"So this is... a Spirit."
Back in his single-cell room at Fragmented Lake Prison, Ash stared at the tiny figure curled up in his palm. The Spirit, dressed in blue-striped pajamas and resembling a human child, was snoozing soundly. Ash felt a strange, innate connection to it, as if they shared a bond deeper than words.
Earlier that night, during their final venture into the Void Realm, Ash and Sonia had followed the glowing "Welcome!" marker into a mysterious foggy zone. There, they discovered a Curiosity Island.
Unlike Legacy Islands, Curiosity Islands held no trials or dangers. Instead, they were home to wild Spirits frolicking freely. As soon as Ash and Sonia stepped ashore, the Spirits scattered like startled birds. Quick reflexes allowed them to each capture one Spirit before they escaped.
The captured Spirits, resigned to their fate, pledged loyalty to their new masters. Ash ended up with the "Substitute" Spirit, the tiny figure currently snoozing in his hand.
"Substitute"
Type: One-Wing Spirit
Requirements: The sorcerer must be a sapient primate.
Basic Effect: Creates a phantom duplicate of a target. The phantom shatters upon impact. If the target is sapient, the phantom will obey the sorcerer's commands.
Passive Effect: Slightly reduces pain sensitivity.
"If it hurts, pretend it's happening to someone else. That way, it won't hurt so much."
Meanwhile, Sonia captured a Water Spirit called "Torrent."
"Torrent"
Type: One-Wing Spirit
Requirements: Must have access to an unclaimed liquid source.
Basic Effect: Shoots a stream of water with impactful kinetic energy.
Passive Effect: Enhances control over liquids.
"Gentle currents are life, fierce currents are change. The only constant is the flow itself."
According to Sonia, the "Torrent" Spirit could fetch a high price at her university. It was a rare, high-powered offensive Spirit within the Water category, capable of evolving into powerful miracles. Its summoning was notoriously difficult, making it incredibly valuable—even more so than some Two-Wing Spirits.
Ash had wanted to tease her about why a game character needed money, but he bit his tongue. The game's auto-upgrade system probably explained it. Besides, with his current dependency on Sonia, it was no time to antagonize her.
After splitting the spoils amicably, both walked away satisfied. Sonia got a high-value Spirit, and Ash, perhaps unknowingly, acquired a Spirit critical to his own survival: Substitute was a core component of the "Severance" miracle, a technique that could rid him of the chip controlling his every move.
Ash's top priority now was to assemble all the necessary Spirits for Severance, allowing him to destroy the chip and gain true freedom. Without that, escape was nothing more than a pipe dream.
He gazed at the tiny figure in his hand and activated his mental energy, the mysterious force he'd felt since returning from the Void Realm.
It was as if his imagination had gained tangible form—a new limb, invisible yet capable of interacting with the real world. This energy, he realized, was Spirit Energy, the universal power source for sorcerers. Without it, a sorcerer was no different from an ordinary person.
And yet, Ash distinctly remembered that before entering the Void Realm, he hadn't possessed even a shred of Spirit Energy.
Now he understood: the Void Realm was the source. Sailing through its fog had tempered his spirit, condensed wandering knowledge, and birthed this vital energy. By the time he returned to reality, he had gained not just Spirit Energy but a Spirit to wield it with.
In other words, Ash was now officially a sorcerer.
But there was a problem.
When Ash attempted to probe the Substitute Spirit with his newfound energy, the feedback was incomprehensible—like trying to decipher a foreign language you've never heard.
This perfectly matched Sonia's earlier explanation: A Spirit not personally summoned by the sorcerer cannot be fully understood or deconstructed.
Without understanding the Spirit's structure, there was no way Ash could locate its Gate of Truth, the doorway to re-enter the Void Realm.
This meant Ash was a sorcerer who couldn't access the Void Realm on his own.
It defied the very foundation of sorcery. Every sorcerer, regardless of talent or background, followed the same progression: study, train, summon a Spirit, and then enter the Void Realm.
Yet here he was, a dropout sorcerer who had skipped straight to the finish line.
Ash recalled Sonia's earlier mention of the Golden Fish and the Stowaway's Legend.
"Silver sorcerers who find the Golden Fish can stow away to the Continent of Time and ascend to gold. But I hitched a ride on Sonia's express boat and stowed away into the Sea of Knowledge itself, becoming a silver sorcerer outright..."
If most stowaways were like illegal migrants moving within a country, Ash was like a caveman sneaking into a futuristic metropolis—a biological invader.
This secret, Ash thought, was one he could never let slip. If other sorcerers discovered he was a stowaway, they'd sooner vivisect him than preserve him for "biodiversity."
"Substitute!" Ash commanded in his mind.
Nothing happened.
The tiny Spirit snored on.
Then a glowing screen materialized before him, displaying a string of text:
"Warning: You are attempting to output Spirit Energy. This action is restricted!"
Ash smacked his forehead. Of course. If the chip blocks me from entering the Void Realm, it's definitely blocking my Spirit Energy too.
It was a classic catch-22: he needed a miracle to destroy the chip, but to use a miracle, he first had to bypass the chip.
"Dammit, this is another dead-end loop!"
Meanwhile, Sonia awakened in her meditation chamber at Swordflower University.
Stretching out her hand, she summoned her Torrent Spirit, a shimmering figure in a white dress.
If her peers knew she'd obtained a Spirit on her first Void excursion—let alone one so prized—it would undoubtedly cause a stir.
She hadn't lied to Ash: Torrent was highly sought after on the university's trading platform, even in the greater Kalos system.
But she hadn't told him everything.
Substitute was valuable too.
In fact, general-purpose Spirits like Substitute often sold for more than their specialized counterparts. Unlike specific Spirits that only certain sorcerers could use, general-purpose Spirits were universally applicable, driving up demand—and their price.
So why hadn't she told Ash?
Simple. She wanted him to notice.
Since entering the Void Realm, Sonia had realized something: the Observer could no longer hear her thoughts.
Maybe it was a limitation of the Void Realm, or maybe something else, but it didn't matter. Once they returned to reality, the Observer would undoubtedly pick up on her intentions through her thoughts.
By pretending to undervalue Substitute and acting as though she'd made the better deal with Torrent, Sonia hoped to endear herself to the Observer. A small act of calculated "selflessness," designed to increase his goodwill.
But now, back in the real world, Sonia noticed something odd.
"Observer, I'm heading to take a shower. Mind stepping away for a moment?"
Silence.
Walking out of the meditation building, she glanced around, expecting him to materialize from some unseen corner.
Nothing.
The Observer, who had always been there the moment she called, had vanished.
He needed to rest too, she realized, after their exhausting foray into the Void Realm.
Instead of feeling relief at her temporary freedom, Sonia felt a gnawing frustration—like bringing home a cake only to discover the bathroom had exploded.
"I painstakingly prepared my sugar-coated gambit, and you just eat the candy and leave?!"