Low-Fantasy Occultist Isekai

The outcome of this fight had never been uncertain. The rock worm was indeed dangerous, but Nick was wily, and with the potion supplied by Rhea, they would have killed it sooner or later.

In fact, Nick was almost kicking himself for his hesitation, as he could have tried his hand at this new magic sooner and spared them a precious resource. But what was done was done.

He had learned a valuable lesson nonetheless. That, in itself, was worth everything.

Watching the cyclone of multicolored winds blow through the worm, he was unsurprised to find it caused no physical damage, even though it slowed the beast's lunge.

No, this new magic he'd summoned did something far more dangerous.

Its very essence was devoured, completely circumventing the physical defenses that had allowed it to withstand foxfire and Wind magic.

[Wind God's Third Eye] allowed him to perceive every single detail. How the spiritual gale tore through the worm's essence, separating it from its body. It ripped, churned, and performed everything [Vacuum Sphere] did in the physical world, but to the immaterial.

[Spiritual Hurricane] seemed like an appropriate name for something like this. It represented the culmination of his efforts in both Wind magic and his more esoteric arts, and Nick could already envision half a dozen new applications of the principle that had led to it.

The drain he experienced was also comparable to his other spell. It was still a significant investment, but given what this magic could do, he didn't feel too bad about it.

Finally, the worm crashed down, its energy spent and spirit exhausted. It lay there, silent and still, almost resembling a statue.

No, that's wrong. It is a statue.

Indeed, while it was his new spell that had killed the beast, Rhea's potion had been hard at work, transforming what was once a living creature, despite its rocky armor, into a statue.

For a moment, Nick simply blinked. Everything had happened so quickly that he hadn't had the time to consider the implications of his actions, but he had truly used an advanced spell of a different affinity, hadn't he?

But this isn't the first time I've dabbled in spiritual magic. Hell, one of the very first things I did was Astral Project! And all the rituals I performed should have counted for something, too.

And yet, this was when he'd received a new affinity. That had to mean something.

Wait, I got both my Wind affinity and Lightning affinity by stealing them from a monster. Does that mean I could have obtained a Spiritual affinity much sooner if I'd used the [Ritual of Elemental Bestowal] on a random powerful spirit?

Something told him it wouldn't have been that easy, given how varied the creatures inhabiting the astral plane were. He could have just as easily grown tentacles or an actual third eye.

Still, to have received the affinity now… Is that why everyone seems to think I'm a freak? It took months of hard work to finally develop one naturally. If this is what everyone has to go through, it finally starts to make sense.

"What the hell was that?" Elia asked, her eyes wide as she stared at the dead worm.

That pulled Nick back to reality, and he quickly scanned their surroundings to make sure nothing else was trying to sneak up on them.

He immediately noticed a difference in how [Wind God's Third Eye] was feeding him information.

Initially, everything originated from the movement of the air. It was more complex than that, but as long as something interacted with the air, he'd know the trajectory it was following and what it looked like.

That was why the rock worm had escaped his notice until the very last moment and why the fox tunnels had been so difficult to pinpoint. They were detached from the air under his control and, as a result, much harder for him to detect.

Now... now things had a certain hue to them. It wasn't much, and certainly not enough to fundamentally alter the spell, but it felt more like he was finally noticing something that had always been there.

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I'm seeing spiritual residue, he realized. That changed everything.

"Oy, are you okay?" Elia reached out and shook his arm, and Nick blinked, nodding.

"Yeah, sorry. I've just adapted a spell on the fly and am working through the implications," he answered distractedly.

"I could see that," she muttered. "I don't know what you did, but that wasn't Wind magic."

Yeah, it makes sense that she would notice. Her Miko trait must have given her a keen eye for this kind of thing.

That made him realize he still needed to check his new trait, so he brought up the relevant status window.

It was quite a significant list, especially considering what he knew from his father's own. Eugene had more than double his levels and had fewer Traits.

Still, it seemed that his new Spiritual Affinity was being treated just like all the others, except for one thing.

While [Minor Lightning Affinity] was at the Beginner rank, [Minor Spiritual Affinity] had already reached Expert.

Does that mean the affinities I earn naturally are superior? Or is the experience I gained with spells from that school considered only when the affinity doesn't come from a ritual?

The questions were many, and the answers few.

Then there is the increase in [Intermediate Wind Affinity]. I suppose I was close on that one, and using the base structure of [Vacuum Sphere] to develop an entirely different spell was the final stretch.

"Well, at least this thing is dead," Rhea muttered, having walked over to the worm while Nick was busy thinking. "It's a pity that I had to use the Transmutation Elixir. We won't be able to get anything out of its corpse now."

Elia huffed, rolling her eyes, before giving him a look that showed she hadn't forgotten what he'd done. Still, she joined Rhea in poking at the stone statue. "Do you think someone will see this and think a wandering artist left it here?"

The thought was amusing enough to pull Nick out of his contemplations.

"They are more likely to think it was a passing wizard who petrified an actual rock worm. Or maybe that it's a live one trying to appear as a statue to draw in prey," he commented. The statue was indeed extremely lifelike—so much so that from a distance, it would be impossible to tell the difference from a living rock worm.

"It really petrified it all, didn't it?" He heard Rhea mutter as she poked and prodded. "It's not even the same kind of stone it was before. That was much less homogeneous, now it's just entirely made of the same thing."

Nick nodded. It did seem that the Transmutation Elixir had produced an effect similar to that of the incomplete Philosopher's Stone, although this time it wasn't crystal.

Rhea nodded to herself and took a long iron nail from her bag, placing it on the stone. Then, she pulled out a hammer, and to no one's surprise, she began smashing.

Elia quickly pulled back, already wincing at the noise, while Nick remained where he was, quietly watching her work. He suspected a specific reason for her wanting a sample, even after she claimed it would have no market value.

Eventually, she managed to create a crack, and from there, it was quick work to remove a chunk. It was as big as her hand, and she wrapped it in gauze, placing it in her bag along with her instruments.

She then turned around and saw them staring and shrugged. "It might help with my transmutation practice. Turning things to stone is supposed to be the first level, so having something to aim for will be good."

Leaving the rock worm behind, the trio began their journey northeast, where the next temple was said to be, and coincidentally, where the Compass of Interesting Times pointed.

Given how often they had been attacked so far, they expected things to worsen as they traveled further north. However, to their surprise, no additional attacks occurred.

Some of it could have been explained because they were still in the rock worm's territory. If they had encountered the wererats at the very beginning, it could have accounted for most of the peace and quiet, but after a while, it started to become suspicious.

With Nick's improved [Wind God's Third Eye], spotting ambushes became significantly easier. Even common worms squirming two feet underground were now noticeable, making him realize he wasn't just overlooking things.

Rather, it seemed as if someone had gone to the effort of clearing up the area. Given how aggressive the monsters had been, it would have made sense if they had been close to one of the villages scattered across the grassland, but they had picked a path that remained far from any of them.

Eventually, the silence grew too suspicious.

"Alright, this has to be unnatural, right?" Rhea asked, glancing around and tightening her grip on two vials of sickly yellow liquid.

Nick hummed in agreement, still feeling unsettled. The fight with the worm shouldn't have been particularly noteworthy, except that it was powerful enough to boost him to level forty-three.

And yet, his new affinity opened up an entirely new direction for his combat abilities. If the result of his latest spell against the rock worm was any indication, it was a very lethal one.

Still, the eerie atmosphere made it difficult to concentrate. He could almost taste the numerous spells he could develop now that he had a proper affinity, but attempting to do so at that moment would be far too reckless. He would have to wait until whatever had hunted down all the monsters in the area showed up.

At least I should be able to handle it quickly if it's another rock worm.

"Do you think it might be a demon?" Elia finally asked, sounding grim. They were approaching the temple, so the disturbance could have originated from there.

In all the excitement, Nick had almost forgotten that this was why they were here: checking the other temples to ensure no more demons were lurking around.

Such a powerful being would certainly be able to kill everything in range, but Nick could sense no lingering taint in the air, something that [Wind God's Third Eye] should have been able to pick up on by now. I'm not entirely sure, though. I wasn't able to notice it last time, and while I think I should be able to now, that doesn't mean much until it's been proven.

"I'll check," he finally said. It took him a moment to summon the will to fully open his third eye, but when he did, the astral plane unfolded before him.

Previously, it had seemed like a chaotic ocean of colorful currents; now, it felt much clearer. The chaos was still there, but Nick's new affinity provided him with a deeper understanding of its mechanics, allowing him to see much further ahead.

That was how he could see what lay ahead.

With a blink, he returned to the material world. "Well, I have good news and bad news."