238th Episode. The Strongest Spirit (3)

It’s not easy to make someone’s memory into a crystal.

When you reach the level of a great archmage, manipulating or peering into memories becomes as easy as pie, but showing that to another person is impossible.

To extract someone else’s memory, you would have to gouge out their brain itself, which leads to murder and typically results in failure due to them dying mid-process.

But spirits are different. If it’s a spirit that can appear or reconstruct anywhere as long as nature exists, they don’t die as easily as humans do.

Moreover, if it’s the command of the spirit king of their kind, they must obey without question.

Even if they are scattered everywhere, a single command from Shaikar will gather them instantly.

This applies even to the spirits that once resided in the Elf Forest long ago.

“What’s that crystal?”

Diora, the spirit, questioned as she looked at the crystal I took out from my pocket.

She seemed extremely wary, sensing that something unusual was contained within.

It was only natural for Diora to have such a reaction, as this was something made directly by the Spirit King Shaikar.

Reflecting on the conversation I had when I received this, I recalled:

– Bring this when you go there.

– What is this?

– It’s a collaboration between me, the Spirit King of Life, and my subordinates. It’s a material crystallized from the memories of certain spirits.

– Which spirits did you extract memories from to go through all this trouble?

As the leader of the Spirits of Life, Shaikar can see the memories of his kind through telepathy without needing to extract them forcibly.

However, the fact that he deliberately summoned those spirits and pulled memories from them indicated something extraordinary.

– My subordinates are scattered anywhere there’s life. Especially if it’s the forest inhabited by the elf race, it would be a perfect place for my subordinates to thrive.

Before the forest disappeared, it was a place overflowing with spirits of life.

Although many of them were diminished due to fire, the surviving spirits would have undoubtedly witnessed the scene back then.

– This could be considered evidence of that eyewitness account.

– But we’re just going to solve a request from the village residents. Do we really need this?

At first, they were, of course, puzzled.

Having something like this wouldn’t erase the elf race’s hatred towards humans, nor would it bring back the forgotten elf village.

At this point, I believed it was meaningless to bring this up.

– I can’t just keep using you as I please. So, at the very least, it should be of help to you.

I didn’t know how much help that would be, but considering that having it is better than not having it, I accepted it gladly.

And I soon realized that choice was the right one.

“What is this crystal? It’s evidence to determine whether the Principal Keiten you saw back then was real or not.”

At those words, Diora’s eyes widened even more.

Since everyone present was a victim of that past incident, the curses spreading around began to ripple like waves.

When a person has an overwhelming curiosity about something, it feels like their head is experiencing an earthquake.

Eventually, restless and unable to settle down until they find out, they light a fire in their eyes.

I felt like I was in that very state.

“If you’re so curious…”

To grant their desire, I floated the crystal into the air.

Immediately, a massive screen appeared, reflecting memories from the past.

Indeed, it was the Elf Forest at the time the incident occurred, and this time it was viewed from the perspective of the invading humans.

It was the viewpoint of the spirits watching the situation like a surveillance camera.

What the witness saw was a mercenary leader wearing a mask and cloak.

“That guy…!”

Diora focused intently on that leader.

Seeing him remove his hood and mask shocked her again.

“Huh?”

The revealed face was not Keiten’s; it was a man she had never seen before.

In that moment of doubt when she thought the leader was indeed Keiten, the leader ingested some strange potion, and his face transformed.

Now it resembled the face of Keiten they knew well.

“…”

Having seen that scene, Diora was left speechless, and the turmoil shaking this space calmed down.

With all her questions resolved, there was no need for her to tremble anymore.

“So we’ve been misunderstanding all this time…”

Up until now, they had only recognized Keiten’s face, holding deep resentment towards Aligieri, ready to attack at any opportunity.

Thus, the moment they saw those school uniforms, they had attacked indiscriminately, but that behavior was misguided.

If a regular human were in this situation, they would have likely given up or felt despair.

“But we’re spirits. If we don’t curse until the end, there’s no reason for us to live.”

For beings composed entirely of curses, abandoning their vengeance would mean death.

Even if the truth of that day were revealed, they would never cease to exist.

Even without Aligieri, there would be many reasons to hold grudges.

Bearing resentment towards the humans who burned down their hometown was also a possibility.

“Unfortunately, our grievance remains. We will continue to harbor hatred towards humans.”

Spirits are beings that perpetually carry that anger.

Unlike spirits that feel freshness by melding with nature, the opposite spirits must endlessly writhe in hatred and suffering.

It’s easy for humans to understand the hearts of such spirits, but the hearts of the opposite spirits is something humans find difficult to grasp.

Humans know that they rarely try to understand the feelings of others.

Accepting them back has been extremely rare.

But…

“I will make that revenge come true.”

“What?”

“I will quench your thirst. That’s what I mean.”

Diora’s expression turned blank once more.

She was a top-tier spirit. Even without a special number, she could devour me with her huge power.

Thus, I found it both surprising and laughable.

“Hahaha! You’ve got to be kidding me. I know you’re a decent spirit master, but with that level of power, you’re dreaming. If you try to accept us, you’ll definitely die.”

“Either way, I’m going to die here.”

[Assimilation Rate Rising: +1%]

[Assimilation Rate Rising: +2%]

[Assimilation Rate Rising: +1%]

My body was gradually changing to black.

It felt like, if touched, I’d scatter like dust, just like old charcoal.

I mustn’t forget that this is inside Diora’s stomach.

It’s not just anyone’s; it’s the stomach of a top-tier spirit. It’s practically like bathing in digestive fluid.

Thanks to Diora suppressing it, I was able to hold on this long.

“It’s either die or live. So, what will you do?”

“…. ”

What will I do? That’s something Diora should be saying.

Momentarily at a loss for words, Diora finally opened her mouth.

“You’ve lost your mind.”

Diora gazed at the boy in front of her, recalling Skilla who used to play with her.

He seemed so detached that she almost doubted if he was the same person.

No matter how much she recalled those memories, the curse wouldn’t disappear, yet this boy had a very special condition.

Her request would be without blemish if she obliged.

“Alright. But if anything happens to you, I won’t take responsibility.”

“That’s fine.”

But there was still some preparation to be done first.

[Do you want to spend 30,000 Credits to open ‘Spirit Slot 3’?]

YES / NO

Currently, the spirit slots only had Aisha and Muto’s spaces.

Creating a third slot required a considerable amount of credits, but for me now, that was as easy as pie.

[‘Spirit Slot 3’ has been added.]

The preparations were complete.

Diora’s body appeared before me, transforming into violet light particles and scattering.

The small pieces of her body quickly seeped into mine.

At that moment, it felt like uncontrollable spirit power was about to explode inside my body.

If I touched my chest wrongly, it felt like I might burst like a balloon pricked by a needle.

Indeed, Diora’s spirit power exceeded my control range.

[Mana: 170/170]

[Spirit Power: 150/160]

.

.

.

[Mana: 120/120]

[Spirit Power: 110/110]

.

.

.

[Mana: 108/108]

[Spirit Power: 98/98]

The Mana and Spirit Power stats, which I had painstakingly raised, began to decrease.

Considering Mana is a life energy flowing through humans like their blood, those numbers were practically my life force.

If that reached 0, my life would end.

[Mana: 60/60]

[Spirit Power: 40/40]

The speed of the decrease escalated rapidly.

Simultaneously, my body was turning increasingly black, beginning to scatter like dust.

I had a sharp instinct that, if I stayed like this, I would genuinely die.

It was a fear that could be felt in an instant, yet… I smiled.

[Mana: 61/61]

[Spirit Power: 41/41]

.

.

.

[Mana: 62/62]

[Spirit Power: 42/42]

.

.

.

[Mana: 63/63]

[Spirit Power: 43/43]

Amazingly, my stats began to rise again.

It appeared as if stats were being manipulated randomly, as if I had used a cheat code.

[Mana: 60/60]

[Spirit Power: 40/40]

.

.

.

[Mana: 62/62]

[Spirit Power: 42/42]

Yet, as a result of the contract, the stats fluctuated as they decreased and increased.

Being a top-tier spirit, it would require about a hundred units of spirit power.

Right now, my spirit power was beyond my control range, but there were means to increase my spirit stat.

[Stat Points: 291]

[Stat Points: 290]

[Stat Points: 289]

These were the stat points I had earned in the recent Magical Banquet.

Since I was continuously raising these, I could restore my Mana and Spirit Power stats no matter how much they decreased.

Although it seemed like I had about 400 points, I needed to raise two stats.

Mana and Spirit Power; let’s assume these two stats had decreased by about 190 due to Diora’s power.

Then the stat points I would have to use would be 380.

If I used all that to endure, only 20 would remain.

‘Thank goodness I didn’t use up any previous points!’

If I hadn’t, I surely wouldn’t have been able to withstand this situation and would have self-destructed.

I endured the pain that felt like I was about to burst while bearing with the spirit power.

As time passed, the black energy that had stained my body began to dissipate, and the black energy composing this space also began to wane.

Just hang on a bit more.

As I continued to reassure myself, a clear blue sky began to emerge.

It was as if the suffocating air was being vented, and fresh air flowed into my nose and mouth as the dome-like ceiling opened.

And finally… the body of Diora that had engulfed me completely vanished.

I safely emerged from within her stomach.

“Huh? Look over there!”

“That’s the boy!”

The knights looked astonished as Diora’s body disappeared and I emerged from it.

Even while I was being devoured, they seemed to have held their position until the very end.

“Hey, boy! Are you alright?”

The knights rushed to me, checking on my condition.

There was worry in their eyes, likely fueled by the thought of a young student being swallowed by a spirit.

Despite being from the Viole Family, the earnest sense of duty radiated from them.

“I really thought you were going to die!”

“What happened in there?”

“Typically, when swallowed by a spirit, one would be digested or something, right?”

But because my survival was so surreal, everyone was rambling without realizing it.

Honestly, I found it hard to believe too.

Even if I said I made a contract with a top-tier spirit to survive, who would actually believe that?

[Contract with Spirit `Diora` has been successfully established!]

[`Contract Spirit Slot 3` has been added with `Diora`.]

——————

<Contract Spirit Slots>

[Muto ★★★★]

– Sensitivity: 90%

– Personality: Aggressive, Optimistic

– Attribute: Poison, Darkness

[Aisha ★★★★★]

– Sensitivity: 69%

– Personality: Indifferent

– Attribute: Wind, Flame

[Diora ★★★★★★★★]

– Sensitivity: 10%

– Personality: Cynical

– Attribute: Poison, Flame

——————

Indeed, it boasted a rank that couldn’t even be compared to other spirits.

However, summoning this one for battle would consume an immense amount of spirit power, so it should only be used as a trump card.

“You idiot!!”

Bang!—

In that moment, someone flew up high and stomped on my head.

While I was thinking about how rude it was to do that to someone who just returned alive…

“I seriously thought you were dead!”

That girl knocked me down and started crying.

I realized by looking at the usually composed Luska, now sobbing in front of me.

It’s only natural she wouldn’t go mad after witnessing a friend being eaten by a monster in real time.

“You… you….”

“….”

“Do you really…?”

I had it coming.

So with a feeling of sympathy, I quietly muttered.

“I’m sorry.”

Surviving as an Academy Scammer.