Past Life Hero, ch 32

This chapter has a second part.  I'll be combining them later.

***

“No. I can’t read minds.  Buf if we make a contract, I can sort of scan you one time.  It would only be possible during the post-contract melding process and in that one instant, I can understand you better.  The opportunity comes with a high price, when you think about it.  I have to pay with my freedom, well, I’ll need to follow the terms of our contract. Probably a good thing for Summoners that most spirits aren’t super smart.”  She smiled without humor.  “Just trust me that you’re getting the most out of this and I have my own reasons for wanting to do it.”

Max had already used his magical senses to scan Lavinia when he’d first seen her.  She was exactly what she said she was as far as he could tell.  But he was still inexperienced with spirits and was self aware enough not to pretend otherwise.

He said, "Okay, so let me get this straight. You're suggesting that you work for me, but basically also get veto power if I tell you to do something that you're super against, and in return, you get to look in my head one time?"

Lavinia scoffed and said, "It sounds so bad when you put it like that. Okay, look. I don't think I explained myself very well. It's not just me.”  She paused, seeming to search for the words. “Okay, I get it. If I'm...if I'm...if I make a contract with you as a spirit by myself, where I can barely move a stool once in a while, that's a little underwhelming, sure. However," she smiled slyly and said, "I was a Summoner. In fact, I still am a Summoner. Because I technically died, but technically didn't, and I still have my soul, my contracts that I made when I was living still exist. And I had five Sergeant-level spirits. That means I still have five Sergeant-level spirits. if you make a contract with me, I am effectively a Captain-level spirit. Thi would mean your very first spirit as a brand new Summoner would be Captain-level."

Max sat forward on the bed and steepled his fingers. "That sounds very impressive. But what can all of your summons do?"

"Did you not hear me?" She said, "I am a Captain-level spirit. Asking too many details about my summons is pushing it, don't you think? Considering I'm just asking for a mind scan, you're basically kind of already doing what I wished I could do when I was alive. So this is like a once-in-a-lifetime deal. What kind of horse trader are you? I've heard of taking a gift ring to the jeweler, but this is kind of like looking at a free spirit–-" Her voice trailed off and she said, "I can't think of a good analogy and I don't like where this is going, but... If I were you, I'd take the deal."

Max really wasn't sure what a normal contract would look like between Summoners and spirits. In fact, that's what his next Summoner class was supposed to be about before he'd been killed. So he had nothing to compare the deal that Lavinia was suggesting against other than a few things he’d read in his text book. However, what he’d heard didn't sound too bad except for one thing. Lavinia wanted to read his mind to apparently know all of his past and understand Earth. But Max had lived two lives, so he wanted to make sure that the ghost didn't get to know everything.

For now, he wasn’t keen on letting anyone know about his first life.

He said, "Let me get this straight. You want to read my mind and know all my past experiences all at once. First of all, is that even possible? Second of all, are you going to start all the way from my birth on Earth?  My childhood memories too?"

"Of course it's possible. Otherwise, I wouldn't have asked for it.” Lavinia sat down in the desk chair again facing Max.  “Second, yes, all the way from childhood on Earth.”

Max put his chin in his hand and said, "Let me think about it for a few seconds here."

"All right, fine. Think away," said Lavinia. Then she made a big show of putting her hands together, fingers laced, and twiddling her thumbs while she looked at the ceiling.

Max pondered the issue for a few minutes, his mind whirling, turning over the problem. It sounded like she’d been feeling him out for one lifetime only,but he had no real guarantee other than her word.  Spirits were supposed to tell the truth, though.  At least in general. Eventually he said, "I have one more condition."

"Okay, what?"

"If we form this contract, I want to have a secrecy agreement that you won't tell any other person or any other spirit my business without asking me first. This includes anything you know about my past. If we’re working together, you can keep my secrets.  Fine. And," he held up a finger as Lavinia was beginning to open her mouth, "of course this goes both ways as well. I would extend you the same courtesy."

This time it was Lavinia's turn to ponder, but it wasn't long before she said, "Okay, agreed."

"So how does this work now?" asked Max. "Do I have to bleed or something?"

"Ew, no," said Lavinia. "Some perverts do stuff like that, but it's really not necessary. This is really about communication and consent more than anything else. Just reach out with your Summoner seed.  As long as we hold the contract in our mind and we both agree, the rest should be easy."

Max had no idea what she was talking about, but he looked inside himself and found the quiet center of power that was completely new to him. This was what he understood now to be his summoner's seed. He fumbled a bit, but eventually he figured out how to reach out with his supernatural senses, almost like a handshake or a hug. And after a moment, his spiritual sense met another entity. He was shocked to feel what had to be Lavinia felt like... A giant ball of light radiating sadness, frustration, and almost rabid curiosity.

Their agreement in mind, Max could feel Lavinia doing the same.  Their terms matched.  The read on his past would start at his birth and childhood on earth.  Both parties consented.

"Whoa," said Max. As soon as the connection was established, he almost fell on his back, but he caught himself on his hands before hitting his head on the wall. Meanwhile, the irises of Lavinia's eyes had disappeared, and she sat completely still in her chair. Her mostly see-through form grew even fainter for a solid fifteen seconds. Then she suddenly appeared how she had before, and her eyes reappeared. She looked at Max in shock.

"Okay, that was very sneaky, Contractor.”

“What do you mean?" asked Max, voice innocent.

"The fact you limited me to your birth on Earth. I scanned your memories now, but you had memories before that!  I couldn’t read them at all, despite that and I couldn't read your memories before that, which I could sense were much larger, by the way. But through you, I could actually feel you remember…remembering. I only caught bits and pieces of it. But now I know that you were a warrior on Abion in your past life. Sneaky sneaky!  No wonder you know how to use mana!" She crowed. She stood up again in her chair and began walking in circles around it. "Fascinating.  Absolutely worth the contract.  This is actually fantastic. It means you're more likely to be able to actually do something to those spear-carrying bastards."

She suddenly stopped, turned, and put her hands on her hips. "Yes, I think this was a very good decision for both of us."

It was irrational, but Max was trying not to feel violated that someone else had read his mind and knew his past on Earth. If he had actually been a twenty-one-year-old, the feeling would likely have lingered. But wisdom is not the only thing that comes with age. It also gave Max a certain… lack of self-consciousness. After recentering himself, he decided he could handle that the ghost likely knew everything about him on Earth, even his most embarrassing moments.

“You get something out of the memories, don’t you?”

“Yes.  I’m much more now…just..more.  Better.”

"Alright, so anything else change now that you know my memories?"

Lavinia grinned.  “Lots.  For one thing, now I know what memes are, and holy crap, was I missing out." Max noticed that now the ghost girl was speaking slightly differently than she had before.

"Okay, other than slang and dank memes, what's changed?"

She rolled a shoulder and said, "Well, now you need to learn the basics of being a Summoner.  And I think you’re ready."