Relieved that he at least had control of his body again, he dreaded what happened last night. Worse yet, he still had no idea what exactly it was that happened last night! Seeing himself from outside his own eyes was truly terrifying for the young boy, and he had no idea how to prevent it from happening again.

Nevertheless, he still had to face the consequences of body Colby’s actions and when he got to the common room that night, his father had given him a solid tongue lashing. The only reason he wasn’t physically punished was because the money he had brought home was enough to get his sister some lesser medicine, which would hopefully keep her alive a little longer.

However, he didn’t get off with just words as he spent the entire next day and a half working for the household doing harsh chores for a 10 year old. The jobs quickly lessened up though, when his sister’s condition worsened. Colby could hear her cough and wheeze at night, wrenching his heart. He had to do something, anything. He was desperate. Awakening was supposed to grant power, power strong enough that you wouldn’t have to suffer these things anymore, that was what the legends and rumours stated, but Colby felt frustrated and powerless.

So as soon as he got a little free time, he went into town. He absolutely had to know more about what his powers actually were! And thus, he was seeking out a very specific person.

He nervously went towards the East of the town, where the true slums and struggles were. Steadily, the buildings got less maintained, and the guard presence became thinner and far between. Colby was nervous, going here on his own, however he knew where he was going. His family had taken him there before.

Going through a few backways and up racketty wooden stairs, he came upon a cramped hovel. It didn’t stand out from the surrounding buildings much at all, but could be easily identified by the charms strewn about here and there.

He knocked on the door and was let in. The inside of the hovel was cluttered and messy, with odd trinkets and jars of who-knows-what piling over furniture. The owner of this hovel, sitting at a messy table, was Witchdoctor and priest of Thea, Istaqa Montemgu.

She was a dark skinned old woman, with ratty hair and a lanky frame. She had a wild array of accessories on and had a noticeable hunch. She was likely the last priest of Thea in the city, as the new King of Edrya outlawed paganism when he took the throne just a few years ago. Colby’s family were still secret worshipers as were many of the lower class peasants, and they had taken Colby to Mrs. Montemgu shortly before they visited the Shrine in the forest. She was the one who had implied that Colby had potential worth taking that huge risk of leaving the Town.

“Ah, young Colby. Are you all alone? Where are your parents?”

“Err… Well. I’m alone this time.” Colby’s parents didn’t actually know he was here.

“What can I do for you?”

“W-well Ma’am… I’m-”

“Awakened! Yes, the star’s told me already! Congratulations young boy! Thea has given you her blessing!”

“T-the stars?”

“Yes! The stars! A new light was born on the night of your awakening! However, all that tells me is that a new flame arrived on the World by Thea’s grace! Come, sit down, what can you do my boy?” Istaqa motioned towards a chair encouragingly.

The duo went and sat across from each other at a small wooden table. In the center of the table was a crystal ball, which Colby could only guess to its purpose.

“W-well I can light fire. But no matter how hard I try I can’t do anything else. It’s like someone else is controlling my magic, like it’s not my choice. I want to understand more about what I am.” Colby meekly answered.

“I see, I see..” The woman muttered to herself while setting up some kind of bowl on the table. Throwing in various substances that shot out plumes of dust, she seemed to have a revelation. “My boy, it sounds like you- oh yes! Thea be blessed! You are spirit bound!”

“Spirit bound?”

“There hasn’t been a spirit bound since the church of Thea fell! Wonderful day! Just wonderful! Oh, Praise be to Thea!”

Mrs. Montemgu continued to celebrate something Colby couldn’t understand. Interrupting her, Colby asked;

“Uh, Ma’am? What does it mean?”

“Why my boy! It means a Spirit has chosen you!”

“What’s a spirit?”

“A spirit is a being of the immaterial plane! There are many types of spirits, they can be the souls of the deceased who have lingered, they can be expressions of mother nature given form, they could even be creatures from other existences! Sometimes, with Thea’s blessing, they can bond to a mortal, lending that mortal their powers, manifesting in different ways. Some spirits are stronger than others, and thus give greater powers or can manifest in different ways. Of course, the stronger the spirit, the more prideful, making them less likely to actually bond to a mortal.”

Mrs. Montemgu continued to fiddle with various items while continuing her monologue.

“A spirit hasn’t bonded to anyone in the Kingdom of Edrya ever since that bastard king took the throne…” She seemed very bitter when talking about that. “Oh, but this is a great thing! If you are a spiritbound, then times must be set to change! It is her plan!”

“I- is that why I can only cast one spell?” Colby asked.

“Make no mistake, you are awakened but you are only borrowing the spirit's power. What you’re able to do lies solely within what the spirit is capable of and is willing to lend you.” she explained.

“How do I know what they're willing to give to me…?” Colby asked worriedly. He was terrified that what he could do now would be his absolute limit. He wouldn’t be able to help his family with just what he had now.

“Well, trial and error would be one way. But an easier way would be to interact with them.”

“Interact with them…?”

“Most spirit bound will never directly interact with their spirit, that is very hard to do so. But indirectly, it is much easier. Using the right tools and know-how, we can nudge them and based on their reactions we can learn more about them.” Mrs. Montemgu doubled her pace of preparing whatever it was she was doing. She seemed excited.

“Never directly interact with them…?” Colby muttered to himself. He was reminded of the strange man he had seen at times before. He also thought back to when he lost his body.

“Could that have been a spell too…? Or was it the spirit's power…?” Colby mumbled to himself. A auto-combat magic power could potentially be useful too. He supposed beggars shouldn’t be choosers. Turning back to Mrs. Montemgu, he shared his thoughts.

“I’ve been seeing this strange man around. Nobody else seems to notice him and when I blink, he disappears.”

Not looking up from her work nor even responding to Colby, Mrs. Montemgu just seemed to get even more excited and started to work faster. Once she was done she said;

“Young Colby, give me your paw.” Colby was confused but the witch doctor quickly grabbed his hand. She started chanting some stuff and throwing things into the bowl. Colby felt uncomfortable, this was creepy, but soon Mrs. Montemgu’s head shot back and she closed her eyes, small amounts of mana started flowing through the room.

“Oh! Oh yes! They're here! The spirit is definitely here!”

Colby couldn't see anything, but he didn’t doubt the old woman.

“Oh! Thea’s be! It’s a powerful spirit! Surely greater than any nature being or ghost! It’s unlike any I’ve ever felt before!” The woman rattled on.

Colby looked around nervously then suddenly, he felt his mana start to drain away. He said as such to the doctor, but Mrs. Montemgu completely ignored him.

“Spirit! I am a priest of Thea! I am a believer! Please answer our inquiries! Tell us if you’re here! Give us a sig- Ghurk!” A spike of mana shot out of the two people in the room, thoroughly shocking them as sourceless wind picked up and blew the clutter around the room. It was chaotic and scary, then all of a sudden everything just abruptly stopped.

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Richard woke up in a strange place again. He was in a messy shack, with clutter spread across the floor.

“Christ, it reminds of that one crazy cat lady who hired me to spy on her husband that one time…” He grimaced.

Also present in the room were two people at a table. One was a decrepit old woman waving and flailing like she had just shot a line of LSD. Across from the woman was a nervous looking boy- one he recognized! It was the German boy whose body he was in! Or was it? Richard wasn’t even sure if that awesome night was even real, everything felt like a dream. He hoped it wasn’t a dream as he thought back to that one cow lady with the bull horns that had those HUGE tits, that she was willing to show him.

“Haha… that was a pretty good night..”

Then the old woman started chanting some more and making weird sounds, pulling Richards' attention and he started walking closer to the duo.

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Mrs. Montemgu was raving.
“Oh yes! Yes he’s here! I’m certain of it! By Thea, he is a potent spirit! Very firm!”

“He?” Colby asked

“Oh yes! A he! Definitely a he! I can feel his deep eyes bore into me!” Mrs. Montemgu seemed ecstatic. Colby couldn’t help but blush.

“W-what’s he like?” Colby was dying to know.

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He wasn’t sure why, but he was certain the duo were talking about him.

The woman was incredibly ugly, but Richard was smug as she seemingly described him as potent and powerful.

“The spirit is certainly conscious! I’m certain of it! They’ve gone through hellfire and faced incredible trials!” the woman yelled.