Chapter 18: Little Cross (Patreon)

I studied the mana ghost in front of me with cold eyes.

“Who sent you?” I asked it in a sharp tone. “Were you sent? Or did you send yourself?”

I don’t remember, Great One. I’m sorry. Please don’t be angry with me.

Contrition and guilt accompanied its words.

I reigned in my anger. It wasn’t the mana ghost’s fault that it couldn’t remember anything. Or maybe it was, if it sacrificed its memories on purpose when it descended from the heavens.

Ugh, this was annoying.

If this mana ghost had indeed been sent to find me, the question was why? Why had it been sent? To help me? To hinder me? And who sent it?

I had a lot of questions and no answers. Regardless, it appeared to me that a higher being had taken an interest in me. Why? I didn’t know. I didn’t like it. As a reincarnated Immortal, I knew that a higher being wouldn’t take an interest in a mortal without a reason. Usually that reason was for the higher being’s benefit.

And I wasn’t a regular mortal. Whoever sent this mana ghost wanted something from me, though I couldn’t figure out what.

The safer option would be to drive away this mana ghost, or even consume it. Just because a higher being took an interest in me didn’t mean I had to reciprocate that interest. Nor did it mean that this higher being had my best interests in mind. I had no desire to become someone else’s pawn in whatever game they were playing.

Yet, I could feel the mana ghost’s earnest and sincere nature. I detected no malice from it. Regardless of who sent it, this mana ghost bore me no ill will and having it as my familiar would boost my cultivation. Could I afford to turn it away? Did I want to?

Are you angry with me, Great One? the mana ghost asked. I’m sorry I don’t remember more.

Damn it. Now I felt like an asshole who kicked a small puppy.

“I’m not angry with you,” I said. “I’m concerned. I believe someone sent you to me. If that is the case, I don’t know if they did it for my benefit, or theirs.”

The mana ghost pondered this.

Could it not be both?

It…had a point. Maybe I was overthinking things. If a higher being knew what I was, and sent this mana ghost to me, perhaps they had done so in order to sow good will with me. Helping me now, when I was weak, put me in their debt. They could call in this debt later on, when I grew stronger.

This was something I had experienced before, and had done so myself, as Immortal Celestial Thunder.

Did I want to accept this debt? That was the question.

On the one hand, I really wanted this mana ghost as my familiar. It would help me achieve immortality faster. On the other hand, I didn’t want to be indebted to an unknown being who may or may not have my best interests in mind.

One thing I also needed to keep in mind was that the safer option was not always the better option. Cultivation was about taking risks. If I lived my life always shying away from danger, then I didn’t deserve to become an Immortal.

What are you thinking, Great One? the mana ghost said.

“I’m debating with myself on whether or not to take you as my familiar,” I said.

I hope you do. I wish to help you to the best of my ability. Not because someone may have sent me to you, but because you saved me. I meant it earlier, when I said that I owe you a debt that I can never hope to repay. If you hadn’t saved me, those beasts would have consumed me.

I gave the mana ghost a wry smile.

“Don’t paint me as some kind of altruist,” I said. “I didn’t save you because it was the right thing to do, or because I’m kind. I’m not. I saved you because it benefited me. Nothing more, nothing less.”

The mana ghost didn’t respond right away. I wondered if I offended it with my words.

You lie, the mana ghost said. If you were not kind, then why did you feel guilty at the one-eyed mortal’s words, when she mentioned your ill-spoken comment? Why did you comfort the mortal girl who disrespected you? Why did you encourage the mortal girl you’re protecting to go after the bandits? Those do not seem like the actions of a selfish and indifferent man to me.

I pursed my lips.

“How long were you awake before you spoke to me?” I asked.

I was never asleep, the mana ghost said. I merely pretended to be. I wanted to see what kind of person you were, Great One. Divine beings are not always good or kind. They can be evil and cruel.

I snorted. The spirit had been awake all this time, and I hadn’t even noticed. If that didn’t prove that it used to be a divine being like me, I didn’t know what did.

“Tricky little bastard,” I said, grinning. “You’re not as simple as I first thought you were.”

No, I am not. Just because I do not remember much doesn’t mean I am stupid.

The mana ghost had a point there. I also believed that this conversation was helping it recover some of who it used to be. Its manner of speaking was different now than when we started.

“I don’t know if that makes me want to make you my familiar more,” I said. “Or less.”

More, I hope. As I said, I want to repay you for your kindness.

I scoffed, but didn’t reply right away to its words.

“Ah, what the hell,” I said. “I’ll take you as my familiar. If that puts me in debt with some god or heavenly spirit, then so be it.”

I felt the mana ghost’s joy and happiness.

Oh, thank you, Great One, it said. I’ll make sure you don’t regret this.

“I’ll hold you to that,” I said, before looking up at the sky. “We’ll forge the contract at a later date, however. The one I have in mind is special. It will draw too much attention, and I want to be as far away from other people as possible when we go through with it.”

Except Leroy. I would need him to stand by as a protector while I forged the familiar bond with this mana ghost. Of course, that meant telling him that I planned on making a mana ghost my familiar. He was just going to love that.

What kind of contract, Great One? the mana ghost asked.

“For most wizards, a familiar contract creates a ‘master-servant’ relationship between themselves and their chosen familiar,” I said. “The contract I have in mind is from my home world, Spirit Earth. We will not be a master and his servant. We will be partners in the truest sense of the word. This contract will make us become two halves of a greater whole. While we will still be distinct beings in our own right, the contract will make us one entity in a metaphysical sense. If that’s not something you’re interested in, say so. I won’t force you into this.”

I mean, I could. There were ways to force this sort of contract on a mana ghost. I knew of several rituals that could achieve this. However, forcing someone to become my partner never appealed to me. It felt wrong. That wasn't a partnership. That was slavery.

Will this special contract have other effects? the mana ghost asked.

“Not for me,” I said. “However, the contract will change your nature to better suit mine. You will become my perfect partner.” I grinned. “What do you say? Are you still interested in becoming my familiar?”

Yes. I will become your perfect partner, Great One.

“Gabriel,” I said. “If we’re going to be partners, you can call me Gabriel.”

Very well, Great Gabriel, the mana ghost said.

“Just Gabriel is fine,” I said, a little exasperated.

As you say, Just Gabriel.

I glared at the mana ghost.

“You’re doing this on purpose,” I said.

Yes, Lord Gabriel, it said. I am.

The mana ghost felt mischievous fun at teasing me.

“Of course I get the one mana ghost in existence who is a smart ass,” I muttered.

The mana ghost let out a little laugh at that. It was a sweet sound, like silver bells ringing.

***

Leroy gave me an odd look when I returned to camp that night. I ignored him and went to bed. To keep the mana ghost secret, I had it hide in my body again. This time, it resided in my dantian. The mana ghost let out a sound of delighted surprise when it saw the pool of mana inside me. It sank into the pool and let out a sigh of satisfaction, similar to the same way a human might when dipping into a hot spring.

While it was dangerous to let a spirit into my dantian, I didn’t mind it in this case. Once we forged the familiar contract, the mana ghost would be spending most of its time in my dantian anyway. The only time it would leave was when I summoned it, or when it left of its own accord.

It took us about a day and a half to reach Little Cross with the former prisoners in tow. We spent the first half of the journey reaching the main road. After that, we followed it south until the walls of Little Cross were in sight. It was mid-afternoon by that point.

The caravan must have warned them about us, because the moment the town came into sight, the gate opened and about a dozen town guards rushed out to meet us. Since Little Cross was an independent settlement, or as independent as any settlement could be while still under the Empire’s umbrella, it had its own guards. Most were mortal, but it had three First Circle wizards. One was at the ninth thread.

We handed the former prisoners off to the Little Cross town guards. Some of the guards must have been family with some of the former prisoners, because there were a few tearful reunions.

“Thank you for this,” the lead town guard said to me. Surprisingly, he was a mortal, not a wizard. “When we learned of what happened, we wanted to go out and hunt down the bastards who did this.” He grimaced. “However, we’re no match for the Black Wolf Gang. So, thank you for doing what we couldn’t.”

I waved off this thanks, though his words made me fell all warm and fuzzy inside.

“Don’t thank me,” I said. “I’m just a bodyguard.” I jerked a thumb towards Lorelei. “She’s the one who decided to go after the bandits, and I happened to go along.”

The lead town guard started.

“Oh,” he said. “I thought you were in charge, considering the way you’re dressed…”

He trailed off, clearly embarrassed by his faux pas.

“Don’t listen to him,” Lorelei said with a snort. “Lord Gabriel is just being modest. If it weren’t for him, we wouldn’t have gone after those bandits.”

I glared at Lorelei for narcing on me. She stuck out her tongue in response. Corie covered her mouth, no doubt hiding a smile. Leroy just shook his head.

The lead town guard looked between us, before letting out a smile of his own.

“Regardless, thank you for your help.”

After that, we gave the man the money we took off the bandits, saying it was for the former prisoners. I also told him that if any of the former prisoners were interested in working for House Sturm, he should send a message to Sturm Hill Hall. The lead town guard thanked me for this, and let us go on our way.

Leroy and I had actually passed through Little Cross on our way to Icefall City, but we didn’t bother stopping. We just traveled right through it. This was my first time getting a good look at the place.

Little Cross wasn’t that big. It was a small town, the kind with two main roads. Most of the town’s businesses catered to travelers, so there were a lot of taverns, restaurants, and inns. A sturdy stone wall surrounded the entire place.

After asking around, we found out that our caravan had only beaten us there by a few hours. We found them in the town square, staying at one of the more expensive inns. Given the number of people in the caravan, the caravan ended up filling the entire place up. It would have been less crowded to split up and stay at two or three different inns. However, no one wanted to do that. Neither did they want to camp outside the town walls, not when they could enjoy a hot meal and a warm bed.

To my surprise, no one tried to call us to task for abandoning the caravan to go hunt down some bandits. Sure, we got some ugly looks, but most people cheered for us when they realized that we managed to kill members of the Black Wolf Gang and rescue the people they had taken prisoner.

Even Lieutenant Hayden expressed his gratitude. Of all the people in the caravan, I expected him to be the most upset with us. That didn’t stop him from scolding us for our recklessness, but I could tell that his heart wasn’t in it. It helped that we brought back the rings the members of the Black Wolf Gang wore, proving that we had indeed killed them.

My opinion of the man went up a notch. It went up even further when I found out that he had reserved two rooms for the four of us: one room for Leroy and I to share, and one room for Lorelei and Corie to share.

Jeffrey, however, was another story. He wasn’t happy with me for abandoning him for the past few days. I felt a little guilty for doing that, so I gave him some coin to placate him. He was surprised by this, but grateful.

After dealing with Jeffrey, I pulled Leroy aside.

“Get some sleep now,” I said to him. “We’re heading out after everyone else falls asleep.”

Leroy raised an eyebrow at me.

“There’s something I need to do tonight,” I said, answering his unasked question. “Don’t worry, we’ll be back long before the caravan leaves in the morning.”

Tonight would be the best chance I would get to form the familiar contract during this entire trip. With Lorelei and the package safe behind Little Cross’ walls, surrounded by the other members of the caravan, I felt it was safe enough to leave her and Corie alone for a few hours. Otherwise, I would have to wait until we returned to Sturm Hill Hall, and that would take too long.

“Very well, young master,” Leroy replied.

After that, I washed up and ate a simple meal before crashing in the room I shared with Leroy. He followed suit soon after. It didn’t take long for sleep to take me. Before I lost consciousness, I asked the mana ghost to wake me up when night fell. It gave me an affirmative, and I fell asleep right after.

***

I woke up several hours later to the mana ghost giving me the mental equivalent of a poke in the eye. It was annoying and somewhat painful, but it did wake me up. I gave the mana ghost a mental glare to express my annoyance. It just giggled at me.

I woke up Leroy, and the two of us got ready for our little nighttime excursion. Before we left our room, I swept the inn with my divine sense. I saw that almost everyone else was asleep. Those that were still awake were either talking in the privacy of their own rooms, reading by mage lamp, or in the case of one couple, fucking. I pulled my divine sense away from those two real quick.

Watching other people have sex was not my idea of fun. I wasn’t a voyeur. Besides, it just reminded me of how incredibly single I was.

Lorelei and Corie were two of the ones still awake. That surprised me. After the past few days, I had expected them to be asleep by now. Eh, no matter. Even if they caught us leaving, I could just come up with an excuse.

Of course, as soon as I thought that, the door to their room opened and Lorelei stepped out. She froze when she saw Leroy and I in the hallway. The two of us just stared at each other in awkward silence for several seconds.

“Lord Gabriel?” Lorelei asked, breaking the silence. “What are you two doing?”

“Going for a walk,” I said.

She looked skeptical at this. Corie peered at us from behind her.

“A walk?” Lorelei said. “At this time of night?”

I shrugged.

“We took a nap right after talking with Lieutenant Hayden, and now we can’t go back to sleep,” I said. “We’re hoping that a walk will burn off some of our excess energy. If that doesn’t work, a light spar will do.”

“Oh, that sounds like a good idea,” Lorelei said. “Corie and I can’t sleep either. Why don’t we join you?”

I shook my head.

“That isn’t necessary,” I said. “In fact, I’d prefer it if you didn’t. I want some time alone.” I glanced at Leroy. “Or as alone as I can get.”

Lorelei and Corie both gave me skeptical looks.

“I see,” Lorelei said. “In that case, enjoy your…walk.”

She closed the door. I took a quick glance with my divine sense. When I realized that neither of them were getting ready to try and join us, or follow us, I let out a relieved sigh.

“I suspect that Miss Lorelei believes we are going to visit the local brothel, young master,” Leroy said after we left the inn and headed towards the town walls.

“Little Cross has a brothel?” I asked, surprised.

I didn’t think the town was large enough to warrant one. Then again, Little Cross saw a lot of travelers.

“Oh yes, young master,” Leroy said. “I overheard some of the other adventurers talk about it earlier. It’s called the Blushing Maiden. Apparently it’s quite popular.”

I scoffed at the name, before stopping in place.

“Wait, did you think I wanted to head out towards the brothel when we spoke earlier?” I asked.

Leroy didn’t say anything, which was an answer in and of itself. I shook my head before continuing on.

Little Cross closed its gates at sunset, so we had to go over the walls to leave town. It wasn’t that difficult, especially with Leroy and I working together. The most difficult part was not getting caught by the guards keeping watch, but even that was easy.

Soon we were on the other side of the walls and heading away from Little Cross. Since my only requirement was getting as far away from other people as possible, I picked a random direction and headed off. Leroy followed close behind. He had questions, I was sure, but he kept them to himself. No matter. He would find out the truth soon enough.

To ensure our privacy, I kept a constant lookout for other people with my divine sense. I sensed no one the entire time.

After traveling for two hours, I found a spot that I thought was perfect. It was a grassy meadow in the middle of a small forest. There were no magic beasts or other people around, and it had plenty of ambient mana.

Just to be safe, I swept the area around us with my divine sense one more time. That was when I caught sight of a familiar pair heading in our direction.

“What are they doing here?” I growled.

“What do you mean, young master?” Leroy asked.

“Lorelei and Corie. They’re heading this way. They must have followed us.”

I didn’t even need to ask how they found us. As she proved not too long ago, Lorelei knew how to track others with her Earth magic, and we hadn’t taken measures to hide our tracks. In my defense, I hadn’t thought we needed to.

The two of them must have just stayed out of range of my divine sense. Otherwise I would have seen them long before this.

Why were Lorelei and Corie following us? They had no reason to. Even if they thought Leroy and I had gone to the Blushing Maiden brothel, they should have remained behind in Little Cross.

Damn it!

If I couldn’t convince them to leave, then I wouldn’t be able to forge the familiar contract with the mana ghost tonight.

The contract I had in mind required me to reveal some of my true nature. Anyone who saw me would know what I was, or at least receive some hints. If I was a regular Energy Condensation cultivator, that wouldn’t be a problem. However, I wasn’t. I was a reincarnated Immortal.

I was fine with Leroy witnessing my true nature, since he already knew about it. Lorelei and Corie were another matter. The only other people I had intended to tell that I was a reincarnated Immortal were my family. That was it. The fewer people who knew, the better.

I crossed my arms and waited for Lorelei and Corie to arrive. I heard them approach long before I saw them with my eyes. They made no attempt at stealth.

“Oh good,” Lorelei said when they both entered the clearing. They stopped a few feet away from Leroy and I. “You haven’t started yet.”

For some reason, she brought her comically large backpack with her.

“What are you two doing out here?” I snapped out. “You should be back in Little Cross.”

“We could say the same thing about you,” Corie snapped back. “What are you doing out here?”

“That’s none of your business,” I said. “Go back. This doesn’t concern you.”

“Of course it concerns me,” she said. “You made it my business when you made me your servant, young master.”

She said the last two words in a sickly sweet tone.

Gah! I would strangle her.

Lorelei put her hand on Corie’s shoulder.

“Corie, that’s enough,” she said, before turning to me. “I’m sorry, Lord Gabriel. Don’t be angry with her. It was my idea to follow you out here tonight. I hadn’t intended to bring Corie along. She decided that on her own.”

“Of course I did,” Corie said with a snort. “I couldn’t let you sneak away for a clandestine meeting with a boy in the middle of the woods, could I? What would people think?”

“Why did you follow us?” I asked, ignoring Corie’s comments.

Lorelei looked uneasy at that, and she fidgeted in place. A horrible thought occurred to me.

“Wait, you didn’t think I came out here to meet someone, did you?” I asked.

The only people I would sneak away to meet like this would be the Black Wolf Gang. Otherwise, why bother with all the stealth and skulduggery?

To my relief, Lorelei looked surprised by this.

“What?” she blurted out. “No! That isn’t why I followed you out here.”

“Then why did you?”

Lorelei continued to look uneasy.

“Lord Gabriel,” she started. “I owe you an apology.” She glanced at Corie. “And you as well, Corie. I’ve kept a secret from you both.”

Corie gave Lorelei an incredulous look.

“What do you mean, Lorrie?” she asked. “What secret?”

Lorelei pulled her backpack from her back and set it on the ground. She rummaged around in it for several seconds, before pulling out a sheet of paper.

“I can’t say more until Lord Gabriel reads this,” she said. “And agrees to what it says.”

Lorelei held the sheet of paper out to me. While I was impatient to get rid of her and Corie, I was curious about this secret of Lorelei’s.

I took the piece of paper from her and glanced at it. The moment I did, I froze. It was dark out, without even the moon out for illumination, but thanks to my divine sense, I had no trouble reading out the words on the paper.

It was a message written in the language of Spirit Earth.