Fire Spirit <Current Latest>
"What is this?"
Curious as to what was inside the flower, Shui opened his Sage God Eyes. However, right as his Sage God Eyes were open and the foundation of the world revealed itself to him, he had to quickly avert his eyes due to finding a brilliance comparable to the sun.
"Wh-wh-wh-who's there?!"
When he heard a sweet, high-pitched voice, Shui's first action was to cast a sound isolation barrier spell and sweep the area with his spiritual sense. Only after he confirmed that no one was around did he look at the suspected source of the voice with his normal eyes. At first there didn't seem to be any change in the flower in his hand, but then he noticed that something appeared to be breaking out from inside it. Instead of attempting to use his Sage God Eyes, Shui gently shook the flower while examining it.
"Oi! What do you think you're doing?! Stop!"
Even when he heard the voice again, this time with more of an angry tone, Shui continued to shake the flower until it popped open.
"!"
What appeared before him was a figure that was both familiar yet unexpected. As petals fell gently to the lake's surface, there was a tiny fire-red girl in a short dress standing on Shui's palm with a furious expression.
"I told you to stop, didn't I?! Would you like it if someone rudely shook the place you were sleeping in?!"
Shui quickly recognised the being he had on his palm, but due to how shocked he was, he could only return a dazed expression as she shouted at him.
"Listen to me!"
"Ah!"
The sudden heat on his palm caused Shui to hastily draw his hand away. This wasn't enough to leave a burn, but it woke him up from his trance so that he could properly face the red girl who was now hovering in front of his eyes.
"My apologies, um, how should I refer to you, Miss Spirit?"
"Oh? How can you tell that I'm a spirit and not a fae?"
"Well, you may have a tangible form, but it doesn't seem to be made of flesh. If I had to guess, I would say you're at least a high-rank spirit."
Despite the fact that he had never seen one before, Shui was confident in his answer. Thanks to his body cultivation, Shui had a keen sense for detecting vitality, and so he was certain that her current form lacked flesh and was likely a substitute made using the natural laws; therefore, she couldn't be a type of fae. As for her rank as a spirit, only high-rank spirits and above possessed enough intelligence to converse. He even suspected that she was a superior spirit, but that guess was too dangerous for him to speak, as spirits of that level were just below the gods and could wipe him out with one snap.
"Hmm, close enough, I suppose you are. You can keep calling me Miss Spirit, since I doubt you'll find another like me."
Since she said that he was close enough, Shui wondered if he was wrong about her rank or race, but he didn't try to ask because she didn't seem willing to tell him.
The red spirit crossed her legs in midair and stretched her arms above her head before asking Shui, "By the way, where is this place?"
"This is a space called the Spirit Nest that's connected to Storm Sky Manor."
The names 'Spirit Nest' and 'Storm Sky Manor' didn't make any clicks in her mind, so the red spirit tilted her head and returned a confused look.
"Um, are you familiar with the Alterna Kingdom?"
"Alterna...Alterna...Alterna...! Oh, you mean Alios!"
"Alios?"
She seemed to figure something out, but this time Shui was left with a question mark above his head. The name seemed to point to something in his memory, but before he could figure out what that was, the red spirit continued.
"It's nothing you need to worry about. I guess I've been sleeping for quite some time then... Oh, I suppose I should ask just for the sake of it. What god are you connected to?"
"!"
The moment the word 'god' came out of her mouth, Shui was on high alert. In recent times, he rarely had to worry about anyone trying to kill him, but he couldn't see through this spirit before him. Similar to how others viewed him, even though she was right before his eyes, he could barely sense her presence. It was as if she had integrated with the world.
'Could I beat her? I can hardly imagine it.'
While Shui got more tense, once she saw how wary Shui became, the spirit shrugged her shoulders.
"Never mind. I'm not trying to force out an answer."
Shui breathed a sigh of relief at these words before flinching as the spirit went inside his coat's inner pocket.
"Huh? What are you doing?"
"What? Did you forget that you destroyed my house?"
"Well, that's true, but, is this necessary?"
"Of course it is. Now make sure not to get hit or anything while I'm in here."
Though not hard, it was without a doubt a bothersome request, but Shui meekly accepted. Since he failed to learn the laws of fire from the flower, he could only hope to gain something from this spirit being by his side. Furthermore, he was too scared to try and force her out given her unknown strength.
Elsewhere, Kate found a cave to rest in for the night. She wasn't so tired that she needed sleep, but given how hectic the second day would likely be, she figured it would be best to conserve her energy.
After clearing out the gremlins that previously occupied the cave, Kate meditated in silence. In the dead of night, a massive fireball suddenly entered the cave and engulfed everything in its flames before exploding with enough force to cause several cave-ins. Outside the cave, the culprit behind the fireball stood in front of the cave, along with several others with their faces covered by black cloth.
Even after what appeared to be a successful attack, the black-clothed assailants didn't lower their guards and moved on to the next phase of their attack. However, before their preparations were complete, a powerful gust burst from the collapsed cave and struck the fireball caster. The others quickly evaded the attack, but the fireball caster was sent flying into the forest with his limbs bending in the wrong directions.
"I expected something like this to happen on the second day, but not for you to attack me at midnight. Whoever sent you guys is a little too damn punctual."
Kate exited the destroyed cave with not a speck of dust on her body. She suffered no damage from their attack, but she sensed some sick humour in their decision to strike at midnight, and their hidden faces didn't help that impression. Even her spiritual sense couldn't reach beneath the cloth, so it was no mere covering. Furthermore, though she couldn't see their faces, there was one thing she was sure of.
"You guys aren't supposed to be here, are you?"