Idra.
A newly born water spirit, and an existence that brought about a massive anomaly by being born as a top-tier spirit.
She was currently getting along very well with the water spirits.
“Hohoho, I see.”
“Yes, that’s right. Isn’t it fascinating?”
She had become especially close with the Water Spirit King, becoming such good friends in just a few days that they were now at a level where they could converse casually.
The reason they could become this close, even though she might potentially threaten the Spirit King’s position, was because…
“Hehe, perhaps it’s time for me to step down.”
The Water Spirit King had no great attachment to her position.
Or rather, she was a bit tired of the position she had held for such a long time.So she had come to think about passing her position to Idra, a spirit who was also born as a top-tier and with whom she could converse well.
Of course, Idra had no intention of inheriting that position, but she decided to actively use this to her advantage as she needed to become close to the Water Spirit King for her own purposes.
“Hehe, I’m still just a newly born spirit lacking in both power and experience. I haven’t even been anywhere outside the water territory yet.”
Her purpose was none other than to leave the water territory.
Spirits with an affiliated attribute can only leave their territory with the permission of the Spirit King who rules that attribute.
Usually, the principle is not to let them out unless there’s a special reason.
This is partly because of the uncertainty of what might happen to them outside, and also because of the possibility of betrayal by going to another territory.
Idra planned to become close to the Water Spirit King and gain the right to leave the territory.
The reason for this was, of course, to go and find her partner who was born with a different attribute.
‘Fear. It was fear, wasn’t it? A spirit of fear would be a very rare attribute and a free spirit not belonging to any affiliation.’
If it had been a minority attribute spirit under the water territory’s jurisdiction, like a blood spirit or a lake spirit, it would have been convenient, but a fear spirit is a free attribute that doesn’t belong anywhere.
That’s why it’s impossible to know where it was born or where it is now.
It’s certainly not in the water territory.
If it had been, she should have found it when she searched the entire territory following the water energy.
‘It’s a bit of cheating, but… this much should be fine.’
In fact, it’s impossible for even a top-tier spirit to detect the entire territory.
Such a feat is not possible without power at the level of a Spirit King.
But Idra used a slight cheat.
She slightly awakened only the ability to detect by using her authority very slightly.
Just to find him, her partner who was born as a spirit of fear.
Originally, she had tried to minimize the use of her authority to avoid affecting the spirit world as much as possible, but she rationalized that this much would be okay.
Anyway, now that she had confirmed he wasn’t in the water territory, she needed to leave the water territory quickly.
Even now, he would be wandering here and there to explore and study the spirit world.
That’s why she needed to leave the water territory and find him as soon as possible.
“As you say, you are still a spirit that was born not long ago. No matter how strong you are, the outside of the territory is dangerous for such a being.”
Of course, she wouldn’t easily grant permission.
Especially since it would be a big problem if the being she considered as her successor got hurt or disappeared somewhere.
‘It seems it will take some time.’
Unfortunately, it seemed she wouldn’t be able to depart right away.
Still, Idra thought leisurely.
After all, a spirit’s lifetime is 500 years.
It might be a meaningless time for outer gods to whom the concept of time is meaningless, but in terms of the time of ordinary living beings, 500 years is quite a long time.
And the three avatar spirits, including herself, were like newborn babies not even a month old.
In other words, there’s plenty of time.
Perhaps because they had been together for so long, this time apart from him felt somewhat awkward.
But still, there was plenty of time left as a spirit, and even if they couldn’t meet while they were spirits, they could be together again as outer gods once their time in the spirit world ended.
‘But it’s a bit strange. Why do I want to be with him?’
A question that suddenly occurred to her.
Had there ever been a being she thought of like this before?
The inferior creatures were lovable, but she never felt the desire to be with them to this extent.
But when she thought of him, she felt love, comfort, and reassurance at the same time.
She felt the desire to be by his side.
It had been so long since she came into existence in this world as an outer god, but this was a strange feeling she was experiencing for the first time.
‘Hehe, by the standards of living beings… I might be in love with him.’
Of course, Idra didn’t question this emotion.
It’s not that outer gods don’t have emotions.
No, rather, being higher-dimensional beings, they harbored more and diverse emotions.
There was nothing strange about having affection among those emotions.
#
“Achoo!”
I sneezed.
So spirits can sneeze too, huh.
It’s something you wouldn’t know unless you actually became a spirit yourself.
Well, I suppose if I searched through the knowledge of the crevices, I’d find out what kinds of spirits sneeze and even what their sneezes sound like.
Anyway, I wiped my nose and examined my body.
How should I put it? I had high expectations for being a spirit of fear, but…
I look just like an ordinary humanoid spirit.
Just pitch-black in color, that’s all?
Of course, it wasn’t just a simple black color.
It was definitely a darkness befitting the name of a spirit of fear, ominous and gloomy.
It was something like a shadowy form with a blackness so deep it was hard to describe as simply ‘black’, rippling like shadows.
You could say it was a color and form that embodied the fear of the unknown.
“I like it.”
Naturally, I was quite pleased with it.
So, this is Cthugha’s spirit realm, huh.
What should I do here now?
I came in wanting to learn about spirits, but I didn’t really think about how to go about it.
To be honest, it feels like I came in without much of a plan.
Let’s start by figuring out where I am and what my current position is.
I understood the general situation of the spirit realm as I entered this world.
Fire, Water, Wind, Earth, Lightning.
There are five major factions in the spirit realm that occupy these five vast territories.
Below them are the minor spirits affiliated with these factions.
And then there are the free spirits who don’t belong to any faction.
I am a spirit of fear.
I’m a free spirit that doesn’t belong to any faction.
And this place is called the Barren Ravine, located between the territories of Fire and Wind.
It’s an extremely harsh land where knife-like winds blow fiercely over a ravine that looks like a pile of ashes, as if everything has been burned.
Of course, it’s only a harsh land for some life forms that need water or nutrients. For spirits that live on magical power, this kind of environment is no problem at all.
In fact, since it becomes the main battlefield when wind spirits and fire spirits fight, it could be considered a very fertile land by spirit standards due to the magical power released during battles.
“Indeed, the magical power I breathe in with every breath is abundant. It’s good land.”
It feels strange to call this desolate ravine ‘good land’ while having human memories.
So this is what a good landscape looks like to spirits.
Let’s take a look around this barren ravine for now.
It would be nice to meet other free spirits like me, or maybe even venture into the Wind or Fire territories.
Oh, I wonder if they’ll treat me as an intruder if I enter?
Well… I’ll think about that later.
For now, it would be good to meet another spirit of fear.
I want to know exactly what level my power is at.
In terms of general magical power, I’m at the level of a top-tier spirit, but is it okay to apply the same standards used by the five major factions to free spirits?
As I was thinking about this while walking…
“Eek?!”
I finally met my first spirit.
But it wasn’t a free spirit.
‘A wind spirit?’
A white body with a semi-transparent form that looked like it was made of condensed air currents.
It was a wind spirit.
Why is a wind spirit here? I wondered as I tried to approach.
“D-don’t come closer…!”
The wind spirit trembled and started backing away.
I wondered why it was acting like that, but then…
Ah, right, I’m a spirit of fear, aren’t I?
Of course, all beings feel the emotion of fear.
Even Outer Gods, including the highest-ranking ones, know the emotion of fear.
Just like how Cthugha is terrified when it sees me.
It’s also the emotion I felt when I first encountered Azathoth.
In other words, no matter how much of a mental life form a spirit is, they all have the emotion of fear.
No, because they are mental life forms, the effect seems even more pronounced.
Its semi-transparent form began to waver and shake.
It was having difficulty maintaining its physical form due to fear.
Oh no, is it going to disappear at this rate?
It’s too scared!
I’ll back off a bit for now.
It seems too frightened.
And at that moment, the wind spirit literally fled like the wind, in a flash.
“……”
Wow… to think I’d be avoided to this extent.
For a moment, I was overcome by a strange feeling, as if memories from a non-existent outcast student life had resurfaced.
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