Colby woke up that day with a terrible headache.

Relieved that he at least had control of his body again, he dreaded what happened last night. Worse yet, he still had no idea what exactly it was that happened last night! Seeing himself from outside his own eyes was truly terrifying for the young boy, and he had no idea how to prevent it from happening again.

Nevertheless, he still had to face the consequences of body Colby’s actions and when he got to the common room that night, his father had given him a solid tongue lashing. The only reason he wasn’t physically punished was because the money he had brought home was enough to get his sister some lesser medicine, which would hopefully keep her alive a little longer.

However, he didn’t get off with just words as he spent the entire next day and a half working for the household doing harsh chores for a 10 year old. The jobs quickly lessened up though, when his sister’s condition worsened. Colby could hear her cough and wheeze at night, wrenching his heart. He had to do something, anything. He was desperate. Awakening was supposed to grant power, power strong enough that you wouldn’t have to suffer these things anymore, that was what the legends and rumours stated, but Colby felt frustrated and powerless.

So as soon as he got a little free time, he went into town. He absolutely had to know more about what his powers actually were! And thus, he was seeking out a very specific person.

He nervously went towards the East of the town, where the true slums and struggles were. Steadily, the buildings got less maintained, and the guard presence became thinner and far between. Colby was nervous, going here on his own, however he knew where he was going. His family had taken him there before.

Going through a few backways and up racketty wooden stairs, he came upon a cramped hovel. It didn’t stand out from the surrounding buildings much at all, but could be easily identified by the charms strewn about here and there.

He knocked on the door and was let in. The inside of the hovel was cluttered and messy, with odd trinkets and jars of who-knows-what piling over furniture. The owner of this hovel, sitting at a messy table, was Witchdoctor and priest of Thea, Istaqa Montemgu.

She was a dark skinned old woman, with ratty hair and a lanky frame. She had a wild array of accessories on and had a noticeable hunch. She was likely the last priest of Thea in the city, as the new King of Edrya outlawed paganism when he took the throne just a few years ago. Colby’s family were still secret worshipers as were many of the lower class peasants, and they had taken Colby to Mrs. Montemgu shortly before they visited the Shrine in the forest. She was the one who had implied that Colby had potential worth taking that huge risk of leaving the Town.

“Ah, young Colby. Are you all alone? Where are your parents?”

“Err… Well. I’m alone this time.” Colby’s parents didn’t actually know he was here.

“What can I do for you?”

“W-well Ma’am… I’m-”

“Awakened! Yes, the star’s told me already! Congratulations young boy! Thea has given you her blessing!”

“T-the stars?”

“Yes! The stars! A new light was born on the night of your awakening! However, all that tells me is that a new flame arrived on the World by Thea’s grace! Come, sit down, what can you do my boy?” Istaqa motioned towards a chair encouragingly.

The duo went and sat across from each other at a small wooden table. In the center of the table was a crystal ball, which Colby could only guess to its purpose.

“W-well I can light fire. But no matter how hard I try I can’t do anything else. It’s like someone else is controlling my magic, like it’s not my choice. I want to understand more about what I am.” Colby meekly answered.

“I see, I see..” The woman muttered to herself while setting up some kind of bowl on the table. Throwing in various substances that shot out plumes of dust, she seemed to have a revelation. “My boy, it sounds like you- oh yes! Thea be blessed! You are spirit bound!”

“Spirit bound?”

“There hasn’t been a spirit bound since the church of Thea fell! Wonderful day! Just wonderful! Oh, Praise be to Thea!”

Mrs. Montemgu continued to celebrate something Colby couldn’t understand. Interrupting her, Colby asked;

“Uh, Ma’am? What does it mean?”

“Why my boy! It means a Spirit has chosen you!”

“What’s a spirit?”

“A spirit is a being of the immaterial plane! There are many types of spirits, they can be the souls of the deceased who have lingered, they can be expressions of mother nature given form, they could even be creatures from other existences! Sometimes, with Thea’s blessing, they can bond to a mortal, lending that mortal their powers, manifesting in different ways. Some spirits are stronger than others, and thus give greater powers or can manifest in different ways. Of course, the stronger the spirit, the more prideful, making them less likely to actually bond to a mortal.”

Mrs. Montemgu continued to fiddle with various items while continuing her monologue.

“A spirit hasn’t bonded to anyone in the Kingdom of Edrya ever since that bastard king took the throne…” She seemed very bitter when talking about that. “Oh, but this is a great thing! If you are a spiritbound, then times must be set to change! It is her plan!”

“I- is that why I can only cast one spell?” Colby asked.

“Make no mistake, you are awakened but you are only borrowing the spirit's power. What you’re able to do lies solely within what the spirit is capable of and is willing to lend you.” she explained.

“How do I know what they're willing to give to me…?” Colby asked worriedly. He was terrified that what he could do now would be his absolute limit. He wouldn’t be able to help his family with just what he had now.

“Well, trial and error would be one way. But an easier way would be to interact with them.”

“Interact with them…?”

“Most spirit bound will never directly interact with their spirit, that is very hard to do so. But indirectly, it is much easier. Using the right tools and know-how, we can nudge them and based on their reactions we can learn more about them.” Mrs. Montemgu doubled her pace of preparing whatever it was she was doing. She seemed excited.

“Never directly interact with them…?” Colby muttered to himself. He was reminded of the strange man he had seen at times before. He also thought back to when he lost his body.

“Could that have been a spell too…? Or was it the spirit's power…?” Colby mumbled to himself. A auto-combat magic power could potentially be useful too. He supposed beggars shouldn’t be choosers. Turning back to Mrs. Montemgu, he shared his thoughts.

“I’ve been seeing this strange man around. Nobody else seems to notice him and when I blink, he disappears.”

Not looking up from her work nor even responding to Colby, Mrs. Montemgu just seemed to get even more excited and started to work faster. Once she was done she said;

“Young Colby, give me your paw.” Colby was confused but the witch doctor quickly grabbed his hand. She started chanting some stuff and throwing things into the bowl. Colby felt uncomfortable, this was creepy, but soon Mrs. Montemgu’s head shot back and she closed her eyes, small amounts of mana started flowing through the room.

“Oh! Oh yes! They're here! The spirit is definitely here!”

Colby couldn't see anything, but he didn’t doubt the old woman.

“Oh! Thea’s be! It’s a powerful spirit! Surely greater than any nature being or ghost! It’s unlike any I’ve ever felt before!” The woman rattled on.

Colby looked around nervously then suddenly, he felt his mana start to drain away. He said as such to the doctor, but Mrs. Montemgu completely ignored him.

“Spirit! I am a priest of Thea! I am a believer! Please answer our inquiries! Tell us if you’re here! Give us a sig- Ghurk!” A spike of mana shot out of the two people in the room, thoroughly shocking them as sourceless wind picked up and blew the clutter around the room. It was chaotic and scary, then all of a sudden everything just abruptly stopped.

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Richard woke up in a strange place again. He was in a messy shack, with clutter spread across the floor.

“Christ, it reminds of that one crazy cat lady who hired me to spy on her husband that one time…” He grimaced.

Also present in the room were two people at a table. One was a decrepit old woman waving and flailing like she had just shot a line of LSD. Across from the woman was a nervous looking boy- one he recognized! It was the German boy whose body he was in! Or was it? Richard wasn’t even sure if that awesome night was even real, everything felt like a dream. He hoped it wasn’t a dream as he thought back to that one cow lady with the bull horns that had those HUGE tits, that she was willing to show him.

“Haha… that was a pretty good night..”

Then the old woman started chanting some more and making weird sounds, pulling Richards' attention and he started walking closer to the duo.

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Mrs. Montemgu was raving.

“Oh yes! Yes he’s here! I’m certain of it! By Thea, he is a potent spirit! Very firm!”

“He?” Colby asked

“Oh yes! A he! Definitely a he! I can feel his deep eyes bore into me!” Mrs. Montemgu seemed ecstatic. Colby couldn’t help but blush.

“W-what’s he like?” Colby was dying to know.

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He wasn’t sure why, but he was certain the duo were talking about him.

The woman was incredibly ugly, but Richard was smug as she seemingly described him as potent and powerful.

“The spirit is certainly conscious! I’m certain of it! They’ve gone through hellfire and faced incredible trials!” the woman yelled.

“Hmm, it feels good to be vindicated for once.” Richard said.

“Yes… Yes he’s in incredible pain.”

“Wait, what?” Richard wasn’t expecting that remark.

“And he’s weakened now. His trails have surely beaten him before.”

“Hey!” Sure, Richard hadn’t always gotten back up, but who said he needed to? He wasn’t weak!

“And he’s ugly.”

“Oh come on!” Richard threw his hands in the air in frustration

“Ugly miss?” The young boy asked.

“Yes, ugly. He has an ugly soul, scarred by years of tragedy…” The woman said mournfully. “He bears his scars across his chest and hand, constant reminders of his failure.”

Richard was starting to get genuinely annoyed now. “Oi! Lady! Shut up!” He didn’t like people picking his ‘soul’ apart and criticizing it. Who would?

The woman gasped “oh no, I think it’s angry!” She muttered.

“You’re damn right I’m angry! You callin’ me ugly? Look at you!”

“H-hes angry miss?” The boy asked nervously.

“Y-yes I feel the evil energy… cruelty, horror. Skies of fire and birds of metal!” The lady said menacingly.

“Birds of metal?” The boy asked.

“Birds of metal that drop air of burning! Oh Thea, comfort this poor soul!” The woman started talking panickedly.

“Lady, don’t ignore me like I’m not here!” Richard was getting a little angry, he felt like she was mocking his time in the war.

“His ugliness, it runs deep within him! Young Colby, you must tame it!”

“That’s it, c’mere you old broad, let’s get something straight!”

Richard began approaching the woman as she was heaping various things into the bowl seemingly in a panicked attempt to achieve something.

He got up next to her and reached out, hoping to shake some sense into her, but as he reached for her, he went completely through, throwing him off balance, and he fell on his face.

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“His ugliness, it runs deep within him! Young Colby, you must tame it!”

Mrs. Montemgu pleaded.

“T-tame it? What do I do!?” The woman had seemed to have lost all her composure, so Colby had too and they were both panicking.

Suddenly Mrs. Montemgu screamed as a burst of mana exploded from her chest. She flailed in shock for a second before collapsing off her chair.

“Mrs. Montemgu!” Colby worriedly yelled.

“Ah, son of a fuck…” A man's voice spoke from under the table.

Surprised, Colby jumped back.

Then, the man he had seen many times before stood up on the other side of the table from him. He was more clear and vivid then Colby had ever seen him before, but looking closer Colby could see that he was still very much so translucent.

Looking at the man while he was trying and failing to nudge the unconscious woman on the floor with his foot, Colby could finally study him closely. He wore a fabric hat and some kind of coat, though it was so long it was almost a cape. Both were beige and were obviously of fine quality, though they were also clearly worn from years of use.

The man also had weird accessories, from his neck hung an oddly shaped metal box, crafted with exquisite craftsmanship.

“Going through you…? Seriously…? Heh, that’s a new kind of penetration for sure.”

The man mumbled to himself as he was trying to kick Mrs Montemgu only for his foot to phase right through her. He had an unshaven beard and dark, piercing eyes. He was tall with visible muscles that reminded Colby of his dad, who was working hard in the mine to try and provide for the family. That thought struck Colby as he remembered what he was here for. Mrs. Montemgu said to ‘tame him’, but you can’t really tame a person, could you? Maybe he should just start by trying to talk with it.

“U-umm, Mister…?” Colby nervously spoke.

The man snapped to attention, forgetting the woman and looking at Colby.

“Oh, so now you can see me, huh? Well, good. I was afraid I was a ghost or some shit.”

“I-I think you are a ghost Sir?”

“Quit jokin’ with me boy. Speaking of which, aren’t I supposed to be you? I’m not sure how this whole reincarnation thing is supposed to work anyways…”

“Reincarnation…?” Colby was confused and a little bit scared, however he had no other choice but to interact with the spirit who was binded to him if he wanted to become more powerful.

“Yeah, like, becoming a new person after death or something. Err, well actually I guess It’s still possible that I haven’t been reincarnated. If so, then what am I…?” The man seemed to fall deep into thought, as though he was trying to put together an invisible puzzle.

“Y-you’re a spirit, Mr spirit Sir.” Colby answered.

“Oh yeah, thanks. ‘Cause that really narrows it down. How do you know? Who told you that, kid?”

Colby nervously pointed to the unconscious Mrs. Montemgu.

“Oh, of course she did. That figures…” The man sighed.

“Alright then, tell me more. Let’s walk and talk.” The man began to move past Colby towards the door.

“Huh? W-w-wait!” Colby hurriedly began following.

“Wait for what? That old hag’s not gonna wake up any time soon. And I might black out again! I gotta tell you, never knowing what’s going on and constantly waking up in random places sucks ass, kid. So- argh!” He let out a frustrated grunt as his hand phased right through the door knob. He nodded a silent command and Colby humbly opened the door for him. “As I was saying, start talking. What d’ya mean by ‘Spirit’?”

“W-well you chose me.” Colby sputtered out.

“I chose you…?” The man looked curiously at Colby as they continued walking down an alleyway.

“That’s what Mrs. Montemgu said. That spirits choose humans to bind to and grant powers.”

“I didn’t choose shit. I feel like if I could chose anything, I’d choose to know what the hell’s goin’ on!” The man mocked.

The duo made it onto a larger street with scattered markets and a few people.

“So what am I supposed to do now, then?” The man asked.

“You need to help me!” Colby cried as soon as the conversation began turning towards his spirit’s bindings.

“Help you? And why would I do that?” The man responded. This threw Colby for a loop as he didn’t really have an answer. He didn’t know much about Spirits himself, after all.

“I- you’re supposed to? Erm… spirits bound bestow powers onto those they choose.” Colby stated.

“Again, I didn’t choose shit. And bestow powers? I don’t know how to bestow powers!” The man said as he looked around the town at the various people and objects on the street.

“But you did! My flame, you gave it to me!” Colby cried.

“Flame? Christ this shit is weird, light a candle or something, I don’t know. What flame are you talking about?”

Colby mustered up his mana and ignited his small flicker of fire on his fingertips. The man jolted suddenly and grimaced.

“Argh, ok stop whatever you’re doing! That’s unpleasant as hell.” Colby looked down, disheartened. If his one and only spell upset the spirit man, then how could he ever hope to gain more power?

“I’m sorry…” he sqeaked out.

The man looked down at Colby and softened his expression. “It’s… fine. Just triggered some bad memories is all.”

“So… will you help me?” Colby nervously asked.

“I don’t even know your name-”

“Colby!” Colby panickedly shouted out after realizing he didn’t introduce himself.

“Err, right… Richard, but people call me ‘Dick’. Anyways little Colby, I don’t know how to help you. Besides, I died and now I’ve got a chance to explore la-la land. You can’t seriously ask a guy to give that up?”

Colby’s chest hurt from anxiety. He was desperate. “Please Mr. Dick!” He begged. “My sister is going to die if I can’t become powerful enough to make money!”

However, Richard wasn’t listening to his heartfelt plea, as he was completely distracted by a passerby. It was a young Elven woman, though with Elves you could never really know their true age. She wore a grass short skirt and Richard tracked her with his entire head, entranced.

“Oh-hoho… sorry kid, but find some other spirit or… something…” Richard muttered haphazardly as he started to chase after the woman. But once he got a couple feet away he hit the air, as though there was a wall there.

“Oof!” He fell on his rear, rubbing his nose in frustration. “Aww, what??” He got up and started feeling around, confirming that there was indeed some kind of invisible barrier blocking his path. He began pushing against it, using all his weight.

Colby walked towards him, curious and hoping to help when Richard suddenly fell over as though the barrier disappeared.

“Wha-! Gods, I’ve spent enough time face down in the mud this last week to last a lifetime…” He muttered as he got up.

“M-mr Richard?” Colby asked nervously. Richard turned and looked at him intensely, thinking for a second before pointing his index finger at him.

“Stay there for a sec, kid.” Richard walked a few steps in the direction of the lady again before once more hitting the barrier.

“Hmm… Walk away from me for a second.” The man commanded. As Colby confusedly walked away, Richard seemed to be pushed towards him by some invisible force.

“Ohhh no… oh fuck, come on!” Richard seemed to have come to a revelation, even though Colby wasn’t quite sure what was going on. As the man turned his attention towards him, Colby was starting to connect the dots.

“You said I was bound to help you or something, didn’t you boy..?” Richard asked.

“I- err-” Colby just nodded his head, as Richard let out a frustrated sigh, taking off his hat and roughly ruffling his own hair.

“Guess I got no choice… But you’re gonna make it worth my while, ya’ hear?”

Colby thought that meant Richard was agreeing to help him, so he was cheering up. “B-but wait. Make it worth your while?” Colby asked.

“I wanna have fun! Ya’ know, let loose. You don’t get opportunities like this every day. I’m finally free from loan sharks, the fuzz and I’d like to see those damned Krautz get me here-” Richard looked at the blonde haired, Blue-eyed Colby before finishing his sentence “well, good enough anyways…”

“What do we need to do to have fun…?” Colby asked nervously.

“Well, it seems I can’t get more than a dozen feet away from you. Though it seems most people can’t see me…” Indeed, many pedestrians had been glancing Colby’s way as it seemed like the boy was talking and crying to nothing. “...I’m sure we can find ways to have fun with this. Just follow my lead- err wait, you said something about your sister, didn’t ya’?” Richard corrected himself.

“Y-Yes! My sister, she’s sick and we can’t afford medicine. I wish to borrow your magic Mr Spirit, so I can use it to earn money to buy a cure!” Colby explained.

Richard looked troubled for a moment. “Well… I don’t know shit about magic… But I know a thing or two about trickery. We just need money, right?” Colby confirmed as Richard smiled menacingly, looking towards a stand.