"I'll be waiting..." Mary had whispered as her husband's ship slowly slipped over the horizon, unable to completely suppress the unease coiling in her stomach. That had been nearly a month, but no news had arrived yet, and she was starting to fear the worst.
Rumors in the city were inconsistent, but the other nurses in the clinic had been saying that the war was going badly. With their usual level of sadistic cruelty, they made sure to bring up the hopelessness of the conflict every time Mary was in the room.
Unfortunately, it was hard to ignore their jibes this time. With Will's poorly equipped merchant ship joining up with the royal fleet to confront the Lacotian navy, it was taking all she had to keep her hope alive. Suppressing a sudden wave of nausea, she went back to work clearing up the discarded linens. Thankfully, it had been a slow day at the clinic, and there were few patients in need of care.
She was still grappling with the crushing weight of her worries, when her foot caught on something, sending her spilling onto the floor, linens flying. A series of snickers sounded from behind her, as nature of the obstruction became clear.
"How clumsy of you, dear child. You simply must watch where you are going." Beatrice announced in her dulcet tones. The other nurse was casually sitting in a chair nearby, her usual crew of cronies and sycophants in attendance.
Mary gritted her teeth, quashing the frustration building in her heart, before turning to face the bully with a smile. "Haha, yes, silly me. I wonder when I will grow out of being a klutz."
Beatrice scoffed, her curly blonde hair shaking in response. "Whatever. When you get done with those," she motioned to the soiled sheets lying on the ground, "the manager said to start cleaning the upper floor."
"...Um..."
"What? You have a problem with that?" The woman growled.
[Of course I do! The upper floor is your area of responsibility!] Mary yelled in her heart, working hard to keep the simpering smile on her face.
"No. No problem. I'll get to it as soon as I can."
"That's what I thought." Beatrice replied dismissively.
A couple of the other maids in attendance started whispering quietly to each other, cruel smirks on their faces. While Mary couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, the word 'freak' was clear stated.
Holding back her tears of frustration, she stood, and with as much dignity as she could muster, gathered the discarded linens together and headed down to the laundry. It was shaping up to be another long day.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Tal shook her head as the fragment of memory dispersed, quickly dismissing the sympathetic feelings of embarrassment and worry. From what she'd seen so far, this was shaping up to be an unpleasant couple of days as the dead woman's spiritual echo slowly synchronized with her. Although that was to be expected, she supposed. Anyone whose death could give birth to such an entity as this Wraith, would leave behind some painful memories.
"You alright, Tal? You look like you faded out there for a moment." Mike asked while holding onto her arm. She felt another surge of healing magic pass through her, completely chasing away her fatigue in a way that flew in the face of everything she knew about healing.
"I'm fine."
Tal resisted the urge to sigh. Ever since she'd met Mike, her common sense had been repeatedly overturned by the things he did, and that happened around him. She should have gotten used to it by now, but it always caught her by surprise when something so out of the ordinary occurred.
[Seriously, how does someone encounter one of the rarest kind of undead spirits while just casually wandering around in the city?]
It was enough to make her question the wisdom of whatever entity had blessed Mike with his destiny. Although thinking back to some of the things that had happened in the past, she had to admit it wasn't all beneficial.
That reminded her of Mike's strange encounter with the being occupying a portion of his mind. Despite her reassurance to the contrary, she was at a loss to explain it. The nature of the interaction, especially the entity's desire for Mike to surrender to it, suggested a type of possession, but she was a little confused on how that would be possible.
As far as she could tell, Mike had access to a suite of resistance skills in addition to naturally high base attributes. All but the most powerful of spirits would have a difficult time even remaining attached to him, let alone manifesting in his psyche in that manner. And yet, a sufficiently powerful being would have already seized control.
This state of coexistence was unnatural, something that could only take shape with outside assistance, such as in the case of Pact Mages. As far as Tal could tell, Mike hadn't gone through any of the right steps to create a contract. Not to mention, that he probably lacked the requisite skills for it.
Of course, he could probably acquire them, and then turn the tables on his unwanted guest, but he would need a more experienced teacher than she to do so. Hopefully, her old master could help.
"Anyway, are you done here?" He asked with a wry smile.
"Yes," She replied in the ancient tongue, concentrating on the difficult pronunciation and the hard consonants that were designed for a different anatomy. "It will take some time to fully integrate with the spirit, but there is nothing more that can be done now. I will simply have to wait."
"Fair enough. Let's get out of here, then. I don't know about you, but all this ghost hunting is making me feel a little hungry. Want to see if there are any places still open in the market district?" He asked, this time with a more genuine grin.
Tal hesitated. Something about the offer seemed a little out of character, especially considering the circumstances they were currently in. After all, there was no guarantee that the Tenundians wouldn't attack again soon. Carefully studying his expression, she caught a hint of concern in his otherwise cheerful features.
[Is he worried about something?]
"Alright." She replied with a nod.
The pair of them set off, but it didn't take long for Mike to broach the subject that was bothering him.
"So, I've been wondering for awhile now, what exactly is a spirit?"
"Is this because of the Wraith?" She asked, slightly confused.
"Ah, well that's part of it. I've been under the impression that the term referred to manifestations of nature or the elements, or something to that effect. So finding that these...ghosts are in the same category is a little strange."
"I see." She tried to frown while trying to find the right way to explain in the old language, but was unable to. "You aren't exactly wrong. Spirits are immaterial entities composed of pure mana or energy. Generally, they can be divided into three main groups depending on their origins. Spirits like Akiriti, my first companion, arise naturally in areas of high mana concentration, taking on the aspects of the area they were born from. These are the most common type of spirit, often referred to as Nature Spirits."
Tal paused to assemble the complicated sentences in her mind.
"The second major category consists of what you might refer to as ghosts, echoes of living beings who have perished. When powerful people lose their lives in a traumatic manner, it can leave behind an impression on a place or object. Depending on the nature of the individual and the manner in which they died, this can give birth to a fragmented consciousness that can draw upon ambient mana to give itself a rudimentary form. There are a plethora of different kinds of spirits that belong to this category, but they are still somewhat rare, comparatively."
"So wait, they aren't actually the souls of the deceased?" Mike asked suddenly.
"Generally speaking, no. I think there have been a few cases where powerful magic users have been able to attach their soul to this world, but usually the souls are drawn into the cycle of reincarnation. Supposedly, only the gods have the ability to interfere with that process, and even then, its rather difficult for them."
"What about the undead, then? Aren't they kind of a contradiction to that?"
"Undead with bodies are either animated corpses, or still have their soul, corrupted though it might be."
He frowned in concentration. "I see. Alright, what's the last kind of spirit?"
"The last category is comprised of those varieties that can't be placed in either of the other groups."
Mike looked at her with mild disgust. "....Oi..."
"It is regretful, but there are many kinds of spirits, and the experts can't agree on enough to create new categories for them. I wouldn't be concerned about this group, though. They are rare in the extreme." Tal paused, realizing that she made a slight mistake.
"Forgive me, I forgot to include something that might be important for you, given your experiences. This third category also features those beings from other worlds that must take on an immaterial form upon entering Ea. The most commonly seen of these are demons, who frequently invade this world in a limited capacity and possess living beings to spread chaos and misery."
He grimaced, froze, a look of realization on his face. "Is there any way to identify a demon that is possessing someone."
[Ah, so that's what he's worried about. Still, I would be surprised if there were any demons short of a Demon Prince capable of possessing him in any capacity.]
"I believe certain practitioners of Divine Magic have a means of doing so, but I am unfamiliar with that process. Other than that, one can usually only identify the possessing spirit during periods of stress, when the host manifests the entity's sign."
"The sign?"
Tal nodded. "When the spirit uses the full extent of its abilities while possessing a person, a symbolic representation of it arises from the host. Depending on the spirit in question, this could be anything from a slightly cool breeze, to a tattoo that details the spirit's heritage, to a phantom image of the spirit. It varies in every case."
He nodded again, lost in thought. Evidently he was concerned about his own spiritual visitor.
[I would recommend that he seek out a temple, if I thought it would do any good. Whatever's inhabiting his inner space is likely far too powerful for the average priest. It would take someone on the level of a Saint or a Heirophant to even have a chance. Unfortunately, there aren't any on the central continent that I know of.]
"I know you are worried, but I am sure that my friend in the Riverlands can help." She tried to smile in a reassuring manner, but couldn't. Not that she was concerned about her intentions not being conveyed. For all of his denseness in other areas, Mike had always demonstrated an unusually keen understanding of her emotional state, even with her inability to express it.
He looked back and smiled warmly, obviously appreciating her gesture. Tal was struck by how a simple curve of his lips and squinting of his eyes could make him look so much older and more mature. If she didn't know better, she would think she was speaking with someone in his late twenties.
"You're right. After all, nothing bad has happened yet. Whatever that thing is, I don't think it has any real power over me unless I let it in. So long as I avoid using Meditation, I should be fine. Anyway, it doesn't look like there is much open at the moment."
Tal was slightly surprised to find herself in the market district. They had covered a lot of ground without her noticing.
"Oh! Look! That Ateshan place is still serving! I've been meaning to try it out." Mike exclaimed before moving over to a small cafe in one corner of the district.
And just like that, he reverted to energetic young man she was more familiar with.
Chuckling, she followed in his wake, momentarily putting aside her own concerns. However, she couldn't fully shake a feeling of unease.