SRS 188

“Yohan, did you get the flowers?”

“Yes.”

“Really? You got it faster than I expected. You said you’d just go scout it out if it didn’t work out.”

“I got a little lucky.”

When he arrived at the classroom, Mikael, who was already there, greeted Yohan.

Yohan considered bringing up the topic of Fei to him as well, but because there were many people around, he said nothing. Since he didn’t know what kind of reaction it might cause, it was better to talk about it later when they were alone or back at the dorm.

Not long after he sat down, the bell rang, and Professor Shinbi entered through the window.

“Oh dear… I meant to come early to open the dimensional portal, but I’ve been so busy lately that I’m late. Just a mom unauthorized copy ent. Please wait a little longer!”

True to form, Professor Shinbi greeted the students with her usual warm and energetic tone. She drew a symbol on the blackboard and infused it with spirit power. A dimensional portal to the Spirit Realm appeared, several times larger than any she had opened before.

Professor Shinbi wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand and handed out a pen and a sheet of paper to everyone.

“Alright, shall we begin the end-of-month evaluation? The evaluation will take place over two days, today and tomorrow, for two hours each day. As we discussed earlier, you must find a spirit not listed on the paper you received, search for it, observe it, and then write and submit a report. If you fail to find a spirit within these two days, you’ll fail the course, so even if you can’t finish the report, please do your best to find a spirit. Alright, let’s get started!”

Snap.

As Professor Shinbi snapped her fingers, a gust of wind pushed the students’ backs, propelling them deeper into the Spirit Realm. With no time to resist, the first-year students were swept away and entered the Spirit Realm in the blink of an eye.

Since this was an evaluation, Professor Shinbi didn’t enter the realm herself to let the students take the lead this time. Judging by her attitude, there were at least no dangerous spirits inside.

Yohan marveled at the scenery of the Spirit Realm, which he hadn’t seen in a long time, then unfolded the paper he’d received from Professor Shinbi.

There were a total of five spirits listed on Yohan’s paper.

The Spirit of Lightning, the Spirit of Rock, the Spirit of Dawn, the Spirit of Dew, and the Spirit of Wealth.

He was supposed to search for spirits other than these, but he was disappointed to see a note stating that the well-known representative elements of the natural world were not subjects of observation. He thought he could just summon Undine if necessary, but it was wrong to receive a grade that way.

The representative elements of the natural realm are water, fire, wind, and earth.

To find spirits other than Lightning, Rock, Dawn, Dew, and Wealth, where should I go?

Yohan mentally mapped out the Spirit Realm he had learned about in a previous lecture and glanced at Mikael’s paper, which was right next to his.

The spirits listed on Mikael’s sheet were Willow, Lime, Sun, Darkness, and Grain.

Does every student have different spirits listed?

Upon realizing that, he was impressed anew by just how diverse the spirits in the Spirit Realm really were. Come to think of it, that must be why the Spirit Studies textbook boasted such a thick volume.

Yohan shuddered as he recalled that the number of spirits he’d seen in the textbook alone this semester had exceeded a hundred. He felt relieved all over again that this month’s final exam was more of a practical test than a written one.

“Do you want to look for them together?”

When he made the suggestion to Mikael, the latter gave him a look that seemed to say, “What kind of obvious thing are you asking?”

“Were you planning to go alone?”

“Of course not.”

Since their friends tended to lump Mikael and Yohan together as a pair, the two of them had, somewhat by default, come to see each other as partners. Unless the assessment rules explicitly prohibited cooperation, there was no reason to go their separate ways.

However, the fact that this was the Spirit Realm did present a slight disadvantage.

The Spirit Realm is divided into four tiers: the Lower Tier, the Middle Tier, the Upper Tier, and the Transcendent Tier. While the Transcendent Tier is home to king-class spirits, the Lower Tier is inhabited by low-class spirits, the Middle Tier by mid and high-class spirits, and the Upper Tier by the supreme-class spirits. Since the portal opened by Professor Shinbi always connected to the Lower Tier, the Spirit Realm was no longer entirely unfamiliar to Yohan, who knew Read on the Lower Tier’s layout by heart. However, not getting lost in the Spirit Realm and actually encountering a spirit were two entirely different matters.

Even if he managed to reach the location where his target spirit resided without getting lost, there was still a chance he might not encounter the spirit.

Furthermore, in the case of Yohan and Mikael, their divine power and mana were so strong that benevolent spirits rarely approached them.

They assumed the two wouldn’t need their help.

Considering this, it wasn’t a particularly wise choice for two first-years with such immense power to go together, but it wasn’t like the outcome would be any different if they went their separate ways.

“Where should we go?”

He handed the decision over to Mikael.

When he noticed that – unlike the other students who had already found one or two spirits – there wasn’t a single glimmer of light around them, Mikael sighed.

“We should head to the deeper first.”

“I knew it.”

“Yes. I think it’d be better to look for some of the more aggressive spirits.”

While gentle spirits wouldn’t appear to those who didn’t need their help, aggressive spirits would show up just to pick a fight. Since that was the plan, Yohan readily agreed and entered the depths of the Lower Tier with Mikael.

Unlike the outer regions, which were populated only by relatively weak and gentle spirits, the deeper you ventured into the inner depths of each tier, the more likely you were to encounter powerful and vicious spirits.

“Yohan. Do you have a specific spirit in mind?”

“Hmm… I was thinking of the Spirit of Blade.”

“That is way too dangerous.”

“Then how about the Spirit of Calamity?”

“Yohan. That spirit only exists in the Upper Tier.”

“Oh. …Sorry. I was so focused on powerful spirits that I forgot about the realm.”

As Yohan looked sheepish, Mikael gave him a worried look. He felt as though his friend was treating only the most treacherous and difficult paths as the right answer.

Regardless of Mikael’s concern, Yohan stroked his chin. He thought for a long time: what kind of spirit would possess such a unique disposition that it would warrant a report, yet also have the generosity to allow observation? And would such a spirit have the nerve to appear before him and Mikael? After thinking so hard it felt as though steam might rise from his head, Yohan finally sighed.

“Hmm. I don’t know. I guess we’ll just have to go deeper and see if any spirits appear before we can decide.”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

The two concluded there was no need to jump to conclusions and entered the depths together. But to their despair, even after reaching the depths, no lights appeared around Yohan and Mikael. All the spirits had gone into hiding.

“No way….”

Even dangerous spirits like Blade, Rage, and Explosion had all gone into hiding?

Yohan stared at the deathly quiet depths, dumbfounded. The depths of the Spirit Realm weren’t usually this peaceful. It used to be a chaotic place where just stepping inside would send chills down your spine, with the sound of explosions echoing everywhere and aggressive spirits fighting each other…

Yohan and Mikael looked at each other for a moment. When they saw the bewildered expressions on each other’s faces, the two facepalmed and then rubbed their faces. It was a habit they’d picked up from spending so much time together that they’d started mimicking each other’s actions.

“What should we do?”

“Hmm…”

“…Maybe we should use divine power to stir things up?”

“If we do that, the spirits probably won’t help us, they’ll just hide because they’re scared.”

“Then what should we do?”

Yohan said while showing the back of a blank sheet of paper. He hadn’t written a single word, but since they’d spent a bit of time getting to the depths, they only had a few minutes left in the Spirit Realm.

He felt bitter knowing that in about thirty minutes, their access time would end and they’d be automatically expelled from the Spirit Realm. Mikael spoke up.

“Let’s just go out and ask Professor Shinbi to open the Middle Tier for us.”

“What?”

Yohan’s eyes widened in surprise at the suggestion.

“Is that even allowed?”

“It’s worth a try. Besides… the Middle Tier shouldn’t be particularly dangerous for you.”

“I suppose that’s true.”

While an unexpected accident could occur if they encountered a high-class spirit, as long as they stayed on the outskirts, they wouldn’t run into any high-class spirits even in the Middle Tier. As for mid-class spirits, well, since Undine was a mid-class water spirit, he felt he could subdue one if necessary.

With no time to spare, Yohan briefly considered his options, made his decision, and nodded.

“Alright.”

If he observed a mid-class spirit, he might even earn some extra credit. In any case, since his grades were on the line, Yohan had no intention of slacking off, and since he was in danger of failing if he continued like this, he had no other choice.

“Let’s go to the Middle Tier.”

As soon as Yohan agreed, Mikael immediately waved his hand through the air and created a portal leading to the lecture hall. Startled, Yohan stared at Mikael.

“You can do that too?”

At Yohan’s surprised question, his eyes twinkled mischievously.

“What do you think I am?”

As he spoke, Mikael held out his hand. The light pouring from the portal enveloped Mikael’s back like a halo. His white hair, blowing in the wind, was also striking. Yohan, who had been staring at the sight, chuckled softly and took Mikael’s hand.

“Well, of course – an angel.”