Spirit (3)
Spirit (3)
In the original work, there were only a handful of playthroughs that made use of spirits. The means of growing stronger were so numerous even without them.
Even in those few cases, no playthrough ever focused primarily on spirit arts.
In the 1st Iteration, I dabbled in everything here and there, so I only used spirit arts for auxiliary purposes. It was a jack-of-all-trades run where neither martial arts nor magic reached any great heights anyway.
5th Iteration 〈Reverse Magic Path〉
A playthrough that tore apart and rebuilt the body's own circuits with magical formulas, turning the resulting repulsion into output power.
It was an awkward mage route in many ways, and because it demanded so much mana, I kept burning through spirits to replenish my reserves.
Even then, mana was still extremely scarce, and in the end I failed to control the repulsion and exploded to death just like the 3rd Iteration.
6th Iteration 〈Dark Tomb Slave〉
A standard necromancer route.
It was a playthrough that mainly used black magic and necromancy to command massive legions.
People's perception of my capabilities was a bit... well, my Affection rating scraped rock bottom because of it, but at least I didn't go completely off the rails like some of the later iterations, and I did manage to fight on humanity's side somehow.
I dabbled with darkness spirits in the process, but I never delved deeply.
There wasn't much to gain from messing with darkness spirits, and I couldn't raise my affinity very high either.
Given that, it was just more efficient to raise the corpses of humans and monsters lying around everywhere, rip out their souls, and command them as undead.
The 6th Iteration fought hard, trading blows with the army corps pouring out of the Tower of the Dead—until the Tower Master of Purgatory barged in midway and tore me to pieces.
As for any other iteration that dealt with spirits, there was the 12th Iteration Hybrid Summoner... but even that one only dipped a toe in without really diving deep.
Like the 5th Iteration, the most I did in that one was use them as materials, or as cannon fodder in a desperate pinch.
In short, no iteration ever made spirit arts its main focus, nor did I ever seriously build on it.
Still, whichever route I'd taken, I'd fought against spirit casters before, so I had a basic grasp of the fundamentals.
To handle spirits, you need a connection through a contract.
In order to convey the caster's will, and to operate the spirit according to that will, the caster and spirit must first be linked.
Thus, the procedure called a "contract" between caster and spirit is essential. Operating a spirit is impossible without a contract.
That was the knowledge from the original work, and it was the common sense I'd learned in this world as well.
I'd thought so until just a moment ago.
[What the hell.]
That common sense wavered a little.
I couldn't fully make sense of what was happening right now.
I perceived my surroundings through the Observation Authority.
Seated neatly right beside me was Professor Liana.
She usually had such a graceful and gentle air, but now she wore a blank, dumbfounded expression I'd never seen before.
Her mouth hung open so wide I worried stray strands of hair might slip inside.
I extended my perception further.
The cadets training with their respective crystal orbs were also wearing dazed looks.
Hong Yeon-hwa seemed mesmerized herself, and Baek A-rin and Ellia were staring with wide, startled eyes.
Their gazes, one after another, were fixed on this spot.
Where they were looking, five-colored clusters of light drifted.
Spirits shining in five colors circled around me.
They were spirits that had also escaped from the space Professor Liana had just opened wide.
The five-colored spirits blended with the surroundings, creating an incredibly mystical atmosphere, but I had no luxury to sink into such admiration.
My already dazed mind grew even more complicated.
I steadied myself and raised my right hand. A thought accompanied the gesture.
It was just like a moment ago. A mere mumble of intent in my mind, without voice or aid from the necklace.
— Fwoosh!
As if it had sensed my intention, one of the light clusters that had been drifting about darted over and landed on the back of my hand.
A light cluster emitting a red glow. From the fiery energy within, I could tell it was a fire spirit.
[Warm.]
[A firefly.]
[Gentle heat.]
It was called fire energy, but the warmth felt on the back of my hand was remarkably gentle.
I sensed not a mote of hostility. Not once did it occur to me that I would come to harm.
It was a thought born of instinct.
These beings cannot harm me. They could if they truly wished, but if they do not wish it, then they will bring me no harm.
Conversely.
If I wished it, they would heed my request. If I asked, they would move according to my will.
'Uh...'
While I was lost in thought for a moment, the light clusters that had been lingering around drew much closer.
The presence of the spirits grew nearer. A sense of familiarity intensified.
— Thump.
My heart pulsed. The beat resonated through my body. It collided with my outer walls and reverberated back inward.
My awareness shifted from outside to inside.
My perception of the outside grew faint. The scenery around me turned hazy.
Instead, what was within me felt vividly.
It wasn't an entirely unfamiliar sensation. Some time had passed, but it was a feeling I'd definitely experienced before.
The time when I'd been cornered by monsters and was on the brink of death.
It resembled the sensation I'd felt as I drew closer to death, feeling myself gradually fading away.
I wasn't walking the line between life and death right now, but similarly to that time, I became more acutely aware of myself as a single entity.
Among the elements that composed me, two particularly enormous ones made themselves felt.
All-Rounder and Mana Affinity.
Near them were two more things I couldn't properly perceive.
External forces that weren't my own. The Authority of Space and the Authority of Observation.
Those four were the main ones.
They weren't the only ones.
Beneath them lay a number of innate talents too many to dare count. A countless array of tiny innate talents, wholly impossible to interpret, lay below.
— Woooong...
Out of those countless small innate talents, one made itself known.
Its volume gradually swelled. The share of innate talent it occupied in me grew larger.
It was still not enough to be interpreted.
But its size had clearly changed, standing out from the surrounding innate talents.
Someday, it would grow until it could be interpreted.
The moment I realized that, my awareness snapped back to normal.
A grassy field wreathed in faint mist. A clear lake as still as a mirror.
Once again, the outside scenery was transmitted to me.
The spirits that had been circling around me were already gone.
It seemed Professor Liana had somehow succeeded in retrieving them.
I absently twitched my hand. Now that the warmth that had rested on it was gone, it felt a little forlorn.
"What was that just now?"
As I sat there blankly, Professor Liana, who looked just as bewildered as I was, asked.
I thought for a moment, then shook my head.
[I don't know.]
I had nothing I could tell her.
.
.
.
The first session of the "Understanding Spirits" lecture ended rather anticlimactically.
All thanks to the way I'd spectacularly drawn all the attention.
After she collected herself, Professor Liana and I put our heads together through the entire lecture, but we didn't manage to come up with anything meaningful.
The best we could figure was that I'd been able to attract and command spirits without even a contract?
Of course, it was only to the extent that if Professor Liana properly exercised her dominion, they would shake off my influence.
But I had still handled spirits without a contract.
The fact that it was astonishing remained unchanged. Given a little time, I suspected more rumors about me would soon be circulating again.
"Let's look into this... one step at a time."
I knew nothing about spirits, and Professor Liana, the expert, was also unfamiliar with a case like this.
In the end, the only way was to attend Professor Liana's lectures and gradually dig into it.
Professor Liana, who suggested we take it slowly, seemed to have some vague guess about it, but for some reason she didn't share it with me.
I found it peculiar, but figuring she must have her reasons, I quietly nodded.
Even so, I couldn't help feeling a bit unsettled inside.
I'd just started to unravel a few of the secrets about myself—like the presence or absence of unique abilities and their origins—and now some other mystery had been added on top.
Will a day ever come when every question about me is fully answered?
A sigh escaped me on its own.
Whatever the result, the lecture had ended.
I'd planned to eat lunch with Hong Yeon-hwa, but for some reason, the moment she saw me, her face went red and she ran off.
I suffered the enormous shock of being abandoned by Hong Yeon-hwa.
Lunch had to be miserably settled by nibbling on a nutrition bar all by myself...
'Mm...'
And with that, the time for my major class arrived.
When I arrived, trudging to my destination, I felt a strange resonance.
The bounce that traveled up when I tapped the dirt with the tip of my foot.
When I scraped the ground, sandy soil dust rose in a puff.
This was an old-fashioned training yard, something rarely seen in Siyoram with all its cutting-edge technology.
It felt like just the other day I'd been beaten black and blue here by Professor Atra and rolled around on the ground, but going by the days, it had been a bit over a month ago now, if I'm being generous.
A strange resonance... I'd been feeling it since this morning.
I was convinced I'd die in that place, yet here I was, back alive, attending lectures just fine—the overwhelming emotion was immense.
'Hoo...'
Fortunately, Professor Atra had arrived at Siyoram just before the weekend ended.
So there was no problem with the major class going ahead.
'I wonder how it'll be today.'
During sparring, there were often times when I'd pass out while getting beaten from start to finish.
This time, I was actually hoping for it.
As was visible from the deepened shadows under my eyes, my condition right now was pretty lousy.
I hadn't been able to sleep all weekend.
There were multiple reasons—some embarrassing ones, and also the fact that whenever I fell asleep, a new variant of nightmare had been added to the usual ones.
So I planned to use Professor Atra's brutal sparring to knock myself unconscious.
Come to think of it, maybe not sleeping was because I hadn't been able to physically push my body over the weekend.
If I pushed my body to its limits and took a beating, I'd probably pass out and fall asleep as if I'd fainted naturally.
After a short while, Professor Atra arrived, and only after meticulously checking my body over did we proceed with a warm-up sparring session.
My skills had improved by leaps and bounds. Having experienced genuine combat and walked the line between life and death had allowed me to grow on a completely different dimension compared to before.
But I was still no match for Professor Atra.
My body couldn't keep up with my gradually rising level, and in the end, Professor Atra's fist, having gently brushed aside my defense, flew toward me.
'!'
A fist brimming with golden aura came straight at me.
I can't dodge it.
I was already completely on the back foot. I'd barely managed to avoid the previous attacks by twisting my whole body out of the way.
Because of that, I couldn't evade this strike.
I gritted my teeth and braced. I greatly expanded my aura to prepare for the impact.
And then.
'?'
Professor Atra's fist came to a halt right in front of my nose.
Whoom! The blast of wind that followed, slower than the fist, struck my face fiercely.
My hair fluttered in the wind.
I stiffened in place.
I'd naturally assumed I'd get hit and go rolling, and had steeled myself for it. But that didn't happen.
Wondering what was up, I stayed still, and the fist Professor Atra had stopped right before my nose began to quiver.
"Ngh..."
Professor Atra bit down on her lip. A groan thick with anguish and hesitation leaked between them.
Her gaze couldn't stay still either. Her eyes, practically quaking, stared fixedly at my face.
Finally, as if she simply couldn't bring herself to do it, Professor Atra squeezed her eyes shut and stepped a few paces back, withdrawing her fist.
'?'
What's gotten into her?
* * *
[Player Correction System: Measurement]
▶Stats
...
▶Unique Ability
...
▶Mental State
...
「Un?」 : ?
「?ection」 : ?
...
「Incomplete」 : Split apart and not whole.
「Vitality Depletion」 : Vitality energy has been consumed and is empty.
「Affection Deficiency」 : Desperately craving affection. The degree is extremely severe.
「Fatigue」 : Mind and body are exhausted and weary.
「Loneliness」 : A lonely heart and the feeling of being alone.
...