Chapter 7: Determined

Reyn had a sturdy look on his face. Only when he exited the portal did it visibly changed for a brief moment as he turned to look back, afraid that it might disappear. The portal, in its good grace, stayed open.

Almost instantly, Reyn sat down on the cold stone floor. Its hard and rough surface did nothing to discomfort him while he browsed through his status.

[Upgrade Novice Spirit Summoner Class to Apprentice.

Cost: 5 Soul Essences]

[Learn Novice Hero Summoner. Permanently add 1 slot for a Hero.

Cost: 10 Soul Essences]

Reyn contemplated for a second. He doesn't have enough Soul Essences to upgrade his Spirit Summoner Class, but he can learn a Talent or Spirit Ability for free. He wanted to invest his shards, essences and quintessence efficiently.

Now that he thought about it, Reyn remembered the rune. It appeared and floated a few inches away from him. A surprised expression surfaced on his face as the object responded to his thought.

'It is said that I need to spend shards or essences or quintessence so that it can become stronger..' Reyn carefully considered. He can't spend the Soul Essences because he needed one more capacity for Akira. The Spirit Shards he can't dispose either, he wanted to give the Swordsmen more Speed and Power. Although he was a bit tempted in putting it all to Skill. The shocked expression of Akira after trading blows with a Swordsman was precious.

As for the Shadow Quintessences, only the Shared Intent ability piqued his interest, and the Swordsmen doesn't need it yet. For now, he wanted a quick payback.

'It's settled then. I'll use the quintessence to upgrade the Spirit Memento.' Reyn once again checked his status. 'But first, I'll need to upgrade my Spirit Capacity.'

[Spirit Capacity (6)+1

- You can Summon 6 Spirit Swordsmen

Spirit Capacity has reached its max level. Reach Apprentice Spirit Summoner to increase max level.]

'Wait! I upgraded it once. Why is it that I can still only summon 6 Swordsmen?' Just as Reyn questioned in his mind, a new notification appeared.

[Warning! There are no more Spirits that are compatible with the abilities of your Swordsmen in the tower. Visit a graveyard or an ancient battlefield to recruit more. You can also capture souls and convert them into spirits.]

"What!?" Reyn's face aged as he read the notification with mouth agape. His dream of an army of Spirit Swordsmen shattered in an instance.

[You can recruit other Spirit Class. It's an easier way to fill up your Spirit Capacity.]

"Other spirits? Nah!" He shook his head. If he recruited other Spirits Class, he will have to invest on their new abilities and attributes, meaning; his shards and quintessences will be spread far too thin and the progress of his spirits will slow down. He can't afford that right now. It was better to focus on the Swordsmen.

Now that he had spent a Soul Essence, Reyn decided to browse further on his Talents. There was an eagerness in his eyes while he stared at the 'Upgrade Novice Spirit Summoner Class'.

'I must upgrade this.' He discarded all hesitation and mentally confirmed the upgrade.

[You don't have enough Soul Essences to make the upgrade. Do you wish to use your free point?]

"Yes." Reyn responded hastily. After saying the word, something exploded in his vision and a wave of notifications appeared.

[Spirit Capacity can now be upgraded to Level 10!]

[Summon Spirits can now be upgraded to Level 5!]

[Spirit Summoner's Spells is now available!]

[Spirit Summoner's Constellation is now available!]

[You have learned a new Constellation, Fourth Eye!]

[Fourth Eye: An Apprentice Spirit Summoner can now see through the mystics of the universe, and slightly influence it.]

Reyn searched the Constellation and his eyes shuddered upon seeing something. When a Constellation is learned, new ones became available to learn. Next to the Fourth Eye, was a new star called, Spirit Chain.

[Spirit Chain: Spirits in the Spirit World are depraved from becoming a soul and are susceptible to be killed. When they die, Spirit Shards and Soul Essences are released. The green star of the north enables your Spirits to harvest Spirit Shards and Soul Essences from slain spirits. They can also capture other spirits, even souls.

Cost: 2 Soul Essences, 2 Spirit Shards]

"This...This is it!" Reyn shook in laughter, his eyes shone maliciously in obsession, "Akira, I'm coming for you! Learn!"

The green star pulsated and a pair of white lines branched out into two different stars, blue and red.

[Red Star (Greed)

- Slightly increases Spirit Shard and Soul Essence accumulation. (Upgradeable)

- Find the other 6 red stars

Cost: 1 Burning Shard]

[Blue Star (Charity)

- Increases all spirit's attributes by 10% and an additional +1. (Upgradeable)

- Find the other 6 blue stars

Cost: 1 Light Shard]

'This is getting a bit more complicated.. and where should I get these Burning and Light Shard?' After reading the pop up and contemplating for a brief moment, Reyn didn't waste anymore time and turned his attention to the rune only to find glowing dots of lights orbiting around him like fireflies.

He immediately understood. Now that he had the Fourth Eye, he can see these things. The white dots of light are the total number of Soul Essences he accumulated. The silvers are used for Talents and Constellation while the pure white aren't used. Right now, he only had one dot of light circling around him. The Spirit Shards; dark green are the used one and the light green aren't. As for the Shadow Essences, they were all pitch black, casting shadows as they rotated.

"Time to upgrade the Spirit Memento," With his will, five black orbs separated from him and floated directly to the rune.

A ringing sound could be heard as the Shadow Essences merged with the Spirit Memento. A notification popped up in Reyn's vision.

[Lesser Spirit Memento is now upgraded to normal type!]

[Spirit Memento gained!]

When he was done reading it, the Rune shone in a brilliant light while the ringing intensified.

[Echo of the Past is cast!]

[One of your Spirits heeded the call and awakened!]

[Yasuke, The Thousand-Men-Slayer

Technique acquired!

Deadly Sweeps (Passive)

Attribute acquired!

+10 Intelligence (×2)]

[Yasuke, The Thousand-Men-Slayer:

Power: 10 (×2)

Skill: 26 (×2)

Speed: 5 (×2)

Combat IQ: 15 (×2)

Intelligence: 10 (×2)

Techniques:

Deadly Sweeps (Passive)]

"System! You're lacking some description! What is the Deadly Sweeps?" Reyn shouted, hoping that whoever created the game would hear him. This concern, however, vanished in an instant when he saw dots of lights, just like the ones circling around him, floating on top of the corpses.

"The Fourth Eye!" Reyn muttered. He started using his mind to make them move. Just like being attracted to a magnet, the lights flew towards him.

[You obtained 3 Spirit Shards and 2 Soul Essences!]

Reyn had a smile on his face, but this froze almost in an instant. "The floors below!" He realized and rushed back to the hole. As he kneeled and peered down to the second floor, his heart ached like thousand of needles were piercing it. He could see three dots of light and there was no way down.

He calculated that he was twenty feet up. If he deliberately fell, it is guaranteed that bones will be broken. The wound of light on his arm had yet to disappear. If he jumped down and get his legs crushed by the fall, would he be a cripple when he returned back to reality? He didn't have the slightest of desire to know.

"There's only one way now... Up!" Reyn dumped 5 Spirit Shards to Speed and another 5 to Power. He was hoping that this was enough to make his spirits a bit more athletic.

Without anything else to occupy his attention, he ascended to the next floor but not before he glanced at the portal with eyes of determination. The only desire in his heart at the moment, was to crush Akira.

It only took thirty seconds when he reached the entrance to the fourth floor. The place was twice larger than the third floor. Reyn sweeped his gaze around and found a dozen of guards stationed in every corner of the room. Two armored guards, stood before the stairway leading to the fifth floor. They each carry a two-handed axe. The steels glinted under the dim light coming from the ceiling, their rough edges were brutal in appearance.

"Time to test your improvements!" With Reyn's will, six Spirit Swordsmen appeared directly at the center of the room and attracted the attention of the guards. In his vision, one swordsman had a name tag above its head. 'Yasuke, The Thousand-Men-Slayer'. There was not much visible changes in its appearance, it looked exactly just like the other Spirit Swordsmen, only the faint green glow in the hollow sockets of its eyes.

"Kill!" With the order given, the swordsmen charged toward the left section and a deadly melee commenced.