Naiads

Name: N/A

Age: 0

Species: Common Spirit

➦ Skills:

Common Skills: 𝗙𝗟𝗢𝗔𝗧, 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗖𝗘𝗦𝗦 (x2), 𝗠𝗜𝗖𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗔𝗚𝗘𝗥, 𝗙𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗚𝗨𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗚𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡

Special Skills: 𝗖𝗢𝗢𝗥𝗗𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗖𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, 𝗔𝗨𝗧𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗟𝗢𝗧

Rare Skills: 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘, 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ ‎ – ☼ –

I think of myself as a pretty smart and reasonable person. However, if I had to state one flaw of mine (of which there are many), it would be getting excited too early and rushing into things too fast.

After hearing about other intelligent lifeforms from my skill 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 (whom I have now named Googl because it sounds cute), I ran towards the intended area.

The thought slapped me like a wet fish: “Wait, will these beings be able to see me?”

Then the thought became a realization: I’m an invisible spirit, they probably won’t be able to see me…

My spirits (haha, funny joke) were slowly crumbling. If I had physical hands, I’d definitely be face-slapping myself. I couldn’t give up, though, I had already come this far. I have to at least try and see for myself, otherwise, I’d probably be passing up a good opportunity.

As I came up towards where Googl had reported life, light glistened in my eye. Luckily, it didn’t affect me at all. I noticed that it came from a large body of water, too small to be a lake and too big to be a pond.

But I didn’t see a soul.

I got worried for a second; was it a false alarm? Am I really destined to be alone? HELL NO!

<Googl, activate the skills 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 and 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘>

«Skill Activated»

The skill 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 worked more like a radar in my brain while 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 was like a thermal sensor. Together, I could take in information within a 3 kilometer radius.

Immediately as I went closer to the body of water, I saw the silhouettes of three humanoid creatures under the water. Curious, I floated just a wee bit closer to the water. The humanoid creatures I saw through 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘 looked to be…female?

They lazily moved under the water, like they didn’t have a care in the world. Watching them move was almost hypnotizing.

Suddenly, the stopped moving. Their hypnotic movement suddenly stopped, and they looked like the just noticed something. I scanned the surroundings, and other than wild forest life, there wasn’t any monsters nearby. One of the humanoid creatures then got the courage to swim up.

I floated away panicking, but the creature was as fast as a torpedo. I whizzed towards the edge of the lake, but the creature was right on my tail, if not in front of me. I decided to throw it for a loop and zigzag to the side, but it was a futile attempt.

The creature burst out of the lake and grabbed me with one hand. I squealed internally and pushed with all my might to be free of the creature’s extremely strong grip.

Unluckily for me, I had all defense and analytical skills and no offensive skill. I mean, there was 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗖𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡, but the drawbacks were too much. I was trapped and cornered.

Finally, the creature brought me closer to its face. To my surprise, I stared back at a beautiful teenage girl. She had chocolate brown skin, wavy black hair with a tinge of sea green at the tips and roots, soft sleepy sea green eyes, and a voluptuous body. She was also naked, and her skin glistened in the sunlight. Unfortunately, I learned that I had lost my libido.

<PLEASE DON’T HURT ME!>

The girl cocked her head back in curiosity, and her sleepy eyes widened. “You can talk?”. Her voice was gentle and serene, like she had just woke up.

I froze.

<You can hear me?>

She nodded. “Of course I can hear you, you’re shouting in my head… it hurts…”. She rubbed her temple for a second and poked me. “Can you please lower your voice?”

<Sorry, I only shouted because you scared me. Why did you chase me anyway?>

The girl yawned. “You were scary and my sisters thought you were some kind of evil karmic beast, but now I see you’re just a small little spirit,”

Using 𝗛𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗥 I could tell the girl was very strong, but strong enough to break through my 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 and survive my 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗖𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡? I don’t think so.

She poked me again. “Why are you so strong?”

She got frustrated and slammed her fist down on me. Luckily, my spiritual body instantly regenerated thanks again to 𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗖𝗤𝗨𝗜𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡. But that did leave me wondering how she was even able to touch and see me.

«Answer: The being before you is a Naiad. She is a spiritual being like yourself, only she possesses a greater amount of karma to materialize and take form. Would you like to run a full data scan?»

<Yes>

While Googl analyzed this babe of a girl, I conversation with her.

<Well, maybe if you’d stop trying to kill me; we can talk. I’m not an evil spirit, I swear!>

The girl put on a frowny face and folded her arms. “Fine, but please stop communicating with me telepathically. It hurts…”

<I don’t have a mouth, sorry…>

The girl sighed. “I remember when I was in your position…” she sighed heavily. “My name is Joana, do you have a name?”

I was about to say my past name, Martin, but I stopped. I was in a new world, a fresh start, it was only fitting I got a new name. I racked my brain trying to figure out any new name I wanted on the spot.

It had to be cool, something memorable, and a name people won’t forget easily. Hell, I even used 𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗜𝗙𝗜𝗖𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗡𝗖𝗘 to generate some names. After a while of racking my brain, I settled on a name.

<My name is >

Joana smiled innocently. “Cute name. Now before I tell you how to speak, care to tell me why you’re so strong?”

I gulped. Do I tell her I reincarnated, or the fact that my karma is extremely balanced or the fact that I scan and copy skill data? Nah. If word travels that a mere common spirit could do such powerful things, I’d be hunted down for sure.

I decided to lie. Well, lie is a harsh word, more like embellish.

<I’m just an anomaly, hehe…>

Joana squinted her sleepy eyes at me. “I guess…” she shook her head. “Anyways, do you know what Sonar Skills are?”

«Report: Sonar Skills allow the user to control sound waves in any given way and is an extremely basic skill only possessed by beings with physical forms. Lower-tier spirits do not possess the ability unless trained by higher level spirits»

<Uhm, is it like…talking?>

Joana nodded. “Yes, it is skills that allow users to control sound. But I am only teaching you the very basic skill 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘. But first, you need an understanding of air and sound.”

But alas, before Joana could teach me anything, Googl spoke first.

«Report: The being Joana is in possession of the skill 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘. Would you like to copy skill data?»

I would have said yes in a heartbeat, but a part of me was curious if I really could attain this skill on my own. I decided not to just copy the skill data and put in some effort, but if the task was ever impossible, it wouldn’t hurt to use what’s at my disposal.

<No, I want to try and attain this skill on my own. What’s the possibility that I can receive it?>

«The possibility of attaining the skill 𝗩𝗢𝗜𝗖𝗘 is 34.8%. Possibilities can be raised using the sub-skill 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗕𝗔𝗕𝗜𝗟𝗜𝗧𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗡𝗜𝗣𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡»

Since when did I ever have that skill? I’ll have to look into that later.

To TLDR everything for you, Joana basically taught (forced) and lectured me about air and sound waves. It was like Physics class all over again, except this time my teacher was an extremely beautiful and sleepy girl.

But I won’t lie, she was a really good teacher. She was kind, patient, and easy to understand. It had only been about fifteen minutes, but I had already gotten the hang of controlling vibrations.

“Now twist the air vibrations in a way that makes sound. Then transform that sound into words.”

I bopped my body around in understanding. Following what she had, I had attuned myself with the air around me. I molded it, shaping it to conform to a sound I wanted it to be. After a while, I had done it.

I had gained a voice.

“He…herro?”

Joana’s sleepy eyes lit up in surprise. “Wow, I didn’t expect you to get this so fast,” she shrugged. “But what else should I expect from an abnormally strong spirit like you,”

If I had cheeks, I’d be blushing. “It’s still…kind of hard though…” I managed. Manipulating air took more effort than it looked.

Joana laughed though. “Just keep doing this and you’ll eventually receive the skill,” she said, lazily wading in the water.

I floated there for what felt like a lifetime, saying random gibberish like a newborn baby learning how to talk. Wait, I AM A NEWBORN BABY!

But anyways, I managed to get the hang of some words and strings of dialogue. In just a few minutes, I learned the basic alphabet. In an hour, I learned basic phrases and greetings taught by Joana.

“Now say ‘Hello there’”

“He-llo there,”

Joana lazily clapped her hands. “I think we’re done. You should receive the skill anytime now,”

As I bopped my body in jubilee, I noticed the sun setting in the horizon, and it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. Beautiful shades of red, orange, yellow, and even some blue looked as if it was being melted by heat of sun and cooled by the cold of the night. I stared at the sun completely mesmerized by it.

Suddenly, Joana cusped her hand around me and brought me closer to her face.

“Don’t stare at the sky,” she said, a hint of worry in her voice. Though her face remained a sleepy stoic, her voice and body said otherwise. “We have to go,”

“G-Go where?”

“Anywhere but the surface,”

She held my small form close to her chest and dolphin dived underwater. My first instinct was to hold my breath and close my eyes, but I remembered my body didn’t even need to breathe and I couldn’t close my eyes because I had none. But what I did have was questions.

“What are we running from?!” I asked, still trying to control the volume of my voice.

“I will explain later when we reach my cave,” Joana said. “My sisters will be there,”

She glided through the water with efficient speed like a torpedo, gracefully dodging sea creatures and other debris like an Olympic Swimmer.

<Activate 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪>

«Skill 𝗢𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪 has been activated»

Now with an almost omniscient view of my surroundings, I spotted the cave Joana must have been talking about. Using the skill 𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗔 𝗦𝗘𝗡𝗦𝗘, I got an exact measurement of the cave. It was around ten feet long and twelve feet tall, but the opening looked really slim.

“We’re here,” Joana announced.

Suddenly, her complexion turned as ocean blue. Her eyes glowed and her body became opaque and transparent. Her hands and feet became bubbles and she lost all traces of her human form.

In this form, she effortlessly slipped through the slim crack of an opening I noticed and entered the cave. Then, as quick as she transformed, she reverted back to her more human-like appearance. I had asked her to at least make some clothes and put something on, but she says that she doesn’t need to and she only puts on clothes when human men are around.

“Is this like your home?” I asked.

She nodded. “But the thing is, me and my sisters are considered weird by other naiads,”

I bopped in confusion. “How exactly?”

“Well, when it hits nighttime, most naiads just revert back to our purest form to avoid the moonlight…but me and my sisters constantly stay in our human form. Well, they constantly stay in their human form. I sometimes revert back just to simulate sleeping,”

I bopped in understanding. But that reminded me of something as well.

“Why are we avoiding the moonlight, it’s so beautiful!”

Joana shot me a confused and dirty look. “You must have a death wish if you want to gaze at the moon,” she said. She made a small bed around a rock and rested her head on it. “How long ago were you materialized?”

Did she mean when was I born?

“…today…”

Joana did a double take. I can’t blame her, if a newborn baby suddenly gained the ability to talk right after being born, I’d probably collapse as well.

“There’s no way…”

I laughed nervously. “Well, I must be a mutant huh…I literally just spawned so I have no clue what is going on haha…”

Joana yawned and rubbed her temple. “Well, good thing you ran into someone as experienced as me,” she boasted. She gently grabbed me again and pulled closer to her face. “You ready for a story?”

“Sure, I love history!”

She smiled.

“500 years ago, the Beastpeople ruled this forest. They were a people chosen by the dryads of the land, the naiads of the water, and the sylphs of the wind. But one day, the king of the Beastpeople, a power-hungry man always seeking battle and glory, challenged the Karmic Lord Rue to battle.

Rue was a gentle being and asked the King of the Beastpeople to step down and calm his pride. But this only made the King’s pride and ego bigger, thinking that even the Karmic Lords were afraid to challenge him.

He went around the Grand Forest, proclaiming that even the Karmic Lords were afraid to fight him and conquering the peoples of the forest. But his arrogance would only lead to destruction, as the Spirits would revoke their blessings upon the Beastpeoples and leave them to their devices.

Finally, the Karmic Lord Rue had enough of his antics and summoned all Karmic Lords to overthrow the King. A disastrous battle ensued and the King was defeated for the first time in battle. But instead of killing him, the Karmic Lord Rue cast a spell upon the King

From now on, your people shall live in dirt and be known as the worst of all races; lower than even demons. You shall prey for humans and be hunted for sport and automatically killed by every karmic beast and monster in the Grand Forest. Your people shall only know suffering for your arrogance.

The King begged for his people to be spared, he cried for mercy at the feet of Rue. But his pleas fell on deaf ears. To make matters worse, the Karmic Lord Nirvina also cursed the King for slaughtering and conquering her people, the Sylphaids.

For your crimes against my people, you and your clan shall not only suffer, but all monsters of this forest. From now on, your heroic battle aura shall be one of death; for when the sun drops below the horizon, my curse shall activate and turn your heroic aura into one of death. Monsters shall become crazed under this spell and attack each other like beasts, and it shall be tenfold for the Beastpeoples of this forest.

From then on, every living thing in forest; be it monster, spirit, or human, has learned to be wary of the night.

I stood there amazed by the tale. Karmic Lords, Beastpeople, and curses, it all felt like those fantasy movies Mary always loved watching. It took me a second to take it all in.

“W-Wow,” I said. “This was 500 years ago right? The King must be dead now, right?”

Joana sleepily shook her head. “No, the curse keeps him alive. He’ll only die if the Karmic Lords remove the curse,”

“A-And these Karmic Lord, are they like gods?”

Joana thought about it, her eyes slowly darting around the cave. She waved her hand in disagreement.

“I would say no,” she concluded. “Karmic Lord is just a title. If I had to describe them, they are avatars of what karma can be used for.”

“Can I get an example?”

Joana groaned. “You ask too many questions…” she complained. “But fine…an example could be the Karmic Lord Rue himself. If I remember correctly, his karmic attribute is hate. He can control people and even fate to an extent, as long hate exists in this world. He’s basically an avatar of the emotion of hate.”

This was fascinating! The idea of a physical living manifestation of reality got my nerd juices flowing, and I nearly started bouncing out of excitement.

“Can I please get another example?”

“Fine…let me think…” and by thinking, I mean getting a few seconds of sleep. “Well, there is also the Dragon Mother,”

“Dragon Mother?”

“Yes, she is an avatar of chaos. She is also the mother of all dragons, considered to be the strongest race ever. They are pure chaos and extremely strong, and their mother is also one of the oldest Karmic Lords ever.”

“Woah…”

Joana smiled. “Woah is right. But if you would excuse me, I’m going to sleep. Tomorrow, you’ll start training.”

“Oh…alright. Good nigh-”

And she was out like a light. Bored, I began reviewing my skills again while Joana slept next to me. I could hear her soft breathing as I did.

I could get used to this.