Ascension Through Skills
chapter-219

All the spirits had vanished, leaving only humans behind when Taesan waved his hand.

“Hello?”

Those who had been staring blankly at him nodded, somewhat reciprocally.

“Ah. Yes. Hello…

“Where are you heading?”

“To the Burunian Plains…

“Can I come along?”

“Ah, yes.”

They answered unconsciously.

Taesan climbed onto the roof of their carriage. They hurriedly finished their preparations and set off again.

Taesan quietly closed his eyes atop the moving carriage.

Whispers could be heard inside the carriage. They were trying to speak quietly so as not to be heard, but Taesan could hear everything.

“Who is that person…?”

“I don’t know…

“Then why did you agree?”

“I, I don’t know. Don’t ask. You nodded too.”

“That was because I was momentarily surprised. What did he do?”

“…He blew up a spirit with his bare hands. And it was a lower ranked spirit at that.”

A gulp could be heard.

“Have you ever heard of such a person?”

“No…”

“I didn’t even know spirits could be physically de-summoned.”

They whispered among themselves. The conversation gradually shifted to why Taesan was with them and who he was.

“Ask him.”

“I, I’d rather not. How dare I speak to someone who can blow up spirits?”

“So you want to go with someone we know nothing about?”

Their discussion eventually led to deciding to talk to Taesan.

There, once again, the conversation moved to who would talk to him, and the person forcibly chosen opened the window with a terrified face.

“Excuse me…”

A woman with green hair leaned out of the window and spoke with a dying voice.

“Isn’t it uncomfortable there? Would you like to come in?”

“Let’s.”

Taesan agreed. He had been waiting for them to invite him.

He grabbed the wall of the carriage and squeezed his body through the window.

A small gasp could be heard. Taesan surveyed them one by one.

A group of two men and two women.

Judging by the exterior of the carriage and their attire, they did not seem to be commoners. They were adorned with necklaces bearing the same emblem.

‘Could they be from a noble family?’

“Excuse me…”

The woman with green hair spoke hesitantly.

“I’m sorry. Our spirits are usually well-behaved… They just suddenly stopped following our commands.”

“It’s okay.”

If there was a problem, it lay with Taesan. He was, in essence, an adversary to the spirits.

“Having dispelled your spirits, does this mean you can’t summon them again?”

“No, that’s not the case. It was only summoned back; you can summon it again if you wish.”

“That’s a relief. It would have been regrettable if it had been completely destroyed.”

Upon hearing Taesan’s words, the woman with green hair swallowed. The question he asked was something anyone who lived a regular life would know.

“Do you, by any chance, not know much about spirits?”

“I don’t know the specifics. I’ve been secluded, practicing.”

Taesan grimaced as if he was exasperated. Although the expression was an act, since he was indeed trapped in the labyrinth, it wasn’t entirely false. Thus, the expression seemed quite genuine.

Taesan bore no hostility towards them. And they realized he was not a strange entity.

“If you’re unfamiliar with spirits, where have you been training?”

“In the depths of the mountains. I don’t know the exact location. I just desperately made my way out.”

The woman marveled.

“I’ve heard of such individuals in old tales, but never thought I’d actually meet one…”

Seemingly encouraged to speak, the woman began to chatter.

“My name is Akien, the one with red hair over there is Perina, the rough-looking one is Baan, and the handsome one over there is Karuin.”

“Are you all from the same family?”

“Yes. We are the proud offspring of the Acacia family.”

Taesan surveyed them. Their hair colors were all different, yet they claimed to be from the same family.

Noticing Taesan’s confusion, the ghost spoke up.

[In a world where spirits and humans coexist, your hair color changes based on the attribute you're born with. Fire turns it red; forest, green.]

Taesan let out a small gasp of admiration, while Perina, the woman with red hair, grumbled.

“Even so, we’re still in a position to be sold.”

“It’s not like we’re really being sold, right? Think of it as a good opportunity.”

“But being dragged somewhere you don’t want to go is the same, isn’t it? I just want to lie in bed. Carriages are uncomfortable. You can’t even wash properly.”

“Where are you going that you feel this way?”

“To the Burunian Plains. Something strange has appeared there.”

Taesan’s eyes quietly lit up.

“Something strange?”

“Yes.”

Akien nodded.

“A few months ago, a translucent sphere appeared in the middle of the plains. It’s so large it covers half the plains, and people were sent to check it out. They discovered there’s a girl inside.”

“A girl inside the sphere?”

“It’s hard to believe, but all my acquaintances say it’s true.”

Akien continued, his face alight with excitement.

“People thought it was just a strange phenomenon and went to see it, but something amazing happened. Near the sphere, the power of nature strengthens, and the power of spirits increases. There are even stories of spirits evolving into higher spirits!”

“Is that such an amazing thing?”

“Of course!”

Akien spoke fervently.

“Until now, the evolution of spirits was something you’d only hear about in fairy tales! It’s happening just by being near the sphere! This could open a new horizon for spirit magic!”

From Akien’s words, Taesan realized that the girl inside the sphere they were talking about was the newly born Spirit King.

And the fact that the inhabitants of this world were unaware of this.

“I’m honestly against it.”

Baan, who had been quiet, finally spoke up.

“We shouldn’t tamper with that. It’s a being that’s above us. Experimenting and meddling with it might bring the wrath of the angered spirit god upon us.”

“Again with that talk.”

“Take a look for yourself. Ever since the sphere appeared, spirits tainted black have emerged. This all happened because humans tampered with the sphere.”

“That’s…:”

Akien fell silent, seemingly out of arguments. Soon, she retorted.

“What other choice do we have? Honestly, I hate it too. ‘Let nature take its course.’ That’s our family’s motto. But we can’t refuse when the Bazuk family personally asks us.”

“Damn.”

Baan hung his head low.

“The Bazuk family?”

“The only family in the world that has contracted with a high spirit. Not even the mightiest kings can speak before the Bazuk family.”

Akien grumbled.

“As powerful as they are willful, families like ours are dragged around by them. We had no intention of participating this time, but the Bazuk family made a fuss about conducting a big experiment and summoned us. We’re being dragged into it.”

From this series of stories, Taesan grasped the general situation.

The Spirit King had perished, and a new Spirit King had emerged. The new, still not fully self-aware and fragile Spirit King was being protected within the sphere, growing in strength.

And the evil spirits seized that moment. Corrupted spirits were born, affecting the world.

Humans, unaware of him, gathered around the newly born Spirit King, each with their own desires.

‘So the enemy isn’t just the evil spirits because of this.’

The carriage slowly headed towards its destination.

He had figured out where he needed to go. However, Taesan didn’t rush straight to the destination.

Listening to the story, the Spirit King didn’t seem to be in immediate danger. There seemed no need to hurry, and he was thinking of learning something he had been interested in before.

“How do you make a contract with a spirit?”

Walking the Path of Wind, a tiny spark ignited within Taesan. He possessed spirit skills.

However, these skills were all forcefully obtained through Soul Ascension. He had never directly contracted with a spirit to gain power.

Whether it would be useful or not was uncertain, but it represented a new power. It was worth exploring.

“A contract with a spirit?”

Surprise was evident on Akien’s puzzled face.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t made a contract?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been too busy training.”

“So you’ve been summoning spirits in reverse with just your physical body, without even using spirit enhancement?”

Akien’s face was full of admiration.

“How is that even possible?”

“Spirit enhancement?”

“Ah. I guess I have to start from there.”

Akien began to explain slowly.

“When you contract with a spirit, you can directly draw out and use the spirit’s power. It’s possible to enhance your body, albeit weakly.”

Blue power surged around Akien’s body. She threw a quick punch, and a gust of wind followed.

“Besides, there are many other benefits. Those who contract with the wind spirit can live without ever feeling too hot or cold, and those with the water spirit don’t have to worry about hydration even in the desert.”

“Sounds trivial.”

“Right? But it’s incredibly convenient. They say if you reach the level of a high spirit, you can create whirlwinds with a gesture. Honestly, I don’t know if that’s true.”

Naturally, the stronger the spirit, the more significant the difference in the power one could draw.

“And the most crucial thing is that you can summon the spirit itself to accompany you.”

“Like you guys did?”

“Yes. Spirits are generally stronger than ordinary humans. There are exceptions, but… that’s generally the case.”

She glanced at Taesan as she continued.

“When a summoned spirit is linked, you can support each other and further strengthen your power. The stronger the person contracted, the stronger the spirit becomes, and if the spirit is strong, the person also becomes stronger.”

“That sounds good.”

“So, a person who has contracted with a high spirit can even face a mid-level spirit alone. I thought you were one of those, Mr. Taesan.”

Akien spoke cautiously.

“Do you want to learn how to contract?”

Taesan nodded. Akien clapped her hands, pleased.

“Then I’ll teach you.”

“Is that okay?”

“You helped us, so this is the least I can do. It’s not hard.”

She spoke earnestly.

It was apparent what she wanted: to establish a good relationship with Taesan, who could subdue spirits with his bare body.

However, Akien’s hope would not be fulfilled. Taesan did not explicitly say so.

She rummaged through her belongings and took out a small transparent gem.

“To contract with a spirit, you first need to know what attribute you possess. Please, take this gem.”

Taesan took the gem. His energy was being absorbed into the gem.

“The color of the gem will change depending on what attribute you have, and the intensity of the color determines which spirit you can contract with. Just wait a moment, and it will change.”

She watched the gem with eager anticipation. Time passed.

“It’s not changing.”

The gem remained transparent.

Akien’s eyes wavered.

“Huh? Just a moment. Is this one defective?”

She took out another gem from her belongings. However, there was still no color change in the gem.

“Baan. You have a transparent gem, right? Can I borrow it?”

She borrowed gems from others and handed them to Taesan.

But there was no gem whose color changed.

After checking over ten gems, she scratched her cheek.

“Uh… this is the first time I’ve encountered this.”

“What happened?”

“Listen without being alarmed.”

She looked into Taesan’s face and spoke.

“The color of the gem changes based on the attribute a person has. If it’s fire, it turns red; if it’s water, it turns blue. That’s certain. Even darkness would tint it black. But if nothing changes, that means…”

Akien cautiously spoke.

“You don’t have any attributes. It means you can’t contract with a spirit.”