Chương 28: Guardian of The Grove

"Who dares lay their hands upon my grove?!" A not nice sounding voice booms. Now, I am no expert in not nice sounding voices, but this seems quite bad. Especially given my previous encounters with trees… I jump down from the tree, rolling to stop my fall. Grabbing Luma, I start running as fast as I possibly can. The edge of the grove is in sight, but then I feel strangely tired, and start moving slower. A bad feeling comes over me, and then I suddenly slam facefirst into a wall of solid air.

Tumbling back, I land right on my ass.

"You dare try to run?" The voice says, now right above me. I look up into the treetops and see a small white bird, with a faint white aura about it.

"You shall pay for that, fleshy mortal!" I roll to the side just as a blade of wind cleaves the spot where I was laying. Pulling out my hammer, I hop up onto my feet and get ready.

"Pfft, you think I'm scared of a little bird?" I say, using identity. [Spirit Dove (Major) - Lvl 27] Huh, a spirit? And a major one at that, probably not as cool as Luma, but still. Imagine how cool it would be to have a cute dove on my side! It is even around my level too!

"Die, puny human!" The dove screeches and then dives for me. I sidestep it, and just as it passes, I start incanting. When the dove circles back around, I finish.

"<Light Ray>" My aim goes wild as the energy flows through me, but I quickly figure out how to aim the damn thing and point it right at the dove. Just a meter away from me, it is hit by the full blast. Instantly, the dove swerves off to the side, screeching in pain.

"AHH! MY EYES!" Fun fact, birds can be very sensitive to light, learned that back when I took on a griffin in my old world. Shine a bit of light in their eyes, and it can go quite badly. The bird crashes into a nearby tree and falls to the ground, rapidly shaking its head. I pounce on it, grabbing the small feathery body and holding it tightly–making sure it can't move its beak or talons to get me.

"Let me go right now! Puny human, do you know who you are holding!? I am DOVEY MCDOVE, guardian of this grove, and supreme ruler of all doves!" It screeches and thrashes around to no avail. I am starting to think this silly bird has a bit of an ego problem.

"Oh really now. Well, it seems I have captured you, thus meaning you are not a very good guardian…" The dove goes limp and suddenly I feel all the threat leave the thing.

"Bbbuut… mother said I was ss-trong. Father always said I was brave and powerful enough." As I glance at the bird's eye, I swear I see a bit of a tear gather there.

"Obviously not." I hate attacking what is obviously a weak point of this poor bird. But, it did attack me first, and in quite a violent manner. Its beak is quite sharp, and I don't want to think about it going through my chest right now.

"Meanie." The bird retorts.

"You tried to peck me to death!"

"Only cause you asked for it!"

"Yip!" Luma says, jumping out from a nearby bush when she sees the danger is over.

"Yip, yip, yip!"

"What is this, a great one, speaking to me?!" The dove says, freaking out again. Damn, seemed like he was so close to calming down. With me having grown lax, the dove manages to slip out of my hands. I try to catch it again, but it doesn't go far, instead it hops over in front of Luma. Then, it bows.

"Please forgive me, o great one. I was unaware this mortal was associated with your great self." Luma's face scrunches up in confusion.

"Yip?"

"Oh I see, you are but a young one…" Dovey says and then turns to me and bows.

"O honored one, I do apologize for my earlier actions. Hmm, what is this? I sense an odd presence on you, human." I sigh, and just play along with the sudden shift from murdery to subservient. Honestly, it is a relief that Dovey isn't trying to kill me anymore.

"Maybe because I am the Spirit Hero?" I say, and then under my breath utter "Visible", making my cloak appear. Dovey jumps back, a shocked expression appearing on his face.

"A hero…?!" The bird drops into an even lower bow, its beak going all the way to the ground.

"P-pplease spare me, oh mighty one. I am but a bird, I meant no offense to her divineship." Yet again, I sigh, this time deeper.

"No worries, I did invade your grove. It is only natural that you seek to defend your home. It is quite honorable, even." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Dovey perks up at the praise.

"Really? I am not a failure?" I laugh, "Well, you tried, and that is all that matters, right?" A burst of wind surrounds me and then I am suddenly on the ground. I brace myself, but quickly relax when I feel the bird nuzzling my chest without hurting me. It tickles a bit, who knew sharp beaks could be tickly?

"Oh kind hero, thank you! I shall carry this debt to my grave!" Luma joins the party, jumping onto my chest and nudging the bird away.

"YIP!" She seems jealous, so I make sure to pat her on the head a bunch. Seeingly content, she speaks again.

"Yip Yip?" Dovey promptly hops off me.

"Great idea, great one!" Dovey hops over near my face, "Great hero, might you allow me to repay this debt to you?" I sit up, "How so?"

"Form a contract with me, of course! I promise I can be useful. The great one has informed me that you lack information, which I have! Plus I ain't so bad in combat, well when not compared to you."

"Huh, somehow I wasn't thinking of that." This is all happening way too fast. Like seriously, one moment this bird tries to kill me. Now he wants to form a permanent contract and help me do stuff? The bird is quite cute though… I bet he would look cute with a tiny hat.

"Okay then. So uh, how exactly do I do that?" I ask.

"Yip!" Luma says and then nuzzles my hand.

"Yip, yipity, Yip yip!" No clue how, but I seem to get the sense she is telling me to do weird shit with a skill. Also, why can Dovey speak but not Luma? Is it an age thing? Dovey did say Luma was young… Anyways, I realize that Luma is telling me to use the Form Spirit Contract skill. Honestly, I forgot I had that, it isn't like I have had the chance to use it yet. Activating the skill, it seems to ask for a focus, so I look towards Dovey. The little bird has what I imagine to be a grin plastered on his face.

Selecting him, a message appears. [Would you like to form a contract with the Major Spirit, Dovey (Spirit Dove - Lvl 27? Cost: 2 capacities] Only two contract capacities, really? Luma was twenty five, I was expecting Dovey to be at least like, five. Just how rare and powerful are great spirits? I throw a glance over at Luma, who has contentedly settled herself in my lap. She doesn't look it, but perhaps I have ended up with a future force of nature cuddled up in my lap. Anyways, I confirm that I do want to form the contract. The same weird magical circle as when I bonded Luma appears in the air between Dovey and I. Dovey does not hesitate to poke it with his beak, and I feel the energy surge between us. Dings flood into my mind, as expected. Spirit Contract Completed. New Spirit Bond Established with Dovey.' Ding', New trait gained, {Spirit Contract: Dovey}'Ding', New title awarded, {Major Spirit Contractor}'Ding', Dovey is level 27, applying retroactive stat points.' Ding' Spirit Mage has advanced to level 12. Stat points distributed. …' Ding' Spirit Mage has advanced to level 20. Stat points distributed.' Ding' New skill unlocked, [Spirit Phylactery (Unique)] I wait for the wave of pain and confusion to pass as my body tries to adapt to such massive growth. I am certain that this cannot be healthy, but how else am I supposed to do it? To help out, I enter meditation, and take a peek at the new bits while I wait. {Spirit Bond: Dovey} Spirit Name: Dovey (Spirit Dove - Lvl 27) Dovey's Standing: Major (2) Dovey's Affinity: Air Dovey's Abilities: [Air Power] Summoner Stat Bonus Per Level: +1 Agility [Air Power] Dovey is a master of the air, and it bends to his will. Dovey effectively gains access to all air magic spells, up to the highest tier of any of his summoner's elements. Naturally, as a bird, Dovey can also fly quite fast. {Major Spirit Contractor} You have encountered a spirit of major power. With a bit of convincing, it has joined your side. Somehow. Major spirits are rare, but not unheard of, and one often serves as the core of a spirit contractor's lineup. They aren't the easiest to bond, so some reward is merited. Effects: +10 Spirit, +1 [2] spirit contract capacity. [Spirit Phylactery (Unique)] This skill is critical to the function of any spirit contractor. Very simply, it allows them to withdraw a spirit into their corestone. Serving as a comfortable place for the spirit to rest up while not being corporeal. In addition, for every spirit inside, spirit energy regeneration is increased by 1% for each standing of that spirit. This is an effortless and harmless process. In fact, most spirits say it is quite pleasant inside. Though do be sure to let them out occasionally, even spirits need fresh air every once in a while. Do note that spirit abilities will be unavailable while inside the phylactery, unless otherwise specified in its description. With my mind and body calmed down, I think over all the potential applications. Not to mention all the stats I just got. Like, just by themselves, I got eighteen unallocated points. I throw half into intelligence and half into endurance, to help balance things out a bit. Stats Vitality: 118 Endurance: 55 Strength: 53 Agility: 72 Intelligence: 65 Wisdom: 59 Spirit: 129 Unallocated Points: 0 Resources Health: 1180/1180 Stamina: 550/550 Mana: 520/590 Spirit: 1290/1290 Spirit Contract Capacity: 27/30 I marvel at how much stronger I just got. Like seriously, this spirit summoning is powerful stuff. I can see why people would keep the information hidden. For now though, I have a new friend to get acquainted with, along with some resources to harvest.