After Joana had sped off, I decided I wasn't going to hide in the shrub and potentially become spirit food so I hightailed it out of there. I kind of floated around aimlessly with no direction until I realized I was the brightest thing in the forest, which felt like walking around naked.
Luckily, I found a seemingly abandoned burrow that was left over by an animal. Since I was the size of a baseball, space wasn't really an issue. When I got comfy, Deity explained where exactly I was in great detail.
So, this the Overworld?
"Yes, this is the main world that connects the spiritual and dimensional realms," Deity said. "Unlucky for you, this isn't Earth,"
So, in this Overworld, where exactly am I?
"Uhhh… honestly, I don't know. This world has tons of forests, so I wouldn't know all of them,"
But I thought you were a god!
"H-Hey, I haven't been in this world in a thousand years! You can't blame me…"
I stopped floating and plopped down on the dirt. I never thought that as a spirit I could feel tired and weary, but here's a first time for everything. For now, my best course of actions were to become stronger, find civilization, and then find my Tsagi. I had already cast aside the thought that Chloe might have died, as I didn't want to think my sacrifice was in vain.
〔ALERT: A creature is coming towards your location!〕
A creature? Was it a spiritual predator?
〔ANSWER: Yes.〕
How awfully blunt.
"YOU GOT COMPANY!"
A large snout suddenly burst through the burrow and began biting everything around it, trying to reach for me.
CRAP! WHAT DO I DO!?
"ASK YOUR SKILL, NOT ME!"
The snout looked like that of a fox, but this one had razor-sharp teeth and it was also…glowing? I guess it was a key attribute of spiritual predators. But that wasn't important right now, what was important was an escape plan.
〔Do I have any skills to protect me?〕
〔EXAMINING DATABASE….EXAMINATION COMPLETE ANSWER: NO.〕
I was so screwed.
Meanwhile, the very determined fox kept on thrashing wildly at the entrance of the burrow. It lashed and gnawed at random directions, trying to grab me violently. I pressed my back as far in the dirt as I could, dodging it's wild thrashing snout.
I thought I had skills that could protect me but all I had were mental and processing skills. As the wild thrashing got closer, my cool began to crack as it's glowing snout was edging my body.
Then it bit me.
The pain was unlike that of a biological one. It hurt, EVERYWHERE. It felt like my soul was being electrocuted and I cried out in pain. I rolled around in the dirt like an injured animal, shouting in fear and pain.
〔PLEASE SUPERCOMPUTER, THERE'S GOT TO BE SOMETHING TO PROTECT ME! PLEASE, I'M GOING TO DIE!〕
〔ANSWER: No.〕
I understood my skill was not a living person, but simply a machine. I had to stop relying on it like a person, as it would only function if I had the tools for it to function with. And a tool I really needed was something to shield me with, to protect me.
『SUCCESS! YOU HAVE ATTAINED THE SKILL 'BARRIER'』
…what?
〔Congratulations of acquiring the skill 'BARRIER', would you like an explanation of such power?〕
The fox bit me again.
I shouted in pain as I saw fragments of myself spilled on the dirt. They looked like shards of glowing crystal thrown across the dirt, but that crystal were pieces of my very soul. This was pain I never wanted to feel again, I didn't care for an explanation, I just needed the skill to protect me…
〔NOTED! Casting barrier…〕
Suddenly, a transparent blue box slowly formed around me. The barrier skill did as the name implied: it created a barrier around me. Suddenly, out of nowhere, the fox's foaming mouth lunged for me only to bite down on the barrier.
It bit the barrier a bit more, whimpering in-between lunges to center itself before lunging back into the burrow and biting down full force on my barrier. However, all of it's attempts were in vain.
It was kinda funny how it kept trying, and I giggled faintly. I felt like passing out.
Then a leather boot kicked the fox and sent it flying.
"Why is that burrow so bright?" a feminine voice shouted. She squatted and peered into the burrow, and I was looking at glowing blue eyes, pale skin, and white hair. "Loos like mama just found herself an eternal lamp,"
She reached her hand in and grabbed my barrier, leaving me face-to-face with her. Though I was dazed, it's not like my vision was bad. I didn't see how humans and biological humans see, the way I see the world is rendered information flooding into my brain.
So I saw probably the most beautiful woman with long white hair I've ever seen staring at me with a slack-jawed surprised expression. She shook her head and scratched it.
"Did someone cast a barrier on this thing…?" she asked herself. She shook her head. "The barrier would've just ceased… so then…" she tapped on my still active barrier. "Did you make this?"
"Who else…" I said.
〔Spirit Body has sustained great damage. Auto-shutdown needed to repair…dismantling barrier…〕
"Sylver, even if I study spirits in my spare time, I can confidently say spirits can't cast anything," a feminine voice. "They're not even alive, so you're wasting your time with this,"
I awoke surrounded to a dim light emanating from a fireplace. A quick look around told me I was in some medieval-looking blacksmith shop. The shop was dark and damp but a small and cozy space at the same time, filled with smoke and the smell of iron and fire. The fireplace was the main source of light and heat, casting flickering shadows on the wooden floor and ceiling.
A large metal anvil stood in front of the fireplace, with a heavy hammer and a bucket of water beside it. The fireplace also had a metal rod that extended to the wall, where a bellows was attached. The bellows was used to pump air into the fire, making it hotter and brighter.
The walls of the shop were covered with shelves that displayed a variety of items. There were tools such as pliers, wrenches, saws, and drills, as well as weapons such as swords, axes, spears, and bows. Some of the weapons had intricate designs and engravings on them, while others looked simple and practical. There were also armor pieces such as helmets, chest plates, gauntlets, and boots, made of different materials such as leather, metal, and cloth. Some of the armor had dents and scratches on them, while others looked shiny and new.
Thanks to 'ANALYZE', I could also sense a faint hint of herbs and spices, coming from a small table in the corner.
I looked around, and sure enough, I was trapped in a jar. I spotted the white-haired woman next to the fireplace talking to another person, a brown-skin woman with dark hair.
The white-haired woman saw me floating around groggily and immediately ran to the table, grabbed the jar, and excitedly tapping at it. I noticed that she had the ears of a wolf on the top of her ears, something most people shouldn't have…
〔Target is a BEASTMAN, a mix between an animal and a human. Their physiology is much different than a normal people, as well as having an innate 5 times more strength than a human.〕
The white haired woman signaled for the other woman to come to her, pointing at me. She was a beautiful woman with very long snow-white hair, sapphire-blue eyes, and pale skin. She wore a black tank-top and leather pants with black boots. It gave her a very wild vibe, which fits her because of her wolf ears and long, bushy, white tail.
"It's so cute!" the white-haired woman exclaimed. "It's probably confused on where it is, aww!"
The dark-haired woman scratched her head. "Sylver, You do know spirits aren't really alive… right? They're just pieces of someone's consciousness and memories,"
The dark-skinned woman was also very attractive. She had golden-brown skin and long dark hair that was kept in one big braid, and also bright golden eyes. She wore a tattered black apron with brown jeans stained with grease and a grey shirt.
The white-haired one gasped and lifted my jar. "I wonder whose memories this is,"
Now that I could understand them, I wonder if I could talk to them. Talking to Joana was easy because she was a spirit as well, so we didn't talk, it was basically telepathy. But these are biological beings, and it could be tricky…
Idea!
〔Is it possible to generate sound waves using my new Barrier powers?〕
ANSWER: No, generating sound waves is not possible, but it is possible to manipulate sound waves passing through your barriers〕
Great, just what I needed!
Using skills was as easy as breathing, mostly because it just feels like it's a part of you. I created a small barrier, a transparent glowing box about the size of a pebble, and had it hone in on air and sound vibrations.
"Uhh Dairah… are spirits supposed to do that?"
The barrier spun around in place like a rubiks cube solving itself, and when it stopped spinning, I saw that there were tiny strings inside it. I could now freely manipulate any sound that came from my barrier!
Daira peered over the white-haired woman's shoulder and fer face squished into confusion, trying to make out what she was seeing. Then her eyes went wide and she stepped back a little.
"N-No… they're not… how..?"
I think it was high time I said hello to them.
"HI, HOW ARE YOU!?"
My 'voice' was so loud that it created a giant crack in the jar and rattled objects close to me. In fact, it was so loud that it created a big blast of wind that knocked everything down.
Oops…
Not only that, the girls screamed and fell back in pain as the sound penetrated their ears, especially the white-haired woman who was seemed like she was squirming in extreme pain.
Dairah, dazed from the sound, shakily got up and pointed at me with frightful eyes and blood leaking from both of her ears.
"D-D-Demon! DEMON!" she screamed. "SYLVERWULF, YOU BROUGHT A DEMON!"
Sylverwulf stood up, her limbs shaking and blood coming out from her ears as well, stared hard at me with intense anger.
Ah shit, what have I done.
〔Can you please automatically adjust the intensity of the sound? We might accidentally kill someone with this…〕
〔ADJUSTING SOUND PRESSURE AND VOLUME INTENSITY…↺〕
〔FREQUENCY ADJUSTED!〕
Phew, let's not nothing like this happens again. Anyways, I need to apologi-
SMASH!
Suddenly, I was face-to-face with a gloved hand. I looked up and saw a very angry Sylverwulf staring daggers at me.
"Wait, wait, wait! Lemme expla-"
"Don't listen to it!" Daira yelled.
Sylverwulf raised up her fist and brought it down with insane speed, but I already created a flat barrier above me to protect me. However, when she hit the barrier, it split the entire table in half!
What the-
Then I noticed Daira picked up a dagger and lunged at me, but she was quite slow and I just floated out the way. Unfortunately, I floated straight into the hand of Sylverwulf; and man, she gripped me with insane force.
"Wait, I'm sorry, just let me explain myself!"
"Nothing to explain, demon," she said. "I can't believe I brought you into this place,"
She began trying to crush me using her bare hands, but being a spirit that can't feel physical pain, it was pointless.
"Sylver, demons are spiritual lifeforms! it can't be killed by biological means!"
"I AM NOT A DEMON!"
"Trying to use the same attack, huh?"
Suddenly, the palm of her hand ignited into flames! I panicked and squirmed until I realized: Oh wait! I can't feel pain.
"You know this is pointless, right? I'm a spirit… can't feel pain… if you're gonna kill me, at least research how to kill me,"
Sylverwulf gritted her teeth. "YOU MOTHERFU-"
She covered me with both hands and ignited them into flames while trying to crush me.
"Did you not hear when your friend said you can't kill me by biological means?"
"DON'T MOCK ME!!"
She then threw me in the air and opened her palm to… shoot a fireball!?
"YOU IDIOT!" Daira screamed, running towards the nearest and farthest corner.
"You've got to be joking,"
While I was pretty pissed that they were trying to kill me, it was also my fault for not properly using my power. I activated 'BARRIER' and trapped the incoming fireball within the barrier. My barrier didn't stop the fireball's momentum, however, so it just looked like it was traveling in place.
『CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILLS 'CONTAIN' and 'RELEASE'!』
『CONGRATULATIONS! YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL 'IMAGINARY SPACE'!』
Just got trapping a single fireball? Deity was right about getting skills easily not long after reincarnation, so I'd have to take advantage of this later. Right now, I got a bit of a conflict to settle.
Daira and Sylverwulf looked at me with frightful eyes. I had to prove I was not a threat, and quick! Sylverwulf looked ready to launch another fireball at me, and Daira began to glow a blue hue.
"BURN!" Sylverwulf shouted, and she released a plume of fire from her palm.
Before, it was a bit harder to contain the fire, but with 'CONTAIN' it was easier than ever.
As I shouted the words "Contain!", a large flat barrier the size of a dinner table appeared in front of me and folded around around the fireball, encasing it in a barrier.
Unfortunately, this action terrified them even more. Tears formed in Daira's eyes and she dropped to her knees while Sylverwulf just stared at me in confusion and fear.
"W-What is this thing…" Sylverwulf said in an airy breath.
"Listen, I'm not going to hurt you," I said. "But if you keep attacking me, I'm gonna have to defend myself, aren't I?"
Sylverwulf broke out of her fear-induced daze and back to angry mode. "Just what the hell are you?!"
I bounced around innocently, trying to appear as harmless as possible. "Can't you tell? I'm a spirit!"
Sylver made a face. "You expect me to believe that?"
This was going to be harder than I thought. Granted, I was the reason their ears are bleeding…
Daira looked at me from behind Sylverwulf's back, still a bit afraid. "Appearance-wise it is… but spirits aren't capable of moving around on their own and lack sentience, much less speech and powers like this…"
"Yeah, and it's giving off a strange vibe,"
"I-I'm not giving off a vibe! I am a totally normal spirit!"
"Stop talking! It's freaking me out…"
"Sorry," I said. "But I am serious, I mean you no harm,"
Sylverwulf wasn't buying it. "Tsk, you expect me to believe that!? We're both bleeding from our ears thanks to your sonar attack!"
I winced. "Okay, I'll admit that was my fault… but I was just testing out my voice honest! I swear I'm not a demon!"
Daira inched closer to me hesitantly, looked at me up and down, and scooted back.
"I don't sense anything from it," she said. "Matter of fact, I don't sense anything at all…"
Finally, I was getting somewhere.
Sylverwulf gave me a long and discerning look as she sized me up and down. She turned back to Daira, who nodded.
"Alright, we believe you," Sylverwulf said. "Can you tell us what you are, though?"
"I said it a thousand times: I'm a spirit! S-P-I-R-I-T!"
Sylverwulf folded her arms. "You know why I don't believe you?"
"..why?"
"Spirits don't usually don't give off such force,"
"Force?"
What force was she talking about? Joana said the same thing, except she said I emit 'such an aura'.
Daira nodded and got closer to me. "Yeah, while you don't emit any type of karmic energy… there is a neutral force around you.."
Whatever force they were talking about, I couldn't feel it. Then it clicked: it probably wasn't me they were sensing-
It was Deity.