Chapter 32: Summoning A Spirit

The basic to summoning a spirit was an intense focus. Aries had to ignore everything, even his emotions. His soul had to be calm enough to resonate with the spirits that were hovering restlessly around him. It was strange how his eyes could see the corrupted souls but not the carefree spirits of nature and the essences of the people unaware of their death. Spirits of nature were colorful, bright, and vivid. Lost souls were transparent white with tints of grey. Yet he could only sense them with his eyes closed. Corrupted ones were too dark and he could spot them without exerting effort. His soul must be as dark as the corrupted ones that he could easily resonate with them.

Opening his inner sense to perceive those that were unseen was exhausting. He had to stop and rest for a few minutes before he could focus again.​​

Gin-Ren was doing well. She truly was born to do it. She only needed three attempts before she could sit on the ground without moving a muscle and her face looked astoundingly serene.

Aries had to try for hours before he could get himself to fully relax his entire being.

Princess Pieffer had to struggle with her focus for half a day but she never complained even once. Her willingness to learn amazed Aries.

After a few minutes of rest, Aries closed his eyes and focused once again. Continuous attempts made it easier for him. It was like traversing through the shadows. His body felt like a feather being drifted by a gentle wind.

In the shadows, there was only darkness. While in a trance he could perceive a lot more. It was draining but extremely satisfying.

Now that he could see the spirits of the dead, something had sparked within him. Maybe he could see the soul of his beloved Pieffer.

A jolt of electricity had hit him so hard, causing him to lose his focus and collapse with his back on the ground. That was the first time he felt electrocuted.

Pieffer crawled towards him and whispered, "What happened?"

Gin-Ren was still in a trance. Aries was grateful that his actions did not interrupt her training.

"I was electrocuted," he answered while sitting up.

"A strong connection to a spirit had caused it," Shaman Mina quietly explained as she sat next to the princess.

Aries was about to ask a question when Gin-Ren gasped in pain.

"I was electrocuted!" she was rubbing her temples in annoyance. "I was trying to summon the Head Shaman. I thought I could get through the defenses imprisoning her but I was electrocuted."

"Are you also trying to connect with the Head Shaman?" Princess Pieffer asked Aries.

"No," he honestly answered. "I was thinking of something else," he glanced at Shaman Mina and asked with a pounding heart, "Can we connect to spirits by accident? And if we can connect to them, does that mean they could not enter Heaven or Hell?"

"You can connect to a soul even if they had already entered Heaven or Hell," Shaman Mina kindly answered then glared strictly at Gin-Ren. "Do you want to die? Why are you rushing towards our enemy?"

"I want to save Head Shaman Aurora!" Gin-Ren stubbornly replied. "If she can still lead The House of Maiden, then I can come with Aries and assist him in saving the rest of Serestral."

"We will try to save the Head Shaman," Aries seriously told the white-haired Zodiac Knight. "But if all else fails, I will kill her."

Gin-Ren nodded in agreement.

"Master the summoning technique," Shaman Mina reminded Gin-Ren. "And you have to excel in convincing the spirits. Maybe if you say the right words, we have a chance to encourage the Head Shaman to live."

"We will convince her to live," Princess Pieffer always had this confidence that was surprisingly contagious for Aries.

^#############^

After resting for an hour and eating a simple meal for dinner, Aries searched for a place where he could not disturb Princess Pieffer and Gin-Ren. He hid behind the trees and began to focus. Earlier, before he had been electrocuted, he was thinking about the possibility of seeing his beloved Pieffer. He was positive that his soul had connected with her.

This time, he wanted to talk to her.

Hours passed but nothing had hit Aries. No jolt of electricity, no voice, or anything that could tell him that his beloved wanted to connect with him.

Another hour of disappointing silence had followed and Aries had to momentarily let go. He opened his eyes and coughed out blood. He had strained himself to fulfill his desire but it seemed that his beloved never wanted to talk to him or even see him. That must be the reason he had been electrocuted.

Aries smiled with self-loathing.

I killed her. Why will she want to see me? What else should be said between us? I should not be bothering her. She is already at peace in Heaven. Right, Pieffer?

"Aries, what happened?" Princess Pieffer sat beside him. "Why are you coughing out blood? Are you trying to summon Venera?"

He stared at the princess with awe. He never thought about talking to their enemies that in some of his memories were his friends.

"I'm trying," he lied and coughed out more blood. "I never thought summoning a spirit can be this tiring."

"Gin-Ren is amazing," Princess Pieffer leaned his back on a tree. "We already reached our limit but she was still in a trance without any sign of getting tired. She truly wanted to save the Head Shaman."

"Are you sure we can convince the Head Shaman to live?" Aries also rested his back on the tree where the princess was leaning.

"All of us make mistakes and dying is only an excuse not to pay for your sins," Princess Pieffer glanced at Aries with a smile. "Don't you agree?"

"I guess you're right," Aries closed his eyes. "I'll just sleep for an hour. You should leave."

"I also want to take a nap," Princess Pieffer was almost whispering. "Thinking about those flights of steps is already making me sleepy. I will leave once I wake up."

Aries only smiled and after a few minutes, he had fallen sound asleep.

^###########^

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When Aries opened his eyes, he was still hidden in between the trees near the entrance to the Northern Border. His strange dreams seemed to take pity on him and let him sleep in peace. He glanced at his left and saw the princess still leaning on the tree and sleeping.

Aries wondered how a princess could fall into a deep slumber while at a place where she had no defenses and in a position that was quite uncomfortable.

He thought about waking the princess up but just decided to carry her through the long flight of steps. He was about to touch her shoulder when her eyes opened. She had been instantly alerted and Aries was amazed by her sharp senses.

When she realized that it was only Aries, she smiled and yawned, "I'm still sleepy."

"I can carry you," Aries generously offered and the princess was eyeing him suspiciously.

"I'm not possessed," he reassured her but she was still looking at him with caution.

"You are being so kind and a smile curves upon your lips."

The princess gazing at him so closely had made him uneasy.

"Fine," he forced the smile out of his face. "Walk if you want."

The princess smiled and jumped on her feet.

"Thanks for the offer," she said while stretching her arms and legs. "I want to strain my muscles."

"Let's go," Aries said while stopping his lips from smiling.

^##############^

After two days of diligent training, Shaman Mina had told Aries, Princess Pieffer, and Gin-Ren that they were ready to break the curse.

"Wait," Gin-Ren was nervous. "Just give me one more day to gather confidence, please, Shaman Mina?"

"I think I also need one more day to prepare," Aries said. He wanted to summon someone else first before trying it on Venera.

Shaman Mina glanced at the princess who only nodded agreement.

"One day only. You cannot ask for further extension."

"Thank you, Shaman Mina!" Gin-Ren exclaimed and went back to training.

"Will you practice in that place again?" Princess Pieffer walked by his side.

He only nodded.

"Can I also train there?" the princess eagerly asked.

He nodded one more time and let the princess accompany him in his training ground.

^########^

Aries and Princess Pieffer sat on the grass-covered ground with their back facing each other. A tree had served as their dividers.

The princess was getting better at focusing. It only took her an hour before she entered a trance.

Aries had done it after a few minutes. He wanted to summon a spirit that was inside his body. He focused on the image of an axe until he was face to face with it.

He had been pulled back in that place where glass boxes contained the corrupted souls he had absorbed.

The last time he was there, he had only seen a few glass containers. Now there were countless fragile-looking prisons crowding that area. But the one with an axe on it was still first in the row of those glass boxes.

Aries approached it and lightly placed his right palm over the glass. The ax pulsated and tried to push him away but Aries refused to be denied a connection. His soul had to be one with the axe-wielder.

He kept on pressing his palm against the glass box until his hand passed through the container that did not break. It felt like the glass suddenly transformed into some sort of sticky jelly.

The corrupted soul was resisting with all his might but Aries remained firm in moving forward and stretching his arms until his hand could finally touch the axe.

The connection had been instantly established. The glass boxes had vanished. Aries let go of the ax as it began to change form. He could finally see the true form of the axe-wielder.

He was wearing a silver breastplate, gauntlet, and greaves. His long black hair was neatly ponytailed. His blue eyes were staring at Aries with fury.

He had seen that man in his dreams. He was one of the twenty-four knights that gathered in the castle of Serestral.

"Tell me the reason why we had come to this," Aries strongly commanded. "Why did we become enemies?"

"If that is what you want," the silver-armored knight gripped his weapon in both hands. "But you will never get the answer that easily."

"Of course, it will never be easy," Aries called on to his dual blades and prepared for a fight.

^###########^

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