As they held each other, a white light leaked from their touching hands, emitting thousands of tiny fragments of light that slowly revolved around them.

    Aqueo's grip tightened, the little guy's tentacle hand was so soft; something stirred within their eyes, and their gaze at each other deepened.

    Suddenly, Aqueo was looking at himself. For a moment, he thought that the little guy had become him. It wasn't so, it was just that he was looking at himself from the glowing ball's eyes. And he wasn't just looking at himself, in that moment, he could also sense his surroundings without actually looking around him.

    He was inside the little guy's head and he could feel that they were connected.

    As the connection deepened, foreign memories started flashing in his mind consecutively in a rapid manner. He knew they were the memories of the little guy.

    The flashes of memories were too fast, some he thought must just be fragments of a complete day in the little guy's life. But he roughly understood how its life was like ever since it was born until it met him.

    The little guy was a spirit born in this lake. It had been around for at least a hundred years, just wandering around the cave and going out from time to time. Aqueo couldn't exactly tell when it was born, it was just based on the memories of the spirit exploring around the town nearby.

    The spirit encountered so many things in that hundred years. Aqueo was so astonished.

    After experiencing the memories of the spirit, the light from their touch and the floating fragments of light slowly vanished. As it did, and the light that stirred within their eyes faded, he felt a connection with the spirit that wasn't there before they touched. Curiously, he could tell what the spirit was feeling right now—wonder and excitement that seemed to reach his heart.

    He remembered what happened earlier when he was using the spirit's eyes and wondered if he could do it again. So with just his will alone, he tried to enter the spirit's mind just like what he experienced earlier. The spirit sensed his intentions and let him in.

    It was like having three sets of eyes: one of his, one of the spirit's, and another one that could sense his surroundings without actually looking around. Although it looked rather confusing so he closed his own eyes and just used the spirit's. And there was something else. Earlier, he felt something from his surroundings, it felt incredible, just as now.

    He looked up. It was the huge crystal at the center of the ceiling. It was radiating an incredibly strong energy. Now that he was using the spirit's senses, he finally understood why it looked so drawn to it a while ago. Even in its memories, the spirit spent a lot of time gazing at this crystal.

    Even though he had some of the spirit's memories now, he could only vaguely tell what the spirit was feeling and thinking in it. And he wasn't exactly sure if the spirit could actually think. It was quite dumb if he compared it to a human. He thought that maybe because it had no physical body like a human, and so, the needs and senses of a human, it was thinking differently.

    And it wasn't just gazing, it was absorbing energy from it. Aqueo could describe it as eating or more like tasting because in its memories, the spirit wasn't absorbing energy all the time. It was also going out from time to time to taste different kinds of energy. Mostly, from the people's things it could sense outside near the cave.

    The cave must be hundreds of meters deep in the ground. The spirit would occasionally pass through the thick layers of stones and soil above the cave and emerge into the forest above, and there it would find people to follow around, snacking from the energies of their belongings. Mostly glowing stones as what Aqueo could see in the memories. Those people were usually armed with weapons like bows, swords, and spears. They also carried staffs with gemstones which he identified as the weapon of mages to enhance their spells.

    Those people were called adventurers, and most of them could use magic.

    Magic. Aqueo already had this rough idea when he experienced that sound slowly healing his body every time it echoed and the healing ability of the spirit. But he wasn't so sure about it. And now that he experienced some fragments of the spirit's memories, he was finally certain.

    The very idea of magic in fantasy novels was one of his escapes from the harsh reality of the world in his previous life for someone like him. It was one of the few things that saved him, that kept him going. And now that he was here in this world with magic present in it, he felt so happy. There was no way he would ever go back to that godforsaken life of his. He would live here for the rest of his life.

    And just as he was thinking that, his stomach suddenly growled. Aqueo was hungry.

    He retracted himself from using the spirit's senses, then caressed his stomach and thought of eating.

    'Where can I—'

    His question in his mind was suddenly cut-off by his sudden recollections at the back of his mind—memories of people eating in this world. These were the memories he saw when he touched the spirit—people eating while camping in the woods, some eating at the restaurants around the nearby town, but most memories were people dining at the townsquare market somewhere in that town.

    Aqueo smiled a bit when he realized that in all those memories, the spirit was absorbing energies from the people's belongings—magical stones, magical equipment, magical jewelries and other things exuding magical energies.

    But the town was quite far from here, so he looked around the cave to see if there was anything to eat. Herbs. Just herbs. Some seemed so familiar to him.

    A purple flower near him caught his eyes, and a memory flashed at the back of his mind. It was an aphrodisiac.

    He looked at the spirit with squinted eyes and said teasingly, "You little p*rvert. You even watch people in their most private intimate times."

    The spirit just nodded excitedly, although Aqueo was sure it didn't even understand what he was talking about. In the memory, the woman was wearing a necklace with a big red stone exuding a strong magical energy. She was feeding a n*ked man with the flower and the spirit was just happily absorbing some of the energy being released by the red stone. Aqueo could also remember the two lover's dialogue in the memory so he was sure it was an aphr*disiac—with very promising effects.

    He picked up the herb and smelled it. Upon doing so, he remembered even more memories of the spirit where the flower was present. Some were at the market, being traded in whispers and at very high prices. He smirked at the idea that just crossed his mind—he was going to be rich in this new life.

    There were a few more memories with the aphrodisiac, but they were quite vague unlike the clarity of the lovers having a great night. He didn't know why, so he just shrugged it off.

    A sudden realization struck him. The memories just now, he didn't experience them when they touched. He excitedly looked around for a new herb to confirm his theory.

    He found another familiar one, a palm-sized white flower with black spots. He went near it and picked it up. New memory crept up behind his mind—memory of the spirit in an alchemist's laboratory. This one could be used for making powerful healing potions, and thus, could also be sold at a high price.

    He looked around further and found more familiar herbs. Each one invoked a memory or memories wherein the herbs were present. Most were commonly displayed on merchants' stands at the townsquare market.

    Now, he was sure about it. It must be like how he couldn't remember all of his memories all at once. When seeing something familiar, only then would he remember his memory with it. The same with the spirit's memories. He couldn't remember everything at once, and seeing something the spirit already saw would cause the memory of it to surface.

    But just like some of the memories with the purple flower, some were just fragments and so vague that he couldn't exactly tell what was happening in the memory. He thought that there must be something about it, but right now, there was nothing he could do to know.

    Right now, he was hungry.

    "Since there's nothing to eat here . . . let's just go to the townsquare market. That's right! I'll pick up some herbs to sell so I can have money for food. Little guy! Help me find more of these—oh, that's right. What name should I call you?"

    The glowing ball just gave an equal questioning look Aqueo was making. He felt it in their mental connection that it didn't understand him.

    "Heh! You're mimicking me." Aqueo laughed slightly and the spirit gave an equivalent joyful eyes and swayed excitedly. "Hmm, let's see. Since you look like water . . . and you were born in an underground cave . . . water underground . . . aquifer. . . From now on, your name is Aqui. Aquifer."

    The spirit didn't seem to understand him, so he repeated, "From now on, your name is Aqui. A—qui. You're Aqui. I'm Aqueo. A—que—yo. You. are. Aqui. A—qui. A-qui-fer. Aqui. Aquifer." he said patiently as he pointed to himself and the spirit back and forth, making sure to visualize and transmit his intention to the spirit using their mental connection.

    Finally, the spirit nodded and Aqueo smiled in relief and patted its head, "Good job, Aqui!"

    Aqueo realized the need for willful transmission of his thought and intention, noting to always do it whenever he talked to Aquifer.

    "Alright, help me find this purple flower," he said while raising the flowers in front of Aquifer and made sure to transmit his intention too. The spirit nodded in understanding and started to look around.

    Aqueo already got five from a cluster he found. Some still hadn't blossomed or in the middle of blossoming, he didn't pick those.

    It only took a few moments for Aquifer to finally point to a cluster with its little tentacle-like arm and what soon followed were the spirit pointing more here and there and Aqueo going there to look and pick.