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Any Means Necessary (Selfish OC SI, Multiverse) [In Tower of God]
- Thread starter Eiri Fllyn
- Start date
- Crossover
Yes it's canon, it's a key part of her introduction, but isn't explored in detail, since the story focuses on another protagonist during that time.
62 – Symbiotic Spirit Crest
New
62 – Symbiotic Spirit Crest
I actually knew very little about the Yeon flames from the story, besides the fact that they were powerful and made Yihwa surprisingly durable, so it wasn't just an offensive power.
Yihwa had explained that the flames were originally given to Yeon Hana, their Family Head, from an ancient master in the Tower, and that the power could be transferred to others if the user was skilled enough. Hana had transferred the power to Yeon Illarde, and then all her descendants inherited it to varying degrees but it was typically stronger in the daughters, and Yihwa was exceptional even among those.
Like Zahard's blood, it was a curious thing, capable of being transmitted through birth and lineage, yet was not a genetic power. It wasn't in their DNA, it could be manifested into a weapon, or even be completely transferred in a way that caused the original user to lose access to it until they reclaimed it.
The best theory I could come up with for this type of phenomenon was that it was soul-based or ritual-based inheritance. Either it was passed down spiritually, with the physical transference merely a medium with which the actual power was conveyed through such as in the case of Zahard's blood, or the very concept of natural birth and family history gave rise to a mystic grand ritual or thaumaturgical system that caused the descendants to gain the same power from the progenitor.
That also had to be why the more powerful the individual in question, the more difficulty they had in breeding at all, such that Yeon Ilarde, who was not actually one of the Family Heads, was still too powerful to the point where even ordinary Rankers couldn't impregnate her, and even after difficult "selections" every five years to choose worthy men among Rankers, she rarely gave birth.
In a way, it was similar to how magic circuits in Fate worked. They weren't quite in the genes, even though there were aspects of their physical expressions that did show up in the genes, creating strange structures in the body. The actual circuits themselves were spiritual in nature, and you could, for example, imbue a familiar with magic circuits by converting your own blood. This was a basic skill for Fate magi, but those magic circuits weren't capable of connecting to the soul and generating prana on their own that way, they still sourced the prana from the original caster.
It made sense to me that there were lots of things with alternative inheritance mechanisms that were not based in physical biology, now that I had pretty much confirmed that nothing mystical could be replicated in Worm by Amelia just using the biological materials I'd brought back. She couldn't even do much with the Endbringer flesh which I now knew to be magical, although that might've also been a Manton Limit problem. Blasto worked with the flesh as a Tinker, but even he couldn't truly bring it back to life, not without the Simurgh's help and Citrine's accidental Trump power anyway.
If I could acquire the Yeon flame myself somehow it would be a nice bonus, but just being able to study it was already a great return on my investment.
For her part, Yihwa seemed to think the research would be a lot more invasive than it was, acting far more embarrassed throughout the process than necessary. All I really needed was to collect some samples of her fluids and use Structural Analysis on her though, plus having her use the flames so that I could observe the flames themselves.
Well, that was easier said than done because her control was awful. I could not even really use Structural Analysis on her properly because her flames rejected my mana instantly, even if she tried to hold it back.
So I ended up having to try training her just for the sake of my own research.
Of course, even that was useful to me, since I could practice containing her flames.
That was why I had enshrouded her in a dense Shinsoo bubble courtesy of the water spirits, trying to suppress her flames.
It was an interesting experiment, because her flames could burn Shinsoo. So I couldn't truly suppress it, but with particular rotations I could redirect it.
"That was amazing…I've never been in Shinsoo dense enough for me to actually feel this much pressure," she said.
I'd had to raise the density to what I'd encountered myself in the White Steel Eel cage that Headon made in order for her to start feeling it at all.
"I rarely use this skill…a lot of Regulars can't deal with this density at all," I said. That would've included me, if not for the water spirits. But now that I had companion water spirits all over my body plus acclimatizing to it over time as I climbed, my personal Shinsoo resistance had also risen a lot. At this level if I didn't call on the spirits in the stone I would still have some difficulty moving, like wading through water.
It was still much higher density than the general environment above the 25th Floor where Androssi and the old gang had gone.
But we were in a rented private training facility, and I didn't sense anybody around, so it was fine for me to use it. Not that it really mattered anyways.
"Well, let's try something else," I said, lifting up my right hand, the sleeve of my shirt pulling back to reveal a flexible form-fitting bangle on my wrist. It was white silver, the whole thing made of Endbringer Crystal, with a small thin decoration hanging from it.
It was Derflinger, Compressed into a tiny form using Shinsoo. With a mental prod from me, the sword's chain extended and the sword moved to my hand in a quick motion before it detached the chain and Decompressed to a normal size, still sheathed in Armoriont crystal.
Both Derflinger and I had become skilled in using the Compression effect. We did not need the Guardians to contract to give us the ability. Back on the Floor of Tests, after being provoked, Yu Han Sung had managed to use a technique to Compress Rak (the huge alligator on Baam's team of three, who had gone off on his own with Parakewl following after him when Shibisu revealed that Khun had left with Rachel on the 25th Floor).
He had told me the theory behind the technique, and it took quite a long time to learn how to do it, and while I was not capable of doing Compression in real-time like Yu Han Sung on any random thing, given enough preparation time and the water spirits' help I could now do it to important items that needed the effect without being inside an Inventory item, after saturating the object in Shinsoo.
And both Derflinger and I had become capable of using a permanently imbued Autocompression, which was a more advanced skill that permanently granted the Compression ability to an Ignition Weapon or living being, so that they could trigger it at will without redoing the whole Compression technique from the beginning.
The Compression skill worked well with the Endbringer Crystal's spatial warping too, allowing Derflinger to assume an incredibly small size then Decompress to a massive size when fully released, or also arbitrarily enlarging only a part of him in only one dimension, such as extending without making the handle thicker.
The sheath, on the other hand, was already at its limit, back to normal size, so if I wanted Derflinger to get bigger it'd have to be unsheathed first or break through the sheath.
"The Crystal Knight's unique talking Ignition Weapon…Lord Derflinger!" Yihwa said with awe.
"Oh, I like this one, Partner!" Derflinger said. "She's cute and respectful! Nice to meetcha!"
"The honor is mine, Lord Derflinger!"
"Hahaha, she's perfect! Perfect! We're keeping her, right Partner?"
"H-huh? K-keep?" Yihwa blushed profusely at the comment.
"She's not a stray, Derf," I said. "But yes, I'd like to have her as a teammate in the future."
"So what are we doing today?" Derf asked.
"Doing some tests with Yihwa's flames and helping her with control exercises. I'd like you to try absorbing the flames," I said.
"Sounds interesting, let's do it."
"Alright, Ignite!" We channeled Shinsoo together, causing the sword to glow and wisps of energy.
This wasn't just a performance—there was actually a Shinsoo technique involved with Ignition, which Hwa Ryun had taught us. Normal Ignition weapons could all do it instinctively, bonding with their users' will and Shinsoo, if the user was qualified. By channeling Shinsoo together using Ignition Liquid as a medium, the weapon would awaken with that bond, absorb more Shinsoo with the help of the user, then release and amplify their own power that had been implanted.
We never got Ignition Liquid but Derflinger didn't need it because he was more autonomous or more "alive" and didn't need a user to activate him. Although it was a bit different with Derflinger, this was a primary reason why Ignition Weapons scaled with the user. The Thirteen Month Series weapons in the hands of a Ranker princess were incomparably more powerful as the wielder could channel more Shinsoo into them to unlock greater power within.
For Derflinger, some aspects of Ignition were redundant because I already had a magic bond with him through a familiar spell. But it was still necessary to synchronize our Shinsoo flow because Derflinger's ability to project Shinsoo control outside of himself was quite limited without it. The Soo, which meant the quantity and density of Shinsoo, that Derflinger could control was vastly greater than my own, without the water spirits. However, his Myun, or range, was extremely limited without an Ignition synchronized wielder, which significantly hampered his ability to move and project his attack-absorption power. And he couldn't make any Baangs on his own either, while I had managed to develop two Baangs on my own, five with the help of my peripheral body-cohabiting water spirits, and way more with the core spirits in the stone.
I gestured for Yihwa release her flames, so she did. A wave of flames larger than my body came towards me, and Derflinger went to meet the challenge.
"Yeeoww! These are some hot flames missy!" Derflinger said, but still managed to suck in a good amount of the flames before they hit me.
Once she stopped the stream of flames, Derflinger was revealed to be glowing reddish with heat, but otherwise fine.
"Hmm, these flames are difficult to break down, my outer layer probably won't be able to survive a stronger blast for long. But I can contain them inside my Endbringer form," said Derflinger. "It will take a while to actually digest it properly though."
"Want to try something stronger then?" I asked.
"Sure, hit me with the strongest flame you've got, miss!" Derflinger shouted to Yihwa.
"Are you sure? That might be dangerous…" Yihwa said hesitantly.
"It's fine, we can handle it. Don't bother thinking about controlling it, just release as much as you can," I said confidently while preparing my defenses. "We have contingencies in case it does too much damage."
Yihwa nodded, then made a face of concentration as she closed her eyes.
She seemed to struggle to gather her power, but after a few minutes, it rose to an unprecedented level.
I sensed the power before the flames surged around her body, and then it concentrated towards her hand as she tried to punch with it.
"Uh?! Ahhhh!" Yihwa made a surprised face, then the flames exploded against herself, but it still created a titanic explosion that engulfed me as well in a mind-melting pain that I quickly dulled my nerves for.
"That's stronger than the biggest Square class fire spell I've ever seen!" Derflinger shouted through the torrent of fire.
I dimly noted that the entire training facility had been consumed in fire, but the walls were decently well made and the flames were petering out by that point. The ground beneath us though had become a molten crater.
My clothes had been completely annihilated, even much of my skin had melted. Fortunately my new Endbringer subdermal mesh had survived pretty well, blocking the heat from transferring through to my actual vital organs. Even my eyes were fine when I shut them in time, the eyelids also covered by Endbringer crystal.
My nose and ears though had more of a problem, for which I was forced to use the water spirits to help shield me.
Thinking about it, that was a serious weakness I'd need to figure out how to shore up. A massive blast like this was obviously going to deal a lot of damage going through open orifices that led into my body, and the water spirits' shielding might not be enough next time.
The water spirits healed me at high speed while the smoke cleared and Derflinger coughed repeatedly.
Eventually it was revealed that Derflinger's outer crystal sheath had also been melted, leaving the Endbringer form glowing red hot and steam coming out of it, as Derflinger tried to expel some of the heat.
Yihwa lay on the ground in a smoking heap groaning, but otherwise did not seem particularly injured. Her resistance to her own flames seemingly extended to her clothes as well, which were slightly damaged—ruined for cosmetic purposes, but didn't actually get vaporized like mine, even though mine were reinforced Armoriont nanocellulose.
"Well, that was impressive," I said.
"You can say that again, don't expect me to absorb anything like that, Partner, haha!" Derflinger said, laughing.
O O O
Time passed, and we'd only made a tiny amount of progress on her control training. It seemed like conventional training methods for mental discipline and Shinsoo control exercises were ineffective for her.
She had a little success with tuning the heat of her flames and avoiding sudden explosive outbursts of flame after getting a better handle on her emotions, but other than that, we had little to show for our work.
I was no closer to figuring out how to reproduce the flame on my own either, but training with her had still been useful to hone my other skills since her flames were potent enough to actually threaten me, in a way that was very different from the physical training I did with Androssi.
More importantly, the opportunity was ripe to seek my true objective.
"It doesn't seem like this is working," I said with a frown. "There's barely any improvement."
"Sorry for wasting your time…I don't know why I'm so bad at this," Yihwa said.
"Not at all, failures are merely part of the research process, and the data was useful regardless. But I don't think I can help you master it like this," I said. "And the injections I used to enhance other Regulars before won't work on you either, with your flames rejecting everything. At this rate, it doesn't seem like this can be solved before your next test. Maybe not even in several tests."
"I-I'm sure I'll be fine, you've done enough for me already!" She said with a forced smile that didn't reach her eyes, which looked quite pitiful.
"There might still be one more way…" I said, hand rubbing my chin, eyes furrowed as if deep in thought.
"R-really?"
I looked at her solemnly. "Yes, I think there is a way that will work. But it will be a big decision, for both of us. Let's stop for now and head back, this will be a long conversation."
She nodded with a curious expression, then we made our way to back to my lab, to my office tea room.
Once I set the tea and we sat down, I began.
"There are some things you need to know about me first, things that I do not share lightly. I hope you appreciate the trust I'm placing in you, and do not speak of it to anyone without my permission, even if you choose not to proceed with this."
"Of course, you can trust me, I won't say a word to anyone!"
"Good. I'll be blunt then. I'm an Irregular," I said, watching her eyes widen comically as she froze in the pose of holding her teacup.
"And not just that, even among Irregulars, I'm a special type of being—it's quite complicated, but basically I'm a being from 'beyond the boundary of reality', subject to special rules," I continued, making air quotes. "The power that I can directly express in the material world is heavily restricted, and without an anchor, I can only maintain my physical presence for short periods. I require summoners, born of this world, to invite me into the world and sustain my existence with their energy, and in exchange, I can use my power on their behalf, by forming a contract with them. That is the true nature of my relationship with Androssi. She is my contractor, so in a way, she really is a Witch that summoned a demon, although she's not really a Spell user otherwise, and I'm not really a demon—that's just an analogy."
Yihwa was still listening intently with a shocked expression. I sipped some tea first before continuing.
"This is what I am offering you, if your will is strong enough—and I believe it is, you can form a contract with me too. But unlike with the princess, you have the potential for us to go a step further, create a more powerful bond, which may allow you to gain more control over your flames."
"A more powerful bond…than the princess?"
The culmination of my research, my new magnum opus, developed after studying Anak's blood I retrieved on the Floor of Tests, learning from the water spirits how they coalesced new spirits that bonded with me, learning from Derflinger how to attune to and possess the Endbringer crystal, and all the experiments of implanting things into my test subjects.
A Symbiotic Spirit Crest, which could hold a spirit derived from an advanced imprint of my will, sustaining itself off the host yet linked to me.
"That's right. The princess has already accepted Zahard's blood and her body could not handle having a second power from me, especially because Zahard's blood is quite jealous—it's hold on her was already too strong, because she'd become a princess long before she entered the Tower."
That wasn't quite confirmed, I only developed this spell after we split up so had never been able to test it on her, nor did I know if she would be willing, but Yihwa didn't need to know any of that.
"But you are different. Your flames may reject most things, but they are still borne of you. As long as you are willing, and form a basic contract first, it should be possible for you to accept my power. But it will also be far more permanent than the contract I have with the princess now, which can be broken at any time. I will be investing a living fragment of my will inside of you, and it will attune itself to your body and soul, sharing my powers with you, and helping you control your own powers. It is similar to how princesses are created…but you don't need to adopt my name."
She turned bright red after hearing the last part. I smiled at the reaction. She was too easy to tease, and it was an easy way to divert her attention from some other potential implications of doing such a thing.
"So then…what would I have to do as your contractor?"
"After the initial ritual, nothing, besides providing me with some energy and giving appropriate commands so that I can use my powers on your behalf. We would basically just be closer than normal teammates," I said.
"R-right…closer teammates…" She said in that familiar shy tone,
"That's right. Having more anchors in this world makes it easier to maintain my presence and a powerful summoner can give me more freedom to act. That's all I need from you. Though I will warn you that this type of bond may be quite draining at first, until you are fully attuned to it. But that shouldn't be a problem for you, given your power and potential."
She nodded. "…And this could help me control my flames." Then seemed to think a bit before giving me a questioning look. "Even if it didn't work…if you could share your power with me, it could help me pass the test?"
"Because the test is too soon, your body might not be able to handle it yet. But besides direct enhancements, there are also some other loopholes that can be used…at the Guardian's discretion, and also dependent on whether the Ranker test administrators find out and how friendly they are. For example, it's possible to give a Regular Shinheuh and equipment," I said.
"Equipment? You mean like Lord Derflinger?!" Her eyes went to the sword that was floating behind me.
"Nope, I'd love to let you handle my shaft but that won't be allowed," said Derf.
"W-what?! Why do you have to say it l-like that?" Yihwa spluttered.
"Hehe! You might be able to bring me into the test, but the Ranker test admins would notice me for sure," said Derf. "I'm too powerful."
"Yeah, Derf is just overkill, nor do you need that kind of help. You just need something that you can use without hurting your teammates, and to protect or heal them in case you're forced to use your flames," I said. "If you are my contractor, I can prepare a pet 'Shinheuh' for you. It will be able to help disperse and redirect your flames away from teammates and heal them, or you can just use it to attack. I'll also prepare a wand that can do the healing and dispersion as well, as backup in case something happens to the pet."
"You're right…that should be enough," she said, nodding again. "Okay, I'll become your contractor then!"
O O O
Preparing all the necessary components of the Symbiotic Spirit Crest was not easy, but I'd already been well prepared long in advance. The most difficult and time-consuming part was coalescing a spirit of my will together with the water spirits.
It was incomparably more advanced than the basic imprint I put into the Clone Familiar, which instead used the psionic pattern of the bionanites with the water spirits and my blood like a normal familiar. That was only good enough to act on simplistic feelings but couldn't form complex thoughts without me actively controlling it, and there was no way to support it with mana if I was too far away.
But this spirit would be able to form complex thoughts over time after being sufficiently attuned to the host, and become a method of empowering a nearby familiar using the host's energy, regardless of their distance from me.
It was also self-sustaining and symbiotic, capable of growing with the host. Unlike the version that was sustained only by a group of water spirits, this would be more powerful because it could afford to spend its energy on combat abilities instead of just maintaining its own integrity and spending most of its time recharging.
Yihwa sat cross legged in the ritual circle, shoulders bared to me as I carefully drew the core of the diagram that would become the Crest on the back of her right shoulder.
She had already formed the threshold invitation contract with me, easily having the will to do it with her desperation to control her flames and desire to pass the tests to prove herself.
On a table beside us was a special concoction that carried the spirit, which I prepared out of my bodily fluids, refined Shinsoo, and dissolved Endbringer crystal powder. The Endbringer crystal was a powerful vessel that resisted damage while being a uniquely malleable medium attuned to my will and later catalyze the attunement of the spirit to Yihwa.
I walked around to her front after grabbing the vial.
"It's time for the final part. Make sure you're calm and relaxed. Are you ready?"
Sho nodded and accepted the vial from me, while I went back around behind her to my designated position in the ritual circle.
"Now drink it."
She gulped it all down and I began chanting, concentrating on the magic at hand, materializing and touching the Crest with Agate.
The circle beneath us lit up, and the outer diagram began to inscribe itself around the core of the Crest on her shoulder.
There was no response from her flames so far, so I proceeded with the activation of the concoction.
She took in a sharp breath as the presence of the spirit within the concoction awakened, and the concoction was digested at high speed with magical assistance, spreading through her body.
After a few moments, the Crest was fully drawn and began to burn itself into her skin. Wisps of flame erupted from it but they weren't damaging it, instead they were bound into the Crest as well. Soon, the spirit found its way to the Crest as well, and in the center of the core diagram, a new shape appeared.
The shape was a depiction of a blooming flower with wide petals and dotted filaments, not the Zygaena's flower on her headband, but the pear flower that was her name.
"It's done," I announced. "How do you feel?"
"A little tired, but I'm fine," she said.
"That's good, I thought it might be quite painful, but I'm glad I was wrong."
She tried to glance back at her shoulder and rubbed the spot where the Spirit Crest was inscribed. "It does hurt a little here, but that's all."
I went to grab a mirror so that she could see the black markings for herself.
"It will take some time to attune itself to you until it can awaken properly before you can do anything with it," I said.
"I can already feel it, kind of…like the flame inside me, but different," said Yihwa.
Suddenly the Crest glowed and a translucent figure emerged from it, floating. It was like a reversed ball of multicolored flame that was more whitish blue than anything else, round at the top, the bottom trailing off to the point.
It swam around to Yihwa's front into her cupped hands like a fish as she stared at it with awe.
"That's a bit unexpected…for it to take a physical form like this, and so soon," I said.
"It might be because it bonded with the Yeon flame…I've seen some older members of my family do something like this!" Yihwa said excitedly. "Maybe now I can—"
"Get some rest first," I said, cutting her off. "Don't overdo things right after the ritual."
"Ah…okay."
O O O
The look on Lurker's face while Yihwa paid off her debt was quite satisfying.
I posed as a Yeon retainer in a new effeminate disguise with shoulder length black hair and pinkish red eyes, wearing a suit with the symbol of the Yeon Family, the Zygaena's flower drawn brazenly on my shoulder. I held a stiff expression on my face that looked like I was barely holding back my rage, glaring at the loan manager.
"So…about that 'suggestion' you gave me last time, Mr. Lurker…" Yihwa said while twirling her hair playfully while giving him a dirty look with an exaggerated fake smile.
"I-I didn't mean anything by it, miss! It was just a joke! A joke! This lowly one would never dare to touch an honored daughter of the Yeon Family!" Lurker shouted with sweat rolling down his face.
Yihwa scoffed. "A joke! Yeah right, you disgusting pig! But I'm not talking about that. I mean the other offer. Your boss wanted me to help his son for the test, right? Well, I don't have any debt to you people anymore, but I wouldn't mind helping if you hire me for the right price. Only for the 20th Floor test, though, and he better not try anything funny with me or I'll burn his thing off!"
"Oh, of course, you are most generous, Miss Yeon! I will contact the boss immediately!"
After some negotiations over a Pocket phone call, it was agreed that Yihwa would help the boss's son in exchange for paying her test entry fees plus an upfront payment of 25k points and 100k more if the son passed with her help.
It was a lot less than the amount of her debt that would've been forgiven, but reasonable enough given that the terms were clearly set this time and it'd be just the one test.
As we walked away from the building, Yihwa said with a smile. "That's much better! But you're sure that the son is a good teammate? He won't try anything?"
"He won't be able to without debt hanging over you. And his strength is decent, certainly not up to my standards, but he's better than most Regulars around here and the loan boss has conveniently assembled a good team for him with bribes to make sure his own people are planted in the right test brackets. It'll improve your chances, and you get paid for it."
"Alright! I can't wait for the test now! This time I'll pass for sure!"
O O O
I actually knew very little about the Yeon flames from the story, besides the fact that they were powerful and made Yihwa surprisingly durable, so it wasn't just an offensive power.
Yihwa had explained that the flames were originally given to Yeon Hana, their Family Head, from an ancient master in the Tower, and that the power could be transferred to others if the user was skilled enough. Hana had transferred the power to Yeon Illarde, and then all her descendants inherited it to varying degrees but it was typically stronger in the daughters, and Yihwa was exceptional even among those.
Like Zahard's blood, it was a curious thing, capable of being transmitted through birth and lineage, yet was not a genetic power. It wasn't in their DNA, it could be manifested into a weapon, or even be completely transferred in a way that caused the original user to lose access to it until they reclaimed it.
The best theory I could come up with for this type of phenomenon was that it was soul-based or ritual-based inheritance. Either it was passed down spiritually, with the physical transference merely a medium with which the actual power was conveyed through such as in the case of Zahard's blood, or the very concept of natural birth and family history gave rise to a mystic grand ritual or thaumaturgical system that caused the descendants to gain the same power from the progenitor.
That also had to be why the more powerful the individual in question, the more difficulty they had in breeding at all, such that Yeon Ilarde, who was not actually one of the Family Heads, was still too powerful to the point where even ordinary Rankers couldn't impregnate her, and even after difficult "selections" every five years to choose worthy men among Rankers, she rarely gave birth.
In a way, it was similar to how magic circuits in Fate worked. They weren't quite in the genes, even though there were aspects of their physical expressions that did show up in the genes, creating strange structures in the body. The actual circuits themselves were spiritual in nature, and you could, for example, imbue a familiar with magic circuits by converting your own blood. This was a basic skill for Fate magi, but those magic circuits weren't capable of connecting to the soul and generating prana on their own that way, they still sourced the prana from the original caster.
It made sense to me that there were lots of things with alternative inheritance mechanisms that were not based in physical biology, now that I had pretty much confirmed that nothing mystical could be replicated in Worm by Amelia just using the biological materials I'd brought back. She couldn't even do much with the Endbringer flesh which I now knew to be magical, although that might've also been a Manton Limit problem. Blasto worked with the flesh as a Tinker, but even he couldn't truly bring it back to life, not without the Simurgh's help and Citrine's accidental Trump power anyway.
If I could acquire the Yeon flame myself somehow it would be a nice bonus, but just being able to study it was already a great return on my investment.
For her part, Yihwa seemed to think the research would be a lot more invasive than it was, acting far more embarrassed throughout the process than necessary. All I really needed was to collect some samples of her fluids and use Structural Analysis on her though, plus having her use the flames so that I could observe the flames themselves.
Well, that was easier said than done because her control was awful. I could not even really use Structural Analysis on her properly because her flames rejected my mana instantly, even if she tried to hold it back.
So I ended up having to try training her just for the sake of my own research.
Of course, even that was useful to me, since I could practice containing her flames.
That was why I had enshrouded her in a dense Shinsoo bubble courtesy of the water spirits, trying to suppress her flames.
It was an interesting experiment, because her flames could burn Shinsoo. So I couldn't truly suppress it, but with particular rotations I could redirect it.
"That was amazing…I've never been in Shinsoo dense enough for me to actually feel this much pressure," she said.
I'd had to raise the density to what I'd encountered myself in the White Steel Eel cage that Headon made in order for her to start feeling it at all.
"I rarely use this skill…a lot of Regulars can't deal with this density at all," I said. That would've included me, if not for the water spirits. But now that I had companion water spirits all over my body plus acclimatizing to it over time as I climbed, my personal Shinsoo resistance had also risen a lot. At this level if I didn't call on the spirits in the stone I would still have some difficulty moving, like wading through water.
It was still much higher density than the general environment above the 25th Floor where Androssi and the old gang had gone.
But we were in a rented private training facility, and I didn't sense anybody around, so it was fine for me to use it. Not that it really mattered anyways.
"Well, let's try something else," I said, lifting up my right hand, the sleeve of my shirt pulling back to reveal a flexible form-fitting bangle on my wrist. It was white silver, the whole thing made of Endbringer Crystal, with a small thin decoration hanging from it.
It was Derflinger, Compressed into a tiny form using Shinsoo. With a mental prod from me, the sword's chain extended and the sword moved to my hand in a quick motion before it detached the chain and Decompressed to a normal size, still sheathed in Armoriont crystal.
Both Derflinger and I had become skilled in using the Compression effect. We did not need the Guardians to contract to give us the ability. Back on the Floor of Tests, after being provoked, Yu Han Sung had managed to use a technique to Compress Rak (the huge alligator on Baam's team of three, who had gone off on his own with Parakewl following after him when Shibisu revealed that Khun had left with Rachel on the 25th Floor).
He had told me the theory behind the technique, and it took quite a long time to learn how to do it, and while I was not capable of doing Compression in real-time like Yu Han Sung on any random thing, given enough preparation time and the water spirits' help I could now do it to important items that needed the effect without being inside an Inventory item, after saturating the object in Shinsoo.
And both Derflinger and I had become capable of using a permanently imbued Autocompression, which was a more advanced skill that permanently granted the Compression ability to an Ignition Weapon or living being, so that they could trigger it at will without redoing the whole Compression technique from the beginning.
The Compression skill worked well with the Endbringer Crystal's spatial warping too, allowing Derflinger to assume an incredibly small size then Decompress to a massive size when fully released, or also arbitrarily enlarging only a part of him in only one dimension, such as extending without making the handle thicker.
The sheath, on the other hand, was already at its limit, back to normal size, so if I wanted Derflinger to get bigger it'd have to be unsheathed first or break through the sheath.
"The Crystal Knight's unique talking Ignition Weapon…Lord Derflinger!" Yihwa said with awe.
"Oh, I like this one, Partner!" Derflinger said. "She's cute and respectful! Nice to meetcha!"
"The honor is mine, Lord Derflinger!"
"Hahaha, she's perfect! Perfect! We're keeping her, right Partner?"
"H-huh? K-keep?" Yihwa blushed profusely at the comment.
"She's not a stray, Derf," I said. "But yes, I'd like to have her as a teammate in the future."
"So what are we doing today?" Derf asked.
"Doing some tests with Yihwa's flames and helping her with control exercises. I'd like you to try absorbing the flames," I said.
"Sounds interesting, let's do it."
"Alright, Ignite!" We channeled Shinsoo together, causing the sword to glow and wisps of energy.
This wasn't just a performance—there was actually a Shinsoo technique involved with Ignition, which Hwa Ryun had taught us. Normal Ignition weapons could all do it instinctively, bonding with their users' will and Shinsoo, if the user was qualified. By channeling Shinsoo together using Ignition Liquid as a medium, the weapon would awaken with that bond, absorb more Shinsoo with the help of the user, then release and amplify their own power that had been implanted.
We never got Ignition Liquid but Derflinger didn't need it because he was more autonomous or more "alive" and didn't need a user to activate him. Although it was a bit different with Derflinger, this was a primary reason why Ignition Weapons scaled with the user. The Thirteen Month Series weapons in the hands of a Ranker princess were incomparably more powerful as the wielder could channel more Shinsoo into them to unlock greater power within.
For Derflinger, some aspects of Ignition were redundant because I already had a magic bond with him through a familiar spell. But it was still necessary to synchronize our Shinsoo flow because Derflinger's ability to project Shinsoo control outside of himself was quite limited without it. The Soo, which meant the quantity and density of Shinsoo, that Derflinger could control was vastly greater than my own, without the water spirits. However, his Myun, or range, was extremely limited without an Ignition synchronized wielder, which significantly hampered his ability to move and project his attack-absorption power. And he couldn't make any Baangs on his own either, while I had managed to develop two Baangs on my own, five with the help of my peripheral body-cohabiting water spirits, and way more with the core spirits in the stone.
I gestured for Yihwa release her flames, so she did. A wave of flames larger than my body came towards me, and Derflinger went to meet the challenge.
"Yeeoww! These are some hot flames missy!" Derflinger said, but still managed to suck in a good amount of the flames before they hit me.
Once she stopped the stream of flames, Derflinger was revealed to be glowing reddish with heat, but otherwise fine.
"Hmm, these flames are difficult to break down, my outer layer probably won't be able to survive a stronger blast for long. But I can contain them inside my Endbringer form," said Derflinger. "It will take a while to actually digest it properly though."
"Want to try something stronger then?" I asked.
"Sure, hit me with the strongest flame you've got, miss!" Derflinger shouted to Yihwa.
"Are you sure? That might be dangerous…" Yihwa said hesitantly.
"It's fine, we can handle it. Don't bother thinking about controlling it, just release as much as you can," I said confidently while preparing my defenses. "We have contingencies in case it does too much damage."
Yihwa nodded, then made a face of concentration as she closed her eyes.
She seemed to struggle to gather her power, but after a few minutes, it rose to an unprecedented level.
I sensed the power before the flames surged around her body, and then it concentrated towards her hand as she tried to punch with it.
"Uh?! Ahhhh!" Yihwa made a surprised face, then the flames exploded against herself, but it still created a titanic explosion that engulfed me as well in a mind-melting pain that I quickly dulled my nerves for.
"That's stronger than the biggest Square class fire spell I've ever seen!" Derflinger shouted through the torrent of fire.
I dimly noted that the entire training facility had been consumed in fire, but the walls were decently well made and the flames were petering out by that point. The ground beneath us though had become a molten crater.
My clothes had been completely annihilated, even much of my skin had melted. Fortunately my new Endbringer subdermal mesh had survived pretty well, blocking the heat from transferring through to my actual vital organs. Even my eyes were fine when I shut them in time, the eyelids also covered by Endbringer crystal.
My nose and ears though had more of a problem, for which I was forced to use the water spirits to help shield me.
Thinking about it, that was a serious weakness I'd need to figure out how to shore up. A massive blast like this was obviously going to deal a lot of damage going through open orifices that led into my body, and the water spirits' shielding might not be enough next time.
The water spirits healed me at high speed while the smoke cleared and Derflinger coughed repeatedly.
Eventually it was revealed that Derflinger's outer crystal sheath had also been melted, leaving the Endbringer form glowing red hot and steam coming out of it, as Derflinger tried to expel some of the heat.
Yihwa lay on the ground in a smoking heap groaning, but otherwise did not seem particularly injured. Her resistance to her own flames seemingly extended to her clothes as well, which were slightly damaged—ruined for cosmetic purposes, but didn't actually get vaporized like mine, even though mine were reinforced Armoriont nanocellulose.
"Well, that was impressive," I said.
"You can say that again, don't expect me to absorb anything like that, Partner, haha!" Derflinger said, laughing.
O O O
Time passed, and we'd only made a tiny amount of progress on her control training. It seemed like conventional training methods for mental discipline and Shinsoo control exercises were ineffective for her.
She had a little success with tuning the heat of her flames and avoiding sudden explosive outbursts of flame after getting a better handle on her emotions, but other than that, we had little to show for our work.
I was no closer to figuring out how to reproduce the flame on my own either, but training with her had still been useful to hone my other skills since her flames were potent enough to actually threaten me, in a way that was very different from the physical training I did with Androssi.
More importantly, the opportunity was ripe to seek my true objective.
"It doesn't seem like this is working," I said with a frown. "There's barely any improvement."
"Sorry for wasting your time…I don't know why I'm so bad at this," Yihwa said.
"Not at all, failures are merely part of the research process, and the data was useful regardless. But I don't think I can help you master it like this," I said. "And the injections I used to enhance other Regulars before won't work on you either, with your flames rejecting everything. At this rate, it doesn't seem like this can be solved before your next test. Maybe not even in several tests."
"I-I'm sure I'll be fine, you've done enough for me already!" She said with a forced smile that didn't reach her eyes, which looked quite pitiful.
"There might still be one more way…" I said, hand rubbing my chin, eyes furrowed as if deep in thought.
"R-really?"
I looked at her solemnly. "Yes, I think there is a way that will work. But it will be a big decision, for both of us. Let's stop for now and head back, this will be a long conversation."
She nodded with a curious expression, then we made our way to back to my lab, to my office tea room.
Once I set the tea and we sat down, I began.
"There are some things you need to know about me first, things that I do not share lightly. I hope you appreciate the trust I'm placing in you, and do not speak of it to anyone without my permission, even if you choose not to proceed with this."
"Of course, you can trust me, I won't say a word to anyone!"
"Good. I'll be blunt then. I'm an Irregular," I said, watching her eyes widen comically as she froze in the pose of holding her teacup.
"And not just that, even among Irregulars, I'm a special type of being—it's quite complicated, but basically I'm a being from 'beyond the boundary of reality', subject to special rules," I continued, making air quotes. "The power that I can directly express in the material world is heavily restricted, and without an anchor, I can only maintain my physical presence for short periods. I require summoners, born of this world, to invite me into the world and sustain my existence with their energy, and in exchange, I can use my power on their behalf, by forming a contract with them. That is the true nature of my relationship with Androssi. She is my contractor, so in a way, she really is a Witch that summoned a demon, although she's not really a Spell user otherwise, and I'm not really a demon—that's just an analogy."
Yihwa was still listening intently with a shocked expression. I sipped some tea first before continuing.
"This is what I am offering you, if your will is strong enough—and I believe it is, you can form a contract with me too. But unlike with the princess, you have the potential for us to go a step further, create a more powerful bond, which may allow you to gain more control over your flames."
"A more powerful bond…than the princess?"
The culmination of my research, my new magnum opus, developed after studying Anak's blood I retrieved on the Floor of Tests, learning from the water spirits how they coalesced new spirits that bonded with me, learning from Derflinger how to attune to and possess the Endbringer crystal, and all the experiments of implanting things into my test subjects.
A Symbiotic Spirit Crest, which could hold a spirit derived from an advanced imprint of my will, sustaining itself off the host yet linked to me.
"That's right. The princess has already accepted Zahard's blood and her body could not handle having a second power from me, especially because Zahard's blood is quite jealous—it's hold on her was already too strong, because she'd become a princess long before she entered the Tower."
That wasn't quite confirmed, I only developed this spell after we split up so had never been able to test it on her, nor did I know if she would be willing, but Yihwa didn't need to know any of that.
"But you are different. Your flames may reject most things, but they are still borne of you. As long as you are willing, and form a basic contract first, it should be possible for you to accept my power. But it will also be far more permanent than the contract I have with the princess now, which can be broken at any time. I will be investing a living fragment of my will inside of you, and it will attune itself to your body and soul, sharing my powers with you, and helping you control your own powers. It is similar to how princesses are created…but you don't need to adopt my name."
She turned bright red after hearing the last part. I smiled at the reaction. She was too easy to tease, and it was an easy way to divert her attention from some other potential implications of doing such a thing.
"So then…what would I have to do as your contractor?"
"After the initial ritual, nothing, besides providing me with some energy and giving appropriate commands so that I can use my powers on your behalf. We would basically just be closer than normal teammates," I said.
"R-right…closer teammates…" She said in that familiar shy tone,
"That's right. Having more anchors in this world makes it easier to maintain my presence and a powerful summoner can give me more freedom to act. That's all I need from you. Though I will warn you that this type of bond may be quite draining at first, until you are fully attuned to it. But that shouldn't be a problem for you, given your power and potential."
She nodded. "…And this could help me control my flames." Then seemed to think a bit before giving me a questioning look. "Even if it didn't work…if you could share your power with me, it could help me pass the test?"
"Because the test is too soon, your body might not be able to handle it yet. But besides direct enhancements, there are also some other loopholes that can be used…at the Guardian's discretion, and also dependent on whether the Ranker test administrators find out and how friendly they are. For example, it's possible to give a Regular Shinheuh and equipment," I said.
"Equipment? You mean like Lord Derflinger?!" Her eyes went to the sword that was floating behind me.
"Nope, I'd love to let you handle my shaft but that won't be allowed," said Derf.
"W-what?! Why do you have to say it l-like that?" Yihwa spluttered.
"Hehe! You might be able to bring me into the test, but the Ranker test admins would notice me for sure," said Derf. "I'm too powerful."
"Yeah, Derf is just overkill, nor do you need that kind of help. You just need something that you can use without hurting your teammates, and to protect or heal them in case you're forced to use your flames," I said. "If you are my contractor, I can prepare a pet 'Shinheuh' for you. It will be able to help disperse and redirect your flames away from teammates and heal them, or you can just use it to attack. I'll also prepare a wand that can do the healing and dispersion as well, as backup in case something happens to the pet."
"You're right…that should be enough," she said, nodding again. "Okay, I'll become your contractor then!"
O O O
Preparing all the necessary components of the Symbiotic Spirit Crest was not easy, but I'd already been well prepared long in advance. The most difficult and time-consuming part was coalescing a spirit of my will together with the water spirits.
It was incomparably more advanced than the basic imprint I put into the Clone Familiar, which instead used the psionic pattern of the bionanites with the water spirits and my blood like a normal familiar. That was only good enough to act on simplistic feelings but couldn't form complex thoughts without me actively controlling it, and there was no way to support it with mana if I was too far away.
But this spirit would be able to form complex thoughts over time after being sufficiently attuned to the host, and become a method of empowering a nearby familiar using the host's energy, regardless of their distance from me.
It was also self-sustaining and symbiotic, capable of growing with the host. Unlike the version that was sustained only by a group of water spirits, this would be more powerful because it could afford to spend its energy on combat abilities instead of just maintaining its own integrity and spending most of its time recharging.
Yihwa sat cross legged in the ritual circle, shoulders bared to me as I carefully drew the core of the diagram that would become the Crest on the back of her right shoulder.
She had already formed the threshold invitation contract with me, easily having the will to do it with her desperation to control her flames and desire to pass the tests to prove herself.
On a table beside us was a special concoction that carried the spirit, which I prepared out of my bodily fluids, refined Shinsoo, and dissolved Endbringer crystal powder. The Endbringer crystal was a powerful vessel that resisted damage while being a uniquely malleable medium attuned to my will and later catalyze the attunement of the spirit to Yihwa.
I walked around to her front after grabbing the vial.
"It's time for the final part. Make sure you're calm and relaxed. Are you ready?"
Sho nodded and accepted the vial from me, while I went back around behind her to my designated position in the ritual circle.
"Now drink it."
She gulped it all down and I began chanting, concentrating on the magic at hand, materializing and touching the Crest with Agate.
The circle beneath us lit up, and the outer diagram began to inscribe itself around the core of the Crest on her shoulder.
There was no response from her flames so far, so I proceeded with the activation of the concoction.
She took in a sharp breath as the presence of the spirit within the concoction awakened, and the concoction was digested at high speed with magical assistance, spreading through her body.
After a few moments, the Crest was fully drawn and began to burn itself into her skin. Wisps of flame erupted from it but they weren't damaging it, instead they were bound into the Crest as well. Soon, the spirit found its way to the Crest as well, and in the center of the core diagram, a new shape appeared.
The shape was a depiction of a blooming flower with wide petals and dotted filaments, not the Zygaena's flower on her headband, but the pear flower that was her name.
"It's done," I announced. "How do you feel?"
"A little tired, but I'm fine," she said.
"That's good, I thought it might be quite painful, but I'm glad I was wrong."
She tried to glance back at her shoulder and rubbed the spot where the Spirit Crest was inscribed. "It does hurt a little here, but that's all."
I went to grab a mirror so that she could see the black markings for herself.
"It will take some time to attune itself to you until it can awaken properly before you can do anything with it," I said.
"I can already feel it, kind of…like the flame inside me, but different," said Yihwa.
Suddenly the Crest glowed and a translucent figure emerged from it, floating. It was like a reversed ball of multicolored flame that was more whitish blue than anything else, round at the top, the bottom trailing off to the point.
It swam around to Yihwa's front into her cupped hands like a fish as she stared at it with awe.
"That's a bit unexpected…for it to take a physical form like this, and so soon," I said.
"It might be because it bonded with the Yeon flame…I've seen some older members of my family do something like this!" Yihwa said excitedly. "Maybe now I can—"
"Get some rest first," I said, cutting her off. "Don't overdo things right after the ritual."
"Ah…okay."
O O O
The look on Lurker's face while Yihwa paid off her debt was quite satisfying.
I posed as a Yeon retainer in a new effeminate disguise with shoulder length black hair and pinkish red eyes, wearing a suit with the symbol of the Yeon Family, the Zygaena's flower drawn brazenly on my shoulder. I held a stiff expression on my face that looked like I was barely holding back my rage, glaring at the loan manager.
"So…about that 'suggestion' you gave me last time, Mr. Lurker…" Yihwa said while twirling her hair playfully while giving him a dirty look with an exaggerated fake smile.
"I-I didn't mean anything by it, miss! It was just a joke! A joke! This lowly one would never dare to touch an honored daughter of the Yeon Family!" Lurker shouted with sweat rolling down his face.
Yihwa scoffed. "A joke! Yeah right, you disgusting pig! But I'm not talking about that. I mean the other offer. Your boss wanted me to help his son for the test, right? Well, I don't have any debt to you people anymore, but I wouldn't mind helping if you hire me for the right price. Only for the 20th Floor test, though, and he better not try anything funny with me or I'll burn his thing off!"
"Oh, of course, you are most generous, Miss Yeon! I will contact the boss immediately!"
After some negotiations over a Pocket phone call, it was agreed that Yihwa would help the boss's son in exchange for paying her test entry fees plus an upfront payment of 25k points and 100k more if the son passed with her help.
It was a lot less than the amount of her debt that would've been forgiven, but reasonable enough given that the terms were clearly set this time and it'd be just the one test.
As we walked away from the building, Yihwa said with a smile. "That's much better! But you're sure that the son is a good teammate? He won't try anything?"
"He won't be able to without debt hanging over you. And his strength is decent, certainly not up to my standards, but he's better than most Regulars around here and the loan boss has conveniently assembled a good team for him with bribes to make sure his own people are planted in the right test brackets. It'll improve your chances, and you get paid for it."
"Alright! I can't wait for the test now! This time I'll pass for sure!"
O O O