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Looking at Ermelinda's Subclass Skills, Vlad was surprised; they were all just talking, dealing, calling, and enchanting spirits!
There was even an ability to infuse them into equipment or even combine them to create stronger spirits.
However, Ermelinda wasn't quite like Chris, who could easily contract spirits; she had to call them and had to ask for their help personally.
She also had contracted three spirits with her: Shiny, Apply, and Shitake. They sure were different from what he had imagined; he expected powerful, beautiful-looking fairies or gnomes or salamanders… but not quite this.
"Wow, your status looks pretty great, Ermelinda; you've been pretty good at min-maxing and squeezing your race and class combination," Vlad nodded, amazed. "Well done, you'll be a wonderful companion in future battles and adventures."
"I'm so glad to hear that from you!" Ermelinda smiled, beaming with bright light; everywhere she went, she would always have a little aura of light that the people of Obscuritas usually hated.
"You got spirits?" Chris wondered. "I haven't even seen them!"
"O-Oh yes! They're my little friends, but they're quite shy, hehe… K-Kind of like me," Ermelinda muttered. "I found them in the forests when I was just starting to play the game. They got attached to me, and I couldn't let them go, so I ended up contracting them one by one… You can come out; they're people I trust… Shiny, Apply, Shitake!"
FLASH! FLASH! FLASH!
Suddenly, three adorable, palm-sized spirits appeared. And as Vlad, Alitheus, and Gofumina imagined, they looked just like their names implied.
A floating sunflower with big eyes on her body, looking around with a cute, big smile.
A small purple and black-colored mushroom with a sad face, which seemed very shy.
And a fiery, big, red-colored apple, with a blazing aura and an expression that looked like it was always furrowing its eyebrows.
They quickly hid behind Ermelinda, though they were just like her, very shy creatures!
"Oh wow, they're so cute! And I thought I was the weird one for having a grape bunch spirit…" Chris laughed. "I guess it isn't that uncommon then?"
"Y-Yeah! Spirits come in all shapes and forms… Expecting your first spirits to be some legendary-looking ones is just unrealistic, Chris!" Ermelinda said. "The Lady of the Forest told me that every spirit was her child, and every spirit was a precious little soul we had to protect, and that in return, they would also protect us back! Spirits are aspects of the world and nature itself. This is why some come shaped like plants, fruit, or mushrooms!"
"I see… I thought they were just like other video games…" Said Paul. "But I guess beggars can't be choosers. Who says they can't evolve until they become legendary spirits?"
"Y-Yeah!" Ermelinda nodded. "Though, I've heard that Legendary Spirits resembling the spirits of… for example, the Mana Series, do exist! But they're so strong and live so far away… It's not realistic to ever attempt to contract them until you're very strong."
"Makes sense, I guess," Chris nodded. "Still, I got two crazy strong dark spirits, hehehe~ They're both Tier 5! Come out, guys."
Chris quickly summoned all three of his spirits so they could interact with Ermelinda's spirits.
Also, Ezekiel, who wasn't a spirit, summoned himself as well.
Apparently he had some sort of spiritual power that made him interact similarly to one, despite being something similar to a tamed monster.
The little white bone golem ran towards Ermelinda as he saw her spirits but was ignored as the spirits looked at one another and started letting out weird sounds as if speaking.
"Graaah…"
"Gruooh!"
Even the Dark Spirits who looked strange and monstrous spoke with the little ones without much difficulty.
"So who's this Lady of the Forest you were talking about?" Gofumina wondered, joining the conversation after feeling like she was being left out.
"A-Ah! Oh, yes, she's a Deity… Like a Goddess of Fantasia…!" Ermelinda said.
"Oh, so they got them there too, huh?" Chris wondered. "Did you contact her for your job class trial?"
"Y-Yes, she was the only one that showed up…" Ermelinda sighed. "B-But she's so nice! She said I was a good girl, and she gave me a strong class!"
"Hmm~ Looks like you enjoy being called a girl, huh?" Chris wondered, looking at Jese with a teasing smile.
"T-That's…" Ermelinda blushed. "I-It's not like that…"
"I want to learn more about this Lady of the Forest; what does she do over there? How does she affect the people? Does she have a religion?" Vlad wondered, fascinated by the game's lore.
"O-Oh! She's… Um, how should I call her? Well, she's a goddess that is known for… well, "doing whatever she wants" in a way? She is said to come to children or pure-hearted people. She's playful and carefree, but she's often a protective and healing deity. If you give her fruit and vegetable offerings, she blesses your domain with spirits, which seem to obey her."
"Oh, they sure are different from the gods over here…" Chris sighed. "In here we got the seven evil gods that represent freaking sins and then the three moon goddesses that get pushed around all the time."
"What about the Outer… Ones?"
"Ah, the Outer Ones? Well, I don't think they're really our gods, right?" Chris wondered, looking at Vlad.
However, he quickly noticed Vlad's face was filled with confusion.
"Huh? Chris, I didn't say anything…" Paul said.
"W-What? But… I thought it was you that asked that question?" Chris wondered.
"N-No I didn't… say anything…"
Silence took over the entire group as the four looked around, finding nothing.
Everything was just like it was.
That voice… That sounded like Paul; it wasn't him!
Someone, or something, had just spoken there.
"S-Shit, are we being haunted?!" Chris cried.
"Hah, it must be them… Their presence hasn't disappeared completely. But I am sure they can't do much…" Paul said. "Just leave!"
As he said to the empty air, nothing happened.
"Oh well, let's just move on; no point in getting worried. It's just a game." Paul sighed.
"Yeah, tell us more about Fantasia, Ermelinda; I want to hear all the juicy details~"
"A-Ah, well, Chris, it's…" As Ermelind was about to speak, suddenly, Chris's face grew pale.
"I-I didn't say that!" Chris screamed. "We're being haunted!!!"
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