The sensation of movement pulled John from his meditative state induced by the Cultivation Skill. His mother, Shinobin Aseralis, was awake and surprisingly alert. Was she a morning person? He had yet to feel tired in his new state. The closest he'd come was when he drained his Essence using Analyze and Essence Perception.
Did Cultivation replace his need for sleep? He wondered. Had Shinobin been sleeping or Cultivating?
Light filled the room from the oval crystal when his mother touched it.
He remembered that it was called an enchanted Glowstone. He wondered if he would get a chance to learn how they were made.
His mother briefly stepped out and entered a small closet-like room with a hole in the floor surrounded by rune work. Its purpose became obvious as she relieved herself. This led to his realization that he couldn't close his non-existent eyes and had no sense of smell. Also, this world hadn't invented toilet paper—a self-cleaning cloth was used instead. He tried not to think too hard about it.
Returning to her room, his mother Shinobin placed the glowing crystal in a wooden stand by the mirror. She then gripped both sides of the basin while muttering something in the Lingua Arcana—likely an activation phrase similar to what she'd done in the toilet. Water filled the basin without any noticeable source.
He tried to suppress his natural aversion to watching her undress and clean herself, but the process was too unusual to ignore. The enchanted brush seemed to draw loose hair, dirt, and sweat from her scalp as it was used. It left behind clean and shiny hair. She periodically dipped the brush in the basin while muttering words that seemed to mean "purge" and "purify." The brush emerged clean and dry each time while the water would turn murky before clearing again. This ritual repeated with the embroidered cloth she used to wash her body. Even her nightgown was dunked into the basin only to return clean. When finished, another word made the water slowly disappear.
Shinobin hung up her nightgown and waved her hands over her bed while muttering what was obviously a spell. The bedding arranged itself neatly then another spell made a small cloud of dust rise, form a ball, and vanish. She repeated the process over the entire room before pulling clothes from a dresser.
The clothes were in a simple, but unfamiliar style. She used a complex wrap of thick cloth to cover and support her breasts, along with thick shorts for her lower half. Both garments were unbleached and undyed, resembling thick cotton or linen, but instead were made of Jocha Fibers according to Analyze.
A dark green pair of loose pants, a light green tunic-like dress, a tooled leather belt, and a matching leather vest went over the underclothes. Socks and sturdy but fitted tooled leather boots covered her feet. An embroidered maroon headscarf contained her hair. The entire outfit was simple, sturdy, and practical with minimal embellishment.
He was pulled along as his mother grabbed the glowstone and exited the bedroom. It was still mostly dark outside, with his Timekeeping Skill indicating sunrise would come soon.
A short hall opened from the west into a larger room with several exits. The ceiling was higher here, with various herbs and vegetables hanging from support beams in rope-like baskets and nets, creating a rustic cottage-core atmosphere.
The room combined kitchen, dining room, and sitting room functions. A stone counter, basin, and large stone hearth dominated the southwestern corner. The southeast contained a heavy wooden table, wooden stools, and shelving.
Like the rest of the house, the floor was stone with rugs covering the northern area where bookshelves and several seats were located. All the furniture was made from whole logs and branches, woven and somehow fused together, and the occasional plank. A rocking chair sat in the northeastern corner.
To his surprise, the chair was occupied by an older woman with grey-white hair, knitting something by the light of another Glowstone. More shocking was that the woman looked right at him and spoke.
"Hello little Spirit. How by the Guide did you get past the wards?" she asked curiously and without fear.
He didn't know how to react. He understood her words but didn't know how she had said them—her lips hadn't moved. His Spirit quivered at the depth of that silent voice that spoke of power. He hadn't attempted to talk before. Without a body, he didn't know how.
"Hello?" he projected tentatively. The woman's eyes widened slightly at his response.
"Oh my! I wasn't expecting an actual response! What an intriguing little Spirit you are!" she said via her Spirit Speech Skill.
"So, uhmm, you can see me I assume?" he asked.
"In a manner of speaking. It is more that I can sense you rather than see you. Care to explain how you got into my home?" she asked.
"I came in with Shinobin.”
"You are too weak to have bypassed my family's wards." She seemed to look at him with more intensity. "Ah, you attached yourself to my granddaughter somehow. You shouldn't have been able to do that either. Just what are you?" The woman had placed her knitting in her lap and leaned forward.
"The Guide says I'm a Spirit, but well I think I might also be, well, uhmm your great grandson." He replied while somehow stumbling over his words.
The woman's gaze sharpened as the implication hit her. She stood and quickly walked over to Shinobin, who remained oblivious to the silent conversation while preparing breakfast. The older woman pressed her hand to Shinobin's abdomen and muttered in the Lingua Arcana. She then began speaking aloud. He couldn't understand her, but heard what sounded like cursing as his mother flinched back before repeating the same incantation while clutching her own abdomen.
Pure shock registered on his mother's face as his great-grandmother helped her to a chair. A rapid-fire conversation ensued between the two women before the older woman looked at him again.
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"How?" was all she asked.
"Would you believe Divine intervention?" he replied.
"What else could it be? You need to explain further before my granddaughter decides she doesn't want to be pregnant and I can't talk her out of it." The older woman spoke earnestly.
He hesitated but explained everything—his death, meeting Asonia, and the Goddess Sierra's request. He left nothing out, feeling that if he lied, this woman could snuff out his existence with little trouble.
"What are you going to tell Shinobin, your granddaughter?" he asked, hoping he wasn't about to die again.
"Nothing for now. Telling her that her impossible child is also a Spirit; that said Spirit has the mind of a grown man from another world, and will be tagging along everywhere she goes for the next nine months is not something she needs to know right now. Learning she is pregnant by an Elf of all things has been a big enough shock already!" the woman exclaimed.
"Impossible? Why am I impossible? Doesn't she have the right to know?" he asked.
"The chances of a human and elf procreating are abysmal. The odds are so bad that I doubt there are a dozen half-elves in the entire world. People's Spirits are not independent entities capable of conversation unless they are using Astral Projection or something similar. I would consider it a tall tale of some mad minstrel if you weren't right there before me!" she practically shouted.
"You didn't tell me why you aren't going to tell her," he said as calmly as possible, thankful for the muted emotions of his Spirit form.
"Because, you naive old man in the form of a Spirit, no one needs to know about you. It would put you, the baby, and my granddaughter in extreme danger from a variety of beings. I am going to have to spend every drop of essence me and my husband can scrape together to put wards around all of you before someone binds you and enslaves you like the weak exposed Spirit you are." She explained with exasperation.
He remained silent for several minutes. "I think I understand. I am sorry for all the drama. I didn't really know what I was getting into. It's hard to tell a Goddess no," he finally replied with a mild sense of fear.
She gave him a small nod. She had been talking quietly with Shinobin this entire time, who remained oblivious to their silent conversation.
"So grandma?" he asked tentatively. "What's your name?"
He received a silent snort in reply. "Grandma indeed. My name is Vanestra Aseralis. You will be interesting to have around once I get you hidden away and safe, but tell me what's your name, little Spirit? Vanestra asked.
“In another world it was John, but here the Guide doesn't seem to agree? Would you like to help me choose a new name?” He asked.
“I can do that.” Vanestra paused to consider possibilities. “I think you should be called Shada. It means little shadow. You are a shadow of your former self after all.” Vanestra suggested with a slight smirk.
“Shada, I am Shada, a shadow of myself. I like that!” The Guide seemed to agree and now only his physical form lacked a name.
“Good I am glad you like it, but hush now child—Shinobin needs me.” His new great grandmother told him.
Their conversation ended as Vanestra focused completely on her granddaughter, who was currently crying and needed comforting. He floated there, watching his new family while Polyglotism slowly made the language more comprehensible. Using Analyze on the language let me know it was called Wylderfolk Tongue.
—
After his mother had calmed down, great grandmother Vanestra disappeared down the hall while his mother stared off into space. He wished he could help his mother somehow, but she didn't seem able to see or hear him like Vanestra. With nothing else to do in his current state, he returned to studying the room's intricate rune work looking for patterns.
About thirty minutes later—after a few odd thudding sounds echoed from the hall—Vanestra returned with a man he assumed was his great grandfather. She carried various trinkets: rings, necklaces, bracelets, and a small pouch, which she proceeded to place on Shinobin.
The jewelry was rustic like many other things in the house. Some pieces resembled twigs warped into the form of rings and pendants. Small crystals where embedded in various pieces.
While Vanestra equipped his mother, the old man scanned the room through a pair of engraved spectacles that he kept adjusting. His gaze finally settled on Shada's floating form. When Grandma noticed, she smacked the old man so Shinobin wouldn't realize he was looking at Shada.
A curious impulse made him try to Analyze the old man. The man flinched and looked directly at him with puzzled eyes before returning his attention to the women. The Guide said his name was Alexzandros Intarius Aseralis, a human of an Eastern Imperial ethnic group. It oddly refused to provide his age. Alezandros was nearly 6’6” and around 220lbs though he looked more slender than that like Shinobin. Maybe locals had denser bodies Shada thought.
He wasn't surprised the old man came from a different ethnic group—his snow-white skin, long white hair, and pale blue eyes were a stark contrast to Shinobin's brown coloring and spotted markings. His outfit, which resembling stereotypical wizard robes, was rather amusing.
Grandma Vanestra convinced his mother to eat before speaking to him again via one of her Skills.
"I gave Shinobin some basic warding equipment to hide you and the pregnancy for a time," Vanestra explained while his mother ate. "I would give you some if you had anywhere to hang them."
"Would it work from my Inventory?" He asked curiously.
This question earned him another piercing look from Vanestra. "You have an Inventory? That Skill hasn't been available in hundreds of years since the Guideless Day when the System went offline for a full day."
"You don't have access to the Guide?" He asked, confused. "The Goddess said everyone on Sierrallas had access."
"Of course I have a Guide! What I don't have is access to Guide Skills. Those can only be granted directly by the System not learned. They've been blocked since those idiots over in Huctwa blew themselves up with their experiments. How do you have them?"
"I can't be sure," He replied, "but it has something to do with the difference between the Local Stellar and Local Planetary Instances of the System. I'm not connected to the Local Planetary System directly. I'm connected through to a higher level Instance."
Vanestra's eyes widened slightly. "I know Systemic scholars who would give up a limb to study you. Just more reasons to hide you away." She paused. "To answer your question—no, equipment cannot interact with the physical world from someone's Inventory or dimensional storage device."
"What happens now?" He asked. "I'm rather strongly tethered to Shinobin until my physical self is born. I can't really do much as a Spirit as far as I know." He felt an emotion that approximated fear sweeping through him. "I'm scared... or at least I think I am. Emotions are weird in this form. Can you help me somehow?" Part of him was grasping at the small tether of stability and connection that Vanestra represented in his strange new world.
"You can't be unbound from yourself. That's ridiculous," Vanestra replied. "All I can suggest is observe and learn as much as you can. You can Cultivate right? Use that and improve yourself. Practice the Skills you can without being noticed.”
"I'm late!" Shinobin suddenly exclaimed as sunlight streamed through the high windows. Polyglotism was working as advertised—he was already acquiring a crude understanding of the Wylderfolk Tongue.
"Shada, have fun at the Clinic," Vanestra told him. "Shinobin spends most of her day there working as a Healer and Herbalist. Try to learn something, eh?"
Shinobin frantically gathered a bag and multiple items from what looked like a combination greenhouse and workroom. Moments later, she burst out the door at a rapid jog. Shada had only a few seconds to examine the garden surrounding the quaint house before they passed a stone wall and moved rapidly down a forested path.
