Opening his eyes and could feel the fatigue his body had accumulated. He looks around to find himself in a rather nice cave with wooden furniture.

"Hmm… Nox, can you hear me?"

‘…’

His magic circle didn’t appear.

"… Odd? (Sing)" His magic circle formed, and small sparks of electricity flickered off.

‘That magic works… Mmm…’ He reached into his shadow, but he hit the bed. 'Shadow storage is gone? Fuck... Fuck, this is bad.'

Cirrus gets up and walks out of the cave to find himself overlooking a beach.

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

Slowly walking down, he could feel the sweat and grime on his body. He went to the beach and took off what raggedy clothes he had on along with his gear, which was destroyed by the algae, and took a bath in the sea.

Seeing his reflection in the sea, he could see he was covered in more scars.

"More scars, huh… Wait, where are my charms!?"

He quickly clothed himself and returned to the cave to see a young woman just slightly taller than Kali, with a beauty likened to Nox but with more immaturity because of her height and softer features.

"Oh? You’re up," she said, turning her gaze towards Cirrus. Her pink-blue eyes and twilight-like hair fascinated him. "What’s wrong? Are you enamored with my beauty? Not surprising!"

"No… I was thinking your beauty is… too artificial? And you’re not my type."

"I don’t know what you mean by 'type', but I know you're calling your savior a fake!"

"I’m sorry if that is out it came out but you… you are a Spirit right?”

"Heh~," she said with a slight smile. "So I was right. My eyes didn’t deceive me. You are a Spirit Contractor! And one with a spirit I can call my equal!"

"Then you are of the first generation, like Nox?"

"Yes I-wait, did y-you say Nox!!" She said this as the color of her tanned face faded. "A-as in the Spirit of the White Night! The one who was pursued by a slew of heroes and spirits across the continent! She’s still alive!!"

"Uhh… yes? Um, I never asked much about her past, seeing as it was a poor subject."

"I would assume so, but I owe her a lot if not for her being hunted by a massive number of people. I was able to escape before they turned to look for me."

"Then who is your creator? And if it’s not too much, what is your name?"

"Ahem! My name is Circe! The Unique Spirit of Witchcraft! Spirit of the goddess of magic, Hecate!"

It suddenly clicked why Circe would have been hunted by Zeus and the others. Since Hecate was a goddess of the night, it would be natural to assume that she was one of Nyx’s spirits. Maybe some general bloodlust was in there, along with some pack mentality.

Cirrus also noticed how different they are. Nox gave out a more inhuman perfection kind of vibe, while Circe, however, gave out a warmer and studious vibe.

"I… I see, but a unique spirit? I thought you were of her generation?"

"I was, but I was created during the tail end of her generation with some tweaks and changes to the recipe, if you will, so most Unique Spirits are a very odd bunch. But know that I may be a support type, but I'm certainly stronger than those of the 2nd generation!!"

'So generation 1.5?'

"Mm... So, are you alone on this island?"

"…" Her expression mellowed down. "Yes… and seeing as Nox of all spirits is contracted to you, that must mean the hunt has proved successful. Is it still somehow going on?"

"No, it ended a very long time ago. Most of the remaining sprites are well into the later generations."

"That’s a relief… Haa, come. I’m going to prepare some food for you. You’re lucky. I can still feed off the magic in the air."

She turned her head and headed towards the cave.

Cirrus could tell Circe hadn’t thought of the past for a long time. It was also enough to let Cirrus trust her. From how he sees it, if you are alone long enough, you will do anything for some company.

 

They returned to the cave and ate; Cirrus could see she had questions she wanted to know the answers to.

"Alright, what are your questions?"

"Huh?"

"You look like you have questions, so what’s on your mind?"

"Um, well... How is the outside world? I haven’t left this island in… well, a very long time."

"Mmm… were to begin…"

Cirrus explained to her how much time has changed; several of the things she knew have either been built and expanded or lost to time. She asked if her god had come to Gekai, which he didn’t know other than she could be in Altena.

She asked a few more questions, and Cirrus answered to the best of his ability.

"So is that all?"

"Um, yes, that’s about everything… but I have something to ask you?"

"Well, my ears are open."

"Can you talk to your Spirit? Seeing your soul, I found she had used a Samsara Contract with you, so you should be able to communicate with one another despite distances."

"Hmm no, since I woke up, I tried to talk to her but nothing but silence. I even tried to summon her, but nothing worked. Does it have anything to do with this island?"

"Umm…" Circe started to sweat. "N-no um… it’s not the island's fault…" She is sweating bullets.

"Then what was—"

"It’s me okay!! I, um… I made a contract with you to save your life, and it was supposed to be a temporary one, but um… I'm sorry about it! I didn't know it would do that!! I'm really sorry!" She bowed profusely.

"… Ah, so the reason I can’t communicate with Nox is because…"

"It’s clogged up with my contract."

‘Ah… was it because I petted that hawk? Mmmmm... Imma just keep that to myself.’

"… Well, um, I have to thank you for saving me, but uh, do you have a ship or anything?"

"A ship? Why would I? Heck, I don’t even know how to build one."

"So no boat?"

"No."

"Shit."

The first goal is to construct a boat.

"I don’t fucking know how to build a boat either!!"

The first goal is to learn how to build a boat!

"There are also riptides around the island along with my barrier, which… I also can’t take it down because of the contract remaining unfinished." Circe said.

The first goal is to learn how to build a strong boat.

"...Fuck."