Chapter 7

"I watched him grow, taking care of his little siblings. Reminded me of the way the holder ones looked after us and how we in turn looked after the little ones.

I won't go into his origins because even that is another long story that I don't want to talk about now, I was proud to be entrusted with his safety.

I was just glad to be able to watch them grow but he just had to go blind at the point where the power to change his fate lay at his hands.

I see myself in him, so i want to help him, see just how far he can walk with just a bit of support. Perhaps I'm just doing this because I want to see if I can also stand up once more. Maybe it's just my selfish wish, but I want to do it.

Watch over us from above sisters."

She poured the rest of the wine into both her cup and the one she had previously kept before the central plaque and went out with the empty gourd, returning the room to its silent and gloomy state.

The fires congregated once more, forming a figure in the air, except unlike the fairy Bell, this figure was in the shape of an elf. An elf with flaming hair and eyes that looked like the endless abyss.

She sighed as she raised the cup that was set before the plaque and drank from both.

"We'll watch, find your path sister"

And the figure dissipated, returning to flames that returned to the candle sticks.

******************************************************************

When Aricia returned to the room she left Alex in, she found Bell hovering over his head, watching over him. Bell turned her head the moment she entered and flew towards her direction.

"That kid"

She began speaking, her voice carrying emotions that Aricia couldn't decipher yet.

"Just what happened to him?

Just who did he offend that inflicted such a burden on his young soul?"

"What?"

Aricia asked, shocked by the words her former spirit companion uttered.

"Ahhh, i forgot you can no longer use most of your abilities, but if i were to explain it. Let's just say, someone or something did something to his soul. There's a significant mismatch between his soul and his body and his body can not bear the strain.

He's breaking apart and soon he'll die."

Aricia stopped moving and stared at the spirit.

"Isn't that the same thing that's happening to me?"

"Not exactly cia.

In your case, we can identify the force acting upon both your body and soul, if we had someone strong enough that specialized in the area of the soul, we can fix it.

But for him, i have no idea what happened or where the problem is."

The spirit sighed before hoving over back to alex.

"His eyes and some of his energy channels are already gone. His soul keeps expanding and contracting, changing as time passes but there's no external force acting on it."

She placed her hand on his chest and channeled her energy into his body.

"His body has lost the ability to hold mana, and any other energy type. It just enters into his body, moves through his channels, a significant portion of it vanishes due to the soul and the rest leaves his body.

But even that is just accelerating his body breaking down, so"

Bell got up from his chest and floated before Aricia, and for the first time since they started speaking, Bell took her original form.

An elven body with a silver crown above her green hair, green eyes and a gentle breeze flowed in her surroundings, the spirit king of wind, Sylphid, looked her former contractor in the eye and asked her, her voice carrying the authority and prestige of a spirit king.

"What do you want to do for him, Aricia?"

Aricia didn't hesitate or think twice before she replied.

"I want to help him live. Give him a chance to stand on his own feet and go against the world. I want him to defy his fate, and most of all, I want him to live a happy life."

Sylphid nodded and then walked towards the kid, lifting him in both her hands (princess carry) and walked out of the room.

"Come on, follow me, I'm not going to be doing this alone."

Aricia finally snapped out of her daze and followed after the spirit king. The path they took was one that Aricia was very familiar with, the same place she had gone to undo the spell on the artifact that helped her disguise her form and energy signature.

The spirit pond located in the garden at the eastern side of the monastery.

"You know Aricia, this pond is more than what we told your people.

If I remember correctly, the story that goes around your clan is that the pond is filled with high spirit energy so it serves as a great medium for spells and forming a contract, but it's beyond that."

She placed the kid's back first into the pond and supported him so he floated within the water. She then swam over to his head and placed her hands over his chest and forehead before continuing

"This pond is actually formed completely from spirit essence. A form of mana that's unique to spirits. When a high ranking spirit isn't nearby or actively revealing its properties, it appears to others as water with some degree of spirit concentrates.

She looked at Aricia and extended her hand, motioning for her to join in.

"I know what you're worried about. Unlike last time, I know what's in your body so I won't approach it, nor would I allow it to taint the kid, so join in."

Aricia nodded and entered the pond, making her way over to where sylphid stood.

"There are more places like this around the world btw, but that's beside the point. Right now we're going to use the spirit essence present here to reforge his body. It's going to be a difficult process but, it's the first step we need to take.

"Will that fix his blindness?"

Aricia asked, a tint of excitement in her voice.

"Unfortunately no.

That was the part of his body that was hit first and was affected the most. Infact, I would rather avoid touching that as i have no idea what secrets are hidden there"

"Alright then, then I'll just take the chance to pass him the art then"

Aricia sighed

"Wait, Cia. Are you talking about the art that has been passed down from the beginning of your tribe, the very one you modified and are using for your sight now?"

"Yes"

Sylphid paused as she stared alternatively at the two.

'Looks like he really means a lot to her, well then I can't skimp on this either then. I didn't plan to go this far, but I might as well for the sake of the princess.'

She shook her head and cut her fingers, drawing golden blood from the slender fingers. Aricia stared in confusion and tried to speak, but Sylphid silenced her with a wave of her free hand.

The spirit king's golden blood flowed from her finger, coagulating in a spot, forming a golden orb above Alex's chest then her fingers healed. She then began chanting.

"Insert text"

The pond glowed once more, this time the light it created was five times as bright as when Aricia was the one to use it. Aricia could feel the spirit essence in the area overflowing before it congregated on a spot, on the golden orb that was above Alex, and after a short period of stillness, the essence and the golden orb sipped into his body.

"Now guide the energy through his channels while I deal with everything else."

Sylphid instructed Aricia and the elf nodded following her instructions.

'Let's see, I need to make the body stronger, from the bones to the organs, then increase the sensitivity to mana. It would be best if the mana that passes through his body can also be retained in every bit of his body for a short while since his source has been obliterated.'

Sylphid thought as she moved her hands to implement all she highlighted.

It was a long and strenuous process that took hours and Sylphid was glad the kid was unconscious through the event of it all. The pain he would have been subjected to if he wasn't in his current state wasn't one she wanted to think about.

When she was done making all the changes to his body, she refined the channel between the body and soul and a connection between the previously disjointed soul and body was made.

It was more in balance now and the kid was finally out of danger, however she couldn't fix his eyes or his energy source.

But it wasn't going to be much of a trouble, while it wouldn't be as good as the original, the art he was about to be imparted by Aricia would fix most of that problem, but Sylphid also wanted to add an insurance of her own. Something that would serve as his eyes and his strength.

She nodded and made a chant

"Insert text"

And her consciousness arrived in the spirit world. She was about to summon a middle level spirit that would be contracted with the kid when an old friend appeared in her location.

"Long time no see Raiden'

She greeted him as he knew he wasn't one to talk.

"It's been a while, Sylph."

He nodded, returning her greetings before he continued.

"The kid, I'll make a contract with him, but keep it a secret from both the kid and Aricia for now"

While she was shocked she got over it quickly and nodded. Raiden raised his hands and a blue seal floated over from his hands to Sylphid's.

"But this is a true seal Raiden, you'll go into a deep slumber after this, especially since you just recovered from the events of the last war. Please think about this"

"Yes, I know that. But it's necessary, when the time is due you'd understand"

And after those words, Raiden vanished.