Chapter 41: Then I’ll Call You Crimson (Two-in-one)
Shaya’s gaze swept over the descriptions of the blue skill bar one by one.
Except for “Slash,” Shaya had never seen the other skills of this little Silver Spirit before.
Furthermore, judging solely by their descriptions, “Filthy Blood” and “Dark Scion” seemed to be negative-attribute skills.
“Haven’t chosen your contract target yet?”
“That’s right, prodigies like you must be very picky.”
An aged voice sounded in Shaya’s ears.
The Trial Elder had, at some unknown time, appeared behind Shaya; he must have finished assessing the remaining personnel.
He followed Shaya’s gaze to the little Silver Spirit that was continuously brandishing its sword.
“You’ve noticed it too… speaking of which, it has some connection with you outer-family members.”
“The calamity sixteen years ago not only left you orphans who lost your parents, but it did the same to it.”
“At that time, the entire Azure Court Duchy was in chaos, even the Royal Capital was no exception. Twilight Calamity Beasts that had housed Pollutants also attacked the Silver Spirits’ habitat, and that day was also when this little Silver Spirit was born.”
“Its mother died protecting it, who had just been born and was only an incomplete Star Spirit Body… It is said that on that day, the Filthy Blood of the Twilight Calamity Beast mixed with its mother’s blood, and splashed onto its not-yet-fully-matured Star Spirit Body, thus turning it into its current state.”
“Due to its Elemental Body being Corroded, its growth has been extremely slow, and because it has lost the purity of an Elemental Life, even its own kind regards it as an anomaly.”
“Perhaps because of the incident it witnessed firsthand when it was born, its personality has also become somewhat biased. It has been training itself at all costs, just to become stronger, gain the recognition of a Beast Tamer, and one day avenge its mother.”
“It’s a pity…”
The Elder shook his head with a hint of a sigh.
As a high-tier King Race, Silver Spirits had extremely diverse evolutionary paths.
However, merely losing “Elemental Sense” meant that this little Silver Spirit had cut off all possibilities for development in the path of Elemental Magic.
And if it abandoned the magic path and specialized in Physical Class skills, it would not only lack “Elemental State,” a trump card that Silver Spirits relied on for survival, but also have an incurable disability in its left arm.
Moreover, its significantly slower growth rate compared to its peers was also an irrecoverable hard injury.
No one would give up such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to contract a Silver Spirit that was inherently flawed.
As an Elder who had guarded the Silver Spirit habitat for decades, the Trial Elder felt some affection for the Silver Spirits before him.
In his opinion, this little Silver Spirit was not suited for combat from birth and should have continued to live in the habitat.
Although ordinary… at least it could survive.
“I apologize, perhaps I’ve touched a sore spot.”
He shifted his gaze away from the little Silver Spirit brandishing its sword and looked back at Shaya.
“If you’re not satisfied with these Silver Spirit cubs, then follow me.”
“I have a good relationship with a few King Tier Silver Spirits in the habitat. Among their offspring, there might be some talented cubs.”
But then, he realized that Shaya, who was beside him, had already disappeared.
He looked up and saw that Shaya had already appeared below the valley, beside the little Silver Spirit.
“?”
Clang—
Clang—
Blades of red and white clashed with black iron ore, emitting a piercing friction sound and spattering sparks.
The sword marks on the black iron ore became increasingly distinct.
This was no longer known how many times the little Silver Spirit had swung its sword, but it had already chopped over a hundred of these massive black iron ores.
Its kin within the habitat had already expressed their dissatisfaction with it more than once.
Silver Spirits were Elemental Lives gestated from nature, generally speaking, they were a gentle race that loved nature.
Although they did not fear combat… that was supposed to be after leaving the habitat and contracting with Beast Tamers.
This habitat was equivalent to a pure land for Silver Spirits, a home for gestating offspring, recuperating, and living in peace and contentment, not a battlefield for fighting.
Therefore, its kin could not understand the little Silver Spirit’s insane training methods.
If it truly had outstanding combat talent, it would be one thing, but the problem was that its growth was extremely slow, already a full tier behind its peers of the same age.
Consequently, all its actions naturally appeared frenzied and incomprehensible.
The little Silver Spirit was naturally aware of all these things.
But it didn’t care.
From the moment it was born, the crimson hue that seeped deep into its Star Spirit Body had left an indelible mark on the little Silver Spirit’s soul.
Become stronger.
Then, take revenge.
From that moment on, this had become the meaning of the little Silver Spirit’s life.
This was why it could persevere under the corruption of the Abyss without its heart being tainted by even a trace of filth.
Since it had lost its affinity with elements, lost the self-healing and Elemental State that Silver Spirits prided themselves on… then it would use its body as a sword.
Day after day, year after year.
Until the very concept of the sword was engraved into its heart, becoming a part of its soul.
Clang—
Another slash was delivered, and a tiny crack appeared on the black iron ore.
“Do you know that everything you’re doing is just futile self-deception in the eyes of outsiders?”
Suddenly, an unfamiliar voice sounded in the little Silver Spirit’s ear.
“It’s like a fish trying to learn to fly… no matter how hard you train, it’s just futile and twice the effort for half the results.”
Only then did the little Silver Spirit discover the youth who had appeared beside it at some unknown time.
The other party did not conceal its spiritual energy. In the little Silver Spirit’s perception, its soul was hot and deep, far more powerful than the Beast Tamers who had come to contract Silver Spirits earlier.
Even the Elder responsible for guarding the habitat seemed inferior to the youth before it in the little Silver Spirit’s perception.
“Mee— (I… know)”
After a long silence, a childlike female voice came from the little Silver Spirit’s mental fluctuations.
This made the black-haired youth in front of it raise an eyebrow.
“You know it’s futile, yet you still refuse to turn back until you hit a brick wall?”
“Frankly, I like your perseverance and character.”
“In my opinion, possessing such character traits is far more important than any level, race, or powerful skills.”
“But to do something knowing it’s impossible is a very foolish thing. I don’t want my future Familiar to be a reckless fool… one who rushes into danger knowing it’s there.”
“That’s not bravery, it’s simply courting death.”
The little Silver Spirit’s Star Spirit Body trembled slightly.
This was the voice it had longed to hear since its birth.
For a Silver Spirit with an extremely long growth period, only by contracting with a Beast Tamer… was it possible to quickly become stronger and possess the power for revenge.
Everything it did was for the sole purpose of gaining the recognition of a Beast Tamer, but all along… due to its physical defects, no Beast Tamer from the Brunnhildr Family had ever been willing to choose a Silver Spirit that was born with a disability, not even showing the slightest interest in inspecting it.
This was the first time in its life that it was being looked at seriously by a Beast Tamer as a potential contract partner, even though its voice was mixed with doubt towards it.
Moreover, this Beast Tamer was so powerful.
“Mee… Mee (It’s not… futile…)”
The little Silver Spirit’s Star Spirit Body fluctuated slightly, emitting a childlike female voice.
“Oh?”
It saw the black-haired youth opposite nod noncommittally.
“Then, show me.”
The next moment, a delicate Little Mink appeared on the youth’s shoulder.
“Defeat it, and I’ll acknowledge your qualification to contract with me.”
“At the same time, I’ll give you a chance to fulfill your wish.”
The exquisite Little Mink wagged its fluffy tail, lightly leaped from the youth’s shoulder, and lazily looked at the little Silver Spirit.
The little Silver Spirit sensed no threat from the other party, as if it were merely a harmless ornamental Familiar.
However, its heart did not relax in the slightest.
A Familiar contracted by such a powerful Beast Tamer could never be weak, perhaps even more than one or two tiers higher than itself.
Even so…
Facing what might be the only chance in its life, the little Silver Spirit felt no inclination to retreat.
It gently closed its eyes.
Its body of Silver Element, along with the hazy, dim yellow glow, subsided together.
The next moment.
The little Silver Spirit’s body.
Along with its Star Spirit Body’s origin, surged with azure flames.
“Blood Burn”
Compared to its kin, it lacked powerful racial characteristics, and its magic power and various attributes were far inferior to theirs…
The little Silver Spirit understood these gaps better than anyone.
Simply swinging a sword might compensate for the lack of combat experience and proficiency, but it was like a veteran fighter being unable to defeat a young adult Dragon. If the gap in total magic power and tier was too large, there would be a gap that skills and experience could not overcome.
Therefore, “Blood Burn” existed.
Whether human or other life forms, they possessed the instinct for survival, so no matter how much they exerted themselves, their bodies’ primal instincts would retain a portion of the power needed to sustain life functions.
And Blood Burn was about surpassing the instinct of “sustaining life functions” with willpower, drawing out the power that a creature should not originally use from the depths of its soul.
Then, concentrating everything into an extremely short limit.
This was the ultimate skill woven by the little Silver Spirit to confront the many strong enemies and even its revenge targets with its own clumsy body.
A unique, proprietary skill created by itself.
Burning the body, incinerating the soul.
Each release of this skill was equivalent to self-harm.
But—
Having never been valued from the beginning, it was now bearing someone else’s expectations for the first time.
Therefore, it decided to respond to that expectation.
The crimson blade was instantly enveloped in azure flames.
Then—
It swung its sword.
There were no flashy special effects, nor exquisite high-level sword techniques.
It was just the simplest slash, yet after tens of thousands of slashes, it possessed the power to transform the mundane into the miraculous.
The sudden surge in magic power fluctuations made the Little Mink opposite blink in surprise.
Deep Blackflame and azure flames surged at the same instant.
Then, that slash pierced through the blockade of Blackflame and went straight towards the source of the Blackflame.
Perhaps… it could really do it?
This thought had just arisen.
The next moment, the little Silver Spirit saw a slowly expanding Silver Moon in the eyes of the Little Mink.
The azure flames that had surrounded it were extinguished.
The slash also deviated.
“Blood Burn” was forcibly interrupted, the magic power that had filled its Elemental Body disappeared, replaced by a profound weakness.
It lost.
Its full-power attack landed on empty space, tearing a rift in the earth.
If only I were a little stronger… if I had trained a little harder during my usual practice.
Then, perhaps I could have lived up to his expectations.
At this moment, all that lingered in the little Silver Spirit’s heart was regret and self-reproach.
But then, it heard a calm voice in its ears.
“Feeling frustrated? Because of your weakness.”
“If so, then remember this regret.”
“Because—this is proof that you haven’t given up…”
“Proof that you haven’t given in to despair and abandoned yourself.”
The next moment, the little Silver Spirit felt itself being scooped up by a pair of broad, warm, and well-defined hands.
Clear spiritual energy intertwined with its Star Spirit Body, pacifying its soul that had begun to burn, along with the twilight curse that had plagued it for half its life.
“So like it, so much like it.”
The little Silver Spirit heard the young Beast Tamer exclaim.
“Silver. It’s truly identical to you and Little Ai back then.”
“Ying~”
Silver, on Shaya’s shoulder, gently flicked its tail in response.
Doesn’t my master just have the urge to take on another Familiar again… what’s with all these excuses?
After all, the grass is greener on the other side.
However, having a few more plastic sisters doesn’t seem too bad.
“As long as you two don’t have any objections.”
The little Silver Spirit heard the other party let out a refreshing laugh.
Immediately after, it felt its spirit being gently enveloped, like the starry sky at night, tranquil and deep.
The Star Spirit Body and spirit merged with each other.
Finally, slowly converging into the nascent form of a contract.
“Then, starting today, you will have the power to fulfill your wish.”
“As for your name.”
The little Silver Spirit watched its future Beast Tamer pause slightly, his gaze fixed on that crimson blood.
“Then I’ll call you…”
“Crimson.”
