57 The 3rd World
"It's here."
Yumiko silently muttered.
We're back at the Principal's Office and in front of us was the Portal which had just appeared that will send us to her Otherworld. Yumiko wore the same outfit she showed me, the revealing shrine maiden outfit. Yuko and the Principal were already used to seeing her in that outfit so they didn't comment about it.
"Take care of Yumiko there, Dai-kun. I'll wait for you here. In that same outfit."
Yuko gave me a teasing smile as she said that last sentence. This girl has started to learn how to tease me, eh?
She told me that she was also about to go back to the World of Systems. And she handed me a new sword which she got from the fallen Kingdom they liberated. It's somehow enchanted by something. Not only it is sharper than the previous sword I got from her, but it also has a Blessing embedded onto it. It can be activated by injecting World Energy into the sword.
She also told me that in this trip back to the World of Systems, she will specifically gather Level 2 Skills and Spells for me. Blessings are still a no-go. I needed to personally go to the Church there to be bestowed the Blessings I need.
When I upgraded the System to become Support Professional System, I officially became an Adept-class and I got my first Passive Skill. It told me to choose but there's only one choice in it and it's called Explosion Intensity. It upgraded the Explosion generated by my Augmented Skill, Energy Explosion. Upon seeing that, my theory about these energies was slowly being realized. They're all related to each other, just that the nature of their World slightly changes it to accommodate their denizens.
Through my short stay here at our homeworld. I managed to increase my Adaptability to 80%. 20% more before it could be upgraded. I went to Raiden to fill up the Brute Energy container. Of course, it's unlike Yuko where she directly pours it into me through her kiss. It only needed skin contact for me to control the Brute Energy he was channeling from the connection he has to the World of Barbarians.
After reminding us of what to do, Yumiko and I set off to the 3rd world. Closing the breach is the top priority but our safety is still the one we have to look out for. Apart from the Invading Forces, there's also the Spirit Beasts chasing after Yumiko. I don't know about the Spiritas but it seems that they're helping her.
Well, I just have to look out for her if they're really intent on helping her or they also have their own agenda.
Stepping our feet inside the Portal, the same whiteness filled our vision and like always, system messages started ringing out in my mind.
[Ding! You entered another world. World of Spirits]
[Hero's Party buff was removed]
[Received +1 Strength, +2 Endurance as World Bonus]
[Will expire upon leaving the world]
[Detected a new type of Energy]
[Listed as Spirit Energy]
[Automatic Accumulation Started]
[Spiritual Twin generated]
[Spirit Cultivation generated]
[Current Stage: Pre-Natal Stage 0%]
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[Level 1 Support Professional System (0%)
Ability: Level 1 Adaptability (80%)
Contained Energy: Tap to Expand
Physique Cultivation: 3rd Stage Augmented Realm (0%)
Spirit Cultivation: Pre-Natal Stage (0%)
Spiritual Twin: Asleep State
Strength: 22.8(37.3)
Endurance: 14.1(28.7)
Intelligence: 4.0(4.6)
Supported List: Tap to Expand (6/6)
Support Bonus: Level 2 Psyche Boost, Level 2 Physical Boost
Number of Supported Individuals: 6
Current Stats Bonus: 30% of the average stats of Supported Individuals
Skills:
Psyche Boost (34 charges left)
Physique Boost (34 charges left)
Dispelling Bow
Knight Skill (2/3)
Wizard Spell (1/3)
Augmented Skill (3/3)
Masteries
- Level 5 Basic Sword Mastery (85%)
Pledges
-Ongoing Pledge: 0
-Completed Pledge: 2
-Completed Pledge Bonus: (Tap to Open)
Status: +1 Strength, +2 Endurance(World Bonus); Spirit Energy Automatic Accumulation (Running)]
I managed to register 3 more Heroes to my system and that boosted my stats to reach that high now. With their average stats of 45 Strength, 42 Endurance and 2 Intelligence, I got a boost of 13.5 Strength, 12.6 Endurance and 0.6 Intelligence just from them. It elevated my own strength to be higher than Ophelia who's a 2nd Stage Saint Realm.
Well, with only 3 Augmented Skills, I don't think strength alone can bridge the gap but still, I can pose as a strong man here despite having the lowest cultivation.
Just like from the other worlds, my body immediately adapted to the inherent energy of this world.
A Spiritual Twin was generated and the system immediately recognized the cultivation path of this world.
When our vision cleared up, my Spiritual Twin was curled up at one corner of my mind. It really has my likeness and I feel like I could wake it up at any given time. With my raised Intelligence, my control over the inherent energy became smoother again and unlike in the world of Barbarians, I felt like I could breeze through the earlier stages easily.
Though I have to refrain from doing that for now. I don't want to surprise Yumiko yet or even the people we will be meeting in this new world. It's still best to be obscure.
"Welcome back. Priestess and…"
What awaited us at the other end of the portal was something like a Shrine, with the portal appearing in the middle, the immediate vicinity was devoid of people save for this elderly human? Ah! Spirit Race. That's what they call themselves right?
She looks like an elderly human who ranges at about 60 years old in human years. Though I don't know their longevity here, maybe it's closer to us or higher because of the existence of this inherent energy.
"Elder Shaara, He's Daisuke. Someone from the same world as me. He's here as my companion."
Yumiko introduced me to the confused elder. They're probably expecting only her but to see someone appearing with her, it confused her.
"I see. A companion from the same world, is he someone who can call on higher Spirits as well?"
The elder curiously asked Yumiko. I guess her ability was interpreted by them like that. That's why they revered her as a Priestess. I just wonder what the Noble Spirits think about her. Are they also curious about the existence of Higher Spirits that Yumiko could call upon?
It's been 3 years since she was sent here so they're probably already aware of the intricacies of her ability.
Did they determine that taking her as an enemy was detrimental for them?
Ah, maybe it's like that. I'll just ask Yumiko on the way to better understand the workings in this world.
The elder in front of us was too respectful to her as if she's a Holy Maiden. This shrine is the location of one of the fixed Portals she was using.
The fixed Portal the Invading Forces uncovered was located at an abandoned Shrine like this. Well, according to Yumiko, that place became somewhat of a battleground where the Spirit Beasts and Spiritas fought each other. Now that the Spirit Beasts left that place, the Invading Forces managed to encroach on that old territory and somehow found traces of the fixed portal hidden in that place.
She's not using it anymore so she didn't think that it would be a problem. But now that this breach happened, she also told me that there were other places like that. And she asked me to come with her to clean the traces of the portals there after we closed the breach.
Since that's a potential threat, I immediately agreed to her.
Yumiko didn't answer the elder's question to keep my identity something they have to figure out by themselves. This is what we agreed, Yumiko was already aware of my strength and she believed that making me some sort of a trump card for her, anyone will think twice before determining whether to become her enemy or ally.
The Spirit Race elder then leads us to a mansion-like structure. Unlike the World of Barbarians, the civilization of this world is more advanced than them, there were stone and wooden structures. Even the shrine was reminiscent of the Shinto Shrines in our country except for the fact that they built that on the fixed portals which Yumiko used. Maybe she's the one who designed those to be like that.
Upon entering we were met with a spacious hall and in the middle of it was a seat or a throne? I don't know.
Sitting upon it is another elderly Spirit Race but from his posture and his demeanor, he's giving off the same vibe as Old Man Reol.
"Priestess Yumiko, welcome back."
He started. His gaze rested upon Yumiko for a second before it turned to me, someone he's seeing for the first time.
"He's a companion of mine from the same world. Can you not scare him, uncle?"
Yumiko grumbled and acted like someone annoyed by how the elder acted.
Eh? Uncle? I see. They're pretty close. Upon hearing Yumiko's words, the elder laughed out loud as he stood up and went to her. His previous attitude was just a facade to somehow overwhelm me.
Now that he's this close, I got a closer look at him. He's an elderly alright. He's taller than us and his body was that of a normal build but I doubt he's a normal old man. Look at Old Man Reol, such strength hiding in him.
This elder had long blonde hair with a face full of beard and moustache, his facial hair was already connected to his hair. Well, think of a Blonde Santa Claus.
"I haven't seen you for months and you're already this grumpy. Didn't I regularly message you about the happenings here?"
From a somewhat scary old man, he completely turned to a doting uncle. It's not like he had lust in his eyes, it's like he's looking at his own daughter. And just by the aura he was unconsciously exuding, he's probably a Noble Spirit. One of the Pillars of the Spiritas.
"But why didn't you attack them and allowed them to build that fortress?"
Yumiko complained to him, she's also acting like a daughter. I guess they have a history together and she's probably talking about him when she told us about the helper.
"You know my circumstances, Yumiko. The decision is not solely based on me. We have the Council of Twenty but I'm only one out of that twenty."
With all this information. I gathered that the Spiritas aren't as united as Yumiko described them to be.
Ah. It's just the first day and there's more to learn. I'll follow her for now. This is a new world, I might already be adapted to the inherent energy but their values and culture here were different and I have to familiarize myself to that.
