Back at the guild, the hall bustled with noise as adventurers took contracts from the glowing request board. The smell of sweat, steel, and cheap ale mixed in the air.
Our new group stood in front of the board, staring up at the options.
"Slime cleanup?" Mimi asked with stars in her eyes. "So squishy…"
"No," I said flatly.
"Bandit patrol?" Zarek grinned. "Perfect! I'll split a few skulls."
Seraphina sniffed. "Too brutish. My talents are wasted on simple bandits."
Lyra tapped her chin. "This one looks reasonable—escort a magical caravan through the north route. The path crosses a corrupted forest."
Elira's eyes gleamed faintly. "Corrupted forest? That means spirit residue. Yuto, you'd be useful there."
The merchant, who was still hanging around like a remora fish, rubbed his hands greedily. "An escort means steady pay and no guild cut on loot. Perfect for my… uh, portfolio."
I sighed. "So we're really doing this? Our first real quest together?"
[Advisor: Correction. Your first babysitting trip. Odds of party discipline failure: 91%.]
"Shut up, Advisor."
---
The Contract: Escort a mana-infused caravan to Silverbranch Outpost. Guard against bandits and purge the corrupted creatures that infest the forest. Reward: 40 silver per member + bonus loot.
Zarek pumped his fist. "Perfect training!"
Seraphina adjusted her jewelry. "Fine. But if my robes get torn, someone will pay."
Mimi happily bounced. "I'll bring snacks!"
This was already a mistake.
---
The caravan was a stout wooden wagon reinforced with mana-steel plates. It glowed faintly from enchantments, pulled by two sturdy horned beasts that looked like armored oxen.
We marched beside it as the road narrowed into the treeline. Shadows stretched across the dirt path, the forest thick with whispers of corrupted mana.
"This place feels… wrong," Lyra murmured, hugging her staff.
"It is wrong," I said, pulse of my core faintly vibrating inside me. "There's spirit corruption here."
[Advisor: Detection confirmed. Probability of encounter: 100%. Suggest mental preparation. And maybe underwear preparation.]
"Really, Advisor?"
---
The forest deepened. Birds fled from branches, and the sound of insect wings filled the air.
Then came the first screech.
A twisted wolf, its fur patchy and its eyes glowing with violet fire, lunged from the trees. Behind it, a pack followed mutated, dripping corruption.
"Contact!" Elira barked.
Zarek grinned like a lunatic, drawing his twin daggers. "Finally!"
Mimi squealed in delight. "Puppies!"
"They are not puppies!" Seraphina snapped, raising her wand as her jewelry flared with stored mana.
I drew mana into my limbs, my senses sharpening. Time to work.
---
Zarek darted forward, his beastkin agility carrying him straight into the pack. Daggers flashed, cutting through corrupted fur. He laughed the whole time, reckless but effective.
Seraphina snapped her fingers, sending a spray of glittering mana shards into the wolves. Each shard exploded like a firecracker, staggering the beasts. "Don't say I never contribute."
Mimi, somehow, tripped over a root… but in doing so, rolled under a wolf and accidentally blasted it in the belly with a wild spark. It exploded. Mimi cheered. "I did it!"
Elira moved like a shadow, blades carving weak points with surgical precision. Lyra stayed behind, murmuring support chants, raising our defense with soft light.
And me?
I stepped into the pack, my mana blade humming. The first wolf snapped at me, its teeth hit my arm. My HP dropped sharply.
HP: 250 → 70
Warning: Critical Damage.
Auto-Revert Available.
[Advisor: Recommend core transformation. Unless, of course, you want to test dying. Bold strategy.]
"Fine, fine!"
Light ripped out of me. My body blurred into a floating sphere—the Spirit Core.
[ Form Switch: Primordial Spirit aura Core ](Manual Activation)
Core Integrity: 260/260
MP: 420/420
Spirit Skills:
- Ethereal Drift (Blink)
- Soul Beacon (Reveals corrupted sources)
- Spirit Siphon (Drain corruption essence)
---
As said before,a lot of spirit light was now emmited from my core, I felt like I was about to explode.
The wolves hissed as my light pulsed. I drifted between them, untouchable. Ethereal Drift carried me through a lunging beast. It stumbled as my glow scorched its corrupted veins.
I pulsed Soul Beacon, the entire forest lit up in my vision. Dark knots of corruption throbbed beneath roots and trees. Not just wolves. The forest itself was rotting.
"Core form…?" Lyra whispered, wide-eyed.
Seraphina's usual smugness faltered. "Impossible… he's not human at all."
Zarek just howled with laughter. "You're awesome!"
"Focus, guys!" I snapped, voice echoing oddly from my core form.
I targeted the largest wolf, its body swollen with corruption. Spirit Siphon!
A tendril of light lashed out, piercing its chest. The wolf screeched, its corruption peeling away in black wisps. My core drank the energy, MP and HP rising as the beast crumpled to ash.
Core Integrity: 260 → 310
MP: 420 → 460
New Passive Learned: Spirit Purge (Minor) Your core can weaken corruption upon contact.
[Advisor: Congratulations, you're basically a magical vacuum cleaner now.]
"Really??."
---
We cut through the rest of the wolves, my siphon weakening their bodies while Zarek, Elira, and Seraphina finished them off. Mimi… somehow killed one with a snack explosion. Don't ask me how.
By the time the last wolf dissolved, the caravan stood safe. The forest grew quiet again, but the air still thrummed with corruption deeper in.
I shimmered, reforming my body. My limbs snapped back into place, cloak settling on my shoulders.
The group stared at me,Zarek with admiration, Seraphina with suspicion, Mimi with childlike awe, and Lyra with something softer.
" I think you should be the leader of our group Yuto, you got what it takes"
The other guys said. And Mimi majestically bowed.
" You guys..."
Elira only nodded. "Now you're starting to look like a real Protector."
[Advisor: Correction. Starting to look like a beacon for trouble.]
"Shut. Up. Advisor."
---