"Huh!?" Young Jade practically shouted in response to the flame's statement.
"There's no way I can reach rank two in such a short amount of time! I've been training for months as it is with very little results. There's no way that's even possible!"
"It is. I will guide you. Besides, you do not have much choice. In order to maintain the seal longer, I must periodically allow some of the energy to leak out. The energy is already slowly building within your body. You must quickly grow strong enough to begin absorbing it properly and assimilating it into your body. If you can't even do this, we'll both perish."
Young Jade gritted his teeth as his thoughts began to race.
"How did I even get into this situation?" This was the thought most prevalent in his mind.
"I really don't have a choice, do I?" He responded after a few seconds.
"It is the only way. It will be difficult, but it can be done, this I promise Young Jade."
"Spark." Young Jade said suddenly.
"Pardon?"
"Your name, Spark. It's a bit of a problem to call you "The Voice" all the time and besides, it's just easier to say." Young Jade replied.
"Oh. It does make sense. And I guess it's as good as any other name." Spark said in agreement.
"So? How do we get started? Wasting time in the depths of this ravine won't get us anywhere." Young stated as he folded his arms.
"First things first, you'll have to exit your Soul Sea. Even sustaining this link is tiring to me. You'll better understand once you return to the conscious world."
"I see. I'll do that then. Don't keep me waiting too long." Young Jade remarked as his spirit body faded away into particles.
"Ah. We're both going to die." Spark mused to himself as the large mass of electrical energy crackled next to him.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Young Jade opened his eyes to the darkness of the ravine floor once more. He half expected to be faced with some sort of creature preparing to eat him, but he was safe--for now.
"Are you there Spark?" He whispered.
"Yes." The reply came in writing once more. "One moment. I'll set things up."
Soon several words appeared before Young Jade, many of them in the form of alerts.
"Spark System Online.
[Quest Interface : Unlocked.]
Status Interface : Analyzing.
Status Interface : Synced, 100%.
Forging Interface : Unlocked.
[Lore Interface : Unlocked.]
[Help Interface : Unlocked.]
"
"What is all of this?" Young asked.
"This is a system interface I've created in order to more easily help you cultivate your strength. I may not be present at all times, I must rest too, afterall. By using this system you can make progress even while I'm unavailable." Spark communicated.
[Quest Added : Body Fortification (1)]
[Quest Added : Body Fortification (2)]
[Quest Added : Body Fortification (3)]
[Quest Added : Riding Lightning (1)]
[Quest Added : Affinity Awakening]
[Quest Added : Survive]
[Quest Added : Combat Ready (1)]
[Quest Added : Combat Ready (2)]
[Quest Added : Escape]
"What are all of these?" Young Jade asked as he read over the litany of messages before him.
"Quests are tasks designed to guide you in my absence. You can visit the Quest menu to learn more in detail. But ignore those for now, while I have the energy there are several things I must teach you."
"Such as?"
"Spirit Forging. Spirit Forging is the art of creating spirit weapons."
"Is that even possible for someone like me? Spirit Weapons cost millions of coins. Aren't they created by heavenly blacksmiths?"
"Anyone can create a Spirit Item if they know the process. The knowledge is rare, but not difficult to use. Generally, the more powerful one is, the better the weapon or armament they can create. This is why weapons are generally made by high ranking cultivators, but strength is not a requirement to create these tools -- only knowledge.
A Spirit Item is a powerful, simple way to improve your chances of survival -- something you need. I will teach you the method now and have you create both a Weapon and Armament."
"Shouldn't I be focused on raising my rank?" Young asked.
"Yes. And for that you will need to be able to protect yourself. You will also need to be able to search for food and water, as well as a safe place to make base. Spirit Weapons can help with all of these. My god...what are they teaching at your cultivation school?"
"Not much at all." Young whispered, a tone of displeasure apparent within his voice.
"No matter. Let's begin." Spark responded.
"To make a Spirit Item you need three things. The first is called Materia. Materia is the source of power for any Spirit Item. The second is one or more spirits. The final thing you need is the proper seal to forge the item together.
A seal is a symbol that can be used to apply rules to objects, places or constructs-- you can think of them as a law of reality that serves a specific purpose. Creating seals is quite simple, but there are rules to using them which I will teach you now. Pay close attention."
And so the lesson began, a series of images and diagrams appeared before Young as the tutorial commenced. Nearly thirty minutes later, it was done.
"You can view these instructions by accessing the Help Menu. To do so, all you need do is speak the name of the menu plus 'Open'. I must rest now, my power is waning again. Before I go I will give you these as a gift."
Young could feel the energy around him shifting as the air filled with the energy of lightning, then three small, white orbs appeared on the ground before him.
"What are these?" Young asked as he reached out to touch one of the objects.
"Materia. Use them well…" The text faded and a few more alerts appeared.
[Map / Mini Map Features Unlocked.]
[Dimension Inventory Feature Unlocked]
[Celestial Seal Discovered : "Construct Sphere - Self Sustaining"]
[Celestial Seal Discovered : "Weapon"]
[Celestial Seal Discovered : "Armament"]
[Augmentation Seals Discovered : Sword,Spear,Bracer,Vest,Helmet]
[Seal Timer Updated: 1877 hours Remain.]
"Spark? Spark?" Young called out several times, but there was no answer.
"Hmm. I guess he's resting." Young whispered to himself. He hated to admit it, but conversing with Spark kept his mind off of the darkness surrounding him. It was now mid morning according to the sun's position, but even that light failed to reach the floor of the ravine.
If there was anything Young was beginning to hate, it was being alone. He decided to push those thoughts out of his mind and instead focus on the task at hand, survival.
The first thing Young noticed was the addition of a new timer in the lower right area of his "HUD". 1877 hours Remain, and if Young surmised correctly that was in reference to the seal breaking completely. Quick math suggested that 1877 hours was approximately 76 days and some hours, so he would need to keep close watch on this number.
Next he decided to inspect the shining orbs of Materia. According to Spark's explanation, materia was nothing more than elemental energy encased inside a geometric shape. Spark even taught Young the basics of how to create Materia which was surprisingly simple in theory. Use qi to create a thin, hollow orb and slowly shrink that orb until the energy within it condensed itself. This was the simplest way it was explained to Young, the advanced method required skills that Young did not currently possess, namely the ability to discern the various elements and strip away only those needed.
He wouldn't be able to do that until he learned to freely manipulate his own affinity element. The materia gifted to him by Spark were filled with white lightning, the same energy being sealed away within his soul sea. Simply by touching the materia he could feel a raging power in the palm of his hand. The feeling filled Young with apprehension, these things wouldn't break would they?
They were no larger than marbles yet so dangerous…
[Do you wish to place the 'Holy Lightning Materia x3' into your inventory?]
An input alert appeared before Young.
"Uh..sure?" He said as he confirmed the question. Almost instantly a swirling black hole appeared and sucked the materia into them before closing back up.
"Whoa...that's pretty nice." He mused with a gleeful smile. This was much better than a storage ring! He could carry items wherever he wanted.
"I wonder how I can get them back? Recall : Holy Lightning Materia." Young said aloud, his hand outstretched. Within an instant another portal appeared before him, filled with swirling black and purple energy.
Young waited, half expecting the requested item to levitate into his open hand but--nothing. He waited for a dozen seconds before deciding to access the 'Help' menu.
"Ask a question." The words appeared.
"How do I remove items from my dimension storage?" Young asked.
"To remove items from your inventory, say "Open Inventory" and place your hand into the portal. The inventory interface will open, allowing you to draw out the item of your choice. Likewise, you can instantly withdraw specific items by referring to the item name or its position in your inventory. For example, Recall : Phoenix Blood Potion or Recall : Slot 1."
"Oh, okay.. That makes sense. I guess…"
A part of Young was afraid to stick his hand into the swirling black energy, but he had nothing to lose and so he got on with it. To his surprise a menu popped up showing all of the items in his inventory, what's more he could feel each item simply by thinking of it.
[Holy Lightning Material (Tiny) Rank 9 Quality 999 x3
A materia crafted by 'Spark' for Young Jade. Contains extremely powerful white lightning energy.]
The description of the item also appeared. Other than these three items his storage was empty, so Young pulled one of the materia out and rolled it around in his palm.
"This is so freaking cool!" He shouted, before covering his mouth and gazing around. Hopefully he was alone…
He placed the materia back into his inventory and then sat down so that he could take the next step towards forging himself some gear.