Chapter 26
Chapter 26
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Sylphilia
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Clack!
“Gaaahhh!”
*Quit your whining!*
The dull sensation of bone crunching under my wooden sword.
“Ca-call the priest! My arm bone’s shattered!”
A one-sided mental re-education disguised as sparring practice.
The spoiled brats from noble families, who’d never wanted for anything growing up, were getting my harsh lessons two or three times a week.
Swoosh!
I raised my sword, pointing it at Tedran, who looked like he’d seen a ghost.
Gulp.
I could clearly hear the punk swallow hard.
Thwack-thwack-thwack!
“Eeeeek! P-please spare me!!”
“Hohoho! Where do you think you’re going? You’re my meal!”
The pitiful highness’s food, marked on day one.
Today, too, she was getting brutally thrashed and slamming her head into the ground.
“We’ll end today’s sparring here. Anyone needing treatment, get it now.”
Viscount Atuan, the simple-minded brute who couldn’t stop the sparring because he’d suggested it himself.
He looked at me with troubled eyes.
I gave Viscount Atuan a slight bow as a token of(?) gratitude.
*Feels damn good!*
The one-sided beatdowns between me and highness during sparring time.
Word had already spread throughout the knight academy, so I knew I was being treated as a mad dog on par with her.
But so what.
I was a free spirit in this world, with nothing to fear.
*Time to go see her today.*
Regular classes were over, and now it was free time.
Time to visit the senior spiritist, Kapuin.
“Oppa, where are you going?”
Highness, who’d dropped her wooden sword and transformed into a pure romance manga heroine.
I gave an awkward smile at her century-old fox-like demeanor.
“Uh, just gonna study a bit.”
“Poo, oppa studies all the time.”
Highness pouted her pretty lips.
*Ugh, why does such a lovely body smell like the king of martial arts?*
Highness, who turned berserk the moment she picked up a sword.
Looking into her big eyes, I marveled once more at the gods’ fairness.
A girl that cute and reliable, overflowing with charm—no man could resist causing trouble.
“Come to my house sometime. Father’s coming to the capital mansion soon, so you can meet him then.”
“...Why?”
Highness’s father, the current head of the Petrin Count family—nicknamed mad dog slayer, not berserker.
Even I, who bulldozed through the world, shrank at his mythic reputation of biting through three generations.
“I mean~ You’re highness’s one and only oppa in the world. Hohoho. I already wrote him, so he’ll treat you nicely. You’ll come, right?”
“Of course I will....”
*Didn’t they say getting marked means death?*
The invincible Petrin Counts, who bit and held on for generations.
A weight incomparable to Tedran, son of a duke.
“Hohoho! Thanks, my dear oppa. I want to be an unforgettable part of your life. Forever~”
*Gasp!*
Her words of love rang in my ears.
Highness, the mafia princess, blushed shyly.
“H-Haha! Yeah, let’s stay close like this forever.”
*Damn, why do I want to forget this moment? Sob.*
Who could’ve guessed.
The nation’s little sister, highness, was a Hulk sister with feral instincts lurking in her blood.
★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
“You want to know what spirits feel like?”
“Yes, Count Kapuin.”
“Aren’t you a knight trainee? Spirits, though....”
Count Kapuin, who’d always said to come to him with any questions about spirits.
When I visited the spirit tower and said I wanted to feel a spirit, he looked surprised.
“I’d like to summon a spirit myself.”
I revealed my honest thoughts.
“A spirit? Hahaha! What an amusing fellow. A knight wanting to summon a spirit—the most delightful joke I’ve heard in my lifetime.”
“Didn’t you say to come if I had questions about spirits?”
“That’s true. But I meant for spiritists. Not regular knights or mages. My classes alone are enough to understand spirit attack traits.”
*Sheesh, it’s not like it costs money—why dodge like that.*
I could feel the spiritist’s pride.
And rightly so—spiritists were cultivators with developed upper danjeon.
It’d be odd if those with purer minds than others lacked pride.
“I’ve heard the spirit tower has a magic circle for summoning spirits. Please give me a chance to meet one.”
I pushed hard.
“Well, now. I know you’re exceptionally talented, passing the sky knight exam, but everyone has limits to their abilities. This kind of forcing....”
*Just a bit more push.*
Unlike other instructors, Count Kapuin seemed especially kind-hearted.
“I was taught the future belongs to dreamers. Please don’t tell me to give up before I even dream.”
“Hmm, fine. How can I refuse when you put it that way? But you’ll pay the price for wasting my time.”
*Yes!*
Count Kapuin’s warning fell on deaf ears.
Spirits.
The moment I met one, I’d charm it for sure.
By any means necessary.
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“The spirit you want to challenge is wind, right?”
“Of course. I want to become a legendary wind spiritist like my esteemed instructor, Count Kapuin.”
“Haha! Flattery, but it sounds good.”
*Spirit magic circle!*
As expected of the spirit tower protected by the imperial family.
A spirit summoning circle about five meters in diameter in the tower’s basement.
Around 4th circle difficulty.
“I don’t know how much you know about spirit summoning, but the spirit realm is more closely tied to the middle realm than places like the demon or heavenly realms. Everything we breathe, drink, use—water, fire, wind, earth—all contain spirit power linked to spirits. Humans, products of great nature, have spirit power too, but it’s separate from the affinity needed to summon them.”
Count Kapuin’s friendly explanation, contrasting my prickly master Gandalf.
He detailed facts I knew from books.
“To summon, you need that affinity, pure mana for the spirit, and a summoning circle. Plus help from a spiritist like me, of course.”
“Thank you for your help.”
I struck first, leaving no room for refusal.
“If you don’t get greedy, the circle has almost no side effects. But the mana stones and spirit stones used in summoning get consumed. Even if it fails, forcing open the spirit realm fully means it can’t be reused.”
“I figured, so I brought mana stones and spirit stones for this circle. If you’d kindly help a bit, Your Excellency needn’t worry.”
“Hoo, thoroughly prepared, eh.”
Me, who never once forgot homework in school.
The kids called me Kim Preparation.
“Then step into the spirit circle.”
With my firm resolve and perfect prep, Count Kapuin led me to the circle.
*Heh heh. Wait for me, spirits!*
“Steady your breath and focus your mind. Once the circle activates, I’ll summon a spirit and send you through the gap to the spirit realm.”
This was why spiritists were essential.
The circle couldn’t force open dimensions alone; the spiritist summoned the spirit and guided you through the invisible dimensional hole as an assistant.
*Open sesame!*
My heart pounded.
Thanks to master, I alone could taste the triple set of sword, magic, and spirits others could only dream of.
The thought of gaining a new power today sped my pulse, heating my head with excitement.
“Even if the spirit realm opens, insufficient affinity or mana means no contract. Get greedy, and your soul might not return—don’t overdo it.”
Kapuin’s final warning.
I nodded.
“Sylph summon!”
The sylph summon whispered in my ear.
Pop!
A faint trace of the sylph above my head.
“Circle activate!”
Then the circle hummed to life.
Whiiiiiirrrrr!
*Urk!*
So this was the feeling of your soul being sucked out.
A tiny light through a pinhole gap.
Fwoooosh.
It suddenly widened into a huge hole, sucking me in like a straw.
“Gaaaaah!”
Count Kapuin’s lie about no side effects if not greedy.
The terrifying sensation of soul extraction.
A dangerous spirit summoning circle no pregnant woman, elderly, weakling, or child should ever try.
In that instant moving to the open spirit realm, I realized once more.
The only person you can trust in this world.
Is yourself.
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*Whoaaa!*
I truly felt another world for the first time.
*Pure! Pristine!*
The spirit realm, vaguely imagined before.
No different from the human realm.
Crystal-clear air without a speck of dust, a brilliant blue sky.
Clear water, vibrant green trees and flowers.
*G-Gold! Gems!*
Treasure mounds dotting the landscape.
A near-perfect paradise of my dreams.
*Whoa! Fish—flying in the sky?*
A school of fish lazily swimming through the air.
Birds playing in water midair.
Only the common sense-defying bits were the problem.
-Will you contract with me?
*Huh?*
A cute fist-sized fairy approached me, floating as if under flight magic.
*A sylph!*
I’d seen mid-tier spirits, but never a little sylph.
Seeing one matching book descriptions, my mouth gaped in a silly grin.
*So cute!*
Fairy with a body the size of an adult fist.
Wind fairy in a cute propeller beanie-like hat, blue body so biteable.
“Yes, you’ll be my first contract.”
-Thank you, my summoner.
*Eh? Not like the books?*
Spirits had strong pride, rarely proposing contracts first.
And thanking for contracting? Never heard of that.
Her attitude was like facing a master.
*Umhahaha! Of course!*
Even the spirit realm knew my talents.
*While I’m here, contract them all. Heh heh.*
Dozens of sylphs now swarmed around me.
Not my imagination—they eyed my contracted sylph enviously.
*O! Gnomes over there!*
Low earth spirits, gnomes.
Waddling short legs in soft soil, playing in dirt.
Swoosh.
My will moved my body naturally toward them.
-W-Will you contract with me!?
A gnome like the seven dwarves from Snow White—coppery skin—spotted me mid-play and urgently asked.
“Of course, I’ll contract with you.”
-Thank you, summoner.
*Damn! Who said spirit contracts are hard?*
These spirits contracting so smoothly.
-Karrr~!
*Oh yeah! Those kids are undines!*
My eyes spun.
Spirits everywhere.
Like an ancestor’s ghost urging me on, I hurried.
“Little miss ladies, how about contracting with me?”
Lady first—I asked the blue-skinned undines looking like five-year-olds.
Nod.
One nodded instead of answering.
*Score!*
Unbelievably, I’d contracted all three elemental spirits.
*Next, salamanders!*
I dashed excitedly toward flowing flame waves.
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“Umhahahahaha!”
I felt like writing a book: *Spirit Summoning’s Easier Than Studying*.
Contracts way easier than expected.
Grabbing whatever came, I’d even finished mid-tier spirits.
*Where are the high-tier ones?*
I wanted high-tier, not just low or mid.
But no high-tier spirits anywhere in the vast realm.
*If I could, I’d love to see a spirit king.*
Spirit kings no human had ever met.
Earth king Torowel, fire king Ifrit, wind king Minerva, water king Elquenes.
Only low and mid-tier everywhere.
*Time to head back?*
Regret tinged the moment.
I smacked my lips, scanning around.
Pop!
Then a sudden chill wind.
*Hm?*
The wind brushed past, and spirits circling me vanished like lies.
*What’s this aura?*
A powerful aura hit simultaneously.
I whipped around left and right.
Soul-only in spirit realm—no sword.
*Cast magic?*
Prepping memorized spells for danger.
Fwoooosh.
Second wind followed.
“Gasp!”
A shadow ten meters ahead.
*Kn-Knight?*
Shockingly, a knight in silvery transparent armor stared coldly.
*Knight in spirit realm? And a woman?*
Defied all spirit realm knowledge.
I blankly stared at the female knight.
-Who are you?
*Telepathy?*
No lip movement, yet a clear voice thundered in my ear like lightning.
Telepathy from wuxia novels.
“A human.”
My usual crisp reply slipped out.
-Human? No. No human has such strong spirit affinity and spirit mana. I ask again. Who are you?
Face hidden by helmet, but her voice—purest, clearest jade sound I’d never heard from any woman.
*Like a game character.*
Instead of answering, my eyes scanned her armor.
Not runes—mysterious glowing letters on silvery armor.
Softer sheen than mithril, nobler than gold.
Fancy design too.
Like supreme beings’ gear in games.
“And who might you be?”
My sudden question.
“I am Sylphilia, one of the twelve supreme guardian spirit knights protecting Lady Minerva.”
“Sylphilia?”
*What? Isn’t the supreme wind spirit Sylphid?*
Books said wind’s supreme was Sylphid.
But she called herself Sylphilia.
*Spirits don’t lie.*
Had to believe.
Purity guardians wouldn’t lie.
*Kyaa! Figure’s a fantasy.*
Sylphilia inside silvery armor: 175cm, sleek build.
Whatever metal, the armor perfectly hugged her curves, pleasing my eyes.
*Kang Hyuk... now spirits too?*
But I shook off the thought.
One Russel turning me pervert was enough.
How could I fall for a spirit, not even human.
*Wonder what her face is like?*
Pure curiosity lifted my head.
Silvery hair fluttering from helmet sparked more wonder.
“This must be fate—let’s contract.”
-Contract? With me?
High-tier spirits had near-divine intellect.
She marveled at my abrupt proposal.
“Contracted with humans recently?”
-Uh, no.
*Of course—few spiritists in history contracted supremes.*
“Curious about the middle realm? Even spirits can’t live on fresh air forever. The smell of cooking, bustling noise, deep gulp of beer, thunderous battles, the dynamic pulse of the living middle realm. Kyaa, thrilling just thinking, right?”
-.....
*Could sell snake oil later.*
Post-master hook, my hobby turned fishing.
Clearly, a supreme naive to the world.
Today’s target.
“Who knows when another chance comes. A human with my spirit affinity and mana might never appear again. Unless you plan to die here. Born a spirit—er, person—how can you claim a satisfied life without visiting the middle realm once?”
Sylphilia, wind supreme looking fully human.
She pondered, eyes darkening through helmet slits.
*Time to close.*
If she refused now, I’d drop it.
A man has pride.
“Do it or not? Time to go soon....”
-I’ll do it.
*O~!! Yes~!!*
Her agreement exploded fireworks inside me.
*Kaaaa! Nabbed a supreme spirit! Er, contracted!*
Revealing this: grand archmage treatment.
Better than lottery.
-But summoner’s mana’s insufficient to call me. Force it, and your mana hall could burst.
*Whoa, that strong?*
Unexpected limit.
Never summoned before, so no clue on mana cost.
-Grow strong. Strong enough to summon me to the middle realm.
“Got it. So from now, Sylphilia, you’re my contracted spirit?”
-By ancient pact, I, Sylphilia, submit to the contractor. I swear by the holy god’s name.
Flash!
Unlike low or mid-tier contracts.
As she vowed, twin lights stabbed from sky.
Bathed us, then vanished as suddenly as they came.
*So this is the spirit pact.*
Now I recalled: supreme+ contracts were pacts.
This rite bound spirit and contractor inseparably till death.
“My name is Kaiyer. Sylphilia, I accept you as my spirit.”
Words slipped out unbidden.
-Thank you. Born a spirit, grateful to the god my first human contract is you.
*Feels good?*
Her words stirred something odd.
“But a request.”
-What is it, my pact partner Kaiyer?
“If not too rude, could you show your face?”
-That’s....
She hesitated at my words.
Like a woman receiving a proposal.
“If you’d rather not....”
Rustle.
Before I finished, she grasped her helmet with slender hands, slowly removing it.
“Huhhh...!”
Under the radiant spirit realm sun, Sylphilia’s face revealed.
My heart slowly froze at the sight.
*God!*
And I called to that god.
Swoooosh.
Suddenly, my soul sucked back to the spirit realm exit.
Eyes blankly unfocused.