Arcane Academy: The Divine Extraction Legacy

Armin rose silently from his seated position.

The room had turned bitterly cold, and perhaps, the Spirit realized his identity as frost suddenly crept along the windowpanes despite the summer air outside.

Soon, the spirit hovered in the center of the room… She had mournful eyes gazing not at him, but at something beyond…

"Why… did you leave me…?" she whispered again, her voice didn't seem to be from her mouth, but it was also not some sort of telepathy… It felt somewhere between the two.

In any case, Armin slowly raised his hand, not in attack, but in recognition.

He wasn't just seeing her. He was reading her.

The trails of residual soul energy left across the floorboards, the emotional resonance in the corners of the room, the faint shiver of cold air not because of the weather but from grief… With his various trainings, he read it all and analyzed his situation…

'She's emotionally anchored. Strong. Her soul was only fractured, but not yet dissipated. I should be safe.'

His heart beat steadily as he assessed the situation and planned his next move.

He reached into his robe and removed a single Soul Ink Talisman, already marked with Dark Binding Script.

Talisman Crafting was quite an old method, while the Shadow Script was the one introduced by Marshall Academy that advanced their method of using support Spells.

Still, with the combination of the two methods, things could get a lot easier…

After all, Armin also used quite expensive materials for these items.

It was especially true for the Talismans as they were drawn using the blood of a dragon… Although it was diluted by quite a lot… Anyway, what was etched was not a rune but a Dark Formation called Threefold Echoes Binding Seal, a mid-tier formation meant for Spirit Conversions.

"I am Armin, Disciple of the Shadow Immortal. And I have a proposition for you…" He said, softly but clearly.

The spirit finally turned. Her eyes locked on his.

For a moment, there was a flicker of sentience that sparked within. It was a form of recognition or awareness, and it was something that Armin needed for the Spirit to become a Dark Spirit.

"Help me… see them… one more time…"

"That… I cannot offer…" Armin replied honestly. "But I can give you clarity, new purpose, and form. You are lost. Anchorless. Wandering between pain and memory. But with me, you can still exist… not as a fading ghost—but as something far more powerful…"

He unfurled the talisman in one hand and extended the other toward her.

"Become my Dark Spirit. You will serve me, yes—but you will also grow stronger, remember who you are, and one day… perhaps even transcend."

The spirit shrieked, not in rejection but in conflict.

Her form began to writhe, resisting instinctively as all lingering ghosts do when offered the Dark Path. Cold winds burst outward, and it started shaking the old wooden beams of the house.

However, Armin did not flinch. He already learned this much from Lotus before.

Then, he continued…

"Midnight Grasp."

From the shadows under his feet, a dozen inky black tendrils moved, suddenly clinging around the ghost's limbs.

Armin decided to be a bit more forceful this time.

She screamed again, this time in pure defiance, her form started adjusting between pain and understanding.

"You… want to bind me…!" she hissed.

"No… You will thank me for this…" Armin replied with a solemn voice. "I want to give you meaning. Let me show you."

He activated the talisman.

The seal ignited in blue-black flames, its characters burning mid-air as the Midnight Grasp hastened, drawing the spirit downward.

She struggled—but deep inside, she had already begun to surrender. Not to Armin's control… but to the idea of being something again.

She already felt it. She was gaining more strength and power. Her dissipating existence stopped, and she started becoming more alive.

Suddenly, her resistance ceased, and the entire room fell into silence.

Armin smiled. His method may seem unethical, but this was the life of Dark Arts Practitioners. The Spirit was already lucky.

Soon, her ghostly body shrank inward, compressing into a small orb of bluish-black light. It was like a tiny star that was only filled with glowing energy.

It hovered for a breathless moment… then shot directly into Armin's open hand.

He closed his fingers around it gently, and at this time, he needed the Spirit to enter or fuse into his palm.

This was the critical part…

Unlike the violent force he had used earlier, this fusion felt more like an invitation rather than a command.

The spirit, perhaps afraid of her current form and the situation being unknown to her, resisted at first.

However, Armin had also mastered the Rituals Branch of the Dark Arts… Soon, he whispered a quiet chant, one not taught directly in books, but pieced together by Vale himself before being taught to him…

Just like that, the spirit gradually calmed…

"I don't want to bind you forever," Armin said softly. "But if you let me anchor you, I can give you purpose."

The tiny spirit hovered silently, then drifted forward…

Armin smiled as he pulled another sealing charm from his bag. He only used this to limit the movements of the Spirit.

Soon, the Spirit became obedient, and the binding was formed. Whether it was subjugation or a mutual pact, it no longer mattered.

Armin smiled after completing this…

'This is a lot easier than summoning a Dark Spirit.' Armin mused as he recalled his failed experiences.

"As for your name…" Armin whispered… "It will be Meira."

He didn't know where the name came from, only that it felt right.

"Thank you," he said, standing up and looking around the now-still room. The furniture remained toppled, but the oppressive feeling had vanished.

Meira had once been a wandering spirit, unanchored and misunderstood… But now, she was with him.

Maybe not a servant. Perhaps not quite a friend. But it was something he could brag about once his Master returned…

"Master will be surprised if he sees my Dark Spirit. Hehehe… Maybe I can surpass him someday." Armin chuckled as he reached this thought.

However, unbeknownst to him, his Temporal Timepiece had actually helped him in this mission.