Ch. 115

“Oh my god…”

[Gasp.]

I prided myself on not being easily shocked, but this… this was beyond anything I’d imagined.

Even Rai, usually slippery with words, was left speechless.

“No way. That can’t be what I think it is… Right? It’s not. It *can’t* be.”

[…Who would do something so barbaric.]

“Is this for real?!”

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

A spirit stone of the non-elemental type—one of only nine on the entire continent!

A legacy left behind by the ancient Spirit Mages!

The final treasure of those irreplaceable summoners!

“My spirit stone!”

[That’s not yours, Master.]

Krah!

“Whatever! It’s ruined! How could they do this?!”

The two spirit stones had been brutally damaged—each had a massive hole drilled right through the middle.

Someone in the tribe had turned them into necklaces. And they hadn’t just drilled holes—they’d practically destroyed them.

“Aaaargh…”

I collapsed to the ground, wailing uncontrollably. It was such a waste I could cry blood.

“Sobbing… Why would anyone turn this into a necklace?!”

[They had no idea what it was. Can’t really blame them. They didn’t even know how to use it.]

“This just isn’t common sense!”

With a sliver of hope, I picked up the necklace from the altar.

When I injected mana into it, it gave off a faint light—but that was it.

The power inside couldn’t circulate properly.

The contract array within was unstable and couldn’t fully accept the mana.

It was like a wheel spinning in place, getting nowhere.

With Ador’s light, I examined it more closely—only to realize the damage was worse than I thought.

A significant part of the most critical internal structure—the contract array—was gone.

A broken spirit array meant it was no longer a spirit stone.

My hands trembled as I held the necklace and sank into despair.

The joy of discovering two spirit stones turned to gut-wrenching loss in an instant.

It felt like someone had dangled a priceless treasure in front of me—then yanked it away.

After ten years of searching, this was what I found? Some ugly necklace?

I lay on the cave floor, stunned, unable to do anything.

“This is insane. It can’t be rebuilt… One of the nine was already destroyed when Ador was summoned, which means there are only eight left… If these two are ruined too… that leaves six… I have one… so five left… Are the rest okay…”

I mumbled like a zombie when Rai suddenly chirped, all cheerful.

[It’s okay, Master! You’ve got me!]

“…Huh? So what?”

I was too drained to even scold him.

[You can just fix it!]

“…What?”

[It can be restored. That stone.]

What the hell is this guy saying?

This idiot who can’t do a million things right—I leapt up and grabbed Rai by the scruff.

“You said you couldn’t fix magical items before! You said it was impossible!”

I grabbed and shook him furiously.

He’d better not be joking, not when lives are on the line!

[I couldn’t *back then*. Master, you were too trash-tier at the time. But ten years changes a lot! I’ve grown too—]

“And now you know how to die too?”

[Well, not that much.]

“Are you really saying you can fix it? Seriously? Then do it right now!”

[Not *right* now.]

If he wasn’t made of metal, I’d have punched him by now.

“Are you kidding me?! I’ll kill you—”

[Whoa, whoa, whoa, calm down! Master, please! You’re overreacting!]

“I’m supposed to stay calm when you give me hope and snatch it away?!”

[I *can* fix it! It’ll just take time! That stone’s been broken for over a thousand years! It can’t be restored overnight!]

I was fuming, but hearing it was possible, I reluctantly let go of the fur I was clutching—well, technically his chest fluff.

“How long will it take?”

[Hmm… definitely longer than removing rust. It’s kind of similar, actually. I have to make it remember its original shape and restore it from there…]

“Just the conclusion.”

[Three months?]

Not bad.

If it meant not losing the stone entirely, I could wait that long with grace.

I’d just been a little too overwhelmed moments ago.

I nodded in satisfaction.

[If any broken pieces remain, the repair will be faster. I just need to reattach them.]

“You said it’s been a thousand years.”

[That’s what it looks like.]

“Then no way the pieces are still around. They probably turned to dust when they drilled it.”

Still, the fact that it *could* be fixed was a relief.

As a reward, I gave Rai a pat on the head and took another look at the necklace.

I didn’t feel nearly as hopeless now.

Seeing something so precious ruined by ignorance made me sigh, though.

“Judging by the energy… the brown one’s an animal spirit stone, right?”

[Correct.]

“This kind of stuff’s easy now. And the green one? Forest spirit?”

[Nope. Forest spirits are pretty high-tier. Among the Four Great Spirits, they’re top-class. Their energy would be much larger and more majestic.]

“Then what is this?”

I focused on the green stone again—it was definitely giving off a strong foresty scent.

Being broken shouldn’t change its energy. So what was this fresh, leafy smell?

[Hard to say until I repair it… but it’s probably a plant spirit. It falls under the forest spirit’s domain.]

“Ooh.”

[Forest spirits actually control nearly every element—water, fire, wind, earth. Even life forms like plants and animals, plus light and shadow.]

“They control fire too? That doesn’t seem to fit.”

[If it’s a forest with a volcano, sure. In their own woods, those guys are practically gods.]

For Rai—the king of smug—to admit another spirit was amazing, it meant forest spirits really were that powerful.

I was *very* tempted.

I want you. You, glorious spirit!

[Ah! That greedy gleam in your eyes again… Stop being so greedy! You already have me—the cutest and most powerful one!]

“I want *everything* that’s good! I’m greedy, so what?!”

[You’re being honest, so I can’t even argue… and it’s true.]

Wanting what you can’t have only made you want it more.

To form a contract with a non-elemental forest spirit, I’d probably need to use the same ancient summoning circle I used to call Rai. And summoning Rai with that thing had been an incredible stroke of luck.

I’d been trying that summoning circle every few months for over ten years, but not a single spirit had come out since.

This wasn’t about skill anymore.

I had summoned Endairon, a high-ranking spirit rarely seen even among elites.

So there was only one answer.

Just like Rai said, that summoning circle had truly become a “discarded path.” No more hope remained in it.

Staring down at the spirit stone necklace, I murmured to myself:

“Maybe it *is* too greedy of me. But I don’t care—I want to collect all the remaining spirit stones. I want them. And I *will* have them.”

The spirit stones left behind by ancient Spirit Mages were now the only way humans could summon non-elemental spirits.

And barely anyone knew that fact.

Maybe… I was the only one.

—

I often found myself staring at my ice spirit stone in secret, wondering.

Should I share this knowledge with other Spirit Mages? Or keep it to myself?

Even now, I still hadn’t made up my mind—so the odds were it would be revealed only after I died.

Everyone wants good things to themselves.

I wasn’t generous enough to share what was mine, and I didn’t feel particularly guilty about it either.

After all, I worked hard to get it—there was nothing “natural” about giving it away.

‘So what should I do with *this* one?’

I left the narrow cave holding the spirit stone necklace, deep in thought about how to make it mine.

Even if it had become symbolic now, it was still a talisman meant to ensure the village’s peace—they wouldn’t just hand it over.

And bribing them with gold and jewels? That probably wouldn’t work on jungle tribes.

What now… all I have to offer *is* money.

If I used Rai—now basically a spirit of gold and silver—I *could* make treasure rain from the sky…

Honestly, people who craved wealth were so much easier to deal with.

“Big Sis.”

Still fretting over money as I stepped out of the cave, I spotted Big Sis Anel keeping watch around the brush.

Her bronzed skin blended perfectly into the dark—only her gleaming twin swords stood out clearly.

I wondered if she realized how stunning she looked, standing there with her blades—like a statue carved of bronze and steel.

Why did I like Big Sis Anel so much?

Was it just because she saved me as a kid?

Or because she was the first strong woman I ever saw? Or maybe because she treated me like her own daughter—and I didn’t mind that.

As if she could read none of these thoughts, Big Sis Anel sheathed her sword and walked over.

Despite the forest floor being noisy by nature, her footsteps made no sound.

Bathed in moonlight, I could see her smiling faintly as she reached out a gentle hand.

“Goodness, Geenie. Look at your pretty hair—covered in cobwebs and bug guts…”

Between the cave and everything else, my clothes and hair were a mess.

We stood together for a bit, brushing off the dirt.

“You brought Galata out with you?”

“I wanted a closer look. Was that not allowed?”

“No, it’s fine. It used to be something the chiefs wore around their necks. It’s just fallen out of fashion lately.”

Apparently, even jungles had trends. I pointed at the thick tri-colored cord running through it.

“You weren’t supposed to turn this into a necklace. See this hole? That’s what damaged the core. That’s why it doesn’t work anymore.”

“I see. We’re not very familiar with magic, after all…”

“Who even thought it was a good idea to drill a hole in it?”

“Long ago, our people were nomads. There were always fights between tribes… we only settled here a few hundred years ago.”

And what does that have to do with drilling holes?

Noticing my skeptical look, Big Sis Anel gave a soft shrug.

“Because we were always on the move, we had a habit of wearing important things on our bodies. We never knew when we’d have to run or fight. That habit stuck during unstable times.”

“Ah…”

“If, to a Spirit Mage like you, this seems foolish—then I sincerely apologize. Please don’t be upset.”

“You don’t need to apologize, Big Sis. It’s not your fault.”

“I get mad too when people mishandle swords.”

…How could I not love this woman?

“Still, you really are amazing—figuring out what went wrong right away. You’re a real pro.”

“It’s not *that* impressive. Any mage or Spirit Mage could’ve figured it out just by looking.”

“Maybe. But most wouldn’t have had the chance to see it.”

It meant a lot that she trusted me enough to show it—but that just made things harder.

It made it difficult to say what I really wanted to say: give it to me.

I tried thinking of excuses to borrow it for a while, but none of them felt convincing.

“So, what do you think?”

“About what?”

“About Galata. Do you think it has any value?”

She asked me that with the clearest, most sincere eyes I’d ever seen.