In the vast world of Eora, spirits are seen far and wide, intertwined with the human’s daily lives so intimately that imagining a world without them was not possible. They came in all shapes and sizes and lived forever through time, some of them capable of human reasoning and others not, some evil, while some were good. And over a thousand years ago, after a human man known as Joy Spiritking made a contract with a god, the legendary spirit and human pair made a life-lasting bond and swore themselves to protecting society from both evil spirits and humans alike for as long as they lived.

But that was thousands of years ago back when the world was in its medieval stages. Now, Joy Spiritking and the god Anax Demyra he’d been bound to had both been declared dead for ages. The dark times that took place after the fall of the world’s greatest guardians were a tragic one, and now there were only two clear areas on the planet rich with modern technology and architecture that were not under the domain of a powerful evil spirit, these two vast locations being known as the world’s final safe havens. Though in reality, it had been like that for so many centuries in a stalemate that the general public had long gotten used to the threat, perhaps not even realizing it still was one. Which meant that now it was up to the spirit hunters to fight and work hard to keep those evil spirits at bay along their borders, as humanity and the peaceful spirits’ last line of defense.

“Is that so?” Neomyra leaned down to lick at a small plate filled with milk, intrigued to be learning more about the world’s past in this large, high-class diner. Spirits didn’t need human sustenance and therefore did not have a true reason to visit human restaurants, but some of them did still have taste buds that could be harnessed, even if the food just disappeared into nothingness the moment it was ingested. However, when they did enter human shops and such, they were typically given whatever they wanted for free in exchange for giving the shopkeeper good fortune. And because all good-natured spirits who already possessed good karma themselves had the ability to inflict such blessings, it wasn’t uncommon for humans to treat them like royalty just for that. But this human man they were conversing with seemed nice and chatty, and Neomyra really loved friendly humans. Especially friendly humans that fed them!

“Yes, yes! Because of the amazing work of our world’s spirit hunters, we are working hard to keep the evil spirits at bay while amassing the power to defeat them once and for all! It may not be in my lifetime, but I’m sure that someday, all of us good humans and spirits alike will finally be able to reclaim our ancestral lands,” June rambled enthusiastically, a tall and lithe human who Neomyra could tell had a trained body that was quick and with skilled reflexes. He had short black hair that was shaved on the sides but was long in the front and spiky all over, with one unruly cowlick on the side that couldn’t be tamed, and he had blue eyes the color of glittering sapphires. He was a human that Neomyra interacted with often, so they were certain he had amassed enough good fortune to last him a lifetime if he made no future moral missteps.

With the small body of a long-haired kitten with fur a soft blond and cat-like eyes a wonderfully bright lavender, the blond feathered wings on their back completed the final picture of a rare winged feline. Neomyra knew there was more out there because they’d met some, but since their spiritual species was known to bring good luck and rarely showed themselves in front of humans, they were a rare delicacy to feast your eyes on. June didn’t seem to care about that though, which is why they still enjoyed talking to him. “Aren’t you a spirit hunter, mister? Is it your goal to repel those evil spirits yourself?” they asked the idle question while lapping at their milk, June giving a nervous laugh in return.

“You’ve always had sharp eyes, Neomyra, I can admire that. You clocked me as a spirit hunter right from the start when we first met, and boy was I shocked, haha. Winged felines are rare, sure, but they’re not usually high level, so I was really surprised you noticed,” June scratched at his pale cheek, the cat’s tail flicking back and forth as their long, tall pointed ears shifted direction, and they raised their head. “Ah, Joyce! Are you here to take over my shift? Look, Neomyra’s here again, I told you winged felines weren’t that rare! This one swings by here all the time to ask me questions,” June had immediately followed their gaze, the young spirit’s eyes caught onto that new human’s form. If they remembered correctly, Joyce was the owner of this high-class restaurant that was known for its rare and high-quality food that typically served rich customers because of their luxury. Rumor had it that he was the only direct descendant of the Joy Spiritking, but that because of his family’s decline, they were now more known for their restaurant than their evil spirit hunting, even when his ancestor’s name still rang like a legend. Well, whatever.

They left before that human could spot them, completely phasing from all detection as they lifted themselves through the roof and started wandering around the second story of this classy building. The whole thing was as big as a mansion, so the bottom layer was already large enough to hold all the guests. Rather, the second floor was where the Spiritking family now lived, apart from their ancestral home a few days' journey away that had become a danger zone in recent years.

And they definitely got weird looks from the servants they passed as they sauntered about confidently without a word to them, not bothering to keep themselves hidden. The humans of this world really did just let the friendly weaker spirits do as they pleased. A spirit’s strength could easily be classified by observing their appearance, after all. The more human-like or the more human body parts they possessed, the stronger the spirit would be. It was as simple as that. Winged felines might be exceptionally rare and very lucky to encounter, but as June had already stated to be, they were also understood to be weak creatures with no human-resembling qualities. People really were so assuming.

Once again, however, their search brought them to the same locked door that had been carefully sealed to forbid unauthorized spirits from entering. They always seemed to come back here, and, well, a seal like this couldn’t actually stop them, so they walked right on through while ignoring the gawking humans and their mortified stares.

After all, they were different. Even though Neomyra was considered a baby by most spirit standards, with them only being twenty years old compared to more ancient figures, they’d woken up already being keenly aware that there was something in this world they needed to find. And for some reason, the trail always kept leading them back here to this very same restaurant. The whole place just smelled off. Not in a bad way, as the aura here was exceptionally clean and thick with charming incense, but Neomyra just couldn’t help feeling that whatever they were smelling here, whatever this place was reeking of, was going to lead them to what they’d been looking for all this time. At this point, they were also certain that it must be an artifact setting them off, which is why they always came back to this room in particular… the Spiritking’s classified artifact collection.

The owner had even tried upping their defenses the last time they realized an undetectable spirit had found their way in and replaced the original seal with multiple stronger ones, but Neomyra still walked straight through them with ease. Humans really were so pointlessly meticulous. Hadn’t they realized by now that the reason their seals weren’t working on them was because they shared the same rare affinity? The seals they used drew on the same power that Neomyra did, so it recognized them as part of itself and would always let them through every time no matter how many more were added. That’s why you always had to be aware of which seals you were using to guard off what… how foolishly naive of them.

But those were condescending thoughts to have another time. In the current moment, they were letting their eyes scan all the pretty glittering trinkets and swords that lay out on their respective podiums. With a light leap of their feet and a gentle flap of their wings, careful not to disturb any of the spiritual energy in the room as they did so, Neomyra even jumped up onto the large display desk attached to the wall that wrapped around the room, sniffing at everything as they passed.

They were certain that what they were looking for was in here. But while they were skilled at being undetected, it always appeared the same human man of the Spiritking lineage would be able to tell somebody was in here tinkering with everything if they ever touched one of the many swords hanging around. That was why they’d had to flee the last two times, after all. But they gave all the jewelry and other old artifacts a good sniff down to confirm none of them were a match before sitting down on the desk and locking their eyes on the thin spirit blades before them.