Chapter 434 Growing Stronger
"Concentrate…?" Rita wondered, closing her eyes and then, finally, she started to learn about how to use magic properly.
"Magic Circles are imbued into our hearts, and so the spells which are various runes." I explained. "Once we get them, we can simply concentrate and we will immediately know how to use them."
"This is how Magicians in Arcadia used to learn their magic! Well, some still do I believe. Though even the inhabitants can rely on the System to develop their abilities, so these ancient techniques are mostly forgotten." Sighed The Great Spirit.
"Amazing… So how much mana do I have?" Rita wondered.
"I\'ve been feeling it flowing around my body for a while, I must have a lot as well, no?" Mark wondered.
"Don\'t get too cocky, Mark!" Said the Great Spirit. "Rita only has 350 MP and you… Well you\'ve got 400 MP, Mark."
"Oh, that\'s not bad, right?" Wondered Mark.
"Eeeeh?! I only have 350?!" Rita cried with a bit of frustration, grabbing her hair. "And how much does Elayne has then?" She asked.
"Around 550 MP?" Wondered the Great Spirit.
"Huh? It increased?" I asked.
"Yes you\'ve increased it over time thanks to my super amazing magic circle!" Laughed the Great Spirit.
It seemed that my Magic Circle was capable of drawing power from the surroundings to grow stronger. Though consuming special potions or other materials, apparently, could also increase the Tier of the Magic Circle.
"Now that we\'ve got this done, we should probably go to sleep." I said while feeling slightly tired.
"Yeah, though… I am a bit worried." Mark sighed.
"Worried? Why?" Rita wondered, raising an eyebrow. "We\'ve got magic now!"
"Yeah but can\'t you see the most obvious problem now? The world\'s… slowly changing. What if more of those Great Tusks appear? Or other monsters? How will the people of this small countryside town deal with their rampage? Normal guns might not work too well either… And we\'re literally the only ones that could fig them…" Mark grew more concerned.
"I guess you\'re right… It is something quite problematic and dangerous. If monsters show up more and more, then the government will have to take some sort of precautions. Unless they want to hide this." I sighed. "Agh, so many problems would emerge…"
"Well, not like we can\'t make our own army if that happens… As long as we can prepare enough." The Great Spirit said.
"Eh? Our own army?!" We asked in unison, feeling confused.
"You mean awakening more people? But that would be…" I felt confused.
If we awakened more people and we involved innocents, then wouldn\'t things get EVEN more complicated at the end? At most we cant get Lily to join us later… But what else could we do? Force more pets into Familiars? Blackie\'s situation was quite unique. I don\'t know if it would work for every other animal.
"No, no, I don\'t mean that, dummy." Sighed the Great Spirit. "Didn\'t I tell you that you can Summon Spirits? You\'re a Spiritualist! That\'s your whole Spell Build. This world\'s Spirits are here, everywhere. They might be weaker and less frequent than the ones at Arcadia, but we can feel them around. Even when you conjure magic, they show up to give you some of their aid."
"You mean… we could ask for the spirit\'s help?" Mark wondered.
"Yep, you too! You should be capable of eventually being able to call your Animal and Totem Spirits." Said The Great Spirit.
"Me too?" Rita wondered.
"Darkness Spirits have been already attracted by your showiness and are floating around all of us, but you can\'t see them yet." Laughed the Great Spirit. "They are the most populous in the night."
Right, I had completely forgotten about the Spirits! If we could bring their aid and use unique magic to fuse them with nature to create temporary physical forms, then it could totally be possible to get our own army of Spirits.
"Though for such a big thing… We need to prepare and hunt more monsters." Said the Great Spirit. "First, we need you to at least get to 800 MP, Elayne. Then, we\'ll need something, like a staff maybe? That could channel the spirit\'s powers. We can craft something using your [Pathway] power and more materials if we ask Gaia\'s aid. And lastly, all of you need to at least get to Tier 1 Rank 8!"
"I see! I guess it could be possible… We could also get my Player\'s low quality items and materials to hurry the process." I nodded.
"Yep! Your [Inventory] Ability is what making all of this actually realistic." Laughed the Great Spirit.
"I see… Is it my idea or is… there something coming?" Mark wondered. "I feel it… Since I awakened my Mana. Like… a great malice, a darkness."
"Me?!" Rita asked.
"No, not you Rita, something evil." Mark said.
"I\'ve also felt it…" I sighed. "I thought it was just wild monsters and hollows, but it is a bit too intense to be just that, right?"
"I believe there might be something coming, yes." The Great Spirit said. "Elayne, if you want to protect the home of your family and this small town, we\'ll need to prepare as much as we can… I can sense them, countless Hollows, and monsters…"
"S-So many?!" Rita panicked. "We\'ll get eaten alive! We just have to run away!"
"But what sort of excuse could we even use?" Mark asked.
"W-Well, maybe we could say…" Rita began thinking.
"No, we can\'t run." The Great Spirit said. "This presence, this malicious being must be… It is most likely Phantasmos, or someone serving him. They wouldn\'t be here for some mere humans nobody cares about. He… wants Elayne. And if we run, he\'ll simply keep chasing her, bringing destruction wherever his phantasmal presence reaches."
"Phantasmos…" I sighed, recalling the name of the entity that escaped Arcadia and infiltrated our world. "I guess there\'s no helping it. Tomorrow we\'ll have a lot to work and preparing to do!"