135 Chapter 7.22 - Service

They went by many names. Spirit of Spring, Spirit of New Life, Spirit of the Wild, and currently Spirit of 'assisting Lady Dona in a classroom full of younglings'.

This specific Spirit, affectionately referred to as 'Mimu' by the class, was hard at work. Mimu spent its time looking after children during recess, organizing classroom supplies, assisting the children in moving from one environment to another, and being the best teacher's aid Mimu could. That didn't mean that Mimu was without fault. Sometimes it mixed up the teacher's lesson plans, or brought the wrong book from the school library, but Mimu was always quick to fix their mistake. And Mimu made up for it by always having a smile. Children inherently enjoyed Mimu, and when it came time for the lesson on Spiritfolk from the teacher, Mimu beamed with pride. They might have been the newest (and arguably the most awkward) addition to Haven, but they had almost immediately discovered their niche.

It wasn't just Mimu there as Mimu was just one of several spirit folk in the Academy. It had taken a bit of adjustment when Lady Eris brought the Spirit fork to the their respective teachers to aid. While some were more suited to the rambunctious energy of the youngest of younglings, some were a little less 'mobile' having not effectively developed legs. These spirit folk were assigned to the older classes and treated less as teacher's aids and more as classroom mascots or pets.

The were still useful. They could help students who drained their mana, help with scraped knees, or simply offer a bit of shade in a very sunny environment. They also usually managed the children's cubbies, helping students change out their books for the day.

Regardless, the Spirit Folk assigned to the Academy were welcomed additions to each classroom they graced. And they were happy to be surrounded by the laughter of children

***

Outside the capital region, in the hotter sections of the foundry region, large blast furnaces ran day and night. These furnaces were considered difficult to use when built as only Guardian Gole or high protected mages could withstand the constant heat, but they now had new workers toiling away with a smile. That was the Spirits of Passion.

The Spirits of Passion may have had an inward drive for setting up marriages, but there were only so many single people in Haven. Having a large boulder drag you from person to person was somehow more awkward than going to a Spring Rut for the 3rd time. Thankfully, there was another task that the Spirits of Passion enjoyed.

They enjoyed working in the foundry.

Pretty often large chunks of metal from the dungeons had to be smelted. The work was hot, and homunculi assigned to this area broke down so often from the heat that it was almost not worth it to have them on the task. That was where 'Ferris' and the other spirit folk really found their niche. They enjoyed working the metal. They enjoyed the simple task of taking the hard chunks of metal, scrap metal, and failed prototypes and turning them into the uniform ingots of various metal and alloys. Strangely enough, the spirits of passion could separate the metal while it was liquid. The magic they used was unknown, as even Serin had been unable to learn a spell by watching. It was too clean and simple to be the [extract] spell, and he was envious of magic he could not copy.

So day in and day out the spirits worked, turning raw metal into usable ingots, awaiting the day the foundry went cold so they could help at the next Spring Rut.

***

On the opposite side of Haven, there was a darker magic going on. Shifting creatures of Bone and Darkness moved between piles of rotting carcasses. They were the masters of their domain of rot, and in their minds, all who came before them bowed before their glorious malevolence and decay.

Well, one could dream. The spirits of decay found that they mostly enjoyed their work, and although they carried themselves as evil overlords, they inherently did not want to harm the living. They enjoyed their ability to bring the dead back into the fold of the cycle of nature. And the recycling plant grinder, THEIR grinder, the machine that turned carcass into slurry, was considered a tool of ultimate power. The spirits of decay did not bow to others, but they treated their giant grinder with a level of reverence.

They knew not where the blocks of ultra fertilizer went, but they were keenly aware that it was sent back into the world, letting the earth renew.

And here the spirit folk of decay would work, as all things met with them in the end.

***

There was not much to say about the spirit folk that inhabited the bodies of the Content. They mostly cleaned the cathedral, fashioned necklaces with the symbol of the gate for donations, and used donations to care for the cathedral and buy supplies. They enjoyed trimming the living vines in the cathedral courtyard, washing the stained glass murals, and painting. Their paintings were always odd to see. Some were obviously prayers to Gideon, some were stories from each race's past. Some were the various races of Haven arriving during their plights. Some were of Serin and the town he built. Then some were….unknown. There were ones of a great tide of armies washing across flames. Gates to different worlds. And maybe some with stars falling. All together, it was unknown to those who laid their eyes upon the works. When questioned about it, the spirit folk seemed to give off an answer that was 'try not to think about it. The future's not set in stone.'

***