《Cleaning up another world.》 Chapter 1-Dead City in another World Where am I? I looked around at my surroundings, immediately realizing that something was very, very wrong. The room I was in was dimly lit, with only a few thin rays of light shining in from a few narrow cracks between the wood of a boarded-up window. For one, I didn''t recognize my surroundings, and two, everything around me looked monolithic in scale. I feel as a mouse compared to the towering desk and bookshelf beside me. I wondered as to whether I was in a world of giants or if I was simply very small. I ended up deciding that it was most likely the latter case, after I tried to look at myself over only to realize that I didn''t actually have a body. I had no feeling of a body, nor could I see anything to indicate that I actually had a body. Despite this, I don''t really feel any panic. Perhaps this can be explained by the lack of a body? I''m fairly sure that fear is due to chemicals produced by the brain in the event of a threatening event, so if I didn''t have a brain, that would be a reasonable explanation. However, that didn''t explain how I could still feel wonder at the feeling of everything seeming so large. Curious. As I continued to look around, I tried to see if movement was a possibility. To my relief, I found that I could hover around, much like a free roaming camera in a video game. I realize that it is very strange that I can feel relief but not panic or fear. Perhaps I can only feel positive emotions and not the negative ones? I''ll have to look into this possibility at a later date. Currently figuring out where I am and what is going on takes a higher priority from me. The room was... odd, to say the least. It was very clearly a bedroom, but a layer of dust that would take years to accumulate lay upon a bare desk with rotted stacks of paper with no discernable meaning, a bookshelf filled with decayed books, dressers with no drawers, and a bedframe with a tattered mattress. Further adding to the mystery was a doorframe with a brick wall instead of a door. Large paintings with the paints faded till they were unrecognizable hung upon the wall. I don''t really know how to make heads or tails of it with the limited information I had. As I wondered the room, I noticed a very curious development. The dust adhering to the various surfaces would slowly recede when I was close to it. I got closer to the dust. It seemed to recede faster the closer I was to it. As I observed more, I realized that the dust was not merely being displaced but actually disappearing in my presence. I laughed a little bit. Well, I don''t really know anything about this world, but I guess I can call myself dust slayer. I investigated further, and found that mold and dirt would also disappear, albeit more slowly than dust. It seemed the more loosely dust or another contaminate was attached to a surface, the easier it was for me to remove. Furthermore, by actively focusing on removing some contaminate from a surface, it would disappear at a much faster rate. I realized something odd. This had to be a large building. Judging by the craftmanship of the furniture, it was more than likely the kind one would find in a city, yet everything was simply... silent. I moved over to the window. The window was broken, but while the boards covered it fairly thoroughly, I could still see through the cracks. What I saw was... disturbing to say the least. The streets were lined with skeletons. The long dead lined the streets in various positions, with the skeletons of people and animals alike in various positions. Carts filled with skeletons were also a common sight.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I cautiously slipped between the cracks in the boards, down to the streets below. Everything felt rather eerie, the bright streaming sunlight in stark contrast with the ominous atmosphere. Even the buildings felt dead, with many straw roofs having clearly rotted away long ago, and various vines and other things creeping up the walls. I investigated the skeletons, but there was no evidence of a violent death. It looked as if they had simply died, and a while ago judging by the lichen forming on the bones. Looking around, I could see evidence that this was once quite a bustling place. The remains of several shops could be seen, but the windows and doors were boarded up. Looking around further, this area came complete with its own towering set of walls. Curious of the nature of what happened here, I wandered the city, until I found a large square. In it I found many deep, rectangular pits, many feet deep, filled with the burnt skeletons. The remains of the massive pyres where they undoubtedly must have been burning the corpses, as well as the carts used to bear the dead to their unceremonious fate littered the square. I continued to explore and found myself at one of the gates of the city. There was a gap between the wall and the buildings with several skeletons littered between the buildings. Unlike the skeletons found earlier, these ones had quite obviously died a more violent death. Multiple bolts could be found littering the ground, some embedded in various bones in the skeletons. There was a large pile of skeletons piled near the gate, as well as the remains of a large log, with several bolts embedded in the log and the skeletons. The gate looked damaged, as if the people had, in life, attempted to escape by ramming down the gate. I flew to the top of the wall. Several skeletons covered the tops of the walls as well, these with rusted armor. The remains of crossbows also littered the wall. It seems that they suffered the same fate as those they killed. I decided to fly upwards to get a better vantage point. After reaching several hundred meters in the air, I looked down. The city was comprised of several segments. Each seemed equally dead, the mass graves and pyres were a common theme. Thats when I saw something quite different. A small fire burned outside the city. I approached the fire, despite my better judgement, and saw a few women sitting by the fire. They appeared to be an adventuring party of sorts. The composition of which was a fighter, a mage, and a ranger. They sat around the fire having a discussion that I couldn''t understand. That figures, given that I''m certainly not from around here. What I can understand is that they don''t want anything to do with the city I just came from. The campsite is positioned several hundred meters from the walls and judging from the way they view the city, with apprehension and fear, they don''t seem like they want anything to do with it. Smart choice. I''ve been there. Not a great place. I decide to stick with them that night. They woke up fairly early in the morning and set out fairly quickly down the road. I guess they just want to leave as quickly as possible. I try to listen to their conversations as we go down the road, but I can''t understand anything they are talking about. I can understand a few things based on context clues, but not much. Eventually they come upon another, livelier city. This looks much better than where I came from, and hopefully, I can find some answers here. To be continued.... Chapter 2-Learning new things I continued to follow the party of three Adventurers. After they gained permission to enter from the pair of guards entering the city, they went through the large gates. The first thing I noticed was the smell. Strangely enough, despite not having a nose, I could still smell the sewage covering the side of the road. They must not have a sewer. They continued walking for a good 30 minutes, occasionally stopping to give a coin to a beggar. Eventually they reached a building which I guess could only be the adventurer''s guild. I followed them inside, where they walked up to the counter and seemed to be turning in a quest. Afterwards they went up to a large crystal sitting in the corner. Each of them placed their hand on it. I found this very interesting. I''d have to investigate this later. After collecting the reward for the completed quest, they went to a billboard, and after looking through it for a bit, selected a new quest. I followed the mage and ranger as they went up a set of stairs, to discover that this place had a library. I guess that they were doing research for their next quest. It makes sense, given that the quest life could depend upon the research they do today. I tried to read the various books that were open, but all of them were in strange symbols that I didn''t understand. So now I have to learn to read in addition to learning the language. Neat. As I drifted around, I noticed the strange cleaning aura was still in effect. Things like dust, dirt, and stains slowly disappeared around me. I found it slightly annoying that all someone would have to do is look for the clean spots in order to find me. After several more hours, the adventuring party left the guild. I ended up staying. After all, I did want to investigate that crystal in the corner later. The adventurer guild was packed with various adventurers, but as far as I could tell, the only race other than humans that was here were orcs. I wondered why elves weren''t present. I spent several hours trying to listen to the various conversations, but other than the occasional thing I could sort of understand due to context clues, I couldn''t really make heads or tails of anything. Eventually, the place closed up for the night. I was invisible though, so I just stayed here. What are they going to do? I was kind of excited to finally see what that crystal did. I went up to it and just floated directly into the spot the adventures had touched. I felt like a small jolt of electricity shot through me. And then, to my surprise, a status menu appeared in front of me. Species: Cleaning Spirit Level: 1 Experience: 10/100 Skill points: 10 Skills: Cleaning Aura (Level 1) Well... that explains a bit. I look around a bit and see another menu where I can obtain new skills. I pick up language learning proficiency (level 1) for 5 skill points as well as Air Purification Aura (Level 1) for another 5 skill points. Sure, there were other choices I could have made, like, analyze (Level 1) for 10 skill points, which is basically a staple cheat skill, but between not understanding anything and the smell, I thought my choices made perfect sense.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version. Ahh.... I sighed in relief. The smell had gone down considerably. I found that by focusing, I could eliminate the smell entirely. While interacting with the crystal, I had also noticed that I had gained some experience points. The only things I''d done that I could have possibly gained experience points from was, cleaning? I had to test out my hypothesis. I spent the next few hours cleaning up all the hard to reach and other areas no one would notice in the guild. After all, I didn''t want anyone suspect my presence. After cleaning up as much as I dared to, I checked the stone again. Species: Cleaning Spirit Level: 1 Experience: 40/100 Skill points: 0 Skills: Cleaning Aura (Level 2), Air Purification Aura (Level 1), Language Learning Proficiency (level 1) Neat! All I had to do was clean and I gained experience. This would be easy. I also noticed that my cleaning aura had gotten to a higher level due to its frequent use in the last several hours. I quickly devised a plan. The next day, adventurers came in like the previous day. Some went to the counter to turn in quests, others went to claim new quests, while others sat down at the various tables discussing various things. I was very interested in the latter group. Slowly cleaning the general area as the day went on, I listened to the various people, trying to learn the language. It went slightly better than yesterday. With me learning a few of the various words, but not overly so. The day continued on until the adventures all left for the day. I checked the stone one everyone was gone. Species: Cleaning Spirit Level: 1 Experience: 60/100 Skill points: 0 Skills: Cleaning Aura (Level 2), Air Purification Aura (Level 2), Language Learning Proficiency (level 1) Neat. I was slowly getting up there. I was slightly disappointed that I hadn''t leveled up yet, but the ability to purify the air around me was incredibly useful. Now I didn''t have to focus as much on air purification to not have to smell anything unpleasant. The next few days were fairly uneventful. I continued to clean up the various things for experience, as well as listen to the various adventurers as they went about their day. I could understand them slightly better each day. Because I was so focused on learning the language, my level for the learning proficiency went up 1 after a few days, so that helped out a bit. I also noticed that as the place became cleaner, the amount of experience went much lower. I guess that makes sense, as there was less too clean. A few days later and I finally reached level 2. I checked the stone. To my disappointment, it appeared that I only obtained 5 skill points per a level up. Slightly disappointing, but overall, I''d just have to obtain level 3 to obtain the analyze ability. This could be done. I only had one tiny issue at this point. The Adventures guild was clean. Very clean. And people had noticed. Lucky for my, from what I could tell, the theories people had were that either the guild had hired a cleaning staff, or that a wizard had cast some sort of cleaning spell. Some people just didn''t care and continued on like nothing really happened. That being said, I didn''t want to draw to much undue attention to myself, and I wanted to continue to gain experience, so I resolved to move somewhere else. I wonder where I should go.. Chapter 3-Power leveling up by the roadside I spent a few more days at the adventurer''s guild to learn more about the language, and hopefully a good place to move to next. I also went around exploring the city myself. Interestingly enough, while there were several guildhalls located throughout the city, there was nothing resembling a healer''s guild, whether religious or magical in nature. Instead, everyone went to several clinics bearing a close resemblance to apothecaries located throughout the city. Upon some further investigation, and some gaining some sweet experience from cleaning up the apothecary, I discovered that no magic was used throughout the process of healing injuries. I found that rather odd, seeing as if magic existed, why would people not use it for healing injuries? However, what interested me far more was the lack of anything more than basic cleanliness when treating injuries. The practitioners would wipe their hands off after treating each patient but nothing more than that. I began to wonder if the herbs they were applying to the wound had very strong anti-bacterial properties or if there was a skill which caused resistance to infection. I noticed that the apothecary had several books on healing so maybe I could find some of those once I had an adequate grasp of the writing system. I continued my surveillance of the clinic until they closed with the sunset. I began to head back to the adventurer''s guild. Around halfway back, I stopped for a second. I realized something. Something that I really didn''t like. I gain levels through cleaning... and the dirtier something is, the more my skills level up and the more levels I get. My gaze turned ever so reluctantly towards the sewage ditches by the roadside. Nope. Nope. No way. I am not going into a sewage ditch. I don''t care how much experience I get. I will not do it. Not if experience is the only thing I gain. I continued on towards the adventurer guild, but then I stopped. I thought back to the first city I was in. It was fairly clear that something horrible had happened there, and given the evidence I had, it had most likely been a plague of some sort. I was kind of growing attached to the people here. Well, at the very least I didn''t want them to suffer the same fate, so making the city more sanitary would directly aid in that endeavor. I wouldn''t come in contact with anything, and the sewage would magically disappear. Magically. I spent the next thirty minutes trying to come up with some reason that cleaning the sewage ditches was unnecessary, but in the end, I couldn''t convince myself that I had a justifiable reason not to. So, with a fair bit of apprehension, I set about my new goal, sanitizing the city, starting by the adventurer''s guild. It turned out that cleaning sewage took much, much longer to clean. Furthermore, the close proximity overwhelmed my air purification aura for a bit, and it reeked. I considered quitting for quite a few times. Fortunately for me, the level-ups started to kick in after a few hours and the smell went away. The cleaning also got considerably faster as I kept going, and I managed to clean out a whole 10-meter section of sewage. I spent until the following morning cleaning up the sewage ditches. I stopped once I noticed that people were beginning to wake up. I''m fairly sure that people might find it suspicious that sewage is mysteriously vanishing from the side of the road. Because the adventurer''s guild wasn''t going to open for a few more hours, I took the opportunity to check my status at the crystal. Species: Cleaning Spirit Level: 5 Experience: 332/1000If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Skill points: 20 Skills: Cleaning Aura (Level 4), Air Purification Aura (Level 5), Sanitization proficiency (Level 3), Language Learning Proficiency (level 3), Memory Enhancement (Level 1) This worked much better than I expected. As it turns out power leveling is an actual thing in this world. Also, I can suddenly see why no one would ever use power leveling. Furthermore, I can gain skills through performing tasks, as evidenced by the Sanitization proficiency (Level 3) as well as the Memory Enhancement (Level 1). I''m fairly sure that the first came from my efforts to sanitize the city, while the later came from my consistent effort to memorize the language over the past several days.. After spending a fair bit of time debating what to pick up with my new skill points, I decided to pick up the analysis skill, saving the remaining 10 skill points for later use. This should be useful for various purposes. However, using the Analysis skill on one of the many tables scattered throughout the room led to some... interesting results. Wooden Table Hazard level-Very low Contamination level-Very Low The analysis skill shows how clean an object is as well as how hazardous the contamination on the object is. On one hand, I feel misled, but on the other, I guess it makes sense that you couldn''t get a skill that would just tell you stuff about any given object you wanted for a measly 10 skill points. Also, it does make sense that I would get a skill like this as a cleaning spirit. However, I''d thought I cleaned everything up quite thoroughly by this point, so I gave the table a closer look. After a bit of searching, I found a quickly receding patch of mold which went away fairly quickly. I analyzed the table again. Wooden Table Hazard level-None Contamination level-None Having a new way to check my work, I went around analyzing various objects for a bit. and seeing how many I could remove all the various hazards from. After a bit, the staff began to show up. I hovered in the rafters to listen in as I normally did. I could understand them quite a bit better now. They made comments about how clean everything seemed to be lately, along with various other guild related matters. Interestingly enough, no one suspected me as the cause of the sudden cleanliness. It seemed that there were two dominate theories relating to this clean phenomenon. One was that a wizard or other such spellcaster made a spell which would auto clean the guild. The other was that the staff had done a much better job cleaning than they normally did. Thinking about it, who''s first thought would be that a cleaning spirit randomly moved in to the guildhall and started cleaning? I certainly wouldn''t if I were in their shoes. That being said, the day progressed as it normally did. Adventurers came and went, I listened to the various conversations around me, and made more subtle strides towards a clean guildhall, such as cleaning up the odd stain or two. I also went out for a few hours, stopping by a few of the apothecaries to spend a bit of time sanitizing each of them. Eventually the day was over, and I was back to cleaning the sewage by the side of the road. Out of curiosity I analyzed the sewage. Wastewater Hazard level-High Contamination level-Extreme Interestingly enough, it was called wastewater, rather than just plain old sewage. That was the only unexpected part though. Continuing on with the cleaning, I''d managed to fully clean 20-meters of the stuff by midnight, and it just kept getting easier as I went. By the time morning came, I''d cleaned out a full 40 meters of the sewage. I checked my stats the next morning: Species: Cleaning Spirit Level: 8 Experience: 596/1600 Skill points: 35 Skills: Cleaning Aura (Level 7), Air Purification Aura (Level 6), Sanitization proficiency (Level 5), Language Learning Proficiency (level 3), Memory Enhancement (Level 2), Analysis (Level 1) I was elated. I had gone up three whole levels. And I was one step closer to my goal of a clean city. Was I proud of my work? Yes? Did the citizens dump a whole lot of sewage in the street the next morning? Also, yes. And finally, did I feel like my heart was being stepped on and sulk in the rafters for the whole day? No... Well... maybe half the day. Chapter 4-A small Incident Once the day was over, I began to look at what I wanted to get with my skill points. After thinking for a bit, I decided to pick up Telekinesis (Level 1) for 25 skill points. I wanted to learn how to read, I needed to be able to pick up books first in order to do that. I decided to save the remaining 10 skill points in case I needed them later. I spent the next 30 minutes figuring out how the skill worked. I tried lifting various objects, and while I didn''t feel any kind of strain at all, they would just randomly fall after some amount of time, and I couldn''t lift other objects for a bit afterwards. It seemed heavier objects took a much shorter time for this to occur. I wonder if this world has some equivalent to mana. I take a look back at the crystal and find that Mana sense exists for 10 skill points. I end up deciding to get it since telekinesis is pretty much useless without it. After obtaining it I noticed something quite interesting. My status now includes my mana capacity. It''s pretty low. Furthermore, I can feel the mana inside of me. It''s got a similar feeling to water, though I feel like my current mana capacity is currently a mere puddle. Looking through the obtainable skills, I see that Mana Storage Capacity (Level 1) and Mana Regeneration (Level 1) are both obtainable for 10 skill points each. Well, that''s four levels. Which shouldn''t be too bad. I spent until the following morning cleaning out the sewage ditches around the adventurer''s guild. I also found a small piece of wood by the side of the road and practiced manipulating it with telekinesis. I ran out of mana several times throughout the night but learned quite a bit about how telekinesis worked. I also spent quite a bit of time using analysis on various objects. I believe I leveled it up at some point, as I unlocked the ability to view the effect of exposure to hazards. That being said, it was quite limited. Here''s sewage for example Wastewater Hazard level-High Contamination level-Extreme Exposure effect: On contact: little effect if removed promptly Open Wound: High Probability of Infection Ingestion: Severe illness This was a lot of stuff that I already knew. But I found it pretty neat. When the morning came, I finished up with where I was and threw the stick back to the side of the road. I''d cleaned 60 meters of sewage, so I could tell I was improving. I got back and checked the crystal. Species: Cleaning Spirit Level: 9 Mana 50/50 Experience: 756/1800 Skill points: 5 Skills: Cleaning Aura (Level 9), Air Purification Aura (Level 8), Sanitization proficiency (Level 7), Language Learning Proficiency (level 3), Memory Enhancement (Level 2), Analysis (Level 2), Telekinesis (Level 2), Mana Sense (Level 1) All I had to do now was get one more level and I could get the Mana storage capacity. I did want to practice more telekinesis though, as I understood the language fairly well. I left the guild and found a back alley where no one would notice an object mysteriously hovering. I spent the next few hours practicing with telekinesis. Interestingly enough, I found that I could break things by applying force the right way, by snapping a stick in half. I also got a very convenient shortcut as I was practicing lifting large objects. I was lifting this large rock and holding it until my mana drained completely and then waiting 30 minutes for it to recharge. At around the tenth time I''d repeated this process, I felt a noticeable increase in the rate at which my mana regenerated. It now to 25 minutes to recharge instead of the regular 30 I''d gotten used to. Furthermore, after an additional 5 cycles, I felt as though my available mana pool had also increased. Now it felt more like I was standing in a large puddle of water.This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. I spent the rest of the day continuing my training and felt like I was making a decent bit of progress. I also felt more in tune with my mana pool as I could more precisely sense how much mana I had remaining. Once the sun went down, I entered the guild hall and checked my status with the crystal. Species: Cleaning Spirit Level: 9 Mana 75/75 Experience: 756/1800 Skill points: 5 Skills: Cleaning Aura (Level 9), Air Purification Aura (Level 8), Sanitization proficiency (Level 7), Language Learning Proficiency (level 3), Memory Enhancement (Level 2), Analysis (Level 2), Telekinesis (Level 4), Mana Sense (Level 2), Mana Storage Capacity (Level 1), Mana Regeneration (Level 1) So that saved some skill points. At any rate, it seemed the most efficient method to train magic was to lift heavy objects and completely drain my mana pool. Also, it didn''t appear to give me any experience to reach the next level, so it seemed like I would have to continue cleaning the sewage at night for the meantime. I went out that night to clean the sewage. Cleaning them was getting rather monotonous but I did have my new friend rocky to accompany me. He was a fairly heavy rock I could lift for around 5 minutes at a time, so I would alternate between lifting rocky and cleaning sewage. Maybe I should go and get an actual friend in this world. I also decided to move into the alleyways. There were guards that patrolled at night. It was just that they didn''t notice the sewage disappearing. I wasn''t going to risk them seeing a floating rock. I''d spent several hours cleaning out the alleyway when I saw a man dragging another man into the alley. The first man threw the man against the wall, and in typical robber fashion, held a knife to the other man''s throat. "Your money or your life" the robber growled. The man was clearly frightened, but he pulled out a bag of coins and gave it to the man. "I swear, this is all I have!" The man said. I wanted to help with telekinesis, but I was worried about if I caused the victim to get hurt. My plan was to wait till the robber released the man and then to get the man his money back discreetly by causing the robber to "accidentally drop" the money. It turned out though, that the robber had no intention of letting the man go. "I believe you." The robber said. He moved to slit the man''s throat. In shock, having expected something entirely different, I quickly tried to use telekinesis to get the robber''s knife arm away from the man... and accidentally tore the robber''s lower arm off. I dropped the arm as the robber screamed in pain and collapsed. The man also screamed in horror at having seen a man get his arm torn off, even if that man had just been trying to murder him. In shock myself, I flew up to a rooftop to observe what occurred afterwards, one to protect the man from other robbers, while also telling myself the whole while that it was an accident, that I didn''t mean to rip the robber''s arm off, and that the man had deserved it, but none of that really helped me to feel better about what had happened. In the end, some guards showed up. They applied a tourniquet to the robber''s arm while questioning the other man. Fortunately for the victim, the robber appeared to be a repeat offender, so they let him go free after a bit of questioning. They were a bit curious about how the robber''s arm was torn off, however. After taking the man to one of the apothecaries to make sure he didn''t die prior to trial, they filed a report on the strange occurrence to be sent to the mage''s guild for investigation. This makes things a bit more complicated. To be continued... Chapter 5-A Favorable Deal Feeling uneasy, I crept back to the guild. The robber''s screams had roused half the block, and the guards were scouring the area for whatever, or whoever had ripped his arm off. Namely, myself. After dodging several patrols, I found myself back inside the guild. I went to the crystal to get one essential skill prior to skipping town, as I had no intention to stay in an area where people and mages would be actively hunting me. I used my last 5 skill points to pick up the telepathy (Level 1) skill. After one last look over to make sure I didn''t miss anything, I moved to leave. A stern voice called out to me. "And where do you think you''re going?" I turned towards the voice and saw a middle-aged man with grizzled hair and a thick, but well-trimmed beard sitting at one of the many tables. I decided that now was as good a time as any to try out telepathy. "Away from here." I replied. The man gave a small smile. "And the spirit talks. I expected as much." The man''s face turned grim. "That being said, leaving here would do you more harm than good." I was a little bit annoyed at this point. "One, how do you know about me and two, why would I not want to leave here at this point?" The man leaned forward in his chair, clasping his hands together. "As for your first question, I''m the guild master of this here place, so I''ve known about your presence since you first interacted with the crystal in the corner. As for the second, despite your recent exploits, no one would realize it was you anyway." "So, the crystal allows the guild to spy on people? And why wouldn''t people realize?" I asked. The guild master sighed "You''re full of questions, aren''t you? I don''t have too much time, so I can explain the crystal later. For now, the reason people wouldn''t realize is simply because of how few spirits exist in the world. The number known to exist can be counted on one hand. As a matter of fact, the only reason I know you''re here right now is because I used up several skill points to get the spirit sense skill once I realized you were here from the crystal. Simply put, the odds of a spirit showing up out of the blue to save some poor passersby are so low, that it''s not even going to be a thought in most people''s minds." I contemplated the guild master''s words. It was true that I hadn''t seen any other spirits around, and thinking about it, if spirits were so rare, then his logic made sense. "So why would you want me to stay here?" I asked, "Seems like I''d attract a whole lot of potentially unwanted attention to the guild." The guild master gave another small smile. "That would only be if people found out about you, and I''ve already got things covered on that front. After all, where do you think those rumors of more cleaning staff, or a cleaning spell being cast on the guild came from?" "I see." I replied. "So how is this incident going to be covered up?" The guild master laughed. "You don''t need to worry yourself about that one. No one cares about some murderer getting their arm ripped off in an alley so much that they''ll keep digging after a logical explanation is supplied." The guild master leaned forward in his chair once more. "Now. About why I''m here. I''ve seen you working to improve your skills and have been monitoring you for some time to see if you could be trusted. After that last little stunt you pulled, I feel like you''re trustworthy enough to talk to at least. So, I''d like to give you some help with your endeavor." I chose my next words carefully. "I would appreciate the help, but what would you expect in return?" The guild master relaxed a bit. "A fair question, to be sure. Firstly, having the guild be so clean has been nice for a change. Breathing has been much easier without the... smell." he said. "However, there is a more important reason. This world is home to several dungeons, many of which spawn waves of monsters every few years which reap havoc and destruction across the land. While we can, and have dealt with many of them, several have a foul miasma which poisons those who inhale it, making the clearing of such dungeons a costly endeavor." " I get it" I replied. "You want me to escort adventurers into miasma filled dungeons so they can be eliminated easier, and in exchange you''ll help me train more efficiently." "That would be correct." He replied. I thought about is for several minutes. "I agree to your terms, for the time being. So how do we get started." The guild master stood up. "Well, first things first, my name is Blunvir. What might yours be?" I hadn''t thought about it since I got to this world. "This is a bit embarrassing, but I don''t know." I replied. The guild master stood there for a second, seemingly shocked that I didn''t know my own name. He recovered fairly quickly though. I guess he wasn''t guild master for nothing then. "Well, I''ll call you Sparky then." He replied. "SPARKY?!?" I replied, indignant. "It''s your own fault for not having a name, so unless you give me a better one, it''s going to be Sparky to me, cause that''s what you look like." I sat there for a bit trying to come up with a better one but couldn''t think of anything. "We don''t have all day Sparky." Blunvir called. I snapped out of my thoughts.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. "So, what''s the plan?" I asked. The guild master sat in thought for a second. "The way I figure it, the first thing you''ll be needing is a skill called aura control." "What does that do?" I asked. He laughed. "Exactly what it says. But I guess you mean more in the sense of why you need it. The ability to control your aura is important because you can control what your aura is affecting. Many adventurers have learned the hard way how important that is by unintentionally having their auras buff their surrounding enemies." I winced at the thought of some poor adventurer accidentally applying their strength aura to several surrounding goblins. "Furthermore," Blunvir continued, "The area your aura is applied over affects its potency, so..." "I''ve heard enough." I interrupted. "You''ve convinced me." Blunvir grinned. "I figured you''d see it my way. At any rate, you also need a place to train." The guild master pulled out a map. "The way you currently train is obviously impractical during the day. But I''ve found a better spot for you." He pointed at a spot north of the city on the map" All the runoff from the rain goes through the waste-water ditches to this large hole here. It should be a perfect place for you to train during the day." "I agree." I replied. With that, I left, grabbed a new Rocky for telekinesis training, and began my trek up towards what I will now refer to as sewage hell. I''d thought the sewage ditches were bad, but this was a whole new level of awful. At about a hundred meters in diameter, and several meters deep, I could really see why the guild master sent me here for training. There was absolutely no one around. With a depressed sigh on the inside, I began. I continued on for the rest of the day, stopping only to exhaust my mana with telekinesis whenever it had recharged. The shores of this vast pond were the only thing that looked ok by the end of it though. There were still hordes of flies buzzing around the place, and despite the vast improvement to the water quality, it still looked very muddy. But the air smelled much better than when I first started, so my Air purification skill must have gone up significantly. With the sun setting, I headed back to the guild. Once I was back, I checked my progress. Name: Sparky Species: Cleaning Spirit Level: 13 Mana 125/125 Experience: 362/2500 Skill points: 20 Skills: Greater Cleaning Aura (Level 4), Greater Air Purification Aura (Level 3), Greater Sanitization proficiency (Level 6), Language Learning Proficiency (level 3), Memory Enhancement (Level 2), Analysis (Level 2), Telekinesis (Level 6), Mana Sense (Level 4), Mana Storage Capacity (Level 3), Mana Regeneration (Level 3) Aside from the tragic news that my official name was now Sparky, I was incredibly pleased with how much progress I''d made in a single day. Four levels in a single day. Progress! Also, that sped up my timeline quite a bit, as Aura Control cost 20 skill points. Of course, I bought it. I informed the guild master of my progress and then went out to practice aura control on the sewage ditches. I''d had some misgivings about whether or not I should continue with the ditches, but since no one paid particularly close attention to them it should be fine. Using Aura control felt like trying to mold a particularly springy piece of clay into shape. I shaped my greater cleaning aura into roughly the shape of the ditch and proceeded on. It took much more focus to control the Aura, it made a massive difference. The greater potency of the aura caused all the contaminants to just evaporate away. I continued on for the rest of the night, ensuring that I didn''t clean too much in the same area. At the end of the night, I''d cleaned up a combined 400 meters of sewage. New record! Not one I''m very proud of though, I went back to the guild and talked with the guild master. After telling him about my progress, Blunvir gave a small smile. "You''re making progress much faster than anticipated." he said. "All things considered though, we''ve never had the chance to monitor the progress of a spirit before, so maybe this is just regular speed for you?" He mused, stroking his beard... He sat there for quite a while. "Hello? You there guild master?" Blunvir started a bit. He apologized. "Sorry. Lost in thought for a moment." "At any rate, I have something I need you to help with." Blunvir pulled out a map, pointing at a location inside the forest. "A miasma filled dungeon was found right in the middle of the forest. It needs to be destroyed. Can I count you in?" "Absolutely." I replied To be continued... Chapter 6-An Unexpected Foe The upcoming dungeon raid was set to be executed in a month. The guild had to get several preparations made, and so did I. For starters, I needed to increase my aura control. Furthermore, in the excitement of reporting to Blunvir how well aura control worked, I''d forgotten to check my progress with the crystal. I quickly remedied that issue. Name: Sparky Species: Cleaning Spirit Level: 14 Mana 125/125 Experience: 965/2800 Skill points: 5 Skills: Greater Cleaning Aura (Level 5), Greater Air Purification Aura (Level 4), Greater Sanitization proficiency (Level 6), Language Learning Proficiency (level 3), Memory Enhancement (Level 2), Analysis (Level 2), Telekinesis (Level 6), Mana Sense (Level 4), Mana Storage Capacity (Level 3), Mana Regeneration (Level 3), Aura Control (Level 3). After checking my status, I headed up to the sewage pond to clean that out. Once I got there, I noticed that the pond seemed to be as filthy as the first time I went there. Odd, but I began to practice using aura control with my cleaning aura and air purification aura just the same. I found it was a little easier to control and shape the individual auras, but immediately noticed something odd. Something seemed to be repelling my auras. I hadn''t noticed it the first time I''d gone to the pond, as I''d just been passively providing the auras at the time, but now that I was controlling the auras, it was incredibly clear. Interested, I attempted to push my cleaning aura into the sludge, and felt my aura be repelled. A bit peeved, I shaped my aura into a spear, and plunged it into the depth of the sewage. I instantly regretted my decision when I felt a surge of anger coming from the sewage pond. Oops. What was once a calm enough seeming pond was suddenly an enraged pile of sludge. Well, this is bad. I suddenly felt something I didn''t think I could feel in the first place. Pain. In a panic, I instinctively retracted my auras as closely as I could around me, lessening the feeling to a stinging sensation. The creature growled, and I felt a surge of energy from it. Mana?!? A stream of densely polluted gases surged towards me. I moved to dodge the toxic mist, but it tracked my movements. So, I did what any sane person would do in that scenario and flew away as fast as I could. "Hah! Can''t get me if I put some distance between us, you immobile pile of sludge!" I shouted telepathically at the angry mass. That glee quickly turned to dismay as a scene anyone probably could have predicted unfolded in front of me. Why did I have to run my mouth? I thought to myself as I quickly resuming flying away as quickly as I could. Lucky for the city, the sewage elemental, as I''m now going to call it, was located a decent bit away from the city, and as such, no one noticed the sewage pond leaving the hole it was in seemingly of its own accord and go oozing off at high speeds into the distance. Well, one guard saw it, but as it turned out, this guard had a habit of telling exaggerated tall tales, so everyone just assumed this was just another one of those and waved it off. The sewage elemental was slowly gaining on me. I''d used my air purification aura to nullify the toxic clouds, but the elemental had apparently had plenty more mana to use, so it continued launching them at me as I eliminated them. At this point, I''d flown well over 5 kilometers away from the city without losing the pursuing mass, despite my numerous attempts to. Trees? Flattened. Rivers? Swan right through them. Ravine that was 20 meters across? Jumped right over it. Things were looking pretty grim. Well, if I can''t fly away on the ground, there is still one direction I can go. I shot upwards as far as I could go. For all of the speed the giant sewage elemental had, it couldn''t fly... I hoped. As I went higher, I felt the pain lessen as the elemental''s aura lost its effectiveness over the distance. And now we were at a stalemate. I had flown as high as I could, but the elemental would keep up with me and continue shooting the toxic mist at me if I tried to fly off in any direction, so I was better off staying put. "Well. here we go." I thought to myself grimly. The elemental was too strong for me to take out, and to persistent for me to evade, and as such the remainder of the day was spent with the sewage elemental firing shots at me while I nullified them with my aura control. It would fire sludge missiles, poison gas, and toxic streams of water that reminded me of a firehose, while I would either use my auras to nullify the projectiles or dodge them if that failed. This continued through the night. As the fighting went on, I felt it become easier to nullify the projectiles and to dodge the ones I couldn''t, while the attacks from the sewage elemental stayed roughly the same power wise. I theorized that my skills were becoming stronger, as the elementals were staying stagnant as they didn''t meet the requirements to increase in level. I felt a bit more hopeful. Maybe I can win a war of attrition? Unfortunately for me, as the night wore on, I noticed that its projectiles were going faster as well as becoming more accurate. Ok. New theory. It gained some kind of accuracy skill as well as a projectile speed skill. Things were suddenly looking much grimmer.A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation. The fight continued on into the next morning, where I was finding it more and more difficult to continue to resist the sludge monster. While my skills were increasing at a fast rate, so were the Sewage elemental''s. At some point, it learned a skill that would allow it to simultaneously launch multiple attacks at me. I multitasked like never before, using telekinesis to deflect the stronger attack, while dodging and nullifying what I could, but it there was still no clear way to victory, so I fought on. The day turned into night, the night into day, and the fight continued on. And as the fighting continued, I felt my own ability to combat this menace increase. I nullified more attacks and was able to use telekinesis to greater effect. As for dodging, at some point the monster''s skills outpaced my own dodging skills, so while I still tried to dodge what I could, it became more difficult than the other methods I had. And so, the fight continued on for several more days. Suddenly, I felt it. An almost imperceptible shift in the balance. I felt my aura begin to hold its own against the elementals. Not by much, but a little bit. I began to creep closer to the elemental, for the first time moving offensively against it. The elemental was, of course, still making me play a bullet hell game, so progress was incredibly slow, but progress was progress. Over the course of the next week, we continued in this deadly dance, me pushing closer as my auras grew in power, while the elemental fired ever more projectiles at me, until I was within the distance to strike back at it. I began to fight back, firing spears formed from my auras into the elemental, while still dodging the projectiles fired at me. It was a slow process, like everything with this creature, but finally, I felt it. The projectiles being fired at me slowly decreased, and then stopped entirely. Feeling my triumph at hand, I focused my aura into one last attack, and dealt the finishing blow to the creature. The elemental died, leaving a mostly clean pond the size of the original sewage pit. The last of the sludge dissolved away, revealing something. I moved closer, and felt a moment of shock. Lying there in the water was... a female water elemental. I cautiously watched her. The water elemental woke up. She looked at her hands, with tears in her eyes and whispered to herself. "The nightmare... at last the nightmare is over." I moved next to her. "Are you okay?" I asked. "No. No, I''m not." She replied as the tears began to overflow from her eyes. The water elemental curled up in a ball and began sobbing uncontrollably. "Whenever you want to talk, I''ll be here" I said, hovering there. I sat there for the next several hours. As I''d learned once upon a time, sometimes the best thing you can do is just be there for someone. Eventually, the water spirit stopped crying and sat up, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much, for saving me from that living nightmare." She said. I didn''t know exactly how to respond. I replied, "I''m glad I was able to help you. If you don''t mind me asking, how did you end up inside that... that thing?" She gazed off into the distance. After a few minutes, she answered, "I don''t know. I remember that I was in my lake, like always, when suddenly I lost consciousness. I woke up inside that abomination, aware of my surroundings but unable to exert any control. At first, it simply went around, and I watched in horror as it consumed the wildlife I loved so much. Eventually, it found its way to the foul waters by the human city, where it sat, gaining power for several years. And then you came along and saved me." My mind was a bit of a jumbled mess. I was incredibly glad to have saved the water spirit, but I also had so many questions that I knew she wouldn''t have the answer to. "Well, my name is Sparky. What''s yours?" I finally managed to say. She looked at me with a bit of an amused look. "Sparkys a funny name." She said, with a small smile. "My name is Velmora." She replied after a bit. Neither of us really knew what to talk about, so we sat there awkwardly for the next several minutes in relative silence. Eventually, she got up. "Well. I do have a pond to manage." she said, breaking the silence. "Do you need help with anything?" I asked. Velmora thought about it for a moment. "No. Having my freedom for the first time in forever, well, I need some time to think. That being said, stop by for a visit once I''ve had some time to collect myself." "I''ll do that." I replied. With that, we said our farewells. I returned to the city as quickly as I could. Night had fallen by the time I''d entered the adventurer''s guild. Blunvir was a bit upset when he saw me. "WHERE IN THE BLAZES HAVE YOU BEEN!?!" He bellowed at me. "I BEEN WORRIED SICK! THE RAID IS IN ONE WEEK! ONE WEEK! AND YOU JUST BLOODY GO AND DISAPPEAR ON ME?" I quickly explained the situation to him. He seemed, if anything, angrier then he was before. But the anger wasn''t directed at me anymore, but rather some third party I was currently unaware of. "Those bloody cults." He growled to himself. Seeing how angry he was. I decided to let him stew for a bit and checked my progress in the crystal. Name: Sparky Species: Cleaning Spirit Level: 20 Mana 400/400 Experience: 2475/8000 Skill points: 35 Skills: Super Cleaning Aura (Level 6), Super Air Purification Aura (Level 4), Ultra Sanitization proficiency (Level 6), Language Learning Proficiency (level 3), Memory Enhancement (Level 2), Analysis (Level 2), Greater Telekinesis (Level 2), Mana Sense (Level 8), Enhanced Mana Storage Capacity (Level 2), Enhanced Mana Regeneration (Level 2), Greater Aura Control (Level 1), Multitasking (Level 8) Evasion (Level 5) I returned to the stewing guild master. "So, what happened?" I asked. He sat there for several minutes. "It''s a long story, and I don''t have time to tell it right now. With you back, we can finally finish the preparations for the raid. Once all is said and done, it''ll be a two day ride to the dungeon, and I''ll tell you the tale then." Without another word, Blunvir walked out to arrange the last things required for the raid. To be continued...