"… You seem to be quite in a good mood." I hear Lily say in between my own humming.
"Uhm? Oh yeah." I simply say, ignoring her grumpiness for once as I indeed am in a very good mood.
And how could I not be? Not only did I get my first evolution and finally lost the baby fat to a more grown look even in my human form, but also had made mother promise that she would teach me how to fly later today, today!
…Thought is still shocking me how much hope I still keep up from her managing to properly teach me something, but this time she is the only one with similar wing types so my attempt is justified, for our wings are bigger and our feathers are longer in a way that we glide more and flap our wings less, making so that our owl fly is smooth and soundless, like snowflakes dancing in the wind.
And not only that, but I'm also being able to push my limits… and have started reading the magical book!
Once I got the words on the cover right I was too excited that I ended up bringing the book out with me, finding out that turning the pages with my claws is a hard feat but feeling too stubborn and prideful to give up and change into my human kid form.
"… Do you at least understand what is written there or are you just looking at the pictures?" Says Lily. Looking at the pictures? What does she think I'm, a kid?
Well, she would not be wrong, but still I narrow my eyes and buff my chest out before saying:
"Of course I understand, otherwise I would not use so much time only to stare at these pages!" Though there is still some hard words that the meaning still escapes me, especially the ones for advanced Shield Magic, but I'm not up to give her the satisfaction of knowing that.
But as of now is enough for the Basic Magic spells, so I'm eagerly devouring what I can from the book's content.
And, amidst my reading, something unexpected happens.
Ding – Hidden ability discovered – Reading 68
Eh? Hidden ability? From where? And such a high level at that… but… but reading? But I just learned how to read, how can I've such an ability hidden? And also… it did not improve the number of words I understand at all.
I try Appraisal with it, and this is the result:
Reading : Usually confused with the quick learning ability or the facility to learning new languages, this ability does not apply to those as it increases the proficiency over the speed needed to read and the amount of information acquired and the number of reads necessary to master the subject a book has to offer.
…Well, is not as good nor as bad as I thought at first, but I know that this is the right method for me, studying using books, not only because of this skill nor my Bookworm title; which now makes a little more sense; but because is feels… natural, I've been reading for hours now and I'm not tired at all, and actually feel at ease, almost as if used to this kind of routine, almost as if missing it already.
It is odd, but as long as it serves my purposes then that is fine by me.
And also I'm set in learning this kind of magic, especially when a paragraph in the book says that this type of magic field requires a lot of mana, or magic fuel, for a caster to grow stronger by using it, for as long as there is magic to fuel it up the shield can withhold any attackers assault.
So, in the end, is not all just about the level of the caster, nor the level of the ability, but the amount of mana necessary to keep it up too.
Which is perfect for my absurd unequal status distribution.
In high spirits I read through the first part of this thick old book, stopping only to gaze at the sky and to think what wonders awaited me in the near future, the things I could do, the sky that I was about to conquer, the freedom and power that this now stronger wings were about to give me, all the possibilities that awaited me…
Only that nothing I could have thought at the time would match what really happened next, for what the future holds is not as pleasant as my naïve young self hoped for.
How things turn out to be, in the end… for good, for bad, perhaps there were only there to be, but one thing for certain is that I'm about to hit the bottom before I can even think of climbing back up.
When things go down south that fast and that bad, we always think that it should have some sign of it, some bad premonition, an uneasy feeling before it happens, the same as, when we are very sad we find it odd when the weather opens, with sunny sunshine and cloudless skies, almost as if we world should cry with us, that things should not stay still while we crumble from inside out.
And yet, no matter the torment we may have inside, the world still carries on, and no warning came to me as that day started the same as any other, better even, with the sweet company of the fairies surrounding me, playing around, as I manage to study the book…
And yet, all changed, when, later that day, as we munched on some berries, my sharp senses caught a whiff of smoke in the air, and as I sniff the wind while frowning, paying more attention and rising my gaze towards the horizon, I caught the sweet iron smell of blood being added to the mix.
However, before I have time to turn and warn Cottonwhistle and the other fairies, one of them screams to the side:
"Get down!!" They scream before something comes crashing down on us.