Sunlight

Name: N/A

Age: 0

Species: Common Spirit

➦ Skills:

Common Skills: 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦 (x2), 𝗠𝗜𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗥, 𝗙𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗚𝗨𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘, 𝗚𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗬

Special Skills: 𝗖𝗢𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗖𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗟𝗢𝗧, 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗣𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

Rare Skills: 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘, 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 (𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥) , 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗬

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ - ☼ -

There was only an hour left before the sun rose, that's when I heard it.

It was a scream, a feminine one at that. I was merely lazing about, sorting through my skills again when I heard it. At first I thought that it was my ears playing tricks on me, but then I remembered I don't have ears!

«Answer: The sub-skill 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 has detected an organic lifeforms near the lake. Unfortunately, an unspecified amount of Lycanthorpes have been detected as well. Proceeding out of the cave is advised against»

"Graaaaa!"

It was another yell, but was far different from the one I heard. It was low and baratone, like a growl. Lycanthorpes, no doubt. It had seemed as of they were still surrounding the lake. But for some reason, a living person was here too.

But if if Lycanthorpes are like Ghoul Wolves, they shouldn't be able to see me unless they have the ability to like 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧 𝗦𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧. Though Googl was right, leaving the cave might a death sentence as I don't know what Lycanthorpes are capable of.

At least, not yet.

«I am extremely capable of analyzing anything within a 5 mile radius»

«Understood. Scanning perimeter…»

I wanted a very deep analysis of everything so I turned 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦 to the absolute max. I discovered while training that by turning that skill to it's absolute max, Googl also perceives time as I do. So in essence, I am tricking her into believing that she should take as much time as possible for a deep scan when in actuality, it had barely been 2 seconds.

I floated there, bobbing my shiny little body, waiting for a report from Googl. Because I was processing my thoughts so fast, a million questions came resurfacing back up to my head. Luckily, thanks to one of 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘's countless skills, I was more than able to keep up.

But one struck out from the stream of questions: Why can't I feel anything?

It was such a simple question yet it struck a chord in me. Why couldn't I feel anything? It was like my emotions had been watered down and I had been turned into a…a machine…

An Artificial Intelligence…

No, it couldn't be. I was still human! If I could feel fear from when I first encountered Joana…wait a minute…did I feel anything when Joana tried to kill me? Looking back on it, I don't recall any feelings of fear, only the urge to survive. In fact, it felt like everything I was doing felt autonomous for the sake of one goal: getting stronger.

I was snapped back to reality when Googl presented her data report.

«Report: Analysis of the lifeform Karmic Beast Lycanthorpe»

«Species: True Evolved Lycanthorpe

Karmic Line: Evils Line (True Evil beast)

Attribute: Elemental (Fire, Water, Wind, Geo)

[BIOLOGICAL CONTENT HIDDEN FOR USER SAKE]

➤ SKILLS

Common Skills:

↪ 𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗥, 𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛, 𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬,

Special Skills:

↪ 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗥, 𝗙𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗕𝗟𝗢𝗢𝗗𝗟𝗨𝗦𝗧»

Alright, standard skills. Nothing here seems to dangerous or indicates that they will be able to see or do harm to me.

«Notice: Unique evolution of Lycanthorpe, Eclipseborn, has been spotted»

«Analyzing anomaly…»

If this Eclipseborn monster was strong enough to catch the attention of Googl, it must be pretty strong. Being a unique evolution of an already seemingly powerful monster, it must be one hell of a beast to take on!

«Analysis Complete!»

«Species: Mutated Lycanthorpe: Eclipseborn

Karmic Line: Evils Line

Attribute: Dark (Storm Magic, Lunar Manipulation)

[BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION HIDDEN FOR USER SAKE]

➤ Skills:

↪ Common Skills: 𝗥𝗢𝗔𝗥, 𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗦𝗛, 𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬, 𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗦, 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘 𝗗𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬, 𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗞𝗔𝗥𝗠𝗜𝗖 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘, 𝗣𝗢𝗜𝗦𝗢𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘, 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗖𝗘, 𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗙𝗜𝗚𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

↪ Special Skills: 𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚, 𝗔𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗟 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗝𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗫 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗢𝗥, 𝗔𝗟𝗣𝗛𝗔»

↪ Rare Skills: 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗗

HOLY HELL, THIS MONSTER WAS STACKED. I looked at the data report slack-jawed and dumbfounded from how ridiculously strong this monster was. Whoever was getting hunted up there was a complete fool to venture here.

«Affirmative. The Rare Skill 𝗖𝗔𝗟𝗟 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗗 is similar to your 𝗖𝗢𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 skill only it is ten times as strong and allows for the user to completely dominate the mind of hundreds of beings. Notable sub-skills include 𝗧𝗛𝗢𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗗𝗢𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗗'𝗦 𝗔𝗠𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, and 𝗟𝗔𝗪 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗗»

It all makes sense now! This Eclipseborn was controlling all these Lycanthorpes and bringing them here, but for what?

«The skills 𝗔𝗣𝗘𝗫 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗢𝗥 and 𝗔𝗟𝗣𝗛𝗔 seemingly allows the Eclipseborn to exude a great amount of it's karmic energy onto it's surroundings in an attempt to get them to surrender or completely subdue and eviscerate said target»

The thing has not one, but two skills for intimidating it's opponent! It was settled, whoever screamed up there must have been dead now. There's just no way that something would be able to fight something like that, much less run away from it.

I thought of copying the skill data, but because the monster was radiating pure evil karma, I decided against it. Even copying one of it's skills could be fatal for me with the amount of evil pressure it gave off.

«Understood, scanning for non-Evil Karmic lifeforms…»

«Report: A single non-Karmic entity has been detected approximately 3 miles from your current location. Reporting scanned information…

Species: Evolved Beastman of the Storm Element (Stormbeast)

Karmic Line: Evils (Storm Alignment)

Attribute: Storm

[BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION HIDDEN FOR USER SAKE]

➤ Skills:

↪ Common Skills: 𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬, 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗛𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘𝗦, 𝗘𝗫𝗧𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗘 𝗗𝗨𝗥𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬, 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗠 𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗖 𝗞𝗡𝗢𝗪𝗟𝗘𝗗𝗚𝗘, 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗠 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧 𝗦𝗨𝗠𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚

Special Skills: 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗡𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗦𝗣𝗘𝗔𝗥, 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗗 𝗕𝗜𝗧𝗘, 𝗔𝗜𝗥 𝗕𝗟𝗔𝗗𝗘,

Rare Skills: 𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗖𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗜𝗡𝗗»

So it's a Beastman I heard! I wonder what they looked like, hopefully not with the face of an animal and the voice of a human, that'd really throw me off. Anyways, looking at their skills, they seem pretty skilled enough to maybe get away from the monster that is the Eclipseborn.

Though, to keep my conscience clear…

«Calculating…weighing skill variables…scaling traits…»

«The probability of an Evolved Beastman killing an Eclipseborn is less than 14%»

Yikes, that was gravely low.

«The probability of escaping an Eclipseborn is less than 7%»

WHAT?! YOU MEAN TO TELL ME THERE'S A HIGHER CHANCE OF KILLING IT THAN ESCAPING IT?!

I mean, to be fair, it literally has a skill dedicated to hunting so I'd imagine it's an amazing hunter. Makes me wonder if it also has my Hunter sub-skill as well, or even my Overview skill!

«Notice: The being Eclipseborn does share a similar sub-skill to your 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 in it's arsenal called 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗟𝗞𝗘𝗥, albeit it's a weaker version of your skill»

Well, I'm glad to at least have that win. Speaking of my Overview skill, I activated it it once again try and scan my surroundings. It was nearly day! The beautiful sunrise had come up again, creating an absolutely stunning gradient shades of warm colors.

At the same time though, the Lycanthorpes howled and began running away from the moonlight. Some got on all fours while others just ran like Olympic sprinters, and in some cases, I saw what happened to those that stayed in the light.

A Lycanthorpe didn't get to shade quickly and the light of the sun touched it's skin. Almost instantly, it's fur caught on fire and it fell to the ground in a blood-curling roar of sheer pain. It rolled on the floor, trying hopelessly to shield itself from the wrath of the daylight to no avail.

The fire turned into a bright golden hue as the Lycanthorpe roared louder in pain. It managed to stretch out it's hands to it's companions, who watched him with no emotions on their face as their own kind suffered an agonizing death before their very eyes.

Finally, the Lycanthorpe was engulfed in the flames. The screaming ceased and all that was left was ash.

«Note: As Lycanthorpes are creatures of evil karma, they are killed by sunlight and fire as it is a an element of the Virtuic Karmic Line»

I stared at the pile of Lycanthorpe ash not in horror, but I happy in fact: I found their weakness. I also noticed that out of all the hundreds of Lycanthorpes, the Eclipseborn ran the fastest with it's tails behind it's legs. It just made sense, a monster that derives it's powers from the moon would be afraid of the sun!

«Answer: Sunlight is the most powerful version of the Virtuic Element Fire, which can counter and hurt the Storm and Lunar Element the Eclipseborn wields. To kill the Eclipseborn is a different matter»

I knew it wouldn't be that easy, but hey, at least I have a basic idea of how to fend that thing off from Joana if it shows up again.

Speaking of showing up again, I wondered if the Beastman that I sensed was still up there. Hopefully they were alive, them being dead won't be too good on my conscious. I used 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 to search for any signs of life still up there, praying whoever it was still alive and kicking.

«The skill 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 has detected a Beastman in the floating in the river west of your current position. Vital scans appear fatal»

Yeah, it seems the Lycanthorpes really got to them, huh? I used 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 to locate their exact location and managed to see merely an outline of the dying Beastman, but from what I could tell, it looked female. The I used 𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗣𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗬 to try and communicate with them, as the skill forces someone who doesn't have it temporary access to it.

There was a strange whizz sound as I connected to their head, a sign that I had established a good connection. Now it was time to confirm if there were dead or not, hopefully not.

There wasn't a response just yet, but it was alright. Their consciousness probably must be slipping fast though.

﹝…who…who are you…?﹞

YES!

﹝…w-why?…﹞

There wasn't a response for a second, which began to worry me. Acting fast, I whizzed out the cave and began searching for the Beastman's body. Using a sub-skill of 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 called 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗟 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗢𝗥, I was able to find their body.

Next was the hard part. Since I didn't have a physical body, it would be tough to pull her to shore. My best bet was 𝗪𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗣𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, which I had just acquired and was a complete novice at.

I had to try though.

I manipulated the water around me into tentacle-like shapes and had it coil around the Beastman's body. It was strenuous, as I split my mind using 𝗠𝗜𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗥 to focus on each individual tentacle and employed 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦 to speed up my thinking process.

Next, I used 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 blitz through the water. I was careful not to even let one tentacle get loose, and in a flash, we burst out the water. The sunlight reflected off the Beastman's body as we did.

Luckily, she didn't land on the harsh ground because I had the tentacles morph into a bed made of water. She landed on it rather ungracefully with a splash!

Now that she was out of the dark water, I had a clear view of what she looked like. She had medium-length gray hair that had sticks and dirt in it, long thick eyelashes, and pale white skin painted with bruises and scratches. She wore worn padded armor with belt straps and fur lining and felt pants.

Now came the problem of how to heal her. The only healing skill in my arsenal was 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, and I didn't know whether it could heal other people as well…

«Answer: The entity has not taken any spiritual damage, so using the skill 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 would be useless. Also, the entity posses the skill 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 and should repair damages in due time»

Phew, one worry off my back.

I sat down on a small boulder, looking at the horizon. It was officially daytime, the sun casting a warm glow over the area. Colors of blue, red, and yellow melted over the horizon; something I had never seen on Earth before.

I nearly jumped out my spiritual form when I heard a cough beside me. I nearly forgot I had a living being next to me!

She opened her eyes wide with surprise and uncertainty, patting down her body to check for any vital injuries. She breathed a sigh of relief when found out none of her injuries were serious.

I decided to introduce myself.

"Hello! You feeling alright?"

She jumped, instinctively pulling out a dagger from her back pocket trying to detect where the sound (which was me) came from.

"Show yourself!" she shouted. Her voice was deep and mature, with a hint of authority.

"Uh, down here…"

She looked around again, her stormy gray eyes finally landing on me. I glowed innocently, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. If I had eyes, I would be batting them right now. Her head cocked to the side, trying to comprehend what she was seeing.

She sheathed her rusty dagger and pointed at me. "A-Are you…?"

"Yes, I am the one who spoke to you and saved you, no need to thank me,"

She stared at me wide-eyed and slack jawed, her hands still in the pointing position. I thought maybe I should say something but I thought if I did anything else out of the ordinary, she'd lose her mind.

"B-But you're just a Common Spirit!" she argued. "Y-You can talk, use MAGIC, and…and…"

"And what?"

She gulped nervously. "You don't give off any karma…it's like you're not apart of any Karmic Line…"

I tried my best to contain my laughter. She'd go insane if she finds out I'm actually not apart of any line, and probably cease to exist if she knew what else I can do and what I even am. For now, my best bet was just playing dumb and innocent.

"O-oh that! Well, uh, you see…I'm a..a…"

I could tell she was growing more and more wary by the second, I had to find a way to get her to trust me and lower her guard. If she worked for someone like this Rue guy Joana mentioned, I could be in big trouble. But as much as I strained my mind to come up with a lie or something to save my skin, I couldn't.

"I'll ask again: what are you?"

Yeah, I was done for. It was a good run while it lasted.

"He is a special kind of spirit," Joana's voice said behind the Beastgirl. "Even I don't know his true nature, but I assure you he is harmless,"

The Beastgirl jumped again and drew her dagger at Joana. Her fear melted when she saw Joana was just a naiad, as shown by the edge of her black dress turning into water. She put her dagger away.

"I'm Joana, a water naiad," she flashed the edge of her dress which constantly dissipated into water. "And that over there is Yuzuru, a spirit,"

The Beastgirl bowed in respect to Joana. "My name is Fenris, Great Spirit," she said. She pointed to me. "Are you sure that-THAT thing- is harmless?"

Hey! What did she even mean by that? Was this spiritual racism?!

Joana flashed a warm smile. "Very," she said. "I know the absence of a Karmic Line is unusual, but what isn't unusual in this world,"

Fenris was still nervous. She comically scooted up closer to Joana, whispering something in her ear. Thankfully, thanks to a sub-skill of 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 called 𝗩𝗜𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘, I was able to translate the vibrations and frequencies in the air that allowed me to effortlessly listen in on what she was saying.

"What if it's a spy for Rue? I heard he's quite the schemist"

Joana laughed. "I don't think Rue even knows this lake exists, much less sending something as harmless as Yuzuru here,"

Fenris shot me a look, and I pretended to be unaware that she was glaring at me intensely.

"I guess you're right…" she rubbed her temple. "Well, it was a pleasure meeting you both- I think- but I really must get going,"

She began to dust her already damaged and worn armor, but before she could even take a step, Joana grabbed her shoulder. I could feel a chill run down Fenris's spine as she did.

"No, stay a while," Joana said. "I have some…questions."