Chapter 15: Possession
As usual, Ain was getting ready to begin his day as the morning sun greeted his window.
Today was Saturday, and it had been exactly one week since the Spirit Awakening Ceremony. In this one week, Ain had become a Rank-1 Spirit Tamer from a regular person, or otherwise referred to as a mortal.
Today, Ain wanted to familiarize himself with Nox’s skills, as well as study the new spell his mentor had gifted him.
When he was ready to leave, Ain cast a quick glance at the slumbering cat before opening the window quietly. He decided not to disturb it today.
On his way out, Ain greeted the morning security guard, Mr. Rudy, as usual, and walked into the adjacent park. He stayed on the outskirts of the park, near the building complex.
As he walked on, a sizable clearing surrounded by sparse green trees appeared. There was a gray stone path with small shrubs and colorful flowers on the side, bisecting the clearing. A water fountain stood in the middle, adding some liveliness to the surroundings. Stone benches were scattered around the fountain in an orderly fashion, making for a good rest spot.
A bed of grass next to the stone path had been Ain’s training spot for the past few years.
After arriving at his destination, Ain summoned Nox. With a quick flash of light, it appeared before Ain.
Although the sun had already scattered some of the darkness of dawn, the flash of light was still very conspicuous.
‘This flash of light can be disadvantageous at night,’ Ain thought when he observed this phenomenon. He had never seen such a flash when his mentor’s spirit pet, Flo, appeared. He wondered if there was a technique to mask it.
Ain stashed this thought away and decided to think about it later.
Instead, he brought his attention back to Nox, who was floating a few inches away from his face.
Before he began training, Ain decided to test something he had skipped last night.
“Don’t move,” he said as his hand pressed on Nox’s body. After forming the contract, Ain could now touch Nox’s gaseous body.
When he was ready, Ain used Scan once again. But unlike last night, he only focused on a single point, and that was skills.
Soon, knowledge originating from his innate talent, Wisdom Root, once again appeared in his mind.
[Innate Skills: Possession]
[Skills: None.]
‘Good, I’m also able to scan for skills,’ Ain’s little experiment gave him a satisfactory result.
Looking at Nox’s skills, he sighed internally. From what he learned yesterday, spirit pets and spirit beasts gained one innate skill after each evolution. Common quality spirit pets had no innate skills, and Noble quality had one, and so on.
Although Nox’s innate skills were pitifully few and not in-line with its Ancient quality, Ain wasn’t too surprised. Before Ain departed from the Atlas Base, his mentor had mentioned Nox’s innate skills.
Other Ancient quality spirit pets would have three innate skills, one for each evolution - Noble, Transcendent, and Ancient.
Nox only had one for now, and it would unlock its remaining two innate skills upon reaching Rank-3. Ain was unaware of the reason as his mentor didn’t mention it.
He turned his attention back to Nox’s only innate skill, Possession. The innate skill’s name was very descriptive. Possession could allow Nox to fuse with Ain, providing him with a comprehensive boost. He could even make use of Nox’s skills in their fused state, and his own ghost spells would also be augmented.
Ain didn’t wait any longer and immediately asked Nox to use its skill. “Nox, use Possession.”
Nox, who had been staring at Ain this whole time, seemed excited and flew into Ain’s body at an unprecedented speed.
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Immediately after, Ain’s demeanor changed suddenly, as he started exuding a bone-chilling aura. His already black eyes seemed to embody the true meaning of black - even devouring the light that would otherwise be reflected in his eyes.
These were only the external changes. The most significant changes were internal.
Ain felt a surge of power coursing through his body. Although his muscle definition remained the same, he could feel an explosive increase in his strength and speed.
He even had the sudden impulse to sprint across the park, bulldozing everything in his path.
Of course, Ain’s rationale remained clear. He suppressed the urge and tried to sense the changes more clearly.
His mind felt refreshed and clear, as if he was sensing the world for the first time. He noted that his perception had been augmented as well. This was indeed a comprehensive boost.
Ain could still feel a connection to Nox’s consciousness, which was now residing in his own sea of consciousness.
The sea of consciousness was an ethereal region in a spirit tamer’s mind. One’s soul and spirit core were said to reside in the sea of consciousness.
Ain was unable to directly observe his sea of consciousness; therefore, he was unable to observe his spirit core. He could only intuitively sense Nox’s location near it.
After he was done examining these changes, it was time for some experiments.
Ain turned his gaze to the surroundings, searching for a good target. But other than the sparse trees, there was nothing noteworthy. With no other choice, Ain walked up to the nearest tree, ready to test his strength first.
He assumed a standard martial arts stance, ready to strike the thick tree trunk. But before he could release his strike, a soft cry disrupted him from behind. “Meow!”
Ain turned around to see the cat seated on the grass not far away as it stared at him. Their gazes locked for a few seconds before Ain turned back, ready to strike again.
Once again, as he was about to throw his punch, the cat’s cry sounded again. “Meow!”
Ain stopped again and turned to look at the cat, trying to decipher its meaning. He walked up to the cat and crouched in front of it, “What is it?”
The cat’s reply was the same and replied with a soft cry, with no other movements. Ain stared into the cat’s eyes, filled with confusion.
In the midst of his pondering, Nox sent a thought to Ain through their connection, resolving his puzzlement.
“You don’t want your playground to be destroyed?” Ain asked the cat, as if to confirm Nox’s words.
“Meow.” The cat’s reply sounded. Although he still couldn’t understand it, Ain felt that its voice had a tone of affirmation. Glancing at the nearby trees, Ain sighed slightly.
“I guess I’ll test my strength at the spirit academy. I’ll try practicing martial arts in this state first.”
He remembered that this clearing was where he had met the cat. Ain redacted his previous intentions and decided to postpone the strength test.
For the next few minutes, Ain sprinted across the clearing, while making sharper twists and turns at times. His footsteps were replaced by hazy shadows as he practiced some basic movement techniques.
All the martial arts techniques Ain had learned were unnamed and simple. He had realized that their sole purpose was to build a foundation for the future.
Afterwards, he continued with some fist techniques, leg techniques, and so on.
After about twenty minutes of practice, Ain started to feel some exhaustion. Nox conveyed a thought, expressing that its spirit energy was about to be depleted.
Hearing this, Ain quickly told Nox to cancel the Possession skill. It followed Ain’s instructions and appeared next to Ain again.
Ain’s eyes returned to normal, and so did his chilly demeanor. The exhaustion he just felt disappeared as well, but he noted that Nox appeared more lethargic.
‘Possession seems to be limited by Nox’s spirit energy, as well as my own physique.’
‘Nox’s spirit energy can be improved with further training, and it will receive another boost after reaching Rank-1.’
‘My physique is adequate for now, but I can’t be sure about the future. Most spirit pets and spirit beasts have better physiques than humans. I’ll have to train my body more as to not limit Nox’s Possession.’
Ain quickly summarized all the information he had gathered about Possession.
Possession would be the heart of his combat system for some time.
The skill synergized well with his martial arts foundation as well. Ain already had a few ideas on what type of spells to choose for the free spell the academy would provide him.
It was crucial for him to improve around Possession.
Thinking up to here, Ain returned Nox to the spirit ring. Although spirit pets could absorb spirit energy themselves to recover, the spirit ring could accelerate this process.
It was still early in the morning, so Ain continued his physical training for another two hours before returning home.
After a quick shower, he took a seat on his bed and brought out the spell book his mentor gifted him.
Introspect was a Rank-1 core spell. It could allow one to directly observe their sea of consciousness and the inside of their body. After learning of its effects, Ain agreed with his mentor’s word. This spell could greatly improve training efficiency in the early ranks.
Ain first glanced through the spell book before beginning a thorough study. This time, Ain didn’t wait to use Analysis.
Using Analysis was not detrimental to Ain’s own analytical abilities. Rather, it could lead to further improvements.
About ten minutes later, Ain set the spell book aside and closed his eyes.
Similar to Illumination, the target of visualization was still a spell rune. But it was more complicated than the Rank-0 Illumination.
‘Illumination was difficult due to my unfamiliarity with spirit energy. As time passes, that won’t be an issue,’ Ain thought.
After practicing the spell for over an hour, Ain finally succeeded. His consciousness slowly sank into his mind, entering his sea of consciousness.
This was also Ain’s first time observing his own sea of consciousness. After a glance, he was stunned by the mystical scene.