Chapter 9: Spirit

    My second day of learning involved the more complex details of the Call.

    Specifically, I needed to learn how to Project into the dimension and search for spirits properly, even though I could already seen plenty as I was.

    Turns out, these dimensions went deep. What I could see was only what existed on the surface. Within each dimension, there were both weak and powerful spirits.

    It was the powerful ones that lurked in the dark, waiting to be discovered.

    Naturally, I wanted to commune with or even marry the most powerful ones.

    Taking several hours to do so, Maxwell taught me what was basically a spell. By weaving Psyka in a certain pattern, I could form a drone and dive deep into the dimension. This would allow me to project.

    But weaving my Psyka at all was difficult. Just calling on that invisible power in my mind was enough to frustrate me.

    It was like moving a new limb. It didn’t listen to my commands, let alone move into a complex formation.

    Luckily, Maxwell had an exercise for that, one that stressed the manipulation of my power.

    Of course, the exercise also made me tired. It drained my mental energy, making me feel like I had worked for a full 24 hours after merely 2.

    It was a good thing that these classes were at the end of my day. When it was over and I left with mental exhaustion, I headed to my fancy room in the Black Spider Hotel and knocked out.

    Contrary to the exhaustion though, my night of sleep was rejuvenating. When I woke up, my mind felt amazingly clear and energetic. Even moving around my Psyka was easier, showing clear progress.

    And so, I went on with my day, my mood high and my steps light.

    Taking several jobs from the warehouse at the start of twilight, I headed into the Founder’s Market and made my way around.

    My deliveries consisted of two small boxes of hard drugs, a bag of jewels, a glass vial of a liquid I didn’t ask about, and some lingerie for a nearby brothel.

    That last one was fun since I got a few kisses from the ladies there. Which was good, since my mood had been ruined earlier when someone tried to rob me of the jewels.

    I was able to fend them off with my knife and no small amount of blows, but I took about as much as I dished. My body was bruised and beaten, leaving me to finish my jobs in irritating pain.

    Well, nothing a hot lady from the brothel couldn’t fix. After leaving the erotic place, I made one last stop.

    “Helard Road, building number 333. This is it.”

    Finding the unnamed building I was looking for, I pushed open the carved wooden door.

    It led into a small entry room with a front desk, behind which was a mature yet sharp woman. She eyed me curiously as I walked up.

    “Hi, I heard that this place could help me with getting a citizenship.”

    “It can. Our standard fee is 1500 coin. You must pay upfront and there are no refunds.”

    “Ouch.”

    I sighed in resignation, taking out 1500 coin. Although I had the money, I would have to work a bit of overtime to make up for it and still make Maxwell’s bill.

    Over time, I had discovered the different denominations for Coin.

    Coin was a blanket term, like dollars. And there were different types of coin.

    This world used silver and gold as its currency, only, the two metals didn’t seem to have quite the rarity as on Earth.

    Silver coins were less valuable, and there were two types: the standard silver coin and the silver bullion. The silver coin was worth one coin, and the silver bullion was worth 10 coin. Fi?ndd new updates at novelhall.com

    Then, the gold coin was worth 100 coin while the gold bullion was worth 1000 coin.

    I often got paid in gold coin and silver bullion, and only has Plex ever given me gold bullion, so I only had a few on me.

    I paid the clerk one such gold bullion and 5 gold coins, making for 1500 coin. She took them indifferently and handed me an application.

    “Fill out all these fields, and we will take care of the rest. The application will be submitted today and will be verified in 5 days. That is when you can come back and receive your official citizenship.”

    “Thank you. Just out of curiosity, how long does it usually take?”

    “On average, 7 months.”

    “Oh.”

    She smirked while I sighed in amazement.

    Seems bureaucracy was a sloth in all worlds.

    Taking the application, I went and quickly filled everything out. It only asked for basic information, like my full name and date of birth. I didn’t have to input anything like physical descriptions or the name of my parents.

    I did have to put down two important things though. Upon handing back my application, the clerk stamped my fingerprint and used a device to record my crest.

    Apparently it was highly illegal to hide someone’s status as a magus, so if you had a crest, it absolutely had to be recorded.

    I didn’t mind, anyway. It wasn’t like someone could use that against me, and soon enough I would be entering the Magisterium. It couldn’t be hidden.

    With those things, I was finally done. It took no more than 5 minutes, and I would have my citizenship within the week.

    The black market sure was nice.

    Sending the application marked the end of my workday, after which I headed to the Black Spider Market and had another lesson with Maxwell.

    I continued exercising my Psyka while trying to weave it into the projection spell I was given.

    At the same time, since I was a total newbie, I was taught general knowledge about Knights and Warlocks.

    Apparently, although they were all considered Magi, each of the branches had completely different systems of magic.

    Warlocks were the spitting image of wizards. They had different spells that they could launch from their body, making them very versatile both in terms of combat and utility. This was also why they were considered the best of the three branches.

    In the end, he had taken 34 people with him, his pistol, aim, and reloading skill carrying him until the end.

    With that, the memories stopped.

    In the real world, I could feel a large and heavy object appear in my hands.

    I saw the pistol in its full glory, with even a few dried blood stains in the wood. It was heavy, cold, and loaded.

    And with its appearance, I could instinctively understand how to use it. My arms and hands aimed the pistol just as the man in the memories had. I could feel my body reflexively wield it.

    I had inherited his skills, the skills infused into the spirit of the gun.

    “Amazing...”

    “What is that?”

    Maxwell asked as he observed the pistol in my hand.

    As I had learned, summoners could conjure spirits from two different categories: Hot and cold.

    Hot summons were living spirits like exotic monsters and animals. These were conventionally living beings, and they had intelligence that increased with every level.

    And cold summons were conventional weapons, like swords, spears, and shields. These were inanimate beings.

    My category was of the second type, and quite unfortunately, cold summons were regarded as the worst type of summons.

    So not only was I a lowly summoner, but I had cold summons.

    Thankfully, I knew that these cold weapons were anything but lowly or lacking in power.

    I gave Maxwell a vague explanation.

    “This is a gun. It fires deadly projectiles, like arrows.”

    “I see... This is not a weapon that I recognize, though it looks similar to siege cannons.”

    “It’s almost exactly like that, except dialed down. Anyway, I’ve successfully communed with this spirit.”

    “Yes, congratulations.”

    Maxwell gave his praise while scrutinizing the pistol.

    “It seems like a decently powerful spirit for your level.”

    “Mm. One thing though. I was able to see the memories of this spirit. Is that normal?”

    “Memories?”

    Maxwell rubbed his chin.

    “Spirits, regardless of animation, do indeed have what we can consider minds. It has been documented, though rarely, that some cold summons carry with them remnant spirits, most often of warriors from another time or world. This gives special cold summoners some ability as they can inherit the skills of the previous warrior.”

    “Really? Then why are they still considered the weakest?”

    “Because you are inheriting the skill of a warrior, yet not his physique, endurance, strength, or power. You are a glass sword, sharp yet brittle. So even if you inherit the skill of the greatest warrior from another world, you couldn’t hold a candle to even mid level Knights since you lack what truly comprises a powerful warrior which is the powerful body.”

    “...I guess that makes sense.”

    I could understand what he was saying, though it didn’t make me feel good. This meant that, while I could attain powerful guns, they may not be able to carry me far.

    But Maxwell only smirked.

    “Don’t let it get to your head now. That logic only applies to normal summoners. With my Call of the Fallen Angel, you will be capable of so much more, disposing of preconceived limiters. You’re lucky I even told you about normal summoners. Because if you let the biases of normality taint your mind and teachings, then you won’t be able to use my Call to its fullest extent. So forget about it.”

    “Oh. Alright.”

    His words picked my spirits back up. It seemed there was still more in store regarding this Call.

    So I disregarded what he said earlier.

    It wasn’t much longer afterward that we ended the session. I left for my room with both slight exhaustion and a sense of accomplishment.

    Now, I could properly project and commune with spirits, but perhaps unfortunately, the time to use them was nigh.

    ......

    It was the next day that Plex called in the few members of his company.

    This was also when I discovered that there were more than three of us.

    There were 5 of us. Myself, Plex, Libitus, and two others. One was Tovex, who I had briefly met alongside Libitus at a bar. The other was a woman who I knew nothing about.

    “You know Tovex, and this is Rayla.”

    Libitus named the woman I didn’t recognize.

    After observing her, I could faintly sense a significant amount of power lurking within her body. I knew immediately that she was a Magus, though I didn’t know what type. All I knew was that I would get my ass handed to me if I fought her.

    The introductions were short as I greeted the two of them. Afterward, Plex began a meeting. Not that it seemed important. Everyone was casual.

    “The monthly auction is here, so I have jobs as always. We’ll be moving things mainly from the Tavera Family and the Polaris Branch in the Founder’s Market. But we also have a special order, which is the reason I’ve called you all here.”

    Plex smiled while taking out a paper and showing us its front.

    It had a large symbol on it, that of a skull with blood vessels hanging from its bottom and eye sockets that had chains drooping from them like tears.

    “The Trenches have requested our help.”