Chapter 1

Alone on a plain stood the figure of a man in silver armor, however upon closer inspection, one could easily tell it was anything but ordinary. The helmet had four horns pointing back, giving it a sleek look. The chest was pronounced and on the shoulders, lining the back of the neck, was the white fur of an ancient beast. Wrapped around the waist was a brown cloak that went just below the knees. All over the armor was golden lining and glowing in the gaps of the joints was a soft amber color that pulsed with life.

The man was a God. His name was Calgar and in the distant past, he had died.

Calgar looked around slowly, and then looked at himself. He held his arm in front of him and slowly clenched and unclenched his fist.

“… Am I alive?” he asked no one in particular.

He couldn’t understand what was happening. He should have died, yet here he was, standing on the plain where the Gods had their final battle.

“Oh wait, there is grass here.” He noticed that it wasn’t the barren wasteland he last saw. “Did Raylen restore it? I wonder if they stopped fighting after that.”

Calgar recalled the war they had waged with each other. It was bitter and long. He couldn’t remember how many years it had lasted. He commanded his race, the Iusties and created powerful weapons for them and himself. Speaking of which…

He looked around but couldn’t find either of them. “They aren’t here.”

Calgar had created two swords for himself, Luna and Sol. Infused with the souls of the fallen Iusties; they were living weapons, able to be both servant and sword.

“Well, Sol is probably behaving, but as for Luna… I’m a little worried.”

Sol had a responsible personality, while Luna on the other hand was quite the prankster. They were just like their names suggested, complete opposites.

When he took a step forward, his arm fell off.

“What the heck is this?!”

Gushing from the shoulder was that amber energy. It would crackle and hiss. Calgar quickly grabbed the fallen arm and put it back into place and with his mind, willed it to reconnect. The energy slowly filled the arm back up and when he let go it stayed attached.

“Damn that was messed up. It felt as if I was bleeding out. What is up with my body? Or more like, aren’t I a spirit or something?”

It was true. This was not what Calgar’s original body looked like. This was just the armor Calgar would always wear. Right now it was acting as a sort of container; inside of it was nothing but his soul essence. He then realized his lack of power.

“Ugh, I barely have anything huh? Probably explains why I’m a spirit. I’m too weak to maintain a physical form… Ah so my armor is a medium I guess.”

Calgar muttered to himself. “I need more power then. I wonder if people still worship me. But that method will take forever won’t it? This is annoying. Why do I need to work to get power, aren’t I a God?”

As his monologue was continuing he had been completely oblivious to the other person that had been there the entire time. It was a young girl, in her mid-teens. She was slender and well-rounded in all the right places. Her straight hair was dark black and reached down to the middle of her back. Her eyes were a bright emerald green.

“E-excuse me…” She said.

Calgar turned around in surprise. Where did she come from?

He quickly regained his composure. “Ah, sorry I didn’t think there would be someone there.”

However the girl tilted her head and made a troubled face.

“What is it, something on my face?”

Little did he know that she couldn’t understand his words.

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Let’s go back in time a bit.

Her name was Yumi Nishka and she was 17 years old. She attended a prestigious military school in the country of Ganar, but lately she has been troubled.

Yumi comes from a noble family of summoners, those who can call upon a spirit and borrow their powers. However, no matter how she tried, she could not summon a familiar. Summoners without familiars were useless. She despaired.

When people are born, they have at least one of the six attributes, fire, water, earth, wind, light or dark.

To magic users or mages, for short, this only determines which spells they will have an easier time casting. A mage with the fire attribute can still cast all attributes, but the fire spells will cost less magic to cast and will be more powerful.

To summoners however it is a completely different story.

Spirits also come with different attributes, but for a spirit to partner with a summoner with an attribute of any other than their own is like consuming a deadly poison. So for a summoner who has to provide the spirit with magic, they can only have one attribute. Those born with two or more can never be summoners.

To have only one attribute is actually very uncommon. Yumi was born with no attribute, which was extremely rare. Those with no attribute have ‘pure’ magic, and any spells they cast would have tremendous power, albeit the cost would be just as high.

Since she wanted to carry on her family’s tradition of being a summoner, this was a huge problem. While she technically had no attribute that the spirits wouldn’t like, she also didn’t have the attribute of the spirits themselves, making her undesirable. This was the reason she still didn’t have a familiar.

The school was currently on a break and she was returning to her family’s territory, when she by chance heard something from an old man in the town she was passing through.

“In the plains to the west lies a statue of an ancient being and surrounding that statue is immense magical energy.”

She knew spirits love magical energy and so she came here hoping to find a partner to call her familiar.

As she crossed the plain she saw the statue standing proudly. The figure was that of an imposing armored warrior carrying two magnificent swords in each hand.

When she approached, she could feel the magic pulsing in the area.

“This amount of magic is amazing. That old man was really telling the truth.” She felt that if it was here, she could summon an amazing familiar.

She started the summoning ritual. Holding her hands in a prayer, she reached her conscious out into the ether where the spirits resided.

“Is there anyone willing to respond to me?” She probed deeper and deeper.

There were spirits all around, but they either avoided or ignored her. Yumi was disheartened, it was going to end up like all her other attempts.

Just as she was to about to give up she felt it. A tug, that was ever so subtle.

“What was that?” She tried to find it.

Then it tugged again, harder this time. “There it is!” A mass of amber light, its beauty making her pause in admiration. She had never seen a spirit like this before.

Then it happened suddenly. While she was lost in thought it rushed at her. Yumi panicked as the light enveloped her conscious. It felt as though her magic was being sucked dry. She quickly left the ether and opened her eyes wide.

“What in the world was that? I thought it would completely take me over.” She said with heavy breaths.

Then a hand appeared from the ground in front of her and Yumi screamed. She couldn’t take it and her legs lost their strength.

Following the arm was the head then the torso and finally it stood on the ground. What stood before her was a full suit of silver armor that was glowing the same amber color as the spirit before.

She could come to only one conclusion. It chased me to the physical world!

Thoughts of her life up to now passed through her head. She regretted all the things she had left undone. It would’ve been nice if she had seen her family at least once more too.

Then the spirit’s arm fell off and it hurriedly put it back on. It was… how to say it… a little pitiful. She felt a little sorry for it. It then stared off into the distance, as if it was deep in thought.

Then Yumi wondered. Maybe it didn’t come to consume me? Wait if I think about it, didn’t I successfully summon a spirit?! What do I do next? Ah yes the contract!

But the spirit still hadn’t noticed her presence. She decided to call out to it.

“E-excuse me.”

The armor turned around. While the helmet covered the majority of the face, inside the horizontal slits for the eyes, she could see two brightly colored lights. They behaved just as eyes would as they searched the surroundings and finally settled on her. The armor then it spoke.

“Ignosce, non esset aliquis cogitet.”

……………What is that? I don’t understand anything it said.

“Quid est quod in faciem meam?”

More gibberish! Even primitive spirits should be able to get a feeling of understanding across! If this keeps up the spirit I finally summoned won’t be able to make a contract with me! Why do the Gods hate me?!

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The girl yelled. “Why do the Gods hate me?!”

“How can I hate you, I don’t even know who you are.”

Calgar watched as the girl held her head in her hands. He was still slightly taken aback that he didn’t even sense her presence before. It reminded him of exactly how much of his power he had lost and that his senses had dulled.

The girl was still in a daze. Well like this we won’t get anywhere. Let’s start with introductions.

“Hello young lady I’m Calgar, God of War and Valor. Who might you be?”

The girl looked at him, and then thought for a bit. She then pointed at him, then herself and shook her head side to side while shrugging. She then slowly said words and did the same motions as before.

“I can’t understand you spirit.”

Upon looking at her lips, Calgar noticed she was indeed not speaking the language of the Gods. There was hardly any trace of her soul in her words.

To be honest it was slightly annoying to his non-existent ears. She sounded quite monotone with no life in her voice. Calgar was able to understand her regardless because he read what little soul power came from the words.

“While I’m hesitant to use what little power I have, not being able to communicate is no good. It’s a pain but I don’t have a choice.”

Using some of his power, Calgar made it so that his words would be able to be understood by anyone and anything. He then tried again.

“Young lady, can you understand me now?”

“Yes, I can understand you!” she was jumping up and down in joy.

“Well then let’s start over, I am Cal-.”

“Spirit, thank you for answering my call, forgive me for running away when you approached me in the ether, it’s just that you have a very overwhelming presence. Please, I beseech thee, form a contract with me!” She said while bowing.

Calgar had nothing but complaints to her interruption. But he was a wise and patient God, this much wouldn’t bother him.

“First would you care to introduce yourself?”

The girl straightened up, embarrassed. “Yes of course, how rude of me. I am Yumi Nishka, third child to the Nishka household and first daughter. I am a summoner who has called you here to ask you to become my familiar. It is my hope that I may borrow your strength.”

“Summoner? You mean I was summoned here by you?”

“Yes, I was searching the ether when I felt your presence and called you forth. However, if you don’t find me to be satisfactory I will send you back immediately.” She said dejectedly.

Calgar was deep in thought. So I was just soul essence floating in the ether. It seems her call was the trigger for me to be able to condense myself to become conscious. That would mean if I go back, then I would just be a mass of energy again, and if that’s the case…

If he could, Calgar would have broken out into a cold sweat. Right now his future hinged on this girl. At the moment he is too weak to stay here himself without her link. He needs to be careful with what he says here.

He coughed into his hand. “Well let’s not be hasty now. I didn’t say anything about going back did I?”

Yumi sighed in relief. “Oh thank goodness, I was really worried. You are the first spirit I have been able to successfully summon. So will you be willing to contract with me?”

“That depends on what exactly the contract entails.”

“Of course. The contents are that in exchange for lending me a portion of your powers, I will give you a portion of my magical energy for you to grow. If you ever find the energy I have to be inadequate you can break off the contract. ”

“I see. It is a deal that greatly favors the spirit.”

“Yes, after all I’m the one asking you to lend me strength where you don’t technically need mine.”

Spirits were beings that feed off of magical energy. The more energy they absorb, the higher rank a spirit could become.

For a spirit to rank up by eating the natural energy would take thousands of years. This is where the summoner comes in. By letting the spirit absorb magical energy straight from a living being’s soul, they could grow rapidly, in a little as a few years or decades.

Calgar peered into the soul of Yumi. She had a vast amount of pure magical energy. He would eventually return to his former strength through natural recovery, but that would take decades, if not centuries. Yumi could provide a good head start though.

Calgar couldn’t think of a reason to refuse this offer, and as soon as he couldn’t gain any more energy from her, he could always break off the contract.

“Well, I can’t see any reason to refuse you; therefore I will accept this contract.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, a line of energy connected Yumi to Calgar. He could feel himself connecting to her soul and her energy pouring into him. It felt wonderful, like drinking water after being parched. With this he felt a huge burden lift from him and could feel himself solidify.

On the opposite end was Yumi who was feeling a vast amount of complex emotions.

“You… are amazing… I can feel your energy. It’s impossible to describe this feeling… and this is only a portion of your power? How much are you giving me? I can barely control it.”

“I haven’t given you anything yet though? Well, at least not consciously anyway.”

“What?! How is that… wait, could you by chance be a high ranked spirit?” She said with wide eyes.

“No, I’m not technically a spirit. Sorry for the late introduction, but you did interrupt me earlier. I am Calgar, God of War and Valor.”

The two quietly looked at each other for a while. Finally Yumi spoke.

“A god?”

“Yes.”

“Like, of the five gods?”

“Yes like of the… wait a moment, what do you mean five gods?”

“The five gods, Auromi, Nighorum, Raylen, Laanex and Measha.”

Calgar was stunned. “Are you sure it’s not six?”

Yumi put a finger to her chin. “Well, some say there was a sixth god, but it isn’t widely accepted.”

“You’re kidding me…”

Calgar was in shock. How could they have forgotten him? Surely the Iusties still believed in him, right? If they didn’t, Calgar didn’t know if he could handle it.

It only makes sense that the people would forget a dead god, but he didn’t have to like it.

Then he thought for a moment. Was he even needed? It should have been thousands of years since he had died and from what he could tell, the world looked like it was doing just fine without him. Would his coming back be a good or bad thing? Without more information, Calgar couldn't make a decision. So he decided not to press the matter further.

Yumi spoke. “Are you saying you’re that sixth god?"

“Ignore what I said earlier about being a god. To make things simple, just treat me like a high ranked spirit.”

Yumi was still a bit confused, but quickly broke into a smile. “Alright! I can’t believe that the spirit I summoned is a high ranked spirit! Mother and Father will be so proud of me!”

“I’m sure they will be, but I have a question for you first. What exactly do familiars do?” Calgar questioned.

“Ah, right. Familiars just have to stay close to their summoners and when I need to borrow your power, lend it to me.”

“That’s it? It seems simple enough. Then I will just follow you for now Yumi.”

“Yes, please look after me Calgar.”

The two had started walking towards the town. After a short distance, Yumi turned around to face Calgar.

“Um, aren’t you going to turn into your spirit form?”

Calgar tilted his head to the side. “But this is my spirit form?”

“No, I mean… other summoner’s familiars disappear into a spirit ball and travel that way. It also minimizes the amount of magic I have to give you to stay linked. If you stay like you are, that will eat up my magic to maintain your form.”

“A spirit form… well, I’ll give it a shot.”

Slowly Calgar’s legs started to disappear. Soon nothing but his helmet remained floating in the air.

“This seems to be the best I can do.” He said while looking to where his body used to be.

A chill ran down Yumi’s spine. “I know I asked you to do it, but a floating head is creepy so stop it please.”

“You’re a hard one to please.” Calgar rematerialized his body. “You know, about me eating up your magic… I’m using this armor as a medium to stay stabilized, so I don’t need that much magic from you.”

“Really? But I was taught that materializing a spirit consumed a lot of magic power.”

“This armor is taking most of the burden off of you, so you only have to use a little bit of magic to fill in the gaps.”

“Is that how it is? It’s true that I don’t feel you taking that much magic. If that’s the case then that armor is amazing. Actually now that I think about it…” She looked over to the statue in the distance. “You look almost the same as the statue. Were you perhaps the spirit familiar of someone from the ancient past?”

“No this is the first I’ve been a familiar, but I have been around since long ago.”

“You are just becoming more amazing and mysterious Calgar. I’m truly blessed to have you.”

“Well then, I’ll be sure to meet your expectations.”

The two continued walking off in the direction of the town, preparing to depart to the Nishka territory.