Chapter 209.1: Blindspot (Part 1)

「Ohh..! I see...」

Anlutine was a water spirit who lived together with Worthramble and Sanctia. Now she also wanted to form a contract with Mira. Hearing that made Mira feel surprised, glad, but also a bit worried.

Back then she did not have the Spirit God's Divine Protection, and since she already had formed a contract with a water spirit, she did not have the option of forming one with Anlutine. At the time there was no issue with that though.

But now that she had gained the Spirit King's Divine Protection, which tied all the spirits together, things were a bit different.

Now Worthramble and Sanctia could talk freely to the Spirit King and Martel, but Anlutine who lived with them was always left out of the loop, which understandably would make her feel bad.

「I really wish I could form a contract with her as well...」

Mira would gladly respond to Anlutine's request if she could. But there was something stopping her.

「Summoner contracts are actually limited to only one per race or elemental spirit. So if I were to form a contract with her, my current one would be canceled. And I've raised Undine since she was born, so she's like a daughter to me...」

Mira could understand the pain Anlutine felt being left outside the loop, but the thought of being separated from Undine, who she raised so dearly, was also not one easy to bear.

「I see, so there are limitations like that... I guess that explains why you mentioned you already had a water spirit back then.」

Breaking a bond like that was not easy, and not something Worthramble wanted someone else to do. But he also looked pained at Anlutine's situation, almost as if he was the one being affected.

Even if Mira stood at the top of all summoners, she still had to follow their rules. Or at least until now.

『You shouldn't have to worry about that anymore. That limitation existed because the bond formed through a contract would be overwritten, but I can rearrange them.』

Almost like he had been waiting for that exact moment, the Spirit King's voice echoed in Mira's mind. Worthramble also was able to hear it, which quickly cheered him up.

「What? That's possible?!」

Now she could have simultaneous contracts with spirits of the same type. While spirits were classified into different types, their abilities could differ even if they had the same element.

During the game, the go-to choice for the main four elements were Salamander, Undine, Sylphid, and Gnome, as they could be raised however the summoner wanted, and eventually became the strongest. As Mira loved to battle, she obviously chose those four as well.

Forming contracts with other spirits had certain advantages though, one being the ability of using them in combat right away without having to raise them, or the other and most important one, special abilities that could not be obtained by the raised ones.

Mira had debated about that for a while back then as well. But what settled her decision was that those special abilities were extremely abundant, and trying to research the ideal one would take a ridiculous amount of time, not to mention that most of them were not meant to be used in combat.

Now that this world had become reality, the way Mira looked at spirits had changed greatly, but during the game she had only cared about being powerful. That was why she chose to raise her spirits so they fit the mold she wanted, instead of picking grown ones that already had established abilities. Currently her four elemental spirits had grown enough that they were comparable to high level spirits.

Now the Spirit King would let her form contracts with all those spirits she had once given up on. That was good news not only for Anlutine, but also for Mira.

『During our time together I've gained a good understanding of what a summoner's contract is like. Just form any contract you want as normal, and I'll take care of the rest.』

It seemed like by coming in contact with Mira and the spirits she had formed contracts with, the Spirit King had also learned more about summoners. He sounded confident with his ability to make it happen, though he made sure to stress that it would only apply to spirits, as meddling with the bonds with other creatures was harder. So she could not form contracts with other Pegasus to create an army of riders in the sky, or form a contract with the Land Emperor Dragon to pair it with the Sky Emperor Dragon Isenfald to attack both on land and air.

Still, being able to have repeat summons with spirits was more than enough.

「That sounds good to me, I'll form as many contracts as I want then.」

There was no reason to refuse such a benefit, not to mention that it was something the spirits themselves desired. Worthramble also said thanks, looking extremely relieved like a heavy weight had been taken off his shoulders.

「If I remember correctly, that lake was located between the Libra Fortress and the Mirage Maze...」

To form the contract she would still have to travel to wherever Anlutine was. Mira opened her map and tried to remember where they had met. She had only stopped there for the night, so she did not know the precise location.

The Libra Fortress was located in Ozstein, while the Mirage Maze was in Grimdart. She had met Worthramble and the rest at a lake between those two locations. That line passed a day's worth of travel to the south of her current location, so depending on the exact location it would not take too long to get there.

「I think it was around here...」

Mira frowned at the map, trying to determine which lake it was.

『Mira Mira, Tinney says she'll come here instead. She doesn't want to cause you more trouble.』

Then Martel's energetic voice rang in Mira's head. It seemed like Sanctia had been updating Anlutine on what was happening.

As a result, Anlutine had already departed the lake, traveling through underground water veins to get there faster. This was something very important for her, so she did not delay a second.

『I wouldn't say it was any trouble, but I'll wait for her then. Actually, do you know how many days it'll take her?』

Mira wanted to know how many days Anlutine would take to arrive from the lake, but Martel answered that they would not have to wait very long.

『You know, spirits are very sensitive to bonds and connections. Even if you didn't form a contract, you two already have a connection, and spirits can follow such connections with ease. Tinney said to just continue with your business as usual, and to not worry about waiting.』

It seemed like Anlutine had a good grasp of Mira's location. Being able to trace faint connections like that was an incredible power, which surprised Mira as she was hearing about that for the first time. But she also recalled times in the game where the topic of spirit stalkers would pop up between players.

That was something players who were friendly to spirits would often experience. Sometimes they would be fighting a powerful monster, their sword would break, and just when they were giving up, a spirit they were friendly to would appear out of nowhere to save them.

Thanks to that they would win the fight and safely obtain the loot they wanted. At first they would attribute it to luck, and the good timing of the spirit being nearby at the right moment. But it would keep happening time and time again, even if only on the main map. Any time they were in danger, a spirit they knew would rush in to save them.