"No, it isn't and I am sorry for that. I wanted to ask you about spirits and the spirit plane. That is where the four of you live, right?"

Fereesh says "Actually, no it isn't. We live in the elemental planes, but we do visit the spirit plane regularly. What is it you want to ask?"

"Recently I have been looking into summoning spells. These spells summon a random spirit to fight for you for a limited time. This has sparked my curiosity about spirits and where they are from."

Ekertan says "The spirit plane is technically a part of the mortal plane. It is a reflection of the world you live in, but inhabited by spirits."

Slispera says "Spirits aren't much different from monsters, they just tend to be more intelligent. You won't find very many mindless spirits."

"In that case, how is it that the four of you became spirits? Is the spirit plane tied that closely to our world?"

Lynara says "Yes, it is. Are you aware that there are higher and lower planes? Like the angelic plane and the demon plane for example."

"Yes, I have heard that before."

Lynara says "The mortal plane sits in the middle of all those lower and higher planes. Well, technically the spirit plane is the one that sits in the exact middle. The mortal plane is slightly lower."

Fereesh says "That is why it is easier for demons to enter the mortal plane than for angels."

"Where does the shadow plane fit in?"

Lynara says "It sits between the mortal and spirit planes. The rest of the planes, whether lower or higher, have distance between them. Only the mortal, shadow, and spirit planes physically touch."

"Do you know why?"

Lynara says "Nope, not a clue. I don't think there is anyone who knows. Maybe the gods of the upper realms might know, but we have no way of asking them."

"The upper realms have different gods?!"

Lynara says "Of course they do. There are no gods that can rule across multiple planes. At least, not that we know of. If there are such beings, we are way below their notice."

"Does that mean that the gods of this realm are limited?"

Ekertan says "More so than in any other realm. Within the mortal realm are many, many worlds such as yours. The gods you know of are limited to only one world. There are only a few that span multiple worlds, and none of them are on your world."

"Is that because the old ones sealed our world?"

Slispera says "Exactly. Compared to the other worlds in the mortal plane, ours is kind of crippled."

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"You sound like you are referring to more than just the lack of gods?"

Slispera says "Yes, very much so. Mana flows throughout the mortal plane, flowing from one world to another. Our world is cut off from that, meaning it only has its current mana. It makes our world stagnate."

"Will destroying the remaining temples fix that?"

Slispera says "It will break the seal, but it won't be fixed immediately. In fact, it could take hundreds or even thousands of years for it to be fixed."

"That's too bad, but I will still destroy them."

Lin says "I think we got a little off topic."

"Right, sorry. You said that most spirits were intelligent. Does that mean that we could summon them and make contracts with them?"

Lynara says "It is possible. It will depend on the particular spirit and their compatibility with the person making the contract. Of course, for the best chance, the person would need to go to the spirit plane and find a spirit that matches them."

"How hard is it to reach the spirit plane?"

Fereesh says "Not hard. About the same as reaching the shadow plane. That is why the summoning spells can summon spirits or shadows."

"There are summoning spells for shadows as well?"

Lin says "Ash, focus."

"Right, sorry, my love. So, you are saying that my best bet is going to be to create a gate to the spirit plane and let people go looking for spirits?"

Lynara says "Yes. It will be more dangerous, but the odds of finding a compatible spirit will be higher. Spirits fight each other, so there is the possibility of helping a spirit and thereby gaining its loyalty."

"Alright. I will work on finding a way to go to the spirit plane. Then it will be easy enough for me to open a gate for others."

Lin says "Not until we are back on the peninsula and you have taken care of certain things. Remember, no adventures."

"Right, right. I will wait!"

Myria says "Is going through the gate and looking for spirits going to be restricted to the elves?"

"No. I don't plan to restrict access. Or if I do, it will be based on personal strength, not race."

Myria says "That's good. It sounds fun and I am tired of staying here and taking care of things for you."

"Well, you will have to stay a bit longer, but once things are settled I will take you on an adventure."

Myria says "Do you promise?"

"Yes, I promise."

Lynara says "Any more questions for us?"

"No, not that I can think of at the moment. However, I would like to know more about how the planes are arranged."

Slispera says "There is not much more that we know."

"Where do the elemental planes fall in the scheme of things?"

Lynara says "The elemental planes are technically part of the spirit and mortal planes. Kind of like a bridge over the shadow plane that connects the two. The elemental planes exist in the same area as the shadow plane, but are not part of it."

"Well that makes sense. I would consider the shadow plane to be an elemental plane as well."

Fereesh says "That is true. It shares a lot of the same properties as the elemental planes, it is just much larger."

Lynara says "It is hard to explain, but that should be enough for you to get the general idea. Any other questions?"

"No, that will be it for now."

The spirits leave the soulscape once we are done talking, but I don't end it right away. I spend a while chatting with Myria and Lin about what we need to do once we reach the peninsula. It won't be much longer before we see Myria in the flesh, I just hope I am ready for it.

Once we finish chatting, I end the soulscape, but I find I can't go back to sleep. I have Jarvis turn the time dilation back on and then head down to take a bath. My mana pool is full again, but I wasn't paying enough attention to tell how fast it filled.

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Athena says "Master, there are ships approaching us. They are coming from the west and seem to be full of humans, but I can feel a strange energy from them."