Chapter 104. Spirit (3)
A small crystal remained where the spirit had vanished.
Verden lifted it with Telekinesis, pulling it closer. The green light reflected in his blue eyes.
‘What is this?’
Its outward form was similar to a magic stone, but it carried none of that unique magic power.
The only thing he could feel was the natural magic power existing in nature, and even that was no more than a handful. Verden tilted his head at the strange object he was seeing for the first time, when Vermin suddenly clapped his hands as if remembering something.
“Ah, this is a spirit stone!”
A spirit stone?
It was a name he had never heard before. Still, since it contained magic power, it might be a kind of magic stone. Given its unusual name, Verden thought it might perhaps be a rare object, and his heart filled with expectation.
But Vermin’s next words were utterly disappointing.
“It’s a stone that contains natural magic power, but it’s not particularly useful. Unlike a magic stone, it can’t be worked, so it can’t be used as material for magic items. Since it only comes from spirits, the supply is extremely low, but there’s no demand either. At best, it might have some value as an ornament.”
“……You seem to know quite a lot. Have you been studying spirits or something?”
“When I first became an adventurer, I went around reading recommended adventurer books. Some of them talked about spirits. I don’t know the details, really. It’s just surface knowledge.”
Vermin shrugged.
“Still, to add on, there’s a rumor that spirit stones absorb natural magic power and revive.”
Kedian asked.
“Revive, you say?”
“Ah, but not right away. It takes several decades, apparently? Since they have to gather natural magic power, and that can’t be done artificially. I mean, what mage in the world could possibly have magic power that pure? That’s why, I heard some magic tower tried to experiment with it long ago, but abandoned it quickly.”
Vermin continued.
“But if there’s any actual use for it…… I heard elves buy them at a high price.”
“Elves…… you mean those infamous elves?”
Elves, the residents of nature.
Like dwarves, they were a kind of demi-human, known for their long ears and uniformly beautiful appearance. Verden too had read about them in books during his time in the magic tower.
Indeed.
“I heard they’re the one race humans must never touch.”
“Yes, those elves. Anyone who knows anything knows how fearsome they are.”
Elves were a race that followed absolute collectivism.
The moment they sensed one of their own was in danger, elves would rescue them at any cost. Some of them possessed special abilities to locate their kin, which made it possible.
The stories about elves were all too famous.
Men or women, they all had beautiful appearances, so in the past, humans tried to enslave them, and actually carried it out.
An ignorant slave guild kidnapped elves, and sold them to nobles. For an enormous price. Once greedy eyes witnessed their value, they immediately began elf hunts.
And the result was horrific.
Those who went to hunt elves never returned, and not long after, the guild that kidnapped them was annihilated. Even the customers who had visited were not spared.
The noble family too was wiped out. Nobles, knights, servants, all of them.
Their corpses were brutally hacked apart and hung in the forest. As this happened again and again, fear of elves spread among humans.
“That’s when a kingdom stepped up, declaring it would subjugate the elves. After all, a noble had been killed, so they had a justification. That’s how war broke out……”
“And the kingdom withered away.”
Elves, more secretive than any race and specialized in hunting, destroyed every supply headed for the city.
No matter how many strong protectors were set to guard them, it was useless. Their opponent was the entire elf race. An enemy no individual could withstand.
“It may have been a small kingdom in scale…… but the impact was great. Countless people died, directly and indirectly.”
The elves of the great southern forest.
After that incident, unless someone was struck in the head by a fireball, no human dared to harm them.
Rubina asked Vermin.
“So why do elves buy spirit stones at such a high price?”
“I don’t know either. I overheard it once at a tavern when I was a same-rank adventurer. It’s not reliable. But if I force a connection…… maybe it’s this? Elves are residents of nature, and spirits are kind of similar, so……”
“You mean they’re in a symbiotic relationship?”
“That’s right. Maybe the reason spirits are even here is because of elves. Think about it, it’s a bit strange. The spirit suddenly came to us and got angry. If it wasn’t that it hated humans, then someone must have harmed it. Either the spirit itself, or elves.”
“You’re saying…… someone from the kingdom kidnapped elves?”
A silence fell.
Moments later, the adventurers burst into laughter.
“Hahaha! Just a joke. Of course that can’t be. No one would dare kidnap elves unless they’d gone mad.”
“Not to mention how far the great forest is. Even if it were true, they would’ve been caught and killed by elves long before arriving.”
Verden agreed with that opinion.
It was strange that a spirit had appeared, but to tie it directly to elves was too far-fetched.
“Well, let’s stop the chatter here. That spirit stone should go to Asher. He’s the one who subjugated the spirit, after all. And of course, it won’t be included in the distributed reward, so rest assured.”
“Thank you.”
“No, it’s we who should thank you. In any case, there’s no reason to enter the deep forest of Sloan for a while. The creatures summoned by the angered spirit are all dead. And yet, not one of us died or even lost a limb. Truly a blessing.”
The adventurers nodded in agreement.
It was, literally, fortune amidst misfortune. And all thanks to Verden.
Skald looked up at the sky, then let out a sigh heavy with fatigue.
“I just want to hurry back to Asern and rest.”
***
They manipulated the terrain to bury or scatter the corpses.
If so many bodies were left rotting deep in the forest, there was a chance of Undead arising. It wasn’t likely, but one could never be sure.
After that, they returned to Asern, and immediately discussed the reward.
The total they received was 380 million Elk. The sum Verden and Skald had agreed upon.
It was more than nine times the base rate, but it could hardly be called excessive. Subjugating a spirit was one thing, but even ten times that could not be compared to the worth of a Mithril-rank party’s lives.
Fortunately, the adventurer guild, upon receiving their report, granted them additional compensation, so the adventurers did not suffer a loss.
And at the same time, the commission fee paid to Perne was naturally adjusted upward as well.
“Hehe, just how much is this?”
Perne was truly overjoyed.
It was only one person. A single person had appeared, and in less than a month since helping her, her information business was already starting to regain its former shape.
Of course, there was still a long way to go, but it was an excellent beginning.
Asher. With just that one mage Pale had introduced…… she might, perhaps, do even better than before.
For an information broker, the existence of one person of exceptional skill was far more important than hundreds of hangers-on sniffing around for scraps.
‘That’s why now is the time to invest.’
Perne poured nearly all the money she received into rebuilding her intelligence network.
Of course, paying off her debts was good too. At least she wouldn’t have to live trembling in fear anymore.
But Perne was far from such a life.
If she had ever intended to live that way, she would never have borrowed money in the first place. Even paying the interest and a portion of the principal was enough.
‘Right now, I have to make a good impression on my biggest client, Asher.’
The way Perne saw it, he was independent and proactive.
Though he never said it outright, it looked as though he weighed risks and rewards through his own calculations, and acted based on those judgments.
In other words, the reason he was handling requests left and right to help Perne, was not simply for the pay, but because the value of the information he needed outweighed that reward.
‘But if I make him feel like he’s being used? Then it’s over.’
The moment the scales tipped the other way, he would likely abandon Perne without hesitation.
That was why, just as he had shown sincerity, it was now time for Perne to show her own capability. She had to add weight to the scale, so it would not tip away from her.
“I absolutely can’t lose this.”
Perne’s eyes flashed, and she busied herself in motion.
***
To research something, meant to investigate it deeply, and to pursue its truth.
The present world was filled with the results of such research. Equipment forged and tempered from steel, magic items imbued with magical effects, even the basic property that steel was hard—these too were products of research.
What should be done with the spirit stone.
As always, after finishing his training, Verden pondered it. However useless it might be said to be, it was still a rare item containing natural magic power, so as someone who had once been a researcher, he could not just turn away.
Thus, he decided to spend his spare time studying it.
Of course, he had no intention of starting completely from scratch. That would take far too long. So, to make his research as efficient as possible, the first priority was to acquire knowledge about spirits.
With his decision made, Verden immediately visited the bookstores of Asern.
[Collection of Fearsome Abnormal Species]
[40 Monsters Adventurers Should Avoid]
[The Forest Is Dangerous]
…He bought every book that seemed even slightly related to spirits.
There weren’t that many. With speed-reading, he could finish them all before dawn.
‘This is the last bookstore, I suppose.’
He stepped inside and browsed the shelves.
They were filled with titles he had already bought. Then, in the corner of the shelf, he discovered an old book. It had so much dust piled on it, it seemed untouched for ages.
[Friends of the Forest]
A title that sounded like a children’s fairy tale.
He opened it and skimmed the table of contents. The contents were much the same as the other books, but his eyes stopped on the final chapter.
‘Elves and Spirits.’
Something none of the other books had.
He wanted to read it right away, but the shopkeeper was watching. Sitting there and reading without buying was against basic manners.
“I’ll take this one.”
When he left the bookstore, the old book was tucked in his spatial bag.
***
After having dinner outside, Verden entered a high-class inn.
After a simple wash, he changed into light clothes, then sat at the desk. He stacked up the books he had bought from the bookstore, and began reading them one by one.
Rustle, rustle.
Verden’s hands and eyes moved quickly. There was no need to read every single line. What he needed was information on spirits.
One book, two books……
Finished books piled up on the floor.
Yet still, none of it struck Verden as meaningful knowledge.
Only surface-level information, like the ecology or types of spirits. Repetitive content. The titles were different, but what was inside was hardly any different at all.
‘These aren’t even good enough for firewood.’
He tossed aside the worthless books, full of subjective rambling instead of objective knowledge, and reached for the next one. The last, and the oldest.
He brushed off the dust, and began reading. It delved a bit deeper than the others, but still contained little on spirits.
Turning the pages quickly, he soon reached the final chapter, and flipped it open.
[Spirits possess intelligence.]
The statement was enough to draw Verden’s interest.
He began to read slowly.
The book stated that ‘spirits are intelligent beings capable of expressing themselves, and have emotions like humans,’ citing several objective examples such as enraged spirits, which gave it some credibility.
However, it also noted that when spirits were barely captured and tested, no conclusive results were ever obtained. Their resistance was so intense that the experiments could not proceed, and were all eventually abandoned.
It was a case similar to what Vermin had spoken of.
‘It’s a pity there’s no solid proof.’
He turned the page with that thought.
The part about elves and spirits, listed in the table of contents.
The book described a connection between elves, the natural race, and spirits, which held natural magic power, mixing unverified claims with the author’s own opinions.
[Elves heal their wounds in nature, while spirits revive through nature’s magic power.]
[There are reports that some elves possess abilities similar to spirits.]
[Elves do possess magic power, but unlike humans, it may be natural magic power.]
[Elves have the longest lifespans among known races. In their culture, death is believed to be a return to nature, much like spirits.]
…and the conclusion was this.
[Elves are likely ‘friends’ of spirits, and the powers they possess may originate from spirits.]
After reading that, Verden tossed the book behind him.
“I thought it was decent, but this too is trash.”
It had explained the similarities between spirits and elves, but offered no concrete evidence of any connection.
It was nothing but rampant speculation, drawing conclusions from conjecture. The intent to force a connection between elves and spirits was blatant.
Even if it were true, the book could not be called knowledge. It was merely one person’s personal opinion.
Verden pulled the spirit stone from his spatial bag.
It still contained natural magic power. Looking at it again, it seemed to hold even more than before. Still, no more than a sliver.
‘That spirits revive…….’
Then suddenly, a thought flashed through Verden’s mind.
Natural magic power meant nothing less than infinitely pure magic power. And spirits revived by absorbing it. Since spirits themselves were formed of natural magic power, it made perfect sense.
‘Then what happens if I put my magic power into it?’
The magic power he had obtained through Defying the Heavens.
In terms of purity alone, it was objectively no different from the magic power found in nature. Perhaps it was even greater.
Which meant……
This was worth experimenting with.
Verden held the spirit stone in his hand.
He did not hesitate. Curiosity as a researcher was one thing, but he was confident he could deal with whatever happened. Even if a spirit really did revive, he could suppress it with mana pressure, and that would be the end of it.
At last, Verden injected magic power into it.
The spirit stone began to turn blue.
Soon, the burst of blue light filled the entire room.
Está interesante, lo voy a seguir.