The First Rank!

Devotion awoke with a start. He sat up, panting. Where was he? What had just happened? It took a second for him to collect his thoughts.

Devotion looked around, trying to gather his bearings. Oh, right. He was within that cave in the middle of forest. He had chased off the bald man, temporarily easing himself from the bounty on his head. He quickly spotted Ysmir, asleep in the corner.

If he didn't know better, he'd think the fox was just a cute pet. Sure, its appearance was a bit strange, looking like a normal fox, save for the fact that it was a deep purple color and had two tails. Devotion decided to let it sleep, taking the time to look over himself. His physical body felt even stronger than his first meditation. As a bonus, he wasn't covered in filthy impurities like last time.

Devotion stood up, stretching his whole body. He was about to step outside when he thought of Ghostwhisper. He supposed he should talk to it. It'd be useful to learn some magical arts, now that he was in the First Rank.

Devotion picked up the journal page. He hadn't noticed it before, but he could sense some sort of energy within this page. It was too powerful for him to understand. Still, he tried to probe at it with his Qi. Since he had condensed a Qi platform, Devotion had gained the ability to probe things with his spiritual strength. Just as he was about to examine the page, he was startled by a grating, sickly voice.

"Keep your thoughts to yourself." Ghostwhisper hissed out, irritated. However, that irritation quickly faded when it realized who was probing it. "The First Rank! How did you reach it so fast, and without my guidance?!"

Devotion was about to explain his conversation with Ysmir, when he decided against it. Maybe that should be a secret. Something in his soul told him it should be.

"Well, after my meditation, I was ambushed by that Baldy and some henchmen. Just as I was getting beaten to death, I called for help and that appeared." Devotion explained, motioning towards Ysmir. "It helped me, then I fell unconscious, and in my sleep, I condensed some sort of platform with my Qi Reserve. And now I'm awake, not sure what to do next."

"It seems you accidentally casted a summoning magical art. Interesting. Do you recall how you did that?"

"I'm not really sure. I just called out for help, and something compelled me to perform a strange hand seal, and there it was." Devotion did his best to replicate the hand seals.

"I've never seen those before. Interesting! Perhaps I won't regret this decision. Did the summon tell you its name?" Ghostwhisper pondered.

"It actually had me name it. Ysmir." As Devotion spoke the name, Ysmir rose, running to Devotion's side. He reached down and pet its soft fur.

"I do not know what is with you and terrible names, but here we are. Strange, though. I've never heard of a summon asking to be given a name, let alone staying on the material plane for this long." Seemingly noticing Devotion's confused look, Ghostwhisper continued. "Most summons only stay on the material plane for as long as their task requires. For example, if you called a summon to fight with you, it would return to its home plane after that fight. You seemingly called this summon to fight, yet it remains. I've never seen this."

Devotion's hunch that Ysmir was something special was only further confirmed.

"Even stranger, I can sense a cultivation base on it as well! It seems to have reached the First Rank along with you. Fascinating, truly fascinating." Ghostwhisper laughed to itself. "Perhaps this is a- no I can't say that to you. It would draw too much karma." Ghostwhisper was about to reveal sensitive information, when it had an intense feeling of fear.

"Karma?" Devotion was once more confused.

"There are some things only certain people are qualified to know. Telling someone unqualified will draw the heaven's anger, and only lead to destruction. Forget I said anything. It could only end in disaster for all of us."

Devotion pushed it out of his head for now. He decided to change the subject before he drew more unanswerable questions.

"You said you would teach me to cast magical arts once I reached First Rank." Devotion reminded Ghostwhisper, before it could retreat back into its journal page form.

"Oh yes, of course, how could I have forgotten. First, I have something to gift you." As Ghostwhisper said that, the page suddenly became bathed in dark light. Devotion watched as it slowly changed shape, transforming from a page in a journal into a simple, pitch black, wooden staff.

"I told you I was trapped in a staff! This is my true form! I will be able to aid you in casting like this." Ghostwhisper said, proudly.

"Now, allow me to explain how to cast. There are three crucial steps. If even one of them is missing, the cast will not work, save for certain exceptions.

The first is intent! You must have a clear mind, and full focus on what you intend to do by casting. Intent is an innately powerful tool. For example, one can just leak out their killing intent to intimidate someone!" Devotion recalled how he had done this to the bald man, James Powder, earlier.

"The second is hand seals! You did this earlier. Every magical art has different hand seals to activate! While wielding me as a staff, you'll still need a free hand to cast seals. I'll teach you seals for a few of my favorite, simple magical arts. We will master them."

"The third is words of power! Sometimes these words are in your own language, and sometimes they are in others. You must commit them to memory. They can be as simple as a phrase, or as long and complex as an entire song. When all three steps are completed, you will cast your magical art!"

"I will transmit my most simple Destruction magic technique to you! While your own aptitude for destruction magic is pathetic, mine is perfect, so they will balance out. As long as you wield me, you'll be able to competently cast Destruction. Attempt to cast now!"

Devotion reviewed the technique that appeared in his mind. The words of power were simple, but in a strange language. The hand seal itself was very simple as well, only one motion.

"Put me into your Astral Space, and attempt to cast without it. I will show you the power difference when you wield me!" Ghostwhisper suddenly demanded, just before Devotion was about to attempt to cast.

He stowed the staff away, raising his right hand. Devotion thought about a large ball of fire erupting from his hand, laying waste to everything in front of him. He thought of the moustached man that had put the bounty on him, allowing his mind to form that intent once more.

Devotion performed the hand seal and spoke the words. However, the real cast was a little different that what he expected. Rather than a large ball of flame engulfing the word, a small spark flew off of his finger, landing a few feet in front of him. Ghostwhisper could not contain its laughter.

"Now retrieve me from you Astral Space, and try again!" Devotion ignored his shaken confidence, doing as he was told.

He repeated the process, this time clutching the staff in his left hand. Just before he released the cast from his right hand, he instinctually raised the staff to touch it. The ball of flame he released this time was the size of a baseball.

"While still pathetic, you see the improvement? I hope you have a lot of mental strength, because this is what we're doing all day."

Devotion groaned, then resolved himself. He had to grow stronger! Otherwise, the Mystace Noble Family would take his head!

"Starting now, Ghostwhisper's Hardcore Training Regiment begins!" Ghostwhisper laughed evilly.