Chapter 16: Chapter 16 — The Story of an Extraordinary Spiritualist
"What do you mean four thousand years!?" I exclaimed out loud, completely shattering the intimate atmosphere of the room.
Before Samira could respond, the system holoscreen still suspended in the air above us began to vibrate violently.
The edges of the interface flashed an intense red and a shrill alert flooded my head.
[Security Warning! The bonded summon (Samira Skillar) does not possess the required clearance level to disclose classified historical information!]
I frowned, irritated by the AI’s interruption at the most important moment.
"Stand down, system. I, as her master, grant her full permission to speak," I ordered firmly.
The system seemed to process the command for a millisecond. The vibrations ceased and the menacing red returned to its neutral blue tone with a soft chime.
[Command accepted. The Master has granted memory disclosure permission.]
Samira closed her eyes for an instant and let out a long, heavy sigh.
The rigidity in her shoulders eased, as if invisible chains that bound her to the gacha’s rules had just been removed.
She rested her cheek against my bare chest, intertwined her fingers with mine, and with a voice laden with the melancholy of bygone eras, began to narrate:
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"My real and full name is Samira Von Skillar Salazar," she said, pronouncing each syllable with an aristocratic weight I had never heard from her before.
"I was born in the ancient Kingdom of Fortunna, a place that, in my era, was revered as the absolute cradle of spiritualists and the epicenter of all branches of magic."
"My family, however, had nothing of nobility. We were humble folk, peasants from the outskirts. I spent my days under the sun, tending the crops alongside my parents, and I loved them with all my heart."
"At night, by the fire, my mother used to tell me legends about the Great Guardian Spirits. Those stories lit an inextinguishable spark in me: the fervent desire to become the greatest spiritualist the world had ever seen, to lift them out of poverty."
I watched her in silence, stroking her purple hair as I imagined a child Samira, dreaming beneath the stars of an extinct world.
"With that dream in mind, I applied to enter the Great Academy of Soulyulz," she continued.
"In those times, blood hierarchy was everything. For someone of my social status—a commoner with hands calloused from the fields—to be admitted into such a prestigious institution was practically a miracle."
"They treated me like a piece of trash. The nobles humiliated me daily for my origins, but I never complained. I gave my best, enduring the insults in silence."
"I firmly believed my only duty was to focus, to study, to become a master, and to earn enough money to help my parents. After all, they had sacrificed and pawned the savings of their entire lives to pay for my admission. It was the least I could do for them."
Empathy tightened my stomach. I knew perfectly well what it was like to carry the weight of a father’s sacrifices.
I squeezed her hand gently for her to continue.
---
"Three long years of incessant study on every class of spirit magic passed like that. Then, the culminating day arrived: the Grand Binding Ceremony."
"I was terrified, Hal. I didn’t have enough confidence to believe a commoner like me would manage to bond with even a lesser spirit."
"They gathered us in the main hall, an immense dome where the council elders watched us from the stands with scrutinizing eyes."
"They ordered us to conjure. One by one, we had to step onto the marble podium, stand in the center of a great magic circle of runes, and pronounce the chants in the Davitt tongue, the sacred language of spirits."
"Most of the students—those nobles who had humiliated me so much—barely managed to summon lesser fire or water spirits. However, a few prodigies achieved the impossible, bringing forth guardian and even greater spirits."
"My stomach was a knot of nerves. Finally, they shouted my name. I walked to the center of the podium under the laughter and taunts of my bullies. I closed my eyes, assumed the position, and began to conjure my spell."
Samira paused, and a small nostalgic smile drew itself on her lips.
"At first, the circle didn’t light up. The mockery in the hall grew louder, crueler."
"But suddenly... the magic circle burst in a blinding explosion of lights. Normally, the rune shines with a single color representing the affinity of the summoned spirit. With me, the floor looked like liquid rainbow."
"At the center of that light, not one spirit appeared, Hal. Hundreds of them appeared simultaneously. From countless lesser and elemental spirits, to colossal guardians and primordial entities."
"The entire hall fell mute. The elders rose to their feet, stupefied—some even dropped their staffs."
"It was the first time in Fortunna’s recorded history that a commoner summoned an entire legion, and as if that weren’t enough, each and every one of them agreed to sign a binding contract with me in that very instant. I was destined to be a legend."
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"Damn... so you were some kind of system-breaking prodigy even before knowing the gacha," I murmured, astonished by the magnitude of her original power.
"Something like that," she answered with bitterness.
"The offers poured in. The elders offered me their absolute patronage, and the masters of the Magical Towers fought over me. I was so overjoyed I wept. That same night I sent a letter to my parents telling them of the feat."
"A couple of years later, I entered Nava Tower, the home of the legendary spiritualist Almira Florens. I became her direct apprentice. There I sharpened my knowledge and my combat skills for monster hunting."
"Month after month, I sent heavy pouches of gold to the farm, ensuring my parents lived like royalty."
Samira’s voice darkened suddenly. The warmth of her skin seemed to diminish against my chest.
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"During one of my many high-level training sessions, my master proposed we go on an incursion to the dungeons of Rotteline, the city with the highest concentration of magical fissures at that time."
"I accepted with my ego through the clouds. We annihilated beasts of animal rank, then swept through high-class predators. We felt invincible—until we came across, in the depths, some ancestral beings known as the Andawas."
"It was the first time I had heard of those nightmare creatures. Arrogant from my prodigy title, I charged ahead and attacked them hastily with my legion of spirits."
"What history had hidden was that the Andawas possessed the ability to copy and corrupt the abilities of any magical being that attacked them. When I launched my spirits at them, absolute disaster was unleashed."
Samira shut her eyes tightly, as if the image still tormented her.
"We managed to kill many by overloading their cores, but my spirit magic caused some Andawas to mutate drastically. They evolved on the spot and tore apart the Great Runic Barrier that protected the outside world from the dungeon."
"What followed, Hal, was hell on earth. The creatures copied our most lethal magics and emerged to the surface. Thousands of innocent people were massacred in Rotteline."
"To stop the apocalypse I myself had provoked with my recklessness, my master, Almira, had to sacrifice her own life to forge an eternal seal and imprison those beings."
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