Isaac kept his Spirit Vision active, watching the flow of the mist.
One end of the mist was wrapped around the shopkeeper's... white humanoid outline, while another part stretched off in a certain direction, like a rope joining the two ends.
What was the other end connected to? The source of the curse?
Carlo's voice came from behind Isaac. "Now, you should be able to see a white humanoid outline."
"Yes," Isaac replied.
The shopkeeper looked confused. "Sir, what are you talking about?"
"Quiet. Just be a good teaching aid. You even get to pick up some occult knowledge while you're at it. You're getting a bargain."
A t-teaching aid? The shopkeeper looked at Isaac and couldn't help wondering if his attempt to get a bargain had landed him in serious trouble...
Carlo continued, "With Spirit Vision active, you can only see things that possess spirituality. The classic examples are living beings of all kinds, including humans.
"But of course, Spirit Vision lets you see more than an outline. Take humans, for example. There are three layers: the Spirit Garment, the Spirit Body, and the soul, each wrapped around the next. The farther inward you go, the closer you get to the core of a person's existence, and the harder it is to see."
"The Spirit Garment is the outermost protective barrier. It's the white outline you see, wrapped around the Spirit Body like a cocoon. It's formed from an individual's instinct for self-defense and everyday conscious activity, and it blocks prying eyes using Spirit Vision. Just as people wear clothes, the name Spirit Garment is self-explanatory: it's the Spirit Body's clothing.
"The density of a Spirit Garment depends on the individual's state of consciousness. When someone is awake, their self-awareness is active and their defenses are fully functioning. Their Spirit Garment is dense and intact, and almost impossible to penetrate. An untrained Spirit Vision user can only see the white outline of the Spirit Garment in this state and can't penetrate it to learn what lies inside.
"During sleep, however, an individual's consciousness relaxes and the boundaries of the self grow hazy, causing the Spirit Garment to thin. An experienced Spirit Vision user can take advantage of this opening to penetrate the Spirit Garment and glimpse the Spirit Body beneath."
Isaac tried to examine the shopkeeper's white outline closely. It occasionally rippled slightly, like a flowing membrane, but it was indeed difficult to penetrate.
"Now look at the curse's aura. Is it attached to the Spirit Garment, or has it already seeped inside?" Carlo instructed.
Isaac focused his gaze. The gray-green mist was wrapped around the shopkeeper's white outline. Some of it clung to the surface, but thin strands of mist had already seeped inside.
"Some of it has seeped in," Isaac said.
"Pay attention to the word 'seep.' It's useful because it describes a process," Carlo said. "A curse isn't something that makes a person drop dead on the spot after someone chants a couple of spells. It's more like a special kind of corrosion that takes time to work."
"People have a certain natural resistance to curses. Under Spirit Vision, that means the curse's aura is held back by the Spirit Garment. The rate at which it seeps through determines the window between when the curse begins to take effect and when it fully manifests. Some may take weeks or even months to show an effect, while others produce symptoms within days.
"As I said earlier, the Spirit Garment grows thinner and weaker during sleep. That's also why cursed people often have trouble sleeping, or even drop dead in their sleep."
"That sounds a bit like 'immunity.'" Isaac recalled the medical concept that had been proposed a few years earlier.
"You could understand it that way. The Spirit Garment is the equivalent of a person's immunity on the spiritual level. The more intact and substantial it is, the better it can resist outside harm."
"Then what about Mr. Harper's condition..."
"I can tell he keeps a regular schedule and doesn't have many bad habits. His Spirit Garment is fairly intact and has blocked most of the curse's effects. That's why, so far, he's only smelled a foul odor and hasn't developed any more serious symptoms."
The shopkeeper grew nervous. "Sir, I don't really understand what you're saying about this Spirit Garment... but do you mean this thing could get worse?"
"How serious it gets depends on what the curse was designed to do. Mental corrosion, physical failure, shitting your pants, stepping in dog shit... there's something for everyone. Yours doesn't seem to be the deadliest kind at the moment, but if you leave it alone and let the curse's aura completely penetrate your Spirit Garment, it won't be as simple as smelling something stinky anymore."
The shopkeeper shuddered, and Carlo continued his little Spirit Vision lesson at a leisurely pace. "Then there's the second layer, protected by the Spirit Garment: the Spirit Body.
"The Spirit Body is the manifestation of a person's current condition on the spiritual level. Their health, mood, and mental state are all reflected in it, and its form shifts with changes in their body and mind.
"Its luster and colors are both used to make judgments. There are already research summaries on what specific manifestations correspond to what conditions. I'm not interested in going into too much detail now. Go back and learn it yourself from books.
"Anyway, what you need to do now is try to penetrate his Spirit Garment and observe his Spirit Body. See what effect the curse's aura has had on him."
"How?" Isaac had only managed to temporarily activate Spirit Vision by using the dice to cheat, so naturally he didn't understand such an advanced maneuver yet.
"Imagine your perception passing through his Spirit Garment."
"Uh..."
"Oh, having trouble imagining that? Then imagine you're trying to see him naked. Strip off his clothes one layer at a time until he's standing bare before you."
"...Isn't that a little strange?"
"What matters is whether the figure of speech works. Who cares if it's strange?"
Isaac had no choice but to focus on the shopkeeper's white humanoid outline, trying to tell himself that the white shell was a layer of cloth and that all he had to do was push it aside and see what was inside.
With the dice's help, the process, which was not simple in theory, was made easier. Soon, the white outline in Isaac's vision began to grow clearer, and then lines and colors emerged.
The figure was no longer a hazy outline. It was as though lines had traced out a three-dimensional form. He could see the contours of the torso and limbs, as well as the... more complex structures showing through within.
Bones appeared, ribs lined up, and the spine stretched down to support the entire form. Muscle fibers covered it like threads, and a network of blood vessels spread like tree roots. The heart beat slowly in the chest, the lungs expanded and contracted with each breath, and the intestines wound and coiled through the abdomen...
The whole image was like an anatomical chart hanging on a wall at Palmer University's medical school, except it was a living, three-dimensional image in motion, with faint glimmers of various colors scattered throughout.
"What do you see?" Carlo's voice came.
Isaac steadied himself. "His internal structure. I can see his bones, muscles, blood vessels, and organs, everything, like an anatomical chart. There are also all kinds of colors..."
The shopkeeper, who had been seen through in the truest sense of the word, couldn't help covering his chest. Then he realized it probably wouldn't help and lowered his hands.