32 – Entering My Own Dungeon – 3

The first thing felt in the spirit’s memory was intense anger.

A terrible and desperate anger toward the existences that had made it like this.

Accepting the images of the spirit that rushed in along with the emotions, Gi-jun thought that the fellow might have really been able to burn the world down at one point.

But even such a fellow had been betrayed.

Yes, by the other spirits it had trusted.

Feeling the deep sadness being transmitted, he reached out with his spiritual power and tried his best to caress it.

‘The images aren’t clear, so I don’t know for sure… but there was something it was protecting along with the other spirits. It was taken away through an internal betrayal, and it was even ambushed and severely wounded.’

What came after was an obvious story.

The spirit fled, hid itself in a secluded forest, and fell asleep to heal its wounds.

And it dreamed.

A dream of forming a large family again and living with those who would never betray it.

That was the reason why the forest became flooded with ghosts.

Since it was consuming its own power to continuously create ghosts, its wounds were not healing, and on top of that, the ghost that had actually obtained a will of its own was trying to devour other ghosts to become a spirit itself, so what irony could be greater than this?

Unexpectedly, that was how the ways of the world usually felt, but that was also why there were some things that could not be forgiven even more.

‘I should have hit that bastard on the head a few more times before killing him.’

He should not have scraped him away in one go with the sharp edge of the shield, but beaten him mercilessly with the blunt side instead.

If he had done that, the energy dwelling in the guy’s core would have been consumed, causing trouble, so he wouldn’t have actually done it anyway.

―Kieee… Kihi?

At that moment.

Whether it felt the spiritual power embracing and healing it, the voice of the spirit, finally waking up from sleep after a long time, echoed in Gi-jun’s mind.

It was a cry like that of a wary wild animal.

Because it had lost too much power in the meantime, it could no longer even make a human voice.

It was a truly harsh thing considering that among the ghosts it had created, there was even one that had completely humanized, but it was not a big problem anyway since Gi-jun could understand its intentions based on his spiritual power.

“It’s okay, I’ll heal you.”

Speaking in a soft voice, he caressed its head once more and turned to look at Lucy.

It was a confirmation of whether those things should be used here.

Lucy also nodded her head vigorously.

―I will heal it together with the Contractor too.

“Thank you.”

―Kieee…

Even while letting out a weak cry, the spirit, having come into contact with Gi-jun’s spiritual power and instinctively realizing that he was acting for its sake, did not resist him and comfortably entrusted its body to him.

The flame ghosts, including the boy who was held by chains forged from the spiritual power of light, could only watch the awakened spirit in sheer astonishment.

“H-how…?!”

―I will let you guys go now. I don’t have any spiritual power to waste on you. You’ve probably noticed by now, right? Just watch quietly.

Waking up a spirit that had fallen asleep while harboring a severe wound without causing it to run amok would certainly be no easy feat.

Had it been easy, it would not have remained asleep here alone for such a long time.

The answer was an extremely deep spiritual power—drawing the fellow to this side with a spiritual power deep and massive enough to contact the spirit’s mindscape in a single breath.

It was easier said than done; Gi-jun would never have been able to pull it off had he not trained his spiritual power for ten years.

“Eat slowly.”

Gi-jun took out a stamina supplement—namely, a ghost’s core—from his breast and fed it to the spirit.

All flame ghosts originated from the spirit.

Naturally, pure fire spiritual power was imbued within their cores.

These cores, which he had cleanly extracted using his Rare-grade Slaughter skill, even had their grades elevated compared to their original states; indeed, as if the spirit also knew that they had originally originated from itself, it accepted and bit into it right away.

“Lucy.”

―Leave it to me.

―Kieee…

A warm light imbued with healing properties wrapped around the spirit’s wound.

Sensing Lucy’s intervention, the fire cat narrowed its eyes slightly before closing them again.

The terrible wound that had been left unattended for a long time without any sign of improvement began to heal little by little.

As if responding to Lucy’s spiritual power, the fire cat also consumed the fire spiritual power it had just swallowed, showing its own will to regenerate.

―Contractor, one more.

“Sure.”

Gi-jun divided all of his spiritual power into two, using half to boost Lucy’s spiritual power and the other half to restore the energy of the fire cat, whose breathing was faint.

Whether its consciousness was returning bit by bit, the spirit licked and devoured a core each time he held one out to its mouth.

As the spirit’s wound healed to a noticeable degree, the flame ghosts, who had been merely flustered, before long gathered in a circle and watched them.

―Kie.

Having recovered a fair amount of energy, the fellow stopped eating the core mid-bite and licked Gi-jun’s finger.

Its tongue, made of flames, did not harm Gi-jun but warmly wrapped around his finger before letting go.

As if he could feel the fellow’s grateful heart, Gi-jun also smiled.

“How is it, Lucy?”

―Yeah, I think we just need to feed it that last one.

“I’ve been completely cleaned out.”

Empty-handed we come, empty-handed we go; since he had entered the ruins empty-handed, he would leave empty-handed as well.

Gi-jun took out and held up the last core with the mindset of a high monk who had attained enlightenment.

Of course, it was the core of the giant beast he had defeated earlier.

This fellow had grown all the way to the Rare grade, and thanks to him extracting its core in one go without a single bit of waste, the core had reached the Unique grade.

“Eat this and get completely well.”

―Kie.

The fellow gulped down the core.

Gi-jun’s spiritual power and Lucy’s spiritual power combined to completely envelop the fellow, and soon, a bright flame flared up from within.

It was felt that all the heat dominating this space, this forest, was being concentrated.

The heat that had been indiscriminately emanating from the unconscious spirit finally converged back to its rightful master.

He knew that the fellow’s wounds had healed without even needing to look.

―You have excellently healed a severely wounded spirit. Although much of its immediate power has been lost, you succeeded in completely restoring the vessel of its giant soul, so it may one day regain its full power. Spiritual Power (L) has increased by 2.

―Great and special achievement accomplished! You have obtained the Unique-grade title [Spirits’ Attending Physician]. Due to the title’s effect, it becomes easier to receive love from spiritual entities, including spirits, and the effect of all healing techniques increases by 20%. Charm (L) has increased by 3. You obtained 10,000 Leta Points as a reward for the achievement.

―You have excellently healed a severely wounded spirit. Although much of its immediate power has been lost, you succeeded in completely restoring the vessel of its giant soul, so it may one day regain its full power. Spiritual Power (L) has increased by 2.

―Great and special achievement accomplished! You have obtained the Unique-grade title [Spirits’ Attending Physician]. Due to the title’s effect, it becomes easier to receive love from spiritual entities, including spirits, and the effect of all healing techniques increases by 20%. Charm (L) has increased by 3. You obtained 10,000 Leta Points as a reward for the achievement.

He had thought that his spiritual power might grow as he came into contact with and healed a spirit completely different from Lucy.

However, he had not imagined an achievement at all.

Perhaps this spirit was—not only in the past but also in the future—an existence that held great significance for this world.

And points were pouring in much more than expected; normally, they were supposed to be hard to get, right?

―Kieee――!

The fire cat, which had completely regained its energy, stood on the floor with its four paws and let out a loud cry.

Even so, since it was only of a size that could fit on Gi-jun’s shoulder, it was not very majestic, but instead, it was extremely cute, so he diligently stroked it.

Since the fellow also rubbed its head against his palm as if it were a real cat, it was satisfying to stroke.

“M-Master.”

―Uooooo…!

The flame ghosts, including the boy who had managed to maintain his human form until now, knelt before him.

Only then did the spirit realize there were other existences besides Gi-jun and Lucy; it tilted its head with a “Kie?” as it looked at them, and before long, as if realizing what had happened in the meantime, it blinked its jewel-like eyes.

―Kie…

Confronting one’s own lingering attachments and foolishness was a very difficult thing.

At the same time, the ghosts were also existences that symbolized the betrayed spirit’s past.

There were several paths the spirit could choose.

Living in this forest with the ghosts who would never betray it, just as it had wished while dreaming.

Or cutting off its foolish lingering attachments and reclaiming all the ghosts back into its body for the sake of revenge, recovering even a little bit of its power.

The spirit chose neither of the two.

―……Kie?

Looking around at them, the spirit turned to Gi-jun, made eye contact with him, and cried.

If he could not guess the meaning, he would be disqualified as a spirit summoner.

Still…

When Gi-jun, who was contemplating for a moment, looked at Lucy, she did not even hesitate as she nodded and shouted.

―What is there to think about? A great spirit with clear potential is asking to contract, so you should nod your head right away!

“It’s fine by me, but I was worried you might mind.”

―I am a good spirit who always prioritizes the Contractor. Don’t worry needlessly and make the contract.

“……Alright.”

Only then did Gi-jun make eye contact once more with the cat spirit staring up at him and asked.

“Sorry to make you wait. If you don’t mind, would you hold my hand?”

―Kie.

As if understanding, the fellow let out a short cry and placed its small front paw on Gi-jun’s outstretched hand.

At that moment, using Gi-jun’s spiritual power—which was already flowing into the fellow—as a medium, a spiritual connection between him and the spirit was established, and he felt a powerful fire spiritual power flowing back through that spiritual power.

Ten years after contracting with Lucy, Gi-jun had finally succeeded in contracting with a new spirit.

―By contracting with a fire spirit, you have obtained the Rare-grade skill [Fire Spirit Arts]! Because you successfully nursed and healed the mind and body of the severely wounded spirit and formed a contract, a very large modifier is applied to the Fire Spirit Arts skill. The level of the [Fire Spirit Arts] skill has increased by 34 to become level 35!

―Charm (L) has increased by 1, and Spiritual Power (L) has increased by 3.

―By contracting with a fire spirit, you have obtained the Rare-grade skill [Fire Spirit Arts]! Because you successfully nursed and healed the mind and body of the severely wounded spirit and formed a contract, a very large modifier is applied to the Fire Spirit Arts skill. The level of the [Fire Spirit Arts] skill has increased by 34 to become level 35!

―Charm (L) has increased by 1, and Spiritual Power (L) has increased by 3.

“I look forward to working with you.”

―Kit!

Regaining its energy as soon as it formed a contract with him was just the same as Lucy.

Letting out a cheerful cry, the spirit toddled precariously up his arm and finally took its place on his left shoulder.

Gi-jun reached out with his other hand to stroke its head, and feeling the same strange sensation as when he had named Lucy, he quietly whispered.

“Ur, you are Ur.”

―Kie.

The spirit, Ur, who had affirmed with a short cry, looked back at the flame ghosts who were staring at the spirit contract scene with dumbfounded expressions.

Now that he had just contracted with the fellow, a deep emotion, which was hard for Gi-jun to fully comprehend, flashed inside its eyes before disappearing.

Ur was now Gi-jun’s contracted spirit.

At this moment, Ur shook off all of its past and hardened its resolve to walk forward together with him.

Feeling Gi-jun’s spiritual power gently embracing it, the fellow cried out once more.

―Kiet, kieeee.

That was a declaration of liberation for the ghosts.

“Master, are you abandoning us?”

―Kie.

When Ur shook its head firmly and let out a few more short cries, the boy asked back in disbelief.

“Freedom… Are you telling us to live on our own?”

―Kie.

“Up until now… But all of that was a lie.”

Enveloped in flames, the boy, the flame ghost, hung his head in agony.

“The village, the people, and even the spirit that tormented us—all of it was a lie. If there was only one real thing in this forest, it was none other than you, Master, before my eyes.”

―Kit, kie.

“From now on, we just need to make it real…”

If someone who knew nothing about spirits were to watch that exchange from the side, it would probably sound incredibly foolish.

However, Gi-jun was not a little moved.

This was because he had noticed that Ur, who had understood his heart while contracting with him, was trying to liberate the flame ghosts out of consideration for him.

“I… understand.”

In the end, the boy nodded.

The flames enveloping his slightly trembling body miraculously subsided, and he soon returned to a completely human appearance, just like when he had first met Gi-jun.

“Then, from now on, we wish to seek true freedom on our own. In the end, we might even forget Master’s orders. Even so, is it truly alright?”

―Kie.

Giving a short reply as if it had no interest in orders or anything of the sort anymore, Ur rubbed its head against Gi-jun’s neck and let out a purr.

Just as the boy, who had read that meaning, smiled faintly and stood up—surprisingly, a new power and a unique identity dwelt within the boy.

The moment he understood and accepted the freedom granted to him.

Truly ironically.

The transformation into a spirit that the ghost—who had tried to devour him to raise the level of his own consciousness—had so desperately desired had finally taken place.

―It’s been a while since I’ve seen a mere ghost comprehend nature and sublimate into a spirit.

Lucy left a brief commentary.

Although the power he possessed was not great, the meaning of becoming a completely independent spirit was immense.

The boy also looked around at his own body in disbelief and… immediately waved his hand.

Along with that, the ghosts remaining in the surroundings broke free from their forms of flame and changed into human-like appearances.

To think that the first thing he did upon becoming a spirit, consuming his power, was to bestow consciousness and form upon the ghosts; Gi-jun could not help but laugh.

“Thank you…! Thank you, Lord Ur. And Savior! We will never, never forget you!”

Greeting them with a bright smile, the boy vanished from the spot along with the humanized ghosts.

They probably went back to the villagers, who still did not even know that they themselves were ghosts.

In a secluded village deep in the forest where humans could not visit, they would continue to live together, learning about freedom and life.

He thought it would be nice if they met again someday.

―Rare achievement accomplished! Finding your own path without being swayed by the information in front of you, and discovering the hope behind tragedy, you deserve to be called a seeker of truth. Charm (L) has increased by 1. You obtained 3,000 Leta Points as a reward for the achievement.

―You have obtained the Rare-grade title [One Who Lifts the Veil]. Due to the title’s effect, it becomes easier to find hidden elements of quests, and the rewards for all quests become even more splendid!

―Your level has risen to 4 due to achievement experience. Dexterity (L) has increased by 1, Light Magic Power (L) by 1, and Spiritual Power (L) by 1.

―Rare achievement accomplished! Finding your own path without being swayed by the information in front of you, and discovering the hope behind tragedy, you deserve to be called a seeker of truth. Charm (L) has increased by 1. You obtained 3,000 Leta Points as a reward for the achievement.

―You have obtained the Rare-grade title [One Who Lifts the Veil]. Due to the title’s effect, it becomes easier to find hidden elements of quests, and the rewards for all quests become even more splendid!

―Your level has risen to 4 due to achievement experience. Dexterity (L) has increased by 1, Light Magic Power (L) by 1, and Spiritual Power (L) by 1.

Obtaining an achievement, let alone a title, was usually no easy task.

Yet, to have accomplished achievements and obtained titles twice on his very first day entering Leta, even Gi-jun himself was dazed.

It would have been impossible without the Conqueror of the Hidden Dungeon title, let alone his spiritual power, and without Lucy, who had enabled him to secure the means to heal the spirit beforehand and had cast light healing spells.

“Thank you, Lucy. You too, Ur.”

―I only ever think of the Contractor!

―Kieee.

The newcomer Ur stared intently at Lucy, who uttered sweet talk whenever she got the chance.

Lucy raised her head confidently as if asking what he was looking at.

Gi-jun chuckled and cast his gaze, which he had pulled away from the two, here and there.

It was a hall that was no longer hot, with all traces of flames having disappeared, because Ur had sucked in all the heat dominating the space.

Looking around the empty space where only his party remained, Gi-jun suddenly spoke.

“Come to think of it, what about the quest reward?”

―What are you talking about, Contractor?

Lucy said, dumbfounded.

―You’ve never formally received a quest.

“You’re right.”

After all, he had skipped the entire questline and run straight to the climax!

No wonder he felt no sentiment whatsoever for the villagers who had gained their freedom, not to mention the boy himself; after all, what he had gone through with the villagers was merely a thrilling chase, so what thoughts could he possibly have!

“But since I completed achievements and met Ur, I guess it’s fine. Ur, you are the biggest reward.”

―Kiet.

Ur realized where Lucy had learned her sweet talk, but since it was pleasing to the ear, it decided to just play along with Gi-jun.

“Knock, knock. The situation has been resolved to some extent, so I wanted to let you know… What is this place, ruins? You found ruins in just one day?!”

And right at that moment, the fairy revealed herself.

Only then did Gi-jun recall one fact.

The fact that he had not yet cooked the curry.