His entire being rejected the bond with the Charm, the corruption within it clashing with the very core of his existence. Foul energies attempted to latch into his soul, but they were beat back and purified by the Lifeforce he had infused into the Charm. He burned, the metaphysical battle taking its toll on him but leaving no physical damage. Pain assaulted him, some new kind that he had never felt before and had no resistance to. He bit back a scream. It was bearable, but still made him have to grit his teeth. It was like being burned for the first time, a new type of pain that hurt much worse than it was because it was unfamiliar. And, during it all, he thought he could hear a faint voice begging him.

"Help me."

The clash was mercifully short, the soul pain fading to a dull ache that was soon forgotten as he got used to it. Another arrow thunking into the corpse he was using as a shield was more than the distraction he needed to get over it and push thinking about the voice until later. After all, he wasn't even sure if he had heard it or it was an odd gust of wind that had blown through the catacombs.

Next, he looked to the fully blackened trinket of the meditating figure. He took in a deep breath and got ready to assess whether or not the [Corruption] it was inflicted with was worth binding or not. [Analyze] brought up a notification and he read it over.

[Lesser Spirit of Calm Charm (Corrupted)

Tier 1 Bound Accessory (Unbound)

Spirit Lore II: This item contains a Lesser Spirit of Calm liberated from the possession of a Corrupted Pathwalker in combat. It may either be worn to provide it's effects or absorbed by someone on the [Path of the Spirits] to bind the Spirit and gain it's Power. The Spirit is Corrupted and requires Lifeforce to be cleaned. This Lifeforce may either be channelled into this Charm or used by the Spirit to activate its Power if absorbed.

Undead Lore I: This item may be used to raise a powerful undead with spirit bound to its soul. However, doing so would draw the ire of the natural world and the hostility of any spirits you encounter.

Lifeforce to remove Corruption: 0/100

Tier I: You receive an additional 5% Mental Defense towards Status Effects that would alter your emotions

Corrupted: Reduce your Thought Speed by 10% whilst bound to this item]

Reading it, he desperately wanted the bonus to mental defence that it promised, but the drawback of having his thoughts slowed was too big of a drawback to be worth it. Still he was sorely tempted to gain the extra protection against things like spectre's [Fear] that had made him uncontrollably run away from it and end up in this whole mess. He went to ask the Spirit something again but realised that his time with his [Spirit of Death] Power had run out and he didn't want to reactivate it early considering he couldn't get any use of it immediately. So, instead of relying on the being for help, he trusted his gut and went with his instincts. Another point of Lifeforce was pulled from his reserves and guided to his chest where the Charm rested. He braced himself for the pain that was to come and reached out to it with this spiritual limb.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

[Would you like to bind the Lesser Spirit of Calm Charm (Corrupted)?]

[Yes/No]

He hesitated for a moment before mentally selecting [Yes]. A massive wave of pain hit him all at once as he did so. If before was like a campfire being lit inside him, then now it was like a raging inferno of flame.

His grip almost slipped on the dead [Ghoul] he was holding up as his barrier but he managed to catch it in time and hold on. His knuckles went white gripping it as it took everything he had to focus on sheltering behind it from yet another arrow that barely missed his hand. It faded soon after and he refocused on the trinket, willing it to enter his Lifeforce Reservoir by attempting to reproduce the same feeling as when the [Spirit of Death Charm] did. His efforts were rewarded when a notification popped up in front of him.

[Would you like to absorb the [Lesser Spirit of Calm Charm (Corrupted)]?]

[Yes/No]

He selected [Yes] and a fresh wave of agony assaulted him, thankfully only at the level of the previous one as he was unsure he'd be able to handle anything worse. He cowered behind his makeshift barrier until it passed and he became lucid enough to open his Status and inspect the new Power that had appeared on it.

[Lesser Spirit of Calm I (Corrupted)

Path Power

Level 1/10

Instant: A target within Line of Sight that is suffering from an Emotion Status Effect attempts to remove it. They gain an additional 10% Willpower during this attempt that can only be used to resist the Emotion Status Effect.

Cost: 1 Lifeforce per use

Lifeforce to remove Corruption: 1/100

When cast, you may choose one of the following Tier effects to apply:

Tier 1: The target attempts to remove each Emotion Status Effect once, instead of one Status Effect

Corrupted: Any Status Effects removed using this Spirit are inflicted upon the user]

Reading it over, it seemed worse than useless for his current situation. It would cost him one of his extremely limited pool of Lifeforce, but would return to him anything that it managed to remove. It would only be useful if he had allies that he could use it on, but that seemed extremely unlikely when the only things he had come across in this tomb had wanted him dead. Still, he was relieved when it didn't have any permanent side effects as, even though he had inferred there wouldn't be from the description of the partially corrupted Protection Power the undead shaman had used where it only had negatives whilst active, he wasn't 100% sure before he did it.

Oh well, he thought, at least the Charm was no longer going to burn a hole in his pocket, and the odd point of Lifeforce that he had used wouldn't of been any immediate use to him anyway. He still had 2 points left over for using his first Power against the skeletal archer that was out to get him, and that was all he needed. He looked at his status one last time before re-engaging in combat.

[

Name: Liam Karr

Race: Human (Earth)

Path: Path of the Spirits

Class: None

Titles: Spirit Progenitor, Natural Shaman, Titan Slayer

Level: 5

HP: 28/200

Stamina: 21/130 (117)

Lifeforce: 2/10

Strength: 24

Dexterity: 14

Vitality: 20

Endurance: 13

Intelligence: 15

Willpower: 17

Free Attributes: 0

Traits:

None

Skills:

Analyse II

Spirit Lore I (II)

Undead Lore I

Ambidexterity I

Hafted II

Powers:

Spirit of Death I, Level 2/10

Lesser Spirit of Calm (Corrupted), Level 1/10

]

At last ready to fight, he dropped the corpse of Richard Montague and locked eyes with his opponent.

[Emily Rezeal, Unknown Skeleton, Level 11

The Martial Path

Giant Slayer]

[240/240]

It was time to reduce another undead to a pile of bones.