Aeron arrived at the dark hill where the river continued its flow towards the Fourth Sanctuary city.
This hill with trees, rocks, and plants was roughly over a hundred meters in radius.
'Not bad. I can hide up in that big tree.'
Aeron noticed one of the trees with solid and big branches. He immediately threw his spear toward the trunk's upper part before dashing and climbing up. Using the spear as a hold and then as a foothold, Aeron arrived on a big branch.
'Now then, Lapis sensei. Let's start the lessons,' Aeron said as he sat cross-legged and straightened his back.
Lapis smiled and nodded.
[Let's start with knowing the basics of Spirit power and Curse power.]
-[Spirit Power]: 1471
—> [10,120 / 14,710]
-[Curse Power]: 15,930
—> [158,288 / 159,300]
[Everyone's spirit power gradually increases depending on their life experience and using resources. Your world, the planet Earth is not a major spiritual world, so people also do not harness the Spirit Power with practice.]
Aeron nodded.
[Your Spirit Power increased because you mostly interacted with the ghosts, good or bad, and forged your way of life that allowed you to harness this amount of Spirit power. It's as good as a D-rank Phantom hunter.]
Aeron wryly smiled. 'What about the Curse Power? Why do I have it so much?'
[Curse Power is another form of Spirit Power, that gained more power after the laws broke. They are two sides of the same coin—Spirit Power is freedom. Curse power is restriction. Both have a different nature, but they still interact with each other and bring wonders. Especially after the cosmic laws broke.]
[Some wonders you know are none other than Haunts and Dark Ruins in this world. I'll expand on this topic as I tell you about the uses and characteristics of Spirit and Curse powers.]
Aeron grinned. 'It seems like I'll be able to do some super duper magic stuff.'
[That depends on you.]
Lapis smiled.
[For now, you need to learn basic applications, but they are important factors for one's combat ability. Curse and Spirit energy have two basic principles that expands into various uses.]
[We'll go through them one by one while you follow practically.]
Aeron put his hands on his knees in a cross-legged sitting position and nodded, 'I am ready.'
[Focus and find your source. Arriving in this world and directly interacting with both powers through Phantom Gear and Ability should have already allowed you to find it.]
'Yep. I sensed it when I learned that Phantom Ability through the ability crystal,' Aeron nodded as he closed his eyes and focused.
His focused consciousness soon found his source. It looked like a pitch-black space with two wisps. One was a dark purple wisp, and another was a white-golden wisp.
[The dark purple wisp is roughly ten times bigger and brighter. It's your source of Curse Power. The color represents your source's strength and potency, and the size represents the recoverable energy's limit.]
'It's just as those numbers I see in my status,' Aeron nodded. 'So, what do I do next?'
[In simple terms, Spirit energy is an expression of freedom. It can transform according to your will, and when you use it in different ways, you can expand on its potential]
[Our current situation requires us to reduce our presence from Haunts that are running away from the forest's core, so you'll learn the Spirit energy's first basic application, Spirit Blending. In other words—Veil.]
'Sounds cool.'
[Listen fully before doing it or you will light up like a bright bulb instead and attract Haunts.]
Aeron wryly smiled and nodded. 'Understood, milady.'
[Focus on your Spirit source, and control some Spirit energy before distributing it throughout your body's surface layer, however!…you have to distribute it equally at once, so distribute it behind your skin all over first, make it even, and then put the veil on your body's surface.]
[Take the lowest amount of spirit energy you think you require to envelop your body and do it.]
Aeron focused on the palm-sized white-golden wisp.
Upon his will, the wisp readily released white-golden dreamy liquid and started permeating his body, overlapping his inner physical features.
'Lowest amount, eh?'
Aeron took 50 spirit energy and started distributing it evenly. However, his Veil broke at multiple places when he tried to even some spots.
He tried one more time but still failed.
'I guess I need a bit more.'
Aeron took 20 spirit energy more and finally made a layer under his skin that was even.
[Good, you can put it on your body surface now.]
The moment Aeron did that, his physical body merged with trees, branches, and the atmosphere, making him invisible to the naked eye.
Aeron looked at his own hand, and he couldn't see it!
'Wow, I can even see ghosts, but now I can't see my own hand?' Aeron laughed.
[Not bad. Unless a C-rank Haunt passes through here, you are safe.]
'So if a C-rank passes through here, I am fucked?' Aeron raised his eyebrows.
Lapis nodded while smiling.
[Yep, but you can practice and improve your Veil. Do you know what makes a Veil powerful?]
Aeron furrowed his brows and remembered a particular thing. 'You told me to take the lowest amount of spirit energy I can to form my Veil.'
'Don't tell me that the lower the amount of spirit energy we use, the better our Veil?'
[Bingo. The Veil's true purpose and expression of spirit power's freedom is to let the atmosphere and surroundings fill itself on your veil, making it completely blend into the world. Of course, this level is a tad bit too high for you right now.]
[To even begin training that level of Veil, you have to be able to make a Veil with 9 Spirit energy first.]
'9 spirit energy…' Aeron was speechless. It was not like he directly gave up making a veil with 50 spirit energy. He tried twice! But still failed.
'Alright, what's next one?'
Lapis grinned.
[The next one is very lovely. Ever since the cosmic wheels broke, curse power transformed and changed, establishing another principle to it—Curse Refinement: Someone possessing Curse power can directly use their curse energy to enhance themselves physically.]
[Curse energy's basic use—Enchant]
'Ohh!' Aeron's eyes shone as he understood its impact on his current situation.
[Yep. Learning this will make you directly stronger and tougher, so let's start.]
Aeron properly sat in meditation while the Veil had him hidden. 'How long will this Veil last?'
[After a Veil is formed, you need the same amount of spirit energy you used to make it every minute to keep it running.]
'Gotcha.'
After two seconds, his consciousness arrived in his source region as he focused on the dark-purple wisp.
[Just like how you created Veil, do the same with curse energy. Take 100 curse energy and spread it evenly throughout your arms.]
[However, you don't need to project it outward, but let your arms absorb it.]
'Only arms? Alright.'
Aeron focused, taking out a chunk of curse energy numbering 100 in quantity before he permeated it into his arms. 50 curse energy in each arm.
'Wow.'
Aeron looked at his arms as they ever-so faintly glowed with a dark purple hue. He could feel explosive power in them!
He punched forward in the air, creating a strong whoosh sound that ruffled the leaves and drove winds!
'And I only used 100 curse energy! This is great.'
[The potency of Enhance solely depends on your Curse Power. Curse energy is only a fuel that decides how long your enhancement lasts.]
Aeron raised his eyebrows, 'You mean even if I use more curse energy, it doesn't mean I can make my arms stronger?'
[Yep. But don't worry. The characteristic of curse power allows for greater enhancement when you use it in tandem with spirit energy.]
'Great! Let's learn it.'
[Before that, learn the remaining two basic transformations.]
Lapis rolled her eyes. [One at a time.]
'Alright. What's the next?'
[The next one is Spirit energy's basic application—Manifest.]
[Project your spirit energy outward your body and remove your active control over it.]
'Alright.'
Aeron did that and saw his white-golden spirit energy floating before his eyes. It was a dreamy liquidy blob of 50 spirit energy.
When he released control over it, something magical happened.