In listening to Lillianna, Simon's attention was taken away from the poor adventurer he'd been lecturing just long enough for the young man to get away. He mulled over Lillianna's request for a moment, before double-taking at the empty space where once stood his victim. "Hey, I've not finished telling you about Dormes & Fretias blessings."
"It's okay, I'll figure it out," the young man said as he disappeared around a corner.
Simon shrugged and muttered. "Suit yourself." Then he looked at Lillianna. "Yeah sure, I can spare some time. Combatting spirits huh? This way." And with that, he led Lillianna into the maze of tall shelves, passing by the odd student or attendant. "So..." he said over his shoulder. "A new student, you say. Are you an adventurer or just a researcher? For your sake, I hope you're not a Cleric."
When they arrived at the right aisle, he fished out some books on foundational understanding of Spirit Magic and Introduction to the Light Domain. "These two books should give you a broad perspective on the subject." He handed them to her. "But for combatting spirits specifically, I'd suggest you get to grips with your Spirit Bolt spell. It's pretty easy to get the hang of, but there's some tricks that will speed up your casting and reduce the cost of your energy, enabling you to fire more often without getting too fatigued." He walked her down the aisle further and grabbed another book. "Reading this will deepen your understanding of the spell." He thought for a moment, then mentally made a decision. "Hey come on, let's see what you've got."
He took her to an adjoining study room that was empty and he pointed out the Spirit Bolt spell that lay within the first few pages of the book he was holding. "It should already be sitting in your mind somewhere, just think for a second."
When she was ready, he walked ten paces away from her and turned to face her. "Fire a Spirit Bolt at me. Don't worry, I'll block it with a Magic Ward."
The light emitting from Adam's forehead started to stay more consistently green. Old Gilligan was pleased. For the first time, his voice even softened slightly and he managed to say the younger Druid's name correctly. "That's it, Adam. You're close. Stay focused."
Not too long after, the ghostly form of a bear manifested in the middle of the clearing. It blew out of it's mouth loudly, then barked an almost-human sounding noise. Then Adam, eyes closed, spoke back to it.
Gilligan looked at the animal with interest. It was beautiful. And powerful. "Rise Adam," he commanded as the Black Bear slowly turned from a ghostly form into a physical one. It shook it's body and fuzzied up it's black fur, then it stood up on it's back legs to match the height of Adam. "Your spirit animal has manifested. Now you must subdue it and gain control. Now you must fight it."
Before Adam could react, Gilligan looked at him. "No magic. You must fight it on equal footing. Bare hands versus Bear hands. Heh." The bear growled and shouted once more, then dropped to all fours to charge. "Now Adam! Make it sumbit to your will."
The bear attacked, closing in on Adam then took a swing and a miss, then swung with it's other paw and clubbed the Druid in the shoulder, knocking him to the floor. The Black Bear stood up once more to it's full commanding height, then pounced at Adam again with another massive swing for his head this time................