Chapter 394: The New System Spirit

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The spirit’s eyes blinked, and Riven found himself watching the screen instead of the broken ceiling. "Oh, so that’s your face." It was simple enough, but somehow, it made the little spirit look even more adorable. He tried to work out whether the tiny dot was supposed to be smiling or was just there.

Besides that, the silver-colored, robot-like spirit had two adorable, floating antenna-like appendages on each side of its head, arranged to resemble twin tails. In simple terms, it was utterly adorable.

They were made of silver metal and covered in blue circuits. The spirit had a spherical body floating beneath its head and two small hands made of spheres and little tubes.

Riven watched the little hands move, trying to figure out how the pieces stayed together. They looked simple enough, but there was nothing ordinary about seeing them float beside a body like that. He followed the blue circuits with his eyes, curious about how much of the spirit was actually metal.

Its entire body was segmented, with electricity connecting the separate parts.

That explained the gaps between the parts, at least. Whenever one of the hands moved, the electricity connecting it to the rest of the body moved along with it. Riven tilted his head, watching it for a moment. He had expected a spirit, sure, but he hadn’t imagined one put together like this.

It was... incredibly unique.

"Thank you so much for trusting me, Lord Riven. It is a pleasure to meet you in person. I am Dungeon Management Unit Number-1012913. I am relieved that the Spiritualization process went as intended. It was only a theorized function, but it seems to have worked without errors or problems."

Riven blinked. Only theorized? He would have liked to know that before agreeing to it! Still, the unit was floating right in front of him, introducing itself without any trouble. He looked it over again, then decided there wasn’t much point in complaining now that the process was already finished. At least it seemed just as relieved as he was.

"Whoa, so you’re a piece of the System?"

"Affirmative. That is not an incorrect way of describing me. However, I have now become independent of the Main System Network. While I can still provide information and data to the System, my new purpose is to serve you."

"Alright, that makes sense." Riven nodded, looking at the spirit with more interest. It was still connected to the System in some way, but now it was here as its own unit. He supposed that would take some getting used to. Talking to it like this was already different from reading messages, and he liked being able to see who was answering him.

"I see... I guess we should decide on a name?"

He tried saying the full designation in his head. Dungeon Management Unit Number-1012913. It sounded more like something he should write down than something he would use in a conversation. Besides, the little spirit was right in front of him now. Calling it by a name seemed much more natural than calling out a string of numbers.

"Names are not necessary for this unit."

Riven looked at it for a moment, then shook his head. Of course that was its answer. It had introduced itself with the full number without any hesitation, so he supposed it didn’t find anything strange about it. He wasn’t saying it needed a name to function, though. He just wanted something he could actually call it without making every conversation sound like a report.

"Okay, but I won’t be able to call you by your exact number every time. That’s hard to remember... Well, not really. With my brains, it’s perfectly possible. But I would rather give you a name. It would make you more of a person."

"A person. I understand. Master wishes to make me more approachable. Then please choose a name for me. Any name is fine."

"Any name? Are you sure? Hmmm... Okay, I think Clive is a fine name. Unless you’re a girl?"

"I have no gender."

"Right, you did say that." Riven scratched his head, looking at the spirit again. He had picked Clive without thinking much about it, but now that he tried imagining himself calling it that, the name didn’t really fit. Well, there was no reason to stick with his first idea. "Hmmm, but you’re more of a... No, you’re definitely not a Clive... Gemini?"

"..."

The spirit gave him nothing to work with. Riven waited a moment, then shrugged. It had said any name was fine, so he supposed that counted as approval. Gemini was easy enough to say, and he liked how it sounded. That was probably as good a reason as any.

"I guess that works, yeah. That is your name now."

"Understood. Your chosen name, ’Gemini,’ has been registered. Is there anything else you wish to do, Master?"

"That’s all..."

Riven felt a connection to the little System Spirit through his Spirit Heart. Surprisingly enough, it seemed he had instantly forged a bond with it, turning it into his Familiar.

He hadn’t expected naming it to be followed by that realization. Riven looked at Gemini, then checked the connection again. It was there, even while the spirit floated apart from him. "Oh, so you’re my Familiar now too." He smiled, still getting used to the idea. At least he had a name to call it by.

When he turned back, he noticed Daniela, Label, and Vladimir staring at him in shock.

Riven glanced between the three of them. He had been so busy talking to Gemini that he had almost forgotten they were watching. Vladimir looked from him to the spirit, then back again, as if waiting for an explanation. Riven wasn’t sure where he would even start.

"Wow, y-you just made a spirit... out of the System... T-the spirit... is a System? Huh?" Daniela couldn’t even process what she had seen.

She pointed at Gemini, then lowered her hand, apparently giving up on finishing the question. Riven could hardly blame her. He had been the one doing it, and even he hadn’t known exactly what would happen. Hearing her try to explain it made the whole thing sound even stranger.

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