At the Spirit's Plateau, spirits of different elements were playing on a gra.s.s field like children.

Orcs that visited this place to carry out their fulfillments team up with the spirits that became their partner and devote themselves to create powerful spells.

Just stretching out your hand can create a strong wind or release a fireball.

Their powers weren't that different from magic.

In some ways, it was easier than using magic because they're able to use their skills without any issues since they were getting help from their spirit.

"Wouldn't it be better if the sorcerers were sent into battle?"

Amongst the Elves, there were many that used magic.

All priests had their own magic and the ones below them had knowledge of basic magic spells.

I was sure these sorcerers were soldiers that would fight against the enemies.

"There are many spirits that have a calm personality. Because of that, they feel uncomfortable lending their powers when it comes to harming someone."

"In that case, is it impossible for the sorcerers to fight against someone?"

That didn't seem like the case because he shook his head.

"Depending on how deep your relations.h.i.+p is with your spirit, they're willing to lend their powers when they have to fight. However, in order to do that, you need to spend a lot of time. Just letting you know, out of the clan leaders, Hocrim is a powerful sorcerer."

When I thought of Hocrim, I remember him having the image of a sorcerer.

I didn't know how they were used, but he had all sorts of ornaments and behind him, there was a tall totem.

Also, whenever I was next to him, I often felt like someone was playing jokes near my ear.

I a.s.sumed that was the doing of the spirit that stayed with Hocrim.

"Please wait a moment."

Master Kalax was speaking to an Orc that was currently training here.

While talking, the Orc looked back and inspected me.

Moments later, they walked towards me.

"Let me introduce you to a new friend. This is Tunga and he's currently training here."

"Nice to meet you."

Tunga politely extended his hand out.

To greet him back, I grabbed his hand and lightly shook it.

"Out of all the Orcs, Tunga is placed within the top five so he's a pretty strong sorcerer. If he wanted to, he could create a ma.s.sive earthquake."

Tunga looked like he was a bit burdened.

Even as the one listening, I knew he was exaggerating Tunga's introduction.

I thought that he just wanted to make one of his members look good, so I just bowed my head.

"Did you come here to learn spells?"

I originally came here to meet the Great Spirit, but I was interested in learning spells.

Since most of my skills required me to use my mana, I thought this would be a good chance to learn something new.

'It would be nice if learning magic was easy.'

Learning magic within the stage wasn't that difficult to learn.

Magic books were rare and sometimes, monsters would drop them and learning from someone that already knew it was difficult.

On the request board, if the reward was a magic book, everyone would try to complete the quest.

"Among the humans, I heard there's a lot that are talented in magic. Is that true?"

"Ha ha, I'm not sure. Those types of people tend to have odd personalities."

The stage didn't have a cla.s.s or job system.

However, people spread rumors and often categorize people as warriors, magicians and archers.

And among the magicians, if they master more than five magic-related skills, they're categorized into a separate category.

Magicians that believe that they're more special than others tend to be conceited and there were a lot of them.

There were also clans that only accepted magicians, so it's natural for them to act that way.

However, I didn't doubt that magic could be a strong tool after seeing the related clans ranked high.

"Well, I don't mind help you, but spells cannot be mastered within a short period of time. Many humans visited this place before you, but none of them were able to master the spells."

"Maybe they didn't have the talent?"

"It's more like they didn't have the patience."

I was a pretty patient person, however, I wasn't planning on staying in the fifth stage for a long time, so I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to learn it.

But, if I were to say that out loud, Tunga might not be willing to teach me.

"Follow me."

I followed him to the center of the plateau.

"It's a human!! He he he."

"Oh, this is the same guy that Azera met with last time."

"Oh…you're right!! It's the one that looked down on me."

The spirit that I looked down on because they were a low level spirit seemed to have remembered my face because they were being annoying.

I ignored their jokes and followed Tunga.

"Can you feel it? A lot of spirits have taken interest in you."

"I do. I'm starting to get frustrated."

"Ha ha, you shouldn't act that way. You can only use the spells with the help of the spirits. So your relations.h.i.+p with them is important."

The relations.h.i.+p that he spoke of was something that I tried to avoid all my life.

Up until now, I haven't created a single bond with anyone.

"What are you thinking about?"

A frown was on my face and I wasn't aware of it.

Because of that, Tunga looked at me with a worried look.

"I thought that it was going to be difficult to become close with the spirits."

"You don't have to worry. You don't have to be friendly with all the spirits here."

"I see."

Tunga summoned his spirit to show me an example.

The spirit that he summoned was obviously different than the others and I could tell it was on a different level.

It was enveloped in a gold-colored light and two s.h.i.+ny rings were twisted around it.

"This is my partner. Its name is Krong."

"…Do spirits have names too?"

"Of course!! All spirits have their own names. Like you and I. Ha ha. Now, let me show you."

Tunga and his partner, Krong, were connected by a yellow smoke.

Rumble!!

The power of his mana increased so much that I was able to see his mana in its natural form.

The ground that I was standing on was starting to crack a little.

"Just connecting with your spirit will increase your mana tremendously. And you can command their powers depending on the spirit's specialty."

Tap!! Tap!! Tap!!

All he did was raise his thumb.

Rocks that were as sharp as a drill jumped up.

"Using power skills here is prohibited, so I showed you a very simple skill. Depending on your imagination and skills, you can develop the skill even further."

I clapped towards Tunga, who was explaining the skill as if it was the easiest thing in the world.

Even if this was one of the basic skills, if these rocks suddenly jumped up during battle, the opponent might feel overwhelmed by it.

If used at the right time, these rocks can pierce through one's abdomen.

A chill ran down my spine.

"It's not good to see it as just an offensive skill."

Tunga, who was connected with his spirit, didn't have the naïve look he had before.

By connecting with this spirit, his eyes looked like he could look into his opponent's heart.

After showing me his skill, he disconnected with his spirit.

"The spirits will not lend their powers to those with impure hearts."

"…I understand."

"Now, I'll teach you how to find your very own spirit. It's simple. You just have to release your mana. That's the best way to charm a spirit."

Since it was so simple, I walked to the center and got into position.

Released the mana within me all at once was something I've done before as a joke.

But, I did end up collapsing to the ground because of the lack of energy.

"Whew."

Boooooom!!

It sounded like a beast was roaring and it not only filled this place, but it filled near the forest as well.

Blue-colored mana were tangled against each other and the light shot up to the sky.

The remaining mana were released with too much power that it ended up cutting whatever was around me.

"Th…that's enough."

I quickly collected the mana upon hearing Tunga.

And in front of me were the spirits I saw earlier, but they were all in different sizes.

Their frame and energy were impressive.

"The ranks of these spirits are higher than Krong. Ha ha, it's true. I didn't think you would release so much mana that it would form a pillar. It was unexpected."

Shock was displayed on Tunga's face, but he looked at me with respect.

"Now what do I do?"

"You need to speak with them. Meditate and listen to their voices. Once you do that, a spirit that's compatible with you will appear!!"

I did just as he instructed and got into a meditating position so that I could talk with the spirits that were around me.

I spoke with the spirits until the sun started setting.

"…It's late."

Tunga waited until he finished meditating, but it's been four hours.

The reason why spells were difficult to learn was because forming a close bond with a spirit was the most difficult task.

Finding a spirit wasn't a difficult task.

On average, it took about an hour, but he was taking four hours.

On top of that, the high-ranked spirits that appeared before were starting to hide themselves one by one.

"It's not fun."

"He lacks trust. He's too suspicious to form a bond with someone."

"I hoped he was an honest guy."

The spirits that left expressed their disappointment.

The spirits thought their conversation with him was dull and even released a deep sigh.

Among the sorcerers, the strongest ones were very humorous and merry.

Having a bright personality was a talent as well and it helped when forming a bond.

However, his personality was far from the personality that the spirits liked.

He was a loner so it's only natural he became that way.

In the end, he opened his eyes when it was night.

He became exhausted from meditating for hours.

He didn't meet a spirit that was willing to be his partner.

"Are…are you okay?"

He stood up with a disappointed expression and walked out of the plateau by himself.

End.

Staff :

Jen (TL)

Kuhaku (PR)