The teammate and the friend

The hushed forest was bathed in an eerie blue glow under the full moon's light. Rushia roamed the silent paths, Murakan II casually resting on her hand as she hummed a jaunty tune.

"I grow bored waiting," she declared. "Shall we wander further, Sir Berry? Perhaps we can find the next challenger out to fight!"

Berry starts scanning around the area. Just like how he can peek through the unseen world, he also examines his surroundings up to a few kilometers. "Around us are currently clear of major threats. But I detect a dying life signature at approximately one hundred paces."

"Ooh, how exciting!" Rushia clapped her hands eagerly and set off in that direction.

Soon the twisted shape became visible through the tangled foliage. An immense, bear-like beast lay sprawled on its side, ribs visibly heaving beneath a mangled coat. Its fangs gnashed weakly as glowing crimson eyes locked onto Rushia.

"Approach inadvisable," Berry cautioned flatly. "The entity could lash out erratically."

But Rushia only tilted her head curiously, taking a few steps closer to the dying beast. "It seems so...familiar somehow."

As she neared the twitching muzzle, flashes of memory flickered through her mind. This was the very beast she had fallen with while shielding the hunter group weeks ago. The one responsible for separating her from her mother.

The beast followed Rushia with his baleful red orb eyes, a low rumbling growl sounding in its broad chest. Rushia couldn't move her eyes away, mesmerized by its otherworldly gaze.

"Berry...what's happening to it?" Rushia asks, childlike wonder seeping through.

"This creature is nearing its mortal limit," came the stoic response. "Whether natural causes or injury, its physical vessel is deteriorating rapidly."

Rushia crept even nearer, enchanted by the sight of such a majestic beast in its final moments. She knelt by its shaggy head, reveling in every fascinating detail as its breath shuddered.

"Upon closer inspection into its spirit, it is concluded that this is no normal beast. Its spirit structure is the same as the unseen entities we've been battling." Berry's tones held a rare undercurrent of unease. "Somehow this creature has breached the veil separating our worlds."

Rushia frowned thoughtfully at Berry's analysis. "But how can beasts from that world come here?" She leaned in closer, a childlike desire for knowledge burning in her eyes.

"Unknown," Berry responded tersely. "I don't have the capacity to understand such an event."

Rushia reached out to the beast with Murakan II, seeking to satisfy her curiosity through touch. "Back home, Mother said we mustn't touch wild animals with hands because it's dirty. But surely if it is with Murakan II it will be fine."

As the white wood made contact with the beast's nose, there was a violent disruption. Its body contorted sickeningly, flesh seeming to melt and reform in a billowing cloud of crimson vapor.

After some time, from the seething maelstrom emerged a sleek, giant wolf-like shape radiating power and malice. Crimson mist coiled around its lean muscular form as it fixed on Rushia in the intensity of its gaze.

For a suspended moment, Rushia and the spectral wolf appraised each other in curiosity. Then, as if making a decision, the spectral wolf's crimson eyes flared brilliantly.

A shockwave of mist reached Rushia and enveloped her. When the mists cleared, Rushia stood frozen, eyes glazed.

The beast had vanished from her sight. But Berry sensed distortions within Rushia herself.

"The entity has...reside itself inside your spiritual vessel," he stated tonelessly. "Its purpose appears to want to be close to you."

Rushia blinked slowly, confusion writ on her cherubic features. "It's...inside me?" She patted her stomach in bafflement. "How strange! I don't feel any different."

Berry's toneless voice took on an unusually somber timbre. "I cannot predict what the implication may unleash. Proceed with caution."

But the young girl only giggled brightly and twirled, already crafting fanciful explanations. "Oh, I'm sure it's simply a friendly unseen entity! Don't worry, Sir Berry - we are clearly destined for greatness together!"

Rushia embraced her new "friend" with typical childlike enthusiasm. The ramifications of connecting with an unseen beast itself were utterly lost on her innocent mindset.

***

The inky blackness of the deep forest night enveloped the grim expedition party. Priest John walks on the back, a hooded lantern casting feeble pools of illumination across the twisted trunks and gnarled roots.

In front of him marched Guildmaster Rodoroh, the grizzled hunter Drias, and knights Cedric and Nora. Their cloaks and hoods were drawn tight against the biting chill.

Rodoroh rumbled lowly. "From the report, it is mentioned that the corruption is most active once the sun sets. We must stay alert."

Cedric frowned as they pressed onwards. "Priest, you mentioned this is different from a ghost. What kind of entity do we actually face?"

John's voice was grave. "Yes, they are not a tormented soul from a living creature, but rather, they were spawned from the spectral world itself."

Nora shuddered involuntarily. "Then...it was never alive?"

"Perverse thought, isn't it?" John confirmed. "We are taught only of ghosts left by the dead. But some older scriptures hint at primordial being seeping across from the spectral world - a completely different of our world."

Cedric shook his head in dismay. "Of all the studies demanded of us in the academy, this information was never even mentioned."

"For good reason," John answered. "I find it interesting too. Most religions today find it heretical...like in my teaching, it is said that Divine Mother Alista once came down to the world, performing miracles that even today's arcanist could not explain. But if there exists a being that could perform the same or even more powerful miracle than Divine Mother Alista...perhaps, this whole belief would crumble."

Nora interjected, "It's weird to hear this perspective from a priest."

John replied, "Ha ha, true, though I consider myself a novice in the priesthood. However, I do seek to find the objective truth."

***

The rays of the setting sun filtered through the canopy of trees as Rushia skipped merrily along the forest path, clutching her beloved Murakan II tightly.

"Berry! Berry! Back then, what happened when I poked that big bear with my Murakan II?" she chirped eagerly.

"When you make contact with the entity using Murakan II, it adsorbs some of the spirit essence that you collected while battling with unseen entities, allowing it to transcend its previous state," Berry explained patiently in her mind.

Rushia squished up her nose, sticking out her tongue. "Bori-i-ing! You always have to use such big dumb words, Sir Berry. Why can't you just say Murakan II made the bear turn into a big puppy?"

Berry replied tonelessly. "Very well...Murakan II allowed the 'bear' to shapeshift into a lupine manifestation, yes."

"Yay! See, wasn't that much easier?" Rushia clapped her hands together delightedly. "Now how can I call that big puppy? I wanna play with it!"

Rushia came to a stop, putting her hands on her hips. "Ohhh puppy...here puppy! Come out and let Rushia pat your tummy!"

When no slobbering giant wolf came out from inside her, Rushia huffed out her cheeks petulantly. "Hmph, someone's being a meanie! I'll just have to use my super special puppy call!"

Clutching Murakan II like a mystical staff, the girl struck an exaggerated heroic pose and declaimed in a high-pitched voice, "Oh poo-py! Sir Rushia commands you to stop being a big doo-doo-head and come out right now!"

This time, Rushia gasped in uncontained glee as the air before her rippled and shimmered. From the distortion, a shimmering crimson shape began to form - coalescing into what looked like...a little girl made of red mist?

"Oooh, what's this? A new playmate?" Rushia bounced excitedly on her toes, beaming at the new unseen entity. Though it seemed composed of swirling red vapor, its face was unmistakably shaped like Rushia's former self. Except those round eyes shone with an eerie scarlet luminescence.

"Sir Berry, what kinda joke is that? It looks like me but all red and blobby!" Rushia prodded the misty girl.

Berry responded flatly. "Rushia, this creature is the previous lupine spectral. The one that transcends using Murakan II as a catalyst--"

"Made the bear a puppy, got it!" Rushia chirped cheerfully.

"...Right. Well, it seems some of your inherent spirit form was imprinted when it resided inside your spirit vessel. So when it rematerialized, it adopted this form as the path of least resistance, shall we say."

Rushia's eyes went wide. "Woooaahh...so it's like, my ghost sister?" She skipped in a circle around the hovering crimson Rushia, examining it with childlike wonder.

The spectral entity resembled a misty, ethereal version of Rushia's former self. Its blazing crimson eyes betrayed no emotion, simply watching Rushia with an unnervingly blank stare.

Utterly unfazed by the creature's psychopathic demeanor, Rushia beamed up at it and waved cheerfully. "Hi there, Miss Ghosty! Isn't this the most super thing ever?"

When the specter failed to respond, Rushia simply giggled and continued prattling away happily. "It's okay if you're too shy to talk right now. We're gonna be super duper best friends, you'll see!"

Rushia clasped her hands behind her back, rocking idly on her heels as she studied the silent, misty doppelganger. "Hmm...we need to give you a really cool name though. Something fierce and knightly!"

Rushia's brow furrowed adorably as she mulled over options. Suddenly, her face lit up with dawning inspiration. "Ooh, I know! How about Elia? It kinda sounds like my mama's name, Aria. That way we can be like sisters!"

The crimson mist swirled inscrutably for a moment before the ghostly silhouette, dipped its head in a solemn nod. Rushia let out a squeal of delight, bouncing excitedly.

"Yay, you like it! Hi Elia, I'm your new sister Rushia!" She threw her arms wide in an exaggerated gesture of welcome. "Don't worry, you're gonna love adventuring with me. We'll have so much fun!"

Rushia adopted a pose of faux knightly nobility, holding Murakan II aloft as she declaimed, "As commander, I hereby dub thee Sir Elia, co-commander and my most honored sibling!"

Rushia's eyes sparkled with mirth as she turned her attention inward. "And you, Sir Berry, shall henceforth be sworn into our service as the royal slave!"

A flat, monotone voice resonated in Rushia's mind. "These arbitrary titles..."

"No no no, you gotta say 'As you command, my liege!'" Rushia giggled, making a scolding gesture with her sword. "Royal slaves have to be super respectful, you know."

There was a slight pause before Berry responded. "...Very well. As you command...my liege." His tone remained utterly emotionless.

"Yay, you're getting it!" Rushia crowed victoriously, already skipping away with Murakan II held high as Elia followed sedately behind. "Now come along, my loyal knight and royal slave! Adventure awaits!"

Berry's monotone voice piped up once more in Rushia's mind. "I must object to being referred to as a 'slave'. That is an--"

"Royal. Attendant," Rushia sang out airily over her shoulder, clearly not listening. "Now pick up the pace, everyone! We have quests to complete!"

There was a faint hint of resigned exasperation in Berry's monotone reply. "As you wish...my liege."

The bizarre trio strode off into the dusky woods. Berry had no physical form, but his very presence seemed to resettle into an air of reluctant acceptance of his role. Now, He has to persist as Rushia's steadfast, if longsuffering, 'slave'.

***

The gnarled forest seemed to inhale the expedition team deeper into its core with every step they took. Drias and Rodoro led the way, their keen hunter knowledge and senses alert for the slightest sign of a monster.

Drias senses a creature in the gloom ahead. "Three Boggler coming fast!"

A humanoid creature can be seen running at a high speed. Their gaping maws twisted in ferocious hunger as they lunged towards the group.

"I've got this," Nora said calmly, fingers glowing with arcanic light. With a sharp gesture, spiraling wind channeled from her palms, snatching the Boggler in a whirling vortex.

As the howling squall battered them, Cedric stepped in with a powerful slash. His blade sheared through their forms, cutting all of them in half.

In the sudden silence following the skirmish, Rodoroh clapped his hand. "Nicely done, as expected from a knight - fluid teamwork." He then eyed John. "And you too John, you prevent us from mental distress, I presume?

John inclined his head. "Indeed, as priests, we often engage in prayer to purify the mind. I've contemplated using this approach to aid everyone in the battle."

"It's an interesting idea, " Cedric admitted. "Most view the church's role as comforting the grieving and spiritually downtrodden."

"That's how I was introduced to religion initially too," John responded. "I believe our own minds can sometimes become our adversaries."

Nora exhaled, adjusting her uniform. "I see. Thank you for the fresh perspective. It's not something I've considered before."

John's lips curved into a fleeting smile. "In that case, I hope everyone can count on me further. I promise to give my utmost effort to keep up."

And so, the expedition team pressed on, lanterns casting feeble light on the trees. As they got deeper, John whispered another prayer so that everyone could face the unknown with peace and clarity.

***

The inky blackness of the night forest enveloped Rushia as she skipped along the winding path.

After a while of wandering without any unseen entities revealing themselves, Rushia stopped and placed her hands petulantly on her hips. "Sir Berry!" she called out loud. "Where did all the ghostly meanies go? I want battle!"

Berry's monotone voice resonated in her mind. "It appears that Elia has transcended to a higher hierarchical state within their unseen community."

Rushia's brow crinkled in confusion. "Huh? Hiera-whatsit? You're using too many big dumb words again, Sir Berry!"

"My apologies," Berry replied flatly. "Elia has...advanced beyond any unseen entities we encountered before. They seem intimidated by her presence now."

The girl glanced sidelong at the slightly shorter, crimson phantasm drifting sedately beside her. Elia betrayed no reaction, those burning red eyes staring blankly ahead.

"Oh silly Berry, that can't be right." Rushia huffed, shaking her head emphatically. "Everyone knows I'm the strongest knight ever! Elia only got to level up 'cause of my power."

She struck a heroic pose, brandishing Murakan II dramatically. "All those lame ghosties just saw how awesome I am and ran away scared. The great Rushia is too much for their feeble spirits!"

There was a prolonged pause before Berry responded in that same inflectionless drone. "...If you say so."

The young girl beamed victoriously at the (looks like) agreement before turning her attention back to her ghostly "sister". "Did you hear that, Elia? Sir Berry says I'm the most powerful ever too!"

Elia continued staring impassively ahead, making no acknowledgment of Rushia's boasts. Rushia didn't bother, she just continued rambling on in that same childlike cadence.

"Hello? Elia? Can you even understand me?" She waved a small hand in front of the unseen entity's blank crimson gaze.

"Elia does not seem capable of comprehending or communicating through conventional language patterns," Berry intoned solemnly. "I may be able to devise an interface to facilitate basic exchange, but it will take time to properly translate the frequency shifts and resonances of her spiritual essence."

Rushia considered this for a moment, violet eyes momentarily clouding with uncharacteristic seriousness, before brightening once more.

"Okie dokie, I'll leave the boring stuff to you then, Sir Berry! Just make sure you two get along - we're all teammates on this Knighthood after all!"

With that, she spun neatly on one heel and resumed her merry skipping down the dim forest trail, Elia's crimson shape drifting obediently behind her while Berry's presence remained a silent constant in her mind.

A short while later, tendrils of bloody mist began seeping back up from the path, swirling languidly around Rushia's small form. Rushia watched, enraptured, as Elia's spectral essence slowly reabsorbed into her.

"Oooh, look at the pretty light show!" she exclaimed gleefully. "But why's Elia going back inside me, Berry?"

Berry's reply was succinct. "Elia is an unseen entity whose energies cannot remain materialized in this plane indefinitely. Her spiritual form was destabilizing as time went on."

"Oh..." Rushia replied, clearly not fully understanding but quickly becoming distracted again. Her head swiveled around at a faint noise reaching her ears through the shadowed treeline up ahead.

Distant sounds of metal clashing against something, mixed with the distinctive concussive thrum of arcane energies being unleashed. Rushia's eyes grew wide, all thoughts of unseen entities dissipation forgotten.

"D'you hear that, Sir Berry?! It sounds like a super duper battle is happening!"

Without waiting for a response, the petite knight-errant scampered off in the direction of the distant fracas, Murakan II held aloft as she whooped in giddy exhilaration.