Shada woke up floating above Luca and the golem. He quickly returned to the golem and sat up. He looked around in surprise. He felt his Path settling inside him. Luca was also awake. Shada used the Shapeshifting Skill to restore their appearances almost instinctively, but not before the Pathfinder and Mina noticed Luca's glowing form.

  “Wers mama?” Luca asked in concern.

  “She was called away. She will be back later. People needed her healing, but never fear Mina is here, little Luca!” Mina said with false enthusiasm.

  Shada opened a private channel to Mina who had long ago gotten used to talking to Shada via Spirit Speech. “What is going on Mina?” Shada asked in concern.

  “The Dungeon went wild while you were out. It was bad. A few monsters even breached the perimeter around the entrance. Revelers in the Dungeon Fort were attacked. Shinobin was summoned to help attend to the wounded. What was that glow and why did Luca look like that?” Mina replied silently. Aloud Mina’s cheerful voice explained her instructions from Shinobin. “I am to take you and Luca to the clinic and guard the nursery until Shinobin sends word.”

  Shada glanced at the invisible elven Shadow guard who reluctantly gave an acknowledging nod. Mina didn't know about the Shadow guard. Not even Luca knew, but Shada knew that they had extra protection.

  “Ok, that makes sense, but Mina. If I say we need to go we go. You will follow my lead. I will explain later.” Shada said via Spirit Speech. He was worried that more than monsters may have left the Dungeon. The nursery wards were strong, but the cottage was far safer. He was surprised when Mina didn't argue, but she did know more was going on then she was being told.

  Neither Mina nor Shada thought the Dungeon break was a coincidence. Mina gathered Luca and placed him in a carrier on her front. Westlin was tucked away on her back. Shada decided he needed to introduce the idea of strollers to Sierrallas. It would be hard for Mina to protect the babies while wearing them or so Shada thought.

  They shared a few parting words with Pathfinder Johon who was looking at his interface in concern. Shada had no idea how the patch would impact Shrines, but it appeared something was happening.

  —

  They hurried through empty streets that had been filled with celebration just a few hours earlier. Apparently word had spread of the Dungeon break.

  Only guard patrols were about. Several tried to stop them, but Mina flashed a badge like Shinobin's and they were hurried along. The Shadows guided them down lesser used roads via Shada. Shada was in Spirit form watching in all directions. He acted as scout and coordinator.

  They saw a few people acting strangely. Like they were searching for something. The Essence around them was off. Shada steered clear of those people. He knew the patch could affect the System, but how would it have affected people? Mina and the Shadows seemed fine. No one mentioned problems with the Guide. So he was rather worried about the strangers.

  —

  It took twice as long as normal to navigate the streets and reach the main Clinic in the lower Roots.

  They entered through the back. There were quite a few people in front. They all had lesser injuries waiting to be treated. Far too many considering the distance to Dungeon. Had there been a riot?

  Shada helped Mina and the babies get settled in the nursery. He double checked what he could of the wards and triggered a few extra based on Vanestra's instructions.

  Once everything was secure he phased through the walls in search of Besta or Jallena. They would likely know more. He found Besta triaging patients based on severity.

  “Besta, it's Shada. What is going on? I thought the break was contained?” He asked in concern via Spirit Speech.

  Besta jerked in place before sighing and responding in kind. Luckily Spirit Speech created a two way channel or Besta would have had to speak aloud to answer Shada.

  “It was, then it wasn't. Some strange monsters came out of the Dungeon Depths. They broke the perimeter. They seemed focused on escape not attack. The Trunk gates were wide open so at least some made it into the city proper. The city is essentially on lockdown and we are handling overflow from the Temples and Dungeon Clinic.” Besta did her best to explain while continuing to work.

  Shada stayed close to Besta, helping in minor ways via Psychokinesis and triggering enchantments as needed. It wasn't much, but he felt the need to help. It also let him watch anyone coming in.

  “Healer Besta we have a problem. One of the patients was attacked by one of the corrupted monsters. I don't recognize whatever is affecting him. I need you to come take a look. He should have been sent to the Temple, but we were closer.” One of the attendants said in a rush.

  “Take me to them. I know some cleansing, but I am no High Healer.” Besta explained as they hurriedly went to one of the more isolated rooms used for highly contagious patients. Shada followed along like a shadow.

  The isolation room was barren, smoothly polished stone. The only furniture was a couple of stools, the patient bed, and large cleansing basins. The man had been stripped and his clothes were in one of the basins. A single attendant was with the patient, but stood as far away as possible while trembling.

  “Gaela what is going on? Why are you not helping the patient?” Besta asked in concern, while assessing the situation. Shada noticed that Besta wasn't moving towards either individual.

  “Healer Besta…the patient…is not in their right mind!” The attendant exclaimed before gathering themselves. “Whatever they are infected with is highly contagious and the patient is very aggressive. I had to strip my protective clothes and toss them in a basin. Some black goo was literally moving on them! I have never seen anything like it!” The attendant explained nervously.

  “Why are you not in protective gear then?” Was Besta’s next question.

  “The black goo resisted the enchantments! Those basins can clean practically anything, but not whatever that is. I will need to be checked for contamination and I am terrified.” The attendant explained their current state.

  “Ok, quarantine protocols. Seal the door and Gaela remain where you are.” Besta said in a firm tone. She seemed far more confident on her own than with Shinobin, Shada noted.

  With a click the door locked and the stone box of a room lit up with enchantments and wards. They were strong enough to mute Luca’s cheerful emotions, which Shada could feel from the nursery. It was a new and uncomfortable sensation for Shada.

  “Ok, everyone maintain your distance, don't touch anything. Don't touch each other, do not approach the patient, and thank the Gods for giving us the Aseralis family as patrons. Not just any clinic has these kinds of enchantments.” Besta instructed. “I am going to test the basin and see what is going on. We will get through this.” Besta said in false confidence.

  —

  Outside of the warded isolation room a Glowstone was pulsing an ominous red indicating a dangerous contagion was on the grounds. The whole clinic went on lockdown. The Shadow patrolling outside was not happy to be locked out.

  —

  Back in the isolation room, Besta and the invisible Shada were both observing the basin containing the soiled clothes and protective gear. The enchantments were all activating normally. No breaks or damage could be seen in the rune work.

  “The basin filled with water as it should. The Purification and Cleansing runes activated as expected. The parts of the clothes covered in black goo writhed, but didn't disperse and disappear. The water disappeared like normal. The goo reminded him of the entity from his Path Journey.

  “Ok, good news the basin is fine. Bad news it isn't working on whatever this is. It did respond to magic though. It just didn't respond as expected.” Besta said quietly, but loudly enough to heard clearly. She looked up from the basin and walked forward.

  “I am going to try some diagnostic spells to identify this infection. Please remain in your current positions.” Besta informed the others.

  Shada decided his Analyze Skill might show something. So he used it on the black goo; that seemed to be seeping from the crazed man’s wounds. The wounds were actually minor. It was the infection that was the problem.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  [Name: Creeping Abyssal Corruption]

  [Warning: Highly Contagious]

  [Warning: Resistant to Essence]

  [Warning: Essence Eater]

  [Weakness: Holy Essence]

  [Detection of Creeping Abyssal Corruption has triggered an automatic System wide Alert. Local Administrators have been notified.]

  “Besta stop!” Shada practically shouted via Spirit Speech.

  Besta jerked in shock and lost control of the diagnostic spell she had been casting. She wince in pain. “Shada? What? Why did you interrupt me?” Besta accidentally said out loud.

  “Respond silently!” Shada practically hissed via Spirit Speech. “Don't use magic on that stuff. I have the Analyze Skill. That stuff is Creeping Abyssal Corruption. It's resistant to magic and eats Essence. The only weakness is Holy Essence.” Shada explained.

  “Shada I am a Vitalist. I don't use Holy Essence. I know some Divine spells in case I have to work with Clerics, but no one has Holy Essence except Priests, Clerics, Paladins, and other similar classes. Even then it is still rare. The Gods are picky!” Besta said urgently with fear in her mental voice. She knew of the darker side of magic, of hexes, curses, and even undeath. Something weak to Holy Essence wasn't unknown, but it was not something she had dealt with outside of working beside Clerics.

  “What spells and how much Holy Essence do you need?” Shada realized that the Goddess must have anticipated this when she chose his extra Path bonuses, but he didn't expect to need it so soon.

  “The basin can use Holy Essence. Vanestra insisted on the addition when she worked on the Clinic for Shinobin. I know a Cleanse and Purify that can use Holy Essence, but I have only ever used them rarely and only under supervision. However, it doesn't matter. We don't have anyone who can produce it.” Besta said in near despair. Without Holy Essence she couldn't do anything and the door couldn't be unlocked unless the wards couldn't detect anything contagious. Her and the attendees were trapped until help arrived. That could be hours or days depending on how bad things were at the Dungeon.

  “The Goddess seems to have anticipated something like this. As others have said: Praise be Her wisdom. I got my Path today. I don't have the Holy Essence Attunement, but I have a Skill that is almost as good. I can convert Personal Essence into Holy Essence. Can I share it with you somehow?” Shada asked earnestly.

  “Maybe? You haven't practiced group casting have you?” Besta asked thoughtfully.

  “No, but I can at least power the basin. We can see if that works first.” Shada replied.

  “We can, but cooperative casting is very tricky. It is an advanced technique. The Academies only teach it to older students. Do it wrong and at best you waste Essence as it dissipates into the Ambient or you accidentally injure your partner by imbuing your Essence with stray intentions.” Besta explained the problem with his line of questioning.

  “Basin first then we can see if you can walk me through cooperative casting. If I can manually conjure things from thin air, surely I can handle supplying Essence for your spell work.” Shada said as he and Besta moved to the stone Basin.

  “Maybe, I wouldn't bet on it though. If the basin works then you could also power the wards, which have their own Cleanse and Purify for the whole room. They just won't be effective on living things, due to our natural resistance, but it will deal with surface contamination.” Besta explained.

  Shada acknowledged Besta's response before focusing on the basin. Enchanted objects were relatively easy to use. Many even used Essence Crystals and voice commands. However, for this Shada had to do this manually, which would require juggling multiple Skills. The Guide helped, but it was still difficult to juggle so many Skills at once.

  The Holy Essence Conversion Skill created a loop of Essence that fed into his connection to the Goddess Sierra via his Contract. It was a deceptively simple process, but it worked. He then used Essence Control to channel the Holy Essence into the basin. Finally he used Silent Spell Casting to manually activate the runes.

  Normally there was no visible effect from Essence use, but Holy Essence was different. It made the basin glow with holy light. The attendants gasped in surprise. From their perspective Besta was suddenly manifesting Divine power they knew she didn't have before.

  The important thing was that the golden glowing waters were eating away at the corruption. It was simply dissolving and disappearing. When the light show was over the soiled clothing was dry and pristine. Besta actually clapped.

  “You did it Shada!” Besta said out loud again.

  “Who is Shada?” One of the attendants asked.

  “Oh…uhmm…Shada is sort of a Guardian Spirit tied to…the Aseralis family. He can use Holy Essence, which it seems the corruption we are dealing with can't handle.” Besta explained hurriedly. She used their prepared cover story for anyone discovering Shada.

  “Can the Holy Spirit cure us all?” Said the attendant who was most likely contaminated.

  “Maybe?” Besta replied with uncertainty. “We will see if we can combine magics for this, but neither of us are proficient in cooperative casting.” Besta said evasively. “Everyone can sit while Shada and I work on the problem together.”

  Besta found a stool, took a seat, and started to explain cooperative casting to Shada via his Spirit Speech conduit. It turned out that Cooperative Casting and Essence Sharing were actual Skills. Shada was good at developing new Skills due to his advantages, but it wasn't a quick process. After getting all the details and a few failed attempts Shada had an unconventional suggestion.

  The biggest problem they faced was the natural resistance people developed to foreign influence via Essence. The Essence suffusing a person's body sought to subsume or repel foreign Essence. For what they were doing; Besta needed to allow Shada's Holy Essence in and then channel it into the spells she knew. While neither subsuming or repelling it. It wasn't working well.

  “Any ideas?” Besta asked. “I am not good at this kind of magic. I am usually the Essence supplier, not the receiver.” She continued.

  “I do, but it is unconventional. Since you can't let my Essence in…what if you just let me in instead?” Shada asked.

  “Shada, that sounds totally inappropriate!” Besta giggled to herself. “However, it could work..maybe, but wouldn't that be like possession?” She asked curiously.

  “You know I didn't mean it that way!” Shada said in exasperation. “And not really. I have hidden inside Shinobin when Luca was unborn. I think it should be possible. I won't know until we try.“ Shada finished.

  “Ok, I...reluctantly... agree, but if you accidentally possess me I am telling the exorcist not to be gentle on you!” Besta said after giving the proposal some thought.

  Shada didn't bother giving her a warning or a chance for her Essence to turn hostile. He simply dove in. There was mild resistance. Unlike Shinobin, who had instinctively recognized Shada as her child, Besta didn't have the same protection. It didn't stop Shada, but Besta definitely felt it when he entered her for the first time. She actually gasped, but Shada was able to snuggle down next to her Core.

  “Well that part worked. Ready for the next step?” Shada asked from inside Besta.

  “That felt weird. I feel bloated, but yes I think this might work. Try sending your Essence to my Core.” Besta instructed.

  Shada sent a stream of Holy Essence into Besta's Core, as instructed. On the bright side it worked. He could bypass her natural resistance from the inside. The downside was it was an incredibly intimate act and had side effects. Some good, some not so good. On the good side was his new Skill.

  [Congratulations, you have learned a new Skill, Essence Symbiosis. By bringing your Spirit form into direct contact with another's Essence Core you can freely share Essence between you and your symbiotic partner in either direction.]

  Shada was surprised at the implications he was getting from the Guide. He could take Personal Essence from Besta, feed it through Holy Essence Conversion and then feed it back to her. It wasn't limited to Besta either. He could do this with anyone that was willing. It could be very useful moving forward, he thought.

  On the downside, he and Besta momentarily blurred together in a way that was both disorienting and excessively uncomfortable. Luckily Split Mind helped him fix that issue quickly.

  Unbeknownst to either, Besta's eyes started currently glowing with holy light.

  “Ok, this will definitely work.” Besta said out loud. Her voice had an odd echo. It reverberated in a strange way. As if two people were talking at the same time. What Shada had done wasn't possession, but it was very close.

  The attendants actually began praying while Besta started casting Cleanse and Purify Spells infused with Holy Essence all over everyone and everything in the room. The patient, who had been unconscious due to being sedated, arched his back and screamed when the spells washed over and through him.

  It took some time to use the spells to clean the room. Then even more time to infuse the wards with Holy Essence just to be sure, but they did it. It felt like minutes to Shada and Besta, but more than an hour had passed. That was another side effect. A trance-like state.

  Besta collapsed, nearly unconscious, when they separated. Her Spirit Cultivation was not up to channeling so much Holy Essence. It would reduce her ability to regenerate Essence for several days and make her more sensitive to Holy Essence. She would later tell others that her Core felt raw.

  —

  While Besta recovered Shada phased through the walls. The wards made it harder and he lost Essence, but he managed. He wasn't sure what to do. He knew he needed to let people know, but really didn't have any contacts except Mina. Jallena didn't know about him. The Shadows did, but they didn't talk much, if at all, even via Spirit Speech.

  However, that was his only real choice he, but as he thought about it there was always another choice. He doubted the Goddess would mind what he thought to try.

  First he updated Mina, who looked extremely concerned, then the Shadows. Finally he found Jallena. She was a good administrator, but not the most likable person. Despite descent Social Cultivation.

  Shada used his Skills to power a Glowstone with Holy Essence to produce Holy light, which definitely caught Jallena’s attention. It was at this point Shada decided to be dramatic, but completely truthful.

  “Jallena! The holy light of Sierra shines on you this day! Heed and attend to my words! A pestilence known as Creeping Abyssal Corruption has been found in this city! It has been Cleansed from those in the chamber of isolation, in this very clinic, by Holy Essence’s burning light! Release those stuck in the isolation chamber and spread the word! Only Holy Essence can cure this Corruption! All others will only feed it. It must be removed, Root and Branch lest it spread. Thus spread the word that all may know the danger at hand!” He actually used Holy Essence with his Spirit Speech Skill to give it an extra kick. Turns out you literally cannot lie while using Holy Essence and a Speech Skill.

  Jallena stood gobsmacked and dumbfounded. Her eyes trembled with tears. Shada hadn't known, but she was actually quite devout. She set about doing as instructed with the fervent vigor only the most zealous devotees of the Divine could manage.

  Between Jallena, independent discoveries by the local clergy, and the Shadows' more secretive network. The entire city of Westlin knew about the corruption in a matter of hours.

  —

  The city remained on lockdown for three days. Only those cleared by a Cleric could leave.

  Patrols of Guards and Clerics patrolled from house to house checking everyone they could find for corruption. Diviners swept the city from the lowest Root to the highest Branch. The Purge would leave a lasting impression on the entire city

  From that day forward it became traditional to seek Cleansing and Purification at local Temples on Spring Frolic.

  Two rumors also spread after the Purge. The first was that you could purchase the Analyze Skill in the Temples and Shrines of Westlin again. The second was that a certain Clinic ,in the Roots, had been blessed by the visitation of a Holy Messenger.