Rebirth Of The Bastard Spirit Summoner

Stark had to take a step back as Jade slammed the gigantic crystal into the dying banshee's form.

…The intensity of the attack, driven more by rage than necessity.

The spirit's body flickered, just before turning into shimmering dust, and in the spot where she once was, stood a spirit shard.

Spirits and living beings were different in many ways.

When a living being was killed, their residual memories would be locked in the form of a spirit shard.

This spirit shard could either be awoken by someone like him, or it could happen naturally over time.

That being said, not all spirit shards would transform into spirits. There was another complex process tied to that, the most common one being strong emotions.

That was the case for living beings, but when a spirit is killed, it returns to its original form, restarting the process once more.

Meaning, the only way to kill spirits was through spirit crushing.

As the shard floated up to his hand, Stark took a moment to think.

He could not forcefully herd the spirit since it was stronger than him, but there was a slim chance it would form a contract with him.

"Don't even think about it," Jade said, giving him a blank look.

"Banshees are corrupted spirits, reasoning with them is impossible."

Stark breathed out a low hum. "Then there is only one thing left to do."

Crack!

The spirit shard shattered in his grip, and a torrent of essence flooded his veins.

Stark gasped as he fell to a knee, his mind reeling from the sheer volume of the essence he was receiving.

When he had crushed the shards of the goat monsters, he had only felt a slight trickle, but this was like ten times more, if not greater.

Was it because it was a spirit? Or was it because it was far higher ranked than him?

Or maybe both?

Stark did not know, all he knew was that this was different. It was far more potent.

Jade blinked and bent down to keep him upright. "Hey, are you okay?"

Stark could not hear her, his mind was still reeling as the essence surged through his body.

And then suddenly, his relic appeared, floating a few inches away from his face.

The relic was… different.

Like the first time it had formed, it was shrouded in black fiery energy, tingling with blue and purple wisps.

But that was not the only glaring change.

His eyes widened as they locked on a certain detail, the small screen he had noticed when he first saw the relic…

At that time, it was reading zero, but now—

[100/100]

A bright blue glow erupted from the relic, smoky in nature and cold to the touch.

The cloud surrounded him in an instant, completely engulfing him, and then the world went dark.

The only thing he could hear was Jade's concerned voice that was rising by the second.

As the darkness overtook him, Stark felt a change in his very being.

He could feel his muscles changing. Adapting. Growing stronger.

His senses sharpened.

It was a euphoric feeling, far greater than anything he had ever felt. But that only lasted for a while—and then came the pain.

He screamed, his voice lost in the darkness as a searing pain coursed deep within him.

It was like fire tingling with lightning, a catalytic combination that ate through him from within.

But that pain did not originate from his body. No, it was his soul.

After a few minutes, everything ceased. The pain disappeared, the surge of essence faded and he felt like he was back to his old self, albeit considerably more powerful.

But the world was still dark, he could not see a thing.

"Jade?" Stark called out, but his words were lost in the darkness.

He took a step forward and paused, looking straight up. High above the clouds, something was blossoming.

At first, it looked like a tiny firefly, but soon it grew, expanding until it became a gigantic blue sun.

The world was suddenly brought to light, and bathed in an eerie blue glow, Stark took in the environment with a frown.

"Where am I?"

The land was entirely desolate, without a single soul in sight, just an endless landscape, covered in dark blue soil.

Stark braced himself as the world began to rumble underneath his feet.

He watched in awe as colossal structures suddenly began to emerge from the earth. The first four were large round pillars, taller than trees and many times more imposing.

They were made out of a strange dark wood, with a tapestry of markings, which made no sense to him, etched on their surface.

The other structures looked like broken parts of a large wooden gate, most of them tilting slightly to the side, white torn flags billowing on them even though there was no wind.

Stark only grew more confused the more time he spent mulling over it.

"An illusion?" he said, as though he was asking an invisible companion.

Whoosh!

The ground in front of him split open, and something rose from within it.

Rocks were sent flying, and dust scattered in the air as what looked like a cabin emerged from the earth, sand racing down its roof.

Stark raised a brow. The more he thought of what was going on, the more he felt he was in some sort of fever dream.

He looked the building over.

It was a modest building with flowers decorating the front and a small incomplete fence surrounding it.

The windows were softly lit, a yellow light that was spilling out from within. In such a deserted plane, the cabin was very odd.

Stark almost jumped when a low creaking sound reached him, even more so when the door shot open.

He glared at the cabin suspiciously.

Going in was probably the stupidest thing he could have done, but he was not going to find any answers outside.

Not to mention that his body was still out there in the real world… in the evil forest.

With a sigh, he stepped into the house.

The living room was cozy, warm and terribly familiar. There was a flickering fire in the fireplace and soft woolly blankets were arranged neatly on the couch.

It took only a glance for him to realise the significance of the house, and that was how he instinctively knew…

That this was no illusion, it was his soul.