"Ahh... Lotus?" Vale asked in surprise, sensing a very familiar presence approaching.

Denise, too, was taken aback by Vale's recognition of Lotus.

Her eyes widened in shock as she looked at Vale, her thoughts racing to find an explanation.

"You know her?!" Denise exclaimed, her voice filled with astonishment. She couldn't understand how Vale could possibly know about Lotus.

Vale had a wry smile on his face in response to Denise's question. "Yes... It's been a while, Lotus... Do you still remember me?" he asked, addressing the invisible presence that only he and Denise could perceive

At that moment, Lotus, the Dark Spirit, materialized within the confines of the coffee shop. She stood before Vale, her ethereal form exuding an air of mystery. No one else in the shop could see her, as her presence remained hidden from all except for the two.

"I have a vague recollection of your appearance" Lotus replied, her voice carrying a hint of curiosity.

Vale sighed softly, realizing that Lotus's memory of him was not as strong as he had hoped.

He proceeded to explain to Denise the events that had transpired between him and Lotus before. He recounted how Lotus had been his Dark Spirit companion, but unfortunately, she had met her demise while protecting him.

"T-that happened?"

Denise listened in awe, shocked to learn that Lotus had been Vale's Dark Spirit companion in the past. She couldn't help but feel a sense of wonder at the mysterious workings of fate.

It seemed that Lotus hadn't truly perished but had returned to the Spirit World. After a long period of recovery, Lotus had found her way back to the mortal realm and had chosen to be summoned by Denise this time.

"What a coincidence! Ahh No, perhaps we're really fated to each other?" Denise mumbled the last part as she couldn't help but look at Vale expectantly.

The reunion of Vale and Lotus was beyond anything she could have imagined.

"This could probably be a great story in a book! The Forbidden Love of Human and Spirit!" Denise exclaimed in excitement.

It appears that aside from practicing her Dark Alchemy, she also had plenty of time to read various novels.

As they sat in the cozy coffee shop, Vale, Denise, and Lotus spent a few minutes catching up and sharing brief stories of their respective journeys.

As expected, Lotus couldn't say much as she couldn't recall most of her memories yet.

Soon, Vale shifted the topic to the essence of the Abyss that Yvaine had detected a while ago.

At this time, Vale also summoned Yvaine, which made Denise really excited.

"Whoa~ Dark Spirits looks so cool" Denise muttered as she realized that, indeed, all Dark Spirits had an unfathomable aura around them.

"Ahem Lotus, did you notice the essence as well?" Denise asked. She had a vague idea of the Abyss since she read it in some ancient book written in Oardic. However, she only knew that it was another realm similar to the Spirit World, where Practitioners could normally sense if they performed some ritual.

As for the beings in the Abyss, she doesn't have information about them.

"Yes It was faint, but it was definitely there for a while."

With this, Vale could confirm that Yvaine didn't just make a mistake a while ago.

"What do we do about it?" Vale asked. He certainly had no idea about what to do on this matter.

"Nothing Ignore it. It's not a problem you can resolve. Just leave this place if something happens." Yvaine replied.

Lotus also nodded at this, as she didn't seem to like dealing with such a problem.

"Alright... Then let's go and visit the storage room" Vale said eagerly, his excitement palpable. He stood up to pay for their drinks, ready to meet the corpses that his Master had gifted for him.

Although he didn't like to be labeled as a corpse lover, he couldn't refuse the free extractions either.

Denise wryly smiled, amused by Vale's enthusiasm.

She followed him, leading the way to the storage room she had rented for the corpses. It didn't take long for them to arrive at their destination, and Denise unlocked the door, revealing a room filled with twelve beautifully preserved corpses of women in their twenties and thirties.

There was no decaying smell and they were all in perfect condition thanks to Heinz's unusual sealing method.

Vale's eyes widened in awe as he took in the sight before him. The bodies were adorned with intricate tribal tattoos, marking them as unique and distinct entities. It was a stark contrast to the Rune Arts that Vale was familiar with, and his curiosity was piqued.

'Master Heinz really had an amazing preservation technique. It's a pity I didn't learn it from him.' Vale silently thought.

Heinz didn't have a reason to use this Sealing or Preservation Technique in the laboratory since the Quince Furnace would be their immediate destination. It wasn't surprising that Vale wouldn't see Heinz using the technique.

"Awesome..." Vale commented, his voice filled with genuine excitement.

He approached one of the corpses, carefully examining the markings on its skin. The tribal tattoos held an air of mystery, and Vale couldn't help but marvel at their beauty.

Denise looked at Vale, her expression a mix of curiosity and confusion.

"Are you that excited?" she asked, unable to comprehend Vale's fascination with the corpses. She couldn't help but wonder if Vale intended to do something more to them.

Vale smiled and nodded at her. He understood that Denise might misunderstand his true intentions, but he couldn't reveal the existence of his Divine Extraction System to her.

Instead, he replied, "There's more to it than meets the eye. Corpses of Arcane Practitioners are more interesting than you thought..."

Denise just shrugged after hearing this since Vale sounded like Heinz

'Crazy'

Vale ignored her reaction.

Then, he placed his hand on one of the corpses At that moment, a message flashed in his eyes from his Divine Extraction System.

[ Human corpse has been discovered. Would you like to extract it? ]