Another miracle occurred when I saw my familiar struggling to fly with a bag in her claws. Considering its size, I was surprised she was having so much trouble with it. In fact, just to be safe, I gave her a telekinetic assist by levitating some of its weight as she flew toward me. Once I bent down to pick the bag up, I was even more surprised. The thing weighed more than I did. In fact, it had to weigh more than Alsvartr.
I cocked an eye at her, wondering how in the world she managed to get it aloft. It had to be magic. Then again, maybe the experience she gained during the fight was put to good use. Curious, I looked at her information screen.
Alsvartr
Evolution: Tiny Pup (3rd Level Familiar)
Race** Tenebrous Bat (Nóttormr Bloodline)
Armor Class: 13
Hit Points: 27/27
Magic Points: 9/14
Experience: 1125/2700
Strength 6, Dexterity 16, Constitution 12, Intelligence 6, Wisdom 14, Charisma 10
Racial Abilities: Echolocation, Darkvision, Keen Hearing, Shadow Form
Languages: Common, Draconic
Saving Throws: Dexterity, Wisdom
Skills: Acrobatics, Insight, Perception, Stealth, Survival
Class Features: Death's Touch, Healing Shadows, Shadow Shape, Summon Shadow Creatures
Cantrips
| Shadow Control
| Sonic Blast
1st Level Spells
| Control Bats
| False Life
| Shadow Servant
| Sleep
2nd Level Spells
| Enhance Ability
| Silence
There was no way she would have been able to carry such a heavy bag was my first thought. Eagles could carry around half of their weight, which considering they could weigh up to fifteen pounds, meant they could carry about seven or eight pounds. Of course, eagles could exert themselves and carry something that weighed about as much as themselves. Still, the bag had to be at least twenty or twenty-five pounds.
After carefully reading her information screen, I realized she must have used one of her new spells, the Enhance Ability spell. "Dang, looking good," I said to Alsvartr, quite pleased with how she had quickly gotten much more powerful. Of course, my familiar ignored me, and actually sniffed, as if displeased with doing all the work.
Of course, that didn't stop me from noticing that she had been nibbling on the bodies, at least a little. Her mouth had blood on it each time she brought a new item up. Then again, maybe it was just from the fall damage. Wondering why the bag was so heavy, I opened it.
Amazingly, it was a fabled Bag of Holding. Inside the bag there were supplies, equipment, items, and even a few weapons. I couldn't help but smile when I noticed an aura of magic around one of the items. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do about the bag itself. While it was an amazing item to possess, it actually weighed more than I weighed. Because of this, I was considering the unthinkable. Should I use it to evolve my draconic bloodline again?
I dumped everything out of the bag and looked closely at the magic item. It looked like a lantern, but glowed under the Detect Magic spell. Hoping it was something nice, I quickly conducted the Identify ritual. I was a little disappointed with the result since the Spirit Lantern wasn't very useful.
When the candle in the lantern was lit, spirits would be attracted to the light, and you could then ask the spirits a question with a yes or no answer. Since I didn't have a use for it, and I was curious about extracting magical energy, I said, "I want to extract the magic from this lantern." Almost immediately, the ants were back.
Once more, I rolled around on the ground in pain, gritting my teeth. "This better be worth it," I groaned as the pain finally receded. However, after looking at my information screen, I wasn't sure how to react. Instead of four magic points, my maximum spell point total had increased to five.
While this didn't seem like much, what was important was the fact that I might be able to do this repeatedly. That could add up to a lot over time. It would be expensive though. I probably could have sold the magic lantern for a lot of gold. Of course, that was if I could find someone to buy it.
Wondering what else I would find, I glanced at all the loot. There were a pair of magic bracers with what looked like sharp nails decorating it. There was also a magic book and a feather. Looking at the feather, I guessed what it might be, and was extremely pleased that no one had been wearing it earlier.
I decided to try evolving my draconic bloodline with the magic bracers and the feather. The bracers would probably resonate with the quills and the feather would probably resonate with the wings. Bracing myself, I said to the system, "Use the bracers and feather to unlock my draconic bloodline."
A few minutes of screaming and crying later, I made a mental note to never try to unlock two draconic gifts at the same time again. The pain wasn't doubled but tripled. "Yep, one at a time is the way to go. Then again, it's not like I have any locked draconic gifts remaining." When the expected notification popped up, I threw back my head and started laughing like a maniac. The system was the best!
FLIGHT UNLOCKED. The Feather of Falling resonated with Flight, unlocking this draconic gift.
ETHER QUILLS UNLOCKED. The Bracers of Darts resonated with ether quills, unlocking this draconic gift.
Curious, I wondered if unlocking the bloodline gifts had caused any physical changes. Taking a moment, I tried to look at my tail and wings to see if anything had happened. While my tail still had a wide base that tapered down to a point, there were three major changes.
The first change was that the spikey-type row of ridges that went down the tail had grown into true spikes that looked thin and sharp. The second change was the long spike at the end of my tail. It was also longer and sharper. Now I could impale someone with it. The last change was that the layer of stiff down on it had grown into feathers, almost obscuring the tail in some areas. I was definitely starting to look more like a real dinosaur with feathers instead of an alligator.
My wings had also changed. The vestigial were noticeably larger and the down that had previously covered them had changed into feathers as well. However, they didn't look soft. I gingerly touched them and was surprised to find them quite stiff. In fact, not only were they tough, but they were also sharp. I actually had to be careful I didn't cut myself with them.
Flexing my wings, I slowly started to flap them back and forth like a bird or an angel. Slowly, my feet left the ground as I rose into the air. Curious, I decided to fly down and look at the bodies as an excuse to use my flying ability. By the time I had descended to the bodies, I noticed that I was already a little tired from flying. Maybe it was because I needed to build up my endurance, or maybe it was because supporting my weight with the wings was difficult. Either way, I was extremely happy.
Actually, looking at the bodies didn't bother me as much as I had expected. Maybe it was because I had changed somehow after being reincarnated. The bloody bodies didn't affect me at all. In fact, I was indifferent, which surprised me. I had expected to feel a little squeamish.
As expected, Alsvartr had done a good job on taking everything of value. There were only a few items on the bodies besides the clothing. Taking a few minutes, I cast the Detect Magic ritual again and looked at those items to see if there was anything worth taking. At the same time, I was lamenting the fact that I had to keep on casting the spell. I definitely needed some way to keep the Detect Magic spell permanent.
Not seeing anything right away, I was almost ready to fly back up when I decided to take another look and flipped the bodies over. That was when I noticed a ring glowing on one of the rogue's fingers. After prying the ring off the rogue's finger, I flew back up to the ledge and looked for any other magic items before I cast the Identify spell again. I was so tired of recasting rituals one after another.
Finally, I put the magic book, the magic ring, and a magic flute next to me. I had to just stare at the items, amazed that I was actually seeing such a sight. An actual magic book. A real magic ring and a magic flute. I could barely believe it. Not really caring at all about a magic flute, I decided to immediately just extract the magic from the flute. I wasn't in the mood to cast Identify for a flute I would never use.
"System, I want to extract the magic from the flute," I said resolutely, bracing myself for the pain. I was surprised that the pain wasn't as bad as I remembered. Maybe it was because the last time I had extracted magic from two items and this time there was only one. Then again, I could just be getting used to the pain. Either way, the pain soon vanished.
I was tempted to extract it from the ring as well, but then finally decided to go ahead and cast the Identify ritual. After all, it might be a really good ring. Deciding this, I started casting the ritual to discover what the ring actually was. Seeing that it was a Ring of Jumping, I was left with a dilemma.