I took a few items out of this door: the bow and arrows that the creature used, and headed back home. Shadow was lying on my bed when I walked in and glanced up toward me with a yawn. Good, she managed to find her way back despite being in a new situation. That was one thing that worried me when I brought her here. Shadow had originally been a stray. I found her one day on the roof of my house when she was less than a year old, too scared to come back down. Every time I picked her up to try to move her down, she would scratch and bite, so I slowly won her trust with pieces of lunch meat, and small dishes of water placed on top of the roof as an offering of peace.
After I brought her down, it only took her another month or so to start finding her way into my windows on cold nights. And then on hot days. And then on pleasant days. And then whenever she wanted. I walked over and ran my hand over her head, and she leaned into the pressure, and I sat on the edge of the bed. It was 3:30, but I was already exhausted. My rain-soaked clothes, and the coldness that it brought, only served to further drain my stamina. I tore off my clothes and cursed myself for not getting any more from the house. I sighed and scratched Shadow's head as I leaned over to pull out my phone from underneath the pillow where I had stashed it.
Ignoring the Reddit notifications, I looked up, ‘Salamander – fire,’ on the internet, and came across many articles related to not only these things called, ‘salamanders,’ but also of the other elementals: Sylphs for the wind, Undines for water, and Gnomes for the Earth.
“So are all of these real?”
Yes. Came the reply on my Shard. There are others as well: Djinn, Fire Giants, and other beings that dwell within the elemental domains. But I do not know how to invoke them, so I can’t really tell you more aside from some information about them.
“And here I thought you were all-knowing.”
No. I was a dashing rogue in the past. A really gallant scoundrel, if I do say so myself.
“So who were you?”
Hmm...names hold power for me and my kind, boy. You do not know what you ask. Giving you my name will kill me.
“Why is that?”
You already hold all of my essence — my existence, and if I gave you my name, I would be obligated by the ancient contracts to give more.
“Then…”
Once you have an Authority and set up a temple for me, I will give you a hint.
“A hint, really?”
Yes. Just that.
“What kind of spirit are you, can you at least tell me that?”
I suppose I could. I am a Folk Spirit — a spirit given existence by the power of the tales told about us.
“What other kind are there?”
Well, there are elemental spirits, obviously. Most of them are just mindless incarnations of their given elements; save for their rulers and a few named Elementals, who are beings of great power; their names are unknown, but they have a variety of aliases that they go by, that you will learn in due time. Gob, is one such being, who also goes by Kyrie in Germany.
“Who’s the one for fire?”
There are two for the fire spirits: the most common monikers are Inejble, and Surt.
“How about for water?”
Neska.
“How about for air?”
The air is divided into four, ‘kingdoms,’ and their rulers are known by a variety of names. The ones I remember are Eagon, King of the Cold winds of the North, Paimon, Queen of the Storm Winds of the West, Oriens, Queen of the Winds of Change of the East, and Amaymon, King of the Hot Winds of the South. Each controls countless Sylphs to do their bidding.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
I fish around for a notebook and take note of all of the names: Inejble. Surt. Neska. Gob. Eagon. Paimon. Oriens. Amaymon.
“Are those the only other types?”
No, there are also Heroic spirits, which are spirits of deceased humans who have performed great deeds. Though, it takes time for them to awaken to their spiritual status; well over a hundred years after their deaths. Think Napoleon, King Arthur, and Charlemagne. They have all chosen someone.
“And that’s the last type?”
I don’t know if you’d consider them, ‘spirits,’ but notable Fairies have also gotten involved as well. I’ve heard Titania and Oberon have found champions. Ah, that’s not their real names, of course.
I looked both of them up. Titania, queen of the fairies, and Oberon, king of the fairies.
“How about gods?”
There are gods, of course. Gods of certain regions. By the way, I’m a spirit currently residing in the Celtic realms, so if you must call upon a god, make sure it’s one from the same realm.
“Why?”
Why? Because they’ll treat you better, of course.
I write down, “Look up Celtic gods,” in the notepad.
“What does it mean to invoke something?”
It means to draw its power into you, instead of the power coming from you. For elemental spells, the elements that you are calling forth flow into you, and provide you with the aid you requested. Surely you’ve felt it when you cast spells, some kind of power flowing into you, and then being expelled through the wand?
“Y-yeah, sure.”
I hadn’t really been paying attention.
Evocation is the opposite. Think of it like summoning a bed out of nowhere. That would be evocation.
I think for a second.
“Would I ever be able to evoke an elemental spirit?”
Ah, that’s tricky. You need two things before you can do that: the spell: Familiar Contract, and the ability to see spirits in the first place, known as Clairvoyance.
“I can unlock those with the Shard, right?”
Naturally.
I take a look at my stat screen for a second:
Name
Lawrence Able
Occupation
Novice Elementalist
Level (XP)
6 (60/600)
Strength
12
Endurance
12(-6)
Speed
10(-7)
Reflexes
8
Perception
11
Charm
4
Intelligence
12
Creativity
15
Magic
15
“So is it ten points per enemy and door levels for XP?”
The table vanished, and in its place was the message:
Indeed it is.
So I would need to get an additional...54 accumulated levels for my next level. That’s...damn it.
There are other processes involved with forming contracts with elemental spirits as well, but you need those two to even attempt it. Ah, and more Charm than you currently have, otherwise — unless you’ve somehow developed a relationship with one, they won’t be extending their hands.
Charm again. I suppose I should start selling things. There was no way I was going to waste my precious points on raising it.
“So what do salamanders look like?”
That’s a hard question to answer. Fire is a formless element, so the salamanders themselves take many forms depending on their whims. Some look like great lizards, others look like fireflies. Still, others look like giant bearded warriors. The other fire elementals are Fire Giants; who dwell exclusively in Surt’s domain, and Djinn, who dwell in both the domains of Fire and Wind and answer the call of Inejble and Amaymon.
“How about undines?”
Water is also formless, but less so than Fire. They take many forms. But to humans, they appear as mermaids mainly.
“Are there no other types of water elementals?”
No.
“Why not?”
That’s just the way it is? Does everything need a definite reason?
I suppose not. I wrote down the information he gave me and continued my questions.
“How about Sylphs.”
Normally, they exist as the air exists. To humans they take on many forms: Birds. Tiny winged dancers. Dragonflies. Any thing with wings.
“What about gnomes?”
There are several types of gnomes, depending on the kind of task given to them. They’re responsible for many things, after all. They bring nutrients to each plant, and carve out caverns beneath the earth, for example Dryads are a subcategory of gnomes, and they look like beautiful women, Kobolds look like the stereotypical gnome and live under the earth, otherwise there are the Mountain Giants; who are nearly extinct, and formed the mountains of the world. There are, of course, formless gnomes, and those are the kinds you’ve been calling on currently.
“So if I call upon a Dryad…”
HA, good luck with that.