Brand New Life Online: Rise Of The Goddess Of Harvest Chapter 1988: A New Ignis

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"Hello, Ignis. Seeing you back truly brings back some good memories of the past," Mark said warmly. "A lot has happened here. We died, and now we are in the Netherworld. We have become Undead, but we are still persevering and fighting back. We are never giving up. We will find a way to return to the life we once had."

"Do you remember anything? Are your memories blurry? Take it easy," Elayne said gently. "Here, consume these spirit crystals for now. I lack divine power to feed you with at the moment, but I hope this helps."

Ignis looked at the crystals and began absorbing them, chewing on the energy with his small, featureless face made of blazing red and blue fire and gleaming golden eyes. "My memories are fragmented, but I remember the forge... the hammer... the sacred flames that once tempered divine steel. Now these new flames hunger differently. They crave curses, bones, and the very essence of the dead. How bizarre. Merely absorbing this ambient energy has changed how my power works. It is not weaker. It is stronger, yet darker and more sinister."

"Um, really?" Elayne tilted her head. Gardenia had never struggled like this, so she felt a little confused and worried about what might have happened to him. "A-Are you sure you’re okay?"

Gardenia floated closer and inspected him with an intrigued tilt of her mushroom-capped head. "Nah, don’t worry. He’s completely fine. He adapted faster than expected. The Netherworld’s influence mutated him the moment he woke up. He is no longer purely a Divine Spirit of the Forge, that’s for sure!" She laughed.

"What? Then what is he now?" Elayne wondered. "D-Did he become a ghost?! Oh no...!" Elayne panicked.

"He is certainly not a ghost, Elayne. Calm down," Mark said with a light smile. "The power of the Divinity of Forging that his father infused into him remains. I can feel it. Back then, you also taught me the forging hammer, and we forged a bond too, Ignis. I can feel that connection as well."

"Mark... yes..." Ignis nodded slowly. "I can feel that connection growing stronger and more powerful with each moment. I believe we have strong compatibility. But in the end, my true master is still Master Elayne. She is the True Heir of Hephaestus after all and... hm?! Impossible!"

"What’s wrong?" Elayne asked, confused.

"I can feel it! One of my father’s forges!" Ignis exclaimed. "It is not far from here! But why? We are in the Netherworld! Could it be that my father left one of them here specifically?!"

"So the old man didn’t just spread his inheritance in the world of the living but also in the damn Netherworld?!" Gardenia asked in disbelief. "Unbelievable! What are the odds?! If we hadn’t unsealed Ignis, we could have missed this opportunity!"

"Perhaps my old man left one of his inheritances here because one of my siblings was not made of divine forging flames but of nether flames," Ignis replied with a thoughtful nod. "After all, he aimed to master all sorts of flames to forge all sorts of materials... Hmm. It is not far away, inside a giant mountain."

"We are moving to a town close to it where we will grind for levels and more," Elayne said. "I guess we have a new goal in mind. We will have to tell Granny Yaga and Blank about our change of plans."

Meanwhile, Gardenia continued inspecting Ignis with her glowing spiritual eyes. After a moment, she nodded. "Okay, inspection done. It looks like our pal Ignis here is becoming something like a Nether Forge Spirit."

"I see. That makes sense," Elayne nodded.

"Perfect for this place, honestly," Gardenia added.

"Hm. I wonder if my sibling living here will get angry that someone took his whole thing... or maybe he will guide me to become stronger," Ignis muttered. "Well, I am merely a fragment of my true self, but I have lost contact with my main body now."

"Main body?" Elayne asked. "But before, when we were in Avalon and I summoned you, you were you, not a fragment, right?"

"Indeed. But when you died, Master, that extension of my spiritual self that emerged through your body was instantly cut off from my true body. It became... me. A separate entity," Ignis sighed. "That may be why some of my memories are blurry. I am a new being, even though I still feel like myself. Perhaps a new name would fit me better."

"Nah, Ignis it is for now," Elayne said with a firm nod. "Once we find your main body, we can let you fuse with him so you can become whole again. How does that sound?"

"It sounds... I don’t know. I can’t say it sounds good. I would lose my own independence... I would rather not," Ignis replied, shaking his head.

His answer surprised Elayne. She had not expected it at all. "W-Wait, you don’t want to?" She paused, processing his words. "Oh my... well, that’s fine too! I guess... Let’s think about a new name later, alright?"

"Yeah. It has to be a cool and dark name, one that fits my new form," Ignis nodded.

Elayne and Mark quickly realized something had definitely changed about him. He seemed younger somehow, like a spirited teenager now.

Mark stepped forward, still processing Ignis’s earlier defiance. "Well, can you still forge? We have a proper Spiritual Nether Forge now thanks to Gardenia. You could use it to get used to your new form. What do you think?"

"Hah! Hahaha!" Ignis let out a booming laugh that shook the small cavern they were using as a temporary base. Everyone turned to look at him in surprise. Although the original Ignis had such a personality, he knew when to get serious. This new Ignis showed far less filter and revealed a fresh side of himself. "Forge? Boy, I am the forge now. My very existence can serve as the heart of any workshop. Though I will need materials... plenty of them. Bone, soul crystals, nether iron, cursed metals, bring them all to me and I shall craft you weapons and armor worthy of gods and nightmares alike!"

"No, well, I will also forge, and Mark too. We need to regain what we learned from you and Ambil after all!" Elayne said quickly. "But thanks for the energetic response! Yeah..."

"I mean, I guess the original Ignis did laugh like that sometimes," Mark nodded. "I suppose we will have to get used to it."

"Yeah, I’m just happy he’s back!" Elayne’s eyes sparkled with pure excitement. She immediately felt a new connection form in her soul, similar to the contracts with Irene and the others, but deeper, more technical, and creative. New notifications flooded her vision.

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