I enter the Amphitheater and see the two boys standing respectfully to the side. That's nice and all, except they're way outside my aggression range. Should I deviate like I did earlier? Nah, one of these two is the leader; I'd better not. Well, onward to be sacrificed. Such a pitiful fate is mine.
I make an exaggerated show of being forcefully dragged down the amphitheater steps. My show seems to be appreciated. One of the boys, the leader, is flexing his fist in righteous anger. I should've been an actress. Too bad I died young.
I start to step on the altar to finish my performance, but I hear the boys scoot closer. I turn around and see that they are just inside my aggression range now. What are these two clowns up to? I was just about to finish my award-worthy act, and they went and interrupted it, how rude. I glare at them. Well, I suppose they deserve the hurt I'm about to dish out on them, but one of the boys drops before I can even touch him. What's up with that?
I know the first three boys were weak, but the two after that seemed decent. How is the kid standing, erhm, lying by the leader's side so weak? But before I can do much more, I hear a voice, [Soul Evolution requirements met, evolve from 'Spectral Orb' to 'Phantom Sprite', yes/no?]
[Umm, yes, I guess] I think back.
I feel a coolness spread to every limb in my body, including my legs. I have legs now, score! But now I have this annoying screen in my vision.
[I don't want a system!] I think.
[I'm not a system, I'm your subconscious making sense of your new senses and abilities, if I appear as a system, it's because you've read too much system novel trash and you have brain rot]
Oof, critical hit. The truth hurts.
I look at the not-a-system screen anyway. I seem to have 3 crucial stats. No, bad ghost girl. I have 3 crucial energies: Mana, Spirit, and Qi. Spirit was the one that just reached 100/100 and then changed to 100/1000 after I evolved. I have 2 new abilities in this column: Spook Lvl 1 and Haunt Lvl 1. They pretty much do what they say on the tin. Spook gives me illusion and shape-changing abilities that help make me more frightening, claws, elongated limbs, a detached jaw, maggots, all that good creepy stuff. Haunt allows me to make a location my domain. I can use my spook abilities anywhere within my domain, even if I'm not nearby. Useful for making those creepy sounds, disappearing doorways, and whatnot. I immediately declare the current ruin as my domain.
Aside from my spirit, I also have Qi 50/1000, which apparently takes much longer to upgrade. My Mana is at 60/100. Looks like that will be upgraded next. Does that mean I'll be able to throw fireballs like those kid mages? Sounds like fun, maybe I can get some payback.
I hear the leader boy mutter something about death not being due. I suppose I'll have to mess with this 'not-a-system' later. The kid is barely holding it together on his knees. Am I that scary? He lifts some sort of figure in his hand, then lights it on fire. What is wrong with this kid? Does he think that's my tether? Well, I've got news for the kid, this ghost ain't got no strings. A scythe slams hard into the altar near me, nearly causing my soul to jump out of my ... well, nearly causing me to jump anyway. I'm starting to think I missed something.
[Fragment of Death found within your domain. Fragment Absorbed. Domain Strengthened]
Okay, I definitely missed something.
I thoroughly check my surroundings to make sure there won't be any more farming implements falling from the skies, then start walking towards the kid. His eyes are gazing at me. Wait, I know that gaze! I look down and notice my curves have returned; I'm no longer a creepy snowman! That's great! Wait! My curves, the boy's gaze, Eeeek!
"Pervert!"
The sound of multiple slaps rings through the still air.
[Mana +5, Spirit +5, Qi +5]
It's only after the boy's face is painfully swollen and he's thoroughly unconscious that I realize I may have over-reacted. I have my old shape, and only the shape. There was nothing for the boy to see. I still manifest a cute dress to feel more comfortable. The spook ability comes in handy here, not just for scaring your victims silly, but also for cosmetic alterations; such a useful ability.
I really should stop calling them boys. Most of them are older than I was when I died.
Whelp, now I have to deal with this situation. There's no way the leader isn't going to remember that I talked. No matter how many times I slap him. Wait, could that work? No, bad ghost girl, brain damage isn't the answer to your problems.
I drag the other boy back to the entrance and use my ghost touch to extend the unconscious state for all six boys before returning to the amphitheater. Time to face the music. I'm busted. My only hope is to convince the leader not to blab. Or I could kill him. No, I don't want to murder the boy just because he heard something he shouldn't have. If he proves to have ill intentions, then maybe. Besides, Bart would probably come back and at least lecture me if murders start happening.
I pull the leader into an amphitheater seat before waking him up. It seems he was really drained by whatever happened; it takes him quite a while to become fully cognizant again.
There's a small start of alarm when he notices that I, a ghost, am sitting right next to him.
"Y-you spoke?" the boy asks.
Well, that confirms it, I can't just knock the leader back out and run away from the problem.
"I think I actually screamed at you, sorry about that." I apologize.
"You aren't going to apologize for the slapping? I'm still sore," he says. He seems to have gained more confidence that I'm not suddenly going to attack him.
"Nope, you probably deserved that." I hesitate, "So about this, you should know that intelligent ghosts aren't really a thing. Can you please keep quiet about this?"
"No more light-hearted banter? Straight to the serious stuff," he sighs, "You know that is a big ask, right? I should be reporting your existence to the local clerics. My guild's fame could skyrocket with this kind of report. Meanwhile, if it's found we didn't report an unusual undead, we could be executed."
"You should know by now that the clerics do not have anyone's best interest at heart except their own with this kind of stuff," I say.
"You're a treasure." It's a statement, not a question.
"Yeah," I say in a small voice.
"You're not afraid of me trying to use you?" he tries to feign bravado.
"Pfft, you could try, but half your gang fainted at the sight of me, and two of them I bested in combat. Honestly, it's in my best interest to kill you all. I'm trying to find a reason not to." I laugh.
"Well, maybe if you're not backed by Death himself next time, I'll stand a chance," he challenges.
"Okay, what is it about this reaper, fragment of death thing? I heard you guys mention it before." I inquire.
"You mean, you didn't notice that giant, robed skeleton holding a scythe?" he asks skeptically.
"I thought I imagined it." If I could blush, I would.
"You thought you imagined it?" he practically screamed.
"I was really into my performance of being the sacrificed noble girl," I say sheepishly
"Your performance? Wait, that wasn't real? Defeating death didn't free you from your cursed existence as a fiery monster from the pits of hell? Then what caused you to change from that hideous thing?" he shouts while pulling on his hair.
Each word stabs cruelly. I know I wasn't the prettiest thing as the fiery snowman, but hideous?
"Um, no, and I'm not entirely sure, but I think your friend collapsing next to you was the catalyst that allowed me to evolve," I say, unsure.
"How does that work?" He asks skeptically.
"I gained some energy when I knocked you out. I couldn't track it before, but I think I gained energy when your friend passed out, too." I theorize.
"So that's why you were running around attacking us?" he accuses.
"Umm, no, I was trying to scare you, for fun. And to keep my identity as a dumb ghost intact." I say, my voice as small as a mouse.
The boy looks at me in disbelief.
"Did you die yesterday?" He asks.
I want to refute it, but much of my naivety can indeed be explained by how recently I departed from life, and only the last few weeks have been significant.
"Umm, something like that." My voice is a tiny squeak now.
The boy starts connecting the dots. The credible reports of a haunting only started a week and a half ago.
"And you weren't killed in a sacrifice?" His voice almost pleads for me to say I was.
"Nope, I slipped." I try to mask how embarrassed I am about my death with false bravado.
"Slipped?" He looks at me dubiously.
"On lunch." I declare with false pride.
"And lunch isn't the name of a dragon or something?" he says, clinging to one last shred of hope.
"Nope, lunch is just lunch." I ruthlessly dash his crumbling hope to pieces.
"So my entire team was defeated by a clumsy, newborn ghost who died by slipping on her own lunch and accidentally summoned Death himself?" He says, defeated.
"Not entirely accurate, but close enough. If it makes you feel any better that lunch took down an entire lunch room, I mean, no one else died, but they were all brought low." I say, trying to offer him a bone.
"No. No, it does not," he declares.
"If you want my honest critique. Your team wasn't really equipped to take down ghosts, except that assassin kid, he was pretty good. Everyone else couldn't even damage me if they tried." I evaluate.
"That's not true, most of us have magic," he rebukes.
"You mean those fireballs? Those weren't even ant bites. They mostly just passed right through me.", I say, I pass my arm through some nearby rubble to emphasize my point.
"I've been avoiding asking, but my team, they're not d-?" He finally asks the questions he has been dreading.
"Oh no, they're all out in the atrium. One is a little roughed up; he decided to jump out a window. I did try and set his broken bone, but I didn't splint it, so you'll want to take care of that. He also has a nasty bump on his head." I say, shocked that he thinks I would be so callous.
"So you really don't want to kill us then? No ghostly urges?" he interrogates.
"Ghostly urges?" I giggle, "No, none of those. And I really don't want to kill you all. Scare you to death, maybe."
"I guess it would be rather rude of me to tattle on you then. I'll keep your secret, on the condition you stop trying to scare us. Also, I'm going to tell my team," he decides.
"I don't think I can keep that no-scare condition; your team is rather skittish, and many fainted at the sight of me," I say, altering the terms.
"You were hideous," he ruthlessly states, "but I suppose that's fair, no intentional scaring."
"Ouch." I say, wounded, "Okay, I will not intentionally scare your boys, cross my heart and hope to die."
"You're already dead." He says flatly.
"Oh, right, hope to be destroyed then." I correct myself.
"Well, if we're going to take such a serious oath, we should know each other's names. I'm William." He says.
"I, uh, don't have a name. I've been going by ghost girl." I say, awkwardly.
"How do you not have a name? Can't you just come up with one on the spot?" William says, shocked, I would lack something so basic.
"I could, but I'd forget it, something about true names. Don't really understand it myself, you'd have to ask that scribe guy." I inform him
"You met him, is that why you know you're a treasure?" he delicately asks.
"Yeah, that still sounds so weird, I'm a person, not a treasure!" I say, defiantly.
"Yeah, I suppose it's odd to have your entire being boiled down to what you can provide others." William empathizes.
"Not least to mention that I'd be destroyed in the process, or at best become a dumb ghost," I state the root of my worries.
"Well, let's get it over with. I, William Ignihart, solemnly vow that I will not divulge ghost girl's secret to those who would harm her." William vows
"And I, ghost girl, solemnly vow not to harm or scare William Ignihart or his guild," I vow in return
William reaches his hand out, and I shake it after expending some energy to become temporarily tangible. A subtle magic pulses through the room. Oh, so oaths have consequences here.
"Your hand is so cold and so soft," William exclaims
"That's it, you're no longer allowed to touch me, pervert," I say, as I quickly withdraw my hand.
William looks like I've killed his favorite puppy. Are my hands that soft? I rub one hand on the other. Okay, they are. Yup, it's official, I'm not becoming tangible to touch someone ever again. The softness is too dangerous. It could topple nations.
"We should probably go out and meet your team. They're probably starting to come to, and if you're going to tell them about me anyway, I might as well meet them. Let's go." I say, as I wave for William to follow.
I manifest an archway in a nearby wall and start floating towards it. William just looks at me in confusion, his feet still firmly planted.
"That's not the way to the atrium." He says
"This is my domain now. If I say it leads to the atrium, then it leads to the atrium, physics be damned." I declare.
Ghost abilities are so useful. No learning complicated portal and teleportation mechanics. I simply have to will that a door leads somewhere and it does. My will is pretty much absolute within my domain.