Growth (3)
Chapter 82
Not long after, Fenrir and Phoenix brought two new mid-level spirits.
The newly revealed spirits hovered around Luna with a very friendly attitude upon seeing her.
Seeing this, Alesya made a gloomy face.
“The spirits are being discriminatory…”
There was a clear difference in how the spirits treated Alesya, who wore a monocle, and Luna, who was a natural-born mage.
With a slouched posture and pouting lips, Alesya watched as Fenrir approached her, licking her cheek to console her.
Phoenix observed Fenrir with an expression that roughly translated to ‘stop being such an idiot.’
Meanwhile, as the newly arrived spirits continued to hover around, Luna, with Ropheiren’s help, presented them with contract terms.
[…]
At the sight of the absurdly harsh contract conditions, the tails of the previously playful spirits stood straight up.
Although it wouldn’t have been unreasonable for them to react angrily, the spirits calmly shook their heads and softly growled, requesting negotiation on the contract terms.
It was quite gentlemanly behavior.
When Luna turned to see what to do next, Ray was already frowning darkly and drawing his sword.
‘A spirit… refusing the contract?’
This defiance was utterly unacceptable.
The sword swung immediately.
[Shriek, Screech!!]
[Aaaaah!!]
After a bout of the spirits’ screams, the two mid-level spirits crawled on the ground to sign indenture-like contracts with Luna.
Alesya approached Luna and acted familiar.
“You’ve become a fellow spirit handler like me!”
“…Thank you for your help.”
“If you have any questions about handling spirits, feel free to visit the manor! I’ll teach you some tricks!”
Alesya spoke with confidence, as if she were a seasoned spirit handler.
Ray chuckled lightly, waited for Alesya to finish boasting, then bowed politely.
“Alesya-sama, thank you so much today. Since we’ve finished our tasks, I’ll escort you back to the manor.”
“Understood. See you later, Luna!”
After escorting Alesya back to the manor, Ray returned to the clearing in the forest.
The real spirit-contracting work was just beginning.
As Ray stretched, Ropheiren cautiously asked,
“With that level of spirit affinity, he could secure advantageous contracts without coercion. Is it really necessary to impose such extreme conditions?”
“Of course. The spirits must be completely bound to Luna.”
Ray furrowed his brow, tilting his neck slightly.
“I already said it—she needs allies who are solely hers and cannot betray her.”
Ropheiren understood Ray’s reasoning.
Still, even for a spirit handler, binding spirits into slavery was rather inefficient.
Ropheiren proposed a compromise.
“To bind high spirits, an immense amount of Selomia is required. How about keeping a few upper-level spirits under command and forming regular contracts with high spirits?”
“Hmm… I’ll consider it.”
Ray nodded.
First, they needed to confirm whether capturing high spirits was possible.
Ray faced the newly contracted spirits.
“Listen carefully, spirit friends.”
From Ray’s sword, a surge of sword energy emerged.
Startled, the two spirits retreated, and Ray stretched his lips into a sinister grin.
“The one who lures a higher-ranked spirit will have their indentured status revoked. You only get one chance. If you miss it, you’ll be bound as slaves for decades.”
The spirits’ eyes sparked with determination—they had to bring back a higher-ranked spirit than their companion.
In an instant, the spirits disappeared, leaving Ropheiren deeply impressed.
Truly, Ray was a great hero worthy of history, skilled in handling both people and beasts alike.
After some time, the two spirits returned with another friend in tow.
“Hmm…”
Both newly arrived spirits were upper-mid level.
Satisfied, Ray grinned and swung his sword again. The strange cries of the spirits echoed through the woods once more.
Thus, Luna easily formed contracts with four spirits.
True to his word, Ray released from servitude the spirit that had brought a slightly stronger upper-mid level spirit.
“Well, then…”
Ray looked at the two upper-mid level spirits groveling on the ground.
The method remained the same.
“One of you will have your indentured status revoked.”
Repeating this process three times, Luna ended up with one mid-level spirit, two upper-mid level spirits, and two high-level spirits.
Ray paused briefly to catch his breath.
Once spirits reached the high rank, they were no longer easy to control.
By the time they reached the elite rank, it would be uncertain whether their bodies could even be fully subdued.
‘Well, this should be enough to protect Luna…’
It didn’t seem necessary to obsess over binding elite spirits.
Nevertheless, out of curiosity, Ray addressed the spirits.
“Raise your hand if you think you can lure an elite spirit.”
One high-level spirit quickly raised its head.
Ray said,
“Let’s go.”
Upon Ray’s order and Luna’s nod, the high-level spirit vanished instantly.
Ray gently patted Luna’s head, then distanced himself to avoid interfering with the meeting.
‘An elite spirit…’
The battle with Locust came to mind.
The power of the supreme dark spirit was truly unimaginable.
Moreover, what was witnessed that day wasn’t even the full strength of the supreme dark spirit due to the limitations imposed by the contract.
‘Today, let’s just meet an elite spirit. Forming a light contract wouldn’t be bad either.’
Too much was never good.
Luna was still a young girl, and handing her excessive power too quickly could cause problems.
There was no need to fill her with multi-purpose Selomia unnecessarily.
!!
A gale-force wind roared like a typhoon sweeping through.
Trees swayed violently, their roots shaking along with the ground.
Ray planted his sword into the earth while Ropheiren used magic to stabilize himself.
Only Luna stood calmly, as if within the eye of the storm.
Ray winced.
‘Even in temporary materialization, it’s this powerful…’
Clearly, these spirits were on a different level from the ones encountered before.
Finally, the elite wind spirit ‘Karga’ appeared.
With a mane covering its face and back, a gorilla-like build, wings stretching out to each side, and skin smooth as the wind itself, the towering figure of the elite wind spirit loomed over Luna.
…
After scanning Luna, Karga stretched its lip-like wrinkles into a wide grin.
Karga realized that the young mage before him possessed immense talent but was yet to develop it.
Attempting to contract with an elite spirit without even expanding her magic circles was audacious.
Karga found the young mage’s arrogance delightfully amusing.
Roar!
Karga took a step forward.
Even in its temporary materialized form, Karga could wield considerable physical force.
A powerful gust of wind battered Luna, choking her as the air she breathed was violently mixed with the wind.
It was a clear act of intimidation—an ultimatum to accept Karga’s desired contract terms.
“Troublesome…”
Ropheiren frowned.
While it was expected that elite spirits could behave this way, it was still rather extreme.
In a way, it was proof that Luna was still seen as insignificant.
“That foolish and ignorant insect is digging his own grave.”
Ropheiren mocked.
Ray extended his hand into the air.
A chill began spreading across the unstable ground.
“In the end, mages and spirits alike…”
None of them could be trusted.
Ray abandoned any thought of binding such creatures with flimsy contracts.
Though his actions resembled Karga’s, Ray felt all the more irritated and repulsed because of it.
Humanity’s tendencies towards hypocrisy and tribalism ran deep.
Squeak!
From the A-space, the empire’s divine sword emerged.
Holding Moros in hand, Ray rapidly spun its core.
Two streams of sword energy compressed simultaneously into spirals, wrapping around Moros.
Despite being merely a crude imitation of sword energy using only two streams, Moros amplified the power.
Witnessing the blinding flash emitted from Moros, Ropheiren instinctively knelt on one knee.
“Ah…”
Leaving behind the awestruck Ropheiren, Ray propelled himself off the ground with tremendous acceleration.
In the blink of an eye, Ray passed by Karga’s side.
!!
Karga’s wing bone was cleanly severed.
Overwhelmed by the excruciating pain, Karga attempted to dematerialize.
The area around Karga became hazy as the materialization dissolved.
Ray spread the cold aura around, forcing his body into the hazy space.
As Karga, caught in the overlapping space, saw Ray stepping in, shock turned swiftly to rage.
Even within the overlapping space, Karga could unleash its full power.
[Growl!!!]
Blades of wind shot from every direction.
As Ray deflected the blades, he suddenly grimaced.
The wind spirit’s ability to create currents invaded his body.
Skin not covered by mana began to peel away gradually.
“Complicated indeed.”
Karga’s attacks were highly threatening, but what troubled Ray most was the inability to find footing amidst the swirling winds.
No matter how strong his muscles were, thrusting into the air alone couldn’t provide sufficient propulsion.
Ray clicked his tongue and spun Moros once.
As the compressed leaping sword energy pierced through the overlapping space, it struck Karga’s back.
Kraaaack!!!
[Scream!!]
Taking advantage of the explosion’s aftermath, Ray surged toward Karga.
Just as Karga moved to counter, another leaping sword energy descended from above.
Kraaaack!!
The leaping sword energy shattered one of Karga’s legs.
Seizing the stunned Karga by its mane, Ray unleashed two strands of sword energy coiled around Moros.
Kraaaack!!!
Ray severed Karga’s remaining wing.
Deprived of strength, Karga plummeted to the ground.
Kraaaang!!
Even as it writhed in agony, Karga managed to stand on its hind legs.
If pushed back further, it would exit the overlapping space.
Doing so would also make escaping the materialization difficult.
[Scream!!]
Karga swung its forelimb toward Ray, who had fallen nearby.
Though clumsy, the punch carried the full might of an elite spirit.
Ray immediately concentrated mana at his joints.
As the mana exploded outward, his body accelerated to its limits.
Kraaaang!!!!
By the time Karga’s forelimb swung down, Ray was already inside its embrace.
Moros, enveloped in sword energy, pierced into Karga’s right chest.
Karga lost its balance, overcome by intense pain.
Kraaaang!!!
Karga’s massive body tumbled across the mountain range.
Even after exiting the overlapping space, Karga continued rolling, toppling dozens of trees before finally coming to a stop.
Ray, ensuring Karga couldn’t escape, aimed Moros at its prone form while catching his breath.
From afar, Luna rushed over.
Arriving before Karga, Luna looked up at Ray, struggling to regulate her heavy breathing.
Ray smiled brightly at Luna.
“Wanna try contracting with this guy?”
As he spoke, blood dripped from five wounds on Ray’s body, and burn marks clearly marked his back.
Despite this, Ray smiled as if nothing was wrong.
Luna felt a pang in her chest but concealed it, nodding her head.
“…I’ll give it a try.”
