Chapter 4: Explainations and more Explanations
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“Rolf, you better start explaining. Now.” Claire’s mother declares with an icy smile. Crap, I should’ve known Sif’s ‘plan’ was going to be something outlandish. 

“Tala, I have never met this woman in my life! Look, the woman she is claiming to be my child looks exactly like our daughter! How could a random child look exactly the same?!”

The temperature in the room seems to drop a bit more, “And hasn’t everyone said that Claire is the splitting image of your mother, but with my eyes and hair?” Turning to Sif, she continues, “And what about you? Just because our daughters may look like twins doesn’t mean you will be welcome to just come in here and wreck our home.”

Putting on a reminiscent look, Sif spins up a bogus tale, “I don’t mean to steal your husband from you, it’s just when the spirits brought your daughter to us, I thought it was time to show my Robin the world outside the Spirit Forest, and what better way to start than introducing her to the other half of her family~! Oh, don’t glare at me like that, I never slept with your husband. If you remember, about two decades ago your husband ran into the Spirit Forest to collect herbs for his sick, pregnant wife, but he soon got lost and collapsed from the playfulness of the spirits. It was there I carried him outside with the herbs he gathered, and by a miracle of the spirits, I was gifted Robin here, born of the dedication this man emitted to the spirits as he wandered the forest.”

Uh, that sounds incredibly made up. I don’t know much about the Spirit Forest, but I do know it is impossible for normal spirits to impregnate people. Like 100% sure it's impossible. But contrary to my expectations, Tala actually looks relieved! “Oh, you must be one of the caretakers of the forest. Then I thank you for saving us all those years ago. And since Robin there was born of the dedication my foolish man bore towards me and the unborn Claire, she is welcome in our little family.” Rolf solemnly nods, probably grateful that his honor and integrity are upheld. Tala continues, smiling warmly at me. “So, what have you been doing in the forest alone all these years?” 

Still dumbfounded by the ease in which everyone accepted Sif’s utter nonsense, I am unable to think of a reply. Luckily, or maybe unfortunately, Sif quickly responds when I fail to answer. “We mainly worked on integrating peaceful magic with spirit control, so Robin should now be an exceptional creator of magic artifacts. Since she lived with me in the forest her entire life, she has no concept of human society, so it would be great if we could stay here a bit and let her experience society on a small scale.” 

Tala looks pitifully at me. “Oh dear, none of this is your fault by the way, so you don’t need to look so nervous. This must be a lot to take in. Here, let me show you to my son’s old room and we can start getting you used to people tomorrow.” Leading me and Sif to a small but neatly kept room, she starts to close the door saying, “We will talk more over breakfast tomorrow, for now just get some rest.” With one last glance, she gives a half bow at Sif, “It is always an honor hosting one of the caretakers of the forest. I am very sorry about earlier.” 

That was certainly an experience, I can’t believe they bought any of that stuff. Maybe it had something to do with sif claiming to be a caretaker of the forest. Speaking of, “Hey Sif, would you mind creating a sound barrier in this room? I have a lot of questions.”

Sif smiles, “Of course you do. No worries, not a sound shall escape this room.” I see the brown colored mana twinkle across the walls and floor, signifying Sif cast a spell. “Ask away, Master.”

Sitting on the bed, I begin, “So first off, how come they were so quick to accept what you said? That story you made up sounds ridiculous. I mean, it was common knowledge amongst summoners that spirits can’t impregnate people. In fact, magical impregnation is not even a thing! Did they trust you so much because you hinted that you are a caretaker of the forest? Did they make the connection because you are still faintly glowing with mana after your naming?”

“To protect you while you were in stasis, the five of us used our influence to seal off part of the mountain to protect you. When we finally attained physical bodies, we used our influence as Spirit Kings to attract more spirits and have them help us in defending the forest, which is how Spirit Forest came to be. Eventually, people began to talk about the area, and we decided it was best to allow a select few to live there and enforce the protection themselves. After all, humans are much less fearful and reckless when interacting with other humans. The people we select as caretakers form contracts with powerful spirits, granting them an extended lifespan and youthful vitality in return for their service. Over time the people of the mountain grew to greatly respect the caretakers, and to be offered the chance to become one is now a great honor.” 

Well, sure, she is pretending to be some respectable person. Actually, she is a Spirit King now, so she is in fact waaaay more worth of respect than some random caretaker. But that aside, “How did you get them to believe everything by just saying ‘it was magic’. Magic doesn’t work that way, and most people know that.” Sif sighs, “It had been a long millennia, Master. Not only is the empire which imprisoned you destroyed, but the knowledge of the continent has fallen as well. The empire, for all their atrocities, unified the intelligent races and was able to provide an environment in which knowledge could be shared and built upon. During the long years of war, most prominent mages were killed in battle or assassinated, and the libraries in which they stored their knowledge were destroyed. The magic research of today mostly consists of trying to relearn techniques from the past. Though mages are now free of imperial control, the art of magic is now mostly mystified, part of it a craft to be mastered and carried out, and the other part, for lack of a better term, simply magical.”

Satisfied that despite how outlandish her explanation to Claire’s parents it is actually acceptable in this time, I ask my last curiosity, “So, is the lack of knowledge why nobody is questioning why you are slightly glowing with visible mana?” Mana is usually invisible, and mages have to train their sixth sense to sense it. It takes a long time to gain control of it, kind of like how food critics train their sense of taste to be able to distinguish between all kinds of different foods. That her mana is visible without the need for using mana sense is an anomaly. 

Sif face drops as she explains in a more serious tone, “Master, earlier tonight when I mentioned how you were a spiritual being now. Even though it was by the help of your crystal coffin, your soul managed to exist without a physical form for years. This has led you to evolve similar to how we spirits do. While we start as unstable existences with great magical prowess you started as stable existence with a mortal's meager powers. Our evolution is centered on reinforcing our existence in this realm in which we become stronger as a result. You on the other hand always had your existence accepted by the world, and thus your time spent in spirit form in the crystal coffin had no focus on reinforcing your existence, but instead on improving your magical prowess. Even though you have regained your body and consciousness recently, your soul has had a millennia to grow stronger. What you are seeing now is your body trying to normalize spirit sense with the body’s senses. The five of us contracted spirits all took some time getting used to having a body at first, as we were used to only interacting with the world through mana. For you it is the opposite. You are used to primarily perceiving and interacting with the world through your body, but after having spent time as a spirit and receiving a new body the same way we have, it is your newfound spiritual powers that are confusing you. The light you see coming from is not actually a light, it is just you are able to clearly recognize the excess mana I am emitting from being named. If you ask Claire what happened before and after naming, she would just mention once I was named she sensed a lot of mana coming from me, and that would be all.”

I am still confused, but essentially Sif is telling me that because my soul was in the coffin so long I gained the attributes of a spirit. But if that is true, “How could I name you if I became a spirit? It is impossible for a spirit to contract another spirit after all!”

“Not necessarily Master, there has never been a spirit king before the five of us ascended. Since Spirit Kings have been fully accepted by the world, we are able to make contracts as well. In fact, spirits prefer to contract us since our mana is much more compatible with them, and receiving payment in mana is an easy way for lesser spirits to grow. In your case, since you were not born a spirit, there was never any doubt about your existence as Robin in this world, even though you became a spirit. In a way, you too are a spirit king, formed not of an element like us, but from a mortal soul.” 

That’s certainly a lot to think about. I bid Sif goodnight, as I fall asleep contemplating my new existence. There's so much I don’t understand. Luckily, Sif is here with me and has had plenty of time to adjust to her state as a Spirit King. My last coherent thoughts were of relief that Sif is here to support me, regardless.

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