Spirits are mysterious beings.
They are purely made from mana and originate from the spirit realm. The Spirit King, as implied, is the king of spirits.
His child form was just a manifestation, not his real body. In fact, they don't have real bodies; a spirit's body is entirely their own manifestation. Meaning they could be anything they wanted, this is obviously limited by how powerful they are.
Why would the king of spirits himself make a deal with me?
Well, because he's desperate.
The spirit realm was at war, or rather, they were under constant siege by monstrosities of all sizes.
The spirit realm is something like a prism, and only spirits can go in and out of this prism as they please.
But not too long ago, this prism was damaged, allowing for other beings to enter through the newly formed hole.
The fragment I had mentioned was the part that broke off.
And where was it?
The main headquarters of the Church of Envy.
Yes, the churches were the ones that caused the damage, or more specifically, it was a joint mission by the Church of Envy and the Church of Greed.
They used some sort of artifact to break the prism.
"..." The spirit king stared at me. "First... tell me where."
"The main Church of Envy," I answered without hesitation.
"Tch... so it was them." He clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed. "And how do you know this?"
"I'm sure you heard the conversation from before."
"I know you didn't tell that child the full truth."
"He can't know... not yet."
"...You know he is the puppet of-"
"I know." I cut him off.
"..." I couldn't read his expression, but I'm sure he was thinking. "Do you realise the significance of my contracting you, child?" His tone was cold.
"Yes, but thats exactly why they wouldn't expect it."
"..." He placed a hand on his chin. "...Okay"
My eyes widened. "D-does this mean you're agreeing to sign a contract with me?" I asked excitedly.
"Yes."
'Yess!!' I punched the air with excitement, screaming internally.
I needed this contract for many reasons, but the main reason was the fact that I was too weak.
The only reason I could somewhat fight was due to the training the old Cassian got as a prince, where he never really even tried, and the prosthetic arm was a help too.
But in truth, I couldn't fight long-term, and if I met someone with actual fighting ability or the fight stretched too long, I would lose without a doubt.
So my intention was not just to power up from the contract but to gain a teacher. I mean, like, really, who else would teach you better how to use mana than a king of mana-based beings?
It was a no-brainer.
"Okay, boy, what's your name?" The spirit king cut off my thoughts.
"Oh, uhh, it's Cassian... just Cassian."
"Hmm."
All of a sudden, a piece of golden paper with rainbow outlines appeared in the spirit king's hand.
The air seemed to freeze, and time came to a standstill.
A warm, comforting feeling covered my entire body as if I were directly under the sun.
The heat began to gather near my heart before disappearing, and an ethereal feeling entered my mind, or rather... my soul.
"Ughh!!" I grabbed my head.
A piercing pain vibrated through my head as a voice forced itself in.
'Do you accept?'
"Ughh!"
The pain worsened with each second, and my mind felt as though it was being stabbed repeatedly.
'Do you accept?' The voice came again.
"Y-yes." I used every bit of willpower I had to speak.
In an instant, the pain disappeared, and I felt my body freeze over as if I'd fallen into an ice bath.
I shivered as the cold spread through me.
"W-why i-is it s-so c-cold?" I hugged myself as I shivered.
'It's because of me.' A voice came from my mind.
I turned my head, spinning around, searching for the source.
'Wher-'
'I don't have a physical manifestation right now.'
It dawned on me then.
'Are you... In my mind?'
'I'm in your soul.'
I took a moment to process the Spirit King's words.
'...Does this mean you'll hear my thoughts from now on? Because if so, that feels like an invasion of pri-'
'I'll only hear what you want me to hear.'
'Oh... that's good.' I let out a sigh of relief. 'So what changed? I just feel really cold.'
'Your body has undergone a transformation due to the contract, so your affinity with ice has drastically increased. An ice-body would be an accurate description,' He sounded pretty proud.
'Ice? Is that your element?'
'Don't lump me in with an average spirit, I am not tied to a single element.'
'Does that mean my affinity for all elements has incr-'
'No, I limited it to Ice for now because your body would combust if I did more.'
'Oh...' I was a bit disappointed.
'Your affinity with any element is abysmal. I'm starting to regret contracting you.'
'Haa... I knew that already.'
It was true. My affinity with elements was horrible; I had next to no talent. This is another reason my half-siblings could bully me so much.
Not that it matters now.
'So can you teach me Ice spells?' I eagerly asked.
'Spells?' The Spirit King scoffed. 'You keep forgetting who I am. I won't teach you spells, I'll teach you how to manipulate elements.'
'Manipulate elements? Isn't that what spells do?'
'Haa...' He sighed as if I'd said something stupid. 'Spells are a human's way of using mana to manipulate their surroundings. It is impressive in its own sense, but that is not the true use of elements.'
I somewhat understood what he meant.
Think of spells as a medium to accomplish a specific action using mana.
For example, imagine a boat at sea, the boat's sails are a spell, and the wind pushing it is the mana. You use the sails to catch the wind, therefore moving the boat.
What the Spirit King was saying was that he wanted to teach me to use the wind without the sails.
It was absurd, but he was the Spirit King, so I trusted his words.
'So how do I do it?'
'You can't do it right now.'
"What?" I spoke aloud, dumfounded at his words.
'Your body is still adjusting to the change. If you try now, all your organs will freeze, and you'll die.'
'...Okay, so later.'
-Cassian, 1st Place, please come to the stage
The voice came from the intercom one last time, calling me.
I smiled. "It's my time to shine."