The flock continued its flight to feeding grounds unknown as I quickly 'grokked' the information of how to send out thought messages and the method to raise my guard so that others could not send things into my mind without permission, well not unless they were far stronger than me anyways. thankfully it didn't take long and I had quickly sent out my first ever speech bubble, and yes that's what I was going to call it from now on, so sue me.
"Hello there Grandma Tank- erm Great ladybird! My name is Emilia and this is my Familiar Myr, we both went through the storm a few days back and were baptised... she didn't make it but somehow I managed to save her and here we are!"
okay maybe it came out more like a ramble than intelligent conversation but I was new to this thing and fairly antisocial anyway. it didn't matter much however as her response was less focused on that and more focused on the other thing I let slip accidentally... remembering that speech bubbles were more of a package of thoughts and feelings than anything else, it seemed that my message was packaged with a few subconscious thoughts and their background or 'baggage'.
"Grandma Tank? what an interesting name, I kind of like it, thank you little Emilia. All my children usually call me something that generally translates to 'oldest bird', this is much of an improvement."
well after hearing this my wings basically stopped working and I had to panic flap to recover, but it was only when I glanced sideways at her to see if she was mad that I registered an almost teasing note to her message.
"I uh... sorry I'm kind of new to this you know?"
"no need dearie, I know that these things take time. I am quite proud of you though, surviving the storm at your age and before your first evolution is quite impressive, it means you have talent. in fact little Myr by your side is the same, it would seem that you have an affinity for Soul magic as well, and even somehow unlocked a rare bonding ability, quite talented indeed. "
"Uhm, so grandma Tank, are you the boss around here? how exactly do things work any way I've just been sort of guessing and helping out when I can, It's nice being part of such a big family..."
"I am Indeed the Lady in charge, and for most of our younger Petrels, they simply need to follow their instincts and listen to their older and wiser brothers and sisters. it is only when they have successfully gone through their second Evolution that the flock starts asking for more of them. after all the world is not a safe place", and if we want to thrive then the strong must help uplift their weaker siblings."
I wasn't surprised that after saying this her thought had a tinge of sadness, after all, I had seen the lengths other petrels went to gain strength during the storm, and just how self-destructive those lengths could be...
it did beg the question though, speaking with her was much smoother than I expected, to my suspicious mind it was almost no different from speaking with a human, and I had to wonder about that, it seemed unusual to say the least, even if grandma Tanks' intelligence was super high due to her levels or tier it still wouldn't give her this mindset that seemed far more aware of the world than any uneducated bird should be. and her intelligence was certainly not to be doubted, she seemed to somehow pick up on my confusion from my body language because the next thing she said immediately cleared up all my doubts.
"When I was much younger I was a bit of a wild child, I explored far and wide, gradually becoming stronger and passing the hurdle that was my first evolution. not long after that I eventually wandered into these groups of weird beings that walked on two legs and wielded far greater power than any beast I'd seen before. well eventually I was too curious for my own good and one of them captured me, some sort of charm magic I believe, but this magic-user turned out to be not so bad. he was a mage, and soon afterwards he used a spell and I became his familiar, somewhat like your little Myr there. My time with him was a happy one. when I think of it now, we spent such a long time together it was inevitable that our bond would change the two of us in some ways. in me, my curiosity became insatiable after learning how little I knew, something I found out was quite common in those who became mages."
at this point I couldn't help but gasp, the amount of information in this sentence was mindblowing! first that there were confirmed intelligent humanoids. to which I had hoped and even expected, but had no way to confirm. The second was that grandma Tanks had obviously managed to latch onto a big thigh, one who seemed to have taught her a lot about the world, and no matter what happened in between she had somehow managed to come back and begin to use that knowledge to make her species thrive. what a tough old bird.
"Grandma Tanks?"
"Child if you are about to ask how old this lady is- the answer will not be kind."
~shit, quickly backpeddle~ "Uhm no? I- uh, was going to ask what I should do now? I was going to try and level up Myr and myself, but what about after that, what should my role be in the flock? what are your plans for us, how are-"
"Emilia! enough child, let me answer one question before you raise a third."
"You are right to raise your strength, that is the most important thing for you to do at the moment. after that, you can earn a roost as one of my advisors, it is rare after all for intelligence to awaken so early in a storm petrel and the flock needs more smart birds to help guide the rest. today you should eat quickly and then take the part of a protector, It is the best way to rapidly grow. however, I shall assign two of your elder sisters to help rescue you from trouble above your abilities."
"Remember though Emilia, your first evolution partially sets your future path, and since you have already been baptised with mana your foundation is already much better than mine was. for instance, you may form a core far sooner than I was able to. this is something that will greatly increase your strength and future abilities, if you miss the opportunity now you must wait until tier V, think about it dearie whilst you go have some fun, I will see you again after you succeed. good luck Emilia."
I took that as my queue to find somewhere else to hang out for the rest of the trip and split away from Grandma's group, noticing two of her sleeker, smaller guards break off and follow behind me. I hoped we'd get to the feeding ground soon because Myr and I had just gotten a lot more excited to get stronger.