Chapter 2 - Work As An Exorcist

Henry Esprit

After saying goodbye to Andrea I took off through the parking lot towards my car. Why now of all times! "Work" always calls me at the worst times, I had the date with Andrea planned out, first we'd go watch a movie, then I'd take her to this somewhat fancy and lowkey dinner place my cousin had recommended to me, then I'd take her on a late night walk through the towns park. GAH! It would've been perfect.

Nothing I can do about it now I guess, especially if her dad had called her too, from what I know about him he's a pretty no nonsense guy. Guess I'll have to save these plans for another day.

While lost in thought I finally made it to my "work" which also happened to be my home, or my clan's home anyways. I pulled up to the front gate and entered the gate code to enter.

As I drove down the brick road I looked over all the buildings. My clan owned our own street, each clan house had their own home on the street and at the end of it was the clans head house, my grandfather's house, though calling it a house was a grave understatement. It was more of a massive temple than anything, a large building carved of stone and decorated with sculptures and statues. Out front were large courtyards used for training and around the back was a large garden used to grow spiritual herbs. Grand as ever

Before I knew it I had arrived at my house, which was situated right next to the clan heads home. It paled in comparison, but was still a modern two story home that fit my immediate family of 4 more than enough.

I parked my car in the driveway and immediately took off running to clan heads house. I dashed through the wooden front gate, which was wide open, and up the cement stairs through the second door, which was sculpted out of stone. I made my way through the temple-like structure into the main room, where the rest of my clan was already in the midst of a meeting.

Bam I busted through the doors in an almost theatrical fashion, only to be met with glances from the entire clan. Embarrassing. The room was built almost like a colosseum, when you entered you entered at the top. Around the edges were seats in a bleacher like fashion, except they were made out of stone.

Situated in the middle of the room at the lowest point was a flat landing and in the middle, situated around a large stone table, were the clan elders, my father, mother, and other aunts and uncles.

"Ah, Fashionably late, are we? An older voice sounded from the far end of the table, my grandfather. He was an older man in his 60s. Bald head and wrinkly skin, his most unique feature was his long and thick smokey gray beard. He was dressed in long white robes covered in yellow marking. Looking at him you'd think he was just an average old man, not the head of an exorcist clan. "And wearing the wrong attire as well?" Uh Oh I had forgotten to change into my Exorcist attire.

I quickly took a paper talisman out of my pocket and chanted a spell. Mutatio. Spiritual energy surrounded me and I donned my Exorcist attire. A white robe, closer to that of a shirt, covered my torso and arms. Black and boots covered my legs and feet. Yellow markings engraved themselves all over my attire, down my legs and arms, covering my chest and boots, swirling on both sides of my hands before ceasing movement. I had fully equip my Exorcist attire.

"That's better. Join us, Henry." My grandfather called out to me and I jumped down to the bottom of the landing and joined the rest of the clan.

"Now, back to the matter at hand, the ancient evil spirit Umbra has resurfaced, along with many spirits of differing grades. Gasps let out amongst the clan, even I was shocked, I know I was told there was an emergency but this could be a potential catastrophe.

Spirits are divided into grades, those grades from weakest to strongest are: formless spirit, formed spirit, elemental spirit, true spirit, great spirit, ancient spirit, spirit king, and finally spirit god. Spirits are classified as evil spirits if they contain dark energy, but that's its own topic for another time. 

Grandfather continued speaking "The clan elders and I will take care of exorcising the ancient spirit, the rest of you will be in charge of dealing with the other evil spirits. Make sure to gear up properly, we will be leaving as soon as everyone is ready.'

With those words the entire clan immediately left the clan hall to begin their preparations, myself included. I left the hall and made my way to the armory which was just down the hall from the clan hall. The armory had a simple layout, the left walls were lined with a multitude of different melee weapons, made of a special spirit energy infused metal which was ready to be engraved by individuals' own designs.

The back wall was composed of a multitude of different armors made of the same type of metal, and the right wall was completely filled with blank talisman paper and ink. The middle of the room was filled completely with tables for clan members to engrave their weapons/armors and draw their talismans.

I grabbed a katana shaped blade, a set of light armor, and a stack of talisman paper and ink and sat down at one of the empty tables. I began to inscribe basic spells onto the talisman paper such as vi(strength) a spell to increase physical strength, velox(quick) a spell to increase speed, sana(heal), a spell to heal physical injuries, and vocare(summon) a spell to summon your contracted spirit.

I drew up a few others I might need and them moved onto my armor and weapon, which were all engraved with custodire(protect) an enchantment which would help to protect the parts of the body the armor didn't cover, supplementum(reinforce) an enchantment to reinforce and make the armor stronger and more durable, and reparare(repair) an enchantment to make the armor/weapon repair itself over time. I enchant the sword with acuti(sharp) to make its cutting power greater on top of the other enchantments.

I put on the armor and channeled my spiritual energy through it. All living beings contain spiritual energy, but those in my clan are taught how to use it and how to grow it. Spiritual energy is housed in the brain.

From a young age we are taught how to control and manipulate the energy in ways we want. By using the energy more and more and circulating it throughout your body you are able to grow the amount you have. This energy is most commonly used in two ways. First, channeling it within your body to reinforce different body parts, increasing speed, strength, and your natural healing ability. The second way is via spell, which we activate through talismans and engravings, allowing us to manifest our spiritual energy into the world.

Satisfied with my work I made my way back to the Clan Hall to rejoin everyone else. Hopefully this would be enough preparation to deal with the evil spirits.