Chapter 39

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Episode 6 - Ancient Spirit [2]

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I pushed open the doors to the black castle’s entrance.

The three meter tall doors creaked so loudly that the sound echoed intensely.

I hurried, as the monsters in the area could attack in packs.

I dodged all the monsters that stood in my way.

I didn’t want to waste time on useless things.

I had already spent several hours walking and turning around, heading straight for this castle.

’Phew, the inside of the castle is going to be a headache.’

My two objectives were here; the problem was finding the Ancient Spirit’s body and the hidden piece.

The hidden piece was taken long ago by the Specters of Dream; of course, they have many other things too.

They could be even better than the hidden piece.

They could give me anything, as long as I know the name of the object I want and pass their test.

’They are rational and neutral beings. The problem is that, no matter what object I ask for, the test gets harder.’

Additionally, regardless of the character you play, the test is different.

So I don’t know what test they’ll give me.

’First, let’s look for the body of the Ancient Spirit, and then we’ll go for the hidden piece.’

Who would have imagined that in this place there is a hidden piece that is the key to making the second part of Chapter two much easier?

And, of course, it’s so difficult to find and get information about this hidden piece for this very reason.

So I started searching everywhere for the location of the Ancient Spirit’s body.

’If it is an Ancient Spirit, then I should use my Mana Sense to track a source of pure mana.’

Spirits are born from mana; if Mana Sense detects extremely pure mana, it means there is a high-ranking Spirit.

In this case, an Ancient Spirit.

I extended my Mana Sense throughout my surroundings and used my True Sight to see the color of the mana.

The mana here was very strong; the city of Zeron was built here because of a mana channel.

Mana channels are the roots of the Tree of the Dreams and Desires.

In other words, it’s a different version of the typical World Tree found in stories or games.

In short, it would be the Tree of Dreams and Desires.

In any case, I soon sensed two large sources of mana.

One of them, which was as vast as it was infinite, was, of course, the Mana Channel, and the other...

’It’s close.’

The other was the mana of the Ancient Spirit’s body.

I walked through some hallways and soon arrived at a large room.

The door in front of me was very different from the others.

The Black Castle was enormous, and since it was a castle, the people who lived here were undoubtedly of high status.

’In the past, the governors of the city of Zeron were the emperor’s daughters.’

There were two imperial princesses.

One was the eldest of all the princesses and the other was the youngest.

When I entered the room in front of me, I couldn’t help but wonder which of the two princesses lived there.

’So the older princess slept here.’

And the mana of the Ancient Spirit came from here.

The older princess was probably an elementalist. I ’looked" around the room; it was big, but it was still your typical princess’s room.

The color of the walls must have faded; there were cobwebs everywhere, it was covered in dust, and there was rubble.

Perhaps in the past it had looked very luxurious and extravagant.

But now it was just another ruin.

I "looked" around the room and soon focused my attention on a small toy house.

’You’re kidding me.’

I walked toward the toy house, then "looked" inside.

Inside, there was a small bed, and on the bed...

’Ha, did that princess really leave her Ancient Spirit here?’

In the small bed lay a tiny creature; it looked like a fairy, but it didn’t have wings.

I didn’t know what colors it had, but I knew it was an Ancient Spirit of Light from the mana.

’Mhm, is this a coincidence?’

In any case, I reached out, grabbed the Ancient Spirit’s small body, and looked at it more closely.

It had long hair, its eyes were closed, and it made no sound; it was dead.

But its body seemed intact.

’It’s strange that a Spirit doesn’t dissolve into mana after death.’

Usually, spirits, when they died, turned into mana and dispersed into the air.

Probably the Ancient Spirit loved its contractor, the Elder Princess, so much that after her death, it left its body behind.

After all, their bodies can be used for many things.

But, apparently, the princess had no intention of using her friend’s body.

So she made her a dollhouse and left her in the small bed.

"And now she is here in my hands, so I can give her to my teacher."

After a few seconds, I spoke.

"I already have the body of the Ancient Spirit, a spirit of light."

Upon hearing my words, my teacher said:

〖It doesn’t matter. It would be funny to see those children when they see me with you. Now, bring it close to the sword and lend me some of your mana.〗

I nodded, then unsheathed my sword. Then, I brought the body of the Ancient Spirit close and made my mana circulate in the sword.

〖I just have to make a connection and... done! You can put the body of the Ancient Spirit away, but keep it close to the sword.〗

"Okay."

I nodded, then sheathed my sword. Then, I stored the body of the Ancient Spirit in my Inventory.

Technically, the Inventory is inside me, so, in theory, it shouldn’t be far from my sword.

In fact, every time I grip my sword, it should feel as if the Ancient Spirit were gripping it.

To test this theory, I asked my master.

Master, do you still feel the connection?"

She responded immediately:

"Yes, but it’s strange, it feels like it’s you, yet at the same time, it isn’t."

That confirmed my theory.

I nodded and said,

"Okay, in that case, I’ll continue exploring the place."

It was time to meet the Specters of Dream.

***

Humans and other races only know of the existence of the Specters of Dream through stories or legends.

But the Specters of Dream do exist. The problem is that they are believed to be a legend or a story.

The Specters of Dream decide for themselves whether to appear before a race.

They are the ones who approach people if they choose to.

But in the game, there is a way to make them appear.

’Many people do it without realizing it and unknowingly attract the Specters of Dream.’

Attracting the Specters of Dream is so simple that no one would have thought of it.

That method is to fall asleep thinking about them.

Of course, all children who have ever dreamed of the Specters of Dream could have seen them.

Then they would tell their parents, but their parents would simply dismiss it as a dream, and that would be the end of it.

But for those humans and other races who have lived for a long time,

they knew perfectly well that this was the only way to attract the Specters of Dream.

They knew that the Specters of Dream existed.

Most humans and other races think they’re just a legend.

’It’s uncomfortable to sleep in a silent, deserted castle.’

It was just like in ghost stories.

First, I looked for a room with at least one intact bed. After a while, I found one.

I got into bed and quickly tried to sleep.

My senses shut down; all the faint noises of insects or monsters from outside faded away.

The white lines that allowed me to "see" the world before me disappeared.

In order for the Specters of Dream to appear, one must first dream of them and remain lucid for at least a little while.

Otherwise, I would just sleep and not wake up at the right time to interact with them.

’Wouldn’t it be great to do this at the Academy? But the Specters of Dream have the hidden piece somewhere in this castle...’

Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come here.

At least one day had already passed since I arrived; it would probably be Sunday in a few hours.

Therefore, I had to obtain the hidden piece as soon as possible.

I soon felt myself falling asleep and focused my mind on dreaming about the Specters of Dream.

Then, an image appeared in my imagination.

It was of a humanoid creature; it had arms and legs, but it was quite round.

Its body was covered in white fur, and it had a horn on its forehead.

Its eyes were a bright red, and two tusks protruded from its mouth.

It looked like a ball of fur with its short arms and legs.

Then, suddenly, I heard a soft voice that calmed my mind.

"Uh, looks like a human is dreaming about us."

"It seems so. Oh, but look. Don’t you think that human is strange?"

"That’s true. I see something that shouldn’t be with him. What could it be?"

"I don’t know. His appearance doesn’t match his current form. Isn’t that strange?"

"Ah, I know, I know. I think humans call it a soul. This human’s soul doesn’t match his current appearance. Isn’t that really weird?"

"We should tell the older sister. Maybe she knows something."

"Oh, but it looks like the human is watching us, or at least I think so."

When I woke up, the Specters of Dream were talking to each other.

However, I couldn’t help but feel a little surprised.

"They saw my soul, and from what they said, it means that my soul looks like my previous body before I was reincarnated."

I couldn’t help but be surprised, but it’s not like it matters, since I expected something like that.