On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human



An appendage shoots at me and misses me by an inch. I grab it when it retreats, but it simply dissolves. Angry as it is, the Spirit is still using its brain. A howling sound comes from behind me, causing me to step aside. A wind blade shoots past me, heading to the Water Spirit at a ridiculous speed. It cuts the Water Spirit's limbs which quickly regenerate.

The attacker clicks her tongue as if she can't believe the gigantic jellyfish can do that. I glance at the not-so-bright Spirit Master, causing her to flinch. She seems to know she could have harmed me if I had reacted even a second slower—not that it could happen. Returning my gaze to the jellyfish, I outstretch my hand and send it several fireballs.

The jellyfish responds in kind by sending water bullets. I run past the projectiles before they collide. The jellyfish remains in its place but sends me its limbs to skewer me. None of them can match my speed, so dodging them is easy. Right as I am just a few feet away from the jellyfish, water beams emerge from the flooded ground, circling it like a protective shield.

I stop in my tracks and distance myself. Not a second later, hundreds of ice shards of varying sizes protrude out of the beams. The ice shards can cut through the air. They are sharp enough to make my skin bleed. It is quite surprising but expected from a Spirit that used to be contracted to someone like Spartus.

Rumble!

The sky darkens as dark clouds gather above us, covering the sun. Rain pours lightly but quickly turns heavy. I don't let any of the raindrops touch me. I surround myself with a protective Mana Barrier. The Spirit's influence on the area becomes even stronger. Everything that is covered by this rain is its domain.

Fortunately, the Spirit has not yet corrupted. If it had been the case, facing it without ruining Guatencia and our vacation would have been quite close to impossible. Outstretching my hand, I summon Rexorem into my hand. I channel Ignio's Natural Energy into Rexorem, causing a flame to cover its entirety.

My body temperature rises tremendously. Even without touching my body, the raindrops around me evaporate. Swinging Rexorem vertically, I destroy the ice shards surrounding the jellyfish. Its water beams falter slightly but quickly stabilize. Kicking the water, I shoot at the jellyfish. My body is surrounded by hot steam that is futilely trying to incapacitate me.

Channeling a great amount of Mana into Rexorem, intensifying the flame covering it, I slash the protective beams surrounding it. Hot steam rises into the air before quickly disappearing. The water cannot withstand the heat of my flame. I broke through the jellyfish's guard. Up close, only now I can see the core of the jellyfish.

A tiny little girl with blue hair and blue skin is at the core of the jellyfish. The girl has wrathful eyes shining in purple and a pair of pointy ears. The negative emotion I can sense from the Spirit is slightly alarming. Corrupted Spirits are no longer a problem for me, but I don't want to ruin our vacation.

'The water is her power. I will do something about it!'

Luxia materializes before separating herself from me. Natural Energy surges behind me and golden light illuminates the area. A gigantic tree emerges from the flooded ground. The water ripples before quickly calming down. As the tree glows in gold, the water level decreases. It causes the Spirit's attention to shift to Luxia who is controlling the tree.

Whirr!

Swinging Rexorem at it, I send a flame-covered Mana Blade. The jellyfish returns its attention to me, raising a water wall to protect itself from my attack. My Mana Blade easily cut through the wall, leaving boiling steam in its wake. As my Mana Blade heads to the jellyfish, the steam comes at me. My Mana Blade is faster, so the jellyfish has to forego the steam to defend itself.

Quickly thrusting Rexorem forward, I spread the flame covering it to the surroundings. Creating a circle of fire that quickly surrounds the jellyfish. I swing Rexorem upward, raising the intensity of the flame. A wall of crimson flame soon entraps the jellyfish. When I slam Rexorem into the ground, the wall of flame expands and sweeps the surroundings, evaporating the water that is flooding the ground.

Hiss!

Boiling steam fills the air, obscuring my view. As soon as I feel the jellyfish's influence on the steam, I tap into my Draconic Power. As my power spreads through my surroundings, the jellyfish's influence on the steam dwindles. The control quickly falls into my hands, but I can't take control of all of the steam.

As I condense the steam into a single ice spear in the air, I find another ice spear in the air. The shape is different but it is made of the same water that I evaporated. There is a tinge of black at the tip of the ice spear that the jellyfish created. The Spirit is close to corrupting. I swing my hand down, sending the spear at the jellyfish. It mimics my actions.

Crack!

As the two spears crash into each other, they shatter into pieces. Instead of negating each other, however, they merge and then form a bigger spear. Unfortunately for the jellyfish, it is moving toward it. Frantically raising its Natural Energy, it summons a water wall from the ground that is no longer flooded.

The newly merged spear hit the water wall in the blink of an eye. The spear's advance is stopped halfway as the wall turns into ice, but it has managed to pierce through the wall. It doesn't harm the jellyfish, but that is okay. I raise Rexorem into the air at this moment. A raging flame covers its entirety, boiling the water particles in the air.

Swoosh!

Swinging it down, I send a crimson flame blade at the wall protecting the jellyfish, destroying it and also the giant spear that it stopped. The jellyfish is too caught off guard to put up a proper defense. I sense its panic as it puts its limbs before it, trying to stop the advance of the blade. It is futile. The flame blade cleaves through it effortlessly.

Not betraying my expectation, fortunately, the little Spirit still has the means to protect herself. An ethereal sphere protects her from my flame blade, thus saving it from an unsightly fate. I teleport in front of her before she can regain her composure. I quickly grab her, but something stabs my chest before I can put her to sleep.

Looking down, I find a blue limb deeply buried in my chest. My heart pounds loudly. My red vision quickly turns blue as my body temperature decreases rapidly. I turn my gaze to the Spirit and find her gnashing her teeth. She is trying to corrupt me along with her.

I feel like I am drowning. My consciousness fades and then my body feels light. When I regain my body weight, I quickly open my eyes. I find myself in Guatencia, precisely, the place that has become my and the Water Spirit's battlefield. A glance is enough to tell me that I am not in the Guatencia that I know.

"Aguanum."

A familiar voice causes me to turn around. It is filled with solemnity and lacks warmth, but it is the voice of Spartus Haevali. True to my deduction, I soon find myself face to face with a burly white-haired man. I am right in his line of sight, but I know he is not looking at me. I step to the side and face sideways, allowing me to see the figure he has his eyes on.

"Master, I won't abolish our Contract."

Expectedly, it is the little Spirit who controls the giant jellyfish made of water.

"I can't risk losing you to them."

"Are you planning to die!?"

"If it's to protect all of you, I will be glad to do it."

"This is ridiculous! What about Ignio? Did he agree to it?"

"He didn't. But he has sworn to not meddle in the fight."

A look of disbelief flashes before the Spirit's eyes. She looks at Spartus dubiously but is met with utter seriousness. A helpless laugh escapes the Spirit. It argues, but Spartus doesn't listen. Words are exchanged but acquiescence is close to impossible to achieve. In the end, the Spirit, Aguanum, promises.

"I won't abolish our Contract, but I shall not help you."

Spartus nods his head and leaves. Aguanum watches his back helplessly. She wants to defy him but can't bring herself to break her promise. She remains in her place and looks at the same spot throughout the time. As her restless heart is about to eat her, a Fire Spirit comes. Her mind awoken, she stares at the Fire Spirit intently.

"What are you planning, Ignio?"

"I am going to save Spartus."

Aguanum widens her eyes. "Are you going to break your promise?"

"Calm, down, water brain. Let's bless him with our Earth Essence," Ignio says with a smile. "We only promised to not fight alongside him. Aiding him with the essence of our power should be fine, right?"

"But…" Aguanum hesitates. "Forcefully turning our Natural Energy into Earth Essence will cause us to fall into slumber."

"Spartus will make it. Even if it costs my life, I promise you Spartus will survive."

Convinced by the sheer conviction she senses in Ignio's words, she agrees to his plan. She converts all of her Natural Energy into Earth Essence and soon falls into slumber.

My vision fades, but I quickly regain it. I am back at staring at Aguanum who is now close to losing consciousness. I stretch my hand and catch her before she falls. As she falls asleep, she mumbles about how much of a failure I am.