CHAPTER 9 - "Blood Type Spirit"
This web novel is a draft of the story. Please expect frequent changes and updates as I see fit. Enjoy! -Cloki
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-Azure and Siegfried were on their way to Oakheart to catch up with the cloaked figure when suddenly, Azure lost her footing and the party tumbled to the ground. Siegfried almost died upon impact but was rescued by his newly acquired vitality gear. The party woke up and found themselves in the middle of the Aqua Trail in some dense woods. Azure's mana vat is almost depleted, so the party must now gather mana flowers and brew a mana potion to restore some of Azure's mana, but further down the road, an enemy is on their way.
-Siegfried walked behind Azure, following her lead, whilst carrying the metal basin in his arms.
Siegfried: "I wonder who left this basin here anyway, and what it was originally used for. What do you think, Azure-san?"
-Azure turned around and analyzed the basin. It was an average-sized yellow metal basin. You could see the rust marks from where liquid was held, and it seemed quite heavy. She gave her assessment-
Azure: "Well, personally, I'd assume that the basin was probably used for washing clothes, meaning somebody probably camped out here recently. What's more, they had to have needed water to wash their clothes, meaning a river is most likely nearby. Considering the basin is metal and not wood, it was probably also used as a secondary tool to cook with."
-The yellow metal basin was similar to the kind of basin you would see in a supermarket back on Earth, used to hold fruits to be weighed.
Siegfried: "Washing clothes AND cooking in the same basin? That sounds disgusting!"
Azure: "Well, sometimes it's what you have to do to survive. Who knows what dangers could be lurking around in these woods. Plus, if the previous user was a fire mage, they could easily clean all bacteria out of the basin by heating it up to an extreme temperature, or by boiling water inside of it."
Siegfried: "I see, that would make sense. A fire mage, huh?"
Azure: "Yeah, someone who has a natural affinity for controlling fire magic. My father is a well-known fire-air hybrid mage in Formai, my mother was a water-electro hybrid mage, and together they gave birth to me, a water-air hybrid! I inherited more of my mother's side rather than my father's, however."
Siegfried: "Interesting, I'm still not quite sure which magic I'm naturally gifted in, yet..."
-Siegfried, still slightly confused at how magic worked in this world, was tempted to ask numerous questions to Azure. However, knowing how much time was left on his curse clock, he narrowed himself down to one question, which he thought was the most useful at the time.
Siegfried: "Azure-san? How is one to know which type of magic they can cast? Like, you mention fire mages, and how you're a water-air mage hybrid. Can you explain how these attributes are determined?"
Azure: "Well, the full explanation would take far too long, so I will simplify it for you. Listen in, Siegfried, it's time for our second lesson on magic. Keep on the lookout for mana flowers too, we still need those."
-Siegfried, focused on both Azure and the task at hand, listened in, eager to hear her explanation.
Azure: "Magical Affinity is determined at birth, through a few tests. First, the doctors will examine the baby's blood type. Blood types in Provincia are usually the biggest factor in determining which magic a person will grow up to naturally learn. The blood types are as follows, (W, N, F, A, and S). Each type correlates with a specific kind of magic. it's pretty self-explanatory to determine what each letter stands for. A = Air, N = Natural, etc. The one to take note of is Type-S. S = Spirit Magic. There are also sub-classes of magic, such as Poison and Electro Magic. Light, and Dark Magic, of course, also exist, however, they are not affected by blood type. The four main blood types, W-N-F-A, are pretty evenly distributed, however, Type-S is much rarer, with only 7 confirmed cases across the world if I recall correctly."
Azure: "Your blood type does not dictate which type of magic you'll be able to learn, however. Anyone can learn any type of magic, blood type just dictates which magic will be the EASIEST to learn."
-Siegfried remembered his conversation with Camriel earlier. It seems that Type-S blood was related to the Blessing of Spiritual Affinity. Siegfried was going to ask Azure, however, just to be sure.
Siegfried: "Azure-san, you mentioned how only around 7 people are currently alive who have Type-S blood, right?"
Azure: "Indeed, it is quite rare, why?"
-Siegfried stopped in his tracks, kneeled down, and picked three mana flowers off of the ground. He handed them to Azure. She smiled and gazed at Siegfried, eager to hear his question. Siegfried asked-
Siegfried: "...do you know what ultra abilities are?"
[[-Ultra Abilities are also commonly referred to as "Blessings" by the inhabitants of Provincia.]]
Azure: "-- --"
Azure: "Who doesn't! Blessings are the highest form of individuality when it comes to magic! I heard that there are thousands of blessings, each with its own specific ability! I'm eager to find out what mine is, do you know what yours is, Siegfried?"
-Siegfried thought about revealing his blessing to respawn to Azure, however, he was reluctant to do so.
Siegfried: "...not at the moment. I haven't figured out my own blessing yet."
Azure: "Ah, no rush Siegfried! Most people don't realize what theirs is until they've reached their mid-twenties! Anyway, why did you ask me if I knew what ultra abilities were?"
-It seemed to Siegfried that everyone had an ultra ability. Perhaps there are so many different abilities out there, that not every single one of them had to be broken. This would make sense, given the population of Provincia was probably very large.
Siegfried: "I was wondering if Type-S blood was an ultra ability, considering it is so incredibly rare."
Azure: "Indeed it is. Type-S blood indicates a person of having the Blessing of Spiritual Affinity. It is the rarest blessing, with only 7 confirmed cases currently out of a population of about 140 million people."
-Provincia had a population of around 140 million people, and 7 people were currently alive who possessed this ability, making it incredibly rare.
Siegfried: "What is the Spiritual Affinity? It sounds very powerful. Also, those mana flowers that I gave you smell very nice. They remind me of the crisp cool air of an evening in Spring."
-Azure smiled at Siegfried and went on about her explanation as the pair continued to walk through the forest.
Azure: "The Spiritual Affinity is a blessing that lets the user turn themselves into a spirit, and cast pure magic, also sometimes referred to as spirit magic. I won't get too into the history of magic, as that is a topic we will be covering later. But to put it simply, the spirits are the most powerful casters of magic in Provincia, as many of them are directly connected to their element. There are, of course, water spirits, nature spirits, fire spirits, and air spirits. People with the spiritual affinity can turn themselves into a spirit."
Siegfried: "So, by turning yourself into a spirit using the Blessing of Spiritual Affinity, does that mean that you could in theory be able to cast that specific spirit's type of magic? For example, if a mage turned themselves into a water spirit, would they have gained mastery of water magic?"
Azure: "Correction, Seigi-kun, they would have mastery of every kind of magic."
-Siegfried had a look only describable with one word: Astonishment
Siegfried: "-- --"
Siegfried "d-did you say, every kind of magic?"
Azure: "Well, not every kind of magic, only mastery of the original four elements. They would have no way of casting Sub-Magic, Light, or Dark Magic without learning them, as those are types of magic that are man-made."
Siegfried: "How on Earth does that work!? I thought each spirit specialized in only one kind of magic!"
Azure: "What is Earth? That word is unfamiliar to me. Your language is so weird, Siegfried..."
-Siegfried realized that some of his casual phrases he might use back on Earth will come off as strange to the inhabitants of Provincia and that he would have to eventually change his language to match theirs.
Azure: "Anyway, while it is true that each spirit specializes in its own element, a person who turns into a spirit isn't assigned any specific element, and thus, will instead have full mastery of EVERY element! It's completely broken if you ask me. However, they are only able to cast this magic while they are in their spirit form, and remaining in your spirit form for too long can significantly drain your mana, so it might not be as broken as you may initially believe."
Siegfried: "Well, if there are 7 of these Spiritual Affinity users, why don't the seven of them just gang up to defeat Hasher?"
Azure: "I will explain why that is impossible to you later, Siegfried. For now, we must focus on finding this river and cooking these mana flowers! We only have three of them, we need more. Keep looking for mana flowers, while I try to find some running water."
-Siegfried had so many questions that he wanted to ask, and had already gone over his pre-established limit of one question! He decided to focus more on the task at hand, and continue to search for these mana flowers.
Siegfried: "You lead the way, Azure-san!"
-The party continues to look for mana flowers for a solid twenty minutes, gathering any that they came across. It was just then, that Azure had noticed something in the distance, something that looked like a...campsite?
Azure: "Siegfried, hang on a sec. Do you see that, in the distance? It looks like a campsite, and look! I see smoke! They've got a fire going! Siegfried, this could be our chance to brew the potion. Who knows? They might even have food and water for us! I'm starting to get a little hungry."
Siegfried: "Perhaps they might also have an ambush waiting for us, perhaps with some sharp weapons and dangerous magic! Are you sure about this, Azure-san?"
-Azure's positive outlook on things was immediately thwarted by Siegfried's total dissonant and negative attitude. Then again, he was inflicted by a curse, so it only made sense that his attitude would, in turn, deteriorate.
Azure: "Siegfried, this is a low-level area. I'm sure that if there was any danger, that we would have no issues taking them down."
Siegfried: "I- okay, just know that from our last experience with a stranger, I was cursed. I don't quite trust this scenario."
Azure: "Listen, Seigfried-kun, I'll protect you, okay?"
-Siegfried's face began to turn slightly red as he gazed at Azure.
Siegfried: "I-, thank you, Azure-san. Let's go."
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