Chereads / Awakening of an Engineer / Chapter 4 - Spirit

Chapter 4 - Spirit

'So I've been discovered?' A deep manly voice resounded in my head, causing a headache.

"What the hell is that?!" I shouted, clinging to my head.

Mother froze, not knowing what to do for a moment, but snapped out of it, deciding to cast an extensive healing spell. After drawing a rune, she drew a short length of wood with runes on it that started to glow as she spoke.

"Oh dear Mother of Wyrd, please bless this child with your healing hands!"

A red light shone over my head and my headache was gone.

'Where did that voice come from?! My spirit core? Of course, it did! It literally said it had been discovered after being discovered!' I mentally reprimanded myself for being dumb 'If I could maybe find a way to use this vore without detonating my head, I could be leagues ahead of the other children.'

"Mom, can spirit cores talk?" I asked groggily.

"Hmm, maybe my spell was too comprehensive? He seems tired" almost not noticing my question she figuratively spat blood "What?! No! Why?"

'Tell your mom about me, she will need to help you survive what's coming next.' The voice appeared again, my mind was able to withstand the pain this time so I was able to hide my new headache.

"My spirit core told me that I need your help to have me survive 'what's coming next.'"

"By the great Lady! You have a greater spirit!" Mother exclaimed.

Father was standing next to me silently cursing his inability to use any sort of healing magic.

"Come on Ingen let's get you inside, you look pale as a ghost," Father said, trying to put on a resolute facade.

My parents wouldn't let me leave the bedroom other than to use the chamber pot and eat, I looked really sickly right now, and for good reason. A child's body could not conduct Eneru.

Development in naturals goes through many cycles. These cycles go through stages: During the First Stage of a cycle, the natural's horns grow bigger, and their Eneru conductivity grows quickly and their Eneru capacity grows slowly.

At some point, though one's horns would stop growing in volume and rather grow in density, this would do the reverse, growing capacity slowly and conductivity quickly, this is known as the Second Stage.

There is one final stage in a cycle: Molting. During molting, both the conductivity and capacity of the natural go up exponentially until their horns are ready to be cut. After cutting their horns, their capacity and conductivity for Eneru persists and they can grow a new set.

A child's horns are nearly hollow, so the Eneru was so unconductive that Eneru was essentially poison.

After a few days of being bedridden, I decided to ask my spirit for help

'My Eneru can only reach your head so often child, but I have found a solution, it will be painful.'

Without even giving time to prepare, my spirit started to forcibly change my horns, using the surrounding natural World Energies to reinforce them. My parents noticed this but didn't panic, they knew I was abnormal. I did panic, a lot, the pain was enormous, having a piece of yourself broken and reformed over and over again was enough to send anyone into a state of unconsciousness, If my mother weren't a bad-ass that is. She already prepared a painkiller spell specifically tailored to me on another length of wood and started to speak.

"Oh, Grand Father of Mercy won't you give this child a short reprieve from his misery!?" She sounded like she was pleading

This time a deep green aura enveloped my horns as the pain receded and my screams stopped, Father was positioned next to me in a praying position, hoping for a miracle.

After a while, my horns stopped growing and I felt better, my Spirit contacted me painlessly.

'I will only be able to do that one more time, and not on your horns. The World Energies don't like to be told what to do and now resist me. Tell your parents to get you tested for Eneru aptitude, you should take advantage of being a prodigy.'

Being a little less scared out of my mind I finally responded to my Spirit.

'What even are you?'

'Simply another incarnation of you, but in Spirit form.'

'That sounds far fetched'

'So is having a conversation with a voice in your head.'

'Fair, what are your goals?'

'To save this world along with the host, i.e you.'

'What type of Eneru do I have?'

'No idea, ask your parents if they will take you to get checked.'

'Fine, I'll do it, but I don't know how they will react.'

I tried to stand up but my comically large horns combined with the exhaustion left me off balance and I fell face-first into the ground.

'I'll have to get used to that.'

'your horns currently weigh around 5 kilograms. Be mindful'

'Thanks captain obvious, your input is appreciated.'

I got up and went looking for my parents, it took only a moment to find them because they heard me fall and came running. it was then that I realized my nose was bleeding, and my blood wasn't red, but rather, yellow. Mother quickly healed my nose and asked what I needed.

"I want to get tested for my Eneru."

"Sure thing kiddo, we know you have a spirit core, and you obviously have the conductivity to handle it. Let me go get the crystal ball."

Father came back with a crystal ball that looked like it had just been taken from someone's grave, it was dirty, cracked, and was only dimly glowing.

"Does that thing even work?" I asked

"Sure does, the cracks don't matter, it's all about the material it's made of, selnatite.

"Ok dad, let's see what my Eneru is like."

I couldn't stop thinking of how disheveled the crystal ball looked and tried imagining it pristine.

"Put your hand on the ball and try to force your Eneru into it."

I did as Father said and the ball's cracks started to fill, and the dirt was swept away, leaving a perfect crystal ball glowing bright yellow.

"By Order!" Mother's voice cut through the astoundment. "That's the work of a Superior Spirit!"