Spirit Integration

Senka’s sudden manifestation caused the girls to reflexively move, though each had a different reaction. Beth simply flinched back, while Vivian did as well, but the light levels around her dimmed. Aeolia had the most aggressive reaction, springing up and quickly grabbing her glaive, bringing the weapon up to point at the spirit.

“Well, that’s some greeting,” Senka said, not sounding off put by the less than warm welcome.

John coughed lightly, not liking the tense atmosphere. “Guys, um, this is Senka.”

John’s introduction of the spirit caused Vivian to relax, the light around her returning to normal. Beth likewise settled back into her chair, but Aeolia only lowered her weapon, her expression still wary.

Senka let out a pleased hum and John glanced up at the spirit, only to find his view blocked by her impressive bust. Despite the obstruction, John knew she had an appreciative smile on her face as she stepped away from him and towards Aeolia.

“I see you are as ready to fight as the fragments I received from John implied,” the spirit said smoothly.

“And you’re a lot more chatty than I thought you’d be,” Aeolia shot back, though the caution in her posture had faded.

“Not bad for someone only a few days old,” Senka joked with a light laugh.

Vivian adjusted her glasses as she looked at Senka intently. “You’re so different from the other spirits I’ve seen. If I didn’t know, I wouldn’t think you weren’t human.”

“I’m sure if you thoroughly inspected me, you’d find some differences,” Senka remarked coyly, her eye twinkling with mischief. The flirting went over Vivian’s head, though the twitch of Aeolia’s eye signaled she caught it. An awkward feeling settled in John’s gut, one that made him worry about how well integrating Senka into the group was going to go, but then a cool prickling sensation crossed his mind.

‘I’ll keep myself behaved,’ Senka’s thoughts echoed in his head. ‘But I think you and your lovers will need to have a personal talk with me.’

‘What? Why?’ John projected back.

‘Did you think there wasn’t going to be any bleed over of your attraction and affection?’ Senka shot back. ‘Or of some of your fantasies?’

John swallowed and flushed, fully aware of some of his more lurid erotic wishes. While he wrestled down his embarrassment, Senka gracefully moved back towards him. An old lesson from his mother popped into his head and John got up, offering his chair to the spirit.

“How gentlemanly,” Senka said and slid into the vacated seat.

“So, that’s it then,” Beth cut in. “You lose most of your mana and, poof, you get a busty, one-eyed knife ghost to serve you?”

John felt a wave of irritation flow from Senka and the spirit leveled her gaze at the dark haired girl. To Beth’s credit, she only shrank back slightly at the annoyed look.

“Please refrain from using such inaccurate terms,” Senka said coolly. “And it wasn’t a simple matter. My support had to be won.”

“You two fought?” Vivian asked, eyes alight with curiosity.

“Indeed,” Senka answered, a note of sadness in her voice. “It is in my nature to not bow to someone unworthy. At my core I am a weapon. And as such, putting my power in the hands of someone not up to the task of effectively using it, is as wrong to me as trying to breathe water would be to you. So John and I had a little spar so he could prove to me he could handle my powers.”

“Wouldn’t call something that ate up most of his mana as a ‘little spar’,” Aeolia interjected, flying over to sit on John’s shoulder, one of her wings tickling his ear.

John’s eyes drifted to his mana bar at Aeolia’s mention of it, frowning when he noticed the bar hadn’t changed since his return to the conscious world.

“That’s weird,” he muttered, more to himself, though his utterance attracted everyone’s attention. “The wind spirit eats up two points of mana every minute and I can’t see you costing less to keep present. I should be close to zero by now.”

Senka shrugged her shoulders, a thoughtful frown on her lips. “I’m not sure. I don’t feel any of your mana holding me here.”

John hummed. “Maybe something on your sheet or Spirit Link’s will explain something.”

“Well, looks like you changed up the skill,” John said to Senka, drawing a pleased feeling from the spirit. “And man, does it level slowly.”

“Wonder if that means it’ll be stupidly powerful later on?” Beth mused. “That’s how some OP shit is balanced, right? Weak at the start, a powerhouse by the end of the game.”

“Yeah.” John nodded. “Wonder how leveling this up will affect things?”

He shook his head, banishing away the rhetorical question then calling up Senka’s Observe.

“Okay, that has certainly changed,” John remarked.

“Looks a bit like your sheet,” Aeolia pointed out.

“Yeah, mixed with the usual one I get when using Observe on other people,” John added, eyes drifting to the top right of the page before shifting his gaze to Senka. “Sustain cost, huh? That’s a bit of a pain. It costs about 17 mana to summon you, and I lose that from my total amount, if it's anything like other sustain mechanics.”

Sustain Cost: Calculated as ((Spirit’s Max Mana/Your Max Mana)*10). While summoned, your mana pool will be reduced by an amount equal to the sustain cost.

“Yeah, it’s as I thought,” John sighed. “At least it’s not too bad. Speaking of bad things and mana, your regen there is pretty low.”

“I could have told you my mana recovers slowly,” the spirit informed him. “Though having a number to it does make things easy to calculate. And don’t worry about feeding me mana. The ten from Spirit Link are sustaining me. If this takes more than ten minutes, then you’ll have to fork some over.”

Vivian peered over at the information. “That’s one percent every hour. That is rather low. At least you have a fair amount of mana to work with.”

“Sounds like that’s more of that balance thing,” Beth chimed in. “Lots of fire power, bad reload speed.”

“I’m not sure if I like you carrying on like I’m some game character,” Senka remarked, venom dripping from her words.

Beth brought her hands up defensively. “I’m just saying! John’s powers are game based. You’re here because of those powers. I mean, I’m no egghead but that makes sense, doesn’t it?”

Beth’s reasoning soothed Senka’s outrage and the spirit pondered her logic.

“Yes, that does make complete sense,” the violet haired woman said softly before bowing her head towards Beth. “I apologize for my outburst. I assumed the worst of your statement.”

Beth rubbed the back of her neck. “Eh, it’s no big deal.”

“No, it is,” Senka countered. “If we are to be, co-workers seems like the best word to use, then we should aim to keep our relationship in good standing.”

“I don’t think we need to be so formal,” Vivian said. “‘Friends’ work just fine, right?”

Senka seemed to mull over the redhead’s words, a sad smile on her lips.

“Yes,” she said after a moment. “‘Friends’ works.”

“Are we going to get back to figuring out just what the rest of this sheet means?” Aeolia asked. “‘Cus I’m not even that interested in the minor details, but just having it sit there unread is making me want to know.”

“Right,” John said, somewhat grateful someone else wanted to get back on track. “Guess the best way to do this is just go down the line. Any objections?”

The girls all signaled with negatives and John tapped the first item in the ‘Attribute’ box.

Ensouled: Nurtured by your soul, Senka came into being with one, gifting her with greater agency and potential. The connection between you enables telepathic communication, mana sharing and a unique bonus while Senka remains in her ‘Partially Manifested’ state.

“I don’t need to read your mind to know you want to see what this ‘unique bonus’ is,” Senka remarked. Then the spirit was suddenly not in her seat and John felt an odd haze fall over him, like a blanket was draped over his shoulders.

Spirit Bonus: Shadow Caster: Using your body as a channel, Senka is able to cast a weakened version of one of her abilities at a reduced cost. 10% of the ability’s cost will be deducted from your mana pool. Her selected ability can only be changed once every 24 hours.

‘Interesting,’ Senka’s voice reverberated through his head after he read out the display for the others. ‘I can feel how my power can flow out through you.’

‘Do you want to try something?’ John asked her, getting the impression of Senka shaking her head.

‘Not right now. We have a lot to get through still.’

Senka remanifested, her position unchanged, and Vivian let out a thoughtful hum, an amused smile on her face.

“You know, that effect kind of reminds me of your evocation skill, John,” she said. “Only with your mana as the cost instead of item durability.”

“Huh,” John murmured. “Yeah, it does. At least my mana passively comes back. I should really look into what I need to repair all my gear later.”

Putting a pin in that thought for later, John moved to the next item on Senka’s sheet.

Origin: Senka possesses a personal domain forged from the intersection of your aura and her weapon form. When resting in this space, her HP and MP regeneration is multiplied by a factor of ten.

“Guess you would recover faster in that place,” John said.

“There is a drawback to it,” Senka added. “If I’m resting there, I’m beyond helping you. I think you would have to summon me via Spirit Link. I’m not sure if we could even communicate in that state.”

“What about before?” John asked.

“I was still in a…” Senka paused, trying to find the right word, “nebulous state. And providing you mana took all of my strength for that small amount. Now that we’ve established a proper connection, I don’t think a repeat could happen.”

“Sure are a lot of strings attached to your powers, man ,” Beth interjected.

“I am basically a game character,” John shot back playfully, “balance patches and all.”

Beth smirked as John pulled up the next item.

Tethered: Senka can be bound to her weapon form or you. Moving beyond (Wis) meters from her tether will require extra mana at a rate of 1MP per meter per second. Her summoning can be focused on her weapon by spending extra mana in addition to her normal costs (every 1 mana spent equates 1 minute of being bound to the weapon). This can be done after a normal summoning.

“And there’s the range limit,” John said. “Still gives you over seventeen meters before I have to throw more mana at you.”

“So you could go with someone else if we split up,” Aeolia surmised. “Not a bad tactical ability, especially if someone guesses you're linked to John.”

Senka nodded, though John could feel her distaste towards that idea. Deciding to move on, John read out the last attribute.

Greater Roots: Senka's magic flows best when she remains still. If she is moving, her spells cost 50% more.

“Is that why you didn’t move when using your magic?” John asked the spirit.

“Yes,” she said with a nod. “Although, it was more than just an increase in cost. I literally couldn’t use my powers when moving.”

“I wonder if that was because you weren’t ‘complete’, for lack of a better term,” Vivian chimed in. “Like you had all your powers, but there were some downsides because you weren’t in sync with John, who helped you get your powers.”

Senka considered the redhead’s hypothesis, tilting her head from one side to the other, her pigtails bouncing as she did.

“I suppose that makes sense,” she mused. “There was a strong drive to confront John and complete the bond. I wonder if my spells have changed.”

“Let’s get to that then,” John said. “I’ll just rattle off the ones that fit what you used in one go. If they look good and make sense, we can go to that last one. From the abbreviation, I think it’s the Spirit Casting effect.”

Black Thorn: Produces a thick spike of concentrated darkness. This can be launched at a target. Cost: 20mp, 5 to fire. Range: 20 meters.

Cutting Shadow: Senka coats her right hand in shadow and makes a cutting motion, slashing a nearby target, dealing both physical damage and draining some mana. Cost: 18MP. Range: 18 Meters

Snaring Shadows: From the ground, grow vines to constrict a target. Range: 6 meters. Cost: 3MP/sec.

Shadow Veil: From her left hand, Senka produces a shield of dark energy. Additional mana can be used to restore durability. Cost: 15MP. Regen Cost: 2MP per 5 lost durability.

“Yep, those do line up,” John commented. “Sounds about right to you?”

Senka nodded, her eye distant. “I’ll have to test things out to see if the numbers work out, but everything seems to be correct.”

“Alright, final bit,” John said. “Got a feeling that this will be something powerful. Um, not that your other abilities aren’t.”

Senka smiled warmly. “I understand what you meant. I have that suspicion too.”

John returned her expression and tapped the final item to be inspected.

Spirit Casting: Dark Forest: You and Senka combine your mana to generate a circle Wis/3 meters in diameter. All enemies in this area have their mana drained at a rate of .5MP/sec. Once the effect ends, allies within the area gain half of the absorbed mana, divided evenly among them. You and Senka must remain at the center to maintain this effect. Cost 2MP/sec each.

“That certainly seems kind of powerful,” Vivian remarked after John read the effect out. “Mana drain already is useful, but one that can also restore other people’s? Sounds very useful.”

“Yeah,” John agreed, though his tone was more pensive than excited. “It’s a great effect, but those are some heavy costs. It’ll take both me and Senka out of a fight, we have to remain still, and with my current mana, the most we can use this is for less than a minute. That’ll only be thirty mana drained from any opponent in an area of about six meters across.”

“It’s not like you two are going to be fighting alone,” Aeolia brought up, lightly tapping John on his temple. “Seems like the best way to use this is to keep any enemies in the area for you to drain and we get some power back when it’s done.”

“Plus, I could stick someone in place,” Beth added. “Or we could use that paralysis field thing.”

“I get it, I get it,” John said. “There are ways to get the best out of this. Guess it really is more of a team move.”

“Rather fitting for a technique that requires both of us to fuel,” Senka interjected. “A forest is not made out of one or two trees.”

“So is that everything?” Beth asked, boredom creeping into her voice. “Or is there more stuff to work out before we move on to something else?”

John scratched the back of his head and let out an awkward chuckle. “I did get three stats points for beating Senka. It’d be best to get that out of the way before we do anything. Though with my mana so trashed, we might want to keep resting for a bit. I’ll probably be putting them into Intelligence and Wisdom but that won’t be enough to recharge me quickly.”

John summoned his sheet, and after a moment of more thought, put two points into Wisdom to shore up his mana regen and the last point in Intelligence to bolster his reserve. Then he reviewed his sheet.

‘.648 mana per minute. Goes down to .450 if Senka is Partially Manifested and I’m holding the wind spirit in reserve. About thirty percent just gone.’

“Yeah, it’s going to take me close to four and a half hours to recharge,” John said. “Even if I use Bask to regain about twenty, that only cuts it by an hour. And I don’t want to use the emergency mana stores just to save time.”

“If I may make a suggestion,” Senka cut in. “I believe it would be prudent to swing by the diner and get their take on my ascension.”

“You’re going to ask a building?” Beth asked incredulously.

“She means the owners,” Aeolia answered. “Mason and Cammie are spirit users. They, well, Mason, taught John about spirits.”

“Should we really keep bothering them, though?” Vivian asked. “I mean, Tuesday didn’t eat too much of their time, but yesterday was a whole saga. I don’t want to ruin their business.”

Aeolia waved off Vivian’s worry. “After everything that’s happened this week so far, I think if we don’t check in, they might decide a rescue is in order. Plus, if Mason hears we didn’t drop by right after bringing Senka into the world, he’d be devastated.”

Senka let out a small laugh. “I wouldn’t be opposed to an examination. Knowing how unique I am and how my aura interacts with John’s would make figuring out how to best approach combat easier, and Mason could tell us if there’s anything we need to be aware of that we can’t sense.”

“Don’t really have an opinion, being the newbie and all, but I could go for an early dinner,” Beth chimed in.

“It would seem I am outvoted,” Vivian relented, though the smile she wore betrayed it was not a big deal.

“Before we go, I’m going to recharge with Bask,” John said. “If we take about an hour and a half from now to then, I can use it a second time. That should put me near full.”

Two minutes later, and with Senka hiding in John’s aura, the quartet made their way to Cammie’s. When they reached the eatery, unlike the other times they visited, the dining room had occupants; over half of the booths had people eating at them and the counter was likewise mostly full.

John’s eyes went wide when he realised a number of the customers weren’t human. A pair of elven maidens in jeans and band tees chatted over coffee and pie, a stocky dwarf heartily ate his meatloaf at the counter, his boot clad feet swinging back and forth, a family of bulky gray skinned orcs sat in a booth, the two children fussily shifting in their seats as they waited for their meal.

“Pretty busy,” John noted, not seeing any sign of Mason or Cammie. He noticed movement from the kitchen area through the window behind the counter, but couldn’t make out any details. Then the kitchen door swung open, but who walked out wasn’t the towering cook or petite owner, although she matched the establishment’s namesake’s stature.

“Oh,” Teri exclaimed when she noticed the mostly shocked party, smoothing out a small crease in the simple cream dress she wore.. “Hi guys! Table for four?”

Thanks again for reading this little story. If you liked the chapter, please hit that thumbs up, and if you want to support my writing, check out my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/ScrapCrow. Get access to my chapters before they’re published here and join my private Discord.