Stark reached out for the spirit fragment and picked it up, staring at the shimmering object.
It was like a shard of glass and gave off a faint blue light. He could see the outline of the goat warrior within it, a ghostly version with all its fury intact.
The information rushed into his mind like a flood, courtesy of his relic.
Spirit shards were left over each time something died. It didn't matter if it was human, monster, or even animals. If they died, a spirit shard would appear.
There were two uses of spirit shards. The first and one of the most important uses of spirit shards was for summoning spirits.
With the spirit shard in his hand, he could call the monster's spirit to his aid.
The second use of spirit shards was a phenomenon called Spirit Crushing.
He could crush the shard, and when he did, his body would be invigorated, filled with energy that would strengthen him.
But there was a limit to spirit crushing. He could only crush spirit shards of monsters he killed himself, which was a pain, considering how overpowered it could have been otherwise.
Stark considered his options.
He was in the evil forest, a place with a thick concentration of monsters.
If he absorbed the shard, then he would be faster, slightly stronger, and a bit more durable.
Maybe all the things he needed to leave.
But was there any point in leaving?
He stared at the shard and smiled, a light devious smile.
"Arise."
"…"
Nothing happened.
Stark scratched his head and frowned. Then the information flowed into his mind, slow and gentle unlike the first time it had hit him.
He began to say the words as he remembered them.
"The time is upon us, the great tribulation is at hand. Rise from your slumber and take my hand, not as dead, but as spirit, the purest form of life."
"Well, who the fuck thought up this line?"
Once again, information flowed into his mind—he could change the activation phrase at will.
Crack!
The spirit shard fractured, a bright white light emerging from the crack, and then it overshadowed the area around them.
There was a rush of wind, and deep in Stark's soul, he felt something settle, filling in a certain spot within him.
He could also feel the space he had left. Four. He could only herd four more spirits for now.
In front of him stood the spirit he had summoned.
It was just as he remembered, but it was lacking colour. Instead of its brown furry body, it was shimmering blue and nearly translucent.
Conveniently, it came with a spirit version of the axe as well, leaving Stark with its own axe.
It did not attack him, instead it turned around and subconsciously took a guarding stance.
Since Stark had defeated it in battle, the strength difference didn't matter.
He had attained his first spirit.
Stark summoned his artifact and gazed at the dial. Apart from being a soul-bound relic, it had another convenient feature—
It could tell the time.
'It's just five o'clock.'
"Why was it so dark then?"
As Stark looked up to the sky, lightning streaked through the clouds, a thunderous boom that shook the forest, and shortly after—
Down came the rain.
• • •
A stout hell goat was wandering through the forest, looking for a nice lush patch of grass to feast on.
The winds had picked up, and the rain was pouring. It should have found shelter, a nice hollow trunk to sleep out the storm.
But its belly told it otherwise.
Instead, it walked towards a nice looking tree with a lush patch of grass by its side.
When the hell goat arrived at the tree, it paused and slung its axe on its back, leaning down to get some grass when it froze.
Staring down at him, its axe raised, was something that looked just like him, but different.
It was shining.
The goat let out a confused grunt that transfigured into a screech, as the axe came barreling down.
It jumped back, and the axe dug into its lush patch of grass.
Its dinner…
Its nostrils flared, and it seethed with anger. Unslinging its axe and moments away from leaping, it suddenly stopped when it felt a tap on its shoulder.
The beast turned, and its eyes widened—
In front of it was a giant, his face caked in mud and bearing a crazy smile. Lightning cracked in the air as an axe came crashing down.
"EEK!"
Crack!
Stark's axe cleaved the beast's head in half, spreading bone matter and blood all over his sword.
Stark could not contain his laughter as he watched the body of the beast fall limp on the floor.
Fighting one of them had been so hard initially, but now with just a single spirit and a proper strategy, he had killed one in less than ten seconds.
A crazy plan began to brew in his mind.
Just how much stronger could he get if he farmed this forest?
All he had to do was hide when the greater monsters came by and kill the small fry. That way, before leaving here, he would be able to hold his own at least.
Crunch!
Stark watched in horror as his little minion came upon the fallen beast with a series of vicious blows, hacking at its head relentlessly.
"Dude, he's already dead…"
The spirit continued, its gaze locked on the body.
'Oh, forgot to end the command.'
"Stop, you can stop now."
The little guy lifted his axe one last time, and for good measure, plunged it onto its chest. Then it hurried over to Stark and stared up, its gaze hard.
Stark patted his head. "Yeah yeah, you did well."
He picked up the axe, now wielding two weapons, and then he stared down at the spirit shard.
"Burst forth."
Once again the forest was filled by a bright white glow.
And then, there were two.