I might have screwed up.

Nilah was absorbing all the foxfire from my house which is now a pile of ash. The elders who were eating all my bananas were quite fried but still alive. I had made another attempt to tweak my foxfire. I got something working but it had messed with the power output and made it quite… deadly. It had made a [Foxfire: Sapphire Pillar]. It did only take out my house and anything in it and possibly the elders. Rignef’s couch was fine though.

Will I get banned now? Maybe I should just focus on making this spirit vessel. But I can blame this on the elders and request a house that’s in the canopy!

Byron and a group of stuck up elders arrived at the scene. “Trouble as usual, so let’s hear it Agnis, what did you do this time?”

Sup Byron! So, you see these elders were eating all my bananas and I want privacy and a house in the canopy! I also might have messed up a magic circle and turned my house into ash in the process. The elders were collateral I swear! But they deserved it after eating all my bananas!

“You know that we can’t give you a house in the canopy…”

I take 0 fall damage! Look at my floaty jumps!

I jumped and demonstrated that I can’t possibly take fall damage.

Byron followed my floaty jumps with his eyes. “Very mysterious indeed. I suppose I can grant your request. With how slow you fall a passer-by elf might be able to easily catch you when you inevitably fall.”

Hey! that only happened twice!

“Yes, it’s strange that it happened the second time! Shouldn’t you learn from your mistakes?”

Hey I do…

I got another dizzy spell. I held my head and tried to keep standing.

Byron rushed to me and made sure I didn’t fall over. “Is it happening more frequently?”

Yeh.

“How long do you think you have? The last blackout the guardian tree had was almost 2 hours.”

That is a long time. I need to speak with it. I need to know its preferences and I need to study the spirit for a component of the spirit vessel but I will do that later.

“Don’t forget to rest. I also have a question. Do you perhaps know where my youngest daughter is?”

You have more than one daughter? And Elliana is probably saving Greg because you wouldn’t let us!

“It was to protect you! And yeah, my other daughter is quite troublesome… her name is Leefa.”

Leafa? You must be kidding right?

“Has anyone told me that you’re quite rude, she is very skilled with the sword and had left the village a while ago.”

Huh wait, that rings a bell is she the student of ancient relic?

“Excuse me?”

Uhh Teppei whatshisface.

“Teppei Fugaku, yes that’s her mentor.”

Ruh oh. But she’s not here! Great! Don’t lose your other daughter!

“I didn’t lose her!”

Yet.

I dodged a [Wind Arrow].

Everyone is so aggressive lately!

“You burnt down your house and 2 houses above you! Luckily, they were vacant, the elders are in critical condition and you are putting pressure on our scouts because we can’t let you leave! We have all reason to!” Byron readied another [Wind Arrow].

So, does that mean I’m banned?

“Why do you want to get banned so much?!”

So that I don’t have banana-stealing elders breathing down my neck!

A glider flew in.

A glider is actually a very good idea. It should work well with my weight.

It seems you’re having fun. Now what did you do this time?

“Elliana my dear! You have returned!” Byron ran at Elliana wanting to go for a hug.

“Hey, dad! Back off! Not in public!”

I punished banana-stealing elders.

One day, one day you will make sense.

So, what have you been up to?

Uhm getting caught by cultists.

Again?!

What do you mean again? This was the first time!

Are you sure? I’m sure I remember you getting caught before.

Oh, that is new! You remember something, you remembered wrong!

Wow no need to be an ass about it, I’ll go back to forgetting things then.

One day you will not be unreasonable and I will win an argument… What is Raishin up to?

Oh, you need to talk to him. He broke up with his girlfriends because they were bitches, he was sad that day but the day after he was acting like nothing happened. I’m socially retarded so you need to find out if he’s really ok.

It seems I have missed a lot; I will get to it.

Greg was about to walk off andI had to stop him.

Ho there! Where do you think you’re going?

Talk to Raishin?

Aren’t you forgetting something? Or rather someone?

Huh?

I pointed at Elliana who was dodging her father’s hugs.

Go talk some more with Elliana for fucks sake! She just saved your ass!

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Uhh, ok.

Elliana kicked Byron to the side and approached. “Are you sure you’re socially retarded Agnis?”

Only when it suits me, now go have a nice chat with this idiot.

Hey why am I the idiot?

Because you ask questions like this! Shoo! Only leave when Elliana lets you leave.

Greg and Elliana left and I wanted to go back home to start my research but I only saw a large burnt patch.

Wow, I suck.

I decided to visit the spirit guardian and chat and ask some questions. I am supposed to ask for permission to visit the guardian tree but these elders always take too long to decide on anything so I just snuck in.

Hey how are you feeling?

“It feels like I am in a foreign body. How are you faring?”

Just some dizzy spells, they’re not blackouts yet. So, I have officially started on the spirit vessel. I think I have enough information to make this. I just don’t know how long this will take. But I do have to ask some questions.

“Go on.”

So, there are 2 components that are important and reliant on the spirit it’s going to host. Besides that, I need to know what kind of body do you want? Human? Elf? Or something else? Male? Female? All those things.

“I can choose anything?”

Please keep it within reason.

“I would want to become a strong and tall elvish male. I want to be handsome and muscular. Strong thick arms, long beautiful hair, to look dependable and…”

Hey. Just a question. How you’re describing this… it does sound more like a chick talking about her preference for men… are you perhaps a female?

“Huh? What makes you think that?”

When I make the spirit vessel it should fit the spirit. I was unsure if all spirits have genders so that’s why I asked…

“Oh, I might have gotten carried away a bit. Give me a female elvish body that could match an elvish man like that!”

I have no idea what that means but I will take note of that and consult Raishin… anything else specific traits?

“Can I have 4 arms? I feel like I will have a lot to do once I’m in that vessel.”

Hmm, that is actually a good request. They will probably work you to the bone, anything else?

“I want to be able to store spirit energy in packets and externalize them and share them with other spirits if needed.”

Oof a request I don’t know I can fulfill. I will try my best.

“Thanks, that is all.”

Now I need to know about you as a spirit. What type of spirit you are specifically and how this type is different from the others? I will also need samples of your spirit energy.

“You can take some of those fruits, they are filled with my spirit energy. And I am a Life spirit. It is similar to a nature spirit but how do I say this…”

Stronger?

“I suppose so. With enough spirit energy, I can bring the recently deceased to life. No other type of spirit or form of magic can achieve this. Exceptions are the soul containers in races like you and the phoenix rebirth.”

Hmm so you’re similar to how the soul containers work?

“Yes, so even though you might not understand me as a life spirit, you’re already instinctively familiar with this concept if you’ve died at least once.”

Is it that easy?

“Not everything has to be complicated.”

It seems so.

I picked several fruits from the branches.

Are these ok now?

“I had to focus and concentrate my energy more efficiently. They should be fine to eat now.”

What would even happen if I did that? I took a bite and my spirit energy ballooned and I auto ignited in foxfire.

Oh shit!

I put it out before I would burn this place down.

“Hmm while I’m glad that you didn’t burn my vessel, your spirit energy seems to be extremely low.”

What do you mean?

“Your foxfire should have punched a hole through the barrier that protects me from fire but it didn’t even come close. I don’t have the means to investigate or help you but I will promise you that I will investigate once I have my spirit vessel.”

Uhh this is not a bad thing, is it?

“Well, I am aware that a mixture of spirit energy and magic is the most effective in combatting gods. The fact that your spirit energy is so low means that you can’t strike a perfect balance between magic and spirit energy in your foxfires, which in turn will make your foxfires not as effective against gods as they should be.”

So, it is not my fault that my foxfire is weak?

“I don’t believe that is the case no. I am unfortunately now forced to enforce the barrier around the village to make sure you can’t go out and be reckless or that gods can’t easily enter. Please come see me when you want to leave the village.”

Why is everyone so overprotective…

“Besides the reasons you often hear, this is also a selfish reason because I can’t get a spirit vessel if you die.”

Hmm that selfish reason is actually a really good one. Fine, I will visit you if I need to leave the village.

I left the room of the spirit guardian and evaded some angry elders.

Angry glares and arrows got pointed toward me. “How many times do we need to tell you to ask for permission!”

The guardian spirit is ok with it so you should too!

“There are procedures for everything!”

I don’t have time to wait 5 working days to visit the guardian!

I slipped away and returned home but I remembered that my house had burnt down. A figure was standing in front of where my house was supposed to be.

Oh, hey Inna!

Inna turned her head and her light brown locks danced. “Agnis? What happened?”

I messed up and fried banana stealing elders.

“I see, so where are you going to live now?” She was petting Nilah who had finished cleaning up all the foxfire.

I looked up and Inna followed my gaze.

Hopefully a house up in the canopy.

“How about staying in the house next to mine? It’s empty.”

Eh? Is that a good idea?

“Why not? Come!” Inna climbed up a vine and jumped from branch to branch up into the canopy. I followed her. I hope I won’t get a dizzy spell now and cause the elves to freak out again.

I successfully made it to our destination.

“Here, use this house. I will send a singing bird to one of the elders that you will live here now.”

Uhh thanks. Just know that I’m a shitty neighbor.

“It is not that bad, don’t hesitate to ask me if you need anything!” Inna disappeared into her house. The new house was quite empty so I spent 2 hours making it livable.

Looks good! Now to dive into the research!‎