The culvert continued westward for an entire day, and it showed no sign of stopping.

The torch had gone out long before then. At first, Pirin used the Whisper Hitch on Gray to create a swirling ball of pale light in the palm of his hand. It never illuminated much, but it was better than nothing. Everything was brighter than it should have been, and for a few seconds, he wondered if his Whisper Hitch had gotten significantly more powerful.

Until he realized that the crystals themselves emitted a soft glow, and the Whisper Hitch was unnecessary. He cut off the technique to save Essence.

There were no signs of anything living all day (except for the pattering footsteps of a horde of Rustlers stampeding through a nearby tunnel), until they arrived at another barred grate across the culvert.

Pirin was about to stop for a rest when a waterfall of shifting crystals chittered from beyond the grate.

“Quiet,” he whispered to Gray, then, staying low, he crept up to the grate. He pressed his belly against the ground and peered over a ridge of crystals.

Of the two of us, only you make noise when you talk, Gray said.

“You chirp, too…” Pirin whispered.

Ah, yeah. I guess I do that from time to time.

Pirin shook his head and turned his attention back beyond the grate.

A wraith waited beyond the grate, but rather than stone, it was entirely crystal shards. It filled the entire height of the culvert with its swirling white form, and if Pirin hadn’t known better, he might have mistaken it for a massive polar bear. It had the same shape, except a set of massive antlers stuck out of its head and scraped along the ceiling.

Pirin ducked down immediately, hoping to get out of the creature’s sight. If that was even how it worked. Maybe it could just sense him.

This was the most solid, well-formed wraith he had ever seen—even more than the vine dragon that he and Gray had fought in the temple on the Elven Continent.

It feels stronger than us, Gray said. Much, much stronger.

“Got any special insights on the nature of wraiths, then?” he whispered, keeping his voice as low as he could. Wraiths formed in the presence of strong Eane fields. The stronger the field, and the deeper he got, the stronger the wraith. They…were simply manifestations of spiritual power and an Essence system, nothing more. They all craved more Essence.

But as they got stronger and more powerful, they got more intelligent. Some, like the dragon, learned to speak.

Nothing you don’t already know, I figure.

“Anything I might have forgotten?”

Nothing that I would have been sapient enough to recall, either.

The giant crystal bear turned around, lumbering away along the hallway. It muttered to itself, speaking in gibberish—or a language that Pirin didn’t understand. After a few seconds, it began to hum a tune.

Once Pirin couldn’t even hear it humming to itself, he spoke softly to Gray, “The Sparrow Path Manual laid it out pretty clearly. There are three main areas of cultivation: body, spirit, and soul. Essence, my core, my channels, that’s all spirit, and that’s what the wraiths are. They’ve got no soul or body, only Essence with base elemental aspects. That’s what I figure.”

Where does the Reyad fit in?

“That’s soul.”

And your bloodline magic?

“Bridges the gap between spirit and soul? No idea, but it’d make sense.”

So…how will that help us destroy a powerful wraith like that?

Pirin shrugged. “I was hoping you could help me with that, being partially bound to a wraith. But we’re gonna have to get past it at some point, unless the culvert branches. And I don’t imagine it will.”

I suppose the only reason I have Essence channels is because of a wraith…

“Not to mention a powerful core.” Pirin rubbed his forehead. “But, if this one is stronger, that means it must have a more defined system of Essence channels. In theory, disrupting its form might hurt it more, if we can get closer to it.”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

And if any of your attacks can actually damage it.

“My Shattered Palm is stronger now. We’ve got strategies for this, but we don’t have time to waste.”

Pirin shifted to the side and down the culvert grate, trying to find the biggest hole in it. He found a hole large enough for him and Gray to fit into—if he just bashed away a few of the crystals—and ducked through it.

“Now, I’m stuck here wondering…” he began, speaking softly, “the dragon wraith in the Elven Shrine had eyes and enough of a soul to launch a Whisper Hitch on, right? So this one must be developing a soul as well.”

Like a Familiar, almost, right? Develops an Essence system through early Ichor infusions, then forms a soul through the Reyad.

“Just have to use that to our advantage,” Pirin muttered. He stood up on the other side of the culvert and drew his sword, then walked further down the culvert. “In theory, I can form a Reyad with a multitude of creatures. Problem is, most of them are already spoken for and connected with a permanent bond, or don’t have a proper Essence system or core yet, or beyond that, a soul. This wraith could be a prime target, though, to test the theory.”

Then what?

“I should be able to siphon Essence from it like a wizard could with any Reyad, making it even weaker, to a point that I can cut off the Reyad and destroy it with a single blast.”

Pirin kept walking, unwilling to let his guard down for even a single moment. Every step, the walls seemed to shrink. The crystals tightened in on the center of the hallway, but the wraith had plowed enough of a path through.

“Stay close,” Pirin said. “I don’t imagine I can form a Reyad with it right away; I’ll need to weaken it.”

I’ll just…peck at it, or something.

Pirin let out a puff of air out his nose. “Just be safe, alright?”

Say, you wouldn’t abandon me, would you? Or…forget about me for a stronger, more regal beast to share a spirit with?

“I wouldn’t consider it for a moment,” Pirin said. “Gray, I healed you. Back on the smuggling ship, when we first met. And you’ve been by my side ever since.” He rubbed the back of his head. “Presumably.” Considering his memory, he couldn’t say that much for certain.

That’s a relief, then.

“Besides, I suppose I’m already learning two aspects of magic. Pure Essence and gnatsnapper Essence. I don’t think I could take on a third or fourth. By the Eane, I don’t even know if I could manage that many types of Essence for long without turning my core into a swirling mess of indistinguishable aspects.”

Much more of a relief to know that it would be physically impossible for you!

As Pirin navigated down the tunnel, swerving left and right around spikes the height of his body, a weight built on his core. At first, it was just a slight aura, as if, in his gut, gravity had been increased.

He squinted, trying to push his gaze further down the hallway. But he didn’t need to strain his eyes for long.

The shadows shifted, and the wraith lumbered out, rushing toward them. It let out an airy screech, and its antlers scraped along the roof with a crystalline chitter.

A new pressure settled on top of his core, pushing it down and repelling it away from the creature.

Not good.

Pirin widened his stance, as if he might slip back from the spiritual force exerted by the beast. His foundation shuddered, and the Timbers felt like they were about to buckle and crack. If the wraith had been any stronger, its presence might have killed him on the spot.

But the wraith would still have to kill him the old-fashioned way.

It took a lumbering step forward, nattering to itself. Pirin had been cycling gnatsnapper Essence all day. He extended both of his arms, firing out a blast of wind with as much strength as he could. It blasted the wraith in the side of the head, knocking its crystalline maw into the wall.

A crystal shard from the wall did most of the damage. It punctured through the beast’s skull, throwing out a puff of powdery salt.

Pirin flourished his sword, then backed up. The wraith, howling, pulled itself off the spike of crystal. Its skull and outer crystalline skin reformed in seconds, drawing shards of white mineral from the rest of its swirling body.

Congratulations, Gray said. You’ve really made it mad.

Pirin gripped his sword in both hands, then thrust it into the empty air. As he pushed forward, he let the Essence lurch down his arm, carrying a blast of wind with it. It swirled around his knuckles, then down the blade of the sword, and out in a concentrated bar. It struck the beast in the chest, dislodging a swath of crystals.

The beast marched forwards, swiping at Pirin with its paw. Pirin stepped to the side and slashed down with his sword, bringing the bar of wind along with it and cleaving a slice off the back of the wraith’s leg. The wind around the sword pushed all the other air aside, and he swung with almost no resistance.

That was a new one! Gray called, fluttering her wings and hopping back to stay out of the wraith’s range. I guess we were right! Path of the Gnatsnapper is going to be amazing for agility!

“I wasn’t really planning on making a new technique!” Pirin yelled back. “But thanks!”

Despite the speed of his cut, though, he had barely made a dent in the back of the creature’s leg. That wouldn’t weaken it nearly enough for him to form a Reyad with it.

“Closing off the Reyad, Gray!” Pirin yelled. “I need Shattered Palms!”

He ripped off his mask and stuffed it in his haversack, then blasted a Shattered Palm at the rear leg of the beast. The force of the blast deflected the leg and tore a boulder-sized chunk out of its leg.

Unlike the stone wraiths, this beast wasn’t hollow. It had flesh made of pure white crystal dust swirling around in complex patterns, and the blast had revealed a set of Essence channels that glowed blue beneath the crystal. He wasn’t sure what Essence aspect this wraith had taken on, if any—if such a thing was possible at this stage.

He sprinted out onto the other side of the beast, then yelled, “Over here! Behind you!”

The beast shifted and spun around. Pirin flourished his sword and prepared another Shattered Palm.

Now wasn’t the time for caution. If he didn’t weaken the beast and link with it, it’d squash him before long.