This morning I woke up next to a smiling Nix, she seems to be doing better after a night's sleep, but by her look of anxiety and expectation, I know she wants to settle this thing about the Cradle of Spirits.
"Good morning Master." (Nix)
"Good Morning." (I)
"Why are you in my bed?" (I)
"Have you forgotten? You were the one who brought me here yesterday after clearing the battlefield." (Nix)
"(Now that she said it, I think that was it.)" (I)
"Alright, give me some time to go to the bathroom and get ready so we'll get something to eat before we leave." (I)
"I'm glad you remember your promise, while you slept I talked to the people at the camp to find a good spot." (Nix)
"Let's talk about it after we've had something to eat." (I)
"I'm going to need some food too, but a different kind of food." (Nix)
"What kind of food?" (I)
"Spiritual energy from one of the elements I have." (Nix)
"Same as Layla, but she absorbs elemental mana." (I)
"Yes, it's not something we always need, but after what I did yesterday, I haven't recovered as much as I'd like to." (Nix)
"My spirit energy is completely restored, but my body is still a little weak and sore from using techniques my body still can't handle." (Nix)
"If you had told me about this earlier, then I would have found another way to resolve it." (I)
"We can't waste time, fighting outside the Dungeon was already a big risk, besides everyone was too tired, we had to get out of there, but we can't leave so many bodies behind." (Nix)
"What I did was a thorough and quick cleaning, you also know that was the best option." (Nix)
Nix is right, I was the one who suggested that plan, but I was afraid of the enemies showing up before the fight is over or when everyone is tired, I know there were some among Farus troops who sent messages to the enemy base, I was afraid that Farus might have some way of moving fast like some teleportation magic.
"I really appreciate your help, but don't do dangerous things again." (I)
"I promise not to do anything else risky if you do the same, master." (Nix)
"…" (I)
I couldn't promise that, I'm fully aware that sometimes I get carried away whether it's training, testing something, researching something out of curiosity, or even making some crazy decision like the plan we used in the last battle.
A lot of the things I do turn out to be more dangerous than I expect, sometimes I wonder if I hit my head too hard when I was still a Leech.
Sigh
"Never mind, wait for me in the kitchen and have Caryna or Alice get me some bottles of blood." (I)
"Even after drinking so much dire wolf blood yesterday, I'm still thirsty." (I)
"All right." (Nix)
After Nix left I got up and went to the bathroom before changing my clothes and going down to the kitchen, there was only Nix and Caryna in the kitchen and a table with some meat along with some bottles of blood.
———-
Now I was in a valley that has a waterfall, a very beautiful lake and around it a lot of flowers and some beautiful trees, it would be even more beautiful if it wasn't for all this miasma around.
For some strange reason this place is one of the ones with the most miasma, because of that there were many monsters here that we killed quickly as they were weak, mostly they were plant, tree, and a Wood Golem type monsters.
I was with Nix at the top of the waterfall enjoying the view while I rest a little, the monsters were weak but there were many and I had to fight alone since Nix didn't help.
"You could have helped me out a little." (I)
"I have to conserve my energy for building the Cradle of Spirits, you can fight without using spirit energy, so I thought you could take care of everything." (Nix)
"I've taken care of everything, but I only have a little more than 70 mana left, I'm almost gone." (I)
"You can take an MP potion." (Nix)
"I can't, I already drank two potions, the second potion in less than an hour would only do half the effect and the third potion in less than an hour after the second would only do 25% of the effect." (I)
"That would be a waste." (Nix)
"Exactly." (I)
"Then get some rest, I'll try to see if what Dora told you was true." (Nix)
While I was resting Nix goes down to the lake and sits floating in the middle of the lake with her eyes closed, soon I feel her spreading her Aura all over this little valley.
After twenty minutes Nix opens her eyes with a big smile, then she spreads her Dragon wings and comes flying to me who's still at the top of the waterfall.
"That's great master, here's the element of water, moon, and darkness in large quantities." (Nix)
"From what Dora told me, this place was filled with the elemental energy of water and the moon, that's why this waterfall is formed from the water that descends from many mountains in the surroundings making the water element gather here." (Nix)
"The Moon element gathering in a lake is already a normal thing, the image of the moon is reflected every night in the lake waters that are bathed in moonlight, after centuries or even thousands of years the energy has accumulated and became part of that environment." (Nix)
"I guess the reason the dark element is gathered here is because of the miasma, right?" (I)
"The master is right, but this miasma has a lot of malice built up, far more than it should." (Nix)
"The miasma of the entire mountain range is something Farus has been leaking from underground caverns which according to Diana have been full of the Undead for centuries, perhaps even longer than that." (I)
"But will you be able to use this place?" (I)
"Dark elemental energy is not in harmony with this environment as it does not belong there, but I think with your help we can purify and harmonize this miasma into pure dark energy, it will be similar to what you and Layla did in the mansion." (Nix)
"You know we don't have much time, when I did this with Layla it took days, to be more precise, it took weeks." (I)
"This time it will be faster, it should only take half the day, we should finish by dawn." (Nix)
"We have many Spirits with the Dark element that will be able to help us as they will be able to harmonize with their Aura, later on, this is only possible because their Aura is what made them born." (Nix)
"At least they're being helpful, usually they're just flying around me or stealing my food while I eat, not to mention yesterday when I went to shower and they came to play in the water." (I)
"They feel comfortable and happy around you master, you should be happy, spirits tend to stay away from people, that's because we are more sensitive to feeling people's emotions and we don't like negative emotions." (Nix)
"So how do you feel about me?" (I)
"…" (Nix)
"A whirlwind of emotions all the time, worry, curiosity, love, anxiety, happiness, etc." (Nix)
"Most people try to hide their emotions subconsciously, but you expose it in your Aura, that's part of your Aura as one of the many layers it has." (Nix)
"But I doubt most Spirits can sense your emotions, your Aura is too confusing and chaotic to understand, I'm able to do that because of the contract I have with you." (Nix)
"I imagine that the Spirits inside the Dungeon are able to do the same because my Aura helped them to be born, don't you?" (I)
"Exactly, it looks like you're starting to understand." (Nix)
We've spent a lot of time talking, I want to get this sorted out soon, to be honest, I'm worried that what we do might draw the attention of Farus or one of his minions.
"So what should we do?" (I)
"For now I'm going to get the Spirits inside the Dungeon, once you and I start they will instinctively follow suit because of your Aura, their presence will also help to stabilize the place at the end of the process." (Nix)
After saying that Nix opens a gate to the Dungeon, it takes her an hour to get out of the Dungeon with a few dozen Spirits that start flying around me as soon as they appear.
"Sorry for the delay, I had to go through each floor of the Dungeon as they weren't registered in the crystals of the safe rooms." (Nix)
Sigh
"Alright, let's just get this over with." (I)
"I know you're worried that this might get Farus' attention, but that's impossible, Farus and his minions won't have Spirits on their side, I don't think any of them have spiritual energy either." (Nix)
"Usually only spectral-type undead have Affinity with spirit energy, I'm not saying it's impossible, just that it's rare." (Nix)
"Besides, we're more than two days' journey from Farus' Keep, from this distance they shouldn't notice a thing." (Nix)
"I hope you're right." (I)
Nix looks around, she seems to be taking stock of her surroundings as she looks for a good place to start.