Master Of None

Gil recalled that the eves had a much more positive ideology for the battle spirits, "The elves seemed to think that they weren't all that bad though? Why might that be?" He wanted to know and felt that if he didn't ask now that he would never have a safe chance to ask again. 

"They acted as guardians. I'm sure there are some still around guarding a mana source or a mana dense area. They took territory like an animal and some could be reasoned with. But many ceaselessly fought. I can remember a spirit cedar being frozen and shattered by a water elemental battle spirit just because its roots grew close to the pond it resided in." 

"So they weren't always the nicest. But they could be. It just sounded like the elves might be missing some information now." Gil felt bad that the elves were idolizing a kind of spirit that was harmful. "I wonder why the other spirits there don't tell them?" Gil was very confused by this. 

"They most likely don't have a spirit mark. The world only lets us share so much about how it works. Spirits are made of mana and can even become close with all mana. We know about how it flows and hod secrets we can not share with all due to the risk of natures' balance." Zephyr became serious when saying this. Gil felt more honored than before since he was being entrusted with this information. 

" Then I have another reason to be thankful for you. I wouldn't imagine there are limits on what you can even tell people." Gil saw that the elder had locked away one of the pouches he had with him and returned. "Ready to lead the way? I think it will just be us since Su and Remey look busy and Walker probably won't be back. If Midnight and Onyx come they might eat all the crystals." Gil laughed a little and the elder gestured the way he had taken Walker before to the treasury. 

As the two walked the in between floors path the elder asked another question, "What is to be done with those mysterious gems they used to be battle spirit bodies? We never can appraise them and we've never found anything to do with them as a crafting material." Zephyr stopped and turned her head to the side while swaying slightly side to side in the air. 

Gil stopped as well and replied as she spoke, " return them to mna. They shouldn't be used for anything. They are impurities that would hinder anything made. The mana around them is forced together. Battle spirits are force elemental compression versus natural mana density. Elementals fuse and interact with each other but those pieces reject all but one element. They should be placed in the appropriate elements and let to disperse." 

"So that's why the experiments of the previous elder all crumbled and broke when they were used as materials. The mana is rejected. That's good to know. I will attempt to follow your advice." The elder felt that he had been enlightened. 

As Gil and Zephyr reached the treasury the two were amazed by the number of items there. Walker had seen many of these things and the elder was long used to them. Gil wanted to rush through and explore but do found that the elder was grabbing a plentiful amount of crystals. He placed them in the center, "I will have others collect these to bring to the work shop. I want to bring one of each dormant spirit up to the forge so I can start the awakening." 

"Going to make a lot of different gear? That should be pretty good overall for your people. That many dwelling weapons that is." Gil was impressed by the initiative. However, he didn't expect the response.

"I want to have them help me learn the spirit speech skill your leader will send to me with his title. I can't rely on others at all times to craft new items. The elves most likely won't be coming here too soon and heading to the new city you all talked about might not happen for some time either. I'm needed here." Thus made a lot of sense. The elder was a keystone for the dwarves. If he just left a void would be left. 

"So many! Look at them!" Zephyr was amazed by all the dormant spirits that were in the part of the treasury they had just entered. 

"So the problem have is that I can not tell the difference between what is what. I know that is a water elemental spirit because of the blue coloring. But the others have nothing to define them properly." The elder had this in mind when it came to bringing the pair to the treasury. He had not had the reason to ask Walker earlier but now needed to know. 

Zephyr hear this and got t work. Gil obediently followed her directions and began to organize the spirits. After a short time, the dormant spirits were roughly organized along shelves. There was one of each that Zephyr had picked out to bring back with them. "These are the ones Zephyr says are closest to awakening based on their mana level." The elder grabbed what he could carry and energetically motioned for Gil to do the same. 

Gil wanted to explore the treasury more but seeing the look of curiosity and excitement in the elders' eyes he didn't have the heart to say anything. Zephyr could tell Gil wanted to stay but she was also curious about how long it would take to wake up more spirits and what they would want to do. At the very least she knew the wind spirit would want to stay near her since she was a grand wind spirit. "You know, I'm going to be the first dwarf to ever speak to a spirit." The elder said this as they left the treasury. 

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