"Life debt?" Raven stared at the man.

"Yes, do you recall releasing a small white Spirit Beast a while back?" Raven nodded so Fenris continued, "Well, that was my grandson."

"Senior's grandson? But you..."

"Have human form, indeed. He might too, eventually."

For the second time that evening Raven's mind spun. She had read legends of extremely powerful Spirit Beasts that managed to take human form, the great raven that had caused the death of Weebill the Great was rumored to have been one of them, but that was in legends only. Besides, those creatures supposedly had no problem defeating Spirit Masters, doing so with but a thought; such a thing should be impossible.

Before Raven had a chance to compose herself, Fenris continued talking.

"By doing so, you saved his life. According to the laws laid down by our ancestors that means that my grandson owes you a life debt. That being the case, he must follow you as a servant until the debt is repaid, until he has saved your life."

Raven's mind had calmed down and she focused on what Fenris was telling her.

"However, my grandson is still very weak and it is unsuitable for him to follow you - most likely he would do you more harm than good by doing so. That being the case, I chose to follow you in his place. I had intended to keep doing so in silence, until he was strong enough to do so himself, but curiosity got the better of me when I heard you singing and observing you create a new Divine Skill."

As Raven listened she realized something.

"Senior, may I be as bold as to ask if you perhaps did something to bandits who entered the Great Valley Woodlands after I left?"

"Ah. Yes, I felt a little bit of punishment was at hand." Fenris smiled a sinister smile.

'That explains the fear the bandits had for that place...'

"Then, when did Senior Fenris catch up to us - three days ago, perhaps?" Raven continued her investigation with as much respect she could muster.

"No," Fenris seemed to be counting backwards, "it was twelve days ago. How so?"

'Hmm, so the silent forest is not because of him... Was the low Spirit Champion enough for the wildlife to quiet down?'

Raven shook her head. "Never mind. So, what is Senior's proposal exactly? Senior helps me restore my brother, by a method he would approve of, and I cancel the life debt of Senior's grandson?"

"Not quite." Fenris shook his head. "Since your brother's life isn't in direct peril at the moment the two acts don't cancel each other out completely, and also, a life debt must ultimately be repaid by the one in debt. No, I will help you restore your brother's body and, in turn, you will cancel my grandson's servitude - he will still have to save your life some day but you two will be considered equals from now on."

"...Senior Fenris, do not take offence, but how do I know you are not tricking us with all this? Senior might not even be related to that little Spirit Beast at all." Raven very much wanted to agree to his proposal but she was never one to trust easily.

Fenris didn't take offence though, he just smiled and flicked his wrist. A loud *thud* was heard as the spiked cage that Raven had rescued the small Spirit Beast from, landed by his feet.

"You recognize this, right? Besides, no doubt your instincts are telling you that if I wanted to harm you I would not have needed to make a deal with you first, she-human."

Raven definitely knew this in her heart, nonetheless, there were other ways one might harm others apart from using physical strength. The cage, however, together with the man's body language indicated that he was telling the truth. It wasn't fool-proof of course, but it was good enough.

"Very well, I agree to Seniors proposition."Raven didn't hesitate any longer.

What was there for Raven to think about? She was in no need of a servant.

Fenris stated laughing. "Haha, I like your decisiveness. We have an agreement." He flicked his sleeve and a small clump of grey clay appeared in his hand.

"If you want to restore your brother's body, you will have to let me remove a small shard from you soul prism and embed it, together with the ring, into this." he motioned to the lump in his hand. "I would use a shard from my own soul prism, but it is better to use the prism of someone your brother is related to. Don't worry about it though - you won't miss the shard at all and it will restore itself with time anyway."

"The shard and the ring will merge within, and create a spirit body for your brother." Fenris continued.

Raven's eyes lit up, it sounded like such a simple solution!

"However, there are three thing I must warn you about. Fist of, this merger won't be stable for more than two years, unless you manage to get him to a Spirit Hall, during the Day of Light, within that time frame. Secondly, the spirit body will not take human form initially, rather, it will adapt an animal form your soul feels linked to. Thirdly, if your brother wishes to take human form again he must cultivate to the level of a peak Spirit Champion - only then will he be able to permanently retain a truly human form."

Raven silently considered what Fenris had told her. The last two aspects weren't that bad - it wasn't impossible to become a peak Champion and even if her brother failed, it was surely better for him to have his own body, human or not, than to be stuck within a ring.

However, getting access to a Spirit Hall was another thing. There were definitely a few Spirit Halls between Rock Wren Gate and Sky City, but she would never be given entrance to them, especially not on the Day of Light.

Yet again, as if Fenris had read her mind, he said: "I've heard that students of the advanced classes at Sky Academy get access to private Spirit Halls..."

That changed things. Raven knew of these advanced classes at Sky Academy, they were extremely hard to get into and were reserved for the geniuses among geniuses. Even her brother, whom was considered a one in a thousand talent had yet to manage earning a spot.

'By the time I reach sky city I will be six years old and already a Spirit Adept. Even if I hide my spirit connections and some of my cultivation that should be enough to earn me a spot in the advanced class... I won't be able to enter the school quite as inconspicuously as I had intended but restoring my brother's body takes precedence.'

"I do not see any reason for my brother to reject this option, but I need to ask him."

"Of course." Fenris removed the seal around the Life Link and, after spending some time calming her brother down,  Raven explained the method Fenris had provided.

As Raven talked, she could feel a sense of growing excitement from her brother - clearly the thought of getting out of the ring, even in animal form, was very appealing to him.

"You said Sister wouldn't be hindered by the loss of the shard, is that really true?" Hoatzin asked skeptically once the explanation was done.

"I didn't say she wouldn't be hindered, I said she wouldn't miss it. By giving the shard to you she will lose roughly ten spirit connections permanently. Unlike whatever happened to her that made her soul let go of its connections in the past, these will not return simply by waiting - she will have to earn them back the hard way." Fenris gaze seemed to grow distant for a second before he continued. "But what are ten connections for a girl with hundreds of them?"

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"It is worth it, big Brother." Raven prompted her brother while, secretly, wondering if Fenris perhaps could tell how many connections she ought to have.

"And I'll become human again if I become a peak Spirit Champion?" despite his excitement, Hoatzin was still a bit hesitant.

"Indeed." a very brief moment of mischief flashed in Fenris's eyes; Hoatzin didn't notice, but Raven did.

"Senior Fenris, is there something you have yet to tell us?" Raven's voice was very polite but her eyes were sharp as knives as she observed the creature in front of her.

"Perceptive, aren't we?" Fenris seemed pleasantly surprised. "I have spoken no lies, but, cultivation in the spirit body is a bit different from normal cultivation."

"How so?" Raven pressed.

"Cultivating, for a spirit body, is very dependent on the strengthening effect of the spirit essence produced in Spirit Halls during the Day of Light. During all other times of the year, cultivation will be extremely slow..." his sentence trailed of as he gave Raven an urging glance.

'Then I must maximize the essence he receives each year.' Raven had understood what Fenris meant right away. For her brother to make any progress she would have to let him use a Spirit Hall, alone, every year. As a consequence, Raven herself was unlikely to enjoy the benefits of the Day of Light for a very long time; she would make sure to get accepted into the advanced classes but that would only give her access to one Spirit Hall.

"Then that is fine, slow is better than not at all." Raven nodded. "What do you say, big Brother?"

While Raven had understood the consequences needing to use Spirit Halls right away, her brother had yet to catch on. She feared he might back down if he knew it would have negative effect on her cultivation so Raven wanted to make her brother agree as soon as possible. She would figure out how to force him into the Spirit Hall alone when the time came.

"I agree!"

Hoatzin only hesitated for a moment. He was, after all, only ten years old and the thought of being able to move around again made him very excited.

"Good,"Fenris smiled an almost wolfish smile; "then let us get this over with."

Raven didn't even see when Fenris started moving before he appeared next to her with one hand placed on her forehead and the other, the one holding the lump of clay, clasped around Raven's right hand and the Life Link ring she wore there.

Raven barely had time to register how cold his hands were before foreign spirit essence flooded her mind and encased her soul prism. Sharp pain filled her head as that spirit essence started to cut into her sea green crystal of her soul. Instinctively, Raven rallied her own spirit essence to fight back but her efforts were like a light summer breeze trying to push away a mountain; she could do nothing against it.

"Shhh, she-human," Fenris voice that had grown deeper whispered in her ear; "struggle, and it will only be more painful."

Against her instincts, Raven closed her eyes and forced herself to draw back her spirit essence and instantly the sharp pain lessened somewhat. However, shaving of a peace of your soul was not something that could be done hastily.

Fenris face was filled with concentration and if any of the members of the caravan had been free from their trance, they would no doubt have noticed how Fenris features had grown more angular, his nose and moth more elongated; he looked more like a wolf than a man.

After almost an hour, Raven heard and felt a little *click* within her, and the cutting pain she had felt was reduced into a prominent throbbing. Within her, a small crystal shard, no bigger than the fingernail of a little finger, floated next to her soul prism. At first it had been sea green as the rest of Raven's soul but as soon as it was separated from it faded to a dull gray. The shard only floated there for a split second before Fenris' spirit essence grabbed a hold of it - instantly the shard shifted colors to a vibrant dark blue - and slowly pulled the shard towards his hand.

Fenris pulled his hand, without breaking contact with Raven, slowly from her forehead to her neck, shoulder and arm, only to rest once it reached her right hand. During this time, the shard followed the movement of his hand, never leaving Raven's body, until it reached the Life Link on her right hand. It seemed to lock in place as it tried to pass through the center of the Life Link ring on Raven's finger.

The light within the shard stretched out and latched onto the ring, creating a disk of light with the ring as its rim. Slowly the light started to rotate around the prism, creating a miniature vortex, quite similar to a spirit core.

"Move into the prism chard, human."

Raven felt her brother's presence stir, and after hesitating for a moment, carefully moving towards the chard. The moment his soul reached it, streaks of white light intermingled with the dark blue light in the vortex. First the streaks were scarce, but slowly the grew larger  and more numerous, eventually replacing the dark blue light entirely even causing the initially purple ring to turn white as snow.

All this time, the Life Link had yet to leave Raven's finger, but once the ring had shifted color, Fenris molded the clay around both ring and finger before gently pulling of the ring. The moment the Life Link was of Raven's finger the substance, that had already surrounded it completely, started to contract and glow.

Raven had kept her eyes shut all this time now opened them to observe what was happening, and after a brief moment of shock over Fenris' more canine appearance focused her attention on the glowing globe in his hand.

Dense spirit essence swirled around it in complicated patterns. Every once in a while, a strand of spirit essence would flow through the globe, causing the white light to gain a momentary tint of blue as it grew in size.

Slowly but surely the globe grew large and brighter until it eventually outshone the funeral pier that was still burning in the campsite. By now, it was almost painful for Raven to look directly at it, but she refused to avert her gaze - for her brother's sake she wanted watch until the very end.

Suddenly, the light intensified drastically and the surface of the globe started to move erratically, almost as if it was boiling water; it bulged and caved in alternately, constantly morphing. The spirit essence also started to move faster and faster in its patterns.

Eventually the light grew too strong and Raven had no choice but to raise a hand to cover her eyes. For, what seemed like minuets, the light forced its way through Raven's fingers, showing no signs of dissipating but, finally, with a last roaring surge of spirit essence, the light disappeared as if it had never existed.

"Sister," Raven heard her bother's slightly hesitant voice in her head; "what do you think of my new body?"