-----

One day after the strange dreams that some of the family members of Ervas and Veronica experienced, a congregation of the Spirits of the Attributes of the world gathered in the underground area of the Kingdom's castle.

​​

There was a flying eyeball with a crimson iris and four bat-like wings, Shade, the Spirit of the Light Attribute, and the one bonded with Veronica.

There was a floating tree sapling with long leaves atop its body resembling the long hair of a beautiful maiden and two tiny golden eyes, Gaia, the Spirit of the Life Attribute, and the one bonded with Ervas.

There was a small mass of white clouds covered in green-colored winds and a possessing a single emerald eye in the middle of the cloud-like body, Sylphid, the Spirit of the Wind Attribute, and the one bonded with Aqua.

There was a doll-like creature made entirely out of gray and brown rocks that had tiny black eyes, Gnome, the Spirit of the Earth Attribute, and the one bonded with Jason.

There was a large ruby covered in golden ornaments that floated around while releasing a slight aura of various colors, a Spirit of the Earth Attribute and the second Gnome in the group, bonded with Amelia.

And lastly but not least, there was a medium-sized lizard made entirely out of lava and covered in flames, which had a long tongue that twisted around playfully, Salamander, the Fire Attribute Spirit, and the second one bonded with the talented Amelia.

Each spirit was gathered in this room alongside their bonded companions and a few other people.

"So, in resume you want us to bring more Spirits?" asked Shade.

"Can you? It should be possible for those with affinities but not the talent to call upon them to find their ideal Spirit partner" said Ervas.

"I think it should be possible if we all work together!" said Gaia.

"See? Little Gaia is enthusiastic about it" said Veronica.

"Maybe Gaia might be enthusiastic about the idea… But would not calling upon our brethren make them get angry at us instead? We Spirits don't order anyone around, we live lives freely" said Shade.

"Shade, you're being way too stubborn! We are not calling them to be ordered around, it's calling them to forge fwendship!" said Amelia angrily, while cutely pouting.

"Forge friendship? I guess… But I… Well, sigh… Do as you please, but please don't try to force our brethren to help you out if they don't desire to do so" said Shade while floating around.

"Don't worry, we are not forcing them, we are simply trying to call their attention a bit more!" said Veronica.

"Ah, I am rather nervous… I have not gotten my Spirit yet! What would it be?" wondered a beautiful and voluptuous Squirrel-kin woman as she waved her fluffy squirrel tail around, Ismene, she was the chief of the squirrel-kin tribe and a talented mage, yet, when she performed the small ceremony to call upon spirits, she never managed to bring the attention of any…

Now, with the help of the other Spirits already present, Ervas and Veronica planned in calling upon more Spirits for everyone… and they were also secretly hoping to, perhaps, find a new Spirit for them that could help them conjure new kinds of Magic.

Spirits in Kritias could be said to be one of the pillars that represent all the attributes in the world of Kritias, and without them, the world would simply crumble and disappear. However, their existence by itself is deeply related to the gods of each attribute, which are also the pillars of Kritias attributes.

Both Gods and Spirits coexist with one another and should benefit one another… but from the Kritias that Ervas and Veronica come from where they were once Anastacia, the Demon Queen, such things simply did not happen. Gods fought against each other indiscriminately, destroying the environment, and through their powerful attacks charged with their Divine Power, they disturbed the equilibrium within the attributes of the world, unbalancing them and putting an enormous burden on all the elemental spirits of the world.

Due to such disputes, and destructive wars, the Spirits of that Kritias slowly began to die one after another… and it would take many years for them to regenerate, and only if many Gods were to put into the intention of nourishing Kritias once again and maintain it on stability until it could finally stabilize and go back as it used to be… though, for such thing, hundreds of thousands of years would be needed to happen.

A world without Spirits to maintain the attributes would put an even larger burden on the Gods… and if they were to receive too much burden, the world of Kritias from where Anastacia once came from would… slowly fragment and distort continuously until it became a chaotic world where attributes were not properly set in a balance, a distorted space where only monstrous creatures thrived, and the intelligent races would only die.

Ervas and Veronica were aware that something like this was happening, but did not know the full extent of the knowledge of what could truly happen if the things previously stated were to happen.

However, they did know about the Gods being irresponsible and damaging the environment, which ended up killing the spirits, which result would be dangerous to the world as a whole.

Now that they were seemingly in what they called 'Mirror Kritias', where such events haven't happened on such a larger scale yet, they wanted to bring as many Spirit Companions as possible, so they could receive their help and change the fate that Mirror Kritias is destined to.

"I will do my best, Jason, but don't count me too much, I am quite lazy, to be honest," said Jason's Gnome.

"Ah, no problem, do your best, Gnome-kun," said Jason, cheering up Gnome as their strong bond showed itself through such casual yet friendship-filled words.

"Foo, foo!" said Sylphid, as it has not learned how to speak yet, but Aqua near her cheered her up.

"Ask them nicely, gubo," said Aqua.

"Foo, foo!" said Sylphid adorably floating around.

"You two call them nicely too! So we can make more fwends! My mommy wants a spirit too!" said Amelia.

"Very well, Amelia-chan," said Amelia's Gnome.

"We'll call them all! GYAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Salamander.

The spirits gathered together as Ervas and Veronica used their soul and mana threads to connect with the many people present, most of them being part of their family, as they began to recite the words to call upon the spirits, the Spirits with them also did so, boosting their searching range.

After a few seconds, results were shown almost immediately.

Several dots of light began to surge from within the surroundings, of several colors. There were blue, red, yellow, black, brown, and so on.

The dots of colors then flew around everywhere, glancing at the people calling at them.

Some flew away without caring at the end, others seemed angry and left even faster… and a few stayed.

Amelia was suddenly surrounded by two dots of such light, which she quickly infused with her Mana and Ervas and Veronica's Mana as well.

The appearances of the two dots of light suddenly showed itself, as the blue-colored one resembled a small blue Sapphire covered in small streams of spring water, while the green-colored one resembled a beautiful rose with very spiky spikes.

"Congrats, Ismene, that's Undine and… another Gaia!" said Ervas happily.

"Uwah! I am so nervous!" said Ismene.

"Another me?" asked Gaia.

"I am clearly better than you, young one…" said the Gaia with the appearance of a rose, it seemed to be an elder spirit, who had lived more than Ervas' Gaia.

The rose flew around Ismene as she judged her.

"I like the maturity of your appearance, your charm is befitting to be at my side. Truly, a beautiful woman that would look even more beautiful with me at her side" said the Gaia in the form of a rose, finishing its bond with Ismene and then resting atop her head as if it were an ornament on her silky hair.

"A befitting place for me," it said.

"Woah, that spirit is pretty strange!" said Amelia.

"Strange? I have been often called 'strange' by my peers over my obsession with beauty, but I think that everyone has their obsessions in life, right? Even we, spirits, cannot run away from such desires… Perhaps as we grow older, we realize how much such desires affect our natures. The most beautiful of things that we, spirits have, is that, although we are supposedly the same beings, we are all unique and different, as I've never seen two spirits that looked the same before… With so much mystery and beauty in the world, who am I to not be able to delight myself with it?" asked the rose Gaia.

"I-I see…" muttered Ismene.

"I am not as old as Rose, but I am her friend, by the way, you go with our style, girl, let me be your pendant," said Undine, as she floated towards Ismene, already having done her bond with her, and then sitting near her neck, resembling a beautiful pendant made out of water.

"Uwahhh… T-Thank you very much!" said Ismene.

"Spirits do really come in all shapes and forms…" muttered Ervas.

"Did that Spirit just named that Gaia as Rose?" asked Veronica in disbelief.

"Yes, dear, naming ourselves as the name of our spirit type is incredibly dull. I call myself Sapphire" said the Undine.

"I-I see… Perhaps we should ask our spirits if they want names of their own?" wondered Ervas.

The world was vast, and there was bound to be unique people in every corner, this also included Spirits, it seems.

-----