Rebirth Of The Bastard Spirit Summoner

Whoosh!

Just as Stark touched the round spirit, a flood of light erupted from his body, causing Stark to wince from the intensity.

He immediately let go of Chubby and staggered back, afraid that he was about to explode, but he did not.

And neither did he fall to the ground—instead, he hung in the air, eyes closed, his skin shining like a hearth of blue fire.

And then all around him…

Stark's mouth hung open.

He was surrounded by countless glowing threads that connected to each other like a spider's web, meeting at Chubby, who was at its center.

"What is this?"

Stark could feel it—the undeniable presence of mana. It was all around him, slowly pulsing, silently inviting.

At first, he did not move, afraid that touching the strings might have negative consequences on either him or Chubby…

But then he shook off the idea and slowly reached for it, his fingers mere moments from touching the threads.

~Spirit Herder:

Like a true leader, like a king, like a monarch. You lead them, you raise them, you nurture them.

Nurture them…

Didn't that mean he had to physically take part in the ascension? It was a long shot, but Stark was sure that this was the case—at least it was when it came to Chubby.

His finger was so close to the thread now that he could feel a slight buzz of static tingling his fingertips.

And then—

"What are you doing?"

Stark jumped at the sound of the voice, and his hands accidentally brushed far too many strings at once.

The light blue glow of the strings suddenly turned violent red, like blood-soaked cords, and then a soft buzz spread through his skin.

And then it settled, turning back blue.

Stark breathed out in relief before turning to glare at the figure at the doorway to the cabin.

"What?" Jade asked, her arms crossed.

She was in a purple nightgown that hung loosely over her shoulders. Her horns were back—unsettling as the first day he met her. She cocked a hip to the side and frowned.

"What are you doing here?"

"I should be asking you that question. This is my soul!"

"I told you I was going to sleep. Where do you think I sleep?"

She paused and glanced around at the quiet waters, the bountiful grass, and the other improvements he had made.

"I like what you did with the place, by the way. The river is a nice touch…"

"You almost made me mess this up."

She stared at the threads surrounding him and began walking towards them. "Where did that mana circuit come from?"

"A mana circuit?"

Jade had reached him and was now standing just outside the web of threads.

"How do I explain this… Mana circuits are like blood vessels. They are channels that transport mana throughout the entire body.

"Their size and strength can affect how much mana you can channel at a go, and therefore affect the potency of your spells."

When she finished speaking, Stark kept staring at her with a strange look on his face.

She frowned. "What?"

"Oh, nothing, I was just thinking that you really did attend the academy…"

"When was that ever in doubt—"

"Anyways," he said, cutting her off. "You said the mana circuit transports mana. This one came out of Chubby, but it doesn't look like it can transport anything."

The mana circuit looked somewhat broken…

There were countless strings that were obviously arranged wrongly, and some that weren't even in the circuit, hanging at the edge like a broken shard of glass.

Jade took a single step forward and observed it. "You're right. It's definitely broken… or improving? It's hard to tell."

"Maybe I have to organise it for him to ascend…" Stark said, rising up.

"Sure, let's try that."

He slowly walked up to Chubby and began tracing the patterns with his eyes, while Jade was about to touch it when a surge of lightning exploded out of it, knocking her hand back.

It was as though the mana circuit was rejecting her participation.

"It looks like you're on your own."

Stark nodded and looked back at the round spirit.

The mana threads that emerged from its body were glowing a bit more brightly than those farther away, but the glow for each of them stopped at separate points—areas that had issues with the pattern.

"Alright, let's get to work."

It was just like a puzzle, a very large, complex puzzle…

But Stark had already grasped the concept behind it, so all he had to do was connect the dots, literally.

He placed the first string into place, and it gave off a soft shine, the glow of mana within it.

And then he went to the next, and then the next…

He then reached out to a particularly complex pattern, a three-dimensional shape with several points.

When he organised the first one, it glowed softly. The same thing happened at the second and third.

But at the fourth, the string suddenly turned red, and the entire circuit followed suit, bathing him in a red glow, just before everything unraveled.

What followed next was an experience he would never forget.

Tzzzz!

Stark almost screamed as red lightning danced around his body, electrifying every single atom in his being.

It was a spirit body, but it could feel pain—even more intensely than normal!

Worse of all, the work he had spent the last few minutes doing had returned to zero.

Letting out a steamy breath, his hair frizzy from the shock, Stark waddled over to Chubby, ready to restart the process.

Jade snickered from where she sat on the floor. "You should keep that hairstyle, it really suits you."

"Shut up."

On her lap was a small board that Stark had created, and drawn on it was the image of the tricky shape they were trying to solve.

Stark glanced at the edges of the circuit where far more complex structures were arranged and sighed.

This is going to be a long night…

He went back to work, rearranging threads and solving the complex puzzle of strings.

Tzzzz!

The entire thing turned red, and hot, blinding pain raced through his body, causing him to gasp. This time, it was a minor mishap on his part.

He continued, moving a little faster than before. Strings went into place, slowly lighting up the magic circuit line by line, only to turn red and fizzle again.

The farther he went, the more painful the shock from failing would be.

Like an overly strict teacher, it kept him alert and kept the tension high. The fear of failure was very much real.

One time, the shock was so nasty that he had to sit down for a few minutes to recover…

If it was the real world, Stark would have been sweating profusely each time he was to move a string.

Even with Jade's help, solving the complex puzzle was proving difficult—but at the same time, it was exhilarating, somehow like a game.

"I think the pattern morphs at the third line. That should be why our methods fail at that point," he said, glancing at Jade, who had switched to scribbling on a large blackboard Stark had materialized.

"Really? If that is the case…" She wrote down yet another formula on the board and began redrawing the circuit. "Let's try this!"

Tzzzz!

"Have you tried reversing the flow? There is a certain theory abou—"

At the end of the day, they both stayed up all night, solving the puzzle for about two hours, and then finally the last thread clicked into place.

The entire circuit gave off an even brighter glow as mana visibly flowed from Chubby throughout the entire circuit.

A brighter light then emerged at different nodes of the circuit, making it appear like a constellation of brilliant stars.

Stark took a step back to where Jade was and then smiled proudly while repeatedly tapping her on the shoulder.

"We completed the damn thing!"

"Of course we did. Who do you think I am?" She smiled faintly, glancing up at Stark's amused face as he watched the beautiful circuit glow with life.

And then the entire circuit suddenly vanished, the large thing entering into Chubby all at once.

He shined brightly, the mana circuit still glowing vibrantly from within, before it slowly grew dim.

And then Chubby opened his eyes, staring at both of them with a goofy smile on his face.

He had changed…

He was slightly bigger, a bit more shiny, and had a darker blue colour—but the most notable changes were the two small horns that peeked out from the top of his head.

"Huuuuummmm!" he hummed loudly as he ran into Stark."