“Can I ask,” Micaela started then hesitated a moment before continuing, “how did you come to be here? I would have thought a level 68 Shaman wouldn’t have had any problems dealing with Gofi and Leonidas. And what do you mean you lack the strength?”
“True, I would not have been troubled by the likes of them,” Zina said proudly. “However, I passed from the world before my people were destroyed. I was the previous Lord . . . well, Lady of the Bazaar. My life ended peacefully, surrounded by my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Old age claimed my life.” She sighed sadly. “No, I wish I had held on just a bit longer. Maybe I could have stopped this from happening. As to your second question, I promise, that will be answered soon.”
“You want me to help you with the restless spirits,” Micaela said, figuring out what Zina’s secret task was.
“I do,” Zina said, nodding. “But that can wait. First, you need to learn to see them. And that starts with getting your ‘Spiritwalk’ to the next Rank.”
“And how do we do that?” Micaela asked. “I mean, other than just hanging out with my spirits.”
“Hanging out? Is that really what you have been doing all this time?” Zina asked, sounding appalled.
“Yes,” Micaela answered meekly.
“Who taught you to be a Shaman?” Zina asked.
“Mostly self-taught or from books,” Micaela answered.
At this point, Zina’s eyes narrowed on Palm who had not quite managed hiding behind the two gorilla spirits that came with him. “And why have you not been teaching her?”
“I thought she was just lazy,” Palm answered nonchalantly, earning several glares.
“You only ever spent time with us just as Micaela does,” Shaker stated, using one of his massive fists to push Palm forward to stand under the scrutiny of the old woman.
“I was just an Apprentice when I died. I did not know everything,” Palm tried to defend.
“An Apprentice, really?” Zina asked, staring hard at the Dwarf spirit.
“I was . . . almost an Apprentice. Learning to run a city-state takes up a lot of your time,” Palm tried to defend himself again.
“And that seems to have served you well. Perhaps if you spent more time honing your craft as a Shaman you would not have died as an Initiate,” Zina chided the Dwarf.
“Yes, ma’am,” Palm replied, looking downtrodden.
“Well then, it seems we have a lot of work to do. But let us start with a little spirit sparring,” Zina said, grinning viciously.
After the extensive training, Micaela finally slumped to the ground, her spirit exhausted from all the fighting between her and her totems over the last few hours.
“It is not enough that you just bond with your spirits,” Zina stated. “You must train them to fight against the restless spirits, the corrupted spirits, the malevolent spirits, and Gods forbid an incarnation of evil. Anyway, Sundance, Boots, and Mover, you are up again.”
Boots complaints were ignored as he was forcefully pushed into the unmarked ring they had used for training by Butch. Micaela would have thought Butch should have collapsed in exhaustion by now, but the large and burly wolf spirit seemed to have no quit in him.
“Begin,” Zina ordered, sparking the three spirits into action.
Boots did what Boots was best at, he ran, his form blurring as it ran the perimeter of the ring, not daring to step out of it again after the last time when Zina blasted him with some kind of spirit attack that left his legs little better than jelly for nearly an hour. Now, he ran, waiting for his opening to strike. And with Sundance and Mover, there was no doubt that an opening would appear eventually.
Mover charged straight ahead, moving the earth with a thought and trying to use it to swallow Sundance whole. The wolf unleashed a burst of fire from his body, breaking up the quickly approaching earth, and followed up with spitting out a fireball that connected solidly with Mover’s face.
“Now, while they train, come here,” Zina said, waving Micaela over.
Tiredly, Micaela trudged over to the short wall the old Shaman had yet to move from.
“Sit,” Zina said, motioning to a spot of wall next to her.
Micaela sat, happy once again to be off her feet.
“Your ‘Spiritwalk’ spell, has it reached Rank II?” Zina asked.
Micaela checked her spell again.
Skill: Spiritwalk
Rank: II
Level: 7
Experience: 1.47%
Description: A spell granting access to the Spiritual Planes of existence.
Spell Cast Speed: Instant
Range: Self
Required Materials: Spirit Totem
Spell Effect (Active): Enter the Spirit Plane to allow communing between your spirit and those of another Plane of existence. Access up to the Third Astral Plane. Increases your Spirit by 3 per hour.
Mana Cost: -100-MP per hour
“It’s Rank II and confirms I have access up to the Third Astral Plane,” Micaela answered. “Though I have no idea how to do that.”
“Good,” Zina said, then gently placed a hand on Micaela’s shoulder.
From that touch, Micaela felt something surge through her body like electricity before settling in her eyes. And the world changed again. The world turned fuzzy and indistinct. Still a greyscale of coloring but much more indistinguishable. More disturbing were the spirits, many of them seemed to have some kind of black energy eating at them. And then one turned to look at her. It roared in anger and started charging, but before it could get to her, Zina removed her hand and Micaela was back in the Lower Spirit Plane.
“Was that the Third Astral Plane?” Micaela asked, looking sharply to the old Shaman. But something was different. Zina looked exhausted and out of breath.
“That took more out of me than I wanted,” Zina said, slowly catching her breath. “Once the body is gone, we only have so much power left. We can linger a long time, as long as we do not expend energy. I, however, have been fighting against the restless spirits as best I could for a long time now. But it is a battle I am losing. My totems have gone, either lost to the restless spirits or abandoned me as I grew weaker. And now, I used up most of the energy I had left to help you see for the first time. I hope you remember that feeling, I will not be able to show you again. But you have done what I asked, and quickly. That is to be commended.”
Class Quest Alert: Restless Spirits 1 – Completed!
The Old Shaman Spirit in the ruins of a burnt Human village has offered to train you in exchange for a task to be named later.
Reward: +25,000-Experience, ‘Spiritwalk’ Rank II
“Now,” Zina said, taking a slow shuddering breath. “I have taught you what you wanted. It is time you help me with a final task . . . well, two tasks. First, I need you to help my people to rejoin with the World Tree. Do what I could not. You have seen how your spirits fight in the Spirit Plane, yes? They are your weapons. Use them, defeat the restless spirits that have fallen to corruption. But before you can do that, you need to learn to disperse a spirit once they are defeated, which brings me to my second request.” Pausing again to catch her breath, Zina wiped at her brow, “My time in this Plane is coming to an end. Help me to pass on,” Zina requested.
Class Quest Alert: Restless Spirits 2
You have learned to see . . . sort of. Now the old Shaman Zina’s time has come and is asking for your help to rejoin the World Tree lest she also becomes corrupted in her weakened state.
Reward: Experience, ‘Spirit Dispersion’ spell
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
“Okay,” Micaela said, feeling sadness that she would be losing her first real Shaman teacher after barely having met her. But she understood. If Micaela were in her shoes, she wouldn’t want to suffer becoming something twisted. “How do we do this?”
“Once a spirit is defeated and unable to fight, they are defenseless. You could destroy the spirit but then i
t would never be able to rejoin with the World Tree, never be given a chance to be reincarnated. Someday, you may face a spirit that gives you no choice but to destroy it, though I hope such a day never comes,” Zina started.
“However, a weakened spirit can be dispersed using your own spirit,” Zina explained. “Place a hand on me.”
Micaela placed a hand on her shoulder.
“Now, I want you to remember what you felt when I helped you to see the Third Astral Plane,” Zina said. “That is spirit energy. It is similar enough to mana that you should be able to feel it suffusing your astral body, though wilder and untamed. Try to focus that energy to your hand and then into my body. Send it to my center and then let the energy burst. It will guide my spirit back to the source.”
Micaela felt the energy, not sure how she never felt it before. It filled every piece of her spirit, rushing through her body, faster than mana and far more potent, but not beyond some control. “Are you sure?” Micaela asked, before she even attempted to move the energy. She then offered, “I mean, can’t you just join up with me? I’m sure I can find a gem capable of holding your spirit?”
“I am sure,” Zina said, nodding solemnly. “I miss my family and I wish to join them. Besides, my time has already passed. It is up to you to carry our torch. However, if you stumble across my granddaughter, Kali, she may yet desire adventure. She was visiting the village of Agarma when the attacks came. I do not doubt she tried to fight. Hopefully, she retreated into the Spirit Plane before the final blow,” Zina smiled fondly as she thought about her heir. “Such a willful girl,” she added with a sigh. “She is about the same level as you and her help would be a great benefit to you. Anyway, I know I can pass on and be at peace. After all, you are here to finish what I began.”
“Thank you,” Micaela said, wiping at a few tears. “I promise, I will look for your granddaughter’s spirit.”
Zina smiled and nodded once, signaling Micaela that she was ready.
Micaela let the energy she built up in her hand flow into the old Shaman. Micaela guided the energy to the center and let it burst. And with it, Shaman Zina burst into a cloud of smoky energy that was quickly reabsorbed by the world around her.
Class Quest Alert: Restless Spirits 2 – Completed!
You have learned to see . . . sort of. Now the old Shaman Zina’s time has come and is asking for your help to rejoin the World Tree lest she also becomes corrupted in her weakened state.
Reward: +25,000-Experience, ‘Spirit Dispersion’ spell
You’ve learned the Shaman spell ‘Spirit Dispersion’
Skill: Spirit Dispersion
Rank: I
Level: 1
Experience: 0.00%
Description: A spell to disperse a corrupted spirit and help them rejoin with the World Tree.
Spell Cast Speed: Instant
Range: Touch
Spell Effect (Active): Disperse a weakened spirit, only works in the Spirit Plane.
Spirit Cost: -1-Spirit per target level
Micaela wiped away another tear as she tried to read the description of her new spell. When she got to the spell cost, she was confused. Then, mostly to herself, she asked aloud, “What does it mean, -1-Spirit per target level?”
“It means, that casting that spell on that level 68 Shaman just cost you 68 points of your Spirit stat,” Palm answered.
Micaela’s eyes went wide as she opened her stat screen then slumped to the ground. “It’s true,” she nearly cried. She was at her spirit level cap of 210 spirit and now, she was down to 142 spirit.
Class Quest Alert: Restless Spirits 3
You have all the tools you need to battle the corrupted spirits inhabiting the destroyed Human village. Your task now is to give those spirits peace. Cleanse all three of the former Human villages.
Reward: Experience, Hidden,
Do you accept this Quest?
Yes
No
“Well, you have got your work cut out for you,” Palm said. “First, regain the lost Spirit stat points. Second, learn to see the Third Astral Plane at will. And third, start helping these poor spirits find peace.”
Micaela took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I suppose there is no helping it now. Alright boys, let’s get to work.”
Micaela and her totems spent the remainder of the day freeing what spirits she could. Carefully balancing the number of Spirit stat points she lost with maintaining her totems. It was late at night when she returned to camp and pretty much went straight to bed. Already planning to pick up where she left off the next morning, maybe drag someone along to keep her company. This was assuming her friends didn’t already find another adventure.
Chapter 19
“Morning everyone,” Olaf said, sounding rather chipper considering the early hour. And all because of the quest he’d gotten for us. Well, more him than us. “Everyone ready to kill that damnable lion?”
“Sure,” Rose said with a yawn. It was amusing to see a sleeping Baby hanging over one of Rose’s shoulders, unwilling to fly so early in the morning. I couldn’t imagine the Fairy was very comfortable.
“Ollie, you need to stop waking us up like this. The lion isn’t going anywhere,” Micaela said, trying and failing to stifle her own yawn at the end.
“Babe, that lion has killed me twice. I refuse to let it get me a third time,” Olaf said. “I know it’s early, but as busy as we have all been, going in different directions with quests or training, I wasn’t going to risk missing even one of you,” Olaf explained his reasoning for waking us up so early.
“We said yesterday that we would do this quest today instead of our normal routines,” Rose said, stifling another yawn. “You could have at least waited until the sun was up,” she complained. The predawn light was plenty to see by, but she also had a good point, this was just way too early.
“Anyway, gear up, we leave in five,” Olaf barked out the order loudly, getting only muttering in return.
“Micaela, I might just kill your husband,” Harrison complained.
“Not if I kill him first,” Baby mumbled sleepily.
“Come on, guys and girls,” I said, trying to muster some energy for my friend. “That lion has been tormenting him. The least we can do is help him get rid of it.”
“Fine, fine,” Rose and Baby chorused together.
Baby yawned and stretched, slipping off Rose’s shoulder, letting her wings flutter to life and lifting her into the air before gently setting her feet on the ground. “But if I ever get a monster nemesis, you all better remember this.”
“I am not much of a fighter,” Marie stated. “I think Loral and I will head to the Hunter’s Union camp. Probably better if we are out of the way.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. Marie might be a Paladin, but she was completely lacking in any kind of combat prowess . . . or so she claimed. I really wasn’t interested in pressing the issue. Same for Loral. Sooty however, we had a great need of his skills.
“I suppose I am to be your tracker today?” Sooty asked, Nahid appearing right next to him as he finished speaking.
The young Catgirl really had become Sooty’s shadow lately. I actually thought it was good for her to have a role model of some kind, though I wasn’t sure Sooty was the best example. Was a Guerilla Fighter really a good example for an Assassin?
“That would be appreciated,” I said. “From the scouting I did around the camp, I didn’t have much luck spotting anything, so I’m not sure how it got to Olaf yesterday. The only footprints I found were next to where he died. I can only guess that the lion figured out how to jump really high and really far. That or some kind of ‘Stealth’ that allowed it to follow one of us into camp without being spotted and then only if it figured out how to step where we stepped. I have no idea if any of that would even work for the lion.”
“Possible,” Sooty said. “Beasts have a variety of skills that often imitate what people can do. In this case, I suppose a ‘Lightstep’ and a ‘Prowl’ skill
could do it. That said, our best option, we know where it used to hunt, there should be a game trail of some kind that might lead us to its lair, assuming it hasn’t abandoned it.”
I nodded in understanding. It was clear Sooty knew more about this kind of thing than I did, which wasn’t very surprising considering his past. Despite my efforts to become more proficient in such skills, I would probably never make it to his level of expertise.
“Alright, let’s go,” Olaf called loudly, opening a path through his traps. I understood why he felt it necessary to add three more layers to the perimeter, but still, overkill much?
We walked toward the lake and followed the coastline to where the lions had previously ambushed us. From there we followed a very rough game trail. Sooty complained about how overgrown it had become since we fought them and lost, almost a week ago.
“Fresh tracks,” Sooty said softly, kneeling over a very clear paw print. “Was this one a lot bigger than the one you killed before?”
“No, same size,” Olaf replied just as softly.
Sooty grumbled. “It has been leveling up. This paw print is at least one and a half times larger than the one you killed.”
“Vision, keep watch in the Third,” Micaela whispered orders to the Spirit Wolf. “Pop out immediately if you see it.”
Vision nodded and wordlessly vanished from view.
World Tree Online- the Endless Savanna- 3rd Dive Page 33