Magical Girl Phantom Ascension

It seems to dislike your light barriers, that's for sure. Stepping out into the space you'd cleared, you begin making more, swinging your blade about and trying to herd the shadow in. It doesn't go quietly, spiking darkness again and sending tendrils through the gaps in your trails; a coil manages to graze your fingertip, and even the light contact sends a jolt of pain through you. This gives you a bit of extra motivation, and you deflect its ensuing attacks and press on in, weaving more and more barrier around it.

Then something strange occurs; a section of your web of light begins turning color, detaching from the rest of the web; you have a half-second to realize it vaguely resembles a written character before it abruptly implodes, zapping at the spirit as it does so. It leaves a big gap in your barrier, but the shadow is too stunned to take advantage of it; with it seemingly immobilized, you decide now is a good time to use your ring, trying to muster up as much positivity and compassion as possible. As with the beast earlier, a purple beam shoots forward to connect…

You find yourself in the white void again. A figure stands before you, smoke rising off a humanoid figure; they almost resemble the stranger at first glance, but there is a subtle difference as well, and the darkness appears to be slowly evaporating, more distinct features gradually swimming into focus under the surface. You hesitantly reach forward to take their hand…


The other was late, and she was early. The promised meeting never occurred, and she was starting to wonder if she had been duped. So she stood in the hallway, looking out over the grounds and toward the skyscrapers in the distance, wondering whether she should feel sad or angry about all of this.

She didn't get the chance to decide, a sudden darkness enveloping the hall. The other had arrived, yet there was something wrong; ultraviolet lightning crackled between their fingers as they wore a sinister smile. She tried to run, but a bolt struck her, and her consciousness began to fade. The other was saying something in a deceptively sweet tone, but the words blurred together as the corners of her vision began to darken…


When you come to, it is to find yourself in the clubroom again, no sign of the dark spirit to be found. You glance about a bit, to make sure there's nothing else to do, and make to leave.

Suddenly, the world changes around you, and this time it doesn't take long to realize you've been pulled into Death's dimension once again. She's standing before you with an expression filled with equal parts intrigue and worry. "Good job!" She says, glancing over at where the corrupted spirit had been. Where in the normal world you hadn't seen anything, here you find yourself looking at a bright floating ball of light, the last dregs of shadow evaporating from it.

"So, what just happened here?" You ask. You have a suspicion about the sphere, but you want to make sure you understand.

Gently cradling the orb, Death explains. "As I said before, this was a Corrupted Spirit, the result of someone who was killed by dark magic. Specifically, it looks like you fought what was going to become a wraith; more dangerous than a poltergeist, but significantly less so than a spectre. Usually they show up in old barns, abandoned churches, ancient temples, where the sorts of rituals they were sacrifices for were held. I… don't know what this one was doing in a school, of all places. But, at least the danger to the students is over, and I can finally carry this poor one on to peace. And are you okay?"

You glance down at where your finger had been struck; there's a surface-level scratch, but it doesn't seem to be any more severe than that. "Yeah, I'm good," you answer. "If anything this was surprisingly easy."

Death nods. "I'm glad. This could have turned out much worse, but it seems your powers do work on it after all. All's well that ends well, right?" She seems uncertain if that really is the case, but you just nod, barely listening. A sudden and real wave of exhaustion has suddenly hit you, and you decide to head back home as soon as this conversation's over. "Anyway, remember my offer earlier? If you agree to it, this would be a big element of it; hunting down and excising corrupted spirits that are beyond my reach. I can't promise they'll all be as easy as this turned out, but now that we know it can be done, it would be immensely helpful both to me and to the living world as a whole. So… would you like to keep doing this, when you're not doing your usual thing?"

What To Do?
> Accept her offer (Well, if it's just more ghost-hunting like this, it should be fine. It was scary, but ultimately wasn't that intense…)
> Turn her down (It may have been surprisingly simple, but this could have just been beginner's luck. You don't want to take your chances with this…)
> Delay further (You're too tired to make an important decision like this just yet. You're still adjusting to everything as it is…)