73
Contrary to my expectations, it didn’t take long for Anastasia to filter out the saturated magic.
The ‘Black Spirit’ was now shining completely white.
However, the black magic was still blotched on his body.
It was the combination of that and the Sea God’s Pearl that drove the once pristine spirit insane.
“Tsk.”
I furrowed my brows and placed my hand on Anastasia’s small head.
As the anti-magic rose, it cleanly wiped away the blotches of magic spread on the spirit’s body.
─······.
The spirit, ‘Anastasia,’ restored to its original form, looked up at me.
The spirit, who stared at me as if looking for something, then tilted its head.
Wondering what was going on, I saw a status notification pop up.
[Spirit, Anastasia wishes to make a contract with you.]
“Oh.”
I had been thinking it would be nice to make the contract anyway, and it seems you felt the same way. I found myself willing to make the contract, and a warm smile spread across my face.
Alright, let’s make the contract. But why are you standing so far away, just staring?
‘Ah, is it because there’s no contract scroll?’
I chuckled and picked up a fallen branch from the ground.
‘I happen to be exceptionally good at drawing contract scrolls.’
Despite my appearance, I was the one who successfully negotiated a contract between Modo and Han Seyeon.
As I headed to the garden square to draw the contract scroll, I noticed the attention around me and called out to Anastasia.
“Come here.”
Cutely, Anastasia followed my gesture. Eun Hoseong looked puzzled at my sudden actions.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m going to send her back. Leaving her alone like this might worsen her condition.”
“Oh, may I come along and take a look too?”
“I’m sorry, but you can’t. Spirits get stressed when there are too many eyes watching them.”
Withdrawing the Divine Pearl, there was no chance Anastasia’s condition would worsen again. Whether spirits get stressed from being watched by many, I had no idea. I’m not a spirit expert, let alone knowing such intricate details. I just went with the flow.
“Is that so? That’s a shame.”
Eun Hoseong retreated, having regained his appetite with my witty banter.
With Eun Hoseong’s assistance, I took Anastasia to a quiet garden to stabilize the spirit.
It was while drawing the contract scroll in the garden courtyard that it happened.
Anastasia, who had been staring at me intently, raised her hand.
As I looked at her in confusion, a message notification appeared.
[Anastasia has not detected any magic power from you.]
“?”
[Therefore, the contract cannot be fulfilled.]
The branch I was using to draw the contract scroll snapped in half.
“Damn.”
This doesn’t work either?
Bring back my expectations. Useless status window.
I just wanted to enjoy a small healing life by raising a cute spirit.
“Sigh.”
I was at a loss for words in the shattered dream. A new alarm popped up.
——–
Gift: 【The Dilemma of a Mortal】
▶ Fusion Divine Beast
+ Phoenix
——–
“Oh, this…”
My eyes, clouded with regret, sparkled.
I hadn’t paid much attention and had forgotten about it. The fact that I didn’t obtain Parang through a contract, but through ‘fusion.’ And fusion is a superior concept to a contract.
It literally refers to sharing everything with a summoned being.
For example, since I shared Parang’s body structure, I possessed an unbelievable regenerative ability.
Minor wounds would heal quickly even if I left them alone.
Moreover, I could call upon Parang no matter where he was and even detect his presence.
Of course, this shared sense had clear limitations; I could only vaguely sense his location, and I couldn’t utilize the extraordinary ability to share all five senses.
“It doesn’t seem impossible, though.”
Well, I’ll check it out later bit by bit…
Anyway, the emergence of this fused deity meant that Anastasia could also be accepted into my deity.
“It’s a deity, not a spirit, right? Because it’s not from the spirit realm?”
Spirits are divided into two categories: those born in the spirit realm and those born in the natural world.
Those born in the spirit realm are beings from a completely different dimension called the ‘spirit realm,’ while those born in the natural world refer to naturally occurring beings where magical energy gathers in the human world.
Most beings like the lake spirit or the sea spirit mentioned in myths often referred to these natural world spirits.
And Anastasia, too, was a being born from the energy of the Sea God.
A child born from the pearls of the Sea God.
[The consent of the respective deity is required for fusion.]
“Lucky me.”
I laughed at the unexpected opportunity for fusion.
Encountering a natural world spirit was rare enough to be called a miracle. To fuse with such a being? This was a stroke of luck that rarely came by.
Of course, I respected Anastasia’s opinion. It might be good for me, but fusion was quite a significant matter for spirits.
“By the way, how do I explain this?”
It seemed Anastasia could only understand very simple gestures.
“If we can’t communicate, I can’t ask questions either…”
I tried gesturing back and forth between Anastasia and myself, but Anastasia just blinked cluelessly.
“Um…”
I was at a loss when Anastasia, with a puzzled expression, only stared back at me.
Thud!
Suddenly, Anastasia glowed brightly.
“Ah!”
From Noble mtl dot com
I furrowed my brows at the sudden burst of light.
When I opened my eyes again, Anastasia had vanished without a trace.
“What? Anastasia?”
Puzzled by Anastasia’s sudden disappearance, I looked around, and then a notification popped up.
Ping!
——–
+ Phoenix
+ Anastasia
——–
“Oh!”
I was taken aback as I confirmed Anastasia’s addition to my deity.
Suddenly feeling a burning sensation in my chest, I peeked inside my clothes and found a new symbol engraved on my left chest.
Unlike the blue phoenix drawing of Parangi, it was a white symbol.
『ᛊ』
A runic symbol representing light, Sigel.
“···I wonder if my body is turning into a canvas.”
Shaking my head at the unnecessary worry, I opened the newly updated ‘Anastasia.’
——–
▶Anastasia Lv.1
─Nature Spirit of Light
*Capable of various tasks using light.
*For instance, causing confusion in the opponent’s sight or brightening the player’s vision.
——–
Various tasks using light. I chuckled at the comprehensive yet simple explanation.
“This is interesting.”
Starting off as a legendary mythical being like Parangi is great, but this simplicity was also appealing in its own way.
Watching it grow stronger step by step from the beginning was somewhat satisfying.
For the sake of this subtle enjoyment, I deliberately contracted lower spirits to nurture them up to higher levels while playing the game.
Was it because of the description stating that the player’s vision would brighten? Strangely, I felt as if my eyes were brighter. No, it wasn’t just a feeling.
“···Has it really improved?”
Trees planted far away seemed close, and every grain of sand in the yard was vividly visible.
Even without focusing, I could see the dust settling on my sleeve.
Although I didn’t check, with this level of clarity, I felt confident in navigating even dark dungeons.
Just as Parangi gave me regeneration, Anastasia gifted me with a bright vision.
It was a unique trait shared only by fusionists, unattainable through summoning contracts.
“Phew, thankfully not too late.”
Glancing at the clock, I felt relieved. It took me 10 minutes to acquire Anastasia.
With this timing, I could barely make it to the remote mountain where Han Seyun was supposed to be, just as I had estimated.
Honestly, it was my concern; Han Seyun was an unknown contractee.
With such a lord-level ability, even if she could handle only a portion of it, she would be able to hold her ground against the crutes.
“Is it overkill to hope she can handle it on her own?”
I wasn’t sure, but judging from her previous outburst, Han Seyun didn’t seem to have a high level of proficiency in handling Mordo.
My confidence in this assertion stemmed from the Eternity’s Law, where summoners with weak wills couldn’t fully draw out the abilities of their summons due to low synchronization rates.
In severe cases, some summoners couldn’t even draw out a fraction of their summon’s abilities despite forming a contract, all thanks to Eternity.
With Han Seyun’s faint soul color, the likelihood of struggling to handle it was even higher. That’s why she had a breakdown earlier.
On the contrary, even with an exceptionally high synchronization rate, it was said that causing an outburst was unheard of, making it not even worth considering.
Instances of outbursts due to synchronization rate were rare in Eternity’s history.
Anyway, I had to hurry. If I lost control like last time, it would be a headache.
After organizing my thoughts, I swiftly left the support area and headed towards the mountain.
However, I couldn’t help but stop soon after.
The back gate of Haenam, where Han Seyun stood at the entrance leading to the mountain.
“What, it’s already over?”
As I blinked, approaching Han Seyeon, she waved her hand with a smile.
“Oh, thank goodness. I was worried about what would happen if our paths diverged.”
“Have you finished already?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t as difficult as I thought.”
“Is that so?”
Seeing Han Seyeon looking so unaffected, I tilted my head in wonder.
I knew that the anti-magic user, Crute, was sensitive to energies other than magic, but was the disparity so significant?
“Well, if you don’t know, it could be due to pure magic.”
The purer the energy without impurities, the stronger the magic. It would work even better on an anti-magic user like Crute.
Feeling deflated by the realization that I was just being foolish, I stopped in my tracks.
“Let’s go.”
“Yeah.”
Unaware, Han Seyeon smiled and stuck by my side.
***
The attack by the miners aiming for the Sea God’s Pearl was quickly resolved.
Since the miners’ target was the Sea God’s Pearl and not the guests, the damage was not as extensive as feared.
Of course, amidst all this, Georg, Norton, and the Berserker who appeared in the garden were subdued by me and Seharin, turning us into heroes who rescued the silver banquet in no time.
In reality, all I did was go to the feast Georg had prepared and call out Anastasia’s name.
Thanks to that, our group was allowed to stay an extra day at the silver banquet under the guise of being honored guests.
Although we should have left for classes starting on Monday, Eun Hoseong personally called the academy and got our classes postponed.
Of course, the atmosphere at the silver banquet was not particularly pleasant. Not only did we fail to successfully complete the Sea God Ritual, but there were also a few casualties.
Being bound by blood as Hae Nam Eungai, the significance of the casualties was even greater.
Before being a mage, they were a family bound by blood.
“Please understand why we’re treating you separately.”
“I’m grateful for the treatment alone.”
On a late night with the bright moon of the Hwicheong Province shining, I was alone, facing Eun Hoseong at his residence.
In reality, Eun Hoseong wanted to call Seharin as well, but she had left Hae Nam Eungai the day before.
“She must be feeling uneasy after killing her mentor. It’s understandable.”
Although Norton was a miner, he was a significant figure to Seharin.
Anyway, being alone with Eun Hoseong like this was a good thing for me.
There was something I wanted to ask.
And so, the exclusive conversation between the two of us began.
“hahahaha, so, is it true that Gaeya calls magic stones ‘awakening pills’?”
“Yes, it’s quite fascinating. Does Gaeya have any unique dietary preferences?”
“Unlikely. We also eat a very normal diet.”
Eun Hoseong was very curious about Gaeya’s academy life, and I honestly answered all his questions.
Of course, I kept the fact that Gaeya begged me to keep the awakening pills a secret, but Eun Hoseong already knew and pretended not to. Hence, I could also mention the fact that Gaeya insisted on calling magic stones awakening pills.
In the midst of our conversation, Eun Hoseong suddenly asked in a low voice.
“Seems like you have something to ask.”
“Yes, there is one question I’d like to ask.”
“Go on, you’re the hero who saved the Silver River, you must answer.”
I straightened my expression and asked.
“For instance, I’d like to hear more about the fat pig that came in this time.”
“Oh, do you think I would know about that?”
Eun Hosung, realizing that ‘fat pig’ referred to Georg, put on an amused expression.
“Yes, don’t you know well?”
“hahahahaha… the more I hear, the more surprising it is. How much does Haesol know exactly?”
Eun Hosung looked at me with lowered eyes.
***
Meanwhile, in the underground first floor prison of Haenam Eun River’s annex.
There were many mines captured this time detained there.
Yoo Jonghyuk, a mine who was involved in the invasion of the Silver River and got arrested, was also detained in a private room in this prison.
Yoo Jonghyuk, leaning against the wall with a lifeless expression, suddenly widened his eyes.
Thud.
The guard who was guarding the cell suddenly collapsed to the side. And then, as the torch illuminated the ground like a shadow shooting up, darkness rose.
The risen darkness gradually took the form of a woman.
“W-what…”
Startled, Yoo Jonghyuk opened his eyes wide, and the woman, looking at him, tilted her head and asked.
“Yoo Jonghyuk, is that you?”
“Y-yes!”
Thinking that she had come to rescue him, Yoo Jonghyuk stood up from his seat. And then.
“…Huh?”
Yoo Jonghyuk let out a gasp.
Black darkness enveloped him.
That was the last thing Yoo Jonghyuk saw.
Thud!
A small thud was heard, and the prison was neatly emptied. There was no trace left of Yoo Jonghyuk.
“…”
Yoo Jonghyuk.
He was the mine who, before the invasion of the Silver River, was actually Haesol disguised at the meeting of the mines.
Han Seyeon, who had witnessed the entire transformation process, knew.
Although Haesol seemed to stop at erasing memories using a certain ability, Han Seyeon had other plans.
Such things needed to be neatly wrapped up to avoid complications later on.
“Haesol is too kind-hearted.”
Han Seyeon, looking down at the fallen guard, turned into darkness and disappeared.