15. Spirit Society IV
-
“How did your dad get the hunter class?” Raziel asked Kindred, who lay on her bed, rhythmically kicking her feet. The bed was a canvas of chaos. Scraps of paper surrounded her like she was trying to entomb herself.
“He caught a jackalope bare-handed.”
“That’s all?”
“Catching a jackalope isn’t easy.” Kindred turned her nose up at him. “They’re the fastest animals in the woods, and they always know when someone is sneaking up on them. You have to be even quicker and quieter than a jackalope to even have a shot at catching one.”
Raziel mulled over this piece of information.
Extending her hand, Kindred offered him a meticulously folded paper cat. “One more thing. And my dad swears this was crucial to landing the hunter class… he did all of his sister’s chores for a month, which helped him… um…”
The girl shrieked as Raziel tackled her, a whirlwind of paper scraps fluttering around them.
“Yeah right!”
“Okay, okay, maybe not…”
-
The stars did this thing -
As the fish darted around the black sky-river, their luminescence spilled into the Dark Forest and faces of light and shadow materialized in the fog. A theater of disembodied masks, waiting for the show to start.
Raziel wondered which one of the faces belonged to him.
He wanted to find the den he’d built as a child in a half-upturned tree and curl up against the roots, like he used to. He wanted a hot bath.
He wanted his parents, for some reason.
He reminded himself, sternly, that he wasn’t a little kid anymore. He had a class. He was too old to hide under his bed, scared that monsters would grab him, and he was certainly too old to mope.
If Kindred was dead then she was dead.
All he could do was avenge her. First, he would destroy Last Wish. Then Olster Wealcroft, Huck Bastion, Bellamy Triskelion, and Wombert Rowe would be dealt with. Raziel might be the only one in Bramblebog brave enough to face the True Families, so it was all up to him.
This was Raziel’s responsibility now. That was why he had to get stronger.
He found the Spirit World version of his childhood haunt, the den in the upturned tree, and crawled inside its bowels. There were a couple of wooden toys his father had crafted for him, as well as a change of clothes, some blades, hand-made traps, ropes, and a broken rifle. He brushed spiderwebs off his things - except his hand passed through them, leaving them undisturbed.
Three spirit fruit; two for the dogs, and one for him.
Raziel bit into the fruit. Numbness hit his lips and mouth. The flesh was cold and tasted of deathly mist.
He swallowed the mouthful and it sat heavily in his gut, foreign mana flooding through his system. Raziel screwed his eyes shut and covered his mouth, his gut spasming and attempting to reject the meal. His soul as well -
He’d never felt his own soul so violently before.
Usually, his soul was a distant thrum behind his ribs, inside his core, performing its duties unnoticed. Now his soul was rioting. His mana thrashed in his meridians, fighting the foreign substance. His entire body felt like it was on fire. Lightning raced through his veins. Scoured his bones.
An unknown amount of time passed before Raziel felt like his soul gained a foothold in this battle.
His soul started digesting the foreign mana, dispersing it calmly through his meridians. Raziel’s aura flared around him in a column of cold, azure flame.
Then, Raziel took another bite.
He finished the spirit fruit. Sweat drenched his clothes.
> +6 Body
>
> +1 Magic Power
> ATTRIBUTES
>
> Strength: 5/10
>
> Dexterity: 5/10
>
> Body: 2/10 -> 8/10
>
> Soul Power: 5/20
>
> Magic Power: 3/10 -> 4/10
>
> Cognition: 5/10
>
> Insight: 5/10
Through the haze of exhaustion, Raziel laughed.
His body surged with power -
Like steel folded a thousand times to forge the strongest sword, the spirit fruit had remade his entire body. Before, his meridians were like thin threads. Now they were channels. Raziel was light-headed with the sheer uninhibited power racing through him
His body felt eerily light too, like his flesh wasn’t simply flesh, but infused with that deathly mist.
Could he float? Raziel felt like he could float.
This was the biggest stat upgrade that Raziel had ever received. He was one step closer to becoming truly strong.
Putting two fingers into his mouth, he whistled. Two acid-green streaks materialized.
> [Vilehound]
>
> Level 1 Beast
>
> XP: 240/5000
>
> —------
>
> Species: Basic Hound
>
> Specialization: Toxin
>
> HP: 25/100
>
> Mana: 100/100
>
> —---------
>
> ABILITIES
>
> [Acid Bite] - Rank I
>
> [Mind Sense] - Rank II
Then…
> [Vilehound]
>
> > Add/Discard Ability
>
> > Upgrade Ability
>
> > Change Path [Currently Toxin Path]
>
> > View Evolution Tree
>
> > Upgrade to Level 2 [Locked]
He tossed each dog a fruit and watched their stats closely. The [Vilehounds] twins ravaged their meals, juices and bits of pale flesh splashing across the ground.
> [Common Grade] -> [Rare Grade]
>
> [Common Grade] -> [Rare Grade]
>
> > New Path Available - Spirit Path
>
> > New Path Available - Spirit Path
Raziel expanded the description of the new path.
> > Upgrade [Mind Sense] - Rank II to [Mind Sense] - Rank IV
>
> > Upgrade [Acid Bite] - Rank I to [Dream Rend] - Rank IV
>
> > New Uncommon Ability: [Spirit Claws] - Rank III
>
> > New Uncommon Ability: [Entrance] - Rank II
>
> > New Uncommon Ability: [Shapeshift] - Rank II
>
> This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
>
> > New Rare Ability: [Play Dead] - Rank I
“So many upgrades available, but Level 2 is still locked?” muttered Raziel. “Do I have to cap out your XP?”
If the [Alpha Vilehound] only gave each [Vilehound] about 5% XP, then did that mean he needed to fight the equivalent of 19 more [Alpha Vilehounds] to simply level his beast summons to Level 2?
Raziel shook his head, chastising himself for being greedy.
There weren’t an infinite amount of Levels. Famously, the Great Immortal Zu’en ascended the moment he broke through to Level 7. Advancement between humans and beasts were different, but one Level was still extremely significant.
He agreed to swap both [Vilehounds] from the toxin path to the spirit path.
Acid-green fur transformed into a mesmerizing array of pastels, like mist under the dawn of light. Bulkiness slimmed into a filigree of lithe strength, and yellow eyes turned lavender.
One beast yawned, revealing a black tongue branded with a silver glyph.
> [Elusive Dreamhound]
>
> Level 1 Beast
>
> XP: 240/15000
>
> —------
>
> Species: Basic Hound
>
> Specialization: Spirit
>
> HP: 25/100
>
> Mana: 100/100
>
> —---------
>
> ABILITIES
>
> Common Abilities
>
> [Mind Sense] - Rank IV
>
> [Dream Rend] - Rank IV
>
> Uncommon Abilities
>
> [Spirit Claws] - Rank III
>
> [Entrance] - Rank II
>
> [Shapeshift] - Rank II
>
> Rare Abilities
>
> [Play Dead] - Rank I
Wait - the XP needed to upgrade his beast summons increased from 5000 to 15000!
Well, in exchange they were much more powerful now… six abilities now instead of two.
“Play Dead,” he commanded.
The two [Elusive Dreamhounds] slumped over, their hearts stopped, lavender eyes blankly staring ahead. Their auras faded completely. It truly felt like their souls had left for the afterlife.
“Stop.”
They two beast summons barked playfully. One ran up to him, nudging his snout into his chin. The other hung back, appearing bashful.
“I guess I should name you guys, huh?” he said, scratching behind the first [Elusive Dreamhound]’s ear. They were impressive beasts, so they deserved impressive names. Raziel thought hard about the most difficult words he knew.
“You -” he pointed at the far one. “Are Subtle. And you are -” he patted the hound which was trying to crawl into his lap. “Sublime.”
To his pleasant surprise, their new names appeared in their designations.
He wondered if a beast summon’s path impacted their personality. The [Vilehounds] always had their hackles raised. These [Elusive Dreamhounds] were more trusting and affectionate.
His [Hyper-Vigilence] emphasized the sound of approaching footsteps.
Raziel narrowed his eyes at his beast summons, but continued to let them frolic in the forest.
“Is this seat taken?” asked Father Linus.
“No.”
The [Priest] sat a couple of feet away from Raziel, groaning as he eased his back against a large rock. Perhaps the man had only been making a show of being completely recovered.
“So, which one do you think is yours?”
“Huh?” asked Raziel.
Father Linus pointed to the fish swimming in the sky-river. “I think that one’s mine - the bright one.”
Raziel located the particular fish, feeling a sense of familiarity for it. The gentle mannerisms. The way it would bravely challenge its larger, more aggressive peers, but play softly with its smaller brethren. Quite conscientious, for a fish.
Raziel nodded at Father Linus, agreeing with his assessment, then went looking for his own Facade.
There was one fish which darted across the sky, chasing another. Once it caught its opponent, it found another target and went scrambling towards it, wriggling so hard it looked like its tail might fall off.
“That one, I think,” he told Father Linus.
The man laughed heartily - probably the hardest that Raziel had ever heard. “You know, you’re quite self-aware.”
Raziel smiled wryly. “You might be the only one who thinks that.”
Father Linus hummed. “Your cousin was also unusually self-aware for her age.”
He stiffened.
“I am a priest, Raz. If you want to talk about her, you have the best listener in Bramblebog at your service.”
Raziel’s gaze hardened. “I don’t.”
The man shrugged and looked away.
The lines of Raziel’s face lightened, and he drew up his knees. The minutes ticked by.
“I think I’ve always known she was dead.”
Father Linus made a sound of interest. “The Spirit World is a long way to go, if you believed she was truly gone.”
“What else was I supposed to do?” asked Raziel. “Lay in bed and mourn? If there was even a chance she could be alive, I had to try, otherwise I could never forgive myself.”
Father Linus idly flicked the dirt out from under his fingernails. “Your dad lost a brother, once. When he was young. Ferrin worked as a sweeper, and that summer, I don’t think I saw a single leaf on any of the bridges or walkways.”
Right - his Uncle Erziel. He’d forgotten.
“Busy hands keep the pain at bay,” said Father Linus.
Raziel shrugged. “Kindred and I were never close. She always treated me like I was a pebble caught in her shoe. It’s only that… she had this dream. She wanted to go abroad and learn magic at a fancy school, and she was willing to leave everything and everyone behind for it.”
Raziel paused. “Her death was so stupid.”
Why had he been so worried about the True Family kids finding out that he’d been spying on them? If he’d interfered, if he’d said something, anything other than do nothing…
[Sublime the Elusive Dreamhound] winnowed into a gap between the tree root and curled up by Raziel’s side.
Father Linus hummed. “An [Elusive Dreamhound]? I’ve never seen one of those before. Can I look at its Evolution Tree?”
Wordlessly, Raziel brought up his beast summons’ information.
> DREAMHOUND EVOLUTION TREE
>
> Common - [Basic Hound]
>
> Uncommon - [Dreamhound]
>
> Rare - [Elusive Dreamhound]
>
> Ultra - [Grand Delusion]
>
> Legendary - ???
That wasn’t all - branches and branches of choices spun from each grade of [Dreamhound]. It seemed like he could easily evolve his Rare-Grade [Elusive Dreamhound] into other Rare-Grade beasts within the spirit path. For example, the [Desolate Ghosthound] or [Demonblood Lycan].
Since there were several variants for the [Basic Hound] beast on the spirit path, then he probably landed the [Elusive Dreamhound] due to the properties of the spirit fruit. With a different spirit path alchemical ingredient, he might’ve gotten one of the other options.
Father Linus looked to the far side of the spirit path tree. “The best variant for killing spirits is definitely that [Devouring Manahound]. While the [Elusive Dreamhound] is powerful, their power leans towards mind manipulation. Since spirits can only kill other spirits by consuming them, it looks like of all the spirit path variants, the [Devouring Manahound] is tailor-made for the job.”
Raziel nodded, filing away that information for later. There was a more pressing concern on his mind. “Do you know what I’d need to repair their cards?”
For a long while Father Linus explained the basics of alchemical materials. It was more of an art than a science. Card refining and evolving beasts required both knowledge and a highly developed intuition. Many ingredients could achieve the same effects. However, they all had different handling methods.
Slowly, Raziel started to pick up on the art. From the bits of information, he began to form a web in his mind.
There was chaos and order, and from order came the ten heavenly paths.
Air, Water, Fire, Earth.
Light, Darkness
Life, Death
Time, Space
These heavenly paths held up the universe. If one pillar fell, everything collapsed. Because of the vastness of these paths, it was extremely difficult to understand them at even a mediocre level. A pure water spell was one-hundred times harder to cast than an ice spell of the same level.
This was why most magic tended to be a mix of paths.
Smaller paths, like the spirit path, were the connective tissue between these heavenly paths.
The toxin path had elements of the water path, but also earth path and life path.
The [Elusive Dreamhound] evolution was a steep jump from [Vilehound].
The spirit path was an offshoot of the death path, but it also had a connection to the light path.
On this web, the [Elusive Dreamhound] evolution was only possible because the life path and the death path were sister paths. It would’ve been impossible to directly evolve his [Vilehounds] into [Rifthounds], which were space path beasts.
It was a testament to the power of the spirit fruit that he was able to change the [Vilehounds] into the [Elusive Dreamhounds]. The thread between them was very thin.
Raziel began to understand what he’d need to repair the cards. Most importantly, he needed a sufficient level of mana control to combine the alchemical materials with the cards.
“If you can find the ingredients, I can refine the cards for you,” said Father Linus.
“Would more spirit fruits help?”
“Bone would be better,” said Father Linus. “Especially if it came from another spirit path canine beast.”
Raziel nodded.
A crow circled overhead, then landed on the [Priest]’s head. “I found a safe place you two can operate out of. Oh, it isn’t in the middle of a warzone either.”
Raziel and Father Linus stood.
The [Wraith] flew to Raziel’s shoulder. “Keep walking straight, priest.”
Father Linus sighed and nodded.
After consuming the spirit fruit, Raziel practically glided over the forest floor. He wanted to take off running just to see how fast his legs could take him. His aura licked his skin in anticipation.
“You and the priest were getting quite cozy. Do you trust him?” the crow whispered in Raziel’s ear. “You shouldn’t.”
Raziel snapped, “I don’t trust anyone. You least of all.”
“I don’t like him. He’s too kind. His heart bleeds for everyone. It’s despicable.” The crow’s words lingered. “He’ll also kill you without blinking if you go after his precious nephew.”
“Right now, he’s teaching me magic, just like you asked him to. I don’t care - “
“You will care. You always care,” said the crow. “And that’s how you get fucked over.”
“Kindred - “
“You gave that girl your best weapon, and for what? To lose it forever? I should amend my statement. You fuck yourself over by being naive and sentimental. If you want to become an alchemist you must ruthlessly hunt for even the smallest advantage. Prioritize yourself. If your lover is injured on the battlefield, use their body as a meat shield to escape.”
The [Wraith]’s philosophy repulsed Raziel to his core. It was almost funny how quickly his admiration had soured into hatred.
If he never saw his ancestor again it would be too soon.
“When you look at the priest, you’re seeing a man who’s been utterly consumed by regret,” said the crow.
Father Linus strode with determination, the golden hem of his cassock billowing around his ankles. His shadow, dark and heavy, stretched and stretched and stretched.
“Because of that, he will never become an alchemist. Remember that when you’re out chasing echoes.”