What does an invasion here really entail? The enemy would have to be spotted, report sent about the enemy appearance and finally engaged. What is needed is some form of derived magic to accomplish this task. For hiding and spotting an enemy. The only option that comes to mind is shadow magic. I have seen it before in the vampire domain. This was the skill that Eight had that allowed instant movements. It was not teleportation.
[Light and Dark magic.]
[Instead of emitting light, focus changes to absorbing it.]
I would have never guessed that shadow magic is derived from light and dark magic. It almost seems ironical. That is what the scouts will be getting. For reporting the sightings, sound magic is the obvious preferred method. We need a group of crows to act as a siren in case of anything. This will allow faster dissemination of information in a large area at once. But how effective is it in fighting?
[Depends on the strength of a species. For a crow the strength of Pitch, the effects would only be helpful as a support mechanism.]
That is very disappointing, it seems that crows with sound magic can only fight through interference. They cannot really cause any damage. In that case, I will choose the weakest crows to conduct this task.Now for engaging the enemy. If engaging spiders, they should have long range attacks to avoid getting caught in webs. If titans, they need penetrative attacks and for the horde of undead they need an attack that destroys the whole body. In that case, I need an attack that does all three to be compatible with any kind of enemies that may appear. Fire, Wind and water are not penetrative attacks. Light and earth magic for this species is too weak to destroy a body. Dark magic is out of the question. What I require is derived magic. Lightning and dark void (from giant tortoise) are the only viable options I can think of.
[The attack would meet all the required criteria you have set.]
Good now that is satisfactory news. Shadow magic for scouts, sound magic for the reporters and Dark Void for the fighters. Not bad.
[Yes. That is possible however, it may result in reduced mobility if a wrong choice is made.]
[Yes. Changing the fur to scales with a composition as hard as that of a tortoise]
[That will take more mana to make and that of a tortoise is already effective enough.]
Okay makes sense. The crows did not need any more protection because they would be fighting at range while flying. "Pitch, bring the strongest 80 crows here and Alpha bring all your friends here as well." I said. They did as instructed. I began with the crows where I dismantled their bodies and infused the Dark Void attack on the mist before joining them back together. Jenga was going to tell me when a crow had reached 10,000 mana reserves so I can stop infusing it with more mana. The process took a few minutes. The crows that were about 30 centimeters a while ago had ballooned to twice their size. I levitated a boulder in front of me and shouted to them, "Hey I want you to hit this with the power I have given you." A few of them understood my instructions and began throwing black violent beams. Some hit me, others did not hit anything and very few hit the boulder. This guys need some serious training. "Okay enough. Pitch, train your compatriots. You are now their leader." I said. I informed the rest of the crows that they would be getting new powers in a few days."Alpha, bring your compatriots." I said. I completed this same process. Jenga talked me through the process of changing their furs to scales. It was completed in a few minutes. The result was that Alpha and his group had colorful and unique scales that were very sturdy. I touched the surface of the scales and was more than impressed, very few projectiles if any would harm any of them. "Alpha, I have given your compatriots the same skill as the crows. Go ahead and train them." I said. Pitch was training the crows a few meters away from me. He had acquired both fire magic and Dark Void. I could see that he was already used to his new skill and was training the others.
I listened and followed the instructions and in a few hours, I was proficient in it. I asked the same for sound magic and was now able to conduct both of them. Sound attacks in my case when I tried them out, they were very effective. I even crashed a boulder but for the crows I am afraid they were too weak. "The rest of you crows come forward. I will also give you another type of power." I said. I did the same ritual and in a few moments, it was completed. "Everyone. Gather around." I shouted. In a few seconds all the various beasts were here. "Tomorrow we will begin serious training but for today, I want you to go hunt. Bring the animals back here and I will cook them for you. Now go." I said. Apparently that was a very bad idea. I got snakes that were not yet dead, squirrels and other animals not fit for human consumption. Of course there were tribes that ate this animals but for me, this was not ideal. Next time I should specify. I still roasted the meat for them. After that I asked Pitch and Alpha to stay in the forest with their companions. They both seemed to enjoy that they were no longer alone especially Alpha. I flew home alone in the evening. I talked to Mother about needing space to accommodate about forty more crows and eight wolves and foxes. "That many?" She asked in a shocked manner. "Yes. They are expected to protect you and the whole village. The crows will be hunting food and bringing it here. Not much expenses will be added." I said. "This battle you are talking about must be that serious. I can't imagine you even wet to find guards." Mother said. I understand her feeling. It is the same as being told that a country far away will experience a storm. You always tend to disassociate yourself from the scenario. Same case here. The whole planet will be in trouble but if that is the case then there is no reason to bother. This is likely hoe she felt. We talked farther and agreed to purchase a plot of land to keep them there. The next day, I went to the forest and found that Pitch and Alpha were already training their squads. It was very satisfying to watch. Unlike yesterday, most of their attacks were hitting the targets. The crows were firing their attacks while flying at high speeds. They were very destructive in nature. The wolves were near the bottom of a raised cliff and were shooting at it. This was very impressive all round. The last twenty crows were not participating probably because they did not understand their attacks. I called them over and bean training them on their new powers. All of them were disappointed that their power was not as 'cool'. I had to sweet talk them to uplift their moods. I promised them that if their bodies grow stronger, I would give them the same power. I had realized that the three new comer species present here could hold two derived magic attributes or one primary magic attribute. The Dark Void attack was a derived magical attribute from other derived magic attribute; shadow and blood magic. In essence, derived magical attributes were inferior and specific as they went down the chain. This meant that second generation attributes like Dark Void lacked variety and all you could change was the level of intensity of the attacks. For primary attributes which are the six, Water, wind, earth, light, fire and Dark. It is possible to have a variety of applications. Wind attribute could form lightning attacks for example but the lightning attribute on its own could form nothing else. Water could form ice but the reverse was not possible. The highest attribute currently known was Dark Magic. The other five attributes were derived from it. That was the hierarchy of attributes.I began training the twenty in their attributes for two weeks consecutively. We would conduct drills daily from morning to late in the afternoon where I would release them to go hunt. The shadow and sound magic were very effective when fighting at close ranges. The crows soon began to appreciate their new found power. For shadow magic, it was next to impossible to land a hit on the crows. The opposite was not true. They could sneak up on any shadow including that of their targets and land a blow before vanishing. This was similar to guerilla techniques. However, they were not strong enough to utilize the power to its full potential. For me, it was possible to manipulate shadows and turn them to soldiers or weapons. But that was fine because their role was scouting. For sound magic, the crows could adjust the frequency where the sound could disorient a person reminiscent of flash bangs used by the military. I was completely helpless against this attack during our first sparring sessions with them. They could also shoot sonic cannons that were more than enough to push me back. However, they lacked a penetrative force. It was like being hit with a van covered with a high density mattress. The secondary impact was what to look out for and for someone as tough as me, it was not a threat. I was satisfied with their performance levels.I had gone to the capital to have work done on building a place for the crows in my home to protect the capital. The castle would be protected by one wolf and two crows. "Seriously? Crows. You think they are better than my soldiers?" Father asked. "Of course, I oversaw their training." I answered. Father was skeptical of my plan. I had to compromise and agree to let him see them in action in a few days after completing the training. A week had gone by and it was now time. Seven Shadow and Sound crows would join forty of their kin to the capital. Four wolves would also be stationed there. The wolves and foxes failed to learn flight magic because their bodies were not strong enough. Alpha was the exception. I covered the bodies of the four wolves in a membrane and we flew to the capital matching the speed of the crows. We landed at our house. "From now on, this is your home. Your work will be to look for and destroy enemies. Pitch will tell you more about them when time comes." I said. Pitch was clearly the brains of the group. It was not a concern having him in charge of the whole operations although he was going to stay at home with mother. I went and reported my arrival to father accompanied by his new companions. "I see. They are big for their species but that is all. I am not yet convinced." Father said. "I don't believe that they can best any of my men Sir White Eagle." The commander of the Royal Knights said. He was here because of the outlandish remark I had made that these bests were better than them. "We should go to an open area for this demonstration." I said. The King and his entourage which included the Queen and the prince followed outside. "I will choose the weakest of the bunch. Sound crows come here. You. I want you to spar with him. Don't use your whole strength." I said. "Are you perhaps underestimating my guards?" Father asked. "No. This is for their own good." I answered. The captain was not a weak man for human standards. He had a mana capacity of 1100. The crow on the other hand had about 9,900. It was difficult to stop at 10, 000 so variations like this were not uncommon. The captain stepped forward and began unleashing fire attacks. The crow easily avoided them and countered with a sonic cannon. The captain was thrown back a few meters but woke up immediately and continued the attacks. This continued for a few more minutes until the King stopped it. The Captain had not landed a single shot on the crow. He was also not badly damaged because the crow was not going at full strength. "That is impossible." The Queen muttered. "So cool" The prince followed. "They are not at full strength Chrono?" Father asked. "Yes." I answered. "That cannot be true. I am not holding back" the captain said. "Stop attacking him." I said the crow stopped and flew to my side. "Let me show you their real power. Kindly step back a little." I said as I motioned to the crowd. They got back a few distance away. "All of you attack me at once." I shouted. The wolves and crows did as instructed. I did not dodge them but placed a barrier all around me. The ground was riddled with deep narrow holes from the missed shots. The crows conducted sorties while the wolves acted as tanks. After a few minutes, I ordered them to stop and went back to Father. Their faces were filled with horror. "How are you unharmed?" the queen asked. Ooh this old ha... actually cares for my safety? "The attacks were not strong enough to pose a risk." I answered professionally. "Not strong enough?" Father shouted at the top of his voice. "Strength is relative so yes." I answered. The Captain was shocked for words and was just staring at me. This creatures were indeed strong but here he witnessed the epitome of strength. I had just called them weak. Preparations were made and they were accepted to the service. Tey all ha the capacity to understand human speech. A few crows and one wolf could even converse in the tongue. I left detailed and explicit instructions for them before I left. Now that everything was taken care of, it was time to meet Zari and plan the journey to the Central Continent.