The Partners

He was also happy that two days passed. With this, he only needed one day before he could log out.

Sybil shook her hand. "No, no. I should actually apologize. After all, because of me, we became Spirit Partners despite not knowing anything about each other."

"I'm sure it'll work out somehow," Lorn smiled. "Though, I don't really know how serious of a thing this is."

"Ah," Sybil grimaced. "Have you checked your Status?"

"Just now."

"Then you know that there are some restrictions applied to you."

"Yeah, I can't unlock skills without your help. But it's not like I wasn't compensated. I got your boons and I even got three random skills of yours."

"What?" Sybil's eyes widened at that. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah? Was that supposed to not happen?"

"Two boons and three skills…" Sybil put her hand on her chin and murmured. "That's absurd... Which skills did you get?"

"Point of Gravity, Gravitational Pull, and Spirit Visualization."

"Aaahh, the heavens aren't fair!" Sybil groaned, hearing the list. "How can you just get all three of them? Do you know how hard I had to work to receive even one of those skills?"

"…"

Sybil started to walk around the room, a focused expression on her face. Occasionally, she would mutter something under her breath.

"No wonder those guys are so desperate… Do Undying also learn skills easier? … What about leveling them up? … This is fucked… Fucking prophecies… I hate chosen tropes…"

Lorn could only stand silently and let the woman finish thinking. The curiosity in him started to poke out its head.

'She's probably been living alone for a long time. People usually don't talk to themselves like this. And looking around, it doesn't look like she shares this house with anyone else. Guess she has high-standards? Or is it normal in this world for Hunters to not marry?'

His thoughts were interrupted when Sybil stopped walking in circles and looked at him. Her face suddenly distorted.

"Ahem. Sorry about that," she said. "Usually, Spirit Bonds between strangers only have downsides at first… But I'm glad you were able to get something out of it at least. I'm just surprised because my status mentioned nothing."

"The All-seeing also told me that if we were more familiar, more benefits would've appeared."

"Yes. Well, since we're bound through our spirit, we're kind of stuck together. I'm sure we'll get to know each other better. In the meantime, I'll try to teach you everything I can about the spirit and skills. I was the one who controlled your soul all of a sudden, after all."

"Thank you…" Lorn said, but his ears picked up something worrying. "But what do you mean about being stuck together?"

"Oh. Well, of course you wouldn't know…" Sybil sighed. "It's very complicated to sever a Spirit Bond. You could ask a master to forcefully cut it, but that would only create more problems. And most masters would ask for a high price for it, as the procedure's dangerous to them too."

"…"

"The only safe method is to choose it as your reward after completing a Divine Trial, but that, too, is hard. Divine Trials where you can choose your reward is rare as it is, and not anyone can actually complete a Trial like that."

"Divine Trials?"

"They're places were Hunters can test their strength. There are some Trials that are stuck on one location, but most appear randomly."

'Are they dungeons?' Lorn wondered.

"And do you know a Trial that allows us to separate?"

"No… But I'm sure we'll be able to find one," Sybil said. "But before all that, we need to become stronger. Like I said, Divine Trials aren't something you can overcome. Even if you're immortal, the same doesn't apply to me and I'm sure your immortality has a cost as well."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. There are no proper proclamations from the One Emperor regarding your deaths. We only know that he called you Undying. There are quite a few rumors… but there's nothing concrete."

Lorn nodded. He planned to ask Reina after he logged out.

"Again, sorry for bonding us without your knowledge," Sybil said once more.

Lorn didn't like the fact that he was dependent on the woman, but since there was nothing he could do, he was calm.

"It's alright. I hope we can grow successful together."

During his time under debt, he had gotten used to things happening to him without his control. At first, he tried his best to struggle against them, but later on, he learned that accepting the circumstances was the best move. Only after doing that, he would be able to see what his next options were.

His ultimate goal was to kill the One Emperor, so he needed to become stronger, anyway. He also needed to gather information on him. Lorn was still unfamiliar with spirit, boons and skills in this world, so he planned to spend some time with Sybil to learn about everything he was missing out on.

Lorn then realized the two of them were standing together awkwardly. Oddly, both of them did not seem to care that much, lost in their own thoughts. The system messages had said that their personalities weren't so conflicting. Perhaps that was true to some extent.

The feeling felt even more true when Sybil looked up, and her eyes started darting around. It was as if she also realized that they were standing silently in front of each other.

"I was thinking I should ask you about boons and skills and stuff like that," Lorn broke the silence.

"Sure. Of course. We can talk about all that later on. For now, there is someone you must talk with."

"Who?"

"A Hunter from Belo city came here. He asked if you wanted to join his clan. It'll mostly consist of Rogues like Danton, but if us two join, more and more people should follow. But anyway. You need to refuse them."

"Belo city?" Lorn tilted his head. "And a clan?"

"It's the biggest city in west Vox. It's where a lot of Hunters are gathered. And a clan is… just a group made of Hunters. They would attempt Divine Trials together, explore Possessed infested regions, hunt monsters, sometimes act as mercenaries… things like that."

"And you want me to refuse?"

"Yes. They've been pestering me about it since yesterday, but they're acting too desperate. They offered to help you get skills, to support you financially, offered to give you first dibs on dead souls, even asked if you wanted Relics. It's too… suspicious. I refused, but they insisted they talk to you first."

Lorn was, of course, the newcomer in this world. He didn't mind following Sybil's advice. At least until he had a better grasp on this new world. The more she spoke, the more he was dizzy.

Possessed infested regions, dead souls, relics… he decided to learn about them properly later on.

"Sure. Should we go meet them now?"

"Any time's fine. Uh, do you want to eat something first?"

Lorn nodded, and the two had a brief breakfast of eggs and bread. Lorn mentioned his need to log out. He explained it as having to go back to his own world for an unknown amount of time. He didn't know how logging out worked for the One World and he didn't know when he was allowed to head back, so he could only be vague in his explanations.

At his home-world's mention, Sybil asked a few stuff about earth. Lorn spoke about the things he could talk about. He made a story about how Earth's advanced technology allowed them to travel to the One World.

Sybil was especially impressed when Lorn mentioned the nine billion people inhabiting the world, with some countries having more than a billion residents. Apparently, Vox only had a million and a half, and it was one of the bigger countries of the Empire.

Lorn enjoyed his talk. And the more he spoke, the more he was impressed by Sybil. He wondered how many quantum supercomputers were running this world, to be able to simulate more than a million lives like this? And to think that each one of them was so vibrant and unique as Sybil... it felt almost like a dream.

After their meal, they went to meet the visitors from Belo City.

…