“What in the world were you thinking?!” I yelled at the water spirits that took Cailie after I heard what happened to her.
“We…” “Just wanted to…” They tried to answer.
“No! No excuses. You were foolish.” I told them. “... of course, it isn’t all your fault.” I said, before I turned to the two greater spirits. “Now as for you two. Why didn’t you tell me there is a major problem in the spirit world?!”
“Sir Hero, I apologize.”
“Don’t apologize! Explain!”
“... we were waiting for you to be ready. We knew you couldn’t move here on your own, so we were waiting until you mastered Soul Magic.” The greater nature spirit reasoned.
“But we … no, I never expected that my own children would steal the soul of your companion. If you do want to punish someone, punish me.” The greater water spirit said, before she prostrated herself in front of me.
“... Haah. Why is that always everyone’s reaction?” I sighed. I then turned to the one spirit that was perfectly innocent in all of this. “Lady Anemoi. I do apologize for the commotion I’ve caused.”
“Don’t worry about that, young Hero. I perfectly understand.” Anemoi responded. “Also, no need to call me Lady. You are the one loved by my newest child, so you are practically my son-in-spirit.”
“Isn’t it son-in-law?”
“Call it a cultural difference.”
“What does it really even mean for Cailie to be your child? … is she like, half-spirit or something?”
“You could say that.” Anemoi answered. “I think an easier way for you to understand it is that she is permanently synchroed with a greater spirit. And unlike your temporary synchroes, hers doesn’t take any mana or come with any downsides. She is simply able to use the power of a greater wind spirit whenever she wishes.”
“... so she is like Alice, but instead of having one of my cards permanently be a part of her, she has a spirit as a permanent part of her.” I deduced.
“I wouldn’t know everything about this Alice you speak of, but if the little I had time to gather is true, then your assumption is wrong. Unlike your Alice, the spirit that is a part of Cailie has no memories nor a will, as I just created it. Thus its existence won’t affect young Cailie.”
“Ah. Alright. Thanks for explaining that.”
“It is no issue.” Anemoi said, before she made a request. “... But I do hope you can wake up the others, instead of immediately returning.”
“... It isn’t up to me. I don’t have a card I could use to forcefully wake up a superior spirit. And while I likely could make one with a bit of time, it might be better if they awaken naturally.”
“We will be a lot less … groggy, if we wake up to a song.” Anemoi agreed.
“Why songs?” I asked. “Is there something special about them?”
“Yes, but also no. That is simply how we are.” Anemoi answered.
“So Cailie. What do you want to do?” I asked her.
“... you are letting me choose?”
“Of course. It isn’t like I can really do anything at the moment. I mean, I probably can, but also … I don’t mind someone else being the Hero. And you already awakened one of the superior spirits, so why not awaken the rest?”
“... shouldn’t I come back home?”
“That would not be a bad idea, but also not the best either. Your body is likely evolving at the moment. It showed signs of it before I ever came in here, and I think that was before the entire becoming half spirit thing. So even if you came back, you’d just be stuck in an evolution tank. So might as well stay here for now.”
“... what about you? Will you come with me?” Cailie asked.
“... I really want to, but I also need to go back. At least for a bit. I need to check that everything is fine on the other side.”
“Will you be able to come back?”
“On my own, no. But luckily I’m not alone, right?” I asked Lady Janina.
“I can share a bit more of my time.” She answered. “But I do expect better care. You haven’t even offered me dinner yet.”
“... sorry.”
“I do love how you get angry when others apologize, but it is also your first reaction.”
“... were you just teasing me?”
“Somewhat. But I do admit that I feel just a bit hungry.”
“... admittedly, so do I.” I agreed.
“Mmm. I don’t. Is that weird?” Cailie asked.
“It’s probably because your body is in an evolution tank. It takes care of your needs. Lady Janina and I are just on a couch.”
“With Brian’s head in my lap.” Lady Janina added. “You know his hair is quite soft. You should try it sometime.”
“B-Brian!” Cailie yelped. “... I want to … I want to try your hair!”
“... that sounds wrong, but sure. If my spiritual hair is fine. You can try the real deal when this is all over.”
“... I’ll hold you to it.” Cailie said.
After she was done testing out my hair, we decided to go our separate ways for now. We’d regroup soon, but for now, Lady Janina and I will return to the real world to take care of the physical needs of our bodies.
“I wish you’d told me that you are acquainted with the supreme dragon.” Anemoi said. “Would have saved me from that surprise.”
“... sorry. I … I didn’t think I needed to.”
“Don’t apologize, child. I didn’t ask either.”
“... thank you. But … what should I do now? Do I wait for Brian to come back … or do I head for the next superior spirit?”
“Did you already forget lesson number one?” Anemoi asked.
“... eh?”
“Wind is freedom. Do what you feel is correct.” She said. “Though if you want a recommendation, I can give you one.”
“... please.” I requested.
“You might want to get used to your new spirit powers. They will help you with what comes later. And you are currently in the domain of the strongest wind spirit, so you have the best instructor.”
“... yes. Let’s do that. … please instruct me … Mother.”
“Oh? You can’t just call me that out of nowhere.” Anemoi said, as she rushed me and took me into a hug. “I might never let go of you.”
“Brian will make you.” I said calmly.
During our dinner, I told everyone what had happened to Cailie.
Safe to say, people had mixed reactions hearing that she was basically kidnapped by the spirits, but they did calm down a bit when I told them that I visited her in the spirit world and told them that she is doing just fine.
“And I’ll be going back to the spirit world for the night, but I’ll be back here by morning. I hope.”
“I don’t like the word ‘hope’ in this context.” Alice complained.
“Sorry, but time in the spirit world is an absolute mess. It alters depending on like seventeen variables, and that isn’t even counting the time spirits. So if I oversleep and miss breakfast, it is because of that.”
“... maybe I should just come with you then. That way I can keep an eye on you.”
“I don’t mind. Lady Janina, is that a problem?”
“A few more won’t be an issue. But it has to be under five and we do have to share a bed.” She answered.
“... alright. So Alice and Lua can come.” I decided.
“I could take myself and Rhianna, if that is fine.” Agunan cut in.
“If you want to. … wait? Since when could you move other people’s souls, Agunan?”
“As long as we’ve known each other. I learned it over 150 years ago.”
“... Couldn’t you have used that to take people into the Factory?”
“... I probably could have, Master.”
“And you didn’t think to mention it?”
“Master, to my defense, I barely ever did it, as the people I used to live with all knew how to do it. And those that didn’t didn’t study under me, nor ask for help from me.”
“... alright. I’ll accept that. But you are not coming at the same time. I don’t want too many HomeBase personnel out at the same time.”
“And here I was hoping I could get to the spirit world.” Paulina complained.
“I would say learn Soul Magic, but that would make me a hypocrite.” I commented.
“You’ll all get there.” Lady Janina reassured us. “A dragon usually takes twenty to fifty years to learn it. You are getting close in just a few months. In a year, most of you will be able to do it.”
“Really? I really want to go see spirits!” Eline called out.
“I’ll come with you.” Valoa agreed.
“Not so fast, you two.” Olia cut in. “You aren’t ready to venture into different worlds.”
“... but we went to Master’s world already.” Eline pouted.
“That is different. Master is the one in charge of you, so it is safe. But you aren’t going to a different world on your own.”
“Maybe we need to have a field trip to the spirit world at some point then.” I decided.
After dinner, bath and other evening stuff, I got into bed with Alice, Lua and Lady Janina. Yeah… it isn’t strange at all to share a bed with a human form of a supreme dragon. Not at all. This has to be normal.
“Is there something we should expect?” Lua asked.
“Any warnings you want to give?” Alice added.
“It is going to be bright. Colors are super saturated.” I told them. “And be careful with your mana control and magic. Everything about that is supercharged, because everything in the spirit world is made of mana. So just basically think of it as my Factory, but instead of being able to imagine something and it happening, you have to control the mana in your body and around you to make it happen.”
“Not a bad explanation.” Lady Janina complimented.
“Only works for those that have experienced the Factory.”
“Perhaps I should ask to borrow your Factory when I teach young dragons.”
“I can do that.” I agreed. “It does feel just a bit strange, but considering the services you provide, I can take that much.”
“Can we talk about that later? I want to see the spirit world.” Alice demanded.
“Yes, we can.” Lady Janina agreed. “Just huddle close to me. It will make it easier to snag your souls.” She then took a position in the middle of the bed. “Alice, you come on top of me. Your soul is the most complicated. Lua and Brian, you two on my right and left.”
We did as instructed and made some sort of a cuddle pile in the bed.
“Now just close your eyes and don’t resist.” Lady Janina told us.
Just a bit later, we were back in the spirit world. We didn’t appear on the clouds from which we disappeared from, but instead in a random location like the first time.
“So this is it?” Alice asked. “It does feel a bit strange, but I was expecting more.”
“Wow!” Lua called out. “The mana here is so rich. Flying is so easy.” As she said that, she flapped her wings and flew laps over our heads.
“Alright. I need to try that.” Alice said, before she shot into the sky like a rocket.
A few moments later, she came back down.
“... okay. Brian was right. Be careful with mana use.”
“Told you so. I accidentally used chantless Time Magic when I was here and I don’t even have the Quick Chant skill.” I told them. “Now can you be quiet for a second while I locate Cailie.”
“Space, locate the person I want to find and show me how to get to them, Space Search.” I chanted.
After the chant finished, the big purple arrow appeared in front of us.
“She is in a different location than last time.” Lady Janina said. “Well either way, we can either fly, or move by some other means. What do you prefer?”
“How do you know that?”
“By reading the mana signatures of the world itself. Don’t try to do it. You won’t be able to for a long time.”
“... so you can just tell where people are? Then why am I searching for Cailie?”
“Of course I can’t. I can tell where concentrations of power are. In short, I can tell where the homes of the superior spirits are. And the arrow isn’t pointing towards Anemoi’s mountain. It seems to be pointing towards Gaia’s domain.”
“Gaia? So the superior earth spirit?” I asked.
“Impressive. You actually know her by name.”
“Didn’t you read my memories or something? Gaia was a god back in my old world. An earth god. It wasn’t that difficult to guess.” I told her. “Besides, a bunch of my cards have ‘Gaia’ in them, like Gaia Power and the Gaia Knights. And they are all related to earth.”
“Speaking of. Brian, did you ever test if your cards can be used here?” Alice asked.
“... no. No I didn’t. I didn’t really have a need for one.”
“Then maybe we should travel using one of your cards. Two tests for the price of one. It will also double check if their time limits are different here.”
“Just a shame we don’t have our System Supports here.” I said. “Kind of difficult to keep track of time without Laura. Can’t use Storage either.”
“What about the Factory?” Lua asked.
“Not going to try. I don’t want my soul getting lost.” I then opened up Pack Opener and it worked just fine. “Okay. So Pack Opener works. So it isn’t that all System screen reliant skills aren’t available.”
“We can also open our Status.” Lua said.
“Good to know. … Dungeon Founder doesn’t work either.” I said, after testing it.
“That’s what you get for having all those System reliant skills.” Alice teased. “My unique feels supercharged. This place might be perfect for practicing with it.”
“Same with my Monarch of Magic.” Lua added.
“Just be careful with them. The spirits will get angry if you destroy things. And I can introduce you to dragons who have learned it the hard way.” Lady Janina warned.
“So no environmental destruction. Got it.” I said, as I got a card out. “Ambulance Rescueroid.” I summoned our first ride.
Spoiler [collapse]“... so we are going by ground?” Alice asked.
“I mean, we are heading for an earth spirit, so why not? And because of the crazy time fluctuations, we can take our time. And I can likely use Time Accel on the entire Roid.”
“Well, if you say so.” Alice agreed. “... but I’m riding in the front!”
“Sure. I’ll head to bed and take a nap.”
“... when was that an option?”
“When wasn’t it an option?”
“What in the world were you thinking?!” I yelled at the water spirits that took Cailie after I heard what happened to her.
“We…” “Just wanted to…” They tried to answer.
“No! No excuses. You were foolish.” I told them. “... of course, it isn’t all your fault.” I said, before I turned to the two greater spirits. “Now as for you two. Why didn’t you tell me there is a major problem in the spirit world?!”
“Sir Hero, I apologize.”
“Don’t apologize! Explain!”
“... we were waiting for you to be ready. We knew you couldn’t move here on your own, so we were waiting until you mastered Soul Magic.” The greater nature spirit reasoned.
“But we … no, I never expected that my own children would steal the soul of your companion. If you do want to punish someone, punish me.” The greater water spirit said, before she prostrated herself in front of me.
“... Haah. Why is that always everyone’s reaction?” I sighed. I then turned to the one spirit that was perfectly innocent in all of this. “Lady Anemoi. I do apologize for the commotion I’ve caused.”
“Don’t worry about that, young Hero. I perfectly understand.” Anemoi responded. “Also, no need to call me Lady. You are the one loved by my newest child, so you are practically my son-in-spirit.”
“Isn’t it son-in-law?”
“Call it a cultural difference.”
“What does it really even mean for Cailie to be your child? … is she like, half-spirit or something?”
“You could say that.” Anemoi answered. “I think an easier way for you to understand it is that she is permanently synchroed with a greater spirit. And unlike your temporary synchroes, hers doesn’t take any mana or come with any downsides. She is simply able to use the power of a greater wind spirit whenever she wishes.”
“... so she is like Alice, but instead of having one of my cards permanently be a part of her, she has a spirit as a permanent part of her.” I deduced.
“I wouldn’t know everything about this Alice you speak of, but if the little I had time to gather is true, then your assumption is wrong. Unlike your Alice, the spirit that is a part of Cailie has no memories nor a will, as I just created it. Thus its existence won’t affect young Cailie.”
“Ah. Alright. Thanks for explaining that.”
“It is no issue.” Anemoi said, before she made a request. “... But I do hope you can wake up the others, instead of immediately returning.”
“... It isn’t up to me. I don’t have a card I could use to forcefully wake up a superior spirit. And while I likely could make one with a bit of time, it might be better if they awaken naturally.”
“We will be a lot less … groggy, if we wake up to a song.” Anemoi agreed.
“Why songs?” I asked. “Is there something special about them?”
“Yes, but also no. That is simply how we are.” Anemoi answered.
“So Cailie. What do you want to do?” I asked her.
“... you are letting me choose?”
“Of course. It isn’t like I can really do anything at the moment. I mean, I probably can, but also … I don’t mind someone else being the Hero. And you already awakened one of the superior spirits, so why not awaken the rest?”
“... shouldn’t I come back home?”
“That would not be a bad idea, but also not the best either. Your body is likely evolving at the moment. It showed signs of it before I ever came in here, and I think that was before the entire becoming half spirit thing. So even if you came back, you’d just be stuck in an evolution tank. So might as well stay here for now.”
“... what about you? Will you come with me?” Cailie asked.
“... I really want to, but I also need to go back. At least for a bit. I need to check that everything is fine on the other side.”
“Will you be able to come back?”
“On my own, no. But luckily I’m not alone, right?” I asked Lady Janina.
“I can share a bit more of my time.” She answered. “But I do expect better care. You haven’t even offered me dinner yet.”
“... sorry.”
“I do love how you get angry when others apologize, but it is also your first reaction.”
“... were you just teasing me?”
“Somewhat. But I do admit that I feel just a bit hungry.”
“... admittedly, so do I.” I agreed.
“Mmm. I don’t. Is that weird?” Cailie asked.
“It’s probably because your body is in an evolution tank. It takes care of your needs. Lady Janina and I are just on a couch.”
“With Brian’s head in my lap.” Lady Janina added. “You know his hair is quite soft. You should try it sometime.”
“B-Brian!” Cailie yelped. “... I want to … I want to try your hair!”
“... that sounds wrong, but sure. If my spiritual hair is fine. You can try the real deal when this is all over.”
“... I’ll hold you to it.” Cailie said.
After she was done testing out my hair, we decided to go our separate ways for now. We’d regroup soon, but for now, Lady Janina and I will return to the real world to take care of the physical needs of our bodies.
“I wish you’d told me that you are acquainted with the supreme dragon.” Anemoi said. “Would have saved me from that surprise.”
“... sorry. I … I didn’t think I needed to.”
“Don’t apologize, child. I didn’t ask either.”
“... thank you. But … what should I do now? Do I wait for Brian to come back … or do I head for the next superior spirit?”
“Did you already forget lesson number one?” Anemoi asked.
“... eh?”
“Wind is freedom. Do what you feel is correct.” She said. “Though if you want a recommendation, I can give you one.”
“... please.” I requested.
“You might want to get used to your new spirit powers. They will help you with what comes later. And you are currently in the domain of the strongest wind spirit, so you have the best instructor.”
“... yes. Let’s do that. … please instruct me … Mother.”
“Oh? You can’t just call me that out of nowhere.” Anemoi said, as she rushed me and took me into a hug. “I might never let go of you.”
“Brian will make you.” I said calmly.
During our dinner, I told everyone what had happened to Cailie.
Safe to say, people had mixed reactions hearing that she was basically kidnapped by the spirits, but they did calm down a bit when I told them that I visited her in the spirit world and told them that she is doing just fine.
“And I’ll be going back to the spirit world for the night, but I’ll be back here by morning. I hope.”
“I don’t like the word ‘hope’ in this context.” Alice complained.
“Sorry, but time in the spirit world is an absolute mess. It alters depending on like seventeen variables, and that isn’t even counting the time spirits. So if I oversleep and miss breakfast, it is because of that.”
“... maybe I should just come with you then. That way I can keep an eye on you.”
“I don’t mind. Lady Janina, is that a problem?”
“A few more won’t be an issue. But it has to be under five and we do have to share a bed.” She answered.
“... alright. So Alice and Lua can come.” I decided.
“I could take myself and Rhianna, if that is fine.” Agunan cut in.
“If you want to. … wait? Since when could you move other people’s souls, Agunan?”
“As long as we’ve known each other. I learned it over 150 years ago.”
“... Couldn’t you have used that to take people into the Factory?”
“... I probably could have, Master.”
“And you didn’t think to mention it?”
“Master, to my defense, I barely ever did it, as the people I used to live with all knew how to do it. And those that didn’t didn’t study under me, nor ask for help from me.”
“... alright. I’ll accept that. But you are not coming at the same time. I don’t want too many HomeBase personnel out at the same time.”
“And here I was hoping I could get to the spirit world.” Paulina complained.
“I would say learn Soul Magic, but that would make me a hypocrite.” I commented.
“You’ll all get there.” Lady Janina reassured us. “A dragon usually takes twenty to fifty years to learn it. You are getting close in just a few months. In a year, most of you will be able to do it.”
“Really? I really want to go see spirits!” Eline called out.
“I’ll come with you.” Valoa agreed.
“Not so fast, you two.” Olia cut in. “You aren’t ready to venture into different worlds.”
“... but we went to Master’s world already.” Eline pouted.
“That is different. Master is the one in charge of you, so it is safe. But you aren’t going to a different world on your own.”
“Maybe we need to have a field trip to the spirit world at some point then.” I decided.
After dinner, bath and other evening stuff, I got into bed with Alice, Lua and Lady Janina. Yeah… it isn’t strange at all to share a bed with a human form of a supreme dragon. Not at all. This has to be normal.
“Is there something we should expect?” Lua asked.
“Any warnings you want to give?” Alice added.
“It is going to be bright. Colors are super saturated.” I told them. “And be careful with your mana control and magic. Everything about that is supercharged, because everything in the spirit world is made of mana. So just basically think of it as my Factory, but instead of being able to imagine something and it happening, you have to control the mana in your body and around you to make it happen.”
“Not a bad explanation.” Lady Janina complimented.
“Only works for those that have experienced the Factory.”
“Perhaps I should ask to borrow your Factory when I teach young dragons.”
“I can do that.” I agreed. “It does feel just a bit strange, but considering the services you provide, I can take that much.”
“Can we talk about that later? I want to see the spirit world.” Alice demanded.
“Yes, we can.” Lady Janina agreed. “Just huddle close to me. It will make it easier to snag your souls.” She then took a position in the middle of the bed. “Alice, you come on top of me. Your soul is the most complicated. Lua and Brian, you two on my right and left.”
We did as instructed and made some sort of a cuddle pile in the bed.
“Now just close your eyes and don’t resist.” Lady Janina told us.
Just a bit later, we were back in the spirit world. We didn’t appear on the clouds from which we disappeared from, but instead in a random location like the first time.
“So this is it?” Alice asked. “It does feel a bit strange, but I was expecting more.”
“Wow!” Lua called out. “The mana here is so rich. Flying is so easy.” As she said that, she flapped her wings and flew laps over our heads.
“Alright. I need to try that.” Alice said, before she shot into the sky like a rocket.
A few moments later, she came back down.
“... okay. Brian was right. Be careful with mana use.”
“Told you so. I accidentally used chantless Time Magic when I was here and I don’t even have the Quick Chant skill.” I told them. “Now can you be quiet for a second while I locate Cailie.”
“Space, locate the person I want to find and show me how to get to them, Space Search.” I chanted.
After the chant finished, the big purple arrow appeared in front of us.
“She is in a different location than last time.” Lady Janina said. “Well either way, we can either fly, or move by some other means. What do you prefer?”
“How do you know that?”
“By reading the mana signatures of the world itself. Don’t try to do it. You won’t be able to for a long time.”
“... so you can just tell where people are? Then why am I searching for Cailie?”
“Of course I can’t. I can tell where concentrations of power are. In short, I can tell where the homes of the superior spirits are. And the arrow isn’t pointing towards Anemoi’s mountain. It seems to be pointing towards Gaia’s domain.”
“Gaia? So the superior earth spirit?” I asked.
“Impressive. You actually know her by name.”
“Didn’t you read my memories or something? Gaia was a god back in my old world. An earth god. It wasn’t that difficult to guess.” I told her. “Besides, a bunch of my cards have ‘Gaia’ in them, like Gaia Power and the Gaia Knights. And they are all related to earth.”
“Speaking of. Brian, did you ever test if your cards can be used here?” Alice asked.
“... no. No I didn’t. I didn’t really have a need for one.”
“Then maybe we should travel using one of your cards. Two tests for the price of one. It will also double check if their time limits are different here.”
“Just a shame we don’t have our System Supports here.” I said. “Kind of difficult to keep track of time without Laura. Can’t use Storage either.”
“What about the Factory?” Lua asked.
“Not going to try. I don’t want my soul getting lost.” I then opened up Pack Opener and it worked just fine. “Okay. So Pack Opener works. So it isn’t that all System screen reliant skills aren’t available.”
“We can also open our Status.” Lua said.
“Good to know. … Dungeon Founder doesn’t work either.” I said, after testing it.
“That’s what you get for having all those System reliant skills.” Alice teased. “My unique feels supercharged. This place might be perfect for practicing with it.”
“Same with my Monarch of Magic.” Lua added.
“Just be careful with them. The spirits will get angry if you destroy things. And I can introduce you to dragons who have learned it the hard way.” Lady Janina warned.
“So no environmental destruction. Got it.” I said, as I got a card out. “Ambulance Rescueroid.” I summoned our first ride.
Spoiler [collapse]“... so we are going by ground?” Alice asked.
“I mean, we are heading for an earth spirit, so why not? And because of the crazy time fluctuations, we can take our time. And I can likely use Time Accel on the entire Roid.”
“Well, if you say so.” Alice agreed. “... but I’m riding in the front!”
“Sure. I’ll head to bed and take a nap.”
“... when was that an option?”
“When wasn’t it an option?”
