Spiritual Trouble

“Um,” John nervously stuttered out as he brought his arm up from under the table, bringing Senka into view, “is something the matter?”

“No, no,” Mason responded softly, his gaze focused on the knife. “It’s just, where did you get that?”

“I made it,” John answered.

“Really?” Cammie interjected, her attention briefly turning to Aeolia before focusing back on John. “Aeolia said you were new to the Abyss. How’d you get a hold of the materials? It’s definitely not made of mundane stuff.”

“Well, I got a reward from learning how to make things,” John replied. “It’ll be easier to explain if I do this. Invite Cammie and Mason to Gamer Test Party.”

Error: Current level limits additional party members to 3.

“That’s embarrassing,” John muttered, ears growing warm as he dismissed the popup. “Invite Cammie to Gamer Test Party.”

This time, the invitation screen manifested before Cammie and she blinked at the display.

“What kind of weird ability did you get, kid?” she softly asked before tapping the yes button.

Cammie Fennis has joined the Gamer Test Party.

With Cammie keyed in, John pulled up Senka’s Observe sheet.

“Right, she levelled after the last boss,” John idly noted before remembering that their hosts needed an explanation. Clearing his throat, he began, “My powers are video game based. I get quests, achievements, item rewards for beating monsters, skills, that kind of stuff. I learned the Craftsmanship skill from a book that got me the materials to make Senka.”

“You can get skills from books,” Vivian chimed in excitedly. “You never mentioned that.”

John shrugged. “It’s not like that’s the most interesting part of my powers. Plus I’ve got a limit on how much I can get. I have to spend reading points to learn a skill from one and I’ve already burned four of the five I had from having twenty-five Intelligence. I won’t get another until I raise that stat to thirty.”

“So you got the raw materials and turned them into that knife,” Mason summarized, seemingly not bothered by not seeing John’s displays. “Anything else?”

“Mason, just what’s going on with the damn knife?” Aeolia asked tersely.

The large man sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I sense something from it.”

“There’s a spirit in John’s knife?” Vivian asked.

“Maybe,” Mason answered. “It’s an odd sort of thing. It feels like it, but at the same time, not. Rather confusing, which is why I’d like to know everything you’ve done with it so I can figure out if things could become dangerous.”

“The only other thing I’ve done with Senka was bind her to me so some of the experience I gain gets channeled into her,” John said, pulling up Craftsmanship’s info so Cammie could relay the info to Mason.

“This experience,” Mason said after Cammie read out the display, “I assume you get them from defeating things, yes?”

“Yeah,” John answered. “Every enemy in an Illusion Barrier gives me some when it’s defeated.”

Mason hummed before drawing closer to John. “If it’s not too invasive, I’d like to read your aura. I have an idea, but don’t want to jump to conclusions and create unneeded worry.”

“You’re a little late about worrying me,” John remarked with a strained chuckle, “but if you can figure out what’s going on, read away.”

Mason nodded. “Might be best to do this standing up. Bit crowded on your side of the table.”

Taking the hint, Aeolia shifted down to her natural height and flew onto the table, letting John freely slide out of the booth before returning to her seat, fully grown.

“Keep the knife out,” Mason instructed as he brought his hands to rest a few inches away from John’s head. “I want to see how your aura interacts with it. And keep still but relax. Close your eyes and try to still your mind.”

John followed his instructions, closing his eyes and quieting his thoughts as best he could. The sensation of a warm breeze cascaded over him, flowing down from his head. As the feeling reached his right hand, it became less calm, swirling around the extremity like a wind on a stormy autumn day, creating an interesting contrast to the gentle warmth that covered the rest of his body.

Then the sensations faded away and John opened his eyes to see Mason pull his arms back, one coming to rest at his side and the other stroking his chin, his expression thoughtful.

“Peculiar,” he muttered. “In some regards, something like a spirit is developing in your knife, but it’s not like any I’ve ever seen or heard about.”

“How so?” Cammie asked.

“It feels more complex than your standard spirit,” Mason replied. “Perhaps it will end up more complex than your spirits, Cammie, but I can’t say for certain.”

John looked at Senka, frowning as he inspected his first weapon. “So what does it mean?”

“At the moment, nothing,” Mason said. “The spirit is still coalescing, and to be honest, I don’t think my abilities could impede it. I do have a few questions for you, John, which may clear things up.”

“What kinds of questions?” John asked, sitting back into the booth as Mason leaned on the adjacent table, earning a slightly reproachful look from Cammie.

“From what little I know about video games, when you reach a certain amount of experience, you level up and gain some benefit from it,” Mason said. “I take it something similar happens with you?”

“Yeah,” John answered. “When I level up, it refills my health and mana to full and I get five stats points I can use to make myself stronger. Strength for my physical power, Endurance for health, Intelligence for mana amount, that sort of thing.”

“I see,” Mason muttered, sharing a look with Cammie, who nodded after a moment of silent communication. “Based on that and my reading, I think that we can look at the experience you can get as packets of energy. Not mana, but something close to the same psychic energy that spirits spawn from. Or maybe it would be better to call it soul energy.”

“Soul energy?” John and Vivian asked in tandem, causing the redhead to blush.

“The soul is the root of all the magical energies,” Cammie answered in Mason’s stead. “Think of a soul like a fire. It produces heat, light, smoke if it's breaking something down. Mana is just one of the energies a soul can generate. The psychic energy spirits are born from is another. That’s why mundane people sometimes see ghosts. Their souls might not generate mana, but they do possess that psychic potential, if only just barely, putting them in sync for brief moments.”

“You didn’t say anything about ghosts before,” Vivian pointed out.

“‘Cus they aren’t spirits,” Mason said, his tone indicating Vivian’s statement had struck a nerve. “Ghosts are formed from ****. Some portion of the soul clings to their psychic energy, gives them a sense of self. But that’s neither here nor there. Back on topic, the experience you get, I think, charges your soul up until it reaches a saturation point. At that point, it converts into those stat points for you to use. Since you’re able to rapidly alter yourself, each time you do, you need more energy to reach full for the next go round.”

Mason took a breath. “Since you’re channeling some of that energy into that knife, it’s like how a spirit normally forms, but I think, is pulling some of your soul into the mix.”

Mason’s words burned into John's ears and caused his stomach to drop. “My soul?”

“It’s not as bad as it sounds,” the large man quickly attested. “The soul is far more malleable than people give credit. That’s the reason people can develop such high magical prowess, by pushing their soul to generate more mana. Not unlike working out to increase muscle mass. There’s likely not enough of your soul tied to the experience fed into the knife to even make a noticeable difference to someone who could sense it, and likely regenerates to full not long after. Hell, some elementals are born from a union of the summoner’s soul and their plane of origin.”

“So John’s not going to turn into some undead husk, right?” Aeolia asked, her tone carrying an undercurrent of fear.

“No,” Mason reassured them with a wide smile. “He’d have to lose most of his soul for anything major to happen.”

“So should I unbind Senka then?” John asked, tapping the level icon of the knife’s sheet.

Unbind item: Severs the connection between you and Senka permanently. Unlocked perks remain and experience and Resource Points will be lost.

YES/NO

Despite the uncertain picture Mason had painted and the notion that bits of his soul were being used to grow a new being, John was hesitant to break the bond, not wanting to limit what abilities the knife could develop or snuff out whatever spirit-like being was coming into being.

“No,” Mason’s voice cut through John’s indecision. “I don’t think you have to. There’s no immediate danger and, being honest, I am curious to see what develops. What’s growing in the knife is something I’ve never heard about and I would love to see it come into being.”

“What if it’s dangerous?” Vivian interjected.

“We can exorcise it if things come to that,” Cammie answered. “But since it’s using bits of John’s soul, as long as he doesn’t turn evil, or do bad things, everything should turn out fine.”

Despite the smile she wore, John felt an odd pressure close around him and a chill ran down his spine.

“Don’t plan on it,” John managed to squeak out. “Straight and narrow, that’s me.”

“And if he does start to walk the dark path, we’ll pull him back,” Aeolia said, draping an arm around John’s shoulder. “Right, Vi?”

Vivian blinked owlishly as her blush returned, not used to being addressed so casually. “O-oh yes, right.”

John smiled, a pleasant warmth easing away the tension the Senka issue had caused. Aeolia’s declaration of support also brought a smile to Cammie’s lips and the pressure surrounding him faded.

“Well, if you two got his back, then there’s nothing to worry about,” she said.

With the atmosphere growing less dour, John shifted his attention back to Mason after dismissing the unbind screen. “Okay, keeping things as is, what’s going to happen next?”

“Hard to say,” Mason mused. “In normal circumstances, a spirit manifestation is a gradual process. As long as there is a supply of mana and emotional energy, it keeps growing in a sort of larval state, hard to sense and mostly inert. Once one of those is fully consumed, and most of the time it's the psychic energy that runs out, then it begins to act out, trying to find more to consume. In your case, with a steady supply of energy and bits of your soul to stabilize the formation, my best guess is once it gains some degree of awareness, it might try to make contact with you.”

“Contact?” John queried.

“It will try to influence the surroundings,” Mason clarified. “Though, given its unique nature, I couldn’t begin to guess just what it might do.”

John’s mind went back to the Barrier and the dark shape he caught in the corner of his vision. Mason picked up on his recollection and frowned.

“Something already happened, didn’t it?”

“Maybe,” John replied quietly. “Back in the Barrier we were just at, I thought I saw something moving just outside my vision. It was right after I spent some of Senka’s resource points. Could that have been something?”

Mason hummed thoughtfully. “It could have been. Given your direct connection, mental interactions might be easier than physical manifestation. I wonder if spending those points is what progresses the development.”

“Not that I can right now,” John mentioned. “Last time the cheapest perk was two points and I spent all of them. I doubt I’ll get a one point perk.”

“Back to the Barriers then,” Aeolia remarked a bit wearily, leaning against John.

“We can take a little more of a break,” John said, not at all distracted by the close contact. “Work on getting that invisibility charm made. Craftsmanship is close to levelling up so maybe that’ll make things easier to do.”

“I do have a good idea of the general structure of the array,” Vivian added, “but need the bracelet to finalise the design.”

“I know better when to argue with you two,” Aeolia remarked with a smirk. “But we are going to get back to the grind after that, right? No point in taking things too easy, not with them out there.”

Her tone grew darker at the end and, mustering his courage, John slid his left arm around her waist and pulled her closer. She shifted into a more comfortable position and John caught a small smile on her lips.

“I do want to try out some of the other options Instant Barrier has,” John said. “Going to level two unlocked some kind of selector. Might be able to play around with the level or type of creatures. Might be boring and a slog to just mow down super weak enemies, but we won’t end up just beating a boss by the skin of our teeth. Again.”

“I wouldn’t mind something easier,” Vivian chimed in, her eyes intently focused on her array work.

“I suppose going easy won’t hurt,” Aeolia muttered.

“And if that gets too dull, there’s always the ‘Dungeon’ option,” John added.

“Regular ol’ swiss army knife, you are,” Mason laughed. “Having options is a good thing.”

Mason’s interjection brought their conversion to a close and Aeolia pulled away from John to finish her meal, left uneaten since the two thugs had barged in. She quickly consumed the remainder of her grilled cheese and soup, spoon clattering as she let it fall into the empty bowl.

With the last dish finished, Mason summoned up a few wind spirits to collect the used dishes, motes of green taking them back to the kitchen.

“I’m going to assume you three don’t want dessert,” Mason said.

“No,” Aeolia answered for the group as they left their booth. “Sorry, but…”

“You’ve got things to do, we get that,” Cammie cut her off, walking up to the winged woman and bringing her into a tight hug. “Just don’t be a stranger.”

“I won’t,” Aeolia choked out as their hug ended. “How’s once a week sound?”

“Wouldn’t mind an everyday visit,” Cammie answered, before she turned to John and embraced him too. The Gamer stiffened for a moment then awkwardly returned the hug.

“Take good care of her, ‘kay?” Cammie’s voice sounded in his ear, a small wind tickling his skin clueing him that she was employing a spirit to covertly convey the message. John slightly nodded as she broke the hug. Cammie then turned and completed the set, causing Vivian to flush.

Mason’s hand clapped onto John’s shoulder, causing him to buckle under the man’s casual gesture. In the hand not occupied with forcing John into the floor, he held a napkin with a phone number scrawled on it.

“Just in case things develop and you can’t pop on over,” he said and John took it, willing it into his Inventory.

“Right,” John muttered, some of the uncertainty coming back to weigh on him.

“Don’t look so glum,” Mason advised. “A positive outlook can change even the darkest world.”

John smiled at the large man’s words, his eyes lingering on Aeolia and Vivian.