Feeling uneasy, I crept back to the guild. The robber's screams had roused half the block, and the guards were scouring the area for whatever, or whoever had ripped his arm off. Namely, myself. After dodging several patrols, I found myself back inside the guild. I went to the crystal to get one essential skill prior to skipping town, as I had no intention to stay in an area where people and mages would be actively hunting me. I used my last 5 skill points to pick up the telepathy (Level 1) skill. After one last look over to make sure I didn't miss anything, I moved to leave.

A stern voice called out to me. "And where do you think you're going?" I turned towards the voice and saw a middle-aged man with grizzled hair and a thick, but well-trimmed beard sitting at one of the many tables. I decided that now was as good a time as any to try out telepathy. "Away from here." I replied. The man gave a small smile. "And the spirit talks. I expected as much." The man's face turned grim. "That being said, leaving here would do you more harm than good." I was a little bit annoyed at this point. "One, how do you know about me and two, why would I not want to leave here at this point?"

The man leaned forward in his chair, clasping his hands together. "As for your first question, I'm the guild master of this here place, so I've known about your presence since you first interacted with the crystal in the corner. As for the second, despite your recent exploits, no one would realize it was you anyway." "So, the crystal allows the guild to spy on people? And why wouldn't people realize?" I asked. The guild master sighed "You're full of questions, aren't you? I don't have too much time, so I can explain the crystal later. For now, the reason people wouldn't realize is simply because of how few spirits exist in the world. The number known to exist can be counted on one hand. As a matter of fact, the only reason I know you're here right now is because I used up several skill points to get the spirit sense skill once I realized you were here from the crystal. Simply put, the odds of a spirit showing up out of the blue to save some poor passersby are so low, that it's not even going to be a thought in most people's minds."

I contemplated the guild master's words. It was true that I hadn't seen any other spirits around, and thinking about it, if spirits were so rare, then his logic made sense. "So why would you want me to stay here?" I asked, "Seems like I'd attract a whole lot of potentially unwanted attention to the guild." The guild master gave another small smile. "That would only be if people found out about you, and I've already got things covered on that front. After all, where do you think those rumors of more cleaning staff, or a cleaning spell being cast on the guild came from?" "I see." I replied. "So how is this incident going to be covered up?" The guild master laughed. "You don't need to worry yourself about that one. No one cares about some murderer getting their arm ripped off in an alley so much that they'll keep digging after a logical explanation is supplied."

The guild master leaned forward in his chair once more. "Now. About why I'm here. I've seen you working to improve your skills and have been monitoring you for some time to see if you could be trusted. After that last little stunt you pulled, I feel like you're trustworthy enough to talk to at least. So, I'd like to give you some help with your endeavor." I chose my next words carefully. "I would appreciate the help, but what would you expect in return?" The guild master relaxed a bit. "A fair question, to be sure. Firstly, having the guild be so clean has been nice for a change. Breathing has been much easier without the... smell." he said. "However, there is a more important reason. This world is home to several dungeons, many of which spawn waves of monsters every few years which reap havoc and destruction across the land. While we can, and have dealt with many of them, several have a foul miasma which poisons those who inhale it, making the clearing of such dungeons a costly endeavor." " I get it" I replied. "You want me to escort adventurers into miasma filled dungeons so they can be eliminated easier, and in exchange you'll help me train more efficiently." "That would be correct." He replied.

I thought about is for several minutes. "I agree to your terms, for the time being. So how do we get started." The guild master stood up. "Well, first things first, my name is Blunvir. What might yours be?" I hadn't thought about it since I got to this world. "This is a bit embarrassing, but I don't know." I replied. The guild master stood there for a second, seemingly shocked that I didn't know my own name. He recovered fairly quickly though. I guess he wasn't guild master for nothing then. "Well, I'll call you Sparky then." He replied. "SPARKY?!?" I replied, indignant. "It's your own fault for not having a name, so unless you give me a better one, it's going to be Sparky to me, cause that's what you look like." I sat there for a bit trying to come up with a better one but couldn't think of anything. "We don't have all day Sparky." Blunvir called. I snapped out of my thoughts.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

"So, what's the plan?" I asked. The guild master sat in thought for a second. "The way I figure it, the first thing you'll be needing is a skill called aura control." "What does that do?" I asked. He laughed. "Exactly what it says. But I guess you mean more in the sense of why you need it. The ability to control your aura is important because you can control what your aura is affecting. Many adventurers have learned the hard way how important that is by unintentionally having their auras buff their surrounding enemies." I winced at the thought of some poor adventurer accidentally applying their strength aura to several surrounding goblins. "Furthermore," Blunvir continued, "The area your aura is applied over affects its potency, so..." "I've heard enough." I interrupted. "You've convinced me." Blunvir grinned. "I figured you'd see it my way. At any rate, you also need a place to train."

The guild master pulled out a map. "The way you currently train is obviously impractical during the day. But I've found a better spot for you." He pointed at a spot north of the city on the map" All the runoff from the rain goes through the waste-water ditches to this large hole here. It should be a perfect place for you to train during the day." "I agree." I replied.

With that, I left, grabbed a new Rocky for telekinesis training, and began my trek up towards what I will now refer to as sewage hell. I'd thought the sewage ditches were bad, but this was a whole new level of awful. At about a hundred meters in diameter, and several meters deep, I could really see why the guild master sent me here for training. There was absolutely no one around. With a depressed sigh on the inside, I began.

I continued on for the rest of the day, stopping only to exhaust my mana with telekinesis whenever it had recharged. The shores of this vast pond were the only thing that looked ok by the end of it though. There were still hordes of flies buzzing around the place, and despite the vast improvement to the water quality, it still looked very muddy. But the air smelled much better than when I first started, so my Air purification skill must have gone up significantly. With the sun setting, I headed back to the guild.

Once I was back, I checked my progress.

Name: Sparky

Species: Cleaning Spirit

Level: 13

Mana 125/125

Experience: 362/2500

Skill points: 20

Skills: Greater Cleaning Aura (Level 4), Greater Air Purification Aura (Level 3), Greater Sanitization proficiency (Level 6), Language Learning Proficiency (level 3), Memory Enhancement (Level 2), Analysis (Level 2), Telekinesis (Level 6), Mana Sense (Level 4), Mana Storage Capacity (Level 3), Mana Regeneration (Level 3)

Aside from the tragic news that my official name was now Sparky, I was incredibly pleased with how much progress I'd made in a single day. Four levels in a single day. Progress! Also, that sped up my timeline quite a bit, as Aura Control cost 20 skill points. Of course, I bought it. I informed the guild master of my progress and then went out to practice aura control on the sewage ditches.

I'd had some misgivings about whether or not I should continue with the ditches, but since no one paid particularly close attention to them it should be fine. Using Aura control felt like trying to mold a particularly springy piece of clay into shape. I shaped my greater cleaning aura into roughly the shape of the ditch and proceeded on. It took much more focus to control the Aura, it made a massive difference. The greater potency of the aura caused all the contaminants to just evaporate away. I continued on for the rest of the night, ensuring that I didn't clean too much in the same area.

At the end of the night, I'd cleaned up a combined 400 meters of sewage. New record! Not one I'm very proud of though, I went back to the guild and talked with the guild master. After telling him about my progress, Blunvir gave a small smile. "You're making progress much faster than anticipated." he said. "All things considered though, we've never had the chance to monitor the progress of a spirit before, so maybe this is just regular speed for you?" He mused, stroking his beard... He sat there for quite a while. "Hello? You there guild master?" Blunvir started a bit. He apologized. "Sorry. Lost in thought for a moment."

"At any rate, I have something I need you to help with." Blunvir pulled out a map, pointing at a location inside the forest. "A miasma filled dungeon was found right in the middle of the forest. It needs to be destroyed. Can I count you in?" "Absolutely." I replied

To be continued...