My breathing steadyed.
"You've finally woken up," Firestorm said.
Tzaleah stared at me, annoyed, but a strange grin tugged at her lips.
"I can't believe Master actually accepted you—"
"The girl from before," I cut in.
"What?!" she snapped. "What do you mean 'that girl'?!"
Hmph! She crossed her arms and turned her face away.
'She suddenly got angry. Why's she so mad?'
Firestorm glanced between us, thoughtful.
"What happened between you two?"
Tzaleah shot me a glare; the kind that screamed blackmail over a shared secret.
"Hmm…" I muttered. "Oh! Yeah, you got hurt pretty bad back then. You're all healed up now, right?"
Tzaleah's eyes widened in shock. Firestorm looked surprised.
"Tzaleah was badly hurt? Why am I hearing this now?"
"Oh, that… well…" Tzaleah glared at me again, pointing an accusing finger. "It was him! A giant worm suddenly popped up after he stomped the ground and—"
"Stomped the ground?" I echoed, shrugging like she was insane. "Then a giant worm popped up? Do you even hear yourself?"
"You—! I'm sure he did something! Because of that, I had to teach him how to open the vines and—"
"You did what?!" Firestorm's voice rose sharply. She facepalmed. "Tzaleah, you can't teach that to an outsider. Only direct disciples."
"I know that! But he—"
"Enough. Stop shouting already."
Tzaleah looked furious and ashamed. Her cheeks flushed deeper when I smirked at her.
Firestorm turned to me.
"And you. I know she's speaking the truth, you crazy bastard. Now stop messing with her."
'Okay, Mom.'
Sigh.
"Now tell me," Firestorm said, pointing at the cracked, useless spirit stone on the floor. "How much did you see?"
"Mnh. What do you mean by 'how much'?"
"I mean in the spirit realm. What did you see there?"
"I understood that. But how much? If there was something I couldn't see, how would I know? You can't miss what you don't notice."
A sweat drop slid down her temple.
"Wait, wait. Are you saying you had no trouble in there?"
"…Yes?"
Tzaleah burst out: "Liar!"
Firestorm shot a look—Tzaleah instantly shut up, shrinking back in fear.
Sigh.
"Normally," Firestorm continued, "one can't see much. The field of vision is short, the senses feel wrong, and every being avoids you like a plague. So it's really surprising that you—"
"Beings avoid you?" I interrupted.
"—could." She paused, confusion turned to fright. Visibly tense.
"What do you mean by that?"
...After I explained everything; the full, clear view, the glowing landscape, the curious bird-spirits, the wolf contract attempt, the brutal blue-fire fox. Firestorm still looked unsettled, but more accepting. Tzaleah, who'd gone silent with a face of skepticism, looked openly concerned.
"Are you perhaps able to summon that fox?" Firestorm asked, fear through her words.
"Probably. Let me try."
I quickly opened the UI and swapped runes.
Both of them watched, expectant.
The moment I equipped it, a dot of blue wisp surged into reality. Then it grew larger, brighter, until blue-and-white light coalesced into form.
A tall fox stood before us.
Beautiful, made of ethereal blue fire. She lowered her head toward me.
Krvwo-chii!
"Her name is Aery," I said, reaching out to pet her luminous fur.
Firestorm and Tzaleah stared, eyes wide, mouths open.
"Is it that crazy?"
.
.
Tzaleah and I walked the streets of the star city, heading toward the test chamber tower.
Mature men strolled with their disciples. Groups of teens laughed as they passed. Others…
"…Later, wanna watch the sunset and chill?"
"—Oh! Mnh, sure~"
Tzaleah, walking a step ahead, glanced over and made a face of pure repulsion.
"Disgusting," she muttered.
I didn't pay it much mind. My attention drifted to a large hawk circling obediently above a skinny teen who looked like he'd die in one swipe from the beast.
'Spirit elementalist too, huh.'
To recap what Storm told me about recent events:
Apparently, not even the Spirit Yun can see the spiritual realm that well, or what they call the elemental realm, so clearly. No one can.
Only spirits, or beings close to.
Mana pool here depends on how much you can perceive there. The deeper your connection, the more you can draw out.
And me… Having already died once, plus the broken effects of Gathering Storm, I basically have unlimited spiritual power.
'I knew that rune was busted the second I saw it. Thank god they can't patch this shit.'
'Anyway, that explained her shock.'
Of course, that doesn't mean I can spam fire endlessly. The mental strain would be insane. But there's definitely a way around it—I just need to evolve this body further.
Nothing is impossible in a fantasy world.
"Hey, snake." Tzaleah growled at me. "It's there. We've arrived."
I finally noticed.
A towering spire with a pointed peak rose ahead, surrounded by smaller towers at its base. Long lines of disciples of all ages streamed out of it.
For a second I thought we'd have to queue in line, but Tzaleah just walked straight past them.
"Hey—!" A boy started to protest, only to get elbowed hard by the one next to him.
"Shh! Don't you see who she is? That's Yun Firestorm's disciple."
The first boy's expression soured.
"A direct disciple?!"
"But… who's the guy next to her?"
We entered the building and approached the bald elder supervising the test chambers.
He looked up from his ledger, eyes first on Tzaleah, then to me.
"…So Firestorm vouches for the boy?" He studied me for a long second. "You're sure about this?"
She huffed, arms still crossed. "Apparently yes. She's also asking to give him… a master-level insignia."
The elder blinked. Then blinked again.
"A master level?" His voice rose enough to carry. Heads in the nearby line turned; anxious whispers started rippling.
I felt the stares like pinpricks.
The elder cleared his throat, stroking his beard as he looked me over again; lingering on my muscular build across my arms and shoulders.
"Hm… He looks more like a fighter than an elemental prodigy." He chuckled dryly. "But I suppose anything's possible, that girl exists anyways."
He waved over another attendant to take his spot, then gestured for us to follow.
That girl he mentioned… maybe?
"Who's the girl you're talking about, Elder?" I asked as we walked.
He glanced back briefly, one eyebrow raised.
"Oh, you must be from the outskirts." He smoothed his beard again, almost fondly. "It's Yunalai ninth. The little devil,"
"Qiyana."
The name landed like a quiet stone in still water.
I knew it.
"—don't tell her I said that."
But for him to hand out a rank usually reserved for people in their twenties or thirties so casually… she must be impressive.
"Interesting," I said, keeping my tone neutral. "Where can I meet her?"
.