Wait, hold on a sec...how do we know that he hasn't already unlocked that power? I mean, you saw how powerful he's gotten lately. And another thing, you said that the Elemental Spirits were symbiotic with the other races, and that didn't include humans. So why would the Water Spirit possess Az, a human? And let's say that is the case, how would we even go about confirming it?

"That's, uh, a lot of questions. Let me tackle them one by one...first, I'm fairly certain that if he is possessed by the Water Spirit, he hasn't released the locked power yet...he said that all he's doing differently is putting physical effort behind his attacks, that's not enough to unlock that power, trust me on that."

​​

Okay, go on...

"As for why the Water Spirit would possess a human...it's possible that it simply got left behind when the floating island was created. Like I said, the Elemental Spirits have a symbiotic relationship with their hosts...the hosts gain power, and the spirits maintain their own existences. See, in the case of Demons, we can't survive without a host body for more that approximately five hundred years...in other words, if the Forbidden Zone had held up for more than five hundred years, the Demons would have simply ceased to exist. I'm assuming it's the same for Elemental Spirits, they don't have physical forms of their own, after all. It probably possessed him because it was in danger of ceasing to exist," Explained Diablo.

And my last question, how do we find out for sure?

"Hm...I have a couple of ideas. Call your friend and tell him to come over."

Well, I'm too intrigued by this whole thing to just leave it be after hearing all that, so yeah, let's call him...

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Point-of-View: Shiro Blanc

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"Wow, you really weren't kidding, this world actually has guns!" Exclaimed Ren excitedly, brandishing a pistol with a look of awe.

"Yup, it sure does," I replied with a friendly smile...ugh, gag me, I hate this.

We were still six days away from the launch of the next attack, and some of the summons had been bugging me to get them guns, so I had Belia use her Dimensional Magic to go to Bronztan and steal some ammo. Silvland had plenty of guns in the weapon stores, but they hardly had any ammunition left.

And right now, I was outside the walls with the summons, who were taking turns firing the guns, which ranged from pistols to rifles. However, in their hands, the bullets hardly generated any significant momentum when fired. Why, you ask?

Because the guns in this world use magic as a substitute for gunpowder. And the summons come from a world where humans don't have any natural magical energy in them, instead they use tools to convert stamina into magical energy. They hadn't realized it yet, but whenever they fired these guns, the force was no greater than that of a toy gun, the type with those small, round plastic bullets.

At best, they might kinda hurt their targets, but aren't going to do any real damage. They were firing at the wall, which was kinda worn out so was cracking a bit...but even at close range, if they shot at a person with these guns, at most they'd leave a small bruise. But the more likely outcome is that the bullet will just bounce off. Should I tell them?

"Hey, is it just me, or do these things kinda lack power?" Remarked Lily with a frown, "I've fired guns at a shooting range back when I was on Earth, and the recoil had a lot more force...granted, that was a very long time ago now, but still..."

"Well, you're physically way stronger than you were back then," Argued Ren, as he fired a couple more shots, "I mean, all of us have basically superhuman strength compared to back then."

"I suppose that's a good point...," She replied skeptically.

"Actually, I'm with her," Chimed in Kyle, "I really don't feel like these things are generating much force at all."

Yeah, I should say something...

"You guys are spot on. Gunpowder doesn't exist in this world, so to supplement the force of the bullet, magic is used as a substitute. And that's done by channeling magical energy into the gun before pulling the trigger, and depending on the Elemental attribute, the output will vary. So, in other words, it's pretty much impossible for you guys to use these guns to their full potential," I explained, putting on an apologetic look.

"Aw, man, that kinda blows," Sighed Dwayne wistfully.

"Yeah, it would have been cool to use guns," Agreed Skylar.

Hm, that raises an important question, are they cool with killing...I better clarify where they stand in that regard...

"So, uh...not sure how to ask this exactly, but...are you guys willing to kill people? We'll be attacking the vile Rustlands soon, and the Silvland troops will kill anyone and everyone they come across. So, what about you guys?" I inquired, watching their expressions closely.

"Well...we understand that when it comes to war, killing is unavoidable. That said, we don't kill defenseless women or children, or people who have surrendered. But...we won't preach to or try to force our values on the people of Silvland. We also understand that religious people are quite stubborn, and can be rather inhumane in the name of religion," Replied Shin with a wry smile.

"That's good...because it's not going to be pretty when the attack begins, battles between two sides that despise each other are especially brutal," I remarked, putting on a somber expression and tone.

Heh, this is great...their stance on killing is more or less ideal. They come off as a bit naive and optimistic sometimes, but it looks like they're fully aware of the dark, messed up side to war. Ohh, I can't wait for next week...

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Point-of-View: Kuro Black

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"Hey, I'm here. What did you want to talk about?" Inquired Az with a raised eyebrow.

He'd just come over to my place, and had a look of curiosity on his face. Persia was out right now, she was currently training with Rai and Key.

"Okay, so this is going to be a lot to unpack, though if we're wrong about this whole thing, then I'm just wasting your time, and if that turns out to be the case...I apologize in advance," I replied sheepishly.

"What?" He asked, looking confused.

"I'll explain in a bit, but first...can I use a Chaos Magic spell on you?"

"Uh...what kind of spell, exactly?"

"Relax, trust me, man...there isn't any risk involved."

"I don't really know what's going on, but fine...go ahead," He relented with a bemused sigh.

"You won't regret this!" I replied with a grin, before partially entering Demon Mode, just enough to open my third eye.

Alright, Diablo, go ahead...

"Okay, activating the spell now...!"

.

.

.

.

.

For a moment, Az went silent, his head slumping down a bit. And then, I felt a chill, the room growing colder...

"Az...?"

He lifted his head with a startled expression and looked around in confusion.

"What...what is this? Inconceivable, how did I...?"

Okay, Az doesn't talk like that...

"So, I'll get straight to the point...are you the Water Spirit?" I inquired, taking a step forward.

"Impossible...how is my consciousness surfacing like this!?" It exclaimed in confusion.

"Hey, I asked you a question," I remarked, snapping my fingers to get its attention.

"Huh? Tch, I have nothing to say to a human. The only reason that I am even in this body is because I had no choice in order to survive...once this human perishes, I shall never shame myself and go so far as to possess another human ever again...I would rather cease to exist!" It snapped with a glare, before the expression on Az's face eased up...before tensing up with a frown, "Kuro...what the hell is inside me?"

"Yeah, about that...it's a long story..."

.

.

.

.

.

"Okay, I think I get it now...so that's why my Water Magic always came so naturally to me," He sighed wistfully, before adding, "Huh, I guess that means I was the first to get an external power boost, not you."

"Well, yeah, but I wasn't the first...there were the Retribution Tier Karma users and Valaque, remember?" I pointed out.

"Oh...right. Hey, what was that Chaos Magic spell you used on me? When you used it, I could still see, hear and feel my mouth moving while the Water Spirit was talking, even though I wasn't the one talking or moving. I did feel like I could regain control if I felt like it though, and that was reassuring, at the very least. But now, I can feel the Water Spirit's presence inside me...I tried talking to her, but she just snapped at me and is now ignoring me. Though since I now know she's there, I think she's making less of an effort to conceal her presence...it feels kinda cramped in here," He remarked with an uncomfortable frown.

"Wait, she?" I inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, uh, when she snapped at me, her voice sounded feminine," He replied with a shrug, "So, what was that spell you used?"

"Nothing special, really, it just forces out any secondary consciousnesses to surface if they exist, though without compromising the main consciousnesses control, of course. Thanks to that, I can now switch out with Diablo and Lazarus if I want to," I explained, before adding, "Not that I have any reason to do that, and that aside, they both seem content as things are and disinterested in switching out."

"The locked power that you mentioned...I think I can feel what you're talking about, though I might be imagining it," He mumbled with a slight frown, before adding, "Anyway, if I can't unleash it without the cooperation of the Water Spirit, then it might as well be non-existent, this thing wants absolutely nothing to do with me."

"Well, there might actually be another way, though it'll be a while before I can say for sure," I replied with a grin.

"Let me guess...a Chaos Magic spell?" He speculated with a wry smile.

"Yup."

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