***
(Few days later)
***
Yuto and his team walked down the street to complete a mission given to them by the way guild to determine their participation for a new group.
The guild's request was supposed to be simple: clear a haunted shrine of restless spirits for an old merchant who had the misfortune of buying land on a curse. In Eridale terms it meant: easy coin, a little experience for the new crew, and a chance for me to not accidentally explode something valuable.
Famous last words, obviously.
"Stay alert," Elira said, eyes narrowing as the shrine's gate loomed beneath a knot of black-leafed trees. She had read the runes from a distance and her fingers never left the sheaths at her hips. Zarek cracked his knuckles with a grin. Seraphina adjusted the ribbon on her wrist and gave us a faint, superior nod; Mimi munched enthusiastically on a strange pastry like a cheerful grenade.
I poked at the shrine door with my toe. It creaked open as if it had been expecting us. A cold wind pushed out, smelling faintly of ash and old memories.
[Advisor: Caution recommended. Residual spirit activity is above comfort threshold, and the shrine architecture is displaced, likely due to long-term possession.]
"Thanks, Advisor. Always so sunny," I whispered.
We stepped inside. The shrine was a hollow dome of cold stone, incense ashes drifting in the air like lazy grey ghosts. A carved statue of some long-forgotten god loomed atop a pedestal, but its eyes were dark holes, as if whatever watched from inside had left.
"Target: residual spirits. Difficulty: mid-level," the guild note had said. It had not mentioned the whispering.
They started as whispers, soft, curling into our thoughts. Then one became a form. Pale shapes drifted from cracks in the stone, their faces long and smudged like watercolors. They wailed and the air thickened. The Nerulian healer with us sucked in breath.
" Currropted spirits hmmm, my race but
these are evil ones "
Zack said, reminding himself that he was also a spirit core, though he was more special and could take form of a human now.
"Form a ring. Don't let them surround you," Elira ordered. Her daggers traced quick wards in the air. The runes glowed faintly.
I took a deep breath. Time to test something properly.
I checked up on my status, wondering if it was good enough .
[ Status]
Name: Yuto (Primordial Spirit Core / Human-Form)
Form: Human-Form (Default)
Level: 8
HP: 250/250
MP: 410/420
Strength: 32
Agility: 38
Endurance: 30
Intelligence: 30
Skills:
- Absorption (Enhanced)
- Analyze (Lv.2)
- Mana Shaping (Lv.3)
- Cleansing Light (Lv.1)
- Regeneration (Basic)
- Shared Growth (Unique Trait)
Spirit-Only Skills (accessible while in Spirit Form or Core):
- Ethereal Drift (teleport short distance)
- Soul Beacon (reveal hidden spirits)
- Spirit Siphon (drain mana/essence from corrupted beings)
[Advisor: Note:: core form can be auto-reverted to at HP ≤ 15% or by manual activation. Spirit-form grants access to Spirit-Only skills, reduces physical attack capability but drastically increases mana responsiveness and survival. Cooldown: 10 minutes post-reform.]
"Manual, huh?" I murmured. Keep that in mind.
The currropted spirits screeched and converged. They were fast, but none of them had substance , just hungry echoes. I swung my mana blade; it passed through one, leaving a scattering of grey motes. It was oddly unsatisfying.
"Yuto, focus on the anchors," Elira snapped. The shrine kept small containers that anchored the haunt. If we destroyed them the spirits would disperse.
I charged, using Mana Shaping to harden my guard. One spirit shoved through the ward and slammed into me. For a second the world went white and I felt pressure like a fist around my chest. My HP dropped with a sickening beep.
HP: 250 → 38 (▼212)
Warning: Core Integrity Critical Threshold Approaching
My skin prickled with cold. The shrine's whispers turned to hunger. The largest of the spirits closed in with only its mouth visible, a black hole that wanted to swallow me whole.
"Yuto!" Zarek yelled. "Are you .....?"
I tasted the edges of my consciousness fuzzing. The system's override kicked in before panic did.
[Advisor: Auto-Revert triggered. HP ≤ 15%. Reverting to Primordial Spirit Core now. Manual cancel: optional.]
"Nope. Not today, you creep," I said aloud, or inside. The shrine dimmed at the edges as I felt my body unwind like a ribbon.
Light peeled away. Flesh and fabric melted into a concentrated glow. I felt weight fall off me. The pain dulled to a pinprick and then vanished. The last thing human me heard before the core snapped was Elira's voice frenzied and Zarek shouting something about "not dying on our first real quest!"
When my awareness blinked back I was small, a perfect, humming sphere of light floating an inch above the shrine stones.
[Form Switch: Primordial Spirit Core (Auto-Revert) ]
Core Integrity (HP): 180/180
MP: 520/520
Speed (Ethereal): Increased
Physical Attacks: Restricted
Spirit Skills: Fully Operational
Active Spirit Skills:
- Ethereal Drift (Lv.1): Blink 8m cooldown 6s
- Soul Beacon (Lv.1): Reveals spirit anchors within 30m
- Spirit Siphon (Lv.1): Drain 10% mana from corrupted target; heals Core Integrity for 5% of drained
[Advisor: Survival mode engaged. Physical risk removed. Use spirit skills to purge anchors and restore core integrity. Recommend: Soul Beacon → Spirit Siphon on anchors → Cleansing Light reinforced.]
"Finally, an advantage," I said, and then beeped as the sphere shot forward.
" Let's see what my current spirit from can do"
The spirits recoiled from the light. I pulsed Soul Beacon; a faint map overlay blinked in my head . small glowing sigils under stone altars, the anchors Elira had mentioned. My core flared and I launched Ethereal Drift, blinking eight meters and passing through two spirits as if they were fog. They hissed on the other side.
I collided with the first anchor, a scorched clay jar and channeled Spirit Siphon. A thin tendril of my light threaded into the jar; it resisted, shrieking. The siphon took hold, pulling mana out of the anchor and into me. The jar cracked and the first of the anchors popped like a bubble, its scream dissolving.
With each siphon I felt the core thrum , my MP draining in a bright fountain, some of it converting into core integrity. The numbers on my internal window adjusted like a soothing heartbeat.
MP: 520 → 455
Core Integrity (HP): 180 → 210 (+30 via siphon-absorption)
The spirits nearest the destroyed anchor lost cohesion and slumped into puddles of grey. Elira cut down the nearest anchored apparition with a clean slash, and Zarek vaulted onto a shrine pillar to smash another jar.
We were coordinated, but it was the core work that cut the root. I moved as light through Ethereal Drift here, Soul Beacon there, Spirit Siphon to anchor and slowly the wail diminished.
The final anchor shuddered when Mimi, bless her heart, accidentally bounced into it while trying to snack on a hovering ember. She made a hiccup noise and the jar toppled into Zarek's waiting hands. He smashed it, and the last of the apparitions crumpled into ash.
The shrine sighed. The silence felt like someone finally exhaling after holding their breath for a long time.
I shimmered, feeling the core glow settle. The system pinged.
[Core Stabilization Complete]
Core Integrity: 260/260
MP: 420/420
Cooldown: Reversion Lock : 8:12 remaining
So the auto-revert kicks in at low HP, gives me access to spirit-only toolkit, and after reforming into humanoid I get a cooldown (it showed as a timer -8 minutes something). Good to know.
Elira walked over, studying the orb with a look that was half curiosity, half caution. "You can revert… intentionally?" she asked.
I felt a strange little pride sweep through me. "Yeah. If I get smacked too hard, I become a really annoying glowing marble instead of a corpse. Useful party trick."
Zarek whooped and slapped me . Careful with a glowing core, heh ,but even he kept his hand light. "Dude, that was cool. You saved our skins."
Seraphina adjusted her jeweled scarf and looked at me with newfound interest that wasn't snobbery for once. "A useful anomaly. Keep that up, and you'll be valuable."
Mimi popped a marshmallow between her fingers and offered me a burnt one. "You deserve a snack," she declared.
[Advisor: Note , Shared Growth amplified. Party received 8% temporary stat buff due to core interaction resonance.]
"Awesome," I grinned. "Healing snacks for everyone."
Another one showed up soon.
[ Congratulations, Spirit core form has now evolved to to spirit core aura form. Your core will display tremendous amount of aura, when spirit form is activated]
Guess this was different from my former body evolution.
[ Body evolution pending (16%)]
" Isn't the latter just a brag evolution"
[ Shut up!]
I now noticed something else, Advisor was starting to get less sarcastic than before, probably due to the fact that Yuto personality was changing because he was now more stronger than before....
Before we left the shrine, I tucked the fallen anchors' shards into a small satchel research material, Elira said; and money, Seraphina suggested. The merchant who'd requested the cleanse would be happy; we'd be paid in coin and in gratitude.
As we stepped back into Eridale's sunlight, I let the human-form reassemble itself slowly. Limbs knitted into place. The blanket of light folded into sinew and skin, and I inhaled , not because I needed air, but because the ritual of returning to flesh felt like a promise to those who'd placed their trust in me.
[Advisor: Record updated: Auto-Revert (HP≤15%) enabled. Reversion cooldown: 10 minutes. Spirit Skills cataloged for integration into combat routines]
[Recommend: Train with core-form drills to leverage Ethereal Drift + Siphon combos.]
"Noted," I said. "And shut up."
Elira gave a short, rare smile that looked vulnerable on her face. "You saved a lot today , not just bodies. Keep your core safe."
I tucked the satchel under my arm, feeling its weight , not heavy coin, but responsibility. The people of Eridale would see me as more than a rumor now: a protector who could become an incorporeal force when the odds got ugly. That would change things, both for my friends and for me.
And somewhere in the back of my mind, where Advisor lived, a dry little comment arrived.
[Advisor: Congratulations. You were both useful and an emotional crutch today. It's adorable how you confuse the two.]
I didn't dignify that with a response. I smiled anyway.
---i