Me, My Spirit, And I [Book 1 Complete]

Chapter Preface: I have an entire to-do list for finishing book one and oddly enough I have no interest in writing about those topics this week so I wrote this instead. I do hope people enjoy it.

Of the five Stats tracked by his Guide, Shada was locked out of Cultivating his, or rather Luca's, Physical and Social Stats. Cultivation existed before the System, but was also an ability granted by the System, but not one he could improve in the same way as his other abilities like Stats, Skills, and Attributes.

Shada's entire Status Sheet was stuck at level 19 or just slightly above. He was unable to progress without endangering Luca. While there were legends of Cultivation without the System the techniques had long ago been lost to most of the civilized world. A few odd tribes out in the wilderness, far from established civilization, were rumored to maintain such traditions, but Shada had no access to these sources.

"So you want to teach Luca, my young child, an experimental technique to bypass the System's age restrictions?" Shinobin asked in disbelief while sipping her evening tea.

The family was gathered for one of the rare evening meals that everyone could attend. This included Shada's immediate family, including Theo, as well as his extended family in the form of Mina and Westlin.

Shada's manifestation abilities improvement was evident in his latest form. He could form the upper torso of an old ghostly man that faded into nothingness where his legs should be. This gave him the chance to interact with people on a more personal level.

Shinobin was staring at him from across the dining table and Shada stared back before replying. "Yes, that is exactly what I am suggesting. The only reason Luca hasn't been seriously harmed by the strain of our elevated Stats is because you heal him so frequently. Improving his body Cultivation would prevent both."

Shinobin snorted in response. "Healing him frequently is hardly a burden. Especially now that you have limited yourself. It will only be a few years before he has his Ceremony and can Cultivate normally."

"Luca has never been normal. He can already use abilities related to his Traits, albeit in a limited capacity. His core is already Awakened and the Guide is only restricting him based on an arbitrary age limit," Shada said while picking up a small red Essence Crystal and popping it into his ghostly mouth. It was the closest he could come to sharing a meal with his family. The Crystal broke down into dust inside of Shada as he absorbed the Essence. He then discreetly moved the dust to his Inventory to help support his illusion of eating.

"Are you sure it is an arbitrary limit? Surely the Guide knows better than we mere mortals," Vanestra chimed in from beside Alexzandrous at the head of the table. She then bit into a spiky fruit that resembled a pear.

Shada gave Vanestra a serious look. "The Guide was never designed for mine and Luca's existence and to be honest I suspect the Goddess of hacking things more than a bit to make this work. So even if it isn't arbitrary I think it doesn't apply in our case."

Alexzandrous looked up from his plate. He rarely spoke during these dinners and was often more content to just observe, but occasionally something would catch his attention like Shada's last statement. "What do you mean by 'hacking'?" He punctuated his words with a hacking motion with his fork inadvertently slinging food that he cleaned up with a word and wave of his hand.

"It's a term from Earth." Shada reshaped his hand into a ghostly computer terminal to show everyone. "We had thinking machines called computers that ran off a coded language. Hacking refers to exploiting a weakness in the code to bypass the security or normal access methods. I think Sierra hacked the System." His statement was met with silence from all the adults.

Luca and Westlin were talking about their recent combat practice and were ignoring the serious adults as they often did.

"That's not possible. Not even for a Goddess," Theo said in confusion. He was snuggled next to Shinobin hip to hip as they fed each other from their respective plates.

"Why wouldn't it be possible?" Shada asked with a shrug of his ghostly shoulders.

"The Gods have rules and laws that govern their behavior. We know very few of them, but one that is commonly agreed on by the elders of my clan is that the System is inviolate. To tamper with it would be…I don't know, bad. Very, very bad…" Theo's face was contorted as the normally loquacious elven bard was at a loss for words.

"The System on this planet is literally broken and infected by an Abyssal entity." Again silence fell on the adults as Shada's words went against their fundamental beliefs. Sure, everyone knew the System could do more in the past, but it was as if Shada had said the sky was broken or water was dry. It was simply not something the locals could really appreciate properly.

"Aren't you all getting sidetracked again? Weren't we talking about Luca and Cultivation?" Mina asked curiously as her hand hovered indecisively over a pastry she was considering eating.

"Right, mother, let's get back on topic. Luca's body can't handle the strain of our more esoteric Stats. Body Cultivation is the obvious solution. By improving Luca's body Stat the strain is reduced and I am not left too weak to defend us both." Shada knew his last words were something of a low blow, but sometimes he had to play the safety card to convince Shinobin to allow Luca to take more risks.

Shinobin's face was contemplative and she hummed into her tea as she thought.

In the meantime Mina decided to ask a question. "Could you teach Westlin as well?"

The look of surprise on Shinobin's face was priceless and was matched by Shada's own surprise. Despite not having a normal mother and child relationship, Shada and Shinobin's mannerisms often matched to a surprising degree.

"I don't know…I could possibly adapt my current theories to work for him, but I planned to exploit mine and Luca's connection to assist with the process. If I did the same for Westlin it would be…different." Shada's hands moved as if he was trying to define a shape he couldn't quite grasp before he finally ended with: "I will have to think about it more."

"Some hereditary nobles know tricks that give their kids a head start. They guard those secrets with their lives and eventually the advantage evens out as they reach the higher levels, but there is precedent for what Shada suggests," Vanestra said as she wiped her hands with a napkin.

"I take it the Aseralis family is not one of those?" Shada asked curiously.

"No, we have our own secrets and techniques, but those are for after Awakening, not before. You and Luca will learn more when you are older." Vanestra shot an amused and mischievous look at Shada then Luca when she said that. She knew that she could make Shada uncomfortable by treating him like a child. He may have been an adult on Earth, but he was still centuries younger than Vanestra.

"Assuming I give my blessing, what will this involve?" Shinobin finally said as she sat her teacup down and turned her full focus on Shada.

"I have been studying how the System granted Cultivation ability works. I have successfully managed to Cultivate manually, but it is tricky, but…"Shada started to explain the process, but was interrupted by a System Message.

Glaring red text appeared before his mind's eye. His senses were overwhelmed by a sound like a klaxon going off and he temporarily lost control of his manifestation before regaining enough control to stabilize his visage and read the message.

This was a first in Shada's experience with the System. It had never been so adamant about anything before. It was subtle and unobtrusive. Instinctive and intuitive. On Earth that message would have come with a seizure warning as it flashed in his mind for several seconds before fading.

"Shada? Are you alright?" Shinobin asked in motherly concern. She had never seen him lose control like this. His form practically flickered and strobed for a moment before stabilizing.

"I am…" Shada started to say, pausing before continuing, "I am ok, just got an unexpected System Message…don't ask, I can't explain the Message or my Theories. The System won't let me."

"Learn something about the System you can't share and get one of those blaring red warnings?" Alexzandrous asked casually.

Shada simply nodded in response.

"I have gotten them when my experiments touched on System secrets. Don't let it unsettle you, just don't tell anybody nor write it down and you will be fine. I tried getting around that once and my notes not only disappeared, but I couldn't use my Skills for a week," Alexzandrous said with a shudder.

Another less intrusive System Message caught Shada's attention before he could fully gather his thoughts.

Direct messages from the System and the Goddess were a bit much for even him to process in one day. It took several minutes for Shada to fully parse everything and speak again. All the while his family looked at his still and silent ghostly form in concern.

Finally Shada gathered his thoughts enough to speak. "I have it on good authority that my method will work, but the System won't let me explain in more detail. Just know Sierra approves."

Shinobin nodded slowly while watching Shada. It was hard to read anything from Shada's body language as his body and every interaction with the physical world were fully conscious and deliberate. "So be it, I was leaning towards allowing it anyhow, but I am not one to go against the Divine…at least most of the time," she said with a smirk as she remembered mischief from her youth.

"Thank you," Shada said.

Luca focused on the conversation suddenly. "I get to learn to Cultivate before I Awaken? That's awesome!" He exclaimed before turning to Westlin in excitement. "I am going to get stronger than you!"

Westlin only grinned at his smaller slighter friend and flexed his bicep. The adults all laughed at the kids' antics.

—

In a specially warded section of the Mound Shada worked on two new enchantments. He had outgrown the need for direct assistance with his enchantments; he still asked Vanestra for advice, but most of the work was now his own. He used a custom made diamond engraving tools and inks infused with crushed Essence Crystal dust among other alchemical regents.

His tools seemingly moved on their own carving intricate designs into plates of refined steel. Shada was in his intangible form and used Material Mastery to guide his tools. Fine metal shavings were gently moved to the side as Shada worked. The scratching sounds of engraving were the only noises in the seemingly empty room.

Once the correct pattern was properly engraved Shada double checked his notes. Those he could write on paper and those he had to keep only in his mind. He mentally hummed in satisfaction before he used his Skills to pick up another tool. It was a variation of a ballpoint pen, but with a faster flow rate. He used it to carefully fill each groove with magically reactive ink, which would crystallize once he ran Essence through the pattern.

Enchanting was not a quick process. Not if done properly. It could be done in a quick and dirty manner by anyone. Even the most uneducated farmer on Sierrallas could carve a few runes and paint them with raw beast blood to create crude enchantments, but the difference was like a child's early writing and fine calligraphy. There was an artistry to the process that someone improved the effects as if the Essence preferred pretty enchantments.

The tools he used weren't strictly necessary, but reduced the amount of concentration needed. He would go back over each line with the Material Mastery to make them as perfect as possible.

The two devices he was creating had similar uses. One would help Luca Cultivate and the other, well, the other would potentially break the local economies. Essence Crystallizers were enchanted items used in lieu of the Loot Skill to transform the leftover Essence from killing beasts and monsters into usable Essence Crystals. The enchantments were incredibly inefficient compared to the Skill and didn't work on anything but the refined Essence of corpses.

Shada studied his notes while channeling a trickle of Essence into each completed component he engraved and inked. He could see the ink dry and crystallize into a semi-translucent and glossy material. Enchanting ink came in many colors, but red and blue were the most common. Shada had introduced Vanestra to the concept of color coding certain functions to make enchantments easier to parse and repair. Another innovation was interchangeable parts. Certain parts of an enchantment wore out faster than others. Until Shada introduced the concept of interchangeable parts, entire enchantments were treated in an alchemical solution to completely remove the ink, followed by the enchanter re-inking the whole thing. Shada's system allowed the worn or burned out parts to be replaced quickly and efficiently. It just required keeping spares handy, which was relatively easy with a Duplication Spell.

With the parts finished Shada began the painstaking assembly process. He had diagrams showing where each part went and in what order. The planning of an enchantment often took longer than the physical process of creating it. Again Shada hummed in satisfaction as each part clicked into place with an audible snap.

The enchantments were meant to mimic processes he had been studying. Beasts and monsters Cultivated on an instinctive level. They gathered, purified, refined, and condensed Essence naturally. People used the System assisted Cultivation ability for the same purposes. The difference was subtle, but Shada liked to think of the natural process like a wild forest while the System assisted process was like gardening. Both worked, both had benefits, but if you wanted the most control you planted a garden rather than waiting on wild plants.

There were certain similarities in the processes used by the Cultivation ability, the Loot Skill, and Essence Crystallizers. His linguistic Trait allowed him to break down and refine the Essence Crystallizer's enchantment until it was as good as an unleveled Loot Skill. It took even longer to figure out how to push the enchantment to higher levels of efficiency, but he managed.

The next step was figuring out what the Cultivation did and how to do it manually. That had been difficult as that ability was far more difficult to observe than his other Skills. By comparing all three processes Shada figured out a new spell that could gather, purify, refine, and condense Essence. However, despite creating a new spell he couldn't figure out the final steps. Once the Essence was ready how did the System turn it into Stat, Skill, and Attribute levels?

The final clue came when he was touching up some of the enchantments in his black boxes. One had started to require far more Essence than it should have needed. When he studied the enchantment he discovered the attunement section that converted Essence Crystals into Metal Essence had burnt out. Without Metal Essence the entire enchantment's efficiency dropped like a stone. When he realized this he went back to his work and noticed that the standard Essence Crystallizers used a runic sequence that stripped the refined Essence of its attunement so it could be absorbed by anyone.

He had all the pieces of the puzzle except one. What did the System do with the refined and attuned Essence? Where did it go and how did that translate into Stats, Skills, and Attributes?

It was the answer to these final questions that had triggered a System Warning message. He found the solution by looking at his Essence Core and peering past the obscuring effects that his Essence Perception Trait allowed him to bypass. Surrounding his Core were the single most complex runic structure he had ever encountered. He recognized bits and pieces from his time at the System Shrine when he discovered his Path.

After that it was just a matter of watching the flows of Essence into the pattern around his Core to discover distinct sections corresponding to everything else. The patterns grew, changed, and expanded in multiple dimensions as the refined and attuned Essence from Cultivation was poured into them.

A cascade of realizations had gone through Shada's mind as he studied this process. He couldn't Cultivate his Physical and Social Stats because the attunement process for those two happened inside the body. Tracing the various connections led him to realize Luca wasn't getting the full benefit of his Mind, Spirit, and Magical Stats for much the same reason.

If the System had allowed him he could have written an entire book on what was happening when people Cultivated. He had answers to many questions that had eluded him for a long time.

Why was Cultivating with Ambient Essence so much slower than using Essence Crystals? Essence Crystals had pre-refined Essence in them that just needed to be attuned. Why couldn't he Cultivate his Physical or Social Stats? The attunement process happened in the body. Why couldn't Luca access the full range of his Stats? The links were thinner and throttled by the System. Why did Essence Crystallizers and Loot Skills only work on corpses? They contained pre-refined Essence that just needed to be stripped of its attunement. Why didn't people use Ambient Essence to create Essence Crystals? They didn't know how to manually refine Essence without the Cultivation ability.

This journey of discovery had culminated in the two Enchantments on his workbench. The first would channel refined Essence into someone's body where it would pick up a Physical Attunement before absorbing the attuned Essence and creating personalized Physically Attuned Essence Crystals. Shada would then be able to take those new Crystals and channel their Essence into Luca's Physical Stat. The last part he had to do himself and was the part that bypassed the normal System methods. It was only really possible because he and Luca were essentially the same person. He thought he could do the same for someone else, but that would require him to possess the other person in a rather invasive and intimate way.

The second enchantment was the more dangerous of the two in Shada's opinion. There were two versions on the table, for a total of three enchantments. The first version of the second enchantment would be a major disruption to the Essence based economy, but nothing that any improvement in manufacturing efficiency couldn't have done as it was only an improved Essence Crystallizer. The second option would be the game changer, an Ambient Essence Crystallizer. It opened up the possibility of Essence Farms where people could literally grow money. Admittedly it wouldn't be that useful on the surface, but put an AEC in the Depths and you would be printing money. The implications were rather profound.

—

Shada and Vanestra had worked together to convert a section of the Mound into a new room. The enchantments were based on his recent work on the Physical Essence Attuner and the Ambient Essence Crystallizer. It created an Essence rich environment, which would reduce the load on the smaller portable enchantments he created.

Luca sat crossed legged in the center of a ritual circle tied to the new enchantments. In his lap was the Physical Essence Attuner. The glowstones were set to provide just enough light to see by, but not distract. Subtle incense used to help focus burned at various points around the room. Everything had been carefully crafted into a proper manual Cultivation chamber for Luca.

"Close your eyes Luca," Shada said softly into the young child's mind. He had turned off Spirit Walking. Both of their minds were centered in their physical body for once.

Shada could take control if he wanted, but he took a more passive role. Without Spirit Walking their combined senses were reduced to limits of their physical body. Only their high Mind Stat allowed them to maintain this joined state without excess strain.

"What's next Sha Sha?" Luca whispered softly. He could have just thought at Shada, but speaking out loud was easier.

"Place your hands on either side of the PEA."

"Why did you name it after a vegetable?" Luca giggled.

"I didn't, it is just an acronym, the fact that it sounds like a vegetable from Earth is an unintentional coincidence. Now focus, feel as I channel our Essence into the box. I want to see if you can copy this on your own."

"Ok, Sha Sha, I am totally focusing now," Luca said with another giggle. Having Shada inside him instead of outside was really weird. It wasn't bad or uncomfortable. It was in fact incredibly natural. Luca felt more grounded, more real, with his spirit in the right place for once.

Shada could feel the difference created by not being in spirit form as well. He could feel not only all the physical sensations that Luca could as if they were his own, but emotions that had been dulled and muted were now threatening to burst forth and overwhelm them both.

For a few moments after they had joined they cried. They cried from the experience of being whole. They cried for the family they left behind on Earth. Finally they cried, because they could, for once, feel the enormity of what they existed to fix. In time they gathered themselves. Shada's maturity mixing with Luca's youthful resilience allowed them to calm and focus on the task at hand.

The merging of their Essence Channels had confused Shada briefly before he found the right paths to allow him to send Essence into the PEA. Luca focused on what he was feeling and the feelings Shada was sending him. It took Luca's more physically inclined mind to grasp what Shada did on an almost instinctive level.

"Wow, I can feel it. I feel like I should be able to take control, but I really don't know if I can," Luca whispered.

"Try, but let me guide you."

For the first time since they came to Sierrallas Luca and Shada were focused on the same task. Their minds worked in parallel, but in sync in a way that was new to both of them. Shada eased his control as he felt Luca mentally grasp the Essence he was channeling for them. It was easier than expected. With their minds synced information flowed easily and effortlessly from the two.

Shada and Luca, two halves of a single whole, poured Essence into the Physical Essence Attuner. Without words Shada showed Luca how to pull the Essence back out. How to circulate it through his Physical Essence Channels and then push it back into the box creating a continuous loop. The PEA pulsed like a heartbeat helping to regulate the flow.

Time lost meaning as their two minds fell into a meditative state. They didn't notice when the barrier fell and Split Mind deactivated. The mesmerizing flow of Essence held all their attention. Eventually the enchanted box made a dinging sound that broke their concentration. Confusion replaced focus.

"What have we done?" they said to themselves.