33 - Spirit King (2)

Even in Reincarnated Hero, low-grade spirits were common enough, but the Spirit Kings? No way. They existed only in lore:

Spirit King of Fire: Pheonix

Spirit King of Water: Naiad

Spirit King of Earth: Oread

Spirit King of Wind: Ariel

They never showed up at first, only popping in briefly at key branching points. Unplayable, untamable even by spirit mages. Spirit Kings were nature itself.

Shrrrrr...

Ariel, who had taken the form of a pegasus, shifted into the shape of a boy. Emerald light sparkled around him like crushed gemstones, his white eyebrows lending an air of mystery. Without so much as twitching his lips toward me, he asked:

"Can you see me?"

His voice rang out unexpectedly solemn, hollow and echoing.

I hesitated for a split second on how to respond—after all, I needed a contract from him—but etiquette won out.

"I can see you."

"Then you can't see Naiad, I take it."

Thanks to the spirit affinity from Wind Archery, I could only perceive wind spirits. No clue why, but it looked like both the Spirit King of Water and Wind had shown up together... What a baseless plot twist.

Anyway, Ariel fixed his gaze on me and asked again.

"I called you here myself."

"?"

Why? He clearly had business with me. Yeriel's elemental magic back at Selafi Black Dorm couldn't possibly summon a Spirit King.

He glanced sadly down toward the lake bottom.

"I came because one of Naiad's children was harmed."

Hold up—Naiad was the water one, so her "child"...

No way, the water dragon?

Thinking back, monsters each had a single elemental affinity. And yeah, there was lore about the water dragon being Naiad's pet back in the day... A chill ran down my spine.

"Ask him about it. Are you involved?"

"..."

I had nothing to say, even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠if I had ten mouths. I'd stopped the water dragon's revival and absorbed its bead myself... Involved? I was the damn thing.

Whoooosh...

Thud! Thud!

As I stood silent, the lake churned violently, slamming against Ariel's wind barrier with heavy thuds. He already knew everything...

"Answer me."

The winds picked up ferocity, and even the once-calm lake waters surged with fury.

Whoooosh!!

Thud thud thud!!!

Okay, think. Turn two Spirit Kings hostile. Then run? Yeah, in-game that'd be a rage-quit scenario. But this was real life.

'Shit...'

No choice. Time to bullshit my way out.

"Me too..."

I took a step closer.

...!

With an expression screaming I had nothing to lose, I spat it out.

"I'm a victim too! Fuck."

Screw the roots. Feed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠'em to the dogs.

Late into the night, in Selena's room at the Ye Gudi Green Dorm. Her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠body, exhausted from overseeing Lev Denek's training, woke easily from sleep.

The dream lingered vividly. The fairy forest where she'd grown up. Fireflies, rustling trees, babbling brooks. It felt like she'd just been there. Mixed with faint, happy memories that tickled her heart.

And then, out of nowhere, his face. Lev Denek.

That's when she jolted awake.

"Hah... hah...?"

And right then... the wind spirit she'd longed for so desperately...

Slipped into Selena's embrace.

"I'm a victim too."

...?

The gray-haired, black-eyed boy before them tossed etiquette to the dogs, firing back with profanity and casual speech.

The strong aura of the water dragon Posedaros's blessing radiated from him. He was definitely the culprit...

"What nonsense is—!"

The peerless beauty brimming with blue light—Naiad—bellowed furiously. Of course, Lev couldn't hear her.

She'd taken one look at his face and soured, hurling all sorts of threats, but for some reason, he seemed to perceive only Ariel, the wind spirit.

As Ariel calmed Naiad, the boy's words kept coming.

"Hah... The water dragon was already dead to begin with. Nagas siding with the demons were the ones trying to revive it. And the bead was already tainted with demonic mana."

In truth, Naiad knew the water dragon had perished. That's why she'd come for the bead. But tainted with demonic mana? Ariel and Naiad, swamped with other concerns lately, couldn't verify it.

"If I'd left it alone, what about all the kids taking classes here? Humans? Lives? You spirits stay neutral even if demons get hurt, but humans don't matter? Anyway, I had no choice but to step up."

He kept going.

"Even if it revived, it'd just be a demon pawn, better off dead. You wouldn't want that either, right? Hell, I gave it an honorable death—you should be thanking me..."

How dare he...! Insolent fool! Don't you dare speak Posedaros's name...!

Naiad whipped up splashes in outrage, but the man just shrugged like put up or shut up.

...

Ariel, the most level-headed among Spirit Kings, pondered briefly before countering with facts.

"Yet Posedaros's bead—its blessing—dwells in your body. Care to explain?"

"Aren't you defiling its honor by yielding to your lust for power?"

"That's..."

The boy looked even more exasperated.

"Even more not true?"

What?

"What do you think happens when a human gets exposed to demonic mana?"

A simple question for Spirit Kings.

"Sure, spirits like you are fine. Us mortals? Big problems."

It was odd. If he'd absorbed a demon-tainted bead, he'd show symptoms...

Ariel! Don't listen! It's a lie! Posedaros couldn't have fallen...? Just human scheming!

Lev glanced her way as if sensing her and asked naturally.

"Look at my face. Got anything else to say?"

Just... pisses me off. Don't wanna look at you.

Exactly as Naiad said. Even Ariel felt it—something about his face made it hard to warm up to him. Not just rudeness or recklessness, but some unknowable force at play.

And the two Spirit Kings had no idea it stemmed from Lev Denek's [Villain] trait.

"Your mismanagement cursed me too. Don't I deserve some pity?"

Naiad looked like she wanted to retort but couldn't. Interfering with non-spirit-affinitied beings like mages or fairies violated nature's laws. If that curse truly came from the dragon, as he claimed...

It flipped the script—the Spirit Kings now bore responsibility for this one boy.

In the momentary chaos, Lev seized the initiative.

"If you're that suspicious, take it back. The dragon's power or whatever."

You think it's that easy...?

Naiad, wait.

"I know. You can't cast offensive magic on humans without a contract."

Then, like he was doing them a favor, he continued.

"So, I'll specially contract with you."

This bastard's got a death wish...!

...

A non-spirit mage proposing contract terms first? Unheard of for the two kings.

My terms were simple. Contract with Ariel via Wind Archery, letting us intervene in each other's bodies. And what Naiad wanted? Exactly that.

With their power, they could reconstruct the bead from this. Sure, handing over a rare skill stung a bit, but it erased my Villain trait and netted a Spirit King contract.

Sylph Wind Archery was already busted, forcing elf-only archery. A Spirit King version? Unimaginable power.

Minutes later, Ariel closed his eyes in thought, then slowly opened them.

And, more readily than expected, he spoke.

"Very well. I will contract with you."

I barely suppressed a surging laugh.