I have been observing my target for a week now. Every day before I get back home from the hill I purchase some bones with meat. I then separate it into three parts. One for the general crow population and the other for my target once the others leave. The last potion is given to Alpha, my fox. I also put a bowl of fresh water for it. Today I am going to try and feed the little guy from a distance of less than 1 meter away from me. The crafting magic is showing no progress at all. Miss Lavender insists that there is no rush. In her case, she took 2 months before completing this similar exercise. For me it has been around 3 weeks since I started. Currently my schedule in the morning now consists of reading various books on crafting magic to get a clue on what to do. In the body magic area, nothing has changed, I believe I have reached my limit. I have to stop twice before reaching at the top of the hill. As for the beast magic area, today I believe I might see some progress. I intend to leave the water bowl next to me to see if the little guy will approach me. My fingers are crossed. The time has now come. I have completed the quota for today's exercise in the two disciplines of magic. Now I am setting up the bones and meat for the general crow population. As always, Alpha gets a potion first and remains locked up in his space. I set up the meat far away from me and the water just next to me. I then closed my eyes and started practicing some breathing techniques while waiting for the other crows to arrive. It was at least 10-15 minutes later that I heard the noises of them arriving. I waited patiently while having my eyes closed, suddenly I felt some weight on my head, my shoulders and all around my body. Why the hell are they so close to me today? I opened my eyes and immediately realized the reason. Normally I would only offer the water bowl to my target after his compatriots have left. But now, the water bowl is near me and for some reason, they show no fear of me and instead act like I am part of their group.
[Taming flock of crows successful. You have now gained photographic memory, intelligence level increased by 50%, and the ability to communicate with birds.]
Hahaha, amazing I managed to tame every bird in the flock including my original target."What is going on here?" Mr. Albert asked who was followed closely by Miss Lavender and Mr. Arnaud. "I finally managed to tame them. After weeks of waiting Ihave completed one of my assignments." I answered happily. "Them? Do you mean the whole flock?" Mr. Arnaud asked. "This human, master." A voice was heard. Did one of the crows just talk? I looked around and my tutors are as shocked as I am. "Who said that?" I sked. "I am." A small crow with a distinct wound on its feet answered. This was the original crow that I had wanted to tame. "Can the rest of your kin talk like you do?" Mr. Arnaud asked. "No, cannot. Them have no deep connection to master like me." The crow answered. "I treated this one with special care. The rest of them probably see me as a place to get their next meal." I answered. "Though if I may add something, I can understand what they are saying." I added. "You can speak to them?" Miss Lavender asked. "Yes, you bring me that stick over there." I said while pointing at a random crow. The crow did as ordered and fetched the stick. "I would not have believed it unless I had seen it. This is a new level in beast taming." Mr. Arnaud my beast magic tutor said. I spent a few more hours asking them to do a few things and finally sent them back to where they originally went when nightfall came."Nice going kid, so what are you planning to do with them?" Mr. Albert asked. "I was thinking of building a place for them here. If I can ask them to not make noise for us then I don't see a problem." I answered. "I didn't think you would complete my assignment that easily. I expected you to take at least 2 more months so that we can have the combat instructor ready for you." Mr. Arnaud said. Ooh so that is why my assignments feel incredibly difficult. They are buying time to have the combat instructor ready. "I don't believe that the schedule has changed much. To be honest, I think I have reached my limit with the Body Magic exercises. I don't think that is something a 7 year old can do." I said frankly. Suddenly I saw a change in their faces, it was as if they had realized something. "How old were you guys when you did the hill challenge?" Miss Lavender asked. "11 years" They both answered in harmony. The realization that they had, was that the body training exercise was something I was too young for. According to Mr. Albert, I was doing so well in the preliminary exercises that it slipped his mind that I did not join this training like they did at 10 years old but rather when I was 7. My record for having to rest only twice for my age, when climbing the hill after less than a month of training was now considered a very impressive feat. It was decided that my training objectives which was to make my body strong and ready for the skill body mimicry was complete. I will continue with the exercise for one more week and then in the next week training for body mimicry will commence.The next day, I began rereading the books on Crafting Magic. I hoped that with my increase in intelligence level coupled with photographic memory, I would finally solve this conundrum. This paper to cloth exercises was the cornerstone of crafting magic. If one could learn the basics of it, crafting new spells was possible because it follows the same principles. The book stated that this would allow the users of dark magic to manipulate the use of other attributes as well. I spent the next 3 days just reading the books and doing the body training exercises. I could now understand what the books were talking about in detail. On the fourth day, I tried my luck with the exercise once more but the results were mixed. I managed to turn the piece of cloth to paper. However, my assignment was vice versa, that is to turn the piece of paper to cloth. I presented my work to Miss Lavender to ask for advice. "What, you are done already? Ooh not quite, yes this is a common mistake even among the professionals. This happened because you were thinking about the paper more than the cloth." She answered. "Do you have another piece of cloth that I can borrow to act as a reference?" I asked. "I think you should now try turning both pieces of paper without the need for a reference. You have had that piece of cloth for a month now. Try to remember its features and use your memory for this next exercise." She said. It seems like I am not really heading forward in this crafting exercise. This new assignment, I can feel it in my bones that it is going to be a challenge. From memory? We started with tasting, smelling and feeling the salt grains, then went on to feeling and smelling the cloth, now we have jumped to using memory as a point of reference. I believe that is a massive jump in difficulty. This lady has no mercy towards me and with that my new assignment was set. My body exercise was improving steadily. Though the amount of times I needed to rest did not reduce, I was now using a more efficient breathing technique. I was less tired than I normally would be. Just from taming crows I managed to have this level of drastic improvement? I wonder what will happen if I tame a beast with a high level of stamina. No, but if I do that then this stops being a challenge hence I cannot improve my various skills by training to my limits. Next week, I am going to start learning the body mimicry skill. Mr. Arnaud, my beast magic tutor has left to report the results of my training and also to bring back a combat instructor. I do not know when he will be back but I cannot wait to start learning combat magic. The crafting magic is also proceeding, I have no confidence at all but maybe who knows. I might succeed at any time or not.