Well… It was doomed to happen anyway. When I decided to go for such a wide-scale spreading of ‘Remember Me?’ I had known very well that I would eventually ensnare prey that went beyond my capabilities… Still… That Rarelian is beyond powerful! Why isn’t the name well-known? This guy is a living shield, a damned lion, and a freaking giant! But he isn’t in any way famous? Am I to understand that he isn’t that big of a deal to someone like Denaiel?

  This is insane. Even if he is probably more susceptible to energy-based attacks, his defences are no joke. I get the feeling that I don’t really understand just how strong ‘strong’ actually is when it comes to the big dogs.

  In any case, I got messed up in this trial, but I nonetheless believe that this was my win. I probably could have dealt with the tigress, but after having to put the lion out of commission for a while, it wasn’t surprising that I would struggle to take her down. My main ability had lost much strength, after all.

  It was a bit of a shame, though… I am sure their souls would have been very valuable, but now, I was fairly certain that I would never be able to drag them into a nightmare trial ever again. If I wanted to acquire their souls for myself, I would have to go about it the good old fashioned way.

  More importantly, however–They had seen my face. I had told them I was called Maeve so as to preserve at least my identity as Maya, The Silent Knightess, but my description, coupled with the name, would definitely be enough for Leton to instantly know that the nightmares were my doing. It was far from ideal. A direct counter being made against my nightmares was the last thing I wanted.

  I could only hope that if he made something, it would be rendered obsolete once I unlocked the full ‘Nightmare Form’.

  In any case… I was now back inside my steel body. It still felt a little odd to be dressed so nicely while in this form. I had grown used to no longer even wearing anything to cover my skeletal frame, so to suddenly jump from this being fully clothed in garments made specifically for my monstrous proportions was rather bizarre.

  Especially garments made from materials meant for nobility.

  Well, anyway. I was only gone for a few hours, so I only received a single delivery… So why do I feel something a little special amidst this one? Did they find something interesting and decide to give it to me? I know they pay me handsomely, but I find it a bit odd that they would just give something valuable away on just any random delivery.

  I would at least expect them to make a little show out of it by having it delivered by hand.

  The item in question was kept within the same box as the rest. It truly looked like they had no idea that this particular object was unlike the others… Judging by the unusual quantity of haunted items and trapped spirits, they had found a motherload of things relating to ghosts–This was perfect for me, but before doing anything, I grabbed the thing I felt a strong pull toward.

  It was a big bottle, and when I said big, I meant big as in even I needed both of my oversized hands to hold it up properly. It wasn’t very heavy, though… What it contained was a bit of mystery at a glance. I could tell that it was filled with a liquid of some kind, but nothing about it was haunted or contained a spectre, yet I could clearly feel that consuming this would be of great benefit to my nature as a Vengeful Spirit.

  Thankfully, I had my trusty little sister, who was much more knowledgeable than me.

  This is quite rare. I wonder where they found this? This isn’t just something that someone acquires randomly, or at least, it would be highly unlikely for that to be the case… This is what could be called ‘Ghostly Essence’. In simple terms, this is a mush of spirits and other phantomatic beings which had been converted into liquid form

  Apart from those who strictly specialise in the domain of spectres and their abilities, such a thing is completely useless. It should provide a decent boost to your nature alongside the rest

  Damn, so this is basically wine, but with ghosts being squashed instead of grapes? Count me interested.

  Although I lack the necessary equipment to actually drink, it was much like how I could devour. Anything I could consume which made contact with my body, and especially my maw, would be absorbed swiftly–There were exceptions, such as when I tried eating something alive, and it was very much fighting back against being gulped down.

  I didn’t waste any more time and drank the entirety of the bottle like I was an expert alcoholic. Pouring everything in between my open maw, the liquid miraculously disappeared to no one knows where as it touched my metal body… I even ended up gnawing on the glass to catch any stray drops that had stayed inside the container.

  The other items were devoured as well, and I felt a slight tingle course through my body–Two different kinds of tingles, actually. One I recognised as the sign that a form had advanced closer to completion, and the other felt somewhat familiar, but also not quite…

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  In any case, the former tingle was most definitely about the ‘Pure Spirit Form’. I suppose that consuming either a certain number of spirits or ghostly essence had been a requirement–Nonetheless, it wasn’t unlocked just yet.

  As for the latter… I quickly entered my mind palace, only to find it shifting and transforming directly in front of my eyes. A large machine manifested itself to the left of the furnace. I honestly had no idea what it was by just looking at it. Thankfully, just like the Kitchen Corner, a little book was furnished with it to explain what I was laying eyes upon.

  The machine was simply referred to as ‘The Press’, and it was an absolutely glorious thing. The Press was simple, it… Pressed things together into one. More specifically, it was intended to squeeze different spirits or souls into a single one who would preferably inherit the best traits of its components–However, it was also pretty clear that this machine did not stop at just that.

  Near it were things capable of distributing other things which could be pressed, namely: Negative energy, ghostly essence, and also something which seemingly couldn’t be accessed at the moment called ‘Cursed Essence’. Judging by the name alone, it was probably like ghostly essence, but with Living Curses as the main ingredient instead.

  Mmh… Cursed essence is probably even rarer than ghostly essence. Unless it can be achieved with regular curses, it would require living curses, which were a rare type of being.

  Regardless of that… I had just acquired the ability to craft my very own little sisters! The sky is the limit with The Press at my disposal. I just needed to learn how to configure this thing on my own. The small book did not go very deeply into what levels of strength or the type of techniques were required to successfully press things together, and it had also not-so-subtly hinted at the idea that The Press could create things being modified spirits and souls, and since the idea was clearly to make me experiment, Nara had her lips sealed by restrictions on the subject.

  The only thing she was allowed to say that was definitely very important was that The Press was a big part of unlocking the ‘Pure Spirit Form’. I could only assume that this meant creating stuff with it was a requirement–No worries on that front, I was going to be playing with this thing a lot.

  Now that I knew for sure that I could manifest little sisters into reality according to my whims, then you better believe that I was going to conjure up an adorable beastfolk spirit to add to my band of cutie pies.

  Though I was definitely curious to see what else could be made using The Press, at a glance, with the available ingredients… I couldn’t quite see what this little book was alluding to.

  I had nothing better to do at the moment, so I began doing tests immediately. I had a ton of souls in my storage. I had large reserves of negative energy, and from the looks of things, it seemed like ghostly essence was being produced on its own. Did consuming some cause me to start my own production? Have I turned into a ghost cow or something? What a bizarre thought…

  Would my darlings benefit from drinking this? I suppose they would. Maybe I could integrate some into my future recipes… Any ideas on how I could find some cursed essence, Nara?

  Unfortunately, there is no dedicated place that I am aware of where cursed essence can be found–But I can tell you that it is indeed made from ‘squeezing’ Living Curses together into a liquid form. As such, you can imagine that it is an incredibly rare resource

  Not only is the required material highly uncommon to begin with, but to create the essence, an enormous one, or several of them would be required, and the person making the essence would need to keep the Living Curses in place after subduing them successfully. This is already a big task, but for us to get our hands on it, we would need to be ready to pounce. Such a thing would definitely be made to be used immediately, or to be sold to a specific buyer who requested it

  It would probably be best that you eventually hire people to produce some for you rather than seek it out. After all, even the Bombidour residence had none of it

  You’re right… It is just a shame, it seems like I could possibly imbue a spirit with cursing abilities. It would be pretty nice…

  Following this little conversation, I spent several hours doing nothing but testing The Press–As expected, the first few results were beyond poor. The souls I tried to make into one turned out completely messed up… Noticeably, however, I had never caused the complete destruction of any soul. It seemed like they either couldn’t be shattered here, or The Press was simply unable to inflict enough damage to do so.

  This meant that I could ‘recycle’ the results into more experiments. It seemed like my twisted creations could have value. By pressing them with something else correctly, I could get something that was actually not half bad.

  Due to the fact that I had no idea of what I was doing, the products I considered ‘good’ were just slightly stronger ghostly servants with small cracks in their mixed souls.

  The path to success was paved with the creation of grotesque abominations. I not only needed to figure out the basics of combining souls and the rest into one, but I also needed to figure out how to shape the resulting spirit into an adorable, lovable little sister. I couldn’t just have one of those twisted spectral servants as one of my little sisters.

  The bar for entry was high.

  After a while of squashing helpless souls into chimaeric abominations, I exited the mindscape. Just in time, a maid came to fetch me. It seemed like my employers wanted me around as they were having a meeting about Operation Bad Dream–It’s still an awful name.

  The meeting did not take place in the opulent throne, but around a luxurious table. Sitting at the end of it in the most prominent seat was naturally the old king, with by his side Denaiel and a young-looking woman whose identity I was uncertain of.

  The advisors were on both ends of the table, while I was made to sit on the opposite end from the king.

  It feels like I am on trial…