CH841

Two days later a small crowd had gathered in the yard of Pelenia’s home, the guests all wearing amulets to protect themselves with few really understanding why they were there. The only thing they knew was they were all being paid for only a little bit of time to stand there as a ghostly child walked around them, staring deeply into their souls and watching as they cast some simple spells before calling out once he was done.

“Alright, I got everything I needed.”

“Alright, wonderful,” Abrus said. “In that case, thank you all for your time, for your own safety, we ask that you begin making your way back to your homes or go off to enjoy the city itself. You’re all welcome to keep the amulets so it’s the perfect time to take in some of Anailia’s wonders.”

For what they were going to be doing, having too many other bodies there would only put them at risk given how Bloom’s birth had turned out, the spirit nearly insane from the unexpected altering of its very nature, even if he had become more and more stable with each passing day.

Ben’s eyes turned to that very one, having joined the rest of them with a body he’d created for himself. Made of living wood with a green surface layer of photosynthetic cells, he’d created himself a form that was undeniably male, with two arms and legs. A shape that was familiar without being the general form of an incubus, the body Bloom had made was modeled after Ben’s own, the second spirit in the world to use him for inspiration.

Well, I guess that even if I die, I’ve left my mark now that two different immortals have decided they want to look like me.

He noticed Thera glancing that way too, her eyes shifting between Bloom, Ogilt, and Ben before shaking her head, whispering at his side.

“Try not to let this go to your head too much.”

“Alright, as long as you try not to get distracted by just how handsome a couple of your newer uncles are.”

She gave him a look, not one chuckle coming from the joke. “Should I even be thinking of Bloom as an uncle? He’s younger than me.”

“Why would he be younger than you? None of the spirits who went into him are.”

“Okay, sure, but he himself was only born from them a couple days ago.”

“I mean, if he’s not your uncle then I think he’s your grandson then. Which means Pelenia gets to enjoy being a great-grandmother now too. Think she’ll get a kick out of that?”

“I know I don’t. Okay, you win, he’s my uncle now because we are not about to say everyone Mora’s about to change are his children. Anyway, just be ready so we don’t get any repeats.”

“Yeah, you got it.”

The great spirits had been careful in selecting the regular spirits they’d be changing, making sure they were all fully informed of what would happen and what they could expect from it, with Ben having checked all of their minds to be sure they really understood things and were prepared for what was to come, with him still standing by to assist with whatever issues might still come once the change happened. They’d all prepared the best they could, all that was left was beginning.

“So what should I start with?” Mora asked them, with Lux stepping forward.

“Blessing magic. If there’s any issues, at the very least it’s not a destructive affinity. It will be a good test case.”

Mora nodded as light and life spirits came forward, all of them abuzz with the idea of a change, even if it was from curiosity more than excitement. They weren’t against it, they were interested and curious, but in a far more muted way than he would have expected from any mortal gaining the level of power they were about to.

Of course, on the one hand, any mortal might be a lot less excited if they knew they were only going to be getting that power after being merged with a bunch of others, but on the other hand, the spirits don’t seem to care about that fact at all. Oh well, let’s see how this goes.

Ben in particular was watching with wide eyes, not wanting to blink and miss a second of what was about to happen when he’d already missed out on witnessing both the birth of Bloom and the other plant spirits. Souls were one of his many topics of research, something he alone in the universe held the power to create too. How could he not want to see whatever change would take place in the souls of the spirits around him to let them grow into something more?

With the soul sight he held giving him the perfect view as he tried to work out exactly what was happening once Mora began, watching as some structures within them were shifted and changed, his connect stretched out to observe the minds of the spirits themselves too while it was happening before it was done, the alteration snapping into place as the spirits Mora had worked on collapsed to a central point and immediately began to scream.

Oh, that’s not good.

He felt the new great spirit’s mind thrashing, rejected and confused by its new nature just as Bloom had been but before any of the other great ones could react, Ben was already prepared, grabbing hold of its new, singular mind as the first waves of mana came off it while he repeated the exact thing he’d done with the plant spirit. Merging into its deepest levels while it was being driven mad by the nature of its existence, he gave it all he knew of blessing magic and the experience using it of the two holders of it he was aware of while trying to cement its identity with a name, speaking it in both thought and voice.

“You are Grace,” He said firmly, feeling it calm down as it drifted over to his arms, letting itself be held for what comfort it could bring. “And that did not go as well as we’d hoped.”

“How bad was it then?” Abrus asked him, whatever problem there was fixed before any of the others could react.

“About as bad as with Bloom, it looks like even if they think they’re prepared for it, having their nature changed in such a way is just too much of a shock.”

It was an answer that got some frowns from the others but the biggest reaction from Mora, the boy slipping back to take Thera’s hand while she turned to him.

“If it’s that bad then we should stop,” She told them. “Even if Ben’s dealing with it, hurting them like that, even if it’s only going to be briefly, isn’t going to be good for Mora.”

“You’re not wrong,” Ben agreed, seeing the conflicted faces of the other spirits while he kept comforting Grace with his thoughts. “But before we give up completely, Mora, would you be willing to try just one more thing for me? If the outcome is just as bad then we’ll stop, we don’t want you doing anything that’s going to make you feel guilty.”

“Alright, what?” The boy asked, trusting Ben and looking curious about wherever his thoughts were going.

“We still need to make Grace more regular spirits as well but I’d like to put that idea on hold for a couple minutes while we test another way of creating a new great spirit first.”

“Another way?” Funa asked him. “Watching once and you’ve found a second method already?”

“Eh, nothing that exciting, anyone could have thought of this. If there’s no great spirit for them then a group of the available spirits will merge together into one and we’ve already seen that when Mora helps a group of combined affinitied spirits be born then they don’t have any issues. To me at least, that would imply that if he helps create new regular spirits, the lack of a great spirit for them will make them merge together, hopefully in a way that will be less traumatic for them.”

It was an idea that perked the rest up with interest now that their first attempt had gone no better, even with all of the planning behind it, but there was only one opinion that really mattered as all eyes turned to Mora to see what he had to say, with the boy nodding in the end.

“We’ll try it. What magic this time then?”

“I say we balance out the birth of a blessing spirit with a curse one,” Ben suggested. “Nothing else is going to be as harmless now that blessing magic’s been taken anyway so it’s not like there’s a right choice but if things do go wrong again, that’s probably going to be one of the slightly less destructive options we could end with.”

There was no disagreement to that and the death and dark spirits needed came forward, this time spending their mana while Mora used his magic and Thera empowered them as Ben watched, at first thinking he was wrong as the first few curse spirits were born but finding all of that changed only moments after, their numbers grown enough to reach the tipping point and their newfound existence instantly changed as they collapsed into each other, the first great curse spirit being born as a result.

With Ben instantly in its mind and breathing a small sigh of relief as a result. It wasn’t scared, panicked, or confused. It wasn’t suffering from an identity crisis and it certainly wasn't insane. It was a curse spirit, born from those who had been made before it and only lacking in experience as to what that would mean it could do.

“We’ve got a success,” Ben sighed, losing some tension he hadn’t noticed he’d been carrying as all of the others breathed their own sighs of relief, with Thera turning to him now that it was done.

“Looks like you’re not getting to name every new great spirit then.”

“Ha, hey, you never know. Maybe they’ll realize they like my naming sense.”

“Ha, or maybe the others can help them think of something a bit more creative,” She teased. “Bloom for a plant spirit and Grace for a blessing one? You didn’t exactly put loads of thought into that.”

“Hey now, it’s descriptive. Considering I was trying to make sure they understood what they were when I named them too, I’d say I did a pretty good job of it.”

“And that means we can continue, so long as Mora is alright with it,” Abrus said, getting a nod from the soul spirit.

“Yeah, we can continue.”

With no disaster accompanying that attempt, he sounded almost excited, looking forward to seeing what his powers could do and with nothing else to slow them down the process went on, once more changing the shape of the world.