Rebirth Of The Bastard Spirit Summoner

Freedom.

As simple as it sounded, it was actually far more complex than it seemed.

Only considerably powerful spirits could travel at will, others were cursed to remain in close proximity to where they had died.

From the looks of it, the spirit girl had been young at the time of her death. Stark was not still sure how she must have died.

But still…

How stifling must it have felt to live all these years in a place like this? A place where your life was snuffed out?

Stark could not bear the thought of living in the mansion where he had lost everything, so he understood quite well how she must have felt.

"My relic allows me to carry spirits in my soul. I can take you out of this forest."

Unlike usual, this time the spirit girl failed to hide her emotions.

Her eyes widened, and her fist tightened slightly by her side.

She stared at him for some time and slowly began walking towards him, until she stood in front of him.

While she stared down, Stark looked up to meet her gaze.

"A spirit medium…" she said, mostly to herself.

He nodded.

Her expression lightened. "What are your terms?"

"All you have to do is get me out of this forest alive and help me out from time to time. What are yours?"

She considered it for a bit.

"I want full autonomy. You promised me freedom, didn't you? I want total freedom."

She was asking for much.

Having a spirit he could not control could lead to chaos and yet, he did not have much of a choice.

"Deal. What is your name?"

Stark was tired of referring to her as spirit girl.

She offered him a hand and lifted it up, her fingers cold to the touch.

"You can call me Jade."

• • •

"Stay close to me at all times," Jade said, just as they stepped out of the cave.

Stark had a long crystal spear in his hands that he used to support his weight as they walked back into the rain.

He glanced in both directions, making sure that there was no monster in sight before he continued walking.

Just as they had agreed, Stark had made Jade one of his spirits, but he had to let go of one of the goat monsters to accommodate her.

Yet, it was very worth it.

He still hadn't figured out what made her special, but he was determined to find out.

"I know I'm pretty, but you're beginning to creep me out with your constant stares."

Stark straightened and cleared his throat.

"Can you blame me? There is something odd about you. You're pretty different from other spirits I've met."

Still keeping her eyes locked ahead of them, she frowned. "Odd? Oh, you mean my skin?"

Stark paused. "Huh?"

Jade giggled. "That's not what I mean. You are probably confused because I still have colour compared to other spirits."

That wasn't a subtle detail, and yet Stark only knew something was off. He was too focused on surviving to pick up that detail.

He tapped his face with his hand, dragging it down in slight annoyance.

Even the banshees were almost fully transparent.

"True, but that is not the only thing," Stark replied.

There was something more to her that didn't have anything to do with not being transparent.

The bush ahead of them suddenly rustled and out of it, a little monster exploded out, charging at them with its jaws wide open.

Whoosh!

Crystal shards shot out of the ground, ripping into the flesh of the monster—one in its head and the other tearing through its belly.

Jade walked up to it and glanced at him blankly. "You said you need the corpses for something, right?"

"Not the corpses…" Stark reached out to the corpse and the spirit shard flew into his hands, just before he shattered it.

When he did, Jade's expression changed ever so slightly, then she smiled. "I see…"

Then her voice became cold. "Don't do that in front of a wild spirit. You'll only get yourself killed."

Stark was taken aback. He had thought nothing of it at first, but wasn't this just the kind of thing that would offend a spirit?

He held his staff tightly as he glanced at her.

"And in front of you?"

Jade turned around and continued walking. "The answer to that question will also answer your first, about what is off about me."

"…"

"Do you know what—!"

Jade suddenly paused and both of them darted to the side, pushing their backs against the bark of a large tree.

A few seconds later, heavy footsteps shook the earth, causing the trees to sway and their trunks to vibrate.

Something was coming. 

Something big.

Stark held his breath as an oppressive feeling weighed down on him. It was as though heavy weights were placed atop his shoulder, pushing him down. 

Breathing became more difficult and he found himself sweating. 

It was not a monster, it was a spirit. 

A spirit far too tall for Stark to get a proper glimpse at—not that he dared glance at whatever it was.

But from the corner of his eye, he could tell it was large enough to brush the treetops.

The cursed thing was as tall as them!

The minutes passed by in tense silence. Then, when they could no longer hear the footsteps, they pulled out from behind the tree.

"This forest is cursed…" Stark said, wiping the sweat off his face. 

"You don't know half of it." Jade smiled, then exhaled. 

"So, do you know what spirits are?" She asked, moving back to their earlier topic. 

Stark glanced in the direction the spirit had gone, his gaze weary. 

After ensuring that it was not coming back, he searched his mind, hoping that the answer to her question was buried there, just like the instructions for using his artifact.

But there was no answer waiting for him, so he shook his head.

"Understandable. Only few people do. I only realized after dying myself."

"You see, spirits aren't actually people who failed to pass on. They aren't ghosts either."

Stark gave her words some thought. "Then what are spirits?"

She smiled softly, then turned to face him. "They are memories."

'Memories?'

It was far off from what he had imagined them to be.

"Aren't spirits part of the three parts of an individual? Spirit, soul, and body?"

Jade nodded, then glanced at the side of the forest, her gaze sharpening before she diverted, taking a different path.

Seconds later, a piercing howl came from the direction they had avoided. She ignored it.

"Yes, but when someone dies, the spirit goes as well. All that is left… what we call spirits… are just fragments of memories that have taken form."

Stark absorbed everything she was saying like an overzealous student.

"But as for me? I am a soul spirit."

"Wait, doesn't that mean—"

Jade turned to face him and smiled, but now, her smile made Stark shudder.

"Yes, I'm the same person from the time I died thirty years ago."

"…"

It was absurd.

What she was insinuating was that she was just like any regular human, but in spirit form.

Basically, she was soul and spirit combined, leaving only the body behind to rot.

The absurd thing about it was the mental resilience it took to not go mad—especially in a place like this.

Spirits could live as spirits because that innate human nature was stripped out at death.

They became a new type of being, so to them, doing spirit-like stuff was perfectly normal.

They could stand at the edge of the road for a hundred years without batting an eye. Just like Jade had said—they were just memories, after all.

But put a human in that position? They would run mad.

She had lived for God knows how lomg in that cave, and yet she somehow retained her sanit.

Stark saw her with newfound respect.

After walking for a few minutes, they arrived at a ledge—the same ledge he had jumped off after being chased by the banshees.

It was a place he would rather avoid at all costs. "Is there no other path?"

Jade shook her head. "It's the safest exit. Let's just hope the banshees are busy having their wail party."

"And if they are not?"

Jade shrugged. "Then we run."