This attempt was better, the image formed successfully, I managed to imbue the thought with some of my mana... it was not enough and it scattered apart upon testing. the next time, mana was too much, exploded before testing.
Mana was right but spread poorly, leaving thick and thin patches.
Still too rough.
Construct fell apart after focusing too hard on mana.
Took too long, mana started dissipating.
…
three days passed where I stayed in my cave and only came out to hunt solo for shrimp and whitebait to feed myself. but eventually I got it! meditation worked, image formed, mana imbued and spread... Connection formed... spell triggered!
Skill Gained [Mana Control]|
the little flame near my heart slowly rose and came out of my chest, hovering in front of me. giving off a stronger light than I had seen in the other souls left after a creatures death, maybe with the exception of my own when I was transported here to Ouros. it seemed to draw in more light from the earth and atmosphere around it as it coalesced and grew brighter and more solid.
the light it drew in gave off feelings and impressions with it, resonating with my own past feelings of fear and hope and uncertainty when I was still a soul. my heart had trouble deciding if it was dropping to my stomach or rising to my throat as my emotions fed back into my expectations for my future with Myr. after all, we were permanent companions now, what If she didn't like me? what if she was mad I didn't let her reincarnate?
The process seemed complete finally when the light faded to show an odd little spectral bird, only a tenth of the size she had been before, she was so small that she would probably be able to perch on my shoulder without any issues. Her form was ethereal and partly transparent, but as the light faded further you could see her entire body had a slight glow to it- a bluish white. even as she finished forming It seemed as though she wasn't all here, when occasionally her form stretched or flickered as if she was only partly in this dimension.
it seemed only a short while after she had fully materialized then she had begun hopping around me, which would have seemed less odd if she hadn't been floating in the air. Myr was very inquisitive, taking her time to get a good look at me for the very first time. for that matter I doing the same too, she had changed so much even from what little I had known of her, but that was okay, it wasn't like I had known her for long as she had been. Anyway we'd have plenty of time to get to know each other in the future, I could only hope that she would eventually graduate to using words! I knew that she had at least some intelligence, as she was able to transmit feelings to me through our bond, but I was curious as to how much that was. maybe it was time to check her status?
I could only guess that Myr had decided that she lliked me, as at this point I felt little waves of a sweet and bright feeling coming from her and she made a last hop, taking a perch on my head. a little ghost birdy was now looking down at me from above and occasionally wagging her tail about. "System show me Myr's status"
*****
Status|
Name - Myr| |Level 0|
Species - [Guardian Spirit] [Tier 0]|
HP 10/10| |MP 100/100| |EXP 0/100|
STR - 1|
AGI - 3|
INT - 1|
-Law Affinities-|
[Soul Magic]
*****
Her stats were absolute trash as they stood, although I suppose that was probably more my fault than hers since I had no idea what I was doing? her affinity overlapped with mine, understandably. and it seemed that no matter what form, birds scaled towards mobility at the expense of everything else. I'd guess the lack of strength could be attributed to soft flesh and superlight skeleton, but the lack of intelligence? who knows. and also, why would the soul of a creature follow that creatures stat template?
regardless, Myr wouldn't be able to help too much early on, I'd guess we'll have to see how that changes as she levels, but that was fine. perhaps I had an idea on how to train up her stats too, we'd wait until level 5, dump all her points into INT and get her able to communicate a bit better, then see if we can do attribute and skill training... but what about now? should I try and make a new spell? or maybe, yea, we'll do our homework tomorrow, lets just play around with Myr tonight!
*****
The next day came fairly quickly, after a long time of just hopping around and playin in my nest, we each traded impressions around before I fell asleep where I sat, it was... grounding to have someone to communicate with, and even if there were no words involved, it really helped destress me.
but there was stuff to be done, and I figured if I could add a spell or two to my repertoire then I might be able to participate in some harder fights with the flock, and If I manage to level up some more, then I can go out and make trouble!
well maybe, because a thought occurred to me. since the system explained spells and how tricky my own experience so far has been, I felt confident that the special Petrels in the flock must have evolved at least once so far. so to truly be a protector of the flock I would need to hone my advantage and evolve as soon as I can. it also meant that since we needed to gather so many strong members of the group for every hunt, that there were much bigger threats than I'd seen so far!
So the question is what magic I would be able to use to best effect, whether I should increase my strengths or cover my weaknesses and so on. I idly glanced at the little ghost tucked under my wing, seemingly asleep, as I tried to decided where I should place my focus. I figure need a sure-kill technique for damage, something like the water beam some of the weaker ocean life used, and I did have access to water magic so I could just copy their ability. but maybe wind would be a better choice as a bird? what can I do with wind?
the storm I flew through gave me some Ideas, like an air blade, but that seemed like it would effect a large area. unless I could compress it. A gust type spell? maybe, but it's much less useful in the sky unless its super strong. It's really hard to think of offensive spells that would work with such a small pool of mana at my disposal. if that's the case, the other type of wind spell that come to mind is buffing spells? maybe a speed buff? We'll start with that then, an air blade and a haste-type spell.
*****
after another two days yielded me two spells, and a very bored companion. its a good thing I wanted to test spellcasting in 'field conditions' next or I might have an angry Petrel haunting me... hehe haunting... anyway, my spells went better and worse than expected. with the haste spell I initially imagined a small gust of wind under each of my wings, which admittedly worked, but the strain on both my mana and my wings meant it could not be maintained for long. it stumped me for a while until I remembered my science classes that covered aerodynamics, and behold, a Slipstream spell! at a point in front of me I form some air into a small oval-orb shape that simply stays equidistant to me as I fly. it could barely be called a spell really, because it technically does nothing other than summon an orb of moving air, but it works! well, as long as you can fly under your own power anyway...
The air blade was also a little troublesome with the amount of magic I had, so after a pathetic breeze slowly swept through the cave I scaled back, and had the ingenious idea of turning it instead into an enhancement! the end result was a spell that added compressed whirlwinds around my beak or each of my talons. Magic. Magic is awesome.
All that was left was to test these spells out in combat, level Myr and myself up, evolve, grow even stronger and become ruler of the cliffside! muahahah- erm, yea. well most of that anyway, I know that the first evolution is only a small step on a very long road ahead of me. but damn if it didn't feel like it was far away. all the better the sense of accomplishment would be I guess, well I think I can find bigger sacks of exp if Myr and I can grow a little stronger, it seems a bit like a virtuous cycle, gaining strength makes it easier to gain strength... I'd make it our goal to find out tomorrow at the 'family dinner' then!
Spell Created [Minor Slipstream]|
Spell Created [Minor Enchant Weapon - Air Cutter]|