Matan’s Shooter

Prea couldn’t calm her pounding heart. Leeha could see that as well.

Instead, she was so exhilarated that she wasn’t even making a sound. Her steps as she followed the chieftain were light as a feather.

From the first time he saw her until now, she had been walking barefoot.

Looking at the snow-white feet of the wood elf, Leeha suddenly felt curious.

“But doesn’t walking hurt your feet? The forest ground looks like it would be quite painful to walk on barefoot. Do you have low synchronization?”

“Oh, my feet?”

“Yes, you’re barefoot.”

“Ah! Ha Leeha, you don’t know? It only looks like I’m barefoot! For wood elves, even if they are wearing shoes, it appears as if they are not when they are spirit summoners, druids, or shamans.”

“You are underestimating Middle Earth’s concept too much. Hehe.”

Prea’s laughter was different from usual, and it seemed she was revealing things she would normally keep secret or laugh off to maintain her mystique. Now, she was kindly answering even Leeha’s trivial questions.

With shining eyes, she whispered to him.

―But how did you know about the Spirit of Wrath? Do you know other spirits too?

―I had a rough idea about the Spirit of Wrath, but others… this is my first time. Actually, I wanted to ask you, Prea.

―I didn’t know! Those shade guys are so mischievous, they never give straightforward answers and only play pranks! I suspected there would be other dark attribute spirits, seeing as there’s even a Terror Spirit. By the way, my main factor for dark attribute spirit affinity came from my contract with the spirit of darkness. Come to think of it, Ha Leeha, you are a benefactor. If you hadn’t lifted the contract restriction with the spirit of darkness for me, I would be… it’s terrifying just thinking about it!

Prea, walking backwards to look into Leeha’s eyes, suddenly winked.

It was something Leeha was sure he would never see on a normal day.

―I never expected to hear such words from you, Prea. Haha, the world sure is strange.

―Why? Didn’t I thank you multiple times before?

Prea playfully remarked at Leeha’s surprise, but Leeha had a different reason for why he said that.

―Back then, you were lying. You just wanted to get on my good side and extract information from me. Weren’t you?

The reason the same compliment from the past felt different now was because it had been too obvious.

Leeha wasn’t someone who could be called adept at dealing with people, but he had met many users and NPCs.

Deception, flattery, and threats were such common “basic skills” in Middle Earth that numerous entities employed them.

Leeha knew Prea had been no different.

Listening to her words, her eyes opened wide momentarily, and then her snow-white pupils curved into crescents.

―So, you think I’m genuine now?

―If this is all an act, Prea, you could be an actress, probably even sweep an Academy Award in the real world.

The true nature of someone revealed through their gestures, expressions, and words.

Leeha felt he understood a little more about what kind of person Prea really was.

‘Maybe…’

She might be the purest and simplest person he had ever met in Middle Earth.

Perhaps the reason she could increase her affinity with spirits so quickly and diversely was due to her nature.

“Tatar.”

“Yes, chieftain.”

After a short walk, following the chieftain and the dark elves carrying urns, the chieftain finally stopped.

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“Place them there. And ensure no one from our tribe gets within a 50-meter radius.”

“Understood.”

It was a place roughly 2 kilometers away from the dark elf settlement, according to Leeha’s perception.

The surroundings didn’t look much different from an ordinary forest.

Carefully placing the four urns down, Tatar and the dark elves swiftly began to guard the area.

The chieftain only looked at Leeha and Prea after they were all in place.

“Only the guardian of the tribe, Ha Leeha, has the right to contact the guardian spirits. So, when Ha Leeha opens the lids of those urns, they will respond.”

“Aren’t you going to stay here, chieftain?”

“In normal circumstances, I cannot approach the guardian spirits either. Usually, I can only make contact after offering prayers for more than a week, and only if they respond to those prayers. Just as Ha Leeha’s… ‘companions’ might be in danger, so could I.”

Despite being the guardian spirit of the Dark Elves, the Dark Elves themselves couldn’t approach easily.

The chieftain moved in the direction where Tatar had disappeared, asking to be called once the ritual was over.

“Ha! As expected, the dark attribute spirits are different.”

Just as Prea murmured, Leeha too felt like he knew why dark attribute spirits were so rare.

Unlike common spirits, spirits related to darkness or fear were concealed by absurd secrets just to encounter them.

“Right? Ahem, are you ready?”

“Yes! Quickly! Hurry up!”

Prea stuck close to Leeha, swallowing nervously. Leeha cautiously approached four old jars.

Each of the four jars had different patterns engraved on the lids. After briefly examining them, Leeha quickly opened all four lids.

“Here we go!”

Blazing─

Light burst forth from the jars. The figures of Leeha and Prea standing in front of the jars disappeared.

* * *

“Kyahhh!”

“Wh-what is this―”

Prea screamed, flailing her arms.

Leeha also needed to look around and feel dizzy for a moment. At least to him, it looked like a place he had seen once before.

‘The Royal Archive! It’s that space!’

A space where even the concepts of up and down were unclear.

The myriad of things around them looked like ‘stars,’ but this was not outer space.

Leeha and Prea were slowly falling downwards.

“What, what is this place?! Celestine! Come out! Elerestra! Ignis!”

Prea frantically called the names of the spirits.

Leeha fully understood her confusion.

Wasn’t he just as flustered when he first entered the Royal Archive?

‘If it’s different from the Royal Archive― it must be this sensation of falling?’

Though nothing touched their feet, they didn’t feel like they were floating.

Something seemed to be gradually pulling them downwards, like there was gravity, but without acceleration.

Moreover, the lights—the ‘stars’—around them remained stationary even as Leeha and Prea felt like they were falling.

Leeha thought it could only be described as the absurd sensation of falling while being fixed in place.

“Ha Leeha!”

“Ye-yes!?”

“The spirits aren’t responding!”

“Spirits!? Speaking of―”

『Wood Elf…? And one who is contracted with twelve spirits. Except for one, they all seem like those I’d love to beat up.』

『He’s contracted with fear. Haven’t seen those guys move lately. There’s a black one too.』

A deep male voice sounded from somewhere.

The first voice was that of a man with gritted teeth.

It was the kind of voice you’d expect from someone ready to throw a punch. However, compared to the second voice, it wasn’t as alarming.

The second voice was calm. If the first voice was from someone holding back from throwing a punch, the second was from someone who had already made up their mind.

It was the resolve of someone who would strike before their opponent could speak.

The common trait of both voices was that they induced tension in those who heard them.

『Hmm―! Does he have that? It feels like he could be the reincarnation of Allen Srna even though he is human? I recall that these entities haven’t gone through the same cycle of rebirth as us.』

『Anyway, it’s a hassle. Better teach them a lesson next time.』

The next two voices sounded like women.

The first voice rose at the end, as if questioning itself, and the second voice was faint, as if from someone with their back turned to Leeha and Prea.

Of course, what mattered was not their voices but the content.

Leeha paid close attention to the information contained in the first voice.

He wanted to ask Prea directly, but hesitated as he was cautious about the situation at hand—especially about that very topic!

“Twelve spirits?”

Leeha knew about the four great elements, darkness, light, and even the “ice” spirit.

In total, he thought there were around eight or nine spirits, including the few he was unaware of.

But twelve?

Just as Leeha glanced at Prea with surprised eyes, she also glanced back at him.

She was thinking the same thing.

‘I don’t possess anything special. But why mention the name “Allen Srna”, a ‘wood elf’, calling me a ‘human’? There’s only one human here! What exactly does he possess—’

She knew she was the most exceptional spiritualist in Middle Earth.

With that, she also knew her limitations. Allen Srna was the ultimate goal all Spiritualists pursued.

She had yet to fully uncover the types of spirits that existed in Middle Earth, let alone deal with the first-time-mentioned “spirit king” level entities talking about Allen Srna.

Moreover, the term “possess” seemed to be referring to an item.

‘An item related to Allen Srna? No way…’

After that fleeting moment when Prea and Leeha locked eyes, something suddenly appeared in the endlessly vast universe.

Two male-shaped and two female-shaped entities appeared in front of Leeha and Prea. Each of them looked at the two in various forms.

In their eyes was only one thing.

Overwhelming hostility and massive negative energy directed at Leeha and Prea.

They could no longer look at each other.

Leeha spoke first.

“Uh, hello! My name is Ha Leeha! I recently resolved an issue with the Dark Elf tribe, and I, uh, earned the right to meet you all. I just wanted to greet you, cough, and, uh—”

『What a curious child. Wearing clothes imbued with the water spirit, contracted with a soul that contains the fire spirit, has promises with the spirit kings of earth and wind, and even met the spirit king of snow and ice—』

『He only contracted with Uncanny, right? Want to get hit? Shouldn’t we call in the spirit king of fear in this case? Don’t make a fool out of us.』

The first female-shaped entity and the first male-shaped entity spoke.

Leeha twitched but couldn’t step back.

『You.』

The second female-shaped entity briefly asked Prea.

The white-eyed spiritualist, for the first time, was flustered and hurriedly greeted.

“I-I am spiritualist Prea. It’s a great honor to meet the esteemed spirit kings. Although I’ve only been able to contract with Shade, I always strive—”

『Shut up before I break your jaw.』

The second male-shaped entity sternly addressed Prea.

She immediately closed her mouth. They had faces full of hostility or annoyance.

They alternately glanced at Leeha and Prea several times without saying a word.

It seemed certain that they were displeased with spirits of non-dark nature, including the four elemental spirits.

—Something feels wrong. What do you think?

—I don’t know either. They said we have authorization to meet guardian spirits, not that they were “friendly!”

But would they really attack us? They seem like spirit kings—

—The higher the rank of the spirit king, the more free they are to do as they please, you know that.

Leeha also realized this again.

Only the spirit kings of snow and ice and water maintained dignity as spirit kings.

The Fire Spirit King was wild, and although he hadn’t met the spirit kings of wind and earth, they would attack anyone approaching their goal of “world tree protection” without question.

Could they really be attacked?

While the two nervously waited, a decisive male-shaped entity finally spoke.

『We can’t kill the one who saved our creation, the dark elves, and the one who tempted the dark spirit king. I am Bozmak, the spirit king of destruction.』

Bozmak, the spirit king of destruction. The second male entity.

As he spoke, the first male entity, who had been grinding his teeth, sighed and mentioned his name too.

『I didn’t think I’d tell my name to a human and a wood elf. Reminds me of Allen Srna’s time. I am Ofke, the Spirit King of Wrath.』

Ofke, the Spirit King of Wrath.

『Seeing them trying to follow Allen Srna—well, both of them together attempting to chase his footsteps? Pleased to meet you, I am Karghasha, the Spirit King of Chaos.』

『Halsyzrik.』

The first female voice murmured as if questioning herself. She was Karghasha, the Spirit King of Chaos, and the one who mentioned only the proper noun was Halsyzrik, the Spirit King of Lethargy and Sloth.

The four fundamental spirit kings forming the Dark Elf tribe finally accepted Leeha and Prea.

Simultaneously, fanfare resonated in their minds.

*Ba-bam—!*