Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 219: Arulia, the World of Spirits and Humans (2)
With the spirits gone and only the humans remaining, Taesan waved his hand.
“Hello?”
The people, who had been staring at him blankly, nodded reflexively.
“Ah, yes. Hello…”
“Where are you heading?”
“To the Burunian Plains…”
“Mind if I come along?”
“N-no, not at all.”
They answered unconsciously.
Taesan climbed onto the roof of their carriage. The group hurriedly finished their preparations and set off again.
Standing on top of the moving carriage, Taesan closed his eyes calmly.
Inside the carriage, he could hear them whispering. Although they spoke in hushed tones, hoping he wouldn’t hear, Taesan caught every word.
“Who is that guy…?”
“I have no idea…”
“Then why did you agree?”
“I-I don’t know. Don’t ask me. You nodded too, didn’t you?”
“Well, that’s because I was startled. Who is he, anyway?”
“…He destroyed a spirit with his bare hands. And not just any spirit, but a low-ranking one.”
The sound of someone gulping nervously could be heard.
“Have you ever heard of someone like that?”
“No…”
“This is the first time I’ve ever heard of someone who could physically unsummon a spirit.”
They continued whispering. The conversation gradually shifted to why Taesan was with them and who he might be.
“Go ask him.”
“I-I don’t want to. What kind of nerve do you need to talk to someone who can crush spirits with his bare hands?”
“So, you’re okay traveling with someone we know nothing about?”
Their conversation eventually concluded with the decision to talk to Taesan. After some debate about who would actually speak to him, the unlucky choice trembled in fear, but finally opened the window.
“Uh, excuse me…”
A woman with green hair poked her head out the window, speaking in a voice barely above a whisper.
“Are you comfortable up there? Would you like to come inside?”
“Sure.”
Taesan accepted. He had been waiting for them to call him inside.
He grabbed the side of the carriage and slipped through the window.
A few small gasps were heard. Taesan looked around at them one by one.
Two men, two women—a small group.
From the carriage’s design and their attire, they didn’t seem like commoners. They were all wearing necklaces with the same insignia.
‘A noble family, perhaps?’
“Um…”
The green-haired woman spoke hesitantly.
“I’m sorry. Our spirits usually listen well, but… suddenly, they just wouldn’t obey our commands.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
If anyone was at fault, it was Taesan. He was practically an enemy of the spirits.
“Since I got rid of your spirits, does that mean you can’t summon them again?”
“No, that’s not the case. They were just unsummoned. We can summon them again if we want.”
“That’s good to know. If I had completely annihilated them, it would’ve been unpleasant.”
The green-haired woman swallowed nervously. His question was something that anyone who lived a normal life in this world would already know the answer to.
“Um, do you not know much about spirits?”
“Not in detail. I’ve been holed up training somewhere.”
Taesan frowned as if he were tired of it. Although his expression was an act, it wasn’t entirely untrue, considering he had been stuck in the Labyrinth for so long. That made his expression rather convincing.
Realizing Taesan wasn’t hostile toward them and wasn’t entirely strange, their expressions brightened slightly.
“If you don’t know about spirits, where did you train?”
“Deep in the mountains. I don’t know the exact location myself. I left in a hurry.”
The woman let out a small gasp of admiration.
“I’ve heard of such people in old stories, but I never thought I’d actually see one…”
Feeling that he was opening up, the woman began to chatter away.
“I’m Akyen. The red-haired girl over there is Perina, the grumpy guy is Vaan, and the handsome one is Karuin.”
“Are you all from the same family?”
“Yes, we’re children of the proud Acacia family.”
Taesan glanced at them. Their hair colors were all different, yet they claimed to be from the same family.
Noticing his curiosity, the ghost explained.
*[This is a world where spirits and humans coexist. The color of one’s hair changes based on the attribute they are born with. Red for fire, green for forests, and so on.]*
Taesan let out a small sigh of understanding. The red-haired woman, Perina, grumbled.
“Not that it matters since we’re basically being sold off.”
“It’s not like you’re being sold. Think of it as a good opportunity.”
“It’s still the same as being dragged to a place I don’t want to go. I’d rather just lie in my bed. This carriage is uncomfortable. I can’t even wash properly.”
“Where are you going, anyway?”
“To the Burunian Plains. Something strange has appeared there.”
Taesan’s eyes sparkled quietly.
“Something strange?”
“Yes.”
Akyen nodded.
“A few months ago, a translucent sphere appeared in the middle of the plains. It’s big enough to cover half the plains, so people were sent to investigate it. They found out that there’s a girl inside the sphere.”
“A girl inside a sphere?”
“It sounds unbelievable, but everyone who saw it said it’s true.”
Akyen continued with an excited expression.
“At first, people thought it was just a strange phenomenon, but then something amazing happened. Near the sphere, the power of nature becomes stronger, and the spirits’ powers increase. There were even stories of spirits evolving into higher spirits!”
“And that’s supposed to be amazing?”
“Of course it is!”
Akyen passionately explained.
“Until now, the evolution of spirits was something you’d only hear about in fairy tales! But it happened just by being near the sphere! This could open a whole new horizon for spirit arts!”
From Akyen’s words, Taesan realized that the girl inside the sphere they were talking about was actually the newly born Spirit King.
And it was clear that the residents of this world had no idea about this fact.
“To be honest, I’m against it.”
Vaan, who had been silent, spoke up.
“We shouldn’t mess with that. It’s something far beyond us. If we experiment with it or disturb it, the Spirit God will bring down divine punishment.”
“Oh, not this again.”
“Look at what happened. After the sphere appeared, the corrupted spirits started showing up. It’s all because humans messed with the sphere.”
“Well…”
Akyen had no reply, so she shut her mouth. Soon, she protested.
“But what else can we do? Honestly, I don’t like it either. Let nature take care of nature. That’s our family’s creed. But we can’t refuse when the Bajuk family directly requests it.”
“Damn it.”
Vaan bowed his head deeply.
“The Bajuk family?”
“They’re the only family in the world that has contracted with a high-ranking spirit. No king can stand up to the Bajuk family.”
Akyen grumbled.
“They’re a family as capricious as they are powerful, and weaker families like ours have to go along with whatever they say. We weren’t planning to get involved this time, but the Bajuk family insisted on conducting a large-scale experiment, so here we are, being dragged along.”
From their conversation, Taesan understood the general situation.
The previous Spirit King had perished, and a new one had appeared. The young Spirit King, still weak and with an incomplete consciousness, was protected within a sphere, nurturing its power.
And the Ancient Gods were biding their time. They had tainted the world, resulting in the birth of corrupted spirits.
Unaware of this, humans gathered around the newly born Spirit King, each driven by their own desires.
‘So that’s why the Ancient Gods aren’t the only enemies.’
The carriage slowly moved toward its destination.
Taesan now knew where he needed to go. However, he didn’t rush toward the destination.
From what he heard, the Spirit King didn’t seem to be in immediate danger. There was no need to move hastily, so Taesan thought he might learn something that had intrigued him before.
“How do you form a contract with a spirit?”
Among his skills, Taesan had ones related to spirits, like [Deer Walking the Wind] and [Small Ember].
However, these were skills he had forcibly acquired by raising his aura; he hadn’t directly contracted with a spirit to gain their power.
He didn’t know if it would be useful, but it was certainly a new form of power worth learning.
“A contract with a spirit?”
Seeing Taesan’s interest, Akyen looked surprised.
“You mean you’ve never contracted with a spirit?”
“I don’t know how. I told you, I’ve been stuck training.”
“So, you’ve been unsummoning spirits purely with your bare hands, without any spirit enhancement?”
Akyen said with a face full of admiration.
“How does that even work?”
“Spirit enhancement?”
“Oh, I should start from the beginning.”
Akyen began to explain slowly.
“When you form a contract with a spirit, you can draw out and use the spirit’s power. It’s weak, but you can even enhance your body with it.”
A blue energy surged around Akyen’s body. When she quickly punched, a gust of wind followed.
“There are other benefits too. Those contracted with a Wind Spirit can live comfortably, never feeling too hot or cold. Those contracted with a Water Spirit don’t have to worry about dehydration, even in a desert.”
“That sounds minor.”
“Maybe so, but it’s incredibly convenient. I’ve heard that those with a high-ranking spirit can create gusts of wind with a wave of their hand, but I don’t know if that’s true.”
As expected, the stronger the spirit, the greater the power that could be harnessed.
“And the most crucial part is that you can summon the spirit itself to fight alongside you.”
“Like how you did?”
“Yes. Spirits are generally stronger than ordinary humans. There are exceptions, of course… but that’s usually the case.”
She glanced at Taesan and continued.
“The summoned spirit links with the summoner, enhancing each other’s strength. The stronger the contractor, the stronger the spirit becomes, and vice versa.”
“That sounds useful.”
“That’s why I’ve heard that a human contracted with a high-ranking spirit can single-handedly take on intermediate spirits. I thought you were like that too, Mr. Taesan.”
Akyen spoke cautiously.
“Would you like to learn how to form a contract?”
Taesan nodded. Akyen clapped her hands together as if this was a fortunate development.
“Then I’ll teach you.”
“Is that okay?”
“You helped us, after all. This much is nothing. It’s not difficult.”
She spoke cheerfully.
Taesan had a hunch about what she wanted. She probably hoped to establish a good relationship with someone who could suppress spirits with his bare hands.
Her wish would not come true, but Taesan didn’t bother to point that out.
She rummaged through her belongings and took out a small, transparent gem.
“To form a contract with a spirit, you first need to know what attribute you possess. Take this gem.”
Taesan took the gem. His energy was being drawn into it.
“The color of the gem will change depending on your attribute and how intense it is. This will determine what kind of spirit you can contract with. Just wait a moment, and there should be a change.”
She watched the gem with keen interest. Time passed.
“It’s not changing.”
The gem remained transparent.
Akyen’s eyes widened in confusion.
“Wait a minute. Is it defective?”
She pulled out another gem from her belongings. But there was still no change in color.
“Vaan, you have a clear gem, right? Let me borrow it.”
She borrowed a gem from another person and handed it to Taesan.
But none of the gems changed color.
After checking over ten gems, she scratched her cheek.
“Well… this is a first.”
“What’s going on?”
“Um, don’t be alarmed.”
She watched Taesan’s expression carefully and spoke.
“The gem’s color changes based on the person’s attribute. Red for fire, blue for water. That’s certain. Even darkness would turn it black. But since there’s no change at all…”
Akyen cautiously continued.
“It means you don’t have any attribute. You can’t form a contract with a spirit.”