep breath, Song Lei started explaining his abilities one by one.

"First of all, you guys should know that we come from very different times."

"Mm," Aston nodded. "That actually excites me a little bit. How was it? Which year?"

"2020," Song Lei said. "I know that you want to know more about technologies from my time, but that's another topic."

Hearing Song Lei's words, Aston sighed dejectedly. Isabel chuckled at Aston's childishness and crossed her legs.

"There are portable devices that can be used to play certain games," Song Lei continued his explanation. Aston's dejectedness instantly disappeared after hearing the mention of a futuristic device. "These games simulate alternate realities that aren't actually real. In some of these games, you can control a simulated person's actions and develop their abilities."

"Wait, what does this stuff have to do with your ability?" Isabel asked confusedly.

"Be patient," Song Lei calmed her down. "The person you control in these games has something called status. With certain actions, you can gain points that you spend to upgrade the abilities of the person."

"Oh! That's actually very smart!" Aston said. "It gives a great sense of development and helps you keep track of how far you've come since your starting point."

"Yeah," Song Lei nodded. "In my case, I can upgrade my status just like in those games."

"That's an incredible ability!" Isabel said. "Although I don't exactly get it, that means you get stronger in a very fast manner, right?"

"Mm. I think it's pretty OP," Song Lei said, forgetting that he was speaking with someone that probably lived before even the most primitive computers existed, let alone the abbreviation 'OP'. Fortunately, the fact that there were no languages in the new world helped them out. With this, Song Lei could convey what he meant much easier.

"So," Aston said. "These statuses you talked about. What are they exactly?"

"There are three main types: Body, Mind, and Soul."

"Oh! So it doesn't just make you stronger. It's also incredibly versatile," Aston said. "And it even helps you make your soul stronger..." He thought deeply for a few seconds and scratched his cheek with his finger. "I think you shouldn't talk to anyone other than us about these abilities."

"I already know that," Song Lei said.

"Just to make sure... Anyways, that doesn't explain how you created these soul fragments out of nowhere though..."

"Oh, that's another part of my abilities," Song Lei said. "Recently, I tried to swallow one of these red blood beads to see if it would help my ability evolve."

"Yeah? Then what? Did it make you God or something?" Aston asked.

Song Lei ignored Aston's slightly awkward joke and continued by saying, "I gained access to a shop that uses red blood beads as the currency. I can basically ask for anything and it takes the corresponding amount of blood beads from me as compensation."

"Wait... ANYTHING you say?" Isabel said. "Like, doesn't it have some type of limitation?"

"Of course it does, for example, I can't buy conscious beings from it," Song Lei said. This caused Aston to frown.

"What do you mean, 'conscious'?" He asked. "What are the boundaries of consciousness? Are dolphins considered conscious? They are pretty smart, although not nearly as smart as humans."

"Um..." Song Lei didn't know what to say under the barrage of philosophical questions thrown at him. Not knowing the answers, he brought up the system to buy a dolphin.

[A dolphin of random characteristics. 100000]

"I can buy it apparently. It costs a lot though..."

"How much?"

"100000."

As soon as Aston heard the price, he choked on his words.

"That's a bit too much... I guess it's harder to buy living beings," he said. "Then that brings up the question of what exactly is a living thing... Well, never mind. How much did those soul fragments cost by the way?"

"1 blood bead per liter."

"That's incredible!" Isabel shouted in excitement. "With that ratio, you can supply us with a nearly infinite amount of them!"

"Let's calm down," Aston said as he did his best to not scream in excitement. "What you said is indeed right, however, those blood beads are still Lei's. We don't exactly have the right to take them from him."

"Ah, don't worry," Song Lei said. "As long as I keep collecting them, I can provide you all with a few liters every day."

"So? What did you actually come here for?" Aston asked trying to keep his smile under control. Song Lei raised one of his brows and thought about his words.

"Oh right!" He remembered. "I'm here to learn more about how to control my soul and all..."

"Well, we can't help you much with that," Aston said. "We're ghosts you know? That's like asking a human to help another species learn how to walk."

"So you can't help at all?"

"Well... I can give you some information at most..." Aston said. "But I, too, don't know much."

"First of all," Aston started explaining. "That gray-colored fog around your body is your soul energy. Now that you have awakened your soul, I assume that you are unconsciously radiating it. It probably enhances your physical capabilities in some ways and increased the amount of damage you can deal to ethereal beings."

"It also blocks ghosts from seeing you," Isabel said. "Not totally, but a little. You look blurry."

"Oh? Then how do I... Stop it?" Song Lei asked.

"I don't know? Try to suck it back in or something," Aston said. Song Lei nodded and closed his eyes to better feel the energy around his body.

*Fwoop

Suddenly, the gray-colored fog got sucked into Song Lei's body.

"Is it gone now?" Song Lei asked.

"Umm..." Aston and Isabel looked at each other. "What happened to your face?"

"What do you- oh! Yeah. This happened after my soul awakened. I have no idea..." Song Lei said shyly.

"Anyways..." Isabel said. "Compared to Aston, I know a bit more. I think you can focus and look into your soul to see if there are any problems with it."

"Let me try..." Song Lei said. He closed his eyes once again and imagined going deeper and deeper inside his soul. Suddenly, he found himself floating inside an infinitely white space.

'This is cool...' He muttered inwardly as he looked around. Slightly further away from him, he saw a ring-shaped metal piece. 'What is... Oh! This is the soul storage!' Song Lei shouted in his head. Aston had installed this tool into his soul back in the dream space. He thought that it was just a part of the dream space, however, from the looks of it, it was still there.

Pushing back his consciousness from his soul, Song Lei found himself standing still in the same place as before. He willed up the taser that he had bound to his soul back in the dream space without saying anything to Aston or Isabel. As he felt something coming out from his soul, he grasped the air around him to take the taser out.

*BZZT

"Ah Fuck!" Song Lei shouted in agony as he felt like he got electrocuted.

[Warning! Your soul has been damaged!]

[Warning! Your soul has dropped by 1 point temporarily!]

"What happened?" Aston asked anxiously while crouching next to Song Lei.

"You suddenly closed your eyes and went silent. Are you okay?" Isabel asked too.

"I'm fine I'm fine..." Song Lei waved his hands. He got up and scratched his arm. The pain had disappeared, leaving its place to an awkward itch.

"You remember the soul storage you made back in the dream space?" Song Lei asked. Seeing Aston nod, he continued by saying, "When I dived into my soul, I saw it floating in the air. I thought that I could bring out the tools from the dream space if I tried to but when I did, my soul got suddenly hurt..."

"Hmm..." Aston thought for a second. "I might have an idea why that happened...."