"No... **ing... way...

" Foster let out, seeing the rooms in front of him. Rae walked past him with a wry smile,

"I told you they're a bit unique, right? There are too many people coming down here at times for anyone to be able to stay here properly without something like this. Of course, there are some larger ones if you need them, but there's only a couple dozen of those.

" She said, climbing up the ladder on the wall to reach her 'room'.

Rather than actual rooms, there were simply spaces for beds carved into the wall that only fit a bed and a small compartment for one's belongings. Foster recognized this concept. This was a capsule hotel, like they had in japan. He heard that a place like this opened up near where he lived, but he never had a reason to stay there, even though he always wanted to try it out. Who would have thought that he could get the chance in another world?

It seemed like Kyla was sort of excited as well, since she probably already heard about this beforehand, and quickly climbed into her capsule, leaving Foster, Lynol and Octer standing there alone.

"What... is this supposed to be?

" Octer asked with a frown, looking into the capsule that was supposed to act as his 'room' for the night. It had a small hatch-like door in front of it to make sure that you couldn't just enter a capsule that wasn't your own.

"Ah, it's actually pretty cool. They had these... you know, where I'm from. I never was in one of these, but they're pretty cheap, right? And all you really need is a bed anyway.

" Foster pointed out, jumping up and pulling himself up toward his own capsule, before opening the hatch and crawling inside. He peaked out, looking at Lynol and Octer,

"The beds are a bit uncomfortable compared to the red riverside Inn, but better what I expected from a cave.

"

"...

" Lynol was a bit confused as well, clearly, but it seemed like he didn't particularly care where he slept. Thus, he soon climbed into his own capsule as well, until only Octer was standing there,

"Urgh... right...

" He groaned,

"I guess I'll see you guys in the morning then... goodnight...

"

Seeing that everyone seemed ready to head to bed, Foster closed the hatch to his capsule, and slowly sat up. There was just barely enough space for him to sit up straight. He took off his Gi's shirt, folded it up, and laid it down in the corner, together with his bag and other items that he had carrying with him. He held his open palm toward his shoulder, and watched as Aster climbed out of his hair, jumping onto his hand.

"Alright, let's take a look at you, then.

" Foster muttered slightly, opening up his status window. At the very bottom, he saw the field saying 'Familiars', and quickly concentrated on Aster's name, making the spirit's status appear in front of him instead.

---

Name: Aster

Race: Immature Nature Spirit (?)Level – 3

HP: 5

/5MP: 31

/48SP: 1

/3

Attributes

STR: 2AGI: 3END: 1

INT: 11WIS: 15CHA: 3

Personal Skill

-Nature Spirit's Magic – Lvl. 3

---

"Alright, you leveled up twice. Your health and stamina didn't improve, but your mana did? Your intelligence and wisdom were the only attributes to rise as well.

" He whispered, before focusing on the thing at the bottom of the window, the skill 'nature spirit's magic'.

Foster knew that skills increased in level the more they were used, however, the only times that the level rose were when Aster's own level did. So for spirits, it might work a bit different, especially since Aster practically 'reset' himself a while ago. Along with his actual level, that skill's level seemed to rise,

"Your level-up rate is really slow though. But then again, those monsters barely gave experience... I didn't level up even once during all five floors.

" Foster sighed, a bit annoyed, before concentrating on Aster's 'personal skill'. When his own martial necromancy rose, he got a new martial skill and a new spell, so he figured that something similar might be the case here. And when he saw the list of spells, it seemed like he was correct. Looking at the list in front of him, it had increased from the three it had at first, over to five, so one new spell per level. Concentrating on them, he made the description to both of them appear as well.

---

PebbleTier – 1

Description: Create a small pebble in front of you

-

SplashTier – 1

Description: Create a small amount of clear water in front of you

---

"...Those... don't really seem that useful.

" With a wry smile, Foster read through the spells, scratching the back of his head while Aster seemed to glare up at him, even if his eyes were hidden behind that tiny mask he was wearing,

"Sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just, they're not particularly useful in a fight, you know? That's going to make it harder for you to level up more. But it is pretty in-theme, I guess. All your spells are sort of the same level of nature-based. Fire, air, and now water and earth. What are you, the avatar?

" Foster scoffed slightly,

"And the 'blossom' spell for plants as well... I wonder what your next spell is going to be.

"

Aster looked up at Foster, curiously listening to what his contractor was trying to say,

"So, let's just try them out. First, could you use the... pebble spell?

" He suggested, and Aster quickly got to work. His mask seemed to slowly change. While it was round and smooth before, it became a lot rougher and had more edges, as if the mask turned into a rock itself. Aster held his hands forward, and a pebble slowly started to form. In comparison to Aster himself, it was a quite sizeable rock, but to Foster, it was barely the size of his fingernail.

"Hm...

" He let out, grabbing the pebble. Trying to see how tough it actually was, he tried to rub it between his fingers,

"Alright, so it's not just dirt, but an actual rock. Can you make it bigger than this?

"

Aster immediately nodded his head while his mask returned back to its normal state. Using his hands, he quickly showed how large a pebble he could make. It wasn't that big though, maybe three times the size of the pebble before.

"Is it because of your mana, or is that just the limit?

" Foster asked, and Aster stared back for a few moments, before tilting his head to the side. With a chuckle, Foster rubbed his finger over the spirit's head,

"You don't know either, then? Well, that's fine. Could you show me the 'splash' spell next? Just enough to cover a little bit of my palm.

"

Without hesitation, Aster walked over toward Foster's hand, as his mask started to change. It was somewhat similar to what it was like when using the 'Spark' and 'Gust' spells, with a sort of funnel forming through the mask. Just that now, water came pouring out of it, quickly covering Foster's hand. A moment later, Aster already pulled back, while some luke-warm water was now sitting on Foster's palm.

After quickly smelling it, and not noticing anything, Foster drank the little bit of water. It wasn't particularly much, and Aster probably couldn't do much with this in the end, but it was enough to get a little bit of emergency water,

"This works, alright. Good job, Aster. Let's just keep going like this, and you'll be the strongest spirit around in no time, alright?

" He said with a smirk, and Aster quickly nodded his head excitedly.

But for now, they had to do something else. At least, Foster did. He had tried it a few time since then, but the meditation technique described in that book... it was incredible. Not only did it make him feel surprisingly at peace whenever he used it, but he felt actually quite rested whenever he was done. It reminded Foster of something he heard before; you could replace sleep with meditation. It didn't seem logical to be able to do it after only a few tries, but then again, in this case mana was involved. If a small creature like Aster was able to make drinkable water appear out of nowhere, then Foster should be able to replace his sleep with meditation more easily, right?

At least, meditation was something that he could actively initiate, while sleep was something he just sort of... had to let happen. He had never been good at falling asleep, or staying asleep, or sleeping in general, but meditation just felt different to him.

And so, with a few deep breaths and a steady flow of mana, Foster's thoughts faded away.