Chapter 12: Spiritual Energy

"Spiritual energy?" Rai asked.

"Haven't I told you before? It's what powers long-distance spells like curses, black magic, voodoo, and so on. That's the purpose of spiritual energy—aside from helping your brain manage two khodams," said Dukun Rosso.

"So spiritual energy is different from khodam energy?" Rai questioned further.

"Of course it's different. Over time, you'll come to understand the distinction," Rosso replied calmly.

Rai stayed at Dukun Rosso's place for another two months, while Alfin was busy facing his semester exams. Even though they were far apart, they often met in the spiritual realm.

Alfin wanted to train under Dukun Rosso too, but he didn't have two khodam yet, and the price of artificial khodams was too expensive.

Rosso had once suggested buying a beast-type or tool-type khodam, like a sword, but Alfin refused—he wanted a humanoid khodam.

Meanwhile, Rai became increasingly skilled in controlling Caca and Lala to perform different tasks. His progress impressed Dukun Rosso, who even praised him for having natural talent.

The khodams also began using their abilities: Lala could fly and control fireflies, while Caca experimented with manipulating fire and lightning.

Rosso nodded with approval, then proposed a final training.

He pulled up a video of two women dancing on a green app.

"You want me to copy this dance?" Rai asked, confused.

"Yes. I'll play the music and record it," Rosso replied.

"Record? But khodams are invisible to normal people," Rai said.

"Who said I'd show this to normal people? I'll be showing off my student to other shamans," Rosso smirked.

"But… does it have to be this dance?" Rai asked again.

"Yes, this dance is great for training flexibility and synchronized movement. Once you master this, synchronizing two khodams will become easier," said Rosso.

Lala and Caca started dancing to the music as Rosso began recording, nodding with approval.

Deep down, Rosso also admitted: my student may have talent, but he's way too easy to fool.

After Dukun Rosso saved the video, Alfin happened to arrive—this time with a khodam.

"I want to show you something," Alfin said proudly, standing before Dukun Rosso and Rai.

He summoned his khodam: a humanoid male with striking features. The being had handsome Asian facial traits, long flowing hair, and large gill-like ears. His broad chest was covered in faint scales, his arms ended in bluish claws, and a thick, scaled tail swayed behind him.

"I managed to kill a jinn and got a khodam drop," Alfin announced.

"What kind of jinn did you kill?" asked Rosso.

"I'm not sure. It looked like some kind of fish that could swim through the air," Alfin replied.

Rai watched in envy. Damn it. Why does Alfin always end up with the handsome ones?

To make things worse, now that Alfin had found a rare jinn, Rai had to add another five million to his training fees—just to persuade Dukun Rosso to train Alfin as well.

Even though Alfin was still living in Banjarbaru, he had already found his own place to stay—giving him the freedom to use his khodam. Thanks to that, he could now travel to Dukun Rosso through a portal.

"Wait... portals actually work in the real world?" Rai asked.

Dukun Rosso just shrugged. "Oops. I forgot to mention that."

Though Alfin's second khodam was quite handsome, under the grand mentorship of Dukun Rosso... the khodam ended up being named Jono.

Meanwhile, as Alfin was still catching up in training, Rai had begun experimenting with the fusion of two khodams.

The easier method was fusing both khodams into Castur's body. It was simpler because Castur's form clearly dominated the fusion process.

Lala and Caca began the fusion ritual by drawing an inverted star together and spinning it.

However, this wasn't nearly as easy as the first time.

The amount of energy used in drawing had to be equal.

The drawing speed had to be identical.

And the spinning had to be perfectly synchronized.

If any of the three conditions weren't met, the fusion would fail.

Even though Rai was already skilled in controlling two khodams at once, it still took him two hours before he managed to succeed.

When the fusion was complete, Rai's body transformed—becoming that of a woman with an even larger chest than before. His hair turned red, and the wing-like structures near his ears disappeared. However, his signature fireflies evolved:

One glowed yellow,

One burned like fire,

And one crackled with electric sparks.

Rai was now halfway to becoming a rank 2 dukun.

The next step he had to take was to fully fuse both khodams simultaneously—a process far more difficult than the first.

This fusion required:

Mutual intuition between both khodams, believing they were one entity.

Synchronizing their spiritual energy.

Matching their elemental composition.

And even fine-tuning their physical features to create a balanced form.

Luckily, this fusion complexity was only for the first time. Once successful, the two khodams could merge and separate freely, at will.

Rai cleared his thoughts, trying to focus on Lala and Caca's bodies. But it was hard—both khodams were beautiful women, and his mind often wandered.

Through sheer determination, constant experimentation, and guidance from Dukun Rosso, Rai finally managed to complete the fusion after seven long days.

The challenge was immense.

The fused khodam now stood twice the height of an average human—an elegant, muscular woman with defined abs.

Her wings were larger, crackling with electricity, allowing Rai to flap them at incredible speeds.

Her hair, still red, could now be controlled freely—radiating intense heat. And with her increased power, she could even lift massive boulders.

Dukun Rosso smiled proudly.

He had succeeded in guiding his disciple one step closer to becoming a true master.

"Congratulations!" said Rosso, patting Rai on the back. "You're officially a Rank 2 Shaman now."

"Now you can stroll through the spirit realm with two khodams like it's a weekend picnic. And if trouble shows up—boom! Fuse them together like some magical power couple."

Rai smiled proudly, feeling like a magical rockstar.

"But," Rosso added while sipping tea, "the low-level creeps probably won't try to assault you anymore…"

Rai let out a sigh of relief. Finally—safety!

"…which means, if anyone does try now, they're probably stronger, taller, and got muscles you can park a car on."

Rai blinked. "Wait, what!?"

"Don't worry," Rosso said casually. "If they catch you, at least now you've got the strength to fight back… y'know, after you recover."

Rai immediately reconsidered all his life choices.