[Move along the riverbank until the river parts into two. Stay cautious because I can only share your senses. Haunts will mostly emerge from the river to attack you.]
"Gotcha."
Aeron started walking, following the river's flow and path that would lead toward the Fourth Sanctuary City.
"Oh yeah, Lapis. What will I get from that worm?" Aeron asked as he glanced at his spear. "I got this spear from that red-eyed guy, so the worm should give me something right?"
[No. But note this one important thing—only you are capable of directly devouring a Haunt entirely. When other people of this world kill a Haunt, they don't disappear like when you killed.]
"Eh? Wait, then don't tell me that only I am capable of getting Phantom Gear from Haunts because of that?" Aeron raised his eyebrows.
[Yep, that's the case.]
"I thought this was a game-like world, but it's only game-like for me, eh?" Aeron grinned.
[No. This is the ability of Phantom Spark and you can deactivate or activate it at your will. You will have to do that when you kill Haunt in front of other Phantom Hunters.]
"Interesting," Aeron said before he suddenly paused and turned his head to the flowing river.
[Excellent. You sensed it before me. Maintain that level of caution.]
*Splash!*
An arm-long fish with reserve protruding giant teeth shot towards Aeron from the river, its red eyes thirsty locking on his neck.
Aeron's bright sunset eyes flashed as he took a single step back before whipping his spear, its tip blade slashing into this mouth, and cleanly slashing it into two.
[You have purified an E-grade Haunt. +10 Phantom Points.]
"That felt good," Aeron grinned. "So Lapis. How is my physical combat in comparison to people here?"
[A C-grade Phantom Hunter can wipe the floor with you, but you are better than I expected. You can learn and improve in this world.]
"W-what? That's not good at all!" Aeron almost stumbled while walking. "Jesus, the Blackbelt I earned in underground dojos is nowhere near fucking enough."
[I mean, your world was peaceful generally. Here, it's not. Living amidst constant death and fighting for survival for thirty whole years while their population constantly decreased has changed this world and its people drastically.]
"True," Aeron nodded. "I gotta be careful. Even my ultra kind heart might slip up in the darkness of this world."
Lapis rolled her eyes.
"Oh, I feel hot again," Aeron exclaimed.
A second later, colorful sparks manifested before Aeron and turned into a thumb-sized black crystal with dark green and red patterns.
[Gong-Fish Ability Crystal]
_Type: Sensor-type Phantom Ability
_Grade: E
_Cost: 1 Curse energy per second.
_Effect: Allows you to breathe underwater, but reduces your vision range.
"So I didn't get Phantom Gear of that worm," Aeron wryly smiled. Since he got this weird crystal from that Fish, it meant that the Worm was skipped.
[Good timing. As I told you, other people cannot directly get a Phantom Gear or Ability like you just got one each. This is the effect of your boon, your talent, it's your uniqueness that you got--the Phantom Spark.]
[Now, just note this one thing very carefully—You must never let anyone know about the Phantom Spark. This boon was created because of your existence, and it belongs to you. There's no falsehood in this. However, there are people and beings out there, away from this world, that would do anything to acquire this Phantom Spark.]
[So, keep this a secret until I tell you are strong enough, which is…let's just say it is far.]
Lapis dryly chuckled.
"Fine, I got it," Aeron nonchalantly replied while thinking in his mind. "I can just create a hidden persona that nobody can trace when I activate this power of Phantom Spark."
[Yes, it's a must to use Phantom Spark's power for progress, but just not in front of others.]
[Anyway, infuse a bit of spirit energy into that crystal so you can learn the ability.]
Aeron did just that, and the crystal glowed before it turned into a stream of energy and entered Aeron's chest.
Some knowledge appeared in his mind, causing Aeron's eyes to flash. "Amazing…It showed me how to use curse energy into this strange rune in a blank space."
|_Phantom Spark—Aeron_|
-[Phantom Points]: 20
-[Spirit Power]: 1471 — [1330 / 1471] spirit energy.
-[Curse Power]: 15,930 — [15,139 / 15,930] curse energy.
- [Phantom Ability]: 1
—> Gong-Fish.
-[Phantom Gear]: 1
—> Blood Ripped Spear.
[Yes. You learned this one directly thanks to Phantom Spark, but you'll still have to learn basics later, so you can learn how to create a Phantom Ability and improve it.]
Lapis's face flashed smaller before Aeron saw a chart appearing in his mind.
[Here are your current chances of getting a Gear or an Ability crystal after killing a Haunt.]
Aeron slowed his walking speed to focus on both things and looked at the chart with interest. "So, that's how it is, eh?"
<——————>
E-grade Haunt: 20% chance of dropping a Gear or an Ability crystal.
D-grade Haunt: 10% chance of dropping a Gear or an Ability crystal.
C-grade Haunt: 5% chance of dropping a Gear or an Ability crystal.
B-grade Haunt: —
A-grade Haunt: —
S-grade Haunt: —
<——————>
"I won't get anything from B-grade or further?"
[Yes, you will not yet anything from them. The boon you got is also in its early stages.]
Lapis chuckled.
[You have to upgrade Phantom Spark as well, and for that, you'll have to do your favorite activities.]
Aeron grinned. "Got it."
As Aeron continued his journey and walked for thirty minutes, he encountered three more E-grade Haunts, but none of them gave anything.
"Alright. That 20% chance is already showing its effect," Aeron wryly smiled. "Alright, we are at the parting point. Where do we go now?"
[East. This river flow will climb a dark hill after four kilometers. That dark hill is our power spot where I'll teach you about curse power and spiritual power, and make you a bit stronger because our current situation is bad and we won't survive the next six hours if you don't get stronger.]
Just as Lapis finished speaking, Aeron's body shook while a bunch of loud cries and screeches also echoed from all areas near the forest.
Aeron turned his head towards the source, and his pupils expanded like never before as he watched a scenery that caused him to tremble in thrill.
He had seen various cursed ghosts—From ones occupying toilets to a cursed ghost with thousands of eyes and people sticking to its body haunting an Airport.
However, all of those paled in comparison to what he was seeing.
It was a dark tornado rising tens of kilometers high in the sky with ink-like black, green, red, and such colors splashing out of it.
But that was not all. Amidst this tornado, right in the middle, was a blood-red glowing phenomenon—A giant blood-red pair of scissors.