Is It Weird to Refine Spirits in Dungeons? Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 2: Tutorials and Foundations

“Oh, you’re back. How was things?”

“Quite good, I would say. This new one has potential.”

“How so?”

“He might have been a couch potato initially, but he has been working hard. That’s to be expected, when all sources of distraction have been removed.”

“I’m sure the adjustments to his granted skill had no influence on that.”

“Sarcasm does not suit you, do you know that?”

“That is your opinion. It is subjective.”

“Any other thoughts you would like to share?”

“I am curious about why you made all those changes, yet left those slight differences in?”

“I consider it a lesson about making assumptions, as well as to encourage a good learning attitude instead of relying on previous experience that is no longer relevant.”

“Then I look forward to the results, far in the future from now.”

“As do I.”

The light against my eyelids slowly stirred me awake, and I tried to recall what that dream was about, only for it to slip out of my memory.

I yawned as I got up from the bed, making my way to the toilet, where I took a quick shower to wake myself up. After I dried myself off and changed into normal clothing, I headed for the kitchen, where one of my spirits greeted me.

“Oh hi, Ray.” 

“Hi, Mumei,” I returned the greeting.

I opened the cupboard and took the pack of cereal out, filling my bowl and adding some cold milk from the fridge to it, before settling down at the table to have my breakfast.

It’s been several days since my new life started, and there’s a lot of stuff to learn and get used to.

To start with, I picked the name ‘Ray’ for myself, due to it sounding like the Japanese ‘Rei’ that stands for ghost or spirit. Also, I’ve been trying to teach Mumei to talk a bit more, with only a slight bit of success. Her vocabulary now consists of ‘oh’, ‘hi’, ‘bye’, ‘Ray’, and ‘Moom’, which is two more words than she started out with. Lauracie told me to keep it up, as her ability to learn will grow with her strength. I’m facing similar issues with the other spirits too, but it’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Life in this pocket dimension has been quiet. So far. To be honest, I could make certain complaints. There’s no Internet, no access to the various forms of entertainment media that occupied so much of my time before. Basically, there’s nothing else to do besides learning and training.

So that’s all I did. 

Without any distractions present, I had learned quite a lot with regards to my new life.

To begin with, while the house was relatively large, I was living alone, and there were a lot of things to handle. Living space, food issues, and cleaning; Shiraken had the first one handled, I was able to summon a second spirit to supply the foodstuffs, and the third I sucked it up and did it by myself.

Lauracie hinted at the possibility of recruiting housemates, though I didn’t really have the time to ponder such a thing with all the other stuff occupying my attention.

Currently, while it wasn’t on the level of urban convenience that I was used to, the amenities were at least at a level I could call comfortable. Thank the spirits for that.

Just like Lauracie’s information said, everything revolved around spirits. I summoned them, made a contract with them, used them, and helped refine and grow them. That’s the basic gist of it.

The more complicated details involved ensuring their upkeep and associated future costs. Just like the Stellar Spirits in Fairy Tail, there are certain conditions to meet for each spirit if I wanted to retain them for my own use. For example, my first spirit Mumei, I had to give a day off after three days of use, each time I used her I had to defeat a certain number of enemies. There were other minor requirements to satisfy as well, like achieving a certain level of strength within a time period. The same went for the other spirits I had summoned, with conditions such as only being able to be used for a certain time period each day, or offering some form of payment beforehand. All of these needed to be agreed on when the spirit was summoned.

Even the actual usage had limitations. I could only bring one spirit into the dungeon with me, even if I had more than that contracted. In battle, any injury I would take would be absorbed by the accompanying spirit, like a sort of mana shield. Exceed their limit, and it would retreat back into the tattoo to recover, leaving me to handle the source of the injury with my own body.

Then there were the minor spirits, the ones I didn’t use in the dungeon, but to take care of stuff around the house. Some, like Shiraken and the item purchaser spirit Shopee, weren’t actually contracted with me, but provided services in exchange for payment. Others, like Sappy, who managed the garden for me, required supervision and nurturing. Compared to my dungeon spirits however, their upkeep requirements were much lower.

As for future costs, the biggest example would be the secondary rituals meant to power them up further. That was in the latest information that Lauracie shot into my head before she left me in this place. 

Gather the materials, place them in the circle, perform the ritual, and gain a strengthened spirit.

Sounded easy, but the materials weren’t easy to obtain. Some of them I haven’t even heard of, other than they sounded totally fictional.

Not that I could say anything in my situation.

The rituals didn’t solely apply directly to spirits. There were options for spirit weapons and equipment too, which I could equip to my accompanying spirit so as to grind through the dungeon more easily. Yes, they were similar to the weapons in the Holocure game, but I chalked that up to Lauracie twisting things to fit.

It also limited the stuff I had access to, since I lacked the required starter material to make some of those I knew of. 

And that was where the last aspect of my new life came into relevance. 

The dungeons.

They provided a source of energy for the spirits’ growth, and materials for rituals. Though so far, I had only been doing the Training Dungeon, which only gave a small amount of the former, and nothing for the latter.

That would change today. 

I finished my breakfast, and patted Mumei on the head. “Bye, Mumei.”

“Bye.” She vanished, the tiny particles floating in the direction of the ritual room.

Before heading for the door, I made sure to grab a ear of corn from the pantry. It was for eating, but not for me.

I squinted in the bright sunlight as I left the house, turning my head to look in the direction of the recent addition to the place. “Hey, Sappy.”

“Good morning, sire,” The green blob with a small sapling growing out of its head greeted me. “Off to the dungeon again?”

“Yes. How are the plants growing?”

“Very well. They should be ready for harvest soon. I will let you know when they are.”

“Thanks, Sappy. See you later then.”

“Good hunting, sire.”

I donned my shoes before walking along the stone path towards the gate. Stopping in front of the post box, I opened it and flipped through the grimoire, and chose my spirit for today’s expedition.

The tiny figure of a white-haired foxgirl appeared before me. “Hi friend!”

“Hi Foob. Here’s the corn for today.” I held the corn out to Fubuki, as part of the payment for her borrowing her power.

“Kon Kon!”

She somehow managed to consume it in one gulp, before I felt her power settle into my hand.

Reaching out, I brought up the menu for selecting the dungeon, and picked the second option on the list.

[Basic Dungeon]

I made sure to read the description before confirming; it was one of those automated dungeons, where monsters would go poof and possibly drop something when defeated, and treasure chests were sure to spawn with stuff I could use. However, the value level of the place was considered minor, so while the monsters were weak and easy to defeat, I couldn’t expect to get anything particularly valuable. As such, the chances of other adventurers being in that place was small, since most would move on to more challenging ones instead. There was also a warning that there wouldn’t be any emergency escape if I died.

In other words, perfect to start with.

The clear conditions were simple too; stay within the dungeon for at least two hours, slay at least fifty monsters, and find at least two treasure chests. 

My finger paused over the ‘Confirm’ button. Am I… nervous? No… this is…

EXCITEMENT.

I hit the button.

…

This reminds me of that thing in those Chinese martial arts fiction… what was it… oh yeah, horsetail whisk! Except in this case, it’s a foxtail whisk.

I swept my hand from left to right, a white ethereal tail appearing and vanishing along with that motion. The monster, a small goblin-like creature, let out a squeal as it was slapped into a wall, disappearing shortly afterwards. That was the fourth monster so far, and I had only seen that one type. Plus none of them had dropped anything other than spirit shards, so Fubuki had yet to gain a level.

Shirakami Fubuki was the Hololive member’s full name, but I just named the spirit Fubuki since it was less of a mouthful. Her attack was a swipe with her black-tipped white fox tail in the game, and it was the same in this case. Just like with Mumei, there was a cooldown, so even if I moved my hand quickly, the tail only appeared every one second or so. Good thing the number of enemies weren’t enough to matter.

The dungeon itself was pretty dark too; if not for the dim light coming from the crystals on the walls, I probably would have to feel my way around. As it was, I had already stumbled on uneven footstones more than a few times.

On the other hand, it was pretty interesting to see what the architecture was like. In some stories, dungeons were mystery spaces that generated monsters for no reason other than to threaten the lives of the people living there, while in others, they were meant to attract humans to try and raid them, and feeding off the death of those adventurers. This place looked like the former to me.

For one, the monsters weren’t actively trying to hunt me, nor was the dungeon spawning them near my position. They just seemed to come from somewhere, wandering around as though programmed to do so, until they spotted me and started attacking. I just so happened to spot the fourth monster early by luck, and managed to stay stealthy enough to tail it around for a bit, which was what helped me make that deduction.

“See anything, Foob?” I asked my hand.

Fubuki appeared, sitting on top of my hand. “Kon.”

“No, huh?” I paused at a split in the path. “Okay, so which way do you think we should go?”

“Hi.” The spirit pointed off to the left.

“Left it is.”

The way she quickly disappeared back into my hand plus the feeling of timidity that filtered through made me realize that she wasn’t good with the creepy atmosphere. Quite similar to the actual Vtuber, who played her scary games in small windows to minimize the scare factor.

“It’s okay, we’ll get through this with no problems,” I reassured her.

Gratitude.

Smiling at the emotion I received in response, I continued down the selected path. Of course, I made sure to mark the wall to show which way I had come from.

Things started to get a bit more risky the deeper I ventured; the frequency of goblins appearing went up, and I started encountering them in groups, occasionally in a side room along my route that I had to clear out to avoid getting pincered later. At least I managed to gain a level for Fubuki, making her tail strike stronger.

I finally received my first item drop after beating a quartet of goblins in a chamber behind a closed door, along with the second level up, which made her tail attack bigger.

“Nice job, Fubuki!” I praised the spirit.

“Hi~” She responded equally cheerfully.

“And this is… a black gem?” I picked it up and held it up to the small light. “Doesn’t look like it does anything… but I’ll bring it back with me just in case.”

“Kon kon. Kon.” Agreement.

“Alright, let’s go. We still have to find two treasure chests!”

Trepidation. Hope.

Another gradual change was the dungeon’s architecture becoming bigger. I noticed that the halls were longer, and the rooms along the way similarly expanded in size. The lights were spaced out even further, making the environment even darker. Due to those factors, I had Fubuki utilize the next level up differently as a precaution.

Sure enough, I eventually found a room with two separate groups of goblins. It was possible to handle them both with just Fubuki’s tail attack, but I wanted to minimize the risk instead, so I made use of the second weapon she had. I aimed my hand at one of the goblins in the nearer group and released my energy.

A small brown projectile shot out from my hand and struck one of the goblins, instantly defeating it. It rebounded off the far wall and came back, not hitting any of the others.

At least until it burst in a small X-shaped explosion that pierced through another one.

The goblins reacted, coming towards me with their jerky swaying steps, but I managed to beat another three more before resorting to the foxtail to finish off the rest. Overall, it was easier than I expected.

X-Potato… what a weird spirit weapon to make, just by using a purchased raw potato with some of the ritual reagents. I moved around the room to collect the other spirit shards.

There were two other exits to the room, and in one of them, I finally discovered a treasure chest, placed on top of a small table.

I eyed it cautiously for a minute. Experience from games and fiction had taught me to never rush for such things, because of the existences known as mimics. From where I was standing, it didn’t look like it was breathing or making any lifelike actions.

Confusion. “Hi?”

“Just being careful,” I told Fubuki, finally stepping closer. “Let’s see what’s inside.”

Despite there being a keyhole on its front, the chest opened at a light push, revealing a sheathed weapon lying on a roll of cloth. The moment I picked the weapon up, the chest faded away, its purpose served. I patted the empty table, but it really was gone and not just invisible. With a shrug, I carefully unsheathed the small weapon.

It was a dagger, similar to the one I had used to summon Mumei, but there were clear differences. The blade I held was a keris, an Indonesian knife with a wavy blade, and a rather short handle to contrast with the length of the blade. I fiddled with it for a bit, before sheathing it and tucking it away into my belt.

I wasn’t used to how it handled, so it was better not to rely on it.

More importantly, I was pretty sure I could use it to summon another spirit.

Leave that thought for later. Getting distracted in a dungeon is dangerous, even one as minor as this.

Progressing even deeper, I finally encountered my second type of monster. It was a larger version of the goblin, making it a hobgoblin. It took two hits from the foxtail to defeat, or three shots of a potato. That level of sturdiness meant it was able to launch an attack at me before I beat it, but I was able to dodge it without any issue. It dropped some small piece of metal when it vanished, which I added to my measly pouch of loot.

“Friend?” Worry.

“I’m okay, Fubuki. Thanks for worrying about me.” 

“Kon.”

“Now that you mention it, I do feel a bit hungry. I didn’t bring food though.”

Shock. Scolding.

“Well, I wasn’t expecting this place to be so big, you know? I thought it was like, ‘oh, two hours, I’ll be in and out’.” I paused. “I was wrong.”

“KON!” Disbelief. Chivvying.

“Alright, alright, I’ll hurry it up so I can go eat.”

“HI!” Acceptance.

I increased my walking pace slightly, flicking my hand back and forth as an auto attack measure in case I ran into any monsters. When I encountered a larger group that didn’t get wiped out with one hit, I would quickly backstep and kite them around until the survivors were dealt with. 

It felt like half an hour later before I finally found my second treasure chest. This one was larger, about the size of a luggage trunk. When I opened it, I found another weapon, though its small size and weight made me think it was meant for a child to play with.

A blue trident… Another spirit summoning reagent. Oh well. Now that I got this, I can finally head back.

…

“Kon.” Fear.

“I know.”

“Kon.” Urgency.

“I know.”

“Kon!” Panic!

“I know! Um, which way?”

“HI!”

Somehow, leaving the dungeon was way more scary than entering it, even if I only met three other goblins on the way back. There was the feeling that someone else might be coming after me from behind, as though something I overlooked was the trigger. Maybe it was my own emotions feeding into Fubuki, whose emotions fed back into me, but I was practically sprinting towards the end. More than once, I had to use the trident to save myself from falling after a bad stumble on the uneven floor.

To be perfectly honest, I was immensely relieved when I stepped out of the place and into the afternoon sunlight.

“Hi friend~!!” Relief.

“You said it, Foob,” I agreed with her.

I didn’t really pay much attention to what lay outside the dungeon when I first arrived, but now I was facing that direction, I could see a dirt path leading away from the entrance and cutting through the forest in front of me. Perhaps there was a whole different world to explore in this place?

I took a few steps forward, only to stop when the message window appeared in front of me.

[Basic Dungeon: Cleared]
[Congratulations!]
[Return? Yes/No]

Demand.

“Okay, okay.” I hit the button. “Let’s go home.”

The forest path blurred out, and was replaced by the sight of my home. Sighing, I placed my hand on Fubuki’s page and released her back into it. The amount of spirit energy I had gained didn’t feel as much as what I was able to gather in the Training Dungeon, but it felt like it was of higher quality, overall giving slightly more benefit.

Faster spirit growth was a given, but I also put some into improving Fubuki’s attack speed. I still didn’t have any idea what the future dungeons would be like, but I preferred fast hitting attacks that could take down enemies before they could hit me.

As I had been doing for the past few times, I kept a bit to pay for future stuff.

“Welcome back, sire,” Sappy greeted me. “Congratulations on another successful dungeon dive.”

“Thanks, Sappy.”

I endured the grumbling of my stomach for the moment, heading for the ritual room to unload my loot first. The ingredients in the cabinet had their own sorting system, so I placed the keris and trident on the more prominent one, to be used sooner rather than later. The gems and tiny metal shards went on the plain shelf, to be identified later. They were probably for rituals, but I knew enough to not act on hunches instead of confirmed facts.

Lunch was a pack of frozen fried rice, stuck in the microwave until it was deliciously hot. It probably wasn’t healthy to eat long term, but I really enjoyed the garlic and pork flavor. I shoveled it into my mouth at first, before slowing down to eat at a more sedate pace.

It’s nice, but I really miss eating some proper restaurant-style meals. I need to summon the spirit that can help me cook… or at least see if Shopee can bring in cooked food instead of just groceries.

After a quick nap, I sat down to do a review of my first dungeon dive, the various actions I took and how it could be better, and the minor rewards I received.

To be frank with myself, I was lucky to be successful. 

My preparations were slapdash, and I had faced more risk than I should have. The monsters were weak, but in that dark environment, it would only take a single moment of vulnerability to receive a serious injury. Even if Fubuki would have helped tanked that damage, I wanted to avoid that as much as possible.

Enemy detection, mapping, retreating maneuvers, among others… so many areas of improvement I could see.

Perhaps I should take a leaf from Goblin Slayer’s book, and over-prepare for the next time. Though it was easier said than done.

The types of dungeons were too varied, and that went double for the types of monsters I would face. Perhaps that was why one of the reward items from clearing the dungeon was a manual from Lauracie.

‘Basic Dungeon Raiding Guide Volume 1’.

I accepted it through the menu, and saw a heavy book appear on the table in front of me.

Opening it up, I started to read, filling my mind with its knowledge. It listed examples of possible dungeon-types, and what sort of monsters and other hazards I could expect to encounter in them.

Being weak wasn’t a bad thing. Staying weak was.

…

“Hello, Ray,” Lauracie greeted me after I returned from yet another foray in a different Basic Dungeon, “You have been working hard, I see.”

“Lauracie,” I greeted the goddess, “What brings you here?”

“Just a routine check-in on how you are doing so far.” She glanced at the grimoire. “Go ahead and finish up first.”

I did as she asked; unlike the previous status upgrades, this time I applied the gathered spirit energy to unlocking another skill for my current spirit. This one was a recovery type of skill, which I could use to heal my spirit if she was injured. I could feel her pleased emotions when the node connected fully, and it made me smile as well.

“Good day to you, sire, lady,” Sappy greeted us as we passed by the garden. “The plants are ready to be harvested.”

“Thank you, Sappy. I’ll do it later.” I nodded to the plant spirit.

“Keep up the good work,” She added.

I sat down in the comfortable armchair I recently added to my living room, while Lauracie did the same in a chair that I knew I didn’t buy, but was present anyhow. 

“Do you know what rubberducking is?” The goddess started with that question.

“Gaining an understanding of an issue by verbally explaining it, like programmers do to a rubber duck to understand what their code does… I think.” I hadn’t done programming before, but I was familiar with the concept.

She nodded. “That answer is satisfactory.”

“...You want me to explain what I learned so far?” I guessed.

“Yes.” Lauracie smiled, a small but encouraging one. “Feel free to use your own words to describe your understanding.”

I took a slow, deep breath.

“Summoning spirits and refining them is like xianxia cultivation, but overall, this whole thing feels more like Monster Hunter,” I referenced the Capcom game.

“Go on.”

“Just like using the materials gathered from quests to construct new weapons and armor in that game, me going to dungeons is quite like the same,” I paused to swallow my saliva, “I gather spirit shards, reagents, and other stuff to summon spirits. I use those spirits to clear tougher dungeons, and get better rewards for them. I use those rewards to enhance the spirits. I use those enhanced spirits to get even better rewards. It’s a continuous cycle of improvement.”

“The spirits have their unique abilities, like the armor set bonuses or weapon elemental effects,” I continued, “Enhancing them is like adding Decorations to customize the right set of skills, though I can’t get everything, because there are limits to the spirit’s power, or my own.”

“The dungeons are like the various hunting areas. Each is inhabited by certain types of monsters or enemies, and they have their own pattern or behavior… but that’s too broad a description.”

“How so?” Lauracie prompted.

“While some follow game-like rules, with enemies acting in preset patterns, others are more realistic,” The memory of such encounters came to mind, “Beasts that flee, or smart enemies that try to flank or ambush.”

“It’s not just restricted to behavior. Some get the same damage no matter where I hit, while others have weak points that I can target for greater damage, or vulnerabilities to damage types.”

Remember, rocky ruins occasionally have hard-shelled enemies that are resistant to bladed weapons. I could distinctly recall the feeling of shock and disbelief from my accompanying spirit when the stabbing blade had skittered off that tough defense.

“Because of that, I should prepare spirit weapons to make sure I’m not overspecialized, in case I encounter an enemy that my usual spirit cannot handle.”

“Go on.”

“That also applies to the environment itself. Some places are dark or have hazards like traps, so having spirit equipment like light or shields are necessary for those.” My hand went to my side, where a torchlight was. “It is also possible to use physical items instead, which will free up spirit power for other abilities.”

“I understand. Is that all you have to say? What about the spirits themselves? How would you describe those?” Lauracie questioned me.

This setting was uncomfortably similar to a job interview, and I could feel my feet and fingers fidgeting.

“The main ones are like the playable characters from Holocure,” I gave her a pointed look to lampshade that, but she just returned it with a bland one of her own. “The attacks have been stuff I’m familiar with, both with the basic spirit attacks and the spirit weapons, but some of their abilities are slightly different. Overall, I would describe them like Jojo’s Stands, with basic attacks that can grow in strength, but also awakening to special effects.”

Homing attacks or secondary ones that depend on proccing… seeing them happen before my eyes instead of just on a screen is quite different.

“I also don’t have the required weapons for the collab stuff, but I suspect that the combinations might not be the same either.”

She hummed, not confirming or denying anything.

“In order to be able to better deal with future situations, the immediate plan is to start visiting various dungeons to gather the ritual materials for crafting all the spirit weapons and equipment I can recall. My current armory is… quite lacking,” I admitted.

“My current spirits are all offense-focused, so I need things that can boost my defense to balance things out. Also, at this point of time, I’m just about breaking even in supporting the spirits I have-”

“Oh hi.”

“Yes, hi Mumei,” I said to the spirit currently peeking around the doorway, “So I don’t think I should try summoning more anytime soon,” I finished. “After all, while the comparison to MonHun equipment is quite close, they are spirits with their own feelings, not tools that I can shut away when not in use.”

The goddess inclined her head in acknowledgment of my words, but didn’t reply.

“That’s all I have to say.”

The silence stretched on for a bit, before she uncrossed her legs and crossed them the other way. 

“You have certainly learned quite a lot,” She remarked. “I am impressed.”

“Really?” There isn’t a missing descriptor, like ‘a little’, or ‘slightly’?

Lauracie adjusted her sunglasses with a finger, and I quickly looked away to avoid making eye contact with those ‘eyes’. 

“Making me repeat myself is not needed,” She lightly chastised, “Your progress is noted, and because of that, you can consider yourself as having cleared the basic tutorial.”

“Tutorial…? Uhh… so what does that mean for me?”

“More access to other dungeons and spirits.” She gestured with her hand, making another window screen appear before me. “Take a look. Feel free to verbalize your thoughts.”

I scanned through the information before me, quickly at first, then more slowly and thoroughly.

“It’s really just like MonHun. No more need to have clear conditions for entering a dungeon, but free and easy to just gather materials and stuff. Also, multiplayer is enabled?”

“That is one way of describing it.” Lauracie sounded amused.

I considered this new development. “Is there any rule against letting them know that I come from a different world? Or if they ask about my unique abilities as a Spirit Refiner?”

“There are no restrictions, but drawing too much attention is… not advised.”

That pause does not exactly fill me with confidence. “Right.”

“That is all I currently have for you today,” Lauracie stood up, the chair vanishing once she no longer needed it, “Do continue to strive for improvement.”

With those parting words, she vanished, leaving me alone with my thoughts. After a few moments, I let out a loud sigh and got up as well. I needed to do something with my hands to distract myself from… whatever my brain drifted to in its current state. Good thing there was a task that required doing outside.

“Wonderful harvest today, sire,” Sappy praised me as I finished placing the last of the vegetables in the basket, “Perhaps you could make a vegetable soup out of them.”

“That sounds… like a good idea.” Except I didn’t know the recipe for such a thing.

The solution was simple. Summon a spirit that could handle it.

The summoning ritual this time used a clay cooking pot filled with some water, a cooking cleaver, a ladle, and a pair of smoldering wood pieces, all of which I had purchased through Shopee. The spell itself sounded remarkably like the whistling of steam, the slicing of ingredients, and the roar of cooking flames, and when I was finished, the cooking spirit was inhabiting the pot.

“I shall name you… Simmer,” I decided.

“Perfect name for me, I’d say~” The spirit hissed, “What can I cook for you~?”

“I just harvested a bunch of vegetables from my garden, so how about some vegetable soup?”

“Splendid idea~ Where are the ingredients~ Let’s get started right away~”

Perhaps the spirit energy I contributed as payment played some part in it, but the soup Simmer cooked tasted really amazing, to the point of having a second and third serving. After that, I tried to teach Foob some more words, with middling success. Sleep came quickly that night, thanks to my filled stomach, but I heard something that made me smile as I drifted off.

“Otsu Kon~” Fubuki said sleepily.