"I think you overlooked the part where I told you I was an artifact spirit. The spirit of the artifact that merged into your wound," said the man. "The artifact is bound to you and so am I. You die, I die so don't worry I won't harm you," the man further explained.
"Oh, that pendant," said Ajax as he realized and remembered his experience of near death.
"Not really a pendant, but I understand how my sealed form could be misconstrued to be one," said the spirit moving towards him.
"So, how do we do this. Should we sit?" asked Ajax pointing towards a chair.
"Actually, I am not that sure either. You are the first person I am talking to apart from my creator who is known as the Savior. Was forbidden to speak to anyone other than one who was worthy enough to inherit his legacy."
"And a child is worthy?" asked Ajax. He was a lost prince whose could do a bit of magic, but the pendant activated after his mana core was destroyed making him unable to use any magic. This made no sense to him.
"No, a child is not really worthy. My creator expected me to be inherited by a Saint which is the highest level of cultivation anyone could have in this lesser world," said the man. "But I have been waiting a long time and I was tired. So, used a loophole to bind to the first possible match."
"Loophole?" wondered Ajax aloud.
"I will elaborate", said the spirit sitting on a chair.
"I am called C13 and a spirit of a legacy artifact of someone known as The Savior, a god of healers, fighters and many other things. I am created by him, modelled after his appearance and even have a lot of his memories. I am to preserve his legacy and knowledge," said the spirit.
"So, I am heir of some expert now?"
"Yes, you are an heir, but he never really intended it to be someone as weak as you. The heir was supposed to be a peak saint level cultivator and I am to help him reach higher levels of cultivation and a greater world. But sadly, that didn't happen."
"Are there no saint level cultivators in this world?" asked Ajax.
"No, there are some saint level cultivators. Quite a few actually and even your ancestor from mother's side was one. He was the one who passed through the various tests and was able to reach me. Still, he failed the final test and thus, due to the restrictions placed on me by my creator, I couldn't bind myself to him," the spirit explained.
"That seems to be a glaring mistake in the plans of your creator. Is he really that great?" asked Ajax. He found it stupid that someone would be able to access a legacy artifact without binding it. He felt that the test needed for binding should be the last test before getting access to the artifact.
"It is not really a mistake," the spirit started to explain. "By the time, a person gets access to me, he will earn enough resources to raise a student or an heir worthy enough to pass my test. He could even reincarnate and practice from scratch with those resources, but the final test is one of character. If the person raises and pushes a student hard enough, the heir might pass the final test. So, with enough luck, it kind of allows me to bind to someone faster."
"Ya, the problem is that if unlucky, it can take a lot more time or never happen."
"Yes, that is what happened," answered the spirit in a morose tone.
"You still didn't tell me what the test for binding is?"
"Ya, that is a ridiculous one," said the spirit. "He required a person to have a good knowledge of sciences even without the use of mana. He wanted one to be willing to die for his beliefs and survive through luck. Not due to additional planning but luck. He believed that such people had destiny worthy of his legacy."
"That is a crazy condition indeed," accepted Ajax nodding his head. "So, you used my reincarnation as condition for survival without planning. That was the loophole? I mean didn't the guy know about reincarnations."
"No, he knew. Probably even knew about this loophole. Just considered it a valid condition, I think," said the spirit. "But it involves certain secrets about parts of souls, the mortal and immortal part. All I will say is that you reincarnated without believing in it, which makes it having a similar effect to an unexpected survival. If you had no memories of your past life, I couldn't use the loophole. Lucky for me, you did. Your memories shape your behavior and character. So, I could accept."
"You could have waited?" suggested Ajax who wanted to pry out information on why the spirit chose him.
"I have waited for centuries," said the spirit lifting his hands up in exasperation. "It was one thing before I was found by your ancestor, but after that I was awake and couldn't interact with anyone while listening and knowing everything around me. I felt this is my best chance ," said the spirit. "I am tired and am continuously losing my energy since your ancestor found me. If takes another century or so, I might even start losing my memories due to lack of energy. I am a spirit, an energy body so losing energy is same a slow death. Binding to you allows me to get energy from the world and keep my memories."
"So, you were desperate," concluded Ajax.
"Yes."
"Ok, I can accept that," said Ajax nodding his head. "Otherwise, if I was in your position, I would have waited. So, what do you want from me now."
"Survival. You get strong, I get strong. You get into a greater world and certain strength; I will even be able to get out of the artifact move on my own."
"You can get out of the artifact?" asked Ajax. From his memories of a spirit artifact, he heard that spirits with conscious could move around and even use the artifacts on their own to help their owners.
"No, usually I should, but there are restrictions imposed by the owner on me. So, my chances to converse with you are limited. I can only occasionally give you advice telepathically, when I have absorbed enough mana through you. I absorb the little mana you discard during your cultivation. Get to a saint level cultivation like your ancestor, I can act as a proper artifact spirit that I am supposed to be and till then you will only be able to use the artifact. It will form a tattoo on your hand after this conversation and you can use it once you reach the cultivation level of knight. So, grow faster and get stronger."
"Yeah, I know I need to get stronger. I would do that even without you. I doubt that I will be able to survive without strength in this world and due to bounty on me, I need to do it much faster. You don't really need to tell me this."
"Of course, not. As I told you before, I am in your mind. I know everything you do and think," said the spirit. "I am here to help you get stronger. Though I can't give you access to the pendant. I can give you the legacy cultivation technique. It is much efficient than any in this world and lastly it covers all three aspects - body, energy and soul unlike anything you can find in your world. So, with this you can grow faster and stronger in all aspects unlike any of your peers."
"I thought your legacy is meant for saints?" questioned Ajax. The spirit had already told him so and it didn't make sense for any to use the technique at his level.
"I also told you that a lot of resources would be available through completion of various by the time anyone managed to access me. So, those resources were technically meant to prolong the persons lifespan and restart his method of cultivation," explained the spirit.
"So, the saint himself was supposed to use the resources and not a disciple or descendent? Anyone that strong would have enemies and wouldn't restart his method of cultivation if he valued his life," said Ajax.
"As I said, the test itself was for someone who is willing to die for his beliefs. Such a man wouldn't hesitate to restart for more power nor would he think twice to push a disciple to almost dying. Thus, making it a valid test and also providing more resources works," said the spirit.
"Wow!", said Ajax as he finally began to understand, coming to terms with legacy that he had received. He started to believe that it is safe to accept it.
"Okay! So, now that you are fine with it and will be willing to trust me, let me finish as I have little time left."
"You are on a limit?" asked Ajax. "I thought there is supposed to some sort of time dilation within dreams or in one's mind. So, we would have a lot of time."
"All true, but I am really low on energy. So, just listen. I will give the cultivation technique of the legacy. After the dream, it will be directly put in your mind. Practice it and best not indulge in other cultivation techniques. This is only a cultivation and strengthening technique. No, methods of application of mana or as you call it fighting techniques will be given at this stage. It is best if you find your own methods and practice them along with those I provide later. This will help you in long run."
"I can always observe you and more information will be sent to you when required in a similar manner as it is easier in that way. Though it won't be frequent and I don't intend to affect your progress. Also, try your best to understand the sciences even in this world of magic. There are rules to everything and rules of operation for all kinds of energy. You believed this in your past life. This mentality will help you further even here. Lastly, you had a habit of thoroughly understanding the biology of man as used it to kill. The same is valid now, but you also need to learn the biology of all living beings as now everything can be sapient, even the elements, clouds, beasts. So, try your best. For that purpose, the best option is to learn to be a healer, but due to your mother, that profession would put a lot of suspicion on you. So, the next best option is a cook. You will get to observe the physiology and also learn a lot abou.."
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As Ajax woke up, he felt bit tired and had a mild headache, but a vivid memory of his conversation with the spirit was still there along a clear description and methods of a cultivation technique called "Art of Evolution". He found himself on the floor of the bathroom naked. He realized that he had fainted after he had taken his daily bath.
He touched his chest as he found that the red gem life feeling left and it had disappeared leaving his skin smooth. Instead, there was a small red colored tattoo on the back of his hand. "I guess that wasn't a dream," thought Ajax.