Beastforged Bond

The archaic voice faded, leaving behind a letter marked with moving letters. Some arranged themselves into sentences containing information about the training program, whereas other lines explained the reward of five Spirit Coins. That didn’t sound like much, but the finances noted on the auction house’s golden membership card proved otherwise:

[Finances – 5 Spirit Coins, 560 platinum, 85 gold]

Spirit Coins were more valuable than platinum coins. It was also important to note that five Spirit Coins were apparently a large sum, which were rewarded for slaying the Spawn and keeping the ‘Voidtrails’ in check. From what I read between the lines, every Spawn was worth a specific amount of Spirit Coins. They were distributed fairly according to the Blessed’s contribution to a Spawn’s kill, which did not matter in my case but would likely come in handy in the future.

The Spirit Guards sounded interesting. Their training program didn’t sound too bad either. As long as it didn’t interfere with my business with House Heilos, I would join them. Surely, they would give human cadets enough time to refine their Worlds as well. There was no need to worry about something like that.

“You don’t have to rush into anything. Think about it carefully,” Dad warned me. “If they rush you into something, tell them that we messed up. We forgot about the letter and mentioned it too late. Maybe you can say that to stall some time.”

I nodded slowly. Not because I was going to have my parents take responsibility for anything. Father was right to say I shouldn’t rush into anything. It wouldn’t have been the first time I did something without thinking about it, and I didn’t want to repeat the same old mistakes. So I visited the archive the next morning. Or around noon – after finishing a quick workout and refining my World.

Udu greeted me with a faint smile. At least, that was what it felt like when the Onyx Golem rushed toward me.

“Ser, you’re back!” he exclaimed. “How may I be of service today? I skimmed through the older records to find out more about you humans and those maritime Mikoniv and put a few scrolls aside. I also found a few notes regarding the Gods and the Spirits back in the Realm.”

The Onyx Golem sounded nothing like he used to. Somehow, in the weeks we spent together, the little fella had grown more and more; not in terms of size or strength, but in personality. I liked the Onyx Golem more and more, which my World agreed to. It wanted to bind Udu, and so did I. Unfortunately, he was bound to the archive.

Just buy his bond. With enough money, the archive will surrender him.

Aureus stated matter-of-factly, but I didn’t want to do that. No matter how much my Soulkins, the World, and I wanted to bind Udu, the Onyx Golem was happiest in the archive.

“Thank you, Udu, but I am looking for something else today.” I smiled faintly at the Onyx Golem. A faint pang of guilt tore through my heart when Udu’s excited voice died down. Even if he did not have facial features capable of depicting much expression, I could tell that Udu’s mood dampened. “We can look at the records you put aside tomorrow or the day after, okay? Today, I would like to know more about the Spirit Guards. I defeated a Spawn a while ago, and that seems to have caught their attention. They sent me an invitation to train with them alongside a few Spirit Coins. But before I commit to anything, I want to understand more about the Spirit Guards and Spirit Coins. You understand that, don’t you?”

I was oversharing, and I knew that it wasn’t the best idea to do so. However, I felt like I owed it to the Onyx Golem. If possible, I’d have shared a lot more information aside from the invitation, but it was evidently enough to excite Udu. His ‘expression’ lit up and he turned into a blur to appear before me.

“You killed a Spawn? Woaaah, you are so strong!” he exclaimed, patting my thigh when he couldn’t reach my shoulders. “I always knew you were powerful! But to kill a Spawn…you must be blessed by the Spirits! That is amazing! And to receive an invitation from the Spirit Guards. Marvelous!”

He clapped in his onyx-clad hands loudly enough for the sound to echo across the entire archive. Some curses resounded back, but Udu didn’t seem to care. He pulled me to the same spot I always sat at to read and disappeared for a few minutes. When he came back, he carried a few scrolls and tomes.

“Spirit Coins are very valuable. Only the Spirit Guards and those who are Vowed to the Spirits can earn them. Some say they contain the Essence of the Spirits, but I am not too sure about that. Regardless, the Essence within the Spirit Coins is denser than an Apex Essence. It is also much stronger. Very useful, or so I’ve heard,” Udu told me while placing the documents before me. “They have great purchasing power. Even better, you can buy almost everything with Spirit Coins. Even things that usually cannot be purchased.”

That caught my attention, and I started reading. I felt Aureus fuse with me after a few seconds, augmenting my mind while also allowing Aureus to see through my eyes, reading and digesting everything live.

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“Extraordinary resource depot. Access to traveling methods to dimensional pockets created by the spirits, also known as Portals,” I mused to myself. These Portals were different from the portals of the Grand Hall, or so I’d have to guess. “Full access to the portals – free travel to all Spirit Guard members. Depending on contribution and work ethic, Apex Essence will be distributed, high-grade elixirs, and serums promising a rapid increase in a Soulkin’s racial limit… To think anyone can promise something like that. If Nox would consume something like that, would he evolve or would his racial limit as a Ferronox Mantis increase?”

There were a lot more promising notes in the records, but most sounded like advertisement. The archive didn’t seem to have a record that spoke badly about the Spirit Guards. All they mentioned was how crucial their existence was. That they were the first to be sent out to deal with Spawns all across Razarn. Apparently, many Spirit Guard outposts existed. Dracos had the largest training ground for Spirit Guards and usually held most Spirit Guards because of their wide network of portals, but many Spirit Guards lived outside Dracos.

And all of them made a Vow to a Spirit. It mentioned that Spirit Guards gained a trace of their Vowed Spirit’s power, allowing them to fight and defeat Spawns. I knew it was possible to kill Spawns without a Spirit’s power, but it was increasingly difficult to do so without the Insignia. And that was the point. A Spirit’s power made killing them much easier.

The Insignia contained Spirit power. That much was fairly obvious at this point. The Primal Spirit’s power, to be precise, even if it was only a trace. I understood that much at this point, but it didn’t change my decision one bit. I didn’t need to make a Vow with a Spirit to gain a trace of their power since I already possessed some of my own, but the Spirit Guards could teach me how to use it more efficiently.

That, if nothing else, was important. Crucial, one might say.

Equally important were the Elixirs and serums I could acquire as a Spirit Guard. The best of the best concoctions made by True Alchemists.

The more I thought about it, the better the invitation sounded. I would learn more about my Insignia, someone would help me grow much stronger, and I would get to talk to some Spirits. Probably. Preferably Volca, but only to find out more about Volix. Then…Death, maybe? I had yet to talk to her about the Netherkins, which I had to do sooner or later if I joined the Spirit Guards. Surely, she knew about the Source my friends and I got from the Netherkins.

We will fight a lot of Spawns as Spirit Guards.

Aureus said, making it seem like fighting the Devourer’s Spawns was the most important thing. While interesting, I wasn’t too sure about it. I really liked growing peacefully, yet my last encounter with a Spawn showed that they had to be taken care of.

Or bound…maybe? I shook my head.

Fighting the Spawns would come sooner rather than later. Aureus and Nox were both in favor of that. Even Sapsie disliked the Spawns enough to push me in the ‘right’ direction, although that was understandable. As the child of the Spirit most attuned to nature and life, Sapsie ought to loathe those who destroy it the most. And while she did not hate the Death Spirit, she disliked her. Not as much as the Spawns, though.

“They have a True Alchemist to give lessons as well?” Refiners, Weaponsmiths, Enchanters, and many more people with highly sought-after professions were mentioned as well, but the True Alchemists were the most important to me.

Ever since I woke up in Dracos, I had considered becoming an Alchemist. It was something the Elemental Phoenix had proposed, and it sounded logical at that time. By joining the Spirit Guards I could learn more about True Alchemists, maybe even learn from them, and hire them for unique serums and Elixirs for my Soulkins.

In the worst case, I’d only join the Spirit Guards for as long as being with them helped me improve. Once being a Spirit Guard weighed more heavily on me than it was helpful, I could always leave.

Maybe they can help you find out why your World reacted to the Spawn. Make them make sense of that nonsense.

Aureus growled, making me grimace.

That was also something I’d have to test. Figure out if other Spawns reacted to my World like the last one did.

First, however, I’d have to learn how to properly recharge my Insignia.

Recharging the Insignia was simple, for all I knew. It didn’t need my influence to recharge but did so naturally. However, in the past, the process was a lot faster, which was probably owed to my bond with the Elemental Phoenix. Losing its flaming shape resulted in a considerable loss in efficiency as well. And that was something I could actively change with the right amount of work and effort. At least, I hoped so.

That, and a considerable amount of Apex Essence, might as well be enough to give my Insignia a shape once more. Not a flame this time, but something closely tied to soil and the Earthen Aspect.

I didn’t know why I knew about that, but I was certain the Insignia would grow stronger in the future. That would be helpful against Spawns, which would result in much more fortuitous rewards. More Spirit Coins, which – if they really contained a Spirit’s Essence – could be given to my Soulkins.

Compatible Essences would upgrade their traits, possibly even aid their racial evolutions. Their synergy with the World would grow more profound as well, and maybe…just maybe they would become sacred beasts as well.

Aureus and Sapsie were confident in my ‘ability’ to create sacred beasts, but I wasn’t so sure about that. I could give it a try, and certainly would. After all, I had nothing to lose. Worst case, I still couldn’t create sacred beasts. Even then, I’d find a way to keep pushing my Soulkins to greater heights!

To do so I needed more resources. A mountain of resources, which was precisely what the Spirit Guards could offer.

“I think it’s decided.” I chuckled to myself. I was going to join the Spirit Guards’ training program.