From what [Sophi] had told me, it was nearly impossible to summon my first spirit without proper guidance, even as a Spiritualist.
Luckily, I had [Sophi], who was the greatest assistance I could ask for. I silently thanked Mother Earth for blessing me with such a wonderful clanker.
Sitting cross-legged on the cold ground in the darkness of the cave, I found my anxiety only growing. Still, I fixed my attention on my breathing, letting each inhale and exhale steady my restless thoughts.
It was a gradual process, but slowly I slipped into meditation. My mind began to clear of every distracting thought.
After some time, a strange shiver ran down my spine.
The spiritual power within me, I could finally feel it. It was a strange sensation, almost like scalding water coursing through my veins.
Gradually, my body grew weightless.
When I opened my eyes, I found myself in a black and white world.
"Is this... the spirit world?" I wondered, watching as my body drifted endlessly. I couldn't move, not even the twitch of a muscle was possible.
For a time, I remained motionless, like a statue. The moments dragged on unbearably.
First came boredom, then loneliness and distracting thoughts, like I had forgotten to delete all the files on my PC before dying… the sheer fact that someone might see some of the files made my cheeks flush in embarrassment, then I simply became depressed…
At last, after what felt like an eternity, a faint purple light appeared, flickering before me. It hovered in the void.
"Come here..." it whispered in my ear.
I stared at it and said, "I can't come. I can't even move."
"...You are interesting."
"If I am interesting, then are you willing to form a contract with me?" I asked. It was obvious this purple, flickering light was the spirit. And this place, according to Sophie, was the spirit dimension, the home of all spirits.
"You have weak spirit power. I am not interested in such a weakling," the purple light replied.
"What must I do to gain your contract then?" I asked, a frown creasing my brow. [Sophi] had warned me that with my feeble spirit power, I would need to complete some kind of task to earn the spirit's contract.
"Hmm, you are too weak. I have no interest in you." The purple flickering light's voice faded as it vanished from my sight entirely, leaving me stunned and helpless.
"Damn it." I gritted my teeth. A little frustrated, the word "weak" echoed in my mind, mocking how powerless I truly was.
In the end, only a defeated sigh escaped my lips. For now, there was nothing I could do, and so my search for another spirit continued.
And by search, I meant drifting endlessly through this void with no sense of direction whatsoever.
After what felt like another eternity, a new presence emerged before me, a flickering red light.
"How interesting, you are one of the most unique specimens I have ever laid eyes on," the red light said with intrigue.
"Then are you willing to form a contract with me?" I asked, letting out a bitter sigh.
The red flickering light ignored his words, looking at my body from up and down, then commented, "You seem to be human, but your form resembles more like a God. It feels as if you are a strange hybrid of a God and a Human, a Saint."
"Saint!?" I muttered with a startled expression. It was the first time that I ever heard anything about such a thing.
Even my status screen's species was unknown, and when I asked [Sophi], she said that even she didn't know about it.
"That's right, you are a Saint," the red flickering light said.
"So, are you willing to form a contract with me?"
"No, every Saint has a reason to be birthed by the Gods, and I have no interest in playing in their twisted games."
I felt my heart drum violently. It would be a lie if I said that I didn't feel something fishy about the mission that Mother Earth gave me. How was I even supposed to kill Gods!?
But I still needed a spirit if I wanted to survive my ordeal, so I could only grit my teeth and speak to the spirit, "I don't know if the Gods have played a twisted game on me or not, but if you are willing to contract me, then I will give you a fun ride."
"Human, if I were to form a contract with you, then with your spirit power I would have to shrink down to the minimal size just to survive," the red flickering light replied.
"I know, however," I grinned. "But you wouldn't be talking to me if you weren't interested. Just give me a year, and you'll see."
"..." The red light didn't reply for a moment before it suddenly erupted into a violent, blinding glow.
"Haha, you are right. I am interested. We shall share a mutual benefit until you can prove to me that you are worthy."
I felt my blood boil for some reason as the red light surged forward and entered inside me.
[You have been given a mutual-benefit contract for a year with the Blood High-Spirit [Jormuma]. Do you wish to accept it?]
"What's a mutual-benefit contract?" I asked [Sophi] in my head.
[Host, a mutual-benefit contract is one of the most lenient types of contract. The Spirit is to help the host for a year; however, the Spirit retains its own free will, and you will have to constantly feed it spiritual energy to keep it alive.]
"I see," I muttered, staring at the blue panel before me. Without hesitation, I accepted it.
Swish!
In an instant, I felt weightless. My body ached with a tearing pain, but it vanished within mere seconds.
The next moment, I was back in the real world, sitting cross-legged on the ground in the abandoned cave.
A strange itch crawled across my left hand. I looked at it with my pupils dilated…