First, measures to get closer.
The air layer I created around us is being peeled away, and the Spirits are being swallowed by the seawater.
For every bit peeled away, I take in more air Spirits from the seawater, ask for their cooperation, and make them obey. The deeper I go, the less it’s about asking and more about forcing them to obey.
No wishes, no desires, just a one-sided force. Because the deep sea is a place beyond human reason. The things in the deep sea are just there as they are.
That’s why I have to counter with just force as well.
The slimy white thing isn’t necessarily evil. If it’s a White Spirit or a Black Spirit, it’s a White Spirit. It’s just that White Spirits aren’t necessarily kind to humans.
The rough, cold sea isn’t waiting for humans, nor is it trying to oppose them. It’s just there, raging even when there are no people around.
I dive deeper and deeper, making more and more Spirits obey.
Actually, it’s more efficient to just force them to obey without any discussion. If that can be called strength, then I’m strong right now.
I touch the giant, half-melted soap-like Spirit.
–Ah, I don’t intend to take you and make you docile. If you want to rage, then rage, if you want to be calm, then be calm. Create ice spray from your freezing body, and you can just be here as you are.
Spirits of natural phenomena, environments, and terrains resist fiercely if you try to change them, but if you accept them as they are without wanting to change them, they won’t direct hostility towards you.
Well, their very existence is a weapon to humans, but if you have the Magic Power to match it–hey, wait a minute, white one, don’t you have too many Retainers? Right, it’s not just seawater, it’s wind too.
Some of them change rapidly, from the surging waves of seawater to spray, from spray to ice, and then the ice melts when it falls on the surface of the sea, making them difficult to capture.
I need to properly understand what they are. I don’t have to be able to explain it logically, but I need to understand and accept them as such beings (things) by instinct and feeling.
I give them Magic Power, let it seep in, and understand them as a part of myself. Good. I came prepared, so it’s okay to scatter Magic Power to my Retainers.
I even prepared Magic Stones. The Magic Stones I could prepare are far less than my Magic Power, though! I did prepare them, just in case!
I want to avoid Magic Power Depletion in the dangerous environment of the south, so I need some insurance, right? Though I’m doing a contract procedure in an even more dangerous place like the deep sea. Isn’t the contract procedure too long? There are so many things to confirm!
When a Spirit recognizes you, a bond is formed. It’s a bond that won’t connect if I don’t make eye contact, but I made eye contact perfectly.
If I don’t settle things here, the bond will strengthen at the slightest moment, and I’ll end up experiencing the sensation of being immersed in freezing seawater or being swallowed by waves.
If it’s bad, it’s not just the sensation, I might actually find myself suddenly plunged into this sea.
Unless you’re dealing with a strong Spirit, you’ll rarely be affected unless the bond is very strong, so you won’t encounter such a thing in normal life… That’s a lie, I hear about it sometimes in this world.
–I was aiming for a Spirit of the unmoving ice land, but well, I’ve cleared the hope of a White Spirit that exists there without will. Yeah, let’s go with that.
I absorbed too many Black Spirits in the Land of Ruin. To somehow prevent my thoughts from leaning towards the negative, I needed to contract with many White Spirits, or strong Spirits.
Preferably, a type of White Spirit that doesn’t affect my thoughts.
The Spirits of the Land of Ruin were too worn out and had become something far removed from human thought, which was a blessing in disguise, but when I contracted with a Black Spirit that had previously possessed a human, it was the worst.
I came to a place where people don’t come, on an adventure seeking pure power, a pure existence. So this is as planned, as planned.
It’s okay, I’m far from Kanum, and I don’t think anything will happen over there if I contract with you. It’s fine if you stay here as you have been. Or rather, please do so.
–Yumeru.
As I name it, my frozen, stiff body returns to normal. I can properly control Yumeru’s power and influence.
Or rather, is it more accurate to say that I no longer experience unpleasant effects because it has become my power? I’ve never really paid much attention to it.
“Thank you. I don’t think it’s good to give you too much of my influence, so I won’t give you any orders, especially from now on.”
The Contracted Spirit influences me, but the Spirit is also influenced by me. Especially when I give orders, the influence becomes stronger.
Ah, wait a minute!
Stop changing your form from that slimy white thing. It’s true that it’s a form I’ve never seen before and it’s unsettling, but you don’t have to suddenly become an axolotl. You don’t have to become a form that’s easy for a human (me) to understand!
An axolotl in the deep sea is troubling.