Fiona felt a shift, the angry ghosts no longer assaulting her as they looked into the distance. Something was drawing them away. This felt bad. She rushed through the other specters, cutting them down as she passed. Enraged screams howled for her blood. She made it through the throng of figures to see what looked like a pool. Only it wasn't showing the bottom of a pool, but stars and trees. A few specters had already reached the edge and sank into the 'water' only to appear on the other side.

"No!"

She ran after the specters, she didn't know why but the feeling that Paul was in mortal danger wouldn't leave her. She reached the pool and rushed in.

A moment of disorientation greeted her as she popped into the mortal realm. She could tell it was the mortal realm because of the trees and sand. The one thing out of place was the undead that came through before her and was likely to come through after. She materialized her phantom blade and let out a screech towards the three specters floating towards Paul's unconscious form.

She sped after them, cutting the first two down with ease. The third one produced a blade of its own and the fight was on.

She eventually won the contest as the last remaining specter didn't have nearly her aptitude with forming a blade yet. She watched as it faded to vapor before turning to address the rest. Dozens had climbed out of the pool and were all heading towards Paul. The system had bound them together and so she would fight, and if need be die again and again for him.

***

I awoke to the sound of wailing and bone-chilling cold. Wispy figures were popping out of the poisonous pool and all coming towards me. All except one that seemed to be fighting them off. I quickly used Identify.

Nightmare Specter x25 | Level 8

Spectral Companion | Level 13

I scooted back as a few closed in on me, whipping my staff at them. It passed harmlessly through them, seeming to cause no damage. I clambered to my feet but one managed to touch me. Its attack passing straight through my armor. I could feel the bone-chilling touch of the undead as it tried to swipe at me again. I backed away and tried to target it with a healing spell. Nothing. 'They must be incorporeal.'

I kept backing away. Hopefully, whomever this spectral companion was could deal with them. At least it looked like they stopped coming out of the pool finally.

I tried a few more spells to see if anything affected the specters. Only stunning gust seemed to have any effect, blowing them back a few feet. At least it was something. I ran around avoiding the creatures, using Stunning Gust to push any back that got too close.

Luckily they seemed more fixated on me, than fighting the other one. It managed to cut through them in a few minutes.

Fiona cut down the last specter and received a strange message.

Congratulations, you have fended off the nightmare and kept your charge safe. Ability granted.

Partial Corporeality: Ability to phaze in and out, to partially affect the real world.

She also noticed she had a level and a class again, not that she knew what a spectral companion was but she had a decent guess.

She floated over to Paul, the man still had his staff up and ready to attack. Not a lot of good it would do against her though.

"Stay back ghost."

"Technically, I'm a specter."

Wait, that voice...no it can't be, "F-Fiona?"

"In the flesh or should I say ectoplasm."

"Bad jokes aside, how? No, I must be hallucinating or dreaming, Fiona would never joke like that."

I ran my hand through the misty form, "Yep, must be hallucinating."

That's when Fiona slapped me across the face.

"Ow... ok, not hallucinating."

"Next time don't touch a woman without her consent. As for the how, I'm not sure. I suspect it has something to do with your conscience keeping the spirits sustained."

My guilty conscience was supporting the souls of those I killed or felt conflicted about. Well, that sucked.

"I guess that could explain my nightmares, I assume that was you and the rest of the people I killed?"

Fiona's form nodded, "I protected you as well as I could while you slept."

"So how are you here now, and not still wherever you were before?"

"I followed the other specters through the pool, then we appeared here. I can only assume that the pool somehow connected the realms of the living and dead together, somehow."

I wondered if it was because I drank from the poisoned water or because of the many creatures that probably died from drinking it. I guess it didn't matter.

"Um... so what now."

"I guess I get to follow you around and protect you. Someone needs to keep you from doing something stupid."

"I'm glad you're back Fiona, but I can't exactly have a specter following me around all day."

Her form seemed to drift apart and I thought she had moved on or something until I heard her whisper in my ear, "Don't worry, nobody will even know I am here."

Her breathy voice in my ear stirred emotions I thought better left alone. Although, I did wonder how the mechanics of something like that would even work. I was glad that she was alive? Well, back anyway, at least in some form.

"So, where are we anyway?"

I looked to the right, where I thought I heard her speaking, "Could you remain visible when we are alone, it's hard enough to grasp this whole situation without having to guess where you are."

"Fine," she pouted, reforming into her whispy form from before.

She had definitely changed since she had been alive. Less rigid than she was before, no pun intended. It was... kind of nice.

"I have no clue, I got thrown through a portal and landed in this desert. There should be a city a few days east of here called Arman."

She just looked at me with a judgemental tone, "See, you need someone to have your back."

I didn't disagree with her. I wanted to be able to trust people but my luck with that was pretty poor up to this point.

"So, what are you capable of?"

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She shrugged, "I can fight off ghosts and slap you as far as I know."

"How are you able to hit me anyway?"

"It's a skill I picked up after saving you from the other specters. It seems like I can activate it at will."

"Well, that's handy. I guess we might as well continue walking...or in your case floating."

Her form seemed to solidify some more and her feet formed. Now she looked like a mostly transparent version of her former self, ghostly armor and all.

"Better?"

I nodded, "Hey, let me try something, can you make your form corporeal for a bit."

"Sure."

I tried casting my buffs on her. To my surprise, they actually worked. I was even able to add her to my party.

"Well, didn't think that would work. Go incorporeal again and let's see if they remain."

Her form faded slightly and she dropped out of the party, so I couldn't tell if the buffs remained.

"Do you still have the buffs?"

"No."

I guess the magic had to be tied to something physical to work. It also explained why I couldn't target the others with my spells before. Fiona would need to be careful in her corporeal form though. If I could cast buffs on her she could be hit by magic or healing. If our previous experience with the undead proved anything it was that healing damaged them severely. I let her know as much and she just smiled.

The sun was starting to come up, and along with it the heat of the day. So I removed my armor again. I really needed to get some other clothes. I heard Fiona whistle in appreciation as I stripped to my underwear again. I just rolled my eyes and started walking, her form fake walking beside me.

"So... what have I missed since I died?" she said with her hands clasped behind her back like some super energetic teenager.

I turned my head slightly towards her and gave her a quizzical look, "You are different than I remember. Are you sure you're the same Fiona?"

She stopped her antics, "I guess I'm just excited to be free from that place, the chance to experience the world again...even if only as a specter."

"Guess I can't fault you for that. Where would you like me to start?"

As we walked I relayed the story of my last four months. Some parts were harder to talk about than others but I told her anyway. I figured if anyone would understand it would be her, dead or not.

"So they are all dead?"

"Most of the main ones, I figure the Shadow Faction will probably finish off the rest."

Her form literally glowed at that news. Good to know I could tell her mood.

I chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

"I had planned to leave right after meeting with the Shadow Faction, so they spent all that time to try and set me up for nothing. Hell, they even helped me out."

Fiona floated in front of me, "How so?" she asked, floating backward while I walked.

"Well, if it wasn't for them you would still be stuck in...well wherever you were. Now that you're back I couldn't think of anyone else I would rather have by my side.

"Aw, you're gonna make a ghost girl blush."

I rolled my eyes.

"So what are your plans after getting to this village?"

I shrugged. I hadn't really thought about it. Too busy trying to survive in this hostile desert.

"The usual I guess, hunt monsters, look for dungeons, explore, who knows. I just don't want to be tied down to any single location. Especially with what happened in Fox Valley and farther North. My tolerance for dealing with people has grown quite short, being tortured day in and day out will tend to do that to a person."

Fiona stopped floating backward, forcing me to stop or walk through her, and that felt like I would be violating some unspoken rule.

"Paul, you need to regain your humanity, your love of life. It was one of the things I admired about you, you were always upbeat, willing to tackle any challenge. I can't watch you wallow in self-pity or dwell on what happened in the past."

"Easy for you to say," I muttered.

Her slap sent me reeling to the ground.

"This is what I mean. The Paul I remembered wouldn't have said something so insensitive, he may have been curt but never hurtful."

I rubbed my sore jaw as I stood. I didn't offer an apology, even though I knew she was right. I continued walking as she returned to walking beside me.

We walked silently for hours before I felt a distinct rumble in the sand. My staff appeared in my hand as I scanned the dunes. I spotted the Sand Devourer trail. It was coming straight for us...well, for me since Fiona was insubstantial.

"We have company."

Fiona looked to where I was pointing, "What is it?"

"A sand devourer, level unknown."

"So we fighting or running?"

"I ran enough, time to teach this overgrown earthworm what I can do."

Fiona smiled at this, her ethereal sword coalescing in her grip, "Good, I wanted to test out my abilities against the living."

A shiver went down my spine, I was glad she was on my side. I decided to go with water and lightning this time, imbuing my staff with the elements.

I waited for the beast to come up under me and leaped into the air as the vortex of sand started. The angry worm burst from the sand-pit and tried grabbing at me but my jump enhanced with Godly Might carried me well outside its upper reach. As I reached the apex of my jump I cast Eye of the storm.

"Let's see how you like a storm."

The winds of the spell whipped the sand around, soaking everything with torrential rains as bolts of lightning impacted the ground, flash melting bits of sand. The beast was impacted repeatedly as it was slowly pulled from the sand by the upward rising current of air.

The beast howled in outrage, trying to retract into the wet sand or use it against me. It was no use the sand had too much water and its control had been diluted. That's when Fiona struck. Her ghostly sword slid easily through the creature's thick bony plates. It spasmed with each attack, trying to flatten its attacker. Fiona just faded back into her spectral form or floated away from the attacks.

The beast started thrashing violently as I finally landed on the ground. It opened its cavernous mouth wide and I could see a furnace of death. It turned its open maw toward me and released a jet of superheated air. The attack blasted through part of my storm, leaving melted sand in its wake. My enhanced storm was the only thing that saved me from its attack.

I couldn't keep it up for much longer and the lightning strikes didn't seem to stun the creature as they should. It did cause it to twitch violently with each strike so it was harming the creature. I kept the spell up for a total of ten seconds, draining my mana to around a hundred points. It was refilling quickly though.

The beast flailed about as Fiona attacked it. I could see it readying another one of those heat attacks. I cast Impact Blink Step and Calcifying Strike as my mana hit one-twenty. As Fiona distracted it I raced in, slamming my staff against the creature's exposed belly. The creature wailed in pain and whipped its body around at an astounding speed. It caught me across the shoulder, tossing me twenty feet away. I landed heavily in the sand, my arm was broken by the attack.

I stumbled to my feet and turned to watch. My attack had been successful. Imbue had activated, stunning the creature finally. While it was stunned its body quickly started to calcify from my attack. A five-foot area had turned to stone before the stun wore off.

The creature was irate and the sand around it began to boil and melt as it raged against the damage my spell was inflicting. I was glad I decided against trying my fire, earth combination. I had to run from the area, even with my elemental resistance I was starting to take damage from the heat. Fiona didn't seem to suffer the same shortcomings. She would attack and retreat, switching between her forms.

After three more minutes the Sand Devourer finally fell silent. Everything within thirty meters was molten glass. As it cooled you could hear sharp cracks, bits of glass spraying as the glass cooled rapidly.

Fiona floated over to me as I waited for the area to cool, "That was an interesting fight, I see you have picked up some new skills."

"Well, I did gain three levels. How about you?"

"The fight was informative. It seems I can switch my state as long as I am not attacking. No new skills though."

"Still, you are almost impossible to beat unless someone can hit your spectral form."

"Yes, I will need to be cautious of that, the worm was able to damage me slightly in my corporeal form. It is healing but it is slow."

"I would offer to heal you, but we know what it does to undead."

"Yeah, let's not test that until I am fully healed."

Once the ground was cool enough I walked across the glass, it crunched and snapped underfoot. As we closed I could see how much of the creature had been turned to stone. It seemed a good portion of its top half had been calcified, whatever ability it used in the end not able to cancel out the effects of my spell.

I looted it and received a surprise.

Mana Heart

Scale x3

This mana heart was three times the size of the one I used in my armor, it was also blood-red in color as opposed to the greenish hued one I got from the centipede queen.

Fiona floated up, "I don't think I have ever seen a mana heart quite that large. The beast must have been level thirty at least."

"Any idea what it's worth?"

She shook her head, "no, but it would be substantial. Have you made any progress in your crafting? Perhaps you could use it to power armor or a weapon."

I forgot to tell her about my armor.

"I did manage to find some time, unfortunately, my armor was damaged in the fight with Obidiah. I thought mithril would be stronger."

"Mithril? That seems extreme for armor, do you have it on you?"

I pulled the armor from my ring and set it on the ground for her to look at. It was weird watching her hover halfway in the ground to inspect it.

"It is truly a stunning piece of armor. Now, I am no expert in the field but did you magically imbue the runes you carved?"

"No, I carved them normally, why?"

"That might be your problem. Since we were required to maintain our own armor I had to learn a few things about the metals. I recall hearing that Mithril would lose its strength if it was altered in any way non-magically."

I looked at my very expensive set of armor and the runes that covered every piece of mithril, "Well shit!"

A quick test using my staff confirmed Fiona's suspicion. The plates broke under a full strength swing. I tossed it back into my ring, I would have to deal with that trainwreck later. For now, we continued towards the city.