Chapter 717 - Hints About Gaia's Tower

Looking at the Soul Reaper Butterflies with a small smile, Shiro flexed her fingers and shattered them all into shards of ice which melted soon after.

Breathing out softly, Shiro dismissed her Spirit Nature and she returned to her normal form.

However, just as she did this, she noticed that a new bar had appeared on her system.

[Spirit Nature – 95/100]

Tapping on the numbers, she saw what they meant.

[When you enter your Spirit Nature form, this energy will drain at a rate of 1 energy per second regardless of spell use. It recharges at a rate of 1 energy per hour.]

[In this form, you gain the same benefits of an additional divinity.]

Raising her eyebrow, Shiro was quite happy with her Spirit Nature. Not only did it give her some interesting abilities of being able to cast a spell so long as she can imagine it and that it's within her scope of power, but it's also able to give her the benefits of another divinity.

Which meant that when she has this activated, it's similar to having completed a third tower for additional power.

Feeling rather happy with herself, she walked back to where Lamira and Ran were since the pool was still frozen thanks to her previous action.

Thinking about it for a moment, Shiro entered her form once more and quickly thawed the ice before returning to normal.

'Hmm just a simple move like that took me 2 energy. I need to be careful of when I use this since it'll take 7 hours to regenerate everything that I had used.' Shiro thought with a sigh.

"Congratulations your highness." Lamira called out with a smile as Shiro looked back to her.

"Thank you. This will come in handy in the future." Shiro chuckled.

"Wow what do those butterflies do?" Ran asked curiously.

"They steal your soul." Shiro grinned as Ran tilted her head.

"Can you do that?"

"Of course I can. I've even got Hades' weapon to help me." Shiro shrugged before summoning Nivlim.

"This weapon here can help me steal souls." She explained.

"Can you drag out my soul? I wonder what I look like." Ran mused as Shiro couldn't help but laugh.

"You don't want people to drag your soul out since it's the same as them killing you." Shiro sneaked in a pat on the head as they walked back up the stairs.

"Now that you have awakened, is there anything you wish to do in this realm?" Lamira asked.

"Not really but do enlighten me on what I could do that may boost my power. I'll be needing it." Shiro shrugged.

Thinking about it for a moment, Lamira shook her head.

"There aren't many ways for Spirits to get stronger aside from enhancing/awakening their spirit nature. Since you're the queen, your spirit nature is different from common spirits as yours is powerful from the start. Further enhancements are difficult and not something you can achieve in short periods of time. Perhaps you'll have more success when you go back to your world." Lamira replied as Shiro nodded her head.

"Hmm… in that case then are you able to help me with the first task on the tower? The one that says provide nutrients." Shiro asked.

"Oh that, we provide nutrients daily so we've long completed that task. You just need to complete the last two and you can do that in here so that we can help you in the process. Plus, if you do it in here, there's less chance of the sapling dying since there are no predators here." Lamira said as Shiro paused in her footsteps.

"You can do that here?"

"Yes. Remember, I told you that this world is connected to the main world. Our actions here do indeed have some effects. Plus, with our connection to Gaia, it's only natural isn't it?" Lamira tilted her head.

Thinking about it for a moment, Shiro nodded her head.

"Well that just makes my job easier. If you can, don't tell people about my identity as the Empress ok? Also, how did you know even though Ran didn't?" Shio asked since if the spirits of this place knew that she was the Empress they might try to force her to stay and fighting against spirits isn't high on her list.

"Ah I understood your identity because I worked closely with the previous Queen. There is a faint difference in aura between the Queen/Empress and common spirits. This difference is quite small but since I have experienced it, it's easy for me to understand who is and isn't the Empress." Lamira explained.

"However, rest assured. I'll keep this secret and you will too, right Ran?"

"Yup. Secrets are important." Ran nodded her head.

Smiling softly, Shiro sneaked another head pat in as they arrived back at Lamira's office.

"So how do you think we are supposed to do the second task? Plus, I'm not sure if the tower allows you to transfer progress between people." Shiro shrugged.

"This one is different. It gives the sapling through participation. But since you weren't here, you may need to redo the first step. Though it's not too difficult since we have quite a bit of liquified essence since we're near the tower." Lamira explained.

"How long do you think it'll take? Plus, isn't taking liquified essence bad for the environment?" Shiro raised her eyebrow.

"It shouldn't take long. With how much liquified essence we have, it'll take a day at most. As for it being bad for the environment, don't worry since this is all excess." Lamira reassured as Shiro nodded her head.

Since Lamira had been taking care of the spirit world for quite a bit, Shiro didn't need to worry too much and focus on the task instead.

"In that case then I'll be needing your help then." Shiro smiled.

"My pleasure."

Telling Ran to go collect some Liquified Essence, Lamira gestured for Shiro to follow her to the roof.

"Since you don't want to be known, it's probably bad for you to be seen with me. We'll go through the air so that they don't see us. Don't worry, I can camouflage us but it'll be a bit hard if we walk near them so flight is the best way for us." Lamira smiled as she waved her hand.

Suddenly, a sphere of water appeared around them before disappearing.

"That should do it. Shall we go?"

Nodding her head, Shiro activated her divinity and jumped into the sky.

Seeing this, Lamira was about to cry out in shock but when Shiro was hovering, she understood what divinity she had received.

"You surprised me. I didn't think you would have obtained the Primordial Divinity of Ouranos. Why are you going for Gaia's tower if you already have a Primordial Divinity?" Lamira asked as Shiro shrugged.

"For collection purposes." Shiro replied since that wasn't too far from the truth. However, it was still good to hide some information from her as they haven't known each other for a long time.

In simple terms, Shiro couldn't trust Lamira just yet.

Accepting this response, the two started to fly towards the Tower of Gaia.

As Shiro flew closer, she realised that the spirit world was somewhat like a mirror image of the real world. Similar to how her rift acted.

She could see the city but not the people. Spotting Beril's store, Shiro raised her eyes and wondered if she could interact with it as normal.

"Do you think I can open a door if I wanted to?" Shiro asked.

"If it is unlocked and slightly ajar, yes because the wind could have opened it. Otherwise, no. Think of your actions in the spirit world as actions of nature.

"If the wind could possibly open this door, you can open it and the wind will act in your place. Of course, there is the possibility of getting stuck in a house so we make sure to warn the spirits before they go messing around a place." Lamira explained as Shiro nodded her head.

"What about the spirit city? Since it's made in this place, what influences does it have on the real world?"

"No influences so long as there is space for us. Think of it like this, we can kind of interfere with the real world but they can't interfere with us unless we build on a tree and they cut it down." Lamira shrugged as Shiro nodded her head.

Getting some more information about the spirit world, the two eventually arrived at the base of the tower.