With the three most powerful beasts around them dead before the other dungeon beasts could fully realize the severity of their situation, Marcel and the others acted.  

They picked away at the beasts that had arrived with the three behemoths earlier. Some fled as quickly as they could after they started fighting while others just waited, thinking that they could still have a meal, as originally intended. 

Livid, Shalia handled most of the clean-up, seeing as she was visibly frustrated by the turn of events. After all, she’d come to celebrate a reunion with Marcel with them acting like dungeon terrorists again, but instead, she almost drowned, mistook someone else for Marcel; an offense, which, in her opinion, is punishable by death, and lastly, woke up to her darling playing the smoochy-smooch game with the one who almost killed her. What a great day this has been, right? 

Yeah, Shalia deserved this cleanup job, and nobody said otherwise. They let the princess commit dungeon beast genocide until she cooled down and smiled again, wiping the sweat off her face for a moment before she sighed, clearly dying inside.  

Anyway, enough with the emotionally broken girl! After the day they’ve had; with being suddenly attacked by an S-ranked dungeon beast, because holy shit, followed by two others, then watching Marcel kiss some dangerous guy… Well, it’s been one hell of a day! 

With all the excitement they’d experienced in one day, they were about ready to book it, flying overhead when suddenly, they noticed this giant magic circle strewn across the ocean’s surface. 

 

It looked to be pretty old, also, quite impressive, but they decided to ignore it. They were, after all, tired and spent from the hectic day they’d had 

Allan had asked Minya to move on when suddenly, the magic circle generated a water cyclone. It threw the water cyclone at them, like some kind of net. When they were at its center, confused and unsure what was happening, becoming nervous and freaked out, the cyclone filled up with a pool of water, like some kind of prison before forcefully dragging them towards the eye of the cyclone: its origin, the magic circle beneath. 

The magic circle enabling the water cyclone imprisoning them sucked them right into it. They were knocked out by the sheer force of the pull toward the magic circle. 

 

*** 

 

They came to… in some sort of cove. It wasn’t small enough to feel claustrophobic, but it definitely wasn’t open or large enough to hold more than— 

Stepping into the cove was like entering a whole other dimension. It was saturated with spirit power unlike any other place in the dungeons they'd visited before, even Allan's 'Our Mother Series' original creation sites. The only place with Spirit Power dense enough to compare to this place were the domains of the Elven Kings constantly surrounded by powerful spirits. The Spirit Power's source... seems to be the temple-like structure before them. Just what is going on?! 

 

This temple in front looked ancient, as if having withstood the battle with time itself. The pillars of the outer columns were heavily worn down, their structural integrity barely robust enough to not be torn asunder by any outer force. They were heavily covered in cracks. 

As for the main building, it looked the same as the pillars, worn down and about to fall apart. It was a miracle that it still stood. How the temple got inside the cove, however... they don't know! 

So, they were sucked up by a strange magic circle and woke up in a cove, in front of a worn-down temple; what do they do?  

They live for this! Explore, of course! 

Paying very little heed to whether this temple would fall apart on them, because of 'those with foresight', they decided to enter the temple structure. The thing was locked until Marcel did his usual thing, opening it, because, of course... he did! 

When they entered, they were caught by surprise, because the inside of the structure was nothing like its outer walls. Marcel and the group had the eyes looking at a marvel of spirit wonder. Inside the temple was nothing but a cut stone altar with what seemed to be a shimmering sun-like orb, half a meter in diameter and multi-colored in nature, its contents swerving around vigorously. It sat atop the altar. The inside, despite its overall emptiness, didn't look a day older than the time of its construction, perfectly preserved as if spirits of time and space had carved it out of the regular flow, creating this perfect, serene environment. 

Marcel, with his Spirit Eyes, as usual, along with Shalia and the more sensitive of the group, which means almost everyone except, um... who was I thinking of again...? I guess nobody else could see and feel the presence of spirits within the temple. Their power was what they had felt while outside.  

Spirits of various attributes swarmed the place. For a moment there, the group was lulled into a false sense of security, until they intended to approach the strange stone altar. 

 

The spirits quickly grew hostile and the air within suddenly changed. Every spirit inside the temple was now on guard, ready to attack. 

Marcel drew out Sigurd, as did everyone else with their favorite weapon companions because what else are they going to do? 

Unfortunately, that was a bad move to make! The moment they drew their weapons, the spirits got really, really hostile... and serious. A tremendous wave of spirit energy burst forth from out of nowhere, awakening what seemed to be a strange, unknown variant of beast energy from the orb on the altar.  

The overall energy in the room grew so powerful that it put sweat on all their faces. If it were anyone else who’d entered that room, they’d have been crushed under the spirit energy’s tremendous pressure. They weren't playing around, at all! 

It was clear now! Both sides had shown hostility towards each other; the spirits, towards them, and they, towards the spirits and the strange altar emanating an unknown beast's energy. It wouldn't be long at all before someone threw the first attack. 

Just when the group was about to attack the orb, however, because, um... spirits aren't normally very tangible, a spirit of wind materialized in their plane of reality. 

"Stop!" It commanded as it began materializing, becoming fully visible. From the volume of its spirit power emanating from its being, it was possibly an A-ranked or above humanoid wind spirit.  

After fully materializing, it looked directly at Marcel, ignoring the others in a tense manner before suggesting something that would take them all aback. 

"Please, Blessed One... would you help us by forming a contract with 'Our Child' and take it away from this place? We beseech you!" It pleaded to Marcel and him alone. It, a proud spirit, bowed its head and asked him sincerely. 

What it did surprised the group as, immediately after it spoke, the atmosphere around the room changed again once more. The spirits present before the group had arrived calmed down and the group were like, "What?!!!" 

Yes, what indeed! What the hell did the wind spirit mean by that? 

Hearing this, Marcel was flabbergasted, as he had no idea of the meaning behind the spirit's strange request. He didn't know what was going on, thus, he had no idea what would be the right move to make in this strange situation. 

First, they get pulled into a strange magic circle, then they find a temple, enter it, and almost get into a fight with spirits, then, suddenly, a spirit appears before them and asked him, Marcel, to do something out of nowhere.  

Marcel let the others make the decision for him this time.  

With the others now left to make the decision for their resident hero, the group got to utilize their best assets, and by that, I mean Silva, Allan, and Gwendal. Shalia, another powerhouse, was left out because of her bias towards the spirits. The rest, meanwhile, got to thinking.  

After contemplating the highly suspicious and largely unknown circumstances behind the request made to them by the wind spirit, the three came up with an answer for Marcel. 

"He refuses!" They answered, the others nodding their heads in agreement with the three's decision for Marcel. Marcel had no qualms with their decision that was now, technically, his too, and was about to relay it directly to the spirit. 

The spirit, after hearing the group's preliminary decision, looked panicked and, quite honestly, sad too. It then quickly spoke before Marcel could, 

"Please, Blessed One! Would you please hold off on making a decision regarding my request just yet..." It looked pleadingly again before it continued, pointing at the strange orb across the altar, “Before you do that, I’d first like you to listen to that little one’s story.” It begged him, this time, on its metaphorical knees as it floated in the air. 

Huh? Suddenly, they weren’t feeling so heartless as not to listen to what it had to say when a mighty wind spirit like it was suddenly begging them. Also, the other spirits around them, in Marcel's eyes, seemed to be begging them too as well albeit their invisibility. 

Marcel nodded hesitantly at first before he shrugged, “Heh, why not?” 

The Wind Spirit, when Marcel showed it some compassion, felt grateful, "Thank you, Blessed One!" 

"I'm happy to listen!" Marcel smiled. Yes, he was! What did he love in this world more than Enya and maybe the Demon Lord? Tales, of course! He lives to listen to them. 

"This is the story of survival; that of an unborn child who isn't quite a fairy, a spirit, or a dungeon beast, trapped in a cycle and doomed to die..." 

 

"It all began almost 3000 years ago, with a young sylph couple..."  

Sylphs, by the way, are wind spirits with physical bodies dwelling in this world, same as most demons, generally considered as fairies. Fairies, like I've mentioned before, are ruled by the Fairy King and Queen. Marcel has some history with them, once that involves kidnapping. Maybe I'll tell it some other time. 

Anyway, let's get back to the tale... 

"This sylph couple... were quite the unlucky pair. They met an unfortunate end in the dungeons. They had entered the dungeon dimension with their unborn child in tow. They fought a powerful foe they couldn't beat and ultimately, lost their lives. Fortunately, they were fairies!"  

Whew! Yes, being a fairy is quite nice indeed. You see—Er, why don't I let the spirit tell you directly? 

"The two... they incurred so much damage that their physical bodies were no longer unusable, causing them to revert back into spirits needing to rest in the spirit world to recover. After they recovered from the damage, however, they lost all their memories of the little one that had been expelled by them during the crisis."  

Yes, when fairies lose their physical bodies, they ultimately revert to being spirits, without any memories of their lives as fairies. After all, it's a chance that some lucky spirits get once in their extremely long lifetime, to experience the fleeting life of those with physical bodies unlike them, courtesy of Vitalis. When they lose their temporary material vessel, that's it! They return to their default Spirit Forms, spiritual bodies made of Spirit and Elemental Magic, strong and immune to all physical influences. 

"How did they die?!" Marcel, feeling curious and overly engaged with listening to the story, asked, surprising only the spirit. 

"During the battle with a powerful S-class monster, the mother of 'Our Child' expelled it from her body and sealed it away inside this spirit temple in hopes of coming to get it soon after the battle. Unfortunately, she died, losing her physical body and suffering the consequences, becoming whimsical spirits who hardly care about the way of things."  

Yes, wind spirits are notoriously known for being more whimsical than other types of spirits. The chances of the child's parents seeing it as their own after they've transformed back into their original spirit forms is slim to none. Essentially, that child's original parents are truly dead, and they'll never be back. What a truly unfortunate turn of events! 

"After its parents died, we, the spirits in the area, took possession of it to nurture its growth. If we hadn't done so, then its maturing spark would have disintegrated, and it would have reverted into formless spirits. With our power, we did what we could by sealing it inside the orb, stabilizing its condition, and allowing us to more easily monitor changes to its development. Despite having lost its mother before it fully matured, which would have naturally doomed it to die, it survived thanks to our quick action. It could slowly grow in the confines of the orb..." 

Unexpectedly, however, by locking their child inside the orb, they had almost certainly robbed it of its development into a fully-fledged sylph. They had cut off the little one's connection to Vitalis, who blessed the fairy race by granting them all the natural power needed to sustain their bodies during their developmental stages. 

Fairies are a race with a unique method of reproduction, unlike any other race as they are mostly spiritual lifeforms. Normally, many formless spirits would converge together, giving up their incoherent, almost conceptual existence as a sliver of subtle will to become a spark that will mature into a sentient spirit. This sentient spirit then carries on the legacy of the wills it emerged from, with it shaping their personalities and sometimes, powers. 

Well, what does any of this ‘formless spirits converging together’ have to do with the reproduction of fairies?  

So, thanks to the smart thinking of Vitalis, fairies basically aid in the process of bringing new sentient spirits into existence. They also promote their existence from spirits to fellow fairies due to helping provide them with their physical bodies as well. Fairies provide a part of their sparks, which formless spirits are naturally drawn to, allowing them to easily converge around it to culminate in the mass becoming a new sentient spirit. After this process, they are nurtured by their mother who keeps them in the physical world until a body can successfully form around them so they can be birthed. 

Okay, now back to the spirit’s tale of past events...  

By keeping the forming sentient spirit in the orb inside the Spirit Temple, cut off from Vitalis' Domain, the spirits, unknowingly and quite certainly, doomed the little one to never fully mature as either a spirit or a fairy, what it was meant to be. In the Spirit Realm, the massive pool of Spirit Energy created from the sheer number of spirits present in the realm would have led to the smooth convergence of the numerous little wills into a complete go. Since it was to be born in Vitalis’ Domain, it would have made do with the many spirit-rich environments around.  

As for the kind of situation that this budding spirit found itself in; well, all I can say is that a dungeon is not any spirit’s choice of birthplace, with the dominant dungeon beast energy always triumphing the pure Spirit Energy present. To a growing spirit, it was essentially a wasteland, so it makes sense that soon after it was sealed away, it began to go hungry despite their intervention. It started to die! 

Lucky for the little one, providence smiled upon it! Whether it was due to this little one's will to live or the spirits who watched over it, maybe even the Spirit Temple's nature, or all of the above, the little one found a way. 

You see, the Spirit Temple, was an ancient structure that wandered across the planes of the Dimension of Dungeons’ other side, the vast world outside the more orderly dungeons that can't be accessed by random dungeon rifts; you know, what Marcel and co don't like entering because of the usual consequences? Well, the Spirit Temple occasionally switched locations across that vast plane, which coincidentally, ended up being the key to the little one's survival. 

For the little, undeveloped failed fairy to grow, it needed a vast amount of energy; enough that every developed fairy held a growth potential slightly inferior to that Miguel Dunkelheit, the Spirit-Demon hybrid. It's just beyond the S-class, so obviously, the additional energy radiating from spirits, mostly ranked at the A- and half-S-ranks around it was eventually not enough to help it continue growing. 

As if a sign that Vitalis hadn't completely abandoned it, answering to its immense desire to survive, it acquired a unique, one-of-a-kind class called ‘Devourer’. Also, seeing as it was doomed to not have the complete natural power-based physical body typically seen in fairies since its connection to Vitalis had mostly been cut off, it shed away the little excess of its nature that threatened its life, setting it on the path to becoming a fairy-spirit hybrid. 

Hmm, a fairy-spirit hybrid? What kind of creature is that? You might ask. It’s exactly what it sounds like: a rare hybrid of spirit and fairy capable of switching between a special kind of Spirit Body with some physical properties. 

Unfortunately, that still wasn't enough to save it from death. After all, to succeed in creating a Spirit Body capable of partially influencing the physical world as a fairy-spirit hybrid Material Body would require massive amounts of both Spirit and Natural Power. These two energies, if you’ve already noticed, are mostly unavailable in a place not ruled by Vitalis like the Dimension of Dungeons, especially on its ‘wilder’ other side where she has almost no influence. The little one was put into very dire straits. 

So, what was it left with? Well, it turned to using its newly acquired nature granted by the class ‘Devourer’ to feed on the residual energy of dungeon beasts wherever the Spirit Temple found itself for survival, allowing it to continue existing by adopting a part of its current surroundings into its nature.  

The energy within dungeon beasts is completely different from that of the inhabitants of Vitalis’ domain; no surprise at all since it was created by a completely different force. It’s one of the main reasons why most of the dungeon beasts can’t leave the dungeons; because they need to absorb and get accustomed to the energy of Vitalis’ domain, while also trying to acquire sentience. Only after fulfilling both requirements are they able to enter her world. 

As the dungeon beasts’ residual energy absorbed by it was a different energy from its own, it altered something at its core so it could keep doing so: its very nature. This changed its Spirit Nucleus and acquired some of the nature of the dungeon beasts' whose residual energy it wanted to keep consuming to survive. 

  

"... Ultimately, 'Our Child' became a creature not quite a fairy, spirit, or dungeon beast, but a mixture of all three." That's why it doesn't feel like a spirit capable of also wielding natural power or just a menacing dungeon beast; because it's all three combined. How lucky it must be... or is it? 

 

Marcel, having listened to the Wind Spirit tell the little three-raced guy's story, still didn't see why the spirit asked for his help.  

The Wind Spirit replied, 

"I asked for your help, Blessed One, because our child, is still growing—fast! Somehow, by defying all the odds and finding a way to survive as it currently is, it earned itself a growth potential far surpassing what was ever intended for it at the beginning of its life. As a 'Devourer', our child still has a lot of development to undergo before it can accommodate its true potential, both physically and spiritually. If nothing is done, it'll become unstable and lose its life." 

Marcel, hearing this, began to feel a lot of pity for the little one trapped inside the orb, so he asked more directly, "What can I do to help?" 

"To develop properly and accommodate its future potential, it needs to amass a large quantity of energy that it naturally can't acquire by being trapped inside an orb inside this Spirit Temple. If nothing is done, it'll start by devouring all our energy, followed by our Sparks, then every living creature in whatever dungeon it finds itself in, before finally, possibly a large chunk of this dimension. 'Our Child' is one ravenous oddity, possible the future ‘Void Incarnate’. If nothing is done, it'll mean the end of all life in the dungeons as we know it!" The Spirit spoke with a grim expression, dreading the future its little one will bring should nothing be done. 

Marcel, at this point, was starting to sound like a broken record. He wanted the spirit to be more direct with him, "So, what do I do?!" He yelled, surprising it. 

It answered in a dodgy manner, "Well... to mitigate 'Our Child's and our deaths, as well as everything else's from energy deprivation, we... began searching for the ideal energy source to fuel its raging growth. We searched all over for anyone capable of helping us for almost a thousand years, yet none could help us, not even the most powerful existences. They, after all, didn't really 'possess this world's energy anymore'. 

"We had been about ready to lose all hope when, during your visit to the Fairy Queen's, your existence was discovered by some of our kind. A Spirit from the outside came in here one day, bragging about a certain ‘Blackhole Battery’ existence they met. We were skeptical, and had wanted to go out and find you, but we had to keep its growth under control before the little one starved again. We stayed in the dungeon, until today when my companions noticed you flying above the entrance to this location. 

"When you entered this place, I could sense it, Blessed One! You have what it takes to help 'Our Child' grow up strong and healthy. They'll never ever go hungry again with the benefits of your blessings to always keep them sated. Earlier, we had been apprehensive towards you and your friends because we noticed that weapon in your hand, which could destroy 'Our Child's core if its true power were to be unleashed, but even so, I, or rather, we, took this chance for our child's sake, so please... Save 'Our Child'!" 

 

After it finished speaking, more spirits of various attributes materialized simultaneously to repeat the same words to Marcel, "Save 'Our Child'!" They pleaded, also on their metaphorical knees. Despite how prideful and superior they thought themselves to be as spirits, they still pleaded with Marcel with sincerity because he was their only hope of saving their legacy beyond themselves. Even the rare-attributed spirits, like two Spatial Spirits, and one Time Spirit, even a full-grown Fire Emperor of unknown class, pleaded to the Blessed One acknowledged by both the Spirit World and the Physical World. His help was worth their pleas. 

If their child could dwell within the ‘Blackhole Battery’, then it would never have to worry about going hungry and they’ll be able to have some piece of mind after such a very stressful period. Maybe then, they can finally return to the Spirit World. They’ve all been stuck here in the Spirit Temple together for almost three millennia.  

"Please, Blessed One! We beseech you!!!" The Spirits begged for the last time, bowing their heads to deal the final blow to Marcel. They would not raise their heads until they heard him agree to form a contract with whatever being was inside that orb that they'd help create. If he could help raise their legacy for them, then putting their pride and dignity aside would have been worth it. 

 

*** 

 

Touched by the story of the little one trapped inside the orb whose tenacity to survive rivaled anything they've ever encountered, as well as the Spirits' pleas, now everyone... and I mean, everyone... was eager to take it in, but um... none of them could! 

Aside from not having the right energy composition, Shalia would last just a few days by just staying close to it in its current form, and that’s mostly due to her somewhat hidden divine potential, same as Valeria, the thunderbeast brothers, and probably Gwendal. Maybe the other two with divine elements, Silva and Allan, could nurture it, but pondering upon the idea of taking it in, all they saw were their deaths. This fairy-spirit-dungeon beast thing was costly on energy.  

The spirits were right! Marcel really is the only person among them capable of raising this little one. He had ‘a lot’ to give! It was already settled after they all, especially after the little guy itself, reassured the spirits that Marcel would take good care of it.  

The spirits were ecstatic to hear this, and thus, Marcel, being the pushover that he usually is and feeling the plight of the spirits, took on the task of raising it.  

The spirits, after he agreed, released the seal placed on the orb and with their guidance, Marcel began establishing a soul contract with the little guy's mutated spirit nucleus. 

When the contract was initiated, the little one eagerly accepted the terms; which, in this case, was that it'd stay in Marcel's body and grow up properly. Along with the orb, its current vessel, it entered his body without any hesitation after the contract was finished.  

The Spirits, in tears, thanked him once again for taking on the task of caring for their baby in the future, as it they’d never see it again, with their Spirit Bodies fading back into the Spirit World with smiles on their mostly humanoid face. They were ecstatic and relieved that their legacy would live on in the physical world. Their child shall live on! 

“Hey, hey, hey! So, what are you going to name it?” Evan asked afterward after they found and left through the conveniently created exit. The others were curious as well. 

“Um, I don’t kno—” He thought before suddenly, a name came running into his head, just like when he named Roden. He had a feeling the ‘little one’ who was much older than he was, would like it. 

“Lenos Votia! I will call it Lenos Votia, or Len, for short!” 

Hm~ That name... if I remember correctly, doesn’t that mean ‘breezy domain’ sometimes, but then other times, also ‘all-encroaching vortex’? Haha, it certainly is an interesting name~! 

On this day, Marcel, the 40-year-old, became the father and master of a 2500+ fairy-spirit-dungeon beast tribrid. Also, is it just him or does he feel a little weak and slightly bloated, almost as if some child lives inside him?! 

Wait... is he considered to be pregnant now?!!!