“Don’t worry Varei. I’m ready to form a bond with you. Let’s grow strong together. Then you can return to the spirit world without fearing anyone.”

The little spirit subconsciously ignored Tepo’s words, as they sounded too unbelievable to his ears. He continued sobbing for a few moments before cocking his head, staring at Tepo in disbelief.

“You… what? You agreed?”

“Of course. How could I bare to leave you here?”

“But didn’t you hear what I said? Almost the entire World of Spirits might become your enemy.”

“It’s alright. Those spirits living in the spirit world normally don’t leave, right?”

“Yes, but… what if they come searching for me?”

“Then we deal with it when the time comes.”

Varei fell silent, his snout quivering. He hesitated a few moments before speaking quietly:

“You really are a good person.”

Tepo chuckled as he patted the little spirit’s head.

“Will it take long to form a bond? We can do it right here. I don’t think anyone will come in.”

Varei pondered for a moment before nodding his head. The little spirit stood up, finally leaving his spot behind the shelf.

“Forming the bond shouldn’t take too long. As long as our strengths are roughly the same there should be no complications.”

A few moments later the two unlikely friends comfortably sat in the center of the storage. Light fell in through the windows, forming a warm atmosphere.

Varei’s mentality had recovered a lot, his head pridefully raised, he spoke to Tepo.

“Ok, Tepo. Are you ready to form a bond with me, the noble Vareigarys Zmajha Vladrist, a proud Dragon Spirit?”

Tepo’s brow rose as Varei revealed his race. But he had already made his decision. With a light smile on his face, he accepted:

“It will be my honor.”

“Good. Let’s begin.”

Suddenly Varei’s body trembled as he activated his core’s ability. It was an extremely unique one, falling into a rare category.

Although it wasn’t unheard of for cores to have one outstanding ability which was necessary to boost its other abilities, Varei’s case was still special.

A faint pulse spread from the spirit’s body. It slowly made its way through the air, seeking Tepo.

A moment later it found its target, suddenly concentrating and shooting into the human’s body.

Feeling a strange energy invading him, Tepo had to do suppress the impulse to fight it. He let it enter his chest and mind on purpose.

Suddenly the Core of Time pulsed. The energy came to a stop, not able to advance further.

Tepo hastily connected to his core.

Don’t buddy, this is good for us. Trust me.

The Core of Time pulsed in indignation. It fell silent, almost as if taking a closer look at the invader.

Varei could also feel that he had met an obstacle, anxiously trying to push his ability.

A few moments later the Core of Time finally acquiesced. It let the energy enter.

Immediately, it spread through Tepo’s spellcircle. It invaded the spells and the paths between them.

Tepo couldn’t tell if it changed anything, but a movement attracted his attention. The energy entered the Core of Time, concentrating on a certain spot and forming a complicated small orange-red rune.

Immediately Tepo and Varei were hit by a strange sensation. They felt a connection between each other. Some invisible exchange was taking place.

As if by instinct the two could tell the other’s location and the situation in their spellcircles.

A massive surprise hit Tepo as he felt Varei’s powerful core, which shone in a bright orange, showing of its king rank!

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

With such a core one’s spells when used against one’s peers would almost always come out on top.

And now Tepo felt this powerful core affecting his own strength as well. Although his core didn’t rank up, still stuck at common (damaged 113/1000), he realized that his core got vaguely elevated above the common rank.

But the change for Varei was even more surprising. He was somewhat disappointed at first as he noticed that Tepo only had a common ranked core.

But he was still glad to have finally found someone to form a bond with.

Yet, just as this thought crossed his mind, his own core suddenly pulsed strangely.

The young spirit was confused, never having felt something like this before. His core was affected by Tepo’s, gaining a weirdly majestic and lively aura.

Suddenly Varei exclaimed in shock.

“What’s happening?”

He tried his best to prevent it, but he could only watch as the bridges connecting his core and spellcircle broke one by one.

With each snap, Varei’s heart sank further.

“Tepo?”

Varei was panicky, but Tepo was too focused on his own changes, not able to pay attention. But as the spirit looked at his new partner, he noticed something strange.

Tepo’s core wasn’t connected to his spellcircle at all!

While Varei was full of confusion, the last bridge suddenly broke. A weird feeling welled up in his chest.

The Core of Lifebound Symbiosis let out a powerful pulse, radiating immense joy.

Varei was overwhelmed. His core had never shown so much spirituality before. It pulsed happily, showing the joy of being freed from its shackles.

Warriors’ common perception of cores was fixed. It was like an organ growing in the body, a link between the brain and the spellcircle.

But suddenly Varei’s entire worldview shattered in an instant. His core showed obvious signs of its own will and strong emotions.

What… does this mean? Are cores not part of the body? Are they external things?

Varei’s head spun as he had to reorganize his mind.

Meanwhile Tepo slowly calmed down. He experienced an increase in most aspects of his mind and body, feeling refreshed and powerful. It was almost like a breakthrough by half a rank.

But the most obvious change was the connection he felt in his mind. He instinctively felt that someone incredibly precious was close by, able to share their spells.

Tepo shivered faintly, not able to get used to this feeling in the short term. He first had to spend more time with his new partner.

But after a bunch of information was sent by his own core, Tepo immediately confirmed that he made the right decision.

>>> Core of Lifebound Symbiosis <<<

Real name:

The eternal bond

Core rank:

King (0/10.000.000)

Core quality:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Core level:

9

Host level:

aspirant (nine-circled)

Spells:

Three-runed:

[Phasing][Spirit Claw][Spirit Wings] [Telepathic Communication]

Six-runed:

[Subconscious Evasion]

Nine-runed:

[God's Soul][Roar of the Dragon Spirit]

Combinations:

[Phantom of the Dragon Spirit]

[Unnoticed Traversal]

Core abilities:

[Life Bond]

>>> <<<

Tepo would need some time to really understand the different spells. But from a first look all of them sounded powerful, able to target not only the body but also the mind.

It was surprising that the core only had a single ability, which meant that so far, every time the core advanced, it would strengthen this ability.

But [Life Bond] wouldn’t play a big role in combat.

Therefore, Tepo was more intrigued by [Phantom of the Dragon Spirit] which could summon a powerful phantom as aid in combat.

If he and Varei used it at the same time, their two-on-two fight might suddenly turn into a four-on-two fight.

Who could be their opponent then?

As Tepo felt more and more confident, a distressed voice suddenly caught his attention.

“Tepo, Tepo! Something strange happened. My core freed itself?”

“What?!”

Tepo looked in surprise at Varei. He almost thought the core left the spirit’s body, but with one glance he understood the situation.

The Core of Lifebound Symbiosis followed the Core of Time’s example and separated from the spellcircle.

“What should we do now Tepo? Is this a good thing or a bad thing?”

“Well, I’m not so sure myself. But my core has always been this way. So far, it has only helped me in all aspects.

I believe if you treat it like a friend, it will also do its best to aid you in return.”

Varei shifted uneasily in place. Tepo’s words couldn’t help much with calming him down.

“I don’t know. This feeling is so strange. It’s as if a part of myself became independent.”

“Why don’t you try to connect to your core? It’s a rather intimate feeling. Maybe this will help you to accept the situation.”

“O… ok.”

Varei was nervous as he moved his mental strength. Although it was normal for warriors to connect with their core, usually they didn’t get feedback from it. They only did so to use their spells and abilities.

But now when the little spirit touched his core, his eyes opened wide in surprise. He felt an incredible closeness, almost akin to a baby in his womb.

His body trembling, the little spirit was caught between fascination and repulsion.

Tepo could already tell that it would take some time for his partner to get sued to the feeling.

But suddenly Varei let out a low shout in surprise. Information poured into his brain. His core clearly showed him his own and Tepo’s spellcircles.

The spirit’s eyes stared at Tepo with a sparkle. Only now did it realize something it missed so far.

“Tepo! You have a forbidden spell?!”

“Mhm, sure.”

“Wow! I always wanted one, but forbidden spells are so rare in the spirit world! And the few well-known ones are already held by others!”