Chapter 53: Sereia |
Celt pulled himself out of his brief meditative state, his mind refocusing on reality. He looked down at the Nether-Floating Jellyfish clinging almost perfectly to his chest and abdomen, feeling the touch and weight of her body against him.
She had almost no weight at all; hanging on him, the only sensation was a cool, icy feel with nothing else.
He subconsciously lifted his fingers, gently brushing the smooth edge of her bell-shaped cap with his fingertip, confirming that the tactile sensation was real.
It seemed she didn’t mind his touch, as she hadn’t transformed into her soul state.
It was just a shame there wasn’t that sticky, slippery feeling he’d imagined—that left Celt a bit disappointed.
“What exactly are you disappointed about?” the Travel Guide floating nearby questioned, its text appearing.
“Hey, mind your own business.”
Celt skipped right over the topic. “Send another message to Samuel for me. Tell him to buy a few animals when he comes back.”
“Living, breathing ones.”
Having given the order, he paid no more attention to the Travel Guide.
Celt pulled his arms together, wrapping them around the Nether-Floating Jellyfish.
The feel was great, and the jellyfish didn’t resist. She was soft, like hugging a pillow.
He carried her over to the sofa and sat down, placing her on his lap. Then he gently rubbed and pressed her bell-shaped cap with his hand.
She felt airy and light. Pressing her was a bit like touching a non-Newtonian fluid.
If the jellyfish wanted, she could simply pass right through him.
Perhaps because she wasn’t a carbon-based lifeform, this jellyfish wasn’t particularly averse to Celt’s hand passing directly through her body.
Thinking it over, Celt coated his hand with Spirituality like a glove and touched her again.
This time, his hand didn’t pass straight through.
The jellyfish didn’t seem confused.
After all, if such a powerful being couldn’t bypass her soul state and touch her, that would’ve seemed far more unreasonable to her.
Under his pressure, her body dented slightly, forming a shallow indentation, only to spring back lightly the moment the pressure was released.
When he poked her gently, she bounced a couple of times on her own, feeling a bit chewy.
Celt felt her tentacles sliding softly against him, and from her, he sensed a feeling of ease.
She was comfortable enough to interact with him freely.
Celt’s smile grew wider.
After a moment of silence, he spoke in a gentle tone.
“What’s your name?”
The Nether-Floating Jellyfish seemed a bit dazed.
The spiritual fluctuation she transmitted carried obvious confusion.
The concept of a name was entirely foreign to her inherent cognitive pattern.
She didn’t have a name.
After all, names were mostly used to distinguish individuals, but Nether-Floating Jellyfish had no need for that.
In their group structure, distinguishing individuals wasn’t done through external, symbolic labels like names.
Their communication method was direct and fundamental.
Each jellyfish’s Spirituality naturally bore a subtle “imprint” of its individual life essence, like a fingerprint.
When they needed to pinpoint a specific individual within the group, they simply wrapped their Spirituality with the unique “mark” pointing to that target while transmitting their thoughts. As long as they thought of the specific jellyfish when conveying their Spirituality, they could pinpoint her without confusion.
So, it could be understood that the entire group was uniformly called “Hey You.”
They weren’t very smart to begin with, and spending brainpower remembering names and juggling miscellaneous stuff might drop their already limited intelligence a notch.
After all, Nether-Floating Jellyfish didn’t have a brain organ.
They literally “thought with their bodies.”
“No name, huh.” Celt understood her confusion, gently stroking her. “Then I’ll give you one.”
“Hmm… let’s call you Sereia.” Celt casually thought of a name. “As for a last name, no need.”
“After all, I’m just terrible at naming. Managing to come up with something that sounds decent is already impressive for me.”
“I got my own name directly from translating ‘Cat’ into Celtic.”
Celt looked at Sereia with his golden, slit-pupiled eyes, gently poking her with a finger.
“My name is Celt Frein. From now on, ‘Sereia’ is you, and ‘Celt Frein’ is me.”
“Remember that, okay.”
Sereia quietly clung to Celt, staying limply attached to him.
She could roughly understand that Celt would use “Sereia” to refer to her from now on.
She nudged Celt’s belly, roughly indicating that she understood.
She transmitted information that she had comprehended and accepted this new identifier.
She was no longer the vague “Hey You” of the group. She was Sereia.
“Why not just give her the surname Frein?” the Travel Guide floated beside Celt, its text appearing inopportunely again with its question.
“Sereia Frein sounds nice too, doesn’t it? Since she’s following you, doesn’t that make her your… uh, partner or pet or something? Isn’t adding a surname normal?”
“I remember that before the transmigration, the dog I kept had our surname.”
Celt didn’t answer, just giving the book a half-smiling look.
“Uh… why?”
The text on the book appeared slower, showing it was a bit hesitant too.
Celt kept smiling, still not answering.
“Tch… huh… ah…”
A series of onomatopoeic sounds scrolled across its pages.
“No way.”
“People can’t—at least they shouldn’t.”
Only then did Celt look away with satisfaction, turning his thoughts to other matters.
When he had gotten up just now, his left message for Samuel had received no response, and Samuel hadn’t answered the message about living creatures either.
After thinking it over, Celt decided to call him directly.
He used the connection between his split consciousness and the main body to establish a “party voice chat” channel.
Soon, the two were connected.
The connection was established quickly, with almost no delay. Samuel’s voice rang directly in Celt’s mind.
“It’s me.” Celt transmitted his thought clearly. “Did you get the message I had that trashy book relay to you? About buying animals.”
“Animals?” Samuel’s thought paused, as if he were recalling or checking records. “Oh, I saw it.”
Celt briefly explained the situation, and Samuel understood.
After all, it was a species that needed to devour souls. Though its appetite was small, it would probably require live prey.
So bringing back a live fish might not be a bad choice.
“Oh, you’ve already settled her down?” Samuel quickly grasped the situation.
“I’m stuck in a weird little town right now. Sure, I can leave if I want, but isn’t it more convenient for you to buy them yourself?” Samuel asked.
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