"What are you talking about?" Hao was totally thrown off by my sudden request. He was confused because he was sure he had never let slip his secrets past me. The existence of the gnome was concealed from the outside and nobody besides his brother had been able to associate the fire he generated with the mysterious's runt identity.

I'm sure he's not awakened, how then? This guy is such a weirdo!!......These words engulfed Hao's cortex and shook his disturbed mind. Raoh was not a Shaman, nor was he versed in the spiritual aspect; no spiritual imprint was present in his body nor his energy. The only explanation was that he figured this out with unknown means...Never had he encountered a child as deep and mysterious, past or present included. He was reborn and he could not link back with the "Grand Spirit" for years, but he'd made progress in these last few weeks. According to his calculations, it would take another three years before he could establish back the contact with their world and channel his aura. When he lost to me before, he was impressed but not resigned, he knew once he reunited with his old pal he would thread into another dimension and leave me behind in his trails. But right now, he was subject to doubt and reconsidered his previous thoughts...I could definitely not be classified as a "commonplace" genius, and I proved it once again. Since Hao could no longer assess the number of cards I hid he was perturbed.

He knew he could not escape this inquiry; it was a guttural sense telling him, but he still made a last, desperate attempt at a semblance of dumbfoundedness. He was waiting nervously for my comeback, as he knew there was no going back from it.

He acquited himself well but difficulty as he fought against an urge to make eye contact with me.

"Don't panic. One day you'll understand eventually. Just take it out, and spare us more useless banter. The fact that I don't bear any ill will is probably already clear; if not you would have attacked by now." I responded confidently and waited for him to make his decision.

"Like you said before, you and I are not much different. I wish I could be more specific, but I'm not able to do so at the moment. I'll need you to cooperate for both our sakes, as this is beneficial for us both. Our interests in growing stronger align, am I wrong?" I added and put the last nail in the coffin; giving enough hints without breaking the restrictions imposed on the both of us".

"..." Hao frowned and went into deep thought. He crossed one arm and supported his chin with the other. He finally let out a sigh and lost his childish antics, as if the exasperation sound served as a puff to make it all seem illusory.

Hao stared at me like an injured feline and I took a step back as I thought "Oh, oh!".

I was horrified at the scene unfolding. I was familiar with bloodthirst, but the aura leaking from Hao right now was beyond your usual scary. This terrifying energy was different from mine; it did not reek the stench of murder, but something distinct altogether. It was something far more spine-chilling, compelling and majestic; "nature".

Every blade of grass, rock, tree, was locking on him, responding to a wise call bestowing upon him ancestral power, which served but one purpose; to pressure and suffocate me.

I was preparing to make my move when something unexpected took place. Hao looked behind his shoulder and restrained his aura. He exchanged with an invisible presence and nodded resentfully after a few gestures expressing protest. He smiled wryly and started to talk once more.

"Do you believe in ghosts?" He asked spookily.

I was abashed by the sudden change in behavior. "Not really," I answered in relief.

"What do you see behind me?" He continued.

"...Is there something behind you?" I did not see anything. I frowned as if it would help me assess it better. "Is he here?"

Hao heaved yet one more sigh and continued conversed in silence with the imperceptible presence.

"You can't see it, can you?" He was about to burst out in laughter.

I blushed with embarrassment and said. "No."

"Aargh. You know what I don't care, just come over here!" He grabbed his head and beckoned me over.

"Don't freak out." He said to me as he put his hand on my stomach.

"??" I was puzzled.

The next moment some sort of energy started to course through my eyes, before diffusing to the rest of my body. My pores opened as they leaked out some transparent and fuzzy energy. The latter started to form swirls around my arms before enveloping me completely in an invisible barrier.

...............

I blanked out for a moment. When I was conscious again, I realized something odd; Music. SIlence had become music to me. The wind was singing, as if an entity, and then... Yet something weird was realized. I wasn't listening with my ears, but my eyes. My body was interpreting every woosh as code or language, and I was soon in a trance state. I never did drugs, but It had to be close to what I was experiencing right now. A weird and uncontrollable merriness that kept telling every cell of my body that I was done sleeping; I was "woke" now.

The world as if trying to tell me to surrender to this feeling started to make me hallucinate, or I tried to tell myself. I was looking at everything around us differently and realized how tiny I was, and unlike what you could see in third-rate supernatural movies, this happy feeling was definitely not cool. I did not need Hao to tell me to understand what was going on. I was reborn; not physically but in the spiritual sense. To be more precise, it was my first birth, since I had been oblivious to this realm previously.

"....!" All of a sudden, Hao's expression changed.

"??" I was confused, but then I looked at my side. Some sort of pervert-looking hat-wearing raccoon had appeared from thin air, licking a lollipop. He stared at me naively, as if waiting for something.

The next moment an ear-deafening screech sounded; the raccoon shrieked and started dancing funnily, shaking his tail left and right.

"What the fuck is that?" I asked Hao. "Hao...?"

"...."

"Hey start talking. Who's this funny guy?" I asked once more befuddled.

"Consider this your blessing and be respectful...It appears you're even more of a freak than I originally gave you credit for. This..." Hao shook his head in resignation.

I made the right choice, but what is this feeling? Hana's ancestors would turn in their grave in shame right now...This guy seems to defy all common sense. I'm still more handsome than he is though...

"What do you mean?!" His choice of words was interesting. Before I could contemplate on it, the familiar sound bothered me again.

["Ding!"]

[Congratulations! Host has awakened his 6th sense thanks to an external stimulus]

[Host is now awakened to the 4th dimension and has become able to see, hear and interact with its residents. The occult has become part of your life and you automatically become an occultist.]

[New profession added; Occultist (Description): Occultism is the study of occult practices, including (but not limited to) magic, alchemy, extra-sensory perception, astrology, spiritualism, religion, and divination. Host is now opened to those practices, and in the future will benefit from added proficiency and understanding.]

[Inherent Job boosts: +INT+WIS+SENS]

[The following jobs and skills have also been added to your deck: Shaman, Metaphysics, Dead Link, Spiritual Haki, Exorcism, Spiritual Ancestor's Blessing]

[Accept, YES/NO?]

The weird raccoon from before jumped happily and made a salute with both hands into the air. The next moment he vanished after the ravenous screech sounded with even more conviction and insistence than before.

I fought an itch to look up as I felt what was up would prevent me from getting sleep in the next few days. I clicked yes on the prompt and the system was once more at work.

"That friend of yours is smarter than he lets on...I remember you looking into the sky that time ages ago. Hehe." A feeble but playful voice said

"Don't tease me Firey. This time you were right, I admit it okay?!" Hao smiled and said. Centuries have passed but this guy's instinct is still spot on...

"..." Spirit of fire had a meaningful look on his face.

"What?" Hao acted innocent.

"Don't play dumb, I know what you plan to do. Hmph!"

"Don't worry I won't hurt him, he's my friend. It's less potent but I'll make a copy" He responded.

"Really?" The little guy was surprised.

"Yeah. I like him..." Hao blushed. He looked at Spirit of fire and said after clearing up his face. "Wipe that look of your face, we both know I don't swing that way..."

"Hehe! I was just teasing you. I hope Grandie agrees. You know how crazy that fellow is." The runt warned.

"......" Hao remained silent at the words. He knew this better than anyone.

.......................................

I looked at the window in front of me with more curiosity and enthusiasm than usual.

[Shaman (Description): Shamans can enter a perpetual and permanent trance state that allows them to communicate with the dead, ghosts, evil spirits, and demons. They practice divination and healing, but also can use the occult to inflict harm during combat]

[LVL1 Passive boosts: +HAKI+WIS]

[Metaphysics (Description): Metaphysics contains a broad variety of disciplines and subjects, such as cosmology or ontology. In a more general sense, it is the study of reality itself, existence, space and time, cause and effect. Host can now peer more casually into causality and matter. Metaphysicists are able to conduct experiments with 10% more chance of success. Results are obtained through empirical evidence and/or sensory experience. Wild guesses reduce the experiments' efficiency by 20%. Host can also no longer acquire the branch skill nihilist in the future due to his occultist job; it has been replaced with the teleology skill.]

[LVL1 Passive boosts: +INT*10+SENS]

[Dead Link (Description): Host can communicate with and command the unseen as well as decode spiritual language.]

[LVL1 Passive skill boosts: +INT+WIS-CHAR]

[Spiritual Haki (Description): Furyoku, an application of observation Haki and conqueror’s Haki. Host can ask for further details later once Conqueror's Haki and Observation Haki are unlocked.]

[LVL1 Passive boosts: +HAKI+SENS+CHAR]

[Exorcism (Description): The expulsion or attempted expulsion of supposed evil spirits from a person or a place, through specific rites or actions.]

[LVL1 Passive boosts: +HAKI+DEX]

[Spiritual Ancestor's Blessing (Description): Host is now possessed or blessed depending on his beliefs. Host can pass on his powers to a third party upon his death.Like an alpha to his pack, allies benefit from a 20% added might when fighting an enemy in group. People branded to the Host can be resurrected. Each resurrection costs the host a temporary loss of 50% HP if the dead person was stronger. The resurrected person definitely dies once the host perish. Host can also now steal HP from dead bodies.]

[LVL 1 Passive boosts: -LUCK+CHAR+HAKI*20+WIS]

[Resurrection...Wait!!! FOR REAL?!!!]

"Host is a fully-fledged oddity now...That skill is not as great as you might think it is I must say, however." The funny guy seemed serious for once.

How?

"That animal from before..." The system lets out those words float ominously.

What's wrong with that Raccoon? I asked in wonder. His reaction was a bit off from usual.

"........" The system remained silent.

I don't have time for this goodbye. I was going to put my hand on the cross.

"Kid, I'll talk. Just know that you don't need to rush, branding is fine. Just don't use that other......!" He was cut before he could finish his sentence.

[That was odd, to say the least. What was that all about? He knows that strange animal for sure...Also about that skill. That minus luck might be a big problem. Maybe this is related.]

"Looks like it's a success..." Hao smiled in consternation. "You've even awakened that special feature apparently"

Although I'm pretty sure he himself isn't aware of it yet. He thought sneakily

"So, can you see now?" He asked once again.

Something climbed on his shoulder and grew bigger. When I turned my head I was so freaked I almost screamed.

What welcomed my eyes was a gigantic, red robotic-like figure with antlers. A mecha would be the most accurate word to describe the monster that was now inflating like a balloon. He had fascinating green, fluorescent eyes and horizontal deer-like horns growing from each side of his head. His body was tattooed with white markings that followed a meaningful pattern, seemingly exuding an undecipherable grander purpose, other than to make him look horrendously cool.

The ghost examined me intently and beamed. The next moment he deflated and regained his small frame. He started spinning around me like a whirligig. His flying patterns were similar to an air force plane; to be honest, even the speed, angle and the sound were the same. This "ghost" was akin to an engineered plane, and only had fire and his appearance as an addition.

When he was finally bored, he stopped and landed on my shoulder, while flicking his oversized feline paw extremely cutely.

"Nice to meet you! My name is Spirit of Fire; you can call me Firey if you like." The runt said cheerfully.

"I'm Raoh. Nice to meet you too." He was totally different from before. [This guy is insanely cute OMG.]

"I think he likes you. You've become a Shaman now as well by the way..." Hao clarified.

"Shaman?" I played dumb.

"Well,..." Hao started to explain to me the ins and outs of Shamans and Shamanic magic...

"...In short you'll be able to interact with guys like this idiot over here." Hao finished.

Spirit of Fire started to launch attack at his master.

When they finished messing around, Firey looked at the object inside my hands and said.

"What kind of crooked up design do you need me for? Let me tell you, that thing you hold is nothing to joke around with...."

Raoh's Stat Sheet :

General Information Attributes Job Information Name Monkey D Raoh Name Value Name Value Name Level Advancement Race Human STR 49 SENS 75 Martial Artist(+Dex+Agi+Haki) 2 38% Sex Male END 74 INT 98 Slayer(+Str+Dex+Agi) 2 38% Age 6 AGI 30 WIS 99 Occultist (Int+Wis+Sens) 1 0% Organisation Pirate Kid Alliance REC 54 LUCK 25 Shaman(+Haki+Wis) 1 0% HP 451/451 (34%/minute) DEF 49 CHAR 35 Haki 131/131 (182%/minute) DEX 45 FUN 8 Skill List Name Level Advancement Observe (+Sens+wis+int) 36 52% Nerd Kit (+wis+int)*3 19 48% Move Kit (+Agi+Dex) 9 2% Savage Kit (+Str+End) 10 4% Tools Mastery Kit (+Dex) 2 12% Hokuto Shinken (+Str+Def+End+Rec+Haki) 16 3% Hardening Haki (+Def+End+Haki) 6 26% Pain Resistance (+HP+End) 2 63% Survival Instincts (+Sens+Dex+Int+Wis+Luck) 1 57% Spartan Metabolism (+Hp*5) 4 18% Cutthroat (+wis+Dex) 2 17% Sanguinary rule (+Def*5+End*5) 2 70% Master Builder (+Dex*5+Int*5+Char) 1 0% Ladies Man (+Char*5+Luck*10) 1 4% Smooth Operator (+Char*10+Sens*5+Fun*2) 1 7% Emphatic Sprint (Agi*2) 1 40% Metaphysics (+Int*10+Sens) 1 0% Dead Link (+Int+Wis-Char) 1 0% Spritual Haki (+Haki+Sens+Char) 1 0% Exorcism (+Haki+Dex) 1 0% Spiritual Ancestor's Blessing(-Luck+Char+Haki*20+Wis) 1 0%