Raid: The Blacksmith-Chapter 76: No more Mr. Nice Raid: Part One

"So if you being a full fledged Candidate now means potentially becoming a Spirit Queen one day, when exactly is that gonna happen?" I ask Dawn as me and her run through the forest, heading for the Dungeon Gate.

"Well... that part, I’m not sure. While there are many Spirit Realms in the Spirit World, none of them have ever had their ruler’s seat vacant, and none of them ever will. The benefit of being a Candidate is having the right of passage to challenge any Spirit King or Spirit Queen of my choice, then become the new ruler of that Spirit Realm should I win." She explains.

"And when do you think you’ll feel like doing that?"

"Hmm..." She then pauses to look at me as we run. "... Are you afraid that I’m gonna want to leave you, Master!? I’ll never do that! If being a Spirit Queen means not getting to be with you, then to hell with their stupid thrones!" She punctuates. Seeing her rising emotions, I lightly flick her forehead with my index finger.

"Calm down... you’ve made your point." I say as I laugh a little.

She then starts rubbing her forehead while pouting, as if she actually felt that. Like we haven’t already established that she’s stronger than me. This brat.

"Well... I just wanted to make sure you knew. Besides." She then adds. "Even if I did want to challenge a ruler for their throne, I couldn’t go. Even though I’m a Spirit, I’m incapable of going to the Spirit World right now, since my fate is tied with that of an inhabitant of the Material World."

"I see, so all I have to do is die and become a Spirit myself, and then, you’ll be able to go to the Spirit World?"

"Exact-w-wait what!? That’s not what I’m saying you should do at all!" She hurriedly yells in a fit of panic.

"Hahaha!" I laugh. She pauses, noticing that I’m only joking.

"... You know? You’re really mean."

"So I’ve been told."

"Haah." A sigh escapes her lips.

"Don’t worry, though." I say, catching her attention almost instantly. "My ultimate goal is to clear every existing Dungeon. Once I’ve done that, and I know my world is safe, I promise you, I’ll take you to the Spirit World myself."

My declaration leaves her jaw dropped. Then she blushes. "Hehehe." And laughs. "Okay then. I’ll help you as best I can to make sure you achieve your ultimate goal, Master." She declares herself as well. We share a short laugh as we continue running, finally going passed where I had made a large crater with my attack. We then run through the less damaged trees, getting closer to being out of the forest and finally leaving the Dungeon.

"On that note, what exactly is the Spirit World?" I ask. The question throws her off immediately.

"Master. You said all that when you didn’t even have an inkling clue of what it was you were talking about?" She asks rhetorically, sighing all the while.

"Excuse me? There’s only one half Avatar, half Spirit here, and last I checked, it ain’t me." I retort. "What, is it like... is it like heaven?" I ask.

"Hm? Well... not exactly. I mean, kind of? I guess?"

"How very clear."

"W-well, in my defense, it’s not exactly easy explaining a concept so completely and utterly foreign to you!" She defends herself. "I can tell you this much, the Spirit World, though a little similar, isn’t heaven in the slightest. For starters, there’s no question on whether or not it truly exists."

"Ouch, that’s a hell of an f-u to hardcore believers."

"I heard that. Moving on... Secondly, there’s no ’God’ or ’Angels’, just Spirit Kings and Queens. And they’re really powerful." She continues. "Thirdly, when I said ’sentient beings’ go to the Spirit World when they die, earlier, I was referring specifically to beings with the ability to manipulate Mana. So, without a doubt, Master, your world’s Warriors will in fact become Spirits and live in the Spirit World when they die, but I can’t say the same about the normal humans, I’m afraid, or any other entity that can’t control Mana. Furthermore, like I said before, the Spirit World consists of an unknown number of Spirit Realms. Each Spirit Realm is no different than a universe in it’s own right. Similar to how your Material World, also consists of an unquantifiable number of Material Realms, that you would otherwise call universes."

"Back up... While there have been theories that Dungeons may very well be from other universes, instead of just other galaxies far away from our own, yet still within our universe, in the seventy-six years that has passed since the Great Age of Warriors began, there has never been any substantial proof that suggested that that was actually the case. Yet, just now, this Avatar of mine just nonchalantly confirmed that the multiversal theory is real!"

"Yes! That’s it! That’s the term your world’s inhabitants use! The multiversal theory." She echoes "Although it isn’t a theory in the slightest Master."

"But then... taking all that you’ve told me into account, doesn’t that mean that there’s actively two completely separate multiverses? Each with an infinite number of ’universes’? How does that work?"

"Well, they’re not existing adjacent to one another. Similar to how the ’universes’ are separated by dimensions, the Worlds are too. Although it’s a lot more complex with them. The Spirit World isn’t just another ’multiverse’, it’s a higher plane of existence. Why else do you think the inhabitants of the Material World have to transcend through Ontological Cessation to become Spirits, and thereafter get transfered to the Spirit World?" She explains.

"So you’re saying Spirits aren’t just a different type of entity but a higher dimensional one?" I ask.

"Exactly!" She confirms. "All Spirits, myself excluded of course, have the ability to travel to the Material World from the Spirit World and across all Realms in the Material World. Furthermore, some Spirits, the really powerful ones, can travel across Spirit Realms in the Spirit World itself. However for Material World inhabitants, otherwise officially referred to by Spirits as Mortals, only the few really powerful ones are able to travel across Material Realms, but none, said-powerful Mortals included, can travel to the Spirit World. Not without dying first. Because it’s a higher plane of existence, Mortals have to basically cast away they’re physical constraints before they can ever hope of entering the Spirit World. This is a cosmic law that can’t be broken, shifted, or bended in any way whatsoever. Simply being an inhabitant of a Spirit Realm gives one a multitude of seemingly unfair benefits. Spirits can quite literally choose to ignore the Material World’s laws if they want to. Here’s an example." She moves her hand towards me as we continue running, and the hand literally permeates through my body, as if I’m being touched by a ghost.

"What the hell?" I exclaim in surprise. "Hold on... this means that you’re actually immune to Physical attacks. So that’s what Spiritual attacks are for. Fighting Spirits." I affirm.

"Yep." As does she. "A Warrior without any Spiritual attacks, or at least some Elemental Magic, can’t hope to win against a Spirit in a million years. However, that much isn’t a problem for my Master, who has Sunset Slash, a power that can slice through anything, Spiritual or no, and now, all Six Elements of Elemental Magic." She says proudly.

"Oh... Sunset Slash. Guess I lucked out with that one, huh?"

"You didn’t luck out, Master. Sunset Slash is a manifestation of your will and resolve. When you refused to adhere to the norms and power standards of your world, the prospect manifested into a power that literally goes against the very laws of physics and nature. It wasn’t luck. You earned it." She declares, her devotion for me practically oozing out of every single one of her words.

Utterly taken aback and slightly embarrassed, I pause. This is one of those times I’m incredibly thankful for my complexion, otherwise, I’m pretty sure I’d be visibly blushing right now.

I stop before we’re completely out of the forest while she does the same.

"Well, thanks for saying tha-"

~Clank!~

The sound of metal slashing against metal.

It’s feint. A result of the sound of wind blowing as if to mask it behind it. But why is the wind blowing clearer now when it wasn’t a second ago? I wonder.

That’s because... I’m floating in the air. About half a kilometre above ground. Turning over to look down as I slowly descend, my coat catching the air’s resistance, I see it. Outside of the forest, the reason for that clank earlier. It’s Dawn. Though it’s not just her. There’s a man, clad in dark attire, standing about ten to twenty metres away from her.

"Is that it? Did that person attack us while my guard was down? Did Dawn save me?"

"Master, I think this is-"

"A Shadow." I cut Dawn off. "And a seemingly powerful one to boot. Either number one or two." Even if my guard was considerably down, there’s no way Sonoran would have been able to sneak up on me like that. By extension, the same would be true for anyone deemed weaker than him.

"This is-"

"Please, Master, let me handle him." Dawn suggests, and it immediately makes me angry. Not at Dawn, bless her. But at myself, curse me.

It finally registers now. I finally realize something incredibly crucial. Something I should’ve fucking realized immediately after fighting Sonoran. Heck, I should’ve realized it while fighting him.

"No." I say to Dawn telepathically.

Then I activate my flight Spell, Gale Blaze, and instantly jolt myself downwards, descending at a great speed, to land with a powerful bang between Dawn and our new foe.

"I’ll fight him." I declare internally.

"B-but, Master, are you sure!?-"

"I’m sure." I readily answer Dawn’s worrisome question.

The combination of a heavy breath and a sigh escapes my lips as I stand up straight. I look at the man standing in front of me.

"So who might you be? The piss, or the shit?"

"What?" He says with a slightly confused tone, a single one of his eyebrows raised.

"Sorry, inside joke. Are you number one, or number two?" I ask.