"... and then, Laram dropped the barbells straight onto the ground, and then the ground under the platform cracked," Yanna laughed, taking a sip of her coffee, and Silvia quickly chuckled along as the two continued walking up the road to their home.

"Oh gosh, does that kind of thing happen often?"

"Oh, not at all. It was a new machine that wasn't properly installed and calibrated yet. Plus, Laram's a good bit stronger than what the school's seen in a couple years, so they might not have expected that this could happen," the minotaur explained, "But I mean, Laram's working out all the time anyway. If anyone deserves to accidentally wreck that place with a new PB, then it's him."

Silvia scoffed, "You're there just as much as he is."

As if a bit hesitant, Yanna scratched her cheek, "... Well, sure, but I don't do nearly as much pure strength-training as he does. He's going for strength, and at this point I'm trying to refine my body to be able to properly raise my aura."

"Hm... I guess so. Oh, by the way, did Ryan cancel properly, or..."

"Yes, he did. I was supposed to properly show him around the awakened gym at uni today, but he got hurt again. Seriously, what's that guy doing to get himself in that much shit?" with a long groan, Yanna kept sipping on her coffee, as Silvia awkwardly did the same, trying to avoid the question. It wasn't like she could just say that he was shot a couple of times just two days ago. But before she could say anything, Yanna continued, "Though, I guess it kind of worked out... I actually met up with Modak today because I had some free time after Ryan cancelled. Modak seemed kind of different, just a lot more confident and excited. He couldn't tell me what it was about, but it was great to see him like that!"

Silvia looked up at her sister with a broad smile on her face, "Come on, just ask him out already! You know he's going to say yes to literally anything you suggest. Gods, he'd even go to mini-golf with you, and he absolutely hates mini-golf."

The minotaur hesitantly looked down, fiddling with the straw in her coffee, "I don't know... it's not like I really have the time to date right now. Plus, Modak said he'd be busy for a while too, so I'm not sure if it's a good time..."

Though Silvia wanted to protest, she knew that it wasn't really that easy. Yanna had a lot of things going on, being an up-and-coming awakened-league star, while it looked like Modak was going to take Alicia up on her offer and work with the Magic Tower for a while.

"I get that... but just because you're busy doesn't mean you don't get to give this a try. At the very least, you two should talk about it!" Silvia pointed out, "Look, Fae and I spoke about things as well, and we're going on a proper date this Saturday! And if we had both kept on being weird and avoiding talking about it, that wouldn't be happening. I know you're worried it's going to be weird, but you just need to give it a shot, or nothing's going to change. And that would... suck. You two are, like, perfect for each other!"

Yanna looked at her younger sister hesitantly, "You're sure?"

"Oh, of course I'm sure! Now, stop being so scared of a single nerdy orc! You'll literally be taking punches, swords, and blasts of magic to the face for a living!"

"Yeah, but I don't have to be scared about ruining my friendship with those punches, swords, and blasts of magic... plus, if things don't work out, wouldn't that make things weird for you too? Or rather, even if it does work out. Your sister dating your best friend? That... isn't that weird?"

"Hah, as if! It's like, the best thing ever! If you two are end-game, he'll be family! Too bad we don't have another sibling... but... hmm, do you think Modak's sister is Ryan's type? If we could get those two to hook up, we'd at least all be family somehow, right?"

Yanna thought about it for a moment, but when she caught herself considering it in a serious manner, the minotaur couldn't help but let out a laugh. The two continued chatting as they approached their home. As Yanna started climbing up the stairs to the front door, Silvia's phone started ringing.

"Ah, go ahead! It's Fae, I gotta take this," Silvia said excitedly, and Yanna grinned lightly.

"Alright, little lovebird. Just don't stay out for too long."

"Shush!" Silvia replied immediately, answering the call with an excited expression. As Yanna made her way inside, Silvia sat down on the steps.

"Wait, seriously? And then, what? He just picked it all up like nothing happened?" the young elf asked with a gleeful joy in her voice, feeling her cheeks turn a bright pink as she heard the other girl's voice talk about some random things that happened to them today.

The conversation continued almost too long, to the point where the sun was starting to glare into Silvia's eyes as it was setting, "Hey, I gotta go, alright? I'm pretty sure my mom should have finished dinner right about now. Yes, it's those spinach cannelloni, I don't know how she does it, but my mom makes them taste divine! Mhm, yeah! Yeah, you... you should come over sometime and give them a try... I'm sure my parents would love to have you over for dinner," Silvia pointed out nervously, but soon, a broad smile appeared on her face, "Yeah, alright! That sounds great! Okay, I really do have to go now. I'll talk to you soon! Alright, bye-bye!"

Biting her lower lip excitedly, Silvia jumped up onto her feet, ready to practically sprint up the stairs. That was when a voice entered her ears and made her freeze up completely.

"I-I see you finally like spinach, huh?"

Silvia flinched toward the source of the voice. In front of her stood a young elven woman. Actually, Silvia knew exactly how old she was. She had turned 34 this year, though she definitely didn't look it. She looked more like a human her age than an elf. The smell of her thick hibiscus perfume almost made Silvia want to vomit, as did her bright red lipstick.

Silvia froze in a cold sweat as she looked at her birth-mother standing in front of her.

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Six mirrors were lined up in a half-circle. Mellow green runes were glowing on their frames, as the figures of different individuals were revealed in each of them.

"Alright, we're all here, then," Runar crossed his leg, standing in front of those mirrors.

The person in a mirror to Runar's left spoke first. The elderly Cyclops' was wearing intricately decorated robes like you would have seen from nobility a few centuries ago. His rough, disgruntled manner of speaking came in clear contrast to his fashion choices.

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"What's this about? This about that vampire boy? Something go wrong already?" he asked, and before Runar could reply, the person displayed in the mirror furthest to the right replied.

"That's why we shouldn't have used a child, especially not one with his sort of personality problems," the Mustiar carefully stroked her long whiskers that were almost invisible against the mouse-like woman's greying fur, "I've been against this from the beginning!"

Runar let out a long sigh, before the other elders could throw in their opinions, "No, this isn't about Liam. He's doing well, he seems to be making friends at school. It has been fully announced that he's a vampire, and I even spoke to some of the parents at his school, and they seemed more curious than anything. Some seem a bit apprehensive, but since Liam is such a lively boy, even if a bit weird, they seem to be a lot more open than I actually expected."

The human in one of the two middle mirrors leaned back in his chair, interlocking his fingers, "So then what is this about? I assume it's not to chat and report on your new kid's achievements."

"Hah, when have I ever reported anything to you guys?" Runar scoffed, shaking his head instantly, "No, this is something else. As some of you might be aware, my nephew has been living with me for a while now."

"... Against our wishes, yes. What Hayden has done was nothing less than a betrayal of everything our family stands for," the human elder pointed out, and Runar couldn't really say anything against that. It was true; it was to the point where some factions within the Aglecard family even advocated to imprison him, but Runar's father decided that he would be completely 'banished' and blocked from any contact with the family. When Runar himself then became head, he could circumvent that without anyone being able to say anything, and even lifted the inherited banishment on Ryan.

"Yes, but that was Hayden, not his son. Is our family not about openness and acceptance? Why try to push out a boy who was not even a concept when his father betrayed us," the lizardman in one of the mirrors with scarred, matted scales all over the exposed parts of his skin, pointed out. Runar smiled lightly toward him, but before he could speak, the cyclops responded.

"Blood means something! The kid of someone that could commit such a sin is capable of the same, if not worse!"

"Blood does not carry morals, words do. And Hayden's words were never able to reach the boy. Hayden died long before any memories could be formed."

"Then what about his mother? Someone that'd get with a heinous criminal like Hayden can't be any better! A broad like her-"

"Shut your mouth, Orion," Runar's voice carried a weight with it that startled all the elders. He was usually a calm-minded man and didn't often raise his voice, after all, "Mary is a good, kind, and loving woman. She raised Ryan into a man of upstanding character, who doesn't hesitate to help those in need. When's the last time you took a bullet and threatened to jump to your death just to-"

Realizing that Runar was talking about things that none of these people knew about yet, he stopped himself. First and foremost, he had to explain one thing.

"Ryan was chosen as the Spirit Keeper."

The six elders grew silent, but their expressions spoke volumes. There were only a few things that could really be passing through their minds right now, and Runar quickly continued, "He came into contact with two spirits already. The first was Maximus, the Knight Spirit. Later, while exploring a dungeon, he destroyed a dungeon heart and found a fragment of one of the spirits that was lost back then, Gaia the Garden Golem Spirit."

"Wait, hold on," the mustiar leaned forward, "A dungeon? Why was a spirit's fragment in a dungeon?"

Runar closed his eyes with a long sigh, "Well, why do you think? It's 'cause of the White Shadow Society."

"Of course it's them," the human elder scoffed annoyed, "Have you found other fragments?"

"We found all the fragments. Ryan is currently constructing Gaia's body. However, each one of the fragments was being used for a very clear reason. The first was in a low-level dungeon with an easy-to-find core room and acted as the trigger of the dungeon being born. The second was placed inside of some kind of small robot, and later on was corrupted to cause the robot to go berserk. And the third was apparently being used for some kind of experiment. I'm sure you all heard about the Giant in the Channel the other day."

Orion, the cyclops, crossed his arms, "So they're trying to tap into the spirits powers? What for?"

"... From my point of view, there only seems to be a single good reason," the lizardman pointed out, "Those were clearly all very obvious cases. Too obvious for how the White Shadow Society usually operates. Are they aiming for the spirits themselves this time?"

"That's what it looks like, yeah. If they can turn the tide of public opinion against spirits... then other magically influenced species will follow pretty quickly, " Runar tiredly pushed his hand through his hair, trying to get it out of his face, "We're keeping an eye on them right now, but for the time being it looks like they won't be able to abuse spirits like that anymore. But we should still be careful. Bruno, please tighten the search for the lost spirits. We'll send you over some of the data we've gathered from the lab where they were doing the experiments, that should help you out."

Bruno, the Rottweiler-Canir who had been keeping quiet this whole time, slowly nodded his head, "Got it. That reminds me, I was wondering why you requested the cores we had collected so far."

"I figured it made sense to keep them safe with Ryan. He's doing a pretty good job, and he's ridiculously protective over them. Even after just finding a single fragment, helping out Gaia was his top priority. Plus, the more spirits are with him, the faster he can level up. Bluesky is after him right now. Ryan... registered."

"Excuse me?" the human let out, "How the hell did you let that happen?"

"... I was on a trip the day after he awakened. Dealing with that Kobold hole that popped up a bit ago, remember? And it looks like Maximus, the Knight Spirit, found out that there was a trace of another spirit somewhere. Ryan immediately registered so he could go into that dungeon," Runar explained, "I've dealt with the guys going after him for now, but I want to push him above level 10 as soon as possible so that the Bluesky guys can't try to steal the class anymore."

The last of the elders, the old gnome woman who had kept silent this whole time, finally spoke up after a while, "... Is there anything different about the class? It was inactive for twenty-five years, that in itself is abnormal. Is it safe? Are the skills the same?"

Runar thought about it for a while, but in the end decided that it was best to just fill them in for now. It seemed like the elders were generally receptive enough. Plus, they would find out sooner or later anyway, "Mostly everything seems the same, with two exceptions. One, because his flesh was infected with corruption, I brought him to the nearby Symbiote nest. There, he bonded with a variant called a 'Ruby Symbiote'. Tiar, the symbiote, seemed to have connected to the system somehow, giving Ryan a skill that allows him to recreate parts of the spirits' bodies as armour for himself. I hadn't seen that skill in any other records, so it seems to be a unique case through Tiar's assistance."

"A symbiote, eh?" Orion let out, clearly a bit annoyed, "A lucky fellow, ain't he?"

"... Yeah, maybe. In some ways," Runar sighed awkwardly, "But I think the most important part is the form that his 'construction' type took. It's the same as his father's, that model-building method. He found Hayden's old tools and they respond to his ability perfectly fine."

"Did the class get stuck on that method, or was Ryan also an active model-builder?" the gnome asked.

"The latter. Actually, he seems more hard-core about it than Hayden ever was. But that's not why I'm bringing it up. Hayden's version was plastic; very, very strong plastic, but all of our analyses said that it was the same material as any other model-building kit. But in Ryan's case, the models are constructed with metal, leather, fabric, and even wood. Gaia's body that he's constructing right now is made of actual stone. And I don't know why, either. It's not like he's ever built models that use those materials, only those classic plastic ones."

The gnome cupped her chin curiously, "So either it is a unique sort of adaption, or the class did undergo some changes over the past two decades."

Runar looked at the gnome hesitantly, "Actually, it does look like there was a change that we can tell for sure. I always kept a line to that 'Spirit Keeper' seeking spell. It didn't respond, even though we know for a fact that the Spirit Keeper is back," he explained, and though the others weren't sure exactly where Runar was going, the gnome did seem to understand.

"You don't mean..."

Runar nodded his head, "Yes. I think it's possible that there was another Spirit Keeper between Hayden and Ryan."