— Ghost.

— [Keeper of Forgotten Wrongs.]

— By thy name I call thee, and by thy sign I invoke thee. I, Luka, invite thee hither to receive what has been promised.

In my dreams, I felt myself being pulled away.

When I opened my eyes, I was looking at Luka through the pane of a full-body mirror hung on the wall of a minimally decorated student dorm. There were gothic red and black sheets on the bed, an ornate black sword rack on the wall, and a sparse collection of textbooks and notebooks on the shelf. Pinned to the wall were pencil sketches of some sort of abstract art, though I couldn’t make heads or tails of what the artist wanted to portray. A small container of cookies rested on the desk.

Ugh, this guy again. I darkened the lighting inside the mirror to hide the face of Luka’s reflection. I didn’t really feel like wearing someone else’s face right now, but I didn’t want to show him who I was either.

[Hello again, Luka.]

A crow with a silver sigil between its eyes hopped onto Luka’s head, spread its wings, and let out a caw. It was Dreyminn.

“Good evening, Ghost,” said Luka. “Thank you for all the help you gave us in the Fantasm World. I called you today to fulfill our promise.”

It took me a moment to remember that I’d thrown out some random condition the last time he summoned me like this. What was it again… To introduce me to other spirits?

Luka raised his arm, and Dreyminn hopped onto his wrist, tilting its head to the side as it looked at me with beady black eyes.

“This is my friend, Dreyminn. Although it wasn’t strictly born in a Fantasm World, it is still descended from two Fantasm Spirits and can thus be considered to be born from one.”

I suddenly found myself with a lot of questions about spirit reproduction.

[Hello, Dreyminn,] I said. [Do you have a title that others refer to you by?]

Dreyminn cawed, lifting its head up proudly. It transformed into a streak of light and drew a black, mask-like avian tattoo around Luka’s eyes. Its silver sigil now lay in the center of Luka’s brow like a third eye.

Feeling a sense of déjà vu, I frowned.

“Its primary title is [Walker of the World’s Dreams]. It’s been curious about you for some time.”

[Why?] I said warily.

“Your aura is very rich. Like a world’s dreams. Not every spirit carries that kind of weight.”

Now what the hell did that mean? Maybe it was [Keeper of Forgotten Wrongs] fooling that stupid bird. [And are they good dreams?] I said pointedly.

The tattoo peeled itself off Luka’s face and reformed as Dreyminn, cawing loudly. Luka said, “If Dreyminn didn’t like them, it wouldn’t have come to meet you.”

Okay, so it had bad judgment. That wasn’t news.

I said to it, [Tell me more about yourself.]

Dreyminn squawked for a while, flapping its wings. Luka dutifully translated.

“Dreyminn’s progenitors were born from the thought and memory of a powerful being. They accompanied that being through the birth and death of a world, and when that being decided to pass through the final door, they decided they had no desire to linger any longer, either. However, to bless the new world that inherited their master’s legacy, they used their remaining power to create Dreyminn. It is now the carrier of their legacy and wanders through the dreams of those who seek to peer beyond the veil of mystery.”

Very abstract. [How did you two meet?]

Luka hesitated for a long time before he said, “Because Dreyminn’s legacy is connected to the thing in my shadow, it came to watch over me.”

So his crazy wolf thing came from the same world as Dreyminn?

[Is Dreyminn guarding you?] I said doubtfully. [But it seems… fragile. And you get yourself into all kinds of danger.]

“It doesn’t watch over me as a guardian. Just as a guide and a friend.”

With its brain, what could it guide Luka about? It had to be leading him astray, right?

Holding my tongue about his life choices, I changed the topic to something more useful to me.

Since Luka already thought Ghost and Acacius were connected in some capacity, I said, [Your vessel seems to be capable of channeling more of my power than Acacius’. Is it a power disparity? Or just due to a special talent of yours?]

“I am a better conduit than most others. If Acacius and I were to serve as the power source for a title, though, we wouldn’t fare much differently.”

So, to use a metaphor, everyone’s vessel was kind of like an engine. When I was in Acacius’ body, I was using his engine to power my titles, and it wasn’t strong enough for all the titles in my Record; and when Luka summoned me to channel my power, he was relying on my engine. The logical conclusion was that when summoned out of Acacius’ body, I had access to more titles and abilities because I had a different — stronger — engine.

But that didn’t make any sense unless those extra titles belonged to me, not him.

How did that make any sense, though? I wasn’t some terrifying entity on the same level as Luka’s crazy shadow wolf…

[Have you ever seen any of my titles or Record?] I asked.

Luka shook his head. “I’ve gotten a few system notifications about your power leaking, but other than that, no.”

System notifications…? Right, the Record could take different forms. I’d forgotten to play around with that. I really needed to get on that, especially if my planned request of the night went through.

I was glad he hadn’t seen any of my Record, though. If he saw anything that was recognizable as Acacius’, that would cause me a lot of problems. And if he saw something that was exclusively mine, that was kind of worse.

[What other spirits do you know and call on the regular?] I asked.

He shook his head. “Other than you two and the wolf, no one.”

[But you seem rather careless with summoning, nonetheless. You shouldn’t call on that wolf so much.]

He lowered his gaze, long eyelashes stark against his cheeks. “I’m sorry.”

Because he knew he’d caused trouble? Because he would do it again?

I didn’t ask for clarification. [If you must call for help, why not ask me first?]

Luka fell silent, like he’d been taken by surprise.

“Pardon,” he said finally. “I’m afraid I’m not familiar with your abilities.”

Neither was I…

“But if that’s what you want, it’s not impossible once we know each other better,” he added tentatively.

[Calling me is how you will get to know me better.]

“Will you answer?”

[Hasn’t my track record been pretty good so far?]

Luka looked at me for a long moment.

“Why are you so interested in helping me? Does your primary interest not lie with Acacius Duval?”

[Do the two conflict?] When Luka hesitated, I added, [I can be interested in more than one thing. And you are a very interesting person.]

Not to mention, if I could get him to stop summoning random things, Acacius’ crazy vision about him probably wouldn’t come to pass. But it was probably best not to mention that for now.

“Observing, is it,” Luka murmured. After mulling it over, he nodded. “Then in the future, I will prevail on your time. Do you require payment?”

[Help me see and understand more of the world.]

“I can do that.”

Before I could get too satisfied about reaching an agreement, Dreyminn began hopping and cawing loudly.

Luka glanced at Dreyminn somewhat helplessly and said, “If you are willing to help, then I… have a somewhat audacious request.”

Dreyminn fluffed up its feathers and leaped excitedly onto Luka’s shoulder, letting out a hoarse croak.

“Dreyminn wants to know if it can receive a portion of your fire to carry with it in dreams. In return, it is willing to bring you through the dreams of others if you should ever need it.”

Ah. Hmm. I didn’t even know how to do that. [Why?]

“For protection and purification. And because your power is very compatible.”

Okay, whatever. [And how do you propose to take some away?] I asked the bird.

Dreyminn croaked. “It’s not picky,” Luka translated.

Okay, so nothing to help me figure it out. I ran through a few ideas in my head and sighed.

[If you have the ability to take it, then it’s yours.]

Lifting the arm of Luka’s shadowy reflection, I beckoned to Dreyminn to come to me. I wasn’t even sure if it could.

However, when Dreyminn flapped its wings, it crossed from the world of reality into the mirror’s reflection, landing on my outstretched hand.

I brought it closer to my face. Perhaps reading my intention, it transformed into a streak of light and rushed towards me, forming a silver sigil on Luka’s reflection. A cool current spread through my senses, and I felt Dreyminn’s consciousness touch mine. A new sense bloomed.

I saw and felt a new layer of the world, something like a reflection, something like a silver mist. There were figures in the mist, around which shadows and clouds formed and dispersed in shapes almost close to signs.

In that world, Luka was surrounded by a great, shifting darkness. It felt like something hungry, something looking back out at me. But Luka himself was like a silhouette cut out from the fabric of the world, an emptiness that couldn’t be reached.

He had a lot of secrets on him, didn’t he?

I glanced down at my own figure. In Dreyminn’s senses, I was also a dark shadow, but rather than a darkness made from absence or emptiness, it felt more like how mixing all the colors together would result in a black ink. Distortions rippled out from me like heat waves; the mist that curled around me shone and flickered like smoke and flames.

[Is this heat what you want?] I asked Dreyminn.

Through our consciousnesses, it said no. It wanted the fire that was hotter. Brighter.

I asked it how to bring it into its dream realm, and it told me that the best way was to give it something both material and immaterial.

So, something in this false reflection in the mirror would count?

Dreyminn said yes.

Well, alright. So I just had to figure out how to bring that fire thing into this reflection.

I tried to recall that sensation from when we were fighting Ozias and his strange green fire. How had I felt fighting it? Scared, yes. But at the same time… dissonant.

The fires of the underworld couldn’t possibly be so cold.

At the very least, it had to be as hot as the fires that had turned my world into ash.

Without my conscious input, a blazing red fire ignited in the mirror and swallowed Luka’s reflection in a great conflagration. The vessel formed by the mirror’s reflection trembled like it would break at any moment.

[Quickly,] I told Dreyminn.

It peeled away from my face and transformed back into crow form, rushing through the fire and out of the mirror. Instantly, it ignited. When it sailed out of the mirror into Luka’s room, all its feathers were burning.

With a cry, Dreyminn opened its mouth and swallowed the flames.

A moment later, the mirror shattered.

Without a vessel of some kind to keep me here, I could feel the tether back to Acacius’ body pulling for me.

I could have stayed longer by using Luka as a vessel again, but…

After KP-04, I wasn’t really in the mood.

I reached out to Dreyminn with my spirit body.

[Dreyminn. If Acacius Duval asks to use the favor you owe me, give it to him.]

Leaving those final words, I let the tether from Acacius’ body pull me back.

Despite everything, the body itself didn’t wake up when I returned to it. When I opened my eyes again, it was morning, and I felt physically refreshed. Mentally, though, I already wanted to check out for the day.

It was sad how I had to prepare for the make-up exam still.

I got up, finished breakfast early, and went to the studio building by the library on the other side of campus. After asking around for Tarascus a few times, I was pointed to a lab on the second floor.

Inside were a bunch of large, sturdy work tables with solid bases and thick wood tops. Large machines crowded the room, and tools were scattered on the tables along with sheets of metal, piles of fabric and leather, and plasters of varying shapes.

The only person in the room was a stocky figure in a heavy apron and tall platform boots, muttering as she drew blueprints with the charcoal stick staining her gloves. A draconic metal mask carved with scaled patterns covered her whole head. It pulled its lips back in a demonically toothy grin, like the old lion statues by the bridge where Brother and I once lived.

I went to stand across the table from her where I was sure her peripheral vision should catch me. She didn’t so much as glance up. I coughed lightly. “Excuse me—”

She shot upright with a shriek. A small tower of leather scraps tumbled to the floor.

“Who dares disturb my lair while I’m working?” she shouted, pointing at me with a bombastic flourish. “Announce yourself, fiend!”

“Sorry for the scare,” I said. “I’m looking for Tarascus. Do you know him?”

She puffed out her chest. “Know Tarascus? Why, I am Tarascus!”

I blinked. “I thought Tarascus was a guy.”

“You fool!” she boomed, pulling herself up to her full height, which, with the addition of her boots, was a few centimeters taller than me. “Have you no eyes to see? I, the great Tarascus, am clearly a man!”

A transsexual?

“Had the despicable laws of heaven not coveted my great talent and stolen my rightful body, I would never have been consigned to a vessel such as this! Once I reforge this body and conquer the demon that resides in my right arm, all the fools who looked down on me shall suffer my judgment!”

Or maybe he just had something weirder going on…?

Well, regardless, his body didn’t match his self-conception, like my big sister and some of the night sisters I grew up around. Whether that difference came from magical causes or not didn’t actually matter in the end.

“My apologies for the mistake,” I said solemnly, placing a hand over my heart to mirror his theatrical flair. “I assure you it was the result of ignorance, not malice. I hope that the great Sir Tarascus would be magnanimous enough to forgive me.”

Tarascus raised his chin proudly, crossing his arms. “Hmph, so you know your place. Very well. I, the great Tarascus, am not such a petty person. Now, what purpose has brought you to my lair? Speak! I shall hear you out — but let it be known that I never take the same commission twice.”

This guy was fun. He hadn’t had a strong reaction to my identity, so he probably didn’t have a preconceived notion of what Acacius was supposed to be like, right? So it was fine to play around more, right?

“Then I shall hope that none of your commissioners have suffered the same plight as me. You see, I’ve recently acquired a title that grants me wings.” I sighed and shook my head. “Unfortunately, these wings have a habit of tearing right through my clothes. Originally, I intended to find a tailor to help me with this problem, but my classmate, Rhoswen, recommended I seek you out instead. What say you, Tarascus? Does this challenge lie within your capabilities?”

The eyes of his mask glowed. “A title-induced transformation, you say? Very good, you have piqued this great one’s interest!” He pointed dramatically at me. “Now, strip and show me your body!”

Whoa. I gasped and clutched my arms, covering my chest. “Sir Tarascus…!”

Before I could even say anything more, Tarascus howled. “Get your head out of the gutter, you fool! I must see your transformation to know what I’m working with!”

I laughed lightly and kicked the studio door close before shedding my coat and unbuttoning my shirt. Once I’d tossed them onto a stool, I took a deep breath and activated [Incarnation].

As my vision dimmed and went out, Tarascus’ perspective entered my senses. The mask didn’t block his gaze from the inside, functioning instead like a translucent screen. Statistics and diagrams floated about at the edge of Tarascus’ vision, but his focus remained on my back.

The butterfly tattoo between my shoulderblades glowed without casting shadow, like an imprint burning a hole through the fragile paper of reality. The light unfurled out into a pair of massive wings. As the light faded away, the appearance of the wings became clear.

Tarascus let out an admiring sigh. His vision changed, dyeing itself in hues of bronze and shadow. Certain objects around the room lit up gold from within, like the carving of the Great Dragon above the door. However, the greatest glow came from my chest, diffusing out into my new wings.

“Magnificent!” Tarascus declared, stepping closer to me. I began to turn around, but he put a hand on my shoulder to stop me. With his free hand, he grabbed ahold of the nearest wing and scrunched its edge like a piece of scrap paper. I jolted, reflexively pulling my wing back.

It… didn’t hurt?

Through Tarascus’ eyes, I saw the edge of the wing smooth back out into its original form.

“Flexible and durable. Very good. It appears to take precedence over lower-order materials. No wonder your pitifully ordinary clothes couldn’t withstand it. What does it feel like? Can you sense temperature? Touch? Texture?”

“I can feel air currents pretty clearly, and temperature to some extent. I’m not sure exactly how sensitive they are. I haven’t experimented much yet.”

“Then let us do it now.” Tarascus held out his hand, and golden light streamed down his arm, condescing into a hot flame. “Starting with this!”

This guy really had a talent for bulldozing ahead without pause. “We can,” I said, stepping away, “but why don’t you explain how you intend to test things first.”

After I wrangled a comprehensive explanation out of Tarascus, we spent the next half hour exploring the capabilities of my wings.

Although their sense of temperature was dull, they were extremely sensitive to touch, air currents, and vibrations. Surprisingly, though, they were sturdy as a rucksack and didn’t have a strong sense of pain. It was possible to cut them and singe them, and the injuries remained even after deactivating and reactivating my title. However, I didn’t feel pain when the title was inactive, and the injuries healed themselves pretty fast.

Tarascus also spent a lot of time poking around at the base of my wings, where they were joined together with my body. It was especially sensitive there. I had to ask Tarascus to stop touching it even lightly because I couldn’t handle it well.

“Very interesting!” Tarascus concluded. “A transformation of the physical body, created by the manifestation of the soul. It mimics the capabilities and functions of an insect on an insect’s body, even though they should be practically useless for your size going by conventional biology alone. I suspect your wings’ state will be influenced by the state of both body and soul.”

“So what does that mean for my clothes?” I asked.

He cracked his knuckles. “It means that the great Tarascus has found a challenge worthy of his skills. I shall not be enchanting any individual set of clothes, oh no. I shall grant you the capability to transform in any wardrobe. Far more practical! Far more useful! And far more glamorous than a single coat!”

“That would be fantastic,” I said. Fights didn’t wait for you to have the right clothes on, after all. “However, I need this on a short notice.”

“Never fear. The great Tarascus’ skills are both speedy and sure.”

“Really short notice. Like, by noon tomorrow.”

Tarascus paused. Then he jabbed a finger at my face. “You wretched philistine, unappreciative of the arts! Get out of my lab!”

I cleared my throat and produced a few coins from my pocket, the high-value ones that Graves had given me at the beginning of the semester.

Tarascus paused again and snatched the coins from my hand.

“However, the great Tarascus has taken interest in your situation, and will accept your commission on two conditions.”

All that money wasn’t enough? Sheesh.

“Tomorrow, you will only receive a prototype. The final piece shall be given to you once it is done to my satisfaction. I, the great Tarascus, refuse to settle for a rush job.”

I nodded. No reason to refuse something so advantageous to me.

“And when you receive the final piece, you must agree to a conversation with the demon in my arm!”

Whoa.

“Is it dangerous?”

“No! … Mostly not. … Perhaps, a teensy, tiny little bit.” Tarascus gestured emphatically. “However, if you are consumed for the sin of insolence or disrespect, that is your fault, not mine! As long as you are not a hopeless fool who seeks to challenge the infernal powers, the Great President of Hell is not so small-minded as to eat petty creatures like you.”

It felt like a lot of dangerous conversations had been happening to me lately. Guess I’d be adding another to the list.

“You have a deal, Sir Tarascus.”

“Excellent! You shall not regret your decision. Now, be on your way. I am going to be late for class.”

I was late for class, too. It sure was nice that Professor Raoul didn’t take tardiness too seriously.

Since I planned to devote my whole evening to practicing with Rhoswen, I had to finish my other errands before dinner. So once classes were out for the day, I went down to the Pearl Dive.

It was time to visit Etienne.

Chapter 47 Chapter 49