《Keeper》 01: Awakening Darkness. It is peaceful here, I think I like it. Floating here in an endless void most people would probably be panicking but I¡¯m not. Maybe it¡¯s because I don¡¯t have a body? Wait¡­ no body? Should I be concerned about that? At this point others would definitely be panicking but since I have no body for adrenalin to pump through and no heart to pound it just becomes a fact to me. Well if I¡¯m going to be stuck in this void forever I¡¯ll probably get pretty bored. I¡¯m just starting to think about different things that a bodyless¡­ what would I be in this state, eh not important¡­ would be able to do when lines of thin golden script start to scroll themselves into the void. ¡­Initializing system ¡­Scanning host¡­ scanning¡­ Critical error detected! Massive changes to host found in all areas of the soul. Soul stability at 23%! Hmm, well that definitely doesn¡¯t sound good does it. Is this the point where I should start panicking? I feel like this would be a good point to panic. As I am essentially a floating soul, being told that something has been changing me and that I am far from stable is extremely concerning. Luckily before I can figure out what happens when a soul starts to panic more glowing script appears in my void. Searching for solutions¡­ Solution found. Soul Lock creation in 3¡­ 2¡­ 1¡­ A vast pillar of golden light fills my void and streaks toward me. When it impacts an intense feeling of bliss fills me. The light twists and spirals all around me leaving ticklish trails of warmth everywhere it touches me. As soon as the light stops moving and the feeling of bliss leaves I realize that I feel much more¡­ solid isn¡¯t quite the right word since I am a soul after all but the word gets the idea across. Before the lock had set in I hadn¡¯t even been able to tell how feeble I was. I think I like this Soul Lock. The warm light was also nice will there be any more of that? Soul Lock created¡­ Calculating¡­ soul will reach 100% stability in 85:256:19:33:59 years, days, hours, minutes, seconds. Oh boy. That, that seems like a long time. Souls must heal really slowly. Error corrected¡­ scan recommencing¡­ No further errors found¡­ Beginning awakening¡­10¡­9¡­ Awakening! Wait what does that mean? To wake up I need a body! ¡­4¡­3¡­2¡­ Crap I¡¯m going to die! 1¡­ The void vanishes and my eyes snap open as all the sensations of being in a body crash over me. My eyes dart from side to side trying to take in the world around me but my view of the room around me is blocked by a large floating green box.
Welcome to the game Reiza
As soon as I have read its contents the box disappears. Wait! I really want that box back! It had my name on it and said something about a game. What game? Where am I? Who am I? Wait no I know who I am. I¡¯m Reiza. I¡¯m from¡­ from¡­ no I grew up in¡­ I don¡¯t know. My mind starts to whirl as I probe my mind for answers to question after question just to come up with nothing. My memories¡­ they¡¯re gone. At this point my attention is dragged to something much easier to deal with, my back hurts like hell! Tentatively I try moving my body. Starting with curling and uncurling my fingers and toes then moving to my arms and legs until after a couple of minutes I sit up. Ahh that feels much better. Looking down at myself I see that I have short slender arms ending in small hands, short thin legs leading to small feet, and a torso that is¡­ Okay dam it I¡¯m short. Movement off to the right catches my attention. Swatting at the black furry thing elicits a yelp as a sharp burst of pain shoots up my¡­ spine? No that¡¯s not quite right the pain was in my tail. Tail! I have a tail! How could I have forgotten something like that? Reaching out slowly this time I grab my tail and hug it to my chest. Soooo soft. This is officially my favorite thing to do. The sound of a small stone falling and bouncing across the floor jerks me out of the admiration of my tail and I finally take a look at my surroundings. I am currently sitting on some kind of raised stone slab in the center of a large hexagonal room. Walls of stone reach up to a ceiling that I can hardly make out in the darkness. One wall has a gaping black archway in it that leads who knows where but the wall opposite that is what catches my attention. It seems to be made of some perfectly smooth dark crystal and reflected in its surface is a young frightened girl¡­ me. Glossy black hair flows down over smooth pale white skin to near the center of my back. A long fluffy black tail wriggles slightly in my arms while two pointed black ears twitch slightly atop my head. The most captivating thing about my reflection is my eyes. Hopping off the slab I walk over to the crystal to get a better look. Set into a smooth and delicate young face a pair of luminous purple orbs stare back at me. The color is deep but somehow seems to glow with small bright dots scattered across the irises almost like stars. After finally taring my gaze away from the reflection of my eyes I notice a leather cord hanging around my neck. Looking down I find that the cord attaches to a delicate looking metal ring suspended in which is a single large seed. Well at about the size of the top half of my thumb I think it is rather large for a seed. Curiously the seed doesn¡¯t touch the metal ring at all but somehow floats suspended spinning slowly at its center. What is this? How does it float like that? Why do I have a seed? My ruminations are interrupted as a soft bell like chime echoes in my mind Ding¡­
Quest Alert: Growing Places! You have discovered a seed that was given to you by the deity *********. It is sure to be something of great importance. Nurture the seed to maturity before planting it to see what it grows. Reward: Unknown
This seed was a gift? If this message is right and it was given to me by a god I really should figure out how to take care of it. Ding¡­ Wisdom +1 Okay that seemed a bit like an insult but I can¡¯t be sure. Well since I have absolutely no idea how to take care of a seed this quest will have to take a back seat until I can figure out what to do. Oddly enough the quest prompt doesn¡¯t bother me as something deep inside me says that I have done one before. Quests are like tasks that I need to accomplish or something. Looking back down at the seed hanging between my ¡®breasts¡¯ I notice something else. It is a black tattoo in the shape of a double spiral. At about 4 or 5 inches in diameter the ends spiral into a central line where they come close together but avoid touching. Living enchantment ¨C Soul Lock Lv. 1 Placed to anchor your soul to your body and aid in its healing. Studying the intracusies of your soul can increase the enchantment¡¯s level and open new possibilities.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Now that is interesting but I don¡¯t really know anything about souls so- Ding¡­
Quest Alert: Baby Steps 1 Become a player in the game. This can be a daunting task but you are starting small. Make your way outside the temple and see what awaits you Reward: Access to the Status page
This newest quest alert makes me frown. The tone of that message was definitely patronizing. I did have the full intention of finding a way out of this place but I want to explore a bit more first. Something about this place makes it feel important. Not sure what it is other than just a feeling. Dismissing the newest box to flash in my vision with a shake of my head I turn to the wall next to the crystal one and begin examining it. The surface that had appeared to be smooth from the rooms center is actually covered in engravings of people. At the beginning there are two women. One is planting seeds in the earth that grow into people, while the other appears to be weaving people from the light of something far overhead. Following along the wall the people begin to create cities, one group growing them out of massive trees while the other builds them atop large flat hills beneath open skies. This is a story. But, who is it about? The thought feels right and something about the story seems familiar. Now deeply interested in the story I follow along the wall watching as the cities grow and enter an age of prosperity. I look on in wonder as they develop new technologies and what I can only guess is magic. My heart clenches when war erupts, and the civilizations fight to survive. Hope kindles inside me as small groups split off from the cities and begin searching the surrounding areas eventually finding each other. The two groups seem to be friendly and quickly start to interact with each other. They work together on fighting monsters, establishing trade and delving into the mysteries of the world. The two groups come together to build a temple and preparations are made for something big. Coming almost full circle I reach the last wall and stop short. The mural here is destroyed. Huge pieces have either been chipped off or cracked apart. Wha¡­ what happened? How does the story end? They were obviously building up to something but what? Why did this all feel so familiar! Angry, confused, and something else I rub the moisture coming from my face as my chest tightens. Wh.. what is this feeling? An ache that sinks deep into my chest buckles my knees and forces me to the ground. I¡­ is this¡­ sadness? Why would this broken mural make me cry? Why when I was so close to what feels like answers must they be out of my reach? Ding¡­ Again the bell rings in my mind and I try to wipe the tears from my eyes so I can read the golden script that is flowing across my vision. Hidden quest complete: Secrets of the Twilight Temple. You have explored what remains of the Twilight Temple uncovering some of its secrets. The most important part of the information you found has been lost or destroyed but you now know what to start looking for. Go forth into the world and maybe you will find the rest of what was thought lost. Reward: Wisdom +3 So this place is called the Twilight temple? If so who is it a temple to? Is it those two beings from the start of the mural? If so they must be gods, but which ones? Well like the quest prompt said there are no more answers here. Letting out another sigh I pick myself up off the floor and start to make my way to the only part of the room I have yet to explore, the large open archway. Looking through it I see a long set of stairs descending into darkness. If I look really closely, I can just make out a faint light at what must be the bottom of the stairs. Hesitating only slightly I start to make my way down, and down¡­ and down. Damn there are more stairs than I thought there were, this is tiring. As soon as my foot hist the floor below the last step an all to familiar sound fills my mind and I brace myself for the bright flash of green to block my vision¡­ but nothing happens. Confused I start looking around and finally notice a small blinking green dot in the bottom right of my vision. Focusing on it causes the box I had been waiting for to appear in front of me.
Quest Complete: Baby Steps 1! You have found the exit to the temple that is only 1 room and some stairs! Good job. Reward: Access to status screen
Humph, who is writing these things, because that one was condescending as hell. Also, what is a status- ¡°Ah!¡± As soon as I think the word status a new box appears blocking my vision causing me to let out a small shriek.
Status
Name: Reiza Classes -
Level: 1 -
Race: Beast-kin: Celestial Fox -
Gender: Female Final Class -
Age 14
Atributes
Strength: 7 Stamina: 30/80
Dexterity: 12 Mana: LOCKED
Constitution: 5
Endurance: 8 Free stat points 0
Intelligence: 12
Wisdom: 14
Luck: 7
Okay¡­ wow that is a lot of information to take in all at once. So it has my name and age, hmm no wonder I thought I looked so young I am only 14. The race Celestial fox does explain the tail and the ears although I¡¯m not sure what the celestial part means. Curious I focus on that part of the box and will it to tell me more¡­ nothing. Well I guess that is just one more thing to add to the list of shit I don¡¯t know. Continuing down the table see the attributes and a bunch of numbers. Not quite sure what they mean I try to look a little closer and this time more information comes to me. Strength: The amount of physical force you are able to wield. A high strength will increase your potential damage with physical attacks. Strength also reflects how much weight you are able to lift, carry, or move. Dexterity: Your body¡¯s ability to move quickly and accurately. A high dexterity will increase how fast you can move and improve your ability to do tasks that require precise movements. Constitution: Often mistaken for health this stat actually represents your bodies ability to resist injury. A high constitution will make your body tougher and more resistant to disease, poison and negative status effects. A high constitution also increases the bodies regenerative abilities. Endurance: The amount of physical energy your body possesses. A high endurance allows you to run longer or keep a higher speed for an extended period of time. Physical action decreases stamina so a higher endurance will keep you going longer. *1pt = 10 stamina* Intelligence: The sharpness of your mind. A higher intelligence does not make you smarter but increases your clarity of mind and ability to recall information, so it helps. A high intelligence also increases your mana regeneration and makes your spells more powerful. Wisdom: Your presence of mind. Wisdom is the knowledge of oneself and one¡¯s surroundings. A high wisdom increases how aware one is as well as increasing the size of their mana pool. *1pt = 10Mp* Luck: It¡¯s lucky¡­ maybe? That was mostly helpful. At least now I know wat all of them do. So, with my current stats I seem to be strongest in wisdom, intelligence and dexterity. My strength and constitution are both pretty low though. That is probably because I am so young, but I will have to be careful. Luck also seems to be on the low side which makes sense with me having no memories and all but the nonexistent explanation on luck makes that hard to judge. I wonder how can I raise these stats. I did get a few bonuses to my wisdom but most of that came from a quest and the other well¡­ I¡¯m not sure where that one came from. Maybe if I do more of these quests, I can raise my stats. How else? I¡¯ll need to consider that later. Having finished looking over my stats again I turn my attention to the next part of the status page and focus my attention on the classes section. Classes represent the roles that you play within the game. Once a class is acquired and leveled to 10 a new class can be chosen up to a maximum of three. They are numerous and varied. There is a class out there for everyone. *Each class has hidden requirements that must be met before it can be selected* Final Class: This special class can only be attained once a person has collected all three of their classes. The Final Class combines the three previously obtained classes and generates a new and often unique class. *Warning having conflicting classes can cause the final class to generate either poor or sometimes even negative results so choose wisely* This part is fairly straight forward. Doing certain things will allow me to unlock a class. After getting three classes I can combine them to form a Final Class. If I pick complementary classes then my Final Class will be better. This bares further thought but for a future time once I have done a few things to unlock more classes. After contemplating my status sheet a while longer, I notice that my stamina has risen slightly to 47/80. That¡¯s good so by resting I can recover stamina. Deciding that I have learned all I can from the status screen for now I will it to close before getting to my feet and making my way to the temple¡¯s exit. ¡°Wow¡± ¡­ I let out a small gasp of awe as I pass through the arch of the entrance and take in what lies beyond. Ding¡­ New Location discovered. Welcome to the Twilight Grove. 02: The Twilight Grove Outside the temple is a sight that is utterly beautiful. A massive dome has been excavated from the earth to create a spacious underground cavern. Despite being underground the Twilight Grove has none of the characteristics of a cave. Soft light filters down from a large crystal moon at the apex of the dome while smaller crystals paint constellations of stars across the ¡®sky¡¯. A soft breeze flows across a carpet of thick soft grass carrying with it the scent of fresh spring rain. The sound of water running softly over rock echoes from a stream flowing into the cavern where it splits to form a hexagonal lake with an island at the center. A small gently arching bridge in faded shades of green and brown spans the river to provide access to the island. At the very heart of the cavern, directly under the light of a crystal moon stands a tree. Weathered and stooped with age a single unopened blossom is the adornment it possesses. Faint barely noticeable pulses of power draw my attention to the ancient tree. The waves come in a regular pattern as if a large heart is pushing life into the ground. In a daze staring wide eyed around the cavern stuck in an eternal night I find my legs drawing me towards the source of its heartbeat. I freeze as my foot finally touches the first plank of the bridge. Should I approach this place? It feels¡­ holy¡­ no that¡¯s not right. It¡­ it feels¡­ natural. It emanates a feeling of untouched wilderness, wild, free, and delicate. Hesitating afraid to cross into such a place I decide to investigate what all the notifications I received in the last couple of minutes have to say. Welcome to the Twilight Grove, the heart of Greenwood Forest. New Location Discovered!
Quest Complete: Baby Steps II You have explored the Twilight Grove and found the heart of the forest. You are in a place untouched for hundreds of years¡­ tread carefully. Reward: Access to Skills page
Quest Alert: Baby Steps III The forest¡¯s heart beats faintly. Approach the heart tree and find out why. Reward: Choice of knowledge text: Crafting, Magic, Medicine, Plant Care
New Class options are available! So this place really is the heart of the forest. Both of the quest prompts are telling me that I should got to this heart tree but I still don¡¯t know if I should. I really need a few more minutes to think this over. Still trying to get up the nerves to approach the heart tree I decide to check out the new skills page I have access to.
Skills
Living Enchantments
Natural Language
Endless Song
Okay so I only have three skills, that¡¯s honestly more than I expected to have. I wonder if I can pull up additional information on this page like I did with the status page. Focusing back on the list of skill I start at the top and try to expand the information on each of my skills. Living Enchantments ¨C An enchantment has been engraved upon your body and soul. To account for the fluctuating nature of souls the enchantment has been given life. Developing it will cause it to grow with you and possibly develop new abilities. Natural Language ¨C You are able to speak the language of nature itself. Animal or plant, all will hear and understand the words you speak and you will hear theirs. Endless Song ¨C Beginnings, endings¡­ both are meaningless within the endless flow. Wow those are some damn cool skills. The living enchantments must refer to the soul lock on my chest. That one although it says it is there to help stabilize my soul, seems to hint at possible growth. Maybe I can get it to change or there is even the possibility of gaining new enchantments. I will need to think on this and do some experiments in the future. Natural Language is also interesting. Being able to talk to animals would be cool but plants? Can plants even talk? Now the last skill¡­ Endless Song¡­ its description is vague. The way it is worded hints that it is much, much more than just a song. Focusing on the skill I can almost hear the faint echoes of what could be words. As I try to listen harder a force pushes my mind back. Wrinkling my brows in irritation I push back harder. This is my skill, I want to know! The force resisting me vanishes and my mind plunges forward into the flow of music. I should not have done that. Words crash into my mind with the force of a mountain dropped from space and I start to scream as I fall to the ground blood pouring from my eyes, ears, and nose. *Warning you do not poses the knowledge required to safely comprehend the Endless Song. Attempting to use this skill without the requisite knowledge will result in further pain or death* Ding- Pain resistance has reached level 3! Ding- Mental resistance has reached level 5! Ding- Soul resistance has reached level 3! Pain resistance ¨C You have experienced pain that others would find debilitating and survived. Either gravely injured, a masochist, or just very unlucky you have learned that pain is inevitable but feeling it is a choice. Reduces the physical pain that you feel. Mental resistance ¨C You have learned that physical pain is child¡¯s play when compared to something that can attack you very mind. The mind is a delicate thing and should be protected at all costs. You seem eager to turn yourself into a vegetable, but this skill should help prevent that. Reduces the effects of mental damage. Soul resistance ¨C You have done something unbelievably stupid and somehow managed to suffer damage to your soul. After somehow surviving something that should never have happened you have gained this skill. Reduces the damage taken from soul-based attacks. ¡°Oouuuuch.¡± I manage to groan weakly between coughs. I lay there for some time waiting for the pain assaulting me to fade. Even with my new resistances it takes a while. Trembling violently, I force myself to sit up and wipe the blood off my face. What the hell was that! My own skill tried to kill me! How- why do I have a skill that I ¡®don¡¯t have the knowledge¡¯ for! Going from shocked to pissed in a heartbeat I fume silently while trying to regain my composure. The skill sits in the back of my mind calling out to me like a siren, begging me to use it. I mentally glare at it. No way! I am not going through that again!A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Ding ¨C Intelligence and Constitution +1!
Quest Alert: The Endless Song A song of incomprehensible power that bends the very laws of nature; it is beyond your current understanding. To know this song you must know the 6 primal aspects of nature. Feel them, listen to them, and understand them. - Understand Fire - Understand Wind - Understand Water - Understand Earth - Understand Light - Understand Darkness Reward: The Endless Song
Well at least I can eventually lean to use it but, understand fire? How the hell can I understand something like that its just fire! Uuuhhhg, I can¡¯t deal with something like this right now. Sighing in resignation I relegate this skill and quest to the realm of temporarily impossible. Across the bridge the tree¡¯s faint heartbeat still calls to me. Hesitantly I put a foot back on the bridge before freezing in indecision. The island still feels like a place that I shouldn¡¯t approach. The wind in the cavern shifts and a voice like leaves rustling and a summer breeze calls softly ¡°Come child¡­ do not¡­ be afraid.¡± Instantly my ears shoot up and my tail puffs up while twitching erratically. Th-That tree i- it just spoke to me. Unwilling to disobey the order of something so powerful and definitely afraid, very afraid, I slowly start to cross the bridge. My first step onto the island sends adrenaline shooting through my veins as instincts unknown to me awaken to the pure wildness of the area. My eyesight sharpens, the sounds around me become clearer, smells become more distinct, and the taste of water and grass come on the wind. Ding- Skill acquired ¨C Primal senses Primal senses ¨C You have experienced something that is truly wild. Your deepest instincts have been awakened. All senses are now heightened to help you survive in a place where nature rules all. ¡°Goooood. You can feeeel it. The wild calls to you. Now coooome siiiiit.¡± The tree speaks again its voice coming and going on a whisper of wind. Slowly I approach the old withered tree and lower myself to the ground beneath the single unopened blossom. ¡°Little fox¡­ my time has long passssssed. I can not remain much longer¡­ even now my power fadessss.¡± This I can sense. The pulses of power so much like a heartbeat are comeing further ant further apart, weakening in strength. ¡°C-can I help you?¡± I ask, my voice just as soft as the tree¡¯s. A rustling laughter sounding like leaves and rain comes from the tree. ¡°Nooo little one. All things eventually die and even I have clung to life for too long.¡± My fear is gone, replaced by deep respect and a twinge of sadness. To see something so ancient, that has fought fate for so long and now is ready to calmly accept its fate is humbling. ¡°I have but one thhhing to requessst of you, but first you musssst know¡­ more¡± ¡°I am the heart tree, center, watcher, and guardian of this forest. I guide it and protect it. But time has gotten the better of me and I have failed to uphold my dutyyyyy. Corruption has sunk into the hearts of those I once thought would aid in protecting the forest. They have turned against the natural order and now try to rule what is not theirs. They call themselves the forest queenssss.¡± ¡°The queen of illusion weaves things where there is nothing. She misdirects and misleads others while devouring their minds. The queen of shadows hides from the light. She strikes at all without cause and without honor. The queen of deception spreads despair an lies in her wake. She breaks the strongest hearts and preys on the broken. The final queen I shall not speak of. You must find her on your own. Each has gone against the natural order and their efforts are tearing the forest apart, attempting to convert it to their assssspect.¡± ¡°Alassss they are not the only threatssss. To the south a blight has newly formed. In the north drakes encroach on territory they should not. Worst of all¡­ outsiders are destroying the forest. They stomp and crush and take¡­ They carve long paths, fell trees, and kill without purpose.¡± The pain in the old tree¡¯s voice is near heartbreaking. As it speaks, I can almost feel the forest¡¯s pain as a physical sensation. Things sound really bad and this tree can no longer protect what it clearly loves. Thinking about the forest dying and outsiders spoiling a place that is so pure and wild almost makes me retch. ¡°Wha- what would you have me d- do?¡± I stammer trying to hold back tears. Wrapping my tail around myself, hugging it against my chest, I gently start to stroke it trying to find some comfort. ¡°It pains me greatly to ask so much of one so young. I ask that you do what I no longer can¡­ I ask that you protect this forest.¡± The request stuns me. ¡°Bu- but I- I- can¡¯t. I am so weak, and I don¡¯t know how.¡± I stammer, mind racing trying to grasp what such a job would entail. ¡°Do not fear, little fox. You will learn¡­ you will grow. I am at the end now and no time remains for another to find their way here. So please I ask you one last time¡­ will you protect this forest?¡± The tree replies its voice fainter than before. Heart pounding, I think over everything the tree has told me. I remember the feeling of awe that overtook me upon entering the cavern, and the pain at the thought of the forest dying and this wild place ceasing to exist. I know what I need to do. ¡°I-¡°Swallowing deeply I continue, ¡° I accept.¡± ¡°Thank you little one. The task ahead of you is great but it will not always be yours alone.¡± The tree rasps its voice becoming strained. Its words confusing me. ¡°What do you mean that the task will not be mine alone?¡± I ask. ¡°The seed you carry¡­ it has the potential to become a new heart tree.¡± It replies. ¡°This seed? Please tell me how I take care of it! How do I get it to grow?¡± I nearly shout. ¡°Blood, water, mana, light, dark¡­ it needs all of these. She will bond to you. You must learn how much of each she requires. Though she sleeps she will hear your voice¡­ speak to her¡­ teach her.¡± Gratitude fills my chest at the reply. To know that I will not always be alone, and to know how to bring my little seed to life warms my insides. ¡°Our time¡­ has¡­ reached its¡­ end little fox.¡± The tree rasps voice fading. ¡°I give¡­ a final¡­ gift¡­¡± Parts of the tree start to crumble, bark and branch turning to dust. Above my head a single branch lowers, a single blossom pulsing with life. Reaching up cupped hand I watch as the small green bud opens into a beautiful flower. Petals of deep violate are streaked with patches of blues and dots of white. Just like the Twilight Grove the heart tree produces a flower that captures the beauty of the night sky. ¡°Goodbye¡­ little¡­ fox¡­¡± Tears fill my eyes and a deep ache fills my chest as the flower separates from the tree falling into my raised hands. The branch it had ben on falls to land next to me as the tree crumbles. A thousand years it spent protecting this forest and it leaves behind a thing of beauty and dust to nurture what comes next. Clutching the flower gently to my chest I cry. For a long time, I mourn the loss of something that was so pure and loving. After some time has passed, I am finally able to quench my tears and start to look at the notifications that had come during my discussion with the tree.
Quest Complete: Baby steps III You have learned the heart tree is dying and listened to its dying wish. The future is now in your hands. You must decide which path you will follow. Reward: Choice of knowledge text
Quest Alert: Guardian of the Forest The heart tree is dead. You have agreed to take up its duties. This forest is now yours, but you do not control it. To carry out your new duties there is much that is required of you. - Defeat the 4 forest queens o Queen of illusion o Queen of shadows o Queen of deception o Queen of ????????? - Cure the blight - Drive out the drakes - Fix damage caused by the outsiders - Grow a new heart tree Reward: Unknown Failure: The forest dies
Unique items received! The Twilight Heart ¨C The last gift of a heat tree before its death this flower will never deteriorate. It will remain as an everlasting reminder of your promise, and the beauty that can only be found in truly wild places Eon Branch ¨C Steeped in the magic of a heart tree for a thousand years this branch has unique and unknown properties. Due to its shape and suppleness it is meant to be used to craft a bow. New class options are available! Things certainly are changing for me. Only hours ago, I woke up with no memories and now I sit here with a quest I¡¯m not sure I can complete. The flower from the heart tree is meant to be a reminder of my promise and I will remember it as that. To ensure that I never forget my promise I take the flower and while I collect my hair into a long single braid, I weave it into my hair next to my right ear. Now I can carry it with me every day. I will either fulfil my promise or I will die bearing its weight. Now the branch that will become a bow is something I cannot use right now. To attempt carving it with no skill would border on heresy. I must learn how to make a bow to make use of this gift. The events of the day finally catch up with me and I realize how utterly tired I am. I still have to pick which knowledge text to receive as a reward for completing my quest, but I can¡¯t decide which one I want, and I would regret picking one without careful thought. I will get to that tomorrow. Curling up on grass nearly as soft as my fur I clutch my tail to my chest and quickly fall into a deep sleep. In my dreams three large figures wrapped in shadows loom over a forest. They laugh as their shadows spread through the trees. 03: Experiments and Happy Accidents Slowly opening my eyes after a restless night plagued with dreams of malevolent shadows, the first thing I realize is that I am thirsty, very thirsty. Stretching out tight muscles I crawl over to the water surrounding the small island and dip my hands into the cool flow. Cupping my hands, I bring some to my lips and let out a sigh of contentment. The cool water instantly sooths the dryness in my mouth and throat, while simultaneously sending a cool rush of energy through my entire body. All I want to do is plunge my head into the depths and gulp down the water until I burst. Everything here is mine now¡­ I could just drink it all. Hmmm¡­ no the old tree said I had to protect this place and the forest, and that means I cant waste resources. Doing that would make me like one of those outsiders it spoke of. Letting out another sigh, this one of resignation, I force myself to back away from the water. Well on the topic of being the new guardian of this place I should really come up with a plan on how to get strong enough to defend this place. My quests gave me a solid outline of what I need to do¡­ Ah! My quests! I still have that knowledge text that I can claim! In a rush of excitement, I quickly pull up the quest information to see what my options are. It looks like I can choose between crafting, magic, medicine, and plant care¡­ so which do I want? Magic would be really cool and would definitely help me to get stronger, but I don¡¯t know if I would be able to use it or not. Having no memory makes picking that one rather risky because I might not be able to understand the concepts it would go over and then picking the magic text would be a waste. Also, when I was looking at my status page it said that my mana was locked so I probably cant even use magic until that becomes unlocked. I guess that means the magic text is out. Crafting would help me to make use of the gift the tree gave me, maybe. The branch is meant to be crafted into a bow, but the crafting text might not tell me how to make one. Also, there is the issue of me not having any tools that could be used to help craft things. There are too many negatives to selecting this text, so crafting is also out. Now plant care would directly help me to complete one of my quests, but the old tree already told me what I needed to do to grow my seed. It said I would need to feed it blood, water, mana, light, and dark- oh and that I would need to talk to it so that it could learn how to be a good guardian. I feel like it would be a little weird to talk to a seed all the time but probably less so than always talking to myself. Getting of track again. With what I already know about taking care of my seed, getting the plant care text would be redundant and I would undoubtedly gain very little from it. This leaves the medicine text as the only one that I haven¡¯t yet eliminated. I see the same downsides here as I did with the magic text. If the concepts are too high level or rely on things that I have forgotten, then the book won¡¯t be a lot of help. On the other hand, my constitution is really low so it might be a good idea to know how to heal myself when I inevitably get injured. ¡°Well little guy what do you think?¡± I ask my seed. Naturally the seed says nothing. ¡°Good chat. Medicine text it is then!¡± I proclaim while chuckling softly at myself. In the rewards section of the quest box I focus on the medicine text. The quest popup disappears and in a brief flash of light a large book appears in the air in front of me, whereupon it promptly falls victim to gravity and drops down onto my foot. ¡°Shit! Stupid¡­ reward my¡­ rrrrr¡± I swear loudly before proceeding to grumble incoherently while rubbing my now very sore foot. That book was quite heavy. Looking at the title scrolled in thin golden script across the grey cover of the book makes me want to start swearing again. The stupid book is called ¡®Medicine Made so Easy Even a 14 Year Old Can Learn it!¡¯ I feel like some of these quests and now rewards are made specifically to screw with me. Giving the book a hard glare, I reach over and pick it up while grumbling a bit more. Well I¡¯ve goth nothing else that I know I can do today so I might as well start reading this beast. I mean it is a rather large book. After giving the thing one final glare I flip it open and start to read. Hours pass by in a blur as knowledge fills my mind. Not only can I understand almost everything the book contains, but the material is fascinating. The book is broken into to sections: Natural and Energy. The natural section goes into great detail about the natural healing capabilities of the body, and different things that can be found in nature to aid the body in healing itself. There are plants to help improve regeneration, roots that cause the body to expel toxins and so much more. The material from the natural section was interesting but the part of the book that took me the longest to understand and held the largest part of my interest was the energy section. To put it in simple terms the body has an internal pool of energy, and when that energy is moved through specific channels in the right directions a myriad of effects can be gained. These effects are all similar to those granted by the natural methods but don¡¯t require any materials. Simply by moving energy in the right way it is possible to reduce pain, speed regeneration, expel poisons and more! The book even hinted that high level practitioners of the energy method were even able to regrow organs and limbs within hours or minutes! Loosing an arm or something would really suck, but with this I would be able to grow it back! This text was definitely a good choice. Now then time to experiment! Having finished reading to book I was not in a hurry to run into the forest and try to find healing herbs, no I was rushing right into attempting to learn the energy manipulation method of healing. Was this reckless? Probably. Did I care? Not in the slightest. Okay so to do this the book said I first had to be able to sense the ball of energy that should be present in my core. That¡¯s what it was called but it should be located near my heart. After I find that I need to identify each of the seven channels leaving that area and pass a thin stream of energy into them. That is the part where I need to be very careful since overdrawing my energy and completely draining my pool could kill me. Since it refills with time I just need to wait for it to replenish naturally before continuing if I get close to being drained. Satisfied that I had the method to establish the baseline for the energy method memorized I adjusted how I was sitting to get more comfortable then started to meditate. Closing my eyes, I turned all my senses inward and started to search for the tightly packed ball of energy near my heart. I search for a while before I come to the realization that something is wrong. I do not have a tight ball of energy inside me, instead my chest is perfused with a loose wispy cloud of the stuff. Now that¡¯s just not going to do. I want to learn this method and nothing in the book said I could do that with my energy in a loose cloud. I will just have to force it to form myself then! My mind made up I set to doing just that. This is much harder than I anticipated. The energy is a fickle thing, slipping and sliding through my mental hands as I try to force it together. Getting fed up with the energy sliding away from me I focus harder and form what I can only describe as a mental bucket of sorts. This time when I start pushing the energy into the bucket it is much easier to control since there is only one way for it to escape. After corralling all the wispy clouds of the stuff, I can find into my bucket I am about to seal it off when I notice something curious. I can sense thin tendrils of energy seeping back into the area I just cleared but it is not coming from my bucket. This must be my natural regeneration refilling me with new energy or it could be my body absorbing the ambient energy that is around me. It¡¯s going to be a problem if it just fills into another cloud. I need it to flow into where the rest of my energy is. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. Working carefully, I search for the points where the energy is entering my body. After finally tracking them all down I create small mental pipes for them to flow down. The pipes lead to my bucket and after some mental gymnastics I finally create a series of one-way valves that let the energy flow in but keep it from escaping. Checking around one final time for any energy that I missed I close off the bucket and prepare for the next step. Whew, that was not easy. Okay the next step, now that I finally have a ¡®ball¡¯ of energy is to condense it. Turning my focus back to my bucket of energy I set my mind to smoothing it out into a ball. Being very careful not to let any holes form I stretch and shape the bucket until it turns into a perfect sphere. The shape finally set I start to condense the ball. After just a moment of work I stop realizing that I will need to extend the ¡®pipes¡¯ containing the incoming energy as I shrink the ball. Refocusing I bring all my mental power to bare on the task at hand. Mind straining, I begin the arduous balancing act of shrinking the sphere while refusing to let any energy leak out. Going from the size of my chest to the size of a loaf of bread to the size of three fists, the ball shrinks getting harder and harder to condense further. I try to focus harder but no matter how much force I try to apply to the ball of energy it refuses to shrink any further. Hmmm well the book never said how small the energy ball would have to be, but this will just have to do. I think I did pretty good for doing this from scratch. Now I just need to make sure that I can hold this pattern without too much effort. For an undetermined period of time I focus on just holding the pattern fast in my mind. Gently relaxing my hold on it as time passes and I get used to holding it without constant effort. A few times I have to quickly exert my will to reshape a part that deforms or to patch an area that starts to thin. Eventually I feel confident that the pattern will hold and release my hold on it. Watching for a few minutes and seeing no changes I feel satisfied, deciding it is time to move on to the next step. Mentally reentering the core, I start to probe the edges, searching for the openings to the channels described in the text. Finding one I start to gather a thin thread of energy from the core and begin feeding the energy into the channel. Curious to see where it goes, I let my mind be dragged along the flow. I am ferried along a long twisting tunnel that goes from my heart, up the back of my neck, around my skull and eyes, then back down my throat returning to the core. Repeating the process six more times I fill all the channels with energy, watching with a little bit of concern as my core gets very low. Luckily there is enough there to complete the task without needing to stop. Now very pleased with myself I am about to exit the mental scape inside my body when I notice something very curious. There is a new set of channels that shouldn¡¯t be there. That¡¯s odd¡­ where do you go? Moving back into my core I move my mind through the new paths. Curiously these paths move relatively along the same paths as the previous channels that I filled but reside on a much deeper level. This is really odd but now that I¡¯ve seen them I just have to fill them as well. How much energy is in my core? Hmm, not much¡­ damn looks like I have to wait. Impatiently I watch as energy lowly trickles back into my core. After a small eternity my core is finally full again. Without hesitation I feed energy into the new channels. As soon as they are all full an intense tingling sensation runs through my entire body and all the energy flowing through me takes on a denser consistency and turns a pure shimmering white. Shivering in pleasure I fall over writhing on the ground. Jerked from my meditative state by the intense sensations I let out soft whimpers and the occasional moan as the energy seems to permeate my entire body. Oh god wha- what was that? Th- that felt amazing. My face flushed and body covered in sweat I gingerly run my hands over my body. Fresh from the aftermath of what just happened everything is still to sensitive. The merest touch against my skin makes me shiver. Trying to regain some semblance of control over myself I just lay there attempting to slow my breathing. In the midst of this the green dot indicating new notifications flashes so rapidly it is almost constantly on. Oh¡­ I must have several new ones that came in during my meditation that I didn¡¯t notice. Why is it flashing so much? Is it because I¡¯ve been ignoring it or does it mean there are multiple notifications? Hmmm, well only one way to find out. Mentally focusing on the dot I will my notifications to show and my head nearly explodes as a tidal wave of information crashes into my mind. Intelligence + 2! Wisdom + 1! Skill acquired ¨C Speed reading Speed reading has reached level 4! Speed reading ¨C You don¡¯t just read, you SPEEED READ! Not content to absorb knowledge at the rate of a regular person you quickly and eagerly devour information that is written down. Reading speed increased by 5% per skill level. Skill acquired ¨C Coalescence Coalescence has reached level 3! Coalescence ¨C Not satisfied with the use of uncontrolled energy you have learned to contain energy so it can be released in a controlled manner. Condensing this energy makes it more potent and allows you to contain more. +1 Wisdom per skill level Skill acquired ¨C Mana Manipulation Mana Manipulation has reached level 5! Mana Manipulation ¨C You have learned to move and shape the energy that is mana. Forcing the energy to go where you want it and assume the shape you will it to, this is your mana. Increase skill level to improve you¡¯re control over mana. +1 Intelligence per skill level Skill acquired ¨C Energy Healing Energy healing has reached level 2! Energy Healing ¨C You have learned that it is possible to heal without the need for plants or potions. Simply by moving the energy within your body in a specific way you can cause your body to heal. Healing potential increases with skill level. Skill acquired ¨C Mana Channels Mana Channels ha reached level 7! Mana Channels ¨C Mana flowing freely through your body can cause some serious problems but you have found the solution. Natural paths in your body allow for the free passage of mana. +1 Intelligence & +1 Wisdom per skill level
System Alert! Pure Mana Affinity acquired! Mana affinity is determined by the tings that influence you at the time of acquisition. Somehow you used knowledge of a healing method to unlock something you did not understand in a way that should not have been possible. Due to having no influences at the time of acquisition you have unlocked the Pure Mana Affinity. You are able to sense and manipulate any type of mana without penalty. Mana unlocked! Luck + 2!
New class options are available! Mental resistance has reached level 6! Holly crap! My mind was hit by so much information that it registered as a psychic attack! And boy oh boy is that a lot of information. Slowly making my way through all of the notifications my heart starts to beat faster as I get to the part about pure mana affinity. Mana unlocked! Ho- holy crap I unlocked my magic! I did it! I Somehow did it! Jumping up and doing a little happy dance I celebrate my newfound skills. Now that I can use mana I have to learn magic! In a giddy rush I pull a little mana from what I now am pretty sure is my mana core and run it down my arms to my hands. A warm tingle flows with the mana and upon reaching its destination a small cloud of white sparkles bursts from my palms. Squealing in delight I dance in the cloud until a wave of exhaustion hit me. Bending over while gasping for breath and trying really, really hard not to fall over again, I wait for the sensation to pass. This- wheeze- must- wheeze- be mana depletion- wheeze. I need to be careful with that and try not to overdo it again. Having just used magic for what is the first time I can remember a wide smile crosses my face. I can¡¯t wait to experiment some more! 04: A Class, A Class I Did It For A Class I temporarily put on hold my eagerness to continue experimenting with my new magic while I recover from my previous expenditure. Not wanting to waste any time I pull up my status and skills sheet to really see how much progress I have made.
Status
Name: Reiza Classes -
Level: 1 -
Race: Beast-kin: Celestial Fox -
Gender: Female Final Class -
Age 14
Atributes
Strength: 7 Stamina: 30/80
Dexterity: 12 Mana: 180/250
Constitution: 6
Endurance: 8 Free stat points 0
Intelligence: 27
Wisdom: 25
Luck: 9
Skills Level
Coalessence 3
Endless song -
Energy Healing 2
Living enchantments - Soul lock 1
Mana Channels 7
Mana Manipulation 5
Mental Resistance 6
Natural Language
Pain resistance 3
Primal Senses 1
Soul Resistance 3
Speed Reading 4
Oh wow I really have made a lot of progress. My intelligence and wisdom have skyrocketed! I¡¯m a bit bummed that my constitution and other more physical stats are still really low but I¡¯m sure that I can get them to increase. When I read the medicine book I saw stat increases so maybe if I do some physical training I can get my other stats up to par. Hmmm¡­ wait! I completely forgot that I should be talking to my seed! Well I don¡¯t need to tell it or well her everything so I guess I can just talk about my experiments with her. Having finished going over my status page and satisfied with the amount of mana I have recovered I decide it is time to press on. ¡°Okay so I¡¯ve seen what it is like to just spray out a bit of mana but now I¡¯m going to try and let out a little bit and just see how well I can control it.¡±Stolen novel; please report. Putting action to word I again draw a little mana from my core and let it flow out of my hand making sure to not draw out too much. Making sure not to loose control of it a thin streamer of pearly white mana flows around my hand. Laughing I play it around my fingers and bounce it from hand to hand. Wanting to see more I slowly start moving the streamer away from my body. After a couple of feet it gets noticeably harder to control and at about 10 feet I find that I can¡¯t move it any further. ¡°My current range of movement isn¡¯t all that far but when it¡¯s close to my body I have pretty good control over it.¡± Bringing the streamer of mana back towards me I move it closer to my chest and the little seed plucks it from my control quickly devouring it. ¡°Hey! I was playing with that.¡± I complain at the seed. ¡°If you wanted some all you had to do is ask.¡± Naturally my little seed stays stoically silent, it does however emanate a gentle warmth as if happy or content. Suppressing a grumble and trying not to smile at the pleasant feeling the seed radiates I decide to move on to my next experiment. ¡°Since you ate my mana I guess I¡¯ll try something new. I already know what happens when I use mana externally so now I want to see what happens when I try using it internally.¡± Already knowing what happens with the healing patterns I avoid using those and instead push mana up into my head. Instantly a cool refreshing feeling fills my mind. ¡°Results are good so far. A mama infusion appears to reduce fatigue and my thoughts are so much clearer. This might be able to- oh!¡± While talking over what was happening a thread of mana made its way to my eyes and the world changed. The entire cavern now glows different colors. The grass is illuminated by a soft green light, while the crystal stars glow a cheerful yellow. Other colors are also visible: the blue of water gleams brightly from the stream, the rock lets of a barely visible brown glow and wisps of teal flow through the air. ¡°I- it¡¯s so beautiful.¡± I whisper. ¡°I can see all of the mana.¡± Captivated by the beauty of what I can see, I just stand there and stare. Several minutes pass and the lights slowly fade away as the mana drains from my eyes. Ready to push more mana that direction I am interrupted by a familiar chime. Ding! Having discovered mana the energy that permeates body and soul you have increased your soul stability! Time to 100% stability reduced by 10 years! Soul Lock has reached level 2! Having increased the level of your soul lock it is now able to support an additional living enchantment! Research more skills and magic to develop more. Increasing the level of soul lock will allow for additional living enchantments to be created. You have 1 enchantment available would you like to create? Yes/No Uhh¡­ that cool. So now it will only take about 70 years for my soul to become stable. The ability to get more living enchantments is awesome I will have to try and get more. Would I like to create a new one? Yes! As soon as I mentally select the yes button my body starts to glow with a bright golden light. Black ink seems to fill the spiral of the soul lock before pouring out along the paths of my energy healing skill. As the ink flows over my skin the same feeling of ecstasy I experienced with the formation of the soul lock flows over my body. After a time that is both exquisitely long and painfully short the sensation ends, and a new tattoo adorns my pale skin. Chains of interlocking hexagons flow out of the soul lock following the paths of my energy healing method. The marks are faint and barely noticeable unless seen from the right angle. The graceful flow of it around my body is captivating and I spend a few moments to admire it. Living enchantment created! Skill energy healing consumed to create Healing Matrix Healing Matrix ¨C Needing to circulate healing energy yourself is a thing of the past. The Healing Matrix constantly moves minimal amounts of energy through your body to keep up a constant state of heightened regeneration. Should a significant injury occur you can add mana to this enchantment, and it will activate greater healing properties. Should you be rendered unconscious or be unable to feed mana to the enchantment it can act using its reserves and still provide healing. Increase level to increase healing capabilities. +1 Constitution per enchantment level New class choices available! ¡°Oh I like this one! It heals and increases my constitution. Let¡¯s see what it can do!¡± I exclaim happily. Pushing a thread of mana into the matrix I gasp as the whole thing starts to glow with faint blue light and a wave of refreshing energy infuses my muscles. ¡°Oh this feels great, and it¡¯s so pretty!¡± Turning my attention away from one of my new favorite things I look closely at the last part of the notification. ¡°Hmmm¡­ I¡¯ve seen that show up several times now. I guess I should really look at what¡¯s available. I want to get good classes but they will have to help me with what I do or I will end up with a crappy final class.¡± Deciding to finally take a look at what options I have I pull up the class selection menu.
Available Classes
Basic
Explorer
Ranger
Rare
Druid
Mage
Healer
Legendary
Druidic Defender
¡°Okay so it looks like classes are separated into three different levels. I don¡¯t think I want to take a basic class so that leaves- oh a legendary class! Druidic Defender. I wonder what it does.¡± Focusing closely on the class I try to bring up more information on it but nothing happens. Frowning I try again with another class on the list¡­ and another¡­ and another. No matter how many times I try no information appears. ¡°Crap! It looks like I¡¯m going to have to pick with no knowledge of what it actually is.¡± Silently pondering weather it would be worth it I stare at the legendary Druidic Defender class. ¡°Well it is a legendary class, and I am supposed to defend the forest, so it does fit¡­ alright let¡¯s do it¡± Closing my eyes tight I mentally select the Druidic Defender class and confirm my choice. White and green mana swirls around me going faster and faster before sinking into my skin and disappearing. As soon as the mana is gone a notification covers my vision.
Legendary Class Acquired Druidic Defender Having received the blessing of a heart tree and unlocked a pure mana affinity you have ascended above the average druid. As a Druidic Defender you are charged with the duty of protecting the forest and growing a new heart tree. Possessing a deep connection to nature you will find it much easier to learn nature based magics. Sensing this connection nature calls to you increasing your awareness of what happens around you. +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom per class level
This class is perfect! Increasing my ability to learn nature based magics is perfect for growing in power. As for nature calling to me, I can now sense all of the problems that the heart tree told me to fix. Granted the feeling is rather vague but I can feel the general location of the blight and even have a rough idea of the territory that each of the queens has claimed¡­ yikes that¡¯s a lot of territory. Back to the magic now I really want to start experimenting. I am about to dive headfirst into more magical experimentation when a tugging sensation in my gut makes me stop. Looking down at my little seed I start to feel a sensation of thirst. The seed isn¡¯t just thirsty it wants¡­ it wants some of my blood. The abilities of my new class are allowing me to sense so much more from my little seed. The reason that it wants my mana is so that it can form a deeper connection to me and it wants the blood because there are so many nutrients in it. No longer feeling hesitant about giving blood to my seed I prick my finger with one of my sharp canines and let the blood drip onto my seed. The seed eagerly absorbs drop after drop until finally a feeling of contentment comes across our bond. Stopping the flow of blood with a pulse of my healing matrix I again prepare to jump into experimenting with magic and am again stopped by the instincts of my class. Uhhhg what now? Turning my attention inward I am assaulted by a feeling of uncleanness and sickness. Trying hard not to retch while failing to suppress a shiver I pull my senses back. Apparently, the problem with the blight is getting bad. Using my connection to the forest to create a vague map I look for where my instincts tell me a problem is. It takes several minutes but eventually I map out a course that will take me to the blight without crossing into the territory of a queen, something tells me I¡¯m not ready for that encounter. With this path it should take me about¡­ 3 days to get there. I guess the problem might not be that bad yet but with the travel time my class is definitely telling me I don¡¯t have much time to dawdle. I guess I will just have to take my experiments on the road! I¡¯m feeling fairly refreshed still since basically all I¡¯ve done today is meditate so I might as well set out now and see how far I get. Turning to my seed I ask, ¡°Well, you up for an adventure? I am pretty curious to see what¡¯s outside the cave,¡± and naturally, the seed gives no response. Taking its silence as agreement and willing to take it along even had it protested, I turn towards the one tunnel leading into the cavern and take my first steps outside the Twilight Grove. Immediately after leaving the ambient natural energy drops and the light of the crystal moon and stars fades. A feeling of homesickness hits me and almost makes me turn back but my new defender instincts and the weight of the flower in my hair push me onwards. I have a promise to keep. The tunnel I am following goes through several twists and turns as it climbs higher and higher. After a couple minutes of quick walking I can feel the effects of my low endurance hitting me. I¡¯m about to stop for a breather when I notice a bright shaft of light piercing the darkness just a little further down the tunnel. ¡°Come -gasp, on we¡¯re- gasp, almost there.¡± I pant. Digging deep I push myself into a jog down the last part of the tunnel. Rounding a final corner, I step outside for the first time into bright sunlight. 05: Dancing With the Wind Eeek! Wh- what is this? Is this¡­ sunlight? I don¡¯t like it. Bright light shines straight into my eyes blinding me and causing me to stub my poor little toe on a rather unforgiving rock. Stupid rock! Still blind, angry and foot hurting I kick out at the offending object. OUCH! Okay well that was rather stupid of me. Great now my foot hurts and I feel like an idiot. Stupid sunlight, making me do stupid things. This is all your fault! After being underground in the Twilight Grove for I don¡¯t really know how long it takes some time for my eyes to adjust to the bright morning sunlight beaming straight at my face. How do I know it¡¯s morning? Well that¡¯s an easy one. I have fabulous instincts. Once my eyes are finally able to adjust to the new and more intense light the view nearly takes my breath away. No, it¡¯s not because the view was beautiful, well it was, but due to the immense size of the forest. I stand atop a large, rocky mesa that just barely reaches above the tops of massive trees. Spreading out below me in what seems to be a verdant carpet of shifting greens, the forest stretches as far as I can see. In every direction trees reach towards the sky. Oh wow. That is a lot of forest. I really didn¡¯t give that old tree enough credit, well I didn¡¯t really give him any credit at all but I should have. I am quite impressed that he was able to control that much. How will I ever be able to take care of more forest than I can even see? I really need to grow my little seed into a new heart tree as soon as possible. You know¡­ I really should give my little seed a name. How about planty? No, that won¡¯t work. Hmmm¡­ Seedy? No that won¡¯t work either. Oh well I¡¯ll think of something later. Turning away from my introspections and the view of the forest I take in the mesa that I am currently standing on. Made almost entirely out of granite, the mesa juts from the ground like a glittering black mountain with its top chopped off. Set into the top of the mesa an intricately carved, or what was once an intricately carved archway since most of the carvings were destroyed, leads to the tunnel I had wound my way through. Awww, why did the exit have to be at the top? Now I have to climb all the way down. I really want to stand here and admire the beauty of the forest some more but my druidic instincts are practically dragging me to the edge of the mesa. Wha wha wha, self control yourself! I start internally screaming at myself and manage to stop myself before I throw myself off the edge. Oh wait that¡¯s a path. Whew. Sorry self I won¡¯t accuse you of trying to kill us both anymore. Placated now that I realize that my instincts are not going to throw me off any cliffs I start to make my way down the mesa. My druidic instincts despite being very helpful in knowing more about the forest, seem to be unable to tolerate anything that is harming the forest. Right now those things are the blight and the queens. Since they somehow seem to know that encountering a queen will result in my instantaneous death my instincts are practically dragging me to the blight so that I can fix it. Ouch! Stupid path covered in all these stupid rocks! Continuing to curse mentally as rock after rock along the path jabs into my poor feet. After stepping on each rock I give a quick pulse of mana to my healing matrix in order to sooth the pain away. It works great, mostly. The more I use it the more tired I feel. This is not going to work. If I go too much longer I¡¯m going to succumb to mana exhaustion. I cant make it down without using the matrix though, and I cant afford to use it with almost every step. It would be great if I didn¡¯t have to activate my entire healing matrix all at once just to heal my feet. If I could activate only the part of it in my feet¡­ wait can I do that? Breaking from my increasingly pessimistic thoughts by the new idea I turn my entire focus to attempting to activate only a portion of my healing matrix, the part around my feet. The first several tries yield no results, activating the entire matrix again. Exerting even more mental effort and a small bit of my mana manipulation, I manage to activate everything but the matrix covering my head. ¡°Yes I knew it!¡± I shout gleefully. The next hour or so is spent playing- fine tuning my healing matrix. By the end I am able to activate the matrix covering any portion of my body and can even adjust the output a little bit. I can now activate only the portion below my knees and do so at approximately 80% of full power! Ding- Healing Matrix has reached level 4! Haha operation comphy feet is a success- ohh what¡¯s this? My healing matrix reached level 4. I don¡¯t think I used it that much. Hmmm, maybe it was because I was able to learn more about the skill and not just use it? That¡¯s probably it. I thought the matrix would just do healing, but to be able to control where the healing goes and how much power is behind it is definitely cooler, plus way more energy efficient. I wonder if all skills work like this? Adding that to the research later list. Done experimenting for the time being I resume my journey down the mesa. Despite my new growth in the healing matrix skill and its corresponding reduction in mana consumption, I am dead tired by the time I reach the bottom of the hill. Collapsing into the first patch of grass I can find I just lay there gasping for breath. Ding ¨C Endurance + 1! I hate you system. Also I don¡¯t like this grass as much as the stuff growing in the Twilight Grove, it isn¡¯t as soft. Come here tail! Ahhh, so soft. I really do love holding my tail, and wrapping it around me, and stroking it. My tail is like the softest blanket ever, and stroking it just feels good. Hu? What¡¯s this? My tail isn¡¯t black? So pretty¡­ I hadn¡¯t been able to see it in the low light of the Twilight Grove but out here in the sun I can see that my tail isn¡¯t completely black. It is mostly black but there are subtle hints of dark purple running through the fur in strange patterns that shine when the light hits it just right. I hope my hair and ears have the same coloring to them! That would be so great. I should lay here just a little longer. The sun makes me feel all warm¡­ and I¡¯m so¡­ tired. Ahh! The warmth of the sun and softness of my tail and probably the exhaustion of my long hike down the mesa are lulling me into a stupor and I am about to go to sleep when I receive a large mental kick from my druidic side. Okay, okay I get it, sleep later move now. Getting to my feet and feeling slightly, well mostly recovered if I¡¯m being honest with myself, I look into the shadows cast by the towering trees. Those are huge. They didn¡¯t look that big from the top of the hill. The lowest branch is easily ten me off the ground and that¡¯s just the start. Relegating the feeling of being small and insignificant compared to the size of the forest to the back of my mind I take a deep breath and plunge forward into the trees.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation. Jogging under the shade of the canopy is much easier than walking down the mesa. For one it is nice and cool here, and the ground is much softer. As I continue through the forest my druidic instincts point out different plants to me. When I look at them I just know what they are called and a little bit about them. Like that one there. The little patch of stalks with green and yellow blade shaped leaves is blade weed. It is basically exactly what it sounds like, a small grass like plant with razor sharp leaves. Note to self don¡¯t touch that one. The little group of mushrooms growing out of that fallen log are called pale maidens. They are deathly poisonous! Okay definitely don¡¯t touch those ones! This bush here is called a blueberry bush. It grows little berries that are edible, and blue. Wait! That bush has a bunch of edible berries on it! Not realizing it until that moment I was so hungry. Skidding to a stop next to the bush I stare greedily at the tantalizing little blue berries covering it. Reaching out carefully I pluck one and toss it straight into my mouth. It is safe to eat after all. A heavenly mixture of cool sweet and tart pulp fills my mouth and I groan in pleasure. Instantly moving to strip more berries from the bush I pop one after another into my mouth. After downing dozens of them in a couple of minutes I manage to stop myself from stripping the bush bare. ¡°Whew that was tasty! I wish you could have a few little seed. Hmmm, I do feel a little guilty for eating without you though.¡± I am getting rather used to talking out loud to the seed at this point. To alleviate the slight feeling of guilt I once again prick my finger to feed a couple drops of blood to the seed before healing and sending it a small thread of mana. With both of us now feeling much fuller I set off once again. Picking up my pace as my instincts give another insistent call to action I run into the forest once more. Over the next couple of hours I run past trees, jump over a small creek, and see hundreds of different plants. I even gained 2 more levels to my endurance! The ground beneath the canopy is its own thriving ecosystem. I had initially thought the ground would be clear under the trees like it was around the mesa but I was wrong. Here beneath the trees the ground is covered in bushes, flowers, and even smaller trees forcing me to follow a small winding trail. I am about to run right past an overgrown and almost unnoticeable trail when something much deeper than the instinct pulling me towards the blight stops me. The two feelings are contradicting each other. One is telling me to follow this new path and the other telling me to keep moving on. ¡°That¡¯s strange. What could be over that way? What do you think seed?¡± I ask. No response. Thinking for a minute I decide to take a gamble and step onto the overgrown path. Ding ¨C Primal Senses has reached level 2! Oh good if I got a level to my primal senses for taking this new path then there must be something important at the end. I wonder what it is. Following the path, I have to step carefully around bushes and over roots. After approximately 15 minutes of travel the path ends. At its end a small clearing filled with flowers swaying in a gentle breeze opens to the sky through a small gap in the trees. Something about the clearing is nearly hypnotic drawing me in. Without realizing it I start to circulate mana to my eyes and gasp. Inside the clearing thin glowing lines of teal dance with the flow of the wind. No¡­ those lines are the wind. Am I seeing wind mana? I think I am. Staring entranced I watch as the this streams of wind mana twist, turn and spin around the clearing. I wonder if I can copy how the mana is moving. If I do maybe I can learn how to use wind magic! Jumping into action I extrude two thin lines of mana from my hands and try to copy the smooth twisting flows. I fail abysmally. My mana lines jerk and carve a jagged zigzagging path through the air. Grunting in frustration I am about to give up when the thin lines of wind mana collide with mine causing something interesting to happen. The instant the two come into contact the entire length of my pearly white threads turn into the teal of wind and the feeling of the mana changes. The abrupt change is so startling that I loose my connection to the mana and the wind quickly steals it away, incorporating my mana into its flow. What was that feeling? Is that what wind mana feels like? Can I make that happen? Now I¡¯m fully invested and my frustrations are forgotten. Eager to experiment some more I extrude a small amount of mana from my right hand while watching it closely. Holding the small thread in front of my face I try to remember what the wind mana felt like¡­ nothing happens. Not giving up I try to push that same feeling down my arm and into the mana stream. This time the mana changes color and the smallest breeze tickles my eyelashes. Giggling in delight I push the feeling down my other arm and am now holding two threads of wind mana. Yay! I can make wind mana! Now how do I use it? Oh I know I¡¯ll just copy what the wind is doing! Eager to learn wind magic I set to work trying to copy the wind. My efforts are a little better than last time but not by much. The wind mana lines I produce are still refusing to follow the same elegant grace the actual wind is able to produce. As if it is taking pity on me the wind once again connects to my mana and this time I am able to hold onto it as the wind tries to pull it along. Not wanting the connection to break I quickly stop trying to direct my mana and let it be guided by the wind. This causes something rather awkward to happen. With the wind pulling on my mana threads my arms are pulled around throwing me off balance. Stumbling around the clearing I try to get my feet under me as my arms are pulled this way and that. Looking like a total fool for a few minutes I start to get used to the flow and fall into a kind of dance with the wind. It doesn¡¯t even feel strange after I start to get used to the movements. The more I was able to move with the wind the closer my mana threads started to copy those of the wind. So, I danced. Moving, twisting, and flowing with the ever-changing wind. I learned how the mana moved to produce light flutters and heavy gusts, my mana spinning in gentle curving loops and circles as each was produced. It started as the faintest of whispers, but as I lost myself in the flow of the wind the words grew clearer. A soft flowing cadence speaking of great hurricanes and the gentle caress of the faintest breeze. The words filled me in an intoxicating surge begging, pleading, to be let free, so I sang. As the song began the world went quiet and still. The birds stopped singing, the grass was no longer swaying, but the wind¡­ the wind danced as I sang its song. ¡°Flying softly through the trees a silent voice, a face unseen. The slightest touch, before it leaves the gentle breeze Gently shifting Ever changing Forever free Twisting turning blowing Coming going staying The ever-changing wind Roaring up the mountain Screaming across the stones The brutal strike, through cloak and sail The howling gale. Gently shifting Ever changing Forever free Twisting turning blowing Coming going staying The ever-changing wind A passing friend, or hounding foe The softest touch, the final blow Forever free, but never far The ever-changing wind¡­¡± The last words of the song are carried away as the wind steals them. I could be mad about it but I¡¯m not, for that is the nature of the wind. I understand it now and no matter how the wind changes I will always remember this part of its song. The song of the wind was beautiful but as I was singing it and even now, I can feel the echoes of something far grander. A song where the wind is only a part of the whole.
Quest Alert: The Endless Song A song of incomprehensible power that bends the very laws of nature; it is beyond your current understanding. To know this song you must know the 6 primal aspects of nature. Feel them, listen to them, and understand them. - Understand Fire (x) - Understand Wind (complete) - Understand Water (x) - Understand Earth (x) - Understand Light (x) - Understand Darkness (x) Reward: The Endless Song
¡°You see that little one? We are on our way to learning something great.¡± In the usual fashion no words come to me from the seed but I smile as small pulses come from it. ¡°Hey you¡¯re trying to sing the song of the wind too!¡± I exclaim. Feeling even happier that I can now share this beautiful and primal aspect of nature with my little seed a sudden idea hits me. ¡°I know what to name you! From now on you will be Melody. The heart of the forest who sings its songs, alongside me.¡± 06: Nature is a Beautiful Thing Ahhh. Today is a great day! I finally got to go outside, I learned a lot about how to use my magic from dancing with the wind, and I even figured out the perfect name for my little seed. Melody, I think I will call her Mel for short, and I are going to have all sorts of amazing adventures together! The sun is shining, the wind is with us and we¡¯re on a roll! Let¡¯s get a move on! Ready to learn more and see more I take the first step to continuing my journey¡­ and fall flat on my face. ¡°Ouuuuuuch.¡± I mumble into the ground. I try to lift myself back up but all I manage to do is lift my face out of the dirt. ¡°Well Mel it looks like playing with the wind took a lot more out of me than I thought so we¡¯re going to have to stay here for a little while.¡± Resigning myself to a lengthy recovery I decide to take a look at my notifications that piled up while I was distracted by playin- cough- learning from the wind. Ding ¨C Dexterity and Endurance + 2! Skill Unlocked ¨C Spellweaver level 2! Spellweaver ¨C Most mages are content with memorizing spells to fire off in an instant, but not you! You have learned the forgotten art of spell weaving. Building spells from scratch you will be able to adjust mana input and other variables to produce varying effects, you also might even build completely new spells. Increasing skill level, and dexterity will increase the speed at which you can weave your spells. + 1 Dexterity and + 1 Wisdom per skill level. New Class options available! Mana Manipulation has reached level 7! Okay well that is pretty cool. I got some improvements to my stats. Those probably came from all the moving around that I have done so far today. Now this skill spellweaver, seems like a bit of a double-edged sword, at least at the lower levels. I learned how to weave some simple wind spells, but they do come out rather slow. The great benefit to this skill as it said is that I can adjust any spell I do make to do what I need it to, and as I level it and my stats up, I can make spells even faster. New goal! I am going to do what I can to raise that skill as far as it will go and be able to make the most awesome spells anyone has ever seen! Learning to use magic from the wind was very helpful mostly since I know nothing about how to use the elements. If I want to improve on my magic, I am going to have to find ways to learn from the other elements. I¡¯ll have to keep a close watch on my primal senses since they lead me to this place. It is also good to see that my mana manipulation went up again. That one is fairly easy but, since I¡¯m just going to be lying here for a while I might as well try to level up the other skills I have. If I remember correctly coalescence was about compressing the core of my mana so that it would be denser, and the mana channels were the pathways the mana flows through in my body. Since I¡¯m tapped out of mana right now it would be a great time to compress my core. Closing my eyes, I focus my mind inward and am once again looking the flowing energy inside my body. Reaching my core, I can see that it is almost empty but starting to refill. Focusing my mind, I grab hold of the intricate structure that I created and begin the delicate process of compressing my core while ensuring it remains connected to everything else. When I start compressing there is resistance but not so much that I can¡¯t overcome it. Starting at the size of nearly three fists it begins to shrink. I push and push at it until my efforts no longer bare any fruit reducing the core in size by about half a fist. Oh well progress is progress. It was much easier having my core empty before trying to compress it so from now on every day I will have to empty it out at least once so that I can improve this skill as much as possible.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Turning my attention away from my core I focus on the mana channels that are running through my body. Now how can I improve you? I have already opened all of the channels, so it won¡¯t be that easy, somehow I am going to have to improve them. Hmmm¡­ well looks like it is time to start experimenting again! Excited but willing to practice at least a little bit of caution I begin trying different things to improve my mana channels. The first thing that I attempt is to draw a little mana out of my core and wrap it around the channel to make it larger. That attempt failed. As soon as the mana was wrapped around the channel it was sucked inside and drawn back to my core. My rational behind trying to widen the channels is that if they are larger then more mana can flow through them at once which would be better. Since the first experiment failed, I move on to the next one, expanding them from the inside out! This time I take almost all of the mana that has trickled back into my core and use it to flood all the channels. Taking a mental breath, I force the mana to expand. It works, sort of. The channels expand ever so slightly but the process is¡­ painful. The entirety of the small amount of stamina is consumed in an instant as pain rips through my body causing me to spasm and convulse on the ground. Ripped from my mental plain and barely able to hold onto consciousness I grit my teeth and try to ride it out. The pain though intense doesn¡¯t last very long. Gasping for breath and now drenched in sweat I decide that this will have to be enough experimenting for now. Having nothing else to do I check my notifications to see if the pain I went trough was worth it or not. Ding! Coalescence has reached level 5! Mana Channels has reached level 9! Well at least I gained something from all of that. I¡¯m not too happy with the pain that was caused but I¡¯m not so sure I will have to deal with much more of that. Something about the mana channels skill gives me the feeling that level 10 is some sort of threshold where I will need to do something else in order to advance. Now that I think about it most of my skills are telling me that they have different thresholds but most of them are around level 20. Interesting but not really something that I can do anything about at the moment. Done with thinking about skills and everything else for the day I decide that I have been through enough for now and that some rest was in order. For the rest of the day I would be staying here in this little clearing. After a sufficient amount of time has passed for me to recover, I gingerly sit up and look around the clearing. When I first got here, I had thought it was pretty but pretty really doesn¡¯t even come close to describing it. The clearing is split almost evenly between meadow and pond. The meadow is filled with flowers in a myriad of colors, their pleasant aroma filling the air. The lake is crystal clear with a large flat rock jutting out of the water on the bank nearest to me. Only adding to the appeal of the place is the sunlight falling from the clear blue sky that fills the clearing with a pleasant warmth. Bordered on all sides by tall trees the place is a hidden slice of paradise. I eye the lake closely. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve had a bath or anything since the moment that I woke up and the water is looking extremely inviting. Giving in to the temptation I walk over to the water and cautiously dip a toe in. The temperature is perfect, and with how clear it is I am able to tell that there is nothing lurking beneath the surface. Without any further hesitation I jump in. The thought of needing to know how to swim never crossed my mind before entering the pool but lucky enough for me I seem to be able to do it just fine. Kicking my way to the surface I fill my lugs with warm air as the cool water wraps around me. ¡°Ahhh, this feels sooooo good.¡± I groan while floating lightly on the surface of the water. Why did I not do this sooner? I can feel the dirt and sweat being washed away. I can¡¯t remember the last time I felt this good. Pausing to laugh at my own inadvertent joke I quickly scrub myself clean. In the process of doing this I find that rubbing my ears and the spot just behind them feels almost as good as rubbing my tail. In other words it is very distracting, and I have to stop myself from doing it several times as I try to finish cleaning up. Having finally finished washing up and maybe playing around in the water for a bit I climb out of the water and onto the stone. Its surface, warmed by the sun, is quite nice. Lying down on it I stretch out letting the warmth sink into my body as I stare up at the sky. The smell of the flowers, my recent bath, and the pleasant warmth of rock and sun all combine to make me very¡­ very¡­ tired. Happy with the progress that I made today and the time that I got to spend in this slice of paradise, I only have time for one last thought before my eyelids droop and sleep claims me. ¡°Nature really is a beautiful thing.¡± Interlude: Priests, Partners, and Paperwork [Somewhere between here and there] Ah things are finally starting to move. Almost as soon as I inserted Reiza into Greenwood Forest the gods started scrambling around. The reaction is akin to when one kicks an ant hill. Within each boundary resources and people are being moved at a frantic pace. I am sure that they suspect my involvement and are preparing for the next calamity to strike. Joke¡¯s on them though because I don¡¯t really plan on meddling any further at this point. It appears that all of the gods have figured out the disturbance came from the heart of Greenwood Forest thus the groups of agents and spies converging on Greenwood village. None of the god¡¯s power pieces are moving so it seems that they are going to act cautiously until they figure out what is happening. Boy do I bet they will be surprised when they find out exactly what I¡¯ve done with Reiza. Speaking of Reiza, she has made a truly startling amount of progress. I was not expecting her to get the blessing from the heart tree and she seems to have a knack for lucking into things or figuring things out in strange ways. The stunt she pulled with unlocking her pure mana affinity was shocking to say the least. To be able to discover mana channels from just setting up a healing network, amazing. I haven¡¯t seen anyone unlock a pure affinity in at least a thousand years or so. On top of all that she even learned how to use wind magic from the god damned wind! Her connection to nature is just baffling as seen by that little song and dance she put on. Out of all the things she has done singing that song was the most interesting. I knew they existed, but I don¡¯t think anyone has ever been able to find them. If she knew the power that could really be brought to bear¡­ it could cause a calamity. At the rate she is improving she will surpass those twice her age in short order and will be well on her way to becoming one of the most powerful players in the game. I can¡¯t wait to see what she does next. Sitting back, I watch the board and await the next moves.
[High Temple of Radiance] After a mad dash through the apprentice quarters, across a large courtyard, and up several sets of stairs Mya arrived at the main temple. Pausing for a minute to catch her breath and compose herself she pushes open a small door leading to the high priest¡¯s offices. Inside a large richly appointed room greeted her. Paintings of the goddess Radiance preforming miracles adorned the walls while thick planks polished to a bright shine covered the floor. Only three doors exited the room, one to the outside, one to the high priest¡¯s office, and one into the main prayer hall. Blocking the way to the high priest¡¯s office was a large heavy desk where a pretty receptionist sat. Nerves fraying and nervousness twisting her gut Mya approaches the receptionist¡¯s desk. ¡°H- hello I- I need to see the high priest.¡± She stammers, twisting her hands behind her back. ¡°Do you have an appointment?¡± The receptionist asks in a board voice not looking up from cleaning her nails. ¡°N- no bu-¡°¡°No appointment, no seeing the high priest.¡± The receptionist replies cutting Mya off. Swallowing hard Mya tries again, ¡°Bu- but it¡¯s very important.¡± Letting out a long overly dramatic sigh the receptionist looks up. ¡°What could a mere acolyte have to say that is soooo important.¡± She asked while putting extra emphasis on the so, to show just how little she believed Mya¡¯s claim. Shifting nervously from foot to foot, Mya pulls down the collar of her tunic revealing the faintly glowing sun that had appeared over her heart. The instant the receptionist sees the mark her face pales. ¡° A- a- d-divine- one moment please.¡± She stutters before quickly rising and almost running through the door to the high priest¡¯s office. From outside Mya could hear a rapid hushed conversation being carried out. Having never been to see the high priest and not having a clue about how she could carry out her goddesses¡¯ mission she only grew more and more nervous. Luckily she wasn¡¯t left to stew for long as the receptionist quickly reemerged from the office and motioned for Mya to enter. The high priest¡¯s office was just as richly appointed as the previous room. Behind the polished desk hung a large painting of the goddess, her arms spread in welcome with the sun shining brightly behind her. The floor was covered in a thick plush carpet, and shelves were laden with all manner of holy artifacts and scrolls. Behind the desk sat the high priest. He was six and a half feet tall with a muscular build gained from years of adventuring, long flowing brown hair spilled out from under his ornately decorated headpiece, and dark brown eyes peered out of a face that looked remarkably like that of a man in his early thirties for one who was actually over 100 years old. ¡°Welcome acolyte Mya please do come in and have a seat.¡± He said gesturing to a chair across from him. Having no other option Mya sat. ¡°Good. Now Nissa tells me that Radiance has blessed you with her mark, would you mind if I saw it?¡± It was really an order but asking in the way that he did made Mya a little less nervous. Just as she had done with the receptionist Mya pulled down the collar of her tunic to reveal the mark. After looking at the mark for several long seconds he leaned back in his chair steepling his hands and staring intently at Mya. ¡°Would I be correct in assuming that the message her holiness gave you has to do with the recent disturbance the world just experienced?¡± He asked casually. ¡°Y- yes sir.¡± Mya stutters in reply. ¡°Hmmm did she say what it was or have a suspicion of what caused it?¡± he asked a little more interested. Swallowing hard and knowing she was about to drop a bombshell Mya whispered her reply, ¡°She- she suspects that The Overseer was involved.¡± Instantly the high priest went stiff. A long silence stretched out as he seemed to be deep in thought. Closing his eyes for a long moment he seemed to gather his thoughts before speaking, ¡°If The Overseer is truly involved then things are much worse than any of us have feared. Tell me what you mission is and you will have all of our resources available to you.¡± ¡°I am to travel to Greenwood village and attempt to find out what the cause of the disturbance is. Radiance said that I was to be the only one to go as sending too many resources would lead to some¡­ unpleasantness.¡± Mya replied grimacing slightly. ¡°Very well then let us plan for your investigation.¡± The high priest rose from his seat and motioned for Mya to follow him through a door that she had previously not noticed. Following a short corridor, the two emerged into a large room filled with charts, papers, maps, and the high priest¡¯s closest advisors. The next hours passed in a blur for Mya as all the details for her trip were debated, discussed, and settled upon. With the gravity of the situation it was decided that she would travel via teleportation array to the small temple that was in the village. This was exciting news for Mya as usually the teleportation array was saved for only the highest ranking members. After her method of travel was finalized maps were poured over and a long debate about what she would do upon reaching the town commenced.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there. At the end of the discussion it was determined that she would likely be forced to enter Greenwood Forest. To this end she was to take on the guise of a cleric looking to join an adventuring team for experience. Her gear would be mid-level to avoid drawing suspicion while providing her the best possible advantages. Her housing would be covered by the temple while she was in the village and additional gear would be provided for her time in the forest. After it was all said and done Mya¡¯s nervousness was replaced with excitement. She was about to go on her first adventure, and she was eager to get started. Just as she was getting ready to rush to the teleportation array she was stopped as an advisor dropped a large pile of papers, a heavy journal, and a small silver ring in front of her. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± She asked hesitantly. ¡°This is a spatial ring. It holds all of the gear that we discussed and will help you greatly in the near future.¡± He answered holding up the ring. Picking up the heavy journal he continued, ¡°This is a journal. You will record everything in it. Your actions, the things you do, and what you learn. It will be used to generate the records of your adventure and its contents considered for any possible rewards you may qualify for upon your return.¡± Setting the journal aside he pointed to the papers, ¡°And finally this is all the paperwork you need to fill out before you can leave.¡± With that he turned and left. Mya stared dumbly at the literal mountain of paperwork in front of her. Letting out a sigh of resignation she grabbed the first form and began to fill it out. Even in a place where magic existed the world still ran on paperwork.
[Greenwood village] Will and Adam sit at their usual table in one corner of The Broken Branch, the town¡¯s local tavern. Today the tense silence of the night before is gone, replaced not by the usual jovial, carefree atmosphere but something close to it. The people of Greenwood village being used to hardship didn¡¯t let the strange phenomenon of the previous night keep them down for long. They were still nervous and a little wary but for the most part life continued as usual. This was not the case for the brothers. Both being rather high ranking adventurers after reaching the 50th level, they were engrossed in a discussion about what they were going to do about the phenomenon. ¡°I think we should investigate whatever caused the disturbance and do so quickly.¡± Will asserted. He was a Ranger and a good one at that. There was no one in the area who could surpass his abilities with the bow and his skills in tracking. ¡°I say that we should wait a little bit longer. Someone is sure to post a quest with the local guild office. If that happens, we can get some reward even if we find nothing.¡± Adam replied. He was a warrior and being less suited to life in a forest he was a bit more cautious. Will thought for a minute about what his brother had said. It would be better for the both of them if they could turn their excursion into a guild sanctioned mission. Depending on what they found having the backing of the guild could be quite profitable. Sighing he replied, ¡°I guess you¡¯re right. It would be helpful to have the backing of the guild for this. Also depending on how the request is made we might even be able to get on a decent party which would help if we run into any trouble.¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± Adam replied, taking another swig of his drink. ¡°I do see the need to move quickly as we don¡¯t want a swarm of people to descend on this place and take the opportunity from us. There is a difference between being quick and being hasty though. If we wait just a little bit for the official quest to be posted we can pay the extra exclusivity fee and get all the benefits.¡± Will sighed before nodding his head and agreeing with his brother. He wanted to go out now but his brother made some good points for holding off. ¡°Well if there is a quest posted there is little chance for us to miss out on it. With the forest queens growing in power there are not many who are willing to brave the deeper parts of the forest. My tracking skills will be needed, and I don¡¯t think anyone would turn away a warrior of your level.¡± Will said. ¡°Damn straight!¡± Adam cheered, smacking his brother playfully on the shoulder. ¡°And don¡¯t you think for a moment I would let you run off to do this on your own. We¡¯ve been together from the beginning. You and me, partners for life.¡± ¡°Wouldn¡¯t dream of it, partner.¡± Will replied. The two cheerfully clinked their mugs together before drinking. From there their conversation continued to happier subjects. Talking, drinking, and remembering the brothers laughed deep into the night.
Lilly was feeling rather nervous. She had spent the entire night and most of today trying to commune with nature in an attempt to learn what happened. Ever since the night that those strange waves of power had radiated through the forest things had been thrown into upheaval. First, there was the craziness her pet panther had displayed. Running around in circles repeating the same phrase again and again. It had taken her nearly an hour to calm Sampsun down and he still wouldn¡¯t answer her questions about what he had meant when he said, ¡°she¡¯s back.¡± The question of who ¡°she¡± was weighed heavily on her. If this new person caused the ripples of power, then she was someone Lilly desperately hoped wasn¡¯t an enemy. If she had been the target of that power, then Lilly hoped she was still alive. After getting Sampsun settled Lilly had entered a deep meditation to try and gather more information from the forest. What she found there was just as distressing. She had felt something great and old die. A beating heart in the tangled web of the forest had gone silent and now everything seemed to hang there, directionless. She didn¡¯t know what had died but it had been a force of good. With its presence gone things would start to spiral downward soon enough. With nothing to appose them the forest queens would start to expand their territory. The queens caused Lilly almost as much stress as the current situation. They were immensely powerful forces of darkness that killed everything that dared to cross them. One piece of good news she had been able to confirm from her meditation was that the queens were not responsible for what had happened. The source of the disturbance was beyond their territory, deep in the heart of the forest. After confirming that things had been almost normal until about an hour ago when the entire forest had seemed to hold its breath. The birds went silent, the insects quit buzzing, and despite the wind picking up the trees refused to rustle. Then, a strange energy rippled ever so lightly through the air. It was nothing like what had happened before, this time it was gentle and rhythmic. It almost felt like music. Lilly had strained to hear it but couldn¡¯t make out any words, or even really hear it at all. She could however feel it. The tune was light and flowing. Caught up in something beautiful that tapped nature on a level she hadn¡¯t known was possible Lilly listed. The feeling didn¡¯t last long and the memory of what it had been fled just as fast. Despite trying her hardest Lilly just couldn¡¯t remember the tune. She didn¡¯t know what to think of this last part. The feeling of the music had no ill intent behind it but it was a power she desperately wanted to learn about. Had it been caused by some type of beast or was it a natural phenomenon? Like the answers to her other questions the secret to this could only be found deeper in the forest. Apart from these newest issues there were several older ones. The trees and earth had conveyed a feeling of sickness to her indicating the presence of a blight. Lilly could feel the trees dying slowly and knew that all too soon the blight would reach a critical mass and be near unstoppable. At that point the only solution would be to burn the infected area to ash, something she desperately wanted to avoid. After the blight there were also whispers of an invading species. She couldn¡¯t get answers as to what it was other than it didn¡¯t belong. She desperately wanted to go and find answers, but Lilly knew she couldn¡¯t go alone. Her magic was good but to push into the heart of the forest she would need a team and a good one at that. It was going to be an expedition into lands that hadn¡¯t been traveled in hundreds of years to fix a wide range of problems. They would encounter powerful beasts, fight an unknown plague, discover lost treasures or power, and find answers to things they didn¡¯t know the questions for. An experienced and balanced team was definitely needed. Rising to her feet Lilly called to her panther, ¡°Come Sampson. We are headed back to town.¡± If she wanted to gather a team to explore the forest there was only one place to go, the guild. She would need to post a quest¡­ and do a lot of paperwork, uhhhg. 07: Preparations I¡¯m not quite sure what it was that woke me from my happy slumber. Perhaps it was another dream filled with strange shadows, or maybe it was the weight of the heart trees flower resting on my head, or it just might have been my skin feeling like it was on fire. Ya I think it was that last one. Opening my eyes I saw that my skin was no longer the pale shade of white I had known. Now I was pink and everything hurt. Moving hurt, breathing hurt, and touching my hot skin definitely hurt. Ooowwww. What the hell happened? Is this some kind of punishment for lounging around all day in the sun? If this is I promise I won¡¯t waste time like this ever again! Lying there in pain I groan and grumble to myself questioning why this tragedy befell me and wondering how I could fix it. Wait! I have healing powers. Why did I forget about them? Mentally chastising myself I start to send mana into my healing matrix. Almost immediately cool waves of relief wash over me. Groaning in satisfaction I stretch out my stiff muscles and get to my feet. My back and neck are sore and stiff but a quick pulse from my healing matrix fixes that problem. Never again, never again will I sleep on a rock. Getting to my feet I give myself one final onceover and notice something strange. Even after healing my burns my skin didn¡¯t return to its usual pale tone. Instead it is now slightly darker and is leaning in the direction of a pale golden tan. I take a few minutes to admire to new color and find it much to my liking. Maybe I was a bit hasty in promising to never lay in the sun again. If it made me look like this I might just do it again. That though will have to wait because I have a quest to complete. Taking a look around I find that the sun is just starting rise. Damn I must have slept half the day and the whole night! Now I only have two days left to figure out how to stop the blight! Hmm, I can get pretty close if I push myself hard on running today and then arrive at the area on the last day early in the morning. I think that will work. Resting some distance away from the infected area should do me some good. I can use any extra time I have tonight to really crack down on improving my skills to make sure I am absolutely ready. ¡°Alright Mel I¡¯ve got a plan so let¡¯s head out!¡± Giving a happy little pulse in response Mel and I start our journey for the day. Traveling today goes almost exactly like it did the previous one. I ran following the path laid out for me by my druidic instincts. The main difference today was that as I travelled, I also did my best to improve my magic. Using it yesterday had seemed fairly easy, but I quickly came to realize that the wind had been helping me a great deal. Also practicing magic requires a certain level of concentration. With this added distraction I found it a little difficult to watch where I was running. I tripped several times and even ran right into- cough- almost ran into a tree. The process was immensely frustrating but the longer I continued the easier I found it to split my focus. The one spell I knew that I was probably going to need was giving me the most trouble. I wanted to create a bubble of air around myself so that I would be protected from the blight while attempting to cure it. After hours of practicing I was finally able to get a wobbling bubble ten feet in diameter to appear around me. ¡°Mel look I did it!¡± I exclaim happily. No words come to me but I get a distinct feeling Mel is saying, ¡°Really? You call that progress?¡± ¡°Hey! I¡¯m trying here! I¡¯ll have you know that this is just the basic portion of the spell I¡¯m going to make it better.¡± Silence. ¡°Fine then just you wait and see.¡± I huff. Despite it making things hard to develop new spells this was where I was happy to possess the spellweaver skill. Now that I actually had a spell to work with changing its parameters became much easier. Starting with the size I shrank it down and manipulated its shape until it formed a film about the width of my hand that covered my entire body. After fixing the shape I played with density, exclusion, and mana efficiency. It took a couple more hours but the end result was much to my liking. I now could create a film of air around Mel and myself that provided clean fresh air continuously while not consuming much mana. Several times during its creation I had to chastise Mel for trying to absorb the spells mana, greedy little seed. By the time I was done experimenting with the air bubble I could cast it fairly quickly and maintain it easily. Despite being pleased with the progress of this spell I did not want to rely solely on one thing. I would need some method of fighting or defending myself. Thus, I started my first experiments with offensive magic. It was at this point that my understanding of wind failed me. That or I just didn¡¯t have skills high enough to be of any use. No matter what I tried I could not get the wind to form into anything strong enough to scratch the bark on a tree. Slightly disappointed I switched from using wind mana to using my pure mana. Here I finally saw some results. Through extensive trial and error, I was able to craft my first magical weapon, needles! Thin spikes about two hands in length seemed threatening to me. Made out of super condensed mana they were a bit unwieldy when I tried to move them with magic, so I just took to throwing them. This practice like the rest was slow work. At the beginning I missed everything and seemed to get a hit only by luck but hours of practice saw me improve greatly. By the end of the day I could hit every tree that I aimed at and was always able to land a spike in an area the size of two hands. This was how my progressed. I would run and practice magic. When my stamina and mana ran low I would stop to rest, recover both and start running again. I ate wild berries when I was hungry and generated a cooling wind when I got too hot. Soon enough the sun began its decent below the horizon and I arrived at my resting place for the night. Sweaty, tired, and sore I collapsed next to a small creek in the deepening shadows and started gulping down water. ¡°Well Mel looks like we made it.¡± I gasp between breaths and gulps of water. ¡°I think I made a lot of progress today, but I¡¯ve still got a few more things to do before we can go to sleep.¡± I had practiced a lot of skills on my way here but there were a few that I had been holding off on. The last thing I had to do today was reach the threshold level on mana channels and improve my coalescence skill. Sinking into meditation I once again entered my mental plain. There I compressed my core as much as I could getting it down to the size of two fists before needing to stop. Now comes the painful part. Bracing myself I quickly went through the process of improving my mana channels. After recovering from the pain that wracked my mind and body, I just lay there basking in warm night air. By this time the sun had truly set, and the forest was starting to fall to sleep. ¡°Well Mel it has been a long day. I¡¯ve done all that I can to get ready. Let¡¯s go get cleaned up. We can take a bath in the stream and I can check my status to see how far ive come.¡± Slipping into the gently flowing water I sigh as it washes away dirt and grime while soothing my sore muscles. Closing my eyes in contentment I focus on the blinking dot in the corner of my vision to bring up the notifications I had been ignoring all day.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Ding! Skill acquired! Light Resistance! Light Resistance ¨C You have either been attacked by an inept light mage or sat in the sun for too long. Surviving this you have gained a basic resistance to light. Improve this skill to reduce damage taken from the sun, or light-based attacks. Light Resistance has reached level 1! Humph well at least I know how I got all burned up but it didn¡¯t have to be so rude about it. Endurance + 4! Mana Manipulation has reached level 10! New skill ability unlocked! Mana Manipulation ¨C After learning how to manipulate the basic form of mana to a sufficient degree you have gained access to a new ability. You can now manipulate two forms of mana at the same time! Use two different spells, wield multiple elements at once, or combine them and see what happens! Increase skill level to improve control and unlock new possibilities! New skill acquired! Throw. Throw ¨C When the enemy is out of range some people toss spells, some use a bow, but you throw things. With this skill anything becomes a ranged weapon! Acuracy and distance improve with skill level. + 1 Dexterity per skill level. Throw has reached level 5! Spellweaver has reached level 5! Healing Matrix has reached level 5! Coalescence has reached level 8! Mana Channels has reached level 10! Threshold reached! The skill Mana Channels has reached a threshold. Further improvement in this skill is no longer available. To improve this skill further you must improve its linked skills to gain a deeper understanding of mana. Pain resistance has reached level 4! ¡°Wow Mel I made a ton of progress today!¡± I exclaim happily. A gentle wamth comes from Mel that I take as happy encouragement. ¡°I know right! I got new skills and even improved on all of the ones that I use regularly!¡± Giddy with excitement I am about to pull up my status page and skills list when a new notification blinks up. Ding! Hidden quest complete!
Hidden Quest: Speed Racer! Get a skill to its threshold level before you reach level 10! You have shown that you are not content to take the slow and steady road. Instead you joyfully speed ahead improving yourself at breakneck speed. Reward: 5 Free stat points
Free stat points are gained when you increase your level or can be granted as quest rewards. You may freely spend these points to improve any attribute. Points are spent in a 1 to 1 ratio. ¡°Oh that¡¯s cool. I had been wondering what those did. So Mel what do you think I should spend those points on?¡± No response. ¡°Hmmm no contribution? I definitely could use them to improve my weaker stats but I feel like I shouldn¡¯t waste them. My skills are already giving me a lot of benefits so I think ill save them up for a rainy day.¡± Satisfied with my logic I open my status page to see the full scope of my improvements.
Status
Name: Reiza Classes Druidic Defender lv. 1
Level: 1 -
Race: Beast-kin: Celestial Fox -
Gender: Female Final Class -
Age 14
Atributes
Strength: 7 Stamina: 120/150
Dexterity: 24 Mana: 307/400
Constitution: 11
Endurance: 15 Free stat points 5
Intelligence: 37
Wisdom: 40
Luck: 9
Coalescence 8
Endless song
Healing Matrix 5
Light Resistance 1
Living enchantments
Mana Channels 10
Mana Manipulation 10
Mental Resistance 6
Natural Language
Pain resistance 4
Primal Senses 2
Soul Resistance 3
Speed Reading 4
Spellweaver 5
Throw 5
My progress amazes me, especially in the areas of intelligence and wisdom. MY stats and skills are looking pretty good. I can even feel the difference a few of them are making to my body. My whoughts have gotten much clearer and my ability to multitask has improved. Those improvements likely came from the gains to intelligence and wisdom. I also noticed that I could move a bit faster today. I believe that came from my improved dexterity. That stat must somehow link to speed. My strength¡­ ya that one still sucks. I will need to start training with that soon or find a skill that directly improves strength. I mull around in my thoughts for a little while longer. Thinking about ways to use my new skills and possible training I could do to keep improving my stats proves to be very relaxing. I find myself relaxing quickly and growing drowsy. Not wanting to fall asleep on the ground again I decide to climb up a nearby tree. This should be at least a little bit safer than simply laying out on the ground. Finding a comfortable notch between a couple of branches I settle in for the night. Curling my tail around myself for added softness and warmth I mutter a few final words to Mel before slipping off to sleep, ¡°Goodnight Mel. I don¡¯t know what we will face tomorrow but I hope we are ready.¡± Sleep claims me quickly, but it is not an easy sleep. In my dreams I walk through a forest that is dead. Trees stand as little more than withered sticks, their bare twisted limbs reaching towards the sky. Standing atop one of these trees a figure wrapped in shadows and oozing a sickening darkness laughs. 08: Blight Blight I woke with the rising of the sun from an uneasy sleep. My mind was weighed down heavily with worry about what I would have to do today and the memories of unpleasant dreams. The image of a dark figure laughing within a dead land sent a shiver up my spine. The dream felt strangely specific to my situation and I wasn¡¯t sure if it had any meaning beyond a manifestation of my fears. Today was going to be my first real test as a guardian of the forest. Everything I had done up to this point was simply growing in strength and gathering skills that would help me to succeed. I had prepared to the best I was able and now it was time to fulfil the first part of my promise to the heart tree. Stroking the flower in my hair with gentle touches I made my way down from the tree I had slept in. Once my feet touched the ground I took in a deep breath and gathered my resolve. ¡°Are you ready for this Mel?¡± I asked, more to fill the silence than looking for any reassurance. In her usual fashion Mel only pulsed happily against my chest. ¡°Okay then let¡¯s go.¡± Just as in the previous day I started to run. However, today the only magic that I preformed was to create a bubble of air around myself and a separate one for Mel. ¡°Now it is very important that you don¡¯t eat this barrier Mel. I don¡¯t know exactly when we will pass the boarder into the blight and I want you to stay safe.¡± I gently chastise my seed. Mel seems to give an indignant huff as if saying she already knew that. Knowing that the point was made I let the topic drop as I continue on my way. I didn¡¯t want to cast any further magic as I wanted all of my resources available to me once reaching the blight. For over an hour I ran. The closer to my goal I got the quieter everything became. The gentle rustling of wildlife in the underbrush was the first thing to go. Next, the buzzing of insects faded into nothingness. The last thing to go was the singing of the birds. The only sounds that could be heard were the crunch of leaves beneath my feet and the soft cadence of my breathing. The silence was like an unsettling blanket hanging thick over the forest. Nature knew that something here wasn¡¯t right and everything had fled from the area. In the silence my nerves only grew. If it is this quiet here, then the situation must be much worse than I had thought. All life has been driven from the area and refuses to come anywhere close. When I found what I had been seeking there wasn¡¯t a slow increase in sickness. There weren¡¯t a few plants showing the first signs of disease leading up to those who were more and more sick. No, it was as if I crossed a line and the blight was there. I passed by one healthy tree and a vast swath of sick and dying trees appeared before me. Trees that should have bean a hearty healthy green were instead sporting leaves of a sickly yellow brown. Their bark once colored in browns, greys and greens were now either pale white or deep black. Large seeping wounds adorned the bark leaking a viscus black fluid. Fine dark spores coated leaves or drifted freely through the air. Even the ground didn¡¯t escape the ravages of this disease. Dried and cracked the earth seeped the same dark fluid seen on the trees. The sight made me sick and I had to fight the bile rising in my throat and struggled to hold my tears at bay. How? How could I alone fight against something like this? Nothing I have, no skill, no magic is able to fight what can kill the very ground I walk upon. Heart heavy with despair I walked deeper into the blighted land. Passing by a tree covered in weeping sores I had to stop myself from reaching out to touch it. Radiating a feeling of pain and despair the trees around me were threatening to break my will. Clutching the fraying ends of my resolve I kept walking. The state of the forest weighed greatly upon me but some of the strangeness was forcing me to press on. How the blight seemed to be contained to this small area was one of those driving factors. It was not natural for it all to be held here as it currently is. It should be much further spread from what I have seen. Something must be holding it here. Maybe if I can find whatever is keeping the blight from spreading, I can find a way to stop it. Driven to find the answer to my curiosity I forced myself to travel deeper into the infected area. The further I went the worse things got. The trees no longer had leaves in sickly yellow, but now were adorned with leaves that were either grey or so covered in spores as to turn completely black. Even further in they now longer had leaves. I now stood among nothing but death. The trees here were so drained that they were nothing more than tall twisted sticks. When I reached out to touch one its bark crumbled to dust beneath my fingers. Thick dark fluid leaked from the newly opened gap and dripped onto earth that was little more than black sand. This is the fate that awaits the rest of the forest if I can¡¯t stop the blight here. The life drained out leaving nothing but dust behind. This is the same landscape that I saw in my dream if only smaller. A forest of death. Nothing left alive, not even the earth. Crouching down I let some of the black sand trickle through my fingers. It was so dry and fine that rather than fall straight to the ground it almost seemed to disperse into the still, dead air. Getting back up I pushed onward having not quite reached the center of the area. I knew I was at the center of the blighted area when I saw it. The tree stood no taller than those around it but it was unmistakably older. This tree was also still alive, if only just. Its wide trunk was a patchwork of the same weeping sores sported by the other trees and its leaves were starting to turn from yellow to grey. Spores hung thick in the air around it and I could tell it didn¡¯t have much time left. This was no heart tree, but it was clearly the power that had been holding the blight at bay. The sight of this great tree using all of its failing power to hold back the disease from the rest of the forest rather than healing itself was truly heartbreaking. No longer able to keep the tears from my eyes I let them fall to the dead earth as I approached the tree. Placing my hand on it I was instantly buffeted by a tide of information. The tree couldn¡¯t quite speak but it was trying to communicate with me. I could feel its desperation, fear, and pain. In those moments it told me a story of how it had realized too late what was happening and had only been able to quarantine the area. A story about how it had fought to survive, and one about how it had watched its brothers and sisters slowly die around it. The tree was begging me to help it and I could only feel worse for its efforts. I had no idea what to do. ¡°Please. Show me how I can help. I- I don¡¯t know what to do!¡± I begged the tree, fresh tears falling down my face. Rather than respond with anger the old tree sent me soothing images. It filled my mind with thoughts of warmth and a gentle hand wiping away my tears. It helped, a lot. Stifling my sobs and wiping at my face with one hand I was slowly able to bring my focus back to the tree. Sensing my attention returning to it the tree did something strange. It extended a thin thread of deep green mana toward me. Remembering what I had been shown by the wind I extended a thread of pearly white mana to meet it. I was expecting it to show me how it used nature magic to fight off the blight but what it showed me was so much more than that. The instant our mana was connected my mind expanded. I was no longer just within my body, I was inside the entire blighted area. The great old tree was connected to every other tree and being connected to it I was joined into the network. The scope of it sent my mind reeling. Every tree, bush, and plant was connected. They were all able to talk to each other, share resources, and give power.If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Before this I had thought that each of the trees were individuals, and for the most part that was the case, but now I could see that they were also all one being. Before seeing this I had though the old tree had been sustaining everything on its own but I could now see every tree in the entire area was working together to give the old tree the strength it needed to keep up the quarantine. Beyond this vast network I could also see magic. A grand circle beyond my ability to understand covered the entire area, and on a smaller level within each tree a beautiful dance of shifting mana was being performed. Threads of earth and water mana were being drawn from the ground before they were braided together. This precise meshing of two primal elements formed something altogether new. Nature mana. The resulting streams of nature mana were then braided into the smallest magic formations I had ever seen. The trees were repeatedly casting some type of cure spell to fight the disease on almost a cellular level. The display although futile was utterly mesmerizing. The disease was multiplying faster than the trees¡¯ small spells were able to account for. The beautiful display was only fighting off the inevitable. It was clear that none of the trees possessed the art of splellweaving as they repeatedly cast the same small spells. It must have been a natural defense that was developed to fight off small diseases but was not well suited to fight off this blight. To do so the spell formations would need to be adjusted to release a massive sure of cleansing power. The amount of power that would be required to cure the entire area was mind boggling. I watched the movement of the mana within each tree slowly learning how it worked and realizing that it would be of little help to me. With despair mounting I started to search for other solutions. I looked for a while and eventually noticing something that seemed promising. Just like me the trees had natural paths within them to circulate energy. Perhaps if I can move those energy channels a little bit I can hind some way for the trees to use a variant of the energy healing technique. Given fresh hope by this latest spark of inspiration I set to work. I picked one tree at random and pushed my mind into the network of energy flowing within it. With slow deliberate effort I moved the veins of energy into a new pattern. The process was tiring and didn¡¯t move nearly fast enough. I could feel the old tree watching my actions with bated breath hoping for good results. At long last the lines of energy within the tree for the pattern that I feel should best help to heal it. Taking a deep breath I start to push the energy around the pattern. The results are immediate. Cracks on the tree begin to heal, nutrients surge through it, and it seems to grow a little taller, but the blight doesn¡¯t die. Just as quickly as it had seemed to heal the tree once again withers. A long litany of profanity I hadn¡¯t even been aware I had known spews from me as I curse the blight, the lack of results and my inability to help. Filled with an indescribable rage I plunge my mind deeper into the network, past the trees, through the spell formations, and deep into the ground. ¡°If magic is the only thing that can kill you then I will show you magic!¡± Letting out a mad cackle I plunge even deeper into my insane idea. Roots twist and turn under my direction, and the very earth bends to my will. I work frantically, beyond any semblance of rational thought I push onwards. Just as I am about to add the finishing touch to my mad design I am forcibly ejected from the network of trees. Mind spinning at the sudden loss I am snapped from my madness and collapse to the ground. For a long time I lay there trying to piece myself back together. Shame and guilt at my actions war with hope that my plan might work. Gathering my courage, I get back up and reconnect myself to the tree. The first thing it does is harshly chastise me for my mental breakdown. The images of myself that it shows me make me cringe and hang my head in shame. Seemingly satisfied the tree ceases its chastisement and new images start flowing to me. More images of me are sent but these ones show me carrying myself with confidence, possessing an unbreakable will, and never loosing my focus in a crisis. The images say ¡°you are a guardian. This is how you should be. There is a time for fear, a time for tears, let them flow then. You are the guardian, the guiding force, act like it.¡± ¡°Th- thank you. I- I¡¯m sorry for my loss of f- focus and r- rash actions.¡± I stammer, still trying to fight back tears. The tree sends back a confused feeling. This in turn confuses me. The tree seems to understand the cause of the feeling and instead of explaining I reopens my connection to the network and shows me what I had done. Beneath the ground the roots of all the trees have been twisted into a circle, no, a circle of circles. Formations within formations, the entire underground of the blighted area has been shaped into a single massive spell array. An array with the potential to wipe any disease off the face of the planet. I stare dumbstruck at the array. I- I did this? All without thinking I was able to change the land into something completely new. As I stair at the array the tree brushes my mind again. It sends a stream of thanks and a feeling of joy mingled with sadness. I send back only confusion. ¡°Why are you thanking me? This array¡­ I can¡¯t power it. Even if every tree worked together, they couldn¡¯t produce enough energy to activate it.¡± In response the tree sends back the same confusing mixture of joy and sadness before it gently separates me from the network. As soon as I am disconnected a massive buildup of energy starts. I watch in awe as energy and mana gush from the great tree in a tidal wave. As the display continues, I notice something that sends fear down my spine. The leaves on the great tree are dying, no the entire tree is dying. Realization about what is going on hits me like a ten-ton brick. The tree is sacrificing its life essence and converting it into power for the spell array. ¡°No! What are you doing? Stop! Please!¡± I desperately beg with the tree attempting to force my way back into the network. Nothing I do works, and I can only watch with tear filled eyes as the tree withers away in front of me. In its last moment the great tree sends me a stream of thought. It is a warm tide, like a tight hug and I can almost hear a voice as it whispers, ¡°Thank you.¡± and then the array lights up. A massive burst of energy fills the area as a pillar of green light pierces the heavens. Blinded by the light and consumed with sadness I fall to my knees in front of what remains of the once great tree. An unknown amount of time passes before my blindness fades and my tears recede. Looking around I see a forest filled with life. Every trace of the blight is now gone, wiped away with the energy provided by a willing sacrifice. A familiar ding breaks me from my introspection, and I open my notifications. Ding! Mana manipulation has reached level 12! Quest update!
Quest Alert: Guardian of the Forest The heart tree is dead. You have agreed to take up its duties. This forest is now yours, but you do not control it. To carry out your new duties there is much that is required of you. - Defeat the 4 forest queens o Queen of illusion o Queen of shadows o Queen of deception o Queen of ????????? - Cure the blight (Complete!) - Drive out the drakes - Fix damage caused by the outsiders - Grow a new heart tree
¡°It¡¯s done Mel. We did it.¡± I whisper in a voice tight with emotion. For a while I just walk through the newly cured trees. The ones that had died are gone but everything else is brimming with life. Each tree that I touch sends me a little pulse of comfort that I gladly take. I stop next to one of the dead trees resting my hand against it. For a while I just look at it until my thoughts are interrupted by a scream from somewhere deep inside me. MOVE! Not pausing to ask why I throw myself to the side just as a long black spear whistles past my head to embed itself into the tree. Reaching up to touch the hot line burned across my cheek my hand comes away bloody. Primal Senses has reached level 3! Turning around the sight that greets my eyes turns my blood to ice. A woman clothed entirely in tight fitting black leather armor stairs at me with hatred in her eyes. As I stair back a small box appears over her head and a glowing red box flashes in my mind.
Quest Alert: Defiler! You have found the source of the blight that threatened the forest. Enraged by your actions she has sought you out. If you fail to stop her, she will continue to spread her poison wherever she goes. Defeat the Defiler or die.
[Defiler, level 53] 09: Defiler
Quest Alert: Defiler You have found the source of the blight that threatened the forest. Enraged by your actions she has sought you out. If you fail to stop her, she will continue to spread her poison wherever she goes. Defeat the Defiler or die.
[Defiler, level 53] A cold chill filled my body as I gazed at the woman standing in front of me. Standing almost two heads taller than me jet black hair cascaded in a messy tangle over shoulders corded with muscle. Tight black armor made of shining leather clung to a slender frame. Most disturbing of all were her eyes. Bottomless wells of darkness glared at me with such hatred that it was almost a physical blow. Her face was all hard edges, seeming almost hollow and drained despite her obvious high level of fitness. ¡°fasj*s# a%jd& adfns#ksifm af$sf@adf asdfnursl!¡± Her voice was harsh and more prickly than a bush of thistle, and I understood none of it. Crouched and body tensing to move I cocked my head in confusion. This only angered her further and she spit forth another tirade of unrecognizable vitriol. Desperate to buy myself a little time I decided to ask a question as she seemed eager to talk, ¡°Who are you?¡± She paused mid tirade and was now the one cocking her head to the side. Seeming more interested than confused. ¡°Forest speaker?¡± she seemed to ask herself more than me. Not really knowing what else to do I nodded. She seemed to consider this for a moment before shaking her head. ¡°No not forest speak you old speak. Know pieces. You fix?¡± She asks gesturing around. Old speak? I didn¡¯t think that there was anything unusual about the way I talked but we obviously speak different languages. This also explains why she doesn¡¯t seem very good at talking. I feel like it would be a bad idea to tell her that I was responsible for curing the blight but lying would probably just piss her off even more. Well I guess the truth it is. Finishing my introspection, I slowly nod my head. ¡°How fix?¡± She demands, definitely angrier. ¡°Large spell.¡± I reply simply. This answer doesn¡¯t seem to satisfy her as she just glares at me. ¡°Not possible. Fix all together, too much power.¡± She spits. Not really knowing what to say I just shrug slightly, ¡°Did it. What is a Defiler?¡± I ask, mind still franticly sorting through possibilities. She seems to consider not responding for a moment but the shrugs and replies, ¡°Was druid. Turned dark. Now magic causes death.¡± The explanation shocks me. How could someone who was once a druid become something that causes that much damage to nature? ¡°Time speak over. In way of plans. Death quick or Death painful?¡± She asks as she pulls another spear from where it hangs on her back. Sighing I ready myself to fight. This is not going to be fun, but I can¡¯t just lay down and die so I will fight for my life. Speaking so she will best understand me I answer, ¡°No surrender. Will fight.¡± A malevolent grin splits her face as a dark haze leaks from her pores ¡°Good.¡± And without any further hesitation she lunges. Moving faster than I can her spear draws a hot line of pain across my left side as I barely twist out of the way. Quickly calling on my magic I summon my wind bubble and form a handful of mana spikes. Stabbing out at her hand I hit nothing but air as she quickly retracts the spear. What follows can only be described as a dance of death. Her spear lashing out like a striking serpent drawing line after line of fiery pain across my body as I twist, turn, and tumble to avoid it. I stab out again and again with my mana spikes whenever I get close enough but only manage to land a blow once for every ten of hers. If it wasn¡¯t for my healing ability, I would already be dead, as it is the skill is working overtime to seal the numerous cuts I have accumulated. A narrow miss of her spear causes me to jump back putting a little distance between us. It is not far enough that she could easily throw her spear at me but not close enough that she could stab me with it either. My breaths are coming in heavy pants while she seems to be as fresh as the moment we started. She smiles evilly at me before holding up a hand. In her palm a pulsing glob of black fluid begins to grow. With a sneer she pulls her arm back and throws it at me. Now expecting this I hadn¡¯t been idle. As soon as the glob of darkness leaves her hand it is snatched by the wind. Whipping it in a circle around her I separate the fluid into a dozen different globs before launching at her. Eyes widening in surprise she barely manages to raise her arms in front of her face before her own spell hits her. Where the fluid hits it acts like acid. In a moment her armor is a steaming, smoking patchwork of holes and a shriek splits the air. Some of the fluid had splashed onto her cheek and was now eating away at her flesh. Luckily with my wind shell I could smell her flesh and armor burn. When she lowered her hands to glare daggers at me there was a hole melted into her cheek exposing the muscles beneath. Now angrier than ever she lunges at me with vengeance in her eyes. She is moving even faster than before, her anger seeming to increase her strength. Reacting almost on instinct I fall back on the magic I know the best. Wind. Creating a flow of air next to me I use the wind to speed the movements of my dodge. The strike misses and our dance resumes at a faster pace. I use the wind to speed my movements and manage to avoid her spear by mere millimeters. After one strike that is slightly overextended, I throw a handful of mana spikes driving five of them in a line all the way up her arm. She lets out another shriek of pain before whipping her spear around and slamming it into my side. The loud crack of breaking bones fills my ears as I am thrown a dozen feet through the air to crash against a tree. All the air is forced from my lungs and my vision goes hazy as my head cracks painfully against the hard wood. Instantly pouring mana into my healing matrix I let out a silent scream as the pain caused by my bones snapping back into place is almost as bad as having them broken. When my vision clears, I see the Defiler pulling fruitlessly at the spikes driven into her arm. Knowing that a simple spike wouldn¡¯t do very much damage I had edited their design slightly, creating barbed spikes on the ends that would make them much harder to remove. Realizing that she would not be able to get the spikes out of her arm without causing extensive damage she coated her spear in a layer of black energy before swiping it down her arm snapping off the body of the spikes while leaving the heads embedded in her skin. Having finished she turned to find me climbing shakily to my feet a look of shock crossing her face before spitting, ¡°Healer.¡± The single word is filled with such venom that I sent a pulse through my healing matrix for fear of being poisoned by it. Again we find ourselves staring at each other neither much worse off than when we had started. My healing had let me recover from most of the damage she had caused while my attacks were too weak to cause much damage to her. Generating another handful of spikes I open the new exchange of blows by throwing them at her. Two are blocked by her spear and one is dodged but two of them sink into her uninjured shoulder. Grimacing in pain she quickly snaps off the shafts before we begin another exchange of blows. She lands slashes all across my body and manages to break a couple more of my bones within a handful of seconds. She tried to hit me with the black energy coating her spear, but it would always disperse upon contact with my wind bubble. I gave almost as good as I got during the quick exchange of blows. Trading a couple of broken bones and shallow cuts for the opportunity to drive another ten spikes into various parts of her body. The exchange was ended when I drove a wind enhanced blow into her side before getting clobbered and thrown away by another vicious backhanded spear strike. In the moment that my fist made contact with her skin I learned something remarkable. The heads of the spikes I had driven into her were still there. The mana hadn¡¯t dispersed and was just sitting there under her skin. I hadn¡¯t been able to sense it because her aura was blocking remote contact to it but touching her I could see it all, and luck must be on my side because the spikes were starting to form a very familiar pattern. An idea started to form in my mind. With it I just might be able to win, but the method made me cringe. Not knowing what else to do I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and set my will to winning at any cost. If I win this fight and survive, I will worry about things like morality but until then this is a fight for my survival. This time when the two of us clash the Defiler is able to keep me from getting within reach of her. Good thing I improved my throwing skill as much as I did. I think as I dodge and weave around the worst of her spear strikes. Taking every opening I land one spike after another, driving small pieces of mana into her flesh. She responds just as viciously carving lines of pain across my chest and arms before breaking my wrist with a perfectly timed strike. By this point I am fighting both pain and exhaustion. The near constant use of my healing matrix and the numerous spikes of mana I created having drained my mana pool to dangerously low levels. I am so close. It is almost complete, just five more points to go. That and I need to be able to touch her which I haven¡¯t been able to do. Her defense I strong but I have to break through it! Pushing back the exhaustion I ready myself for the next exchange of blows. It does not go well. I throw nearly twenty spike but she either dodges or blocks every single one giving me just as many new cuts. Now with almost no mana or stamina left I stumble backwards. Sensing her victory, the Defiler closes in for the kill.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. Setting my feet firmly beneath me I harden my mental shields and prepare for one last desperate act. She lunges, spear quick as lightning aiming straight for my heart. Pain like I could never have imagined nearly makes me black out as the spear pierces my chest, missing my heart by less than the width of my hand. A sick smile fills her face as she pushes the spear further through my chest causing me to scream. Leaning close she whispers in my ear, ¡°Fought well, will remember you.¡± Coughing up a mouthful of blood I whisper back, ¡°N- not over yet.¡± And I drive the five fingers of my right hand coated in mana into her chest. She lets out a small gasp and tries to pull away, but I hang on to her with all my strength. Then I activate the pattern I had painstakingly built inside her. Her body instantly stiffens as the points of energy connect and then the screaming starts. Screaming her lungs out she thrashes violently as black lines spider across her skin. I wish it stopped there but what I had done was much, much worse. Breaking out of my hold she falls to the ground still screaming, her muscles contracting violently. The black lines widen, spreading further, and then her skin began to sag. Her muscles and fat stores were quickly consumed leaving her in a nearly skeletal state. When I had first touched her, I had found that all the spikes I¡¯d been driving into her were following the outlines of the paths followed by the energy healing network. That had given he the idea that I used the rest of the battle. Each additional spike I had driven into her had brought the network closer and closer to completion. The last thing I had needed was to get the final five spikes in, but nothing I tried had been able to break her defense. So, I let her break mine. When she had stabbed me and gotten close enough to whisper in my ear, I had my opening. I had completed the network and inverted it. Working backwards the healing network became something truly sinister. Rather than heal it consumed, eating her alive from the inside. It devoured her muscles, dissolved her organs and left nothing behind but pale fleshless bones. It was not a slow death. Pulling myself off the spear I collapsed to the ground next to the skeleton, poured all of my mana into my healing matrix and promptly passed out. For a long time I floated in a grey mist where I was tormented by the screams of the Defiler and images of her dissolving body. The memories of what I had done made me sick, but I hadn¡¯t had any other choice. This was the only way I could win. It was messy and dark, but it was my only option. If I want to keep something like this from ever happening again, I need to get stronger. If I am going to have to fight, I will need to be strong enough to win without resorting to these measures. Gaining some amount of comfort from my thoughts I let the tormenting images slip from my mind and drift in the nothingness. I don¡¯t know how long I was out for but when my eyes finally open the sun has set and the hollow eye sockets of a gleaming while skull are staring back at me. Rolling over I gaze up at a sky filled with stars until a chorus of chimes fill my head and notifications start rolling in one after another. Ding!
Quest Complete: Defiler After curing the blight from the forest you faced its creator, a Defiler. After winning a hard fought battle and surviving you are reassured that the forest will no longer suffer under the threat of poison. For defeating an enemy that was more than 50 levels above you quest rewards have been updated and specialized to what was most useful to you during the fight. Reward: Ascentium of Speed
For cleansing the forest of blight class Druidic Defender has reached level 2! Mana Manipulation has reached level 15! Throw has reached level 9! Spellweaver has reached level 7! Healing Matrix has reached level 9! For pondering the depths of your soul and coming to terms with the need for drastic action in certain situations soul lock has gained a level. Soul lock has reached level 3! For pondering the depths of your soul and promising to make up for your weaknesses to prevent repeating the mistakes of your past soul lock has gained a level Soul lock has reached level 4! Time until soul stability reaches 100% reduced by 5 years. For defeating an enemy more than 50 levels above your own bonus experience is granted. *Error* *Experience gains would cause host to increase in level. Host cannot increase in level with soul instability! * Searching for solution¡­ Searching¡­ Solution found! Host attributes will be changed to correspond with equivalent level bonuses. Calculating¡­ host would increase in level by 12¡­ Calculating racial level bonuses¡­ Strength + 12 Dexterity + 24 Constitution + 12 12 free stat points awarded Druidic Defender class has reached level 12! Ascentium of Speed ¨C A reward for pushing yourself past your limits you are able to ascend one of your attributes. An ascended attribute will add a x2 multiplier to the end of attribute calculations. Every point invested into this attribute and all points gained from classes or skills now count for double. The Ascentium of Speed will ascend the Dexterity attribute. Congratulations your Dexterity attribute has ascended! New class options available! Prepare for host update¡­ 3¡­ 2¡­ Oh shit this is going to hurt. 1¡­ Pain. The world is pain. It hurts so bad that I instantly pass out. Then the pain gets worse waking me up and forcing me to feel every moment of my body changing. My muscles dissolve only to reknit themselves denser than before. The outer layer of my skin falls of growing back tougher and more supple. The composition of my muscles changes. Smaller fast twitch ones focused on speed grow thicker and more prevalent. Lastly my mind expands. Everything grows sharper and more focused making the pain that much worse. What seems to last an eternity is over in moments leaving me shaking and crying on the ground. For a long time I just lay there trying to shake off the trauma. It is not time but the gentle soothing energy coming from Melody that finally brings me back to my senses. The energy wraps around me like a warm blanket, soothing me and slowly bringing my mind back from the brink of madness. ¡°Th- thank you Mel¡± I gasp, finally able to form cohesive thoughts. Melody responds by sending me another pulse of soothing energy. Gathering my thoughts, I focus on pouring over all of the information that I had gained just before going through the changes to my body. Holy shit! These stat gains¡­ they are insane! All of my physical attributes more than doubled in value and the mental stats grew by quite a bit as well! My skills grew by a large margin too. I guess using them in combat yields greater results. Also my class passed the level 10 mark which means I have the option to pick a new one. Let¡¯s have a look at what options I have and see if there is anything good. Pulling up the class selection page I look at my options.
Available Classes
Basic
Explorer
Ranger
Rare
Druid
Mage
Healer
Defiler
Legendary
Spellsinger
Orionian Archer
Oh wow I¡¯ve unlocked two more legendary classes! Hmm, I also gained the defiler class but I¡¯m going to ignore that one. Now which of the two legendary classes should I pick? I think I got the spell singer class from singing the song of the wind. Picking that class might help me to find the other songs easier. On the other hand the other class seems like a super powered ranger class. Hmmm, well I did find one of the songs on my own and I do need something to increase my offensive abilities. I guess that makes the decision for me. Satisfied with my logic I make my class selection.
Legendary Class Acquired Orionian Archer Following in the footsteps of Orion the greatest hunter the Orionian Archer is a master of the hunt. Skilled in both archery and tracking they are true masters of their craft. Content with hunting only the greatest of prey even the largest of beats tremble when these hunters appear. Skills unlocked: Archery, Bow crafting, elemental arrow, tireless hunt +1 Intelligence, +2 Dexterity, +1 Strength per class level
Ding! Archery ¨C Why let the enemy get close when you can hit them from range? The bow is a favorite weapon of hunters. Increasing this skill will increase your knowledge of how to use a bow and improve your accuracy. Increase skill to increase both accuracy and range. Bow crafting ¨C Bows are expensive so rather than simply buying one you have learned to craft your own. Increase skill level to improve quality and speed of crafting. Elemental Arrow ¨C Arrows who needs those? Not content with shooting long shafts of wood at enemies you have learned to condense mana into arrows. Using different types of mana can yield different results. Damage based off of intelligence attribute. +1 Intelligence per skill level Tireless Hunt ¨C A class exclusive skill that will aid in the pursuit of your prey. After finding something to track this skill can be activated after preforming a ritual to hunt the pre without end. Needing no sleep, no food, and letting nothing get in your way you can tirelessly track you prey wherever it may hide. ¡°Mel this class is amazing! It gives me everything that I wanted! I got a bunch of new skills that will help with my offense and it helps improve my strength attribute!¡± I exclaim happily. Mel sends me an encouraging pulse of energy before redirecting my attention to my current condition. ¡°Huu? Ah I see what you mean.¡± Looking at myself I can see that I am absolutely filthy. Dried blood and dirt coat my skin and congeal in my fur. ¡°I look awful. I guess I should get cleaned up I think there was a stream over that way.¡± I say pointing off to one side. Turning I am about to leave when I remember the skeleton of the Defiler. ¡°You know you caused a lot of pain in this world but I don¡¯t know if you deserved to die the way that you did.¡± I tell the skull. Creating a bubble of wind I lift the skeleton and carry it and the spear over to the remains of the great tree. There I stack the bones in a neat little pile before driving the spear point down into the ground behind it. Adding the final touch of wrapping the small memorial in pure mana I ensure that it will not be able to be moved or destroyed. ¡°You were a terrible person and I regret what had to be done to stop you. I give you this as a sign of respect and as a reminder to myself of what happened here today.¡± With that settled I make my way slowly to the creek for a much-needed bath. 10: Through New Eyes As I washed the blood from my body, I let my thoughts wander. A lot has changed for me in such a short time. When I first woke up I knew just this side of nothing. I was scared and lost, well I¡¯m still a bit lost but now I have a direction to move in. So much has been happening that I haven¡¯t had the opportunity for much reflection. I still wish that I could find more information about my past or why I woke up where I did but learning to protect this forest has become very important to me. Everything here seems to possess a level of wildness that just calls out to me. The wonder of seeing new things, learning new magics, and being able to help maintain the balance calls to me on a deep level. I don¡¯t know if it was something that the heart tree did to me, the instincts given by my classes, or something deeper, but it just feels right. Meeting the Defiler changed a lot for me. That was the first time I can remember that my life ever truly felt threatened. The fear that I felt in that situation is something that I never want to feel again. Also the way that I had to kill her¡­ it was wrong. My feelings on the whole situation are a jumbled mess. On one hand I feel guilty for killing her in the way that I did, but another part of me realizes that there was no other option. Another piece of me is glad that she is dead and no longer able to cause harm, but I am also sad that she had to die. I can¡¯t let myself dwell too much on these emotions or I won¡¯t be able to move forward. I made myself a promise and I have to stick to it. I will get stronger. I will learn more. Only by improving myself can I be able to deal with these situations in the right way. I don¡¯t yet know what that right way is but I will find it. Letting out a soft sigh I finish scrubbing my skin clean and turn my attention to getting the blood and grime out of my tail. Having reflected enough on my feelings my thoughts wander in a new direction. Fighting the Defiler wasn¡¯t all bad, I did gain a lot of experience from it. I learned a lot more about how to fight and ways that my skills can be used. My strength is still too lacking to wield it as a weapon but after getting the Ascentium of Speed and learning what felt the best during the fight I think I know the path I want to follow. If I can keep working to improve my speed I will be able to make quick small attacks while evading counterattacks. I also learned a great deal about using magic in combat. The defiler could wield some aspect of darkness that acted like acid. Whatever it touched would just dissolve. I learned that I couldn¡¯t use wind magic as a weapon, not yet at least, but I could use it as a support tool. Creating a protective barrier and using it to speed my movements are likely the reason that I was able to survive. I really do have a lot to learn from the natural forces of this world. If I can move like the wind does then I will be even harder to catch. On top of learning more about wind magic I also learned that my pure mana makes a pretty good weapon. I was initially only able to make small spikes of it but during the fight I was able to change their shape. If I practice some more I can probably learn to make all manner of things from it. Already being decent at making spikes it shouldn¡¯t be hard for me to make the step up to creating arrows. The elemental arrow skill should help me with that and as I grow stronger I should be able to make new ones. I will need to keep practicing and see what I can do. Speaking of that new skill the levels I gained on my first class and gaining a new class have changed quite a lot. The world around me seems¡­ different. I can sense the forest even better now and have a much deeper understanding of how things work. I can feel the vast network that the forest is connected to. I can¡¯t hear or feel exactly what is traveling through it but I can get a general sense. Feelings of thirst or hunger are there alongside pain and fear. My desire to fix these issues has not lessened. The opposite is true. After getting the chance to see the smallest glimpse vast forest spanning network and the sacrifices of those willing to give everything to protect it, I want to do my part even more. These are not the only sense of mine that have improved. With my new class I now have the instincts of a hunter. The desire to seek out greater threats and larger prey beats deep within me. Not only can I sense the forest but I can feel how it moves. The way the seasons push animals to different areas, the way weather affects the types of plants that grow fruit, I can feel it. Alas I can get no cleaner than I am now and should start on the next leg of my journey. Climbing out of the water I use a small stream of wind to quickly dry myself. Enough time was spent in this area and it is time to move on to something new. My senses call out to me from two different directions, picking one at random I set off at a run. I make it all of five steps along my newly chosen path when I trip and fall flat on my face¡­ again. Ah! What happened? One second I was starting to run and then I got all jumbled up and just fell over. How could I forget how to run I¡¯ve been doing it for days! Lying on the ground I mentally curse myself and try to figure out what happened. Wanting to forget this ever happened I slowly stand up and try to take a step forward. My leg shoots out causing me to stumble and nearly fall again. A soft pulsing chuckle of laughter comes from Melody. ¡°Hey knock it off. This isn¡¯t funny.¡± I whine while trying to right myself. ¡°If you find it so funny why don¡¯t you give me an idea of what¡¯s going on!¡± I shout. In response she sends a hazy image of the Defiler to me. ¡°Huu? The Defiler? She shouldn¡¯t be responsible for this she¡¯s dead¡­ Ohhh I get it now.¡±This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report. When I killed the Defiler I got massive increases to my stats! I had been able to feel slight improvements before but I was quickly able to adapt to them, but getting that huge increase all at once must have thrown my entire system off. ¡°Ahhhh! I really am going to have to learn to walk again!¡± I whine as a deep blush of embarrassment colors my cheeks. Luckily there is no one around to see me stumbling like an idiot. Putting a large amount of my focus into moving as slow as possible I carefully lift one leg and move it forward taking a step. Whew so I can move it¡¯s just going to suck going this carefully. I really hope I can adjust to this soon. I am about to take my next step when my hunter instincts give me a sharp poke. ¡°Hu. What do you want?¡± It replies with an images that says move like this, if you are going to relearn how to walk do it right. ¡°Well you are here to help me so I guess ill give it a try.¡± I stand still for several minutes as I watch the mental images my class is trying to show me. The motions are light and flowing, moving soundlessly through the forest leaving almost no trace of its passing. Okay that is pretty cool, I really want to move like that. Determined to learn this new way of moving I shift my stance and try to balance my weight more evenly. Searching the ground I find a good place to set my foot and step down an a patch of soft dirt. ¡°Ouch!¡± I shout and jump a little as my class gives me a small mental zap. An image of me appears in my mind a wags it finger at me before pointing back at itself and repeating the movements. I watch closely as the other me carefully sets her feet where she wont leave tracks. She avoids soft earth, and dry leaves, while stepping lightly on rocks, roots, and hard packed soil. After moving around for a little bit the other me stops and points back at me as if to say and now you try. It takes me nearly an hour and about 100 mental zaps to move forward 20 paces. The effort is tiring I am finally starting to get used to the new way of moving. I also notice that by focusing more intently on moving in this new way I run into fewer issues with my new stat boosted speed. The next hours pass in a blur of moving one step at a time, repeatedly loosing my balance, and mental zaps. By the time the sun starts to rise I am finally able to move at a painstakingly slow pace without getting shocked. As the sun climbs higher into the sky My vision improves and I am able to start making faster progress. Being able to see the ground clearly, I can now move at an average walking pace without getting zapped. Yay! With my pace increasing and the proper way to move being engrained into my mind over hours of trying I am finally able to divert some of my attention to my surrounding. Things seem different. Well not really different but I am able to see so much more. Over by that tree there are tracks from a rabbit that passed by no more than a day ago, and over there that bush is getting too much sun which will lead to a lower fruit yield. The sheer amount of information around me is staggering. Before I had just been able to see the plants and surroundings at the most basic level. I could tell what most of them were and get a general sense of their condition, but that was just the surface. Now I can see the deeper pool. I can not only tell what a plant is but the condition it is in. If it needs more water, is too hot, and when it will bloom or produce fruit. I can also see different types of surfaces. Which ones will make noise if I step on them, which ones will leave clear tracks, and which ones will allow me to pass almost unnoticed. Beyond that I can also see the signs of recent animal activity. I can tell where their tracks are and how long they¡¯ve been there, and I can see the places where they have spent time either eating or sleeping. I am startled out of my inspection of the environment by the arrival of a notification. Ding! Skill acquired ¨C Stealth! Stealth ¨C You have learned the art of hiding your presence. By learning to move carefully you have learned to step without making a sound or leaving a trace. This skill is vital to both hunters and assassins. Improve your sneaking abilities and find new ways to hide your presence to increase skill level. The higher the level of your stealth skill the less likely others are to notice you when you wish to remain hidden. Stealth has reached level 1! Oh a new skill! So this is why my class wanted me to move this way. If I can move silently then I will be able to sneak up on things much easier. This skill is a little different than others though. The way it is worded and the feeling I get from it indicate that repetitive action will only get me so far. It says find new ways to hide my presence so there must be other ways to hide. It probably means finding a way to hide from the other senses. So to get this skill to level up I need to find a way to hide from sight and smell. Well both of those are outside my current abilities so for now I will just focus on learning to move faster and quieter. This is how the day goes. I take in the new information around me, and focus on learning the proper way to move. As afternoon rolls around I am able to reach a light jogging pace and the movements I need to make as well as where I need to place my feet start to feel more and more natural. I am brought to a stop as the sky suddenly darkens as if night is falling in an instant. Looking up I see thick roiling storm clouds flashing menacingly with lightning. As the first drops of freezing cold rain start to fall I begin looking for a place to wait out the storm. Ahead of me not too far away there is some kind of large burrow and seeing no other places I start to make my slow way towards it. My slow progress is interrupted by a bright flash and the booming crack of thunder. Off to my right a huge tree explodes as lightning shreds it all the way to the ground. Screw it not a time for stealth. Abandoning any attempt to move the proper way and focus entirely on speed as I try to reach safety. Reaching the entrance, I dive headfirst into the burrow just as a rain of lightning starts to fall from the sky. My last thought before I fall into blackness is Aw shit this is much deeper than I thought! 11: Anomaly My desperate dive plunges me deep into the darkness of the burrow until I hit the ground hard and start rolling down a steep incline. I tumble tail over teakettle over and over until with a bone jarring crash I slam into a wall. For a few minutes I just lay there trying to catch my breath and waiting for my eyes to adjust. As the darkness recedes slightly and my night vision kicks in, I get a view of a long stone tunnel leading deeper into the earth. The walls are smooth, and I can make out my reflection in the glassy surface. What the hell is this place? At first, I thought it was just some small burrow but now it seems more like a cave. These walls also don¡¯t seem natural. Nothing either I or my classes know about could make something like this. For the walls to be this smooth and to have no signs of any digging it couldn¡¯t have been created by any type of beast. So, if no beast created this place then who did? Faint flashes of light and the muffled cracking of thunder echo down the tunnel behind me. Hmmm the storm doesn¡¯t seem to be letting up at all. It¡¯s too dangerous to be outside right now so I guess I should explore this area while I wait for it to pass. All my senses on high alert I start making my way deeper into the cave. The sounds of the storm slowly fade into silence as I walk further now accompanied only by my hazy reflections and the soft sounds of my breathing. Things in the tunnel change so slowly that I almost fail to notice. I thought I had been going in a straight line, but the walls have a gentle curve to them indicating that the tunnel is actually forming a large spiral descending into the earth. Also, I had thought my night vision was getting better but at this point I should be in absolute darkness. Looking around more intently I can see that the walls have changed. Still possessing their strange glassy quality, they are no longer reflective and are emitting a faint light casting the world in shades of grey. Curious I reach out and run a hand over one of them. It feels just like I would expect it to. There is no texture to it and the light produces no form of heat or magical energy that I am able to detect. There isn¡¯t even a trace of some kind of bio-luminescent organism to explain why the walls are glowing. Strange. If it isn¡¯t heat, magic, or life that makes it glow what is it. Studying the walls closely yields no results so with a shrug I turn away and continue making my way deeper. Rather than just walking straight ahead I keep my focus on the walls this time. Due to the extra focus I am putting to the task I notice almost immediately when things change. The walls are no longer blank. The first thing to appear on them seem to be nothing more than small dots, almost as if the wall had been chipped. Running my hand over the markings disproves this as even in the places where the dots exist the wall remains perfectly smooth. Further down the tunnel the dots become more numerous and are eventually joined by a series of wavy lines. The lines give me pause because the way that they seem to flow tingles at the back of my mind. Why do I feel like I should know what you mean? For a long time, I just stare at the lines following their flow. At first, I thought it might be like the flowing of the wind but that isn¡¯t quite right. Then it hits me, ¡°Mana.¡± I whisper. In the silence of the cave my voice echoes coming back to me a dozen different times. No, it¡¯s not just the flowing of mana it¡¯s the flowing of pure mana. Now that I am able to recognize what it is I try to trace the patterns and figure out what it is being used for. I look at it straight on, from the side, and tilt my head until it is almost upside down but still can¡¯t see the mana actually forming anything. It seems to be just drifting. Is it just floating there in some kind of void, or is it flowing somewhere? Needing to find answers I follow the flowing lines further on until the next images make me stop. All of the mana lines flow up to a tall figure then wrap around it. What can only be a person wearing a long robe stands with a single arm outstretched. The lines of mana crawl up its legs disappearing into the robe and reemerging along the arm before vanishing. The figure¡¯s hood is thrown back, but its face is blank. Where there should be a face there is nothing but smooth empty space. Who are you and why are you the first thing to appear in this depicted void apart from mana? The whole thing is starting to feel strange and only questions are coming from looking at the walls, while answers feel just out of reach. Past the strange figure the wall changes yet again. No more than a pace past its outstretched hand the smooth glassy surface is interrupted by ripples. The wall seems to turn to almost a thick liquid that has had a stone tossed into it. Reaching out to touch the new surface I yet again find it perfectly smooth despite my mind shouting that it can¡¯t possibly be. Just beyond this point the wall once again becomes perfectly smooth. A little further down the empty dotted void crossed by lines of mana is interrupted by a large empty sphere. At first, I had thought it was only a circle but it had a level of depth to it that mad it something more. The lines of mana twine around it and the dots seem to have been pushed out of the way. They group up tightly along its boarder before spreading out again. Past this strange sight is the same sphere repeated but this time it¡¯s not empty. Inside the first sphere rests another one. The smaller sphere seems to be solid and covered in something I can¡¯t make out whereas the first sphere was empty. Hmmm I wonder what this all means. It seems to be something important but I cant make heads or tails of it. I move to look at the next part of the series of images but instead find myself looking into a small circular chamber that contains something very, very strange. In the center of the chamber is a floating ball of earth. If it were just floating there it might not have been so weird but this ball is off the deep end levels of weird. As it floats the ball seems to flow like a liquid. It twists in and out of itself. It grows and shrinks in size. The thing never stops moving, but it never moves in any way that seems natural. What the ¨C My thoughts are cut short by the ringing of notifications and the appearance of a large orange box.
Anomaly Detected! When the ancients built this world, they used fantastic powers. Most of these have been either lost to history or are now nothing more than rumor. You have stumbled across an anomaly, a left-over fragment of their power. Its secrets are yours for the taking¡­ If you manage to understand them.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.
Reading this almost everything I had seen in the tunnel starts to make sense. The tall figure must have been one of these ancients. If that¡¯s the case, then the strange ripples and the spheres that came after it must have been the magic used to create this world. What kind of magic could do that though? With some questions answered and a thousand more taking their place I cautiously enter the chamber with the strange floating ball. I don¡¯t want to give up to opportunity to learn from this but just looking at the ball makes my skin crawl. Still moving cautiously, I approach to within one me distance of the ball before taking a seat. Remembering how I had learned to use magic from the wind I cautiously extend a tendril of pure man towards the ball. The instant it makes contact it is sucked into the twisting unnatural flow. Trying to follow it makes my head spin and I almost throw up. Fighting the urge, I focus more and more on trying to follow the flow of mana. Strangely my mana doesn¡¯t change its attribute like id does when touching the elements, instead remaining in its pure form. Stranger still after following the mana for several minutes I realize that there are actually two forces acting within the ball. One of the forces is causing the strange twisting while the other is causing the expansion and contraction. Deciding to study the latter of these first I subtly nudge my mana out of the strange twisting flow and focus it entirely on the other. It takes several tries but as soon as I get my mana entirely into just one of the forces my head clears. Uhhg no wonder the flow was so confusing and disorienting. I was trying to map out different pieces to two separate magics. Now time to figure out what you do. The magic is strange to say the least. It flows in a sphere around the ball never quite touching it. The effect it has seems to make everything inside its influence flow either towards or away from a single point. This is what causes the ball to seemingly expand and contract. The force with which everything is drawn towards or repelled from the point also changes. Despite having effects that I have trouble understanding the magic seems rather simple. To use it a small field is created and then the density of that field or point is changed to determine how much force is applied. The direction things are pushed or pulled is changed by simply inverting the flow of the field. After learning as much as I can from the field and memorizing the correct flows of mana, I disconnect from it and move my entire focus into the second magic. The effects of this magic are just as strange if not more so than the first one. The mana seems to flow into a single point and then somehow expand the area inside of that point without actually changing its size. I stare completely baffled by the sheer impossibility of the action taking place before my eyes. It should not be possible for a space to exist inside of another space without changing the initial space at all, but somehow it is. Confused, excited and terrified by the strange power of this spell I dive into studying it. As the mana concentrates into a single point, I add my tendril in to see what happens. The mana seems to twist forming a ring around the point that holds it in place. It then flows through the ring and into the point causing it to expand while the ring on the outside keeps it from outwardly changing. Inside the newly opened space the mana quickly dispersed to form into what seem like branches of a tree. These branches for supports to hold the space open and keep it from collapsing back in on itself. This one takes me a while to preform as it involves preforming two simultaneous actions in perfect harmony. One action to create and hold the ring, the other to enlarge and support the newly created space. The amount of mana and concentration increases exponentially with the size of the space created. After memorizing how to create the spaces and preforming the action several time I judge that I have learned all I can and disconnect from the anomaly. As soon as I am disconnected, I am hit with several notifications all at once.
Congratulations you have learned Spatial Magic! Space is everything and everything is space. Make something take up more of it or make something take up less. You can make two spaces the same space or create space inside of space, the possibilities are numerous! Do try not to get lost in the space between spaces!
Congratulations you have learned Gravity Magic! Gravity is the force that brings things together. It keeps planets orbiting the sun and keeps your feet on the ground. With control over gravity you can change how its pull affects the world. You could make something heavier, or lighter. You could make gravity push or pull in different directions. The only limit is your imagination. Try not to crush yourself!
Quest Alert: Footsteps of the ancients! You have taken the first steps along a long and forgotten road. The ancients built this world and in doing so left pieces of their power scattered throughout it. Track down these long-forgotten pieces of knowledge. Reward: ??????
New living enchantment available! As the notifications show up the spinning and twisting of the ball slows. It comes to a complete stop now just hanging in the air, and then it crumbles into dust leaving nothing behind. Boy am I glad that I was able to learn these skills in a single go. I would hate to have only gotten partway through and then lost the only thing that could teach me. These powers though. The description of gravity magic is quite intriguing. The ability to make things lighter or heavier is cool but I can also make gravity flow to or from a point. I wonder if I can use that as a weapon. I will have to try it later, far away from my body, very far. Now the description of space magic on the other hand almost founds like complete nonsense! The only part of it that I was able to understand was the one about making space inside of other space. I bet I could use that to make some way of carrying things without hindering my movements. Now the part about making two spaces one space, what the hell is that supposed to mean? I guess that I will just have to do some- Wait! Did that notification say that I could get a new living enchantment? Those things are amazing! I have to see what it is. All thoughts of space nonsense are flung to the back of my mind as I quickly pull up the menu for my living enchantments. Upon seeing what it is I eagerly accept. I moan loudly as the familiar feeling of ecstasy flows out of my soul lock. The feeling snakes its way down my chest and stomach before wrapping around my waist. After a few minutes the feeling fades and I am left with a brand-new tattoo. A belt made of small interconnecting spirals wraps around my waist. Over my left hip the spirals break to flow around an empty disk the size of my palm. New Living enchantment acquired ¨C Spatial Belt! Spatial Belt ¨C Drawing from your understanding of Spatial Magic this belt allows you to store items in an extradimensional space. Drawing from your understanding of gravity magic the weight of items stored is reduced by 50%. Increase your understanding of Spatial and Gravity Magic to gain new or larger storage slots and increase the weight reduction. ¡°This. Is. Awesome!¡± I let out an excited squeal and start skipping back up the tunnel eager to start doing some experiments. 12: Storm and Song My happy mood carried me all the way up the tunnel. I skipped the entire way humming a tuneless melody. This lasted until exactly two steps past the entrance, whereupon I was beset by a tide of water falling from the sky. About to run back inside I was stopped by the sight of devastation just outside the cavern. Numerous trees were reduced to little more than kindling. The ground was pockmarked with craters, some larger than me. Sticks and branches littered the ground, a single stump burned merrily, and everywhere there was water. It fell from the sky in warm sheets, it turned craters into pools, and small streams ran in every direction. Out of all of this one thing stood out to me more than anything else. That one burning stump. How the hell can you even still burn in this weather? You are practically underwater! Ignoring my logic and mental screaming the stump continued to burn merrily. Angry at the storm, the fire, and its refusal to follow any logic I sloshed my way over to glare at it. ¡°What place could you possibly hold in nature?¡± I demanded of the stump. Of course, being a burning stump it gave no reply. I did get a reply from my hunter instincts, however. A mental image of me cheerily cooking a large slice of meat over a small fire popped into my mind. ¡°You stay out of this!¡± I shout back in response, my stomach grumbling sadly. The very satisfied, not hungry, and dry me gives a mocking salute and vanishes. Rounding back on the stump I intensify my glare as I focus on it. ¡°Well I guess I should learn from you. At least then I can show that stupid other me that I can cook too.¡± The stump just sits there continuing to burn merrily in the face of my anger. Extending a thread of mana to the stump I connect to the flames. The feeling it gives is warm, almost hot and it is flickery. It is vastly different than anything else I have felt before. It cannot exist on its own. This form of fire consumes. It takes energy from the tree and air to keep itself alive. None of the other forms of mana had to do this so why is the fire intent only on consuming other things? The fire baffles me. I am unable to see how something like this is an essential part of nature. I study the fire for a good long while eventually learning its flow but failing to find it doing anything other than consuming. ¡°Why? Why why why why why! Why do you not make any sense? How do you fit in? How can something that exists only to destroy be a part of the natural order?¡± I scream at the burning stump. Turning my angry glare to the sky I continue shouting, ¡°You want me to learn fire? You want me to feel it? I¡¯ll show you fire!¡± I quickly gather a mass of the flickering red mana and twist it around. Letting out a triumphant laugh I raise my hand to the heavens¡­ and manage to light myself on fire. Screaming and cursing incoherently I dive into one of the crater pools and quench the flames. Cursing and grumbling I crawl out of the pool to glare once again at the hated stump. ¡°This is all your fault!¡± I shout before turning my back on it and stalking away. I am getting ready to storm back to the tunnel when I get a small mental zap from my hunter instincts. ¡°What do you want?¡± I snap. It gives me a small prod to look down before vanishing once more. Looking down I see a long slender tree branch. ¡°What am I supposed to do with this?¡± I ask no one. The moment my fingers close around the branch a different part of my mind stirs happily. The part containing my bow crafting skill. ¡°Huh, so I guess something good did come of this fruitless trip after all.¡± Looking around the ground is littered with broken bits of trees. Seeing this my anger quickly cools and I start darting around picking up some branches and dropping others. My skill helps me to recognize which ones will be useful and which ones are worthless. I gather a large armload of mixed bow pieces and a little bit of firewood, since cooked meat sounds very appetizing. Man, this would be so much easier if I didn¡¯t have to carry- wait I don¡¯t have to carry all of them! Remembering a little late that I now have the storage belt I stop and grab a stick from the top of the pile while trying to balance the rest. I bring it down and tap it against my left hip. Nothing happens. I pout a little my tail twitching in irritation. I try again this time adding a small pulse of mana and the stick disappears. ¡°Woohoo!¡± I shout in triumph and do a little happy dance. This unfortunately causes me to drop the rest of my sticks. ¡°Damnit!¡± Uhhg now I have to pick them all up again! But the way the stick just disappeared was so cool! I wonder how I get it out again? Needing to know how to get things out of the storage belt before I load it up I tap on it again while sending a small burst of mana into it. Rather than the stick reappearing I got a mental image of the storage space. Shaped like a box the sides were about as long as I am tall, if I were to be cut off at the knees. Floating in the box is a single stick. I focus on the stick and it disappears from the box reappearing slightly to the left of my hand and falling to the ground. Hmmm interesting. So, to get something out of the box I just need to send a little mana into it, focus on the object I want, and think out. It was a little disappointing that it just fell to the ground though. I will have to practice more with this and see if I can control where things appear. That however can wait. I need to gather these up and find somewhere to get out of this rain. Promising myself that I will practice later I bend and start to pick up my fallen pieces of wood. One after another they all disappear until finally there is only one left. Triumphantly I grab the stick, tap it so my side with a little mana, and drop it. Landing in a small flow of water it is quickly whisked away. ¡°Huu? Hey get back here!¡± I shout giving chase.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. I follow the quickly moving stick for several minutes until it drops into the pool of a small crater. Reaching down to grab it I freeze as my instincts scream at me to stop. Ding! Primal Senses has reached level 4! Startled by the new notification and my still tingling senses I slowly stand and start to take in my surroundings. I have somehow stumbled into the center of a perfect circle formed by a dozen craters. The pouring rain has filled them to the point of overflowing. Some of them are shallower than the length of my arm while others could swallow me whole. Thin trickles of water or wide flows connect them forming an unbroken chain. The movement of my stick catches my attention and I watch as it moves from one pool to the next. The movement is oddly captivating. In some of the pools the stick just slowly floats from one side to the other, while in others it is twisted and jostled by strong currents. Some of the streams carry it quickly from one pool to the next while in others it barely moves at all. Without intending it to happen my mana vision slowly enfolds my sight and a beautiful flow of light illuminates the circle. Glowing lines in a deep blue appear all around me. They follow the water perfectly, forming pools and streams. Some of the pools a glassy smooth while others have waves and spirals. In the streams the mana changes between thin and spread out to tightly packed and thick. The mana does not exist only in the pools though. Looking to the sky a dance much more intricate than the one in the pools is taking place. Swooping spirals of wind braid themselves with streams of water. A flowing, shifting kaleidoscope of blue and teal light dances across the sky. Where the two meat they form roiling storm clouds that produce falling sheets of blue rain. The ground, the air, the very world itself is alive with water. Something deep and primal takes over and I am lost in the flows of the mana. This time no thread comes from me for how could a single thread capture the flow, instead a white fog of mana mists the air around me before turning a deep rich blue. I am enveloped in a cool feeling and my thoughts are washed away as I start to move. My legs move in a smooth flowing motion following the pace of the water. Sometimes quick and others slow and steady, I follow the streams. At the pools I either glide across the ground or dance bobbing and spiraling with the flow. My arms twist, rise and fall with the motion of the rain. Before I know it I am dancing across the surface of the water. I leave no ripples that would disturb the flow but now move with the flow rather than simply following it. As I dance the water begins to whisper to me. It speaks of deep secrets and great storms. It speaks of life, tears, and the endless sea. Slowly I come to understand it and as I do, I hear its song. This song does not beg or plead to be sung, it simply knows that it will and waits. When I open my mouth and start to sing the world doesn¡¯t go quiet, instead the pattering of the rain and the sloshing of the pools sing with me in harmony. Together we sing the water¡¯s song. The root of life, an endless flow A sign of pain, of hearts brought low In sea and storm, of ground and sky A steady stream, a ceaseless tide. You crack the earth, but make no tare Great canyons made from constant wear Great glassy lakes from moments rest An icy land from endless sleep. From smallest drops to vast great seas From joyous souls, and broken pleas Through beating hearts such as these You are life, the storm the sea From falling drop To boundless sea With mornings dew, you great the day A welcome friend, keep thirst at bay The cooling rain to feed the fields A rising storm, to wash all away You give strength, and bare our hearts Ensnare the mind and make it clear Upon your waves joy is found Within your depths without a sound From smallest drops to vast great seas From joyous souls, and broken pleas Through beating hearts such as these You are life, the storm the sea From falling drop To boundless sea My voice is slow and deep, quick and high, smooth as a glassy lake. As I sing with the rivers and the rain they dance and twist. The water comes alive at the sound of my voice. Sadly, like all things the song comes to an end, and the moment of beauty passes. With the fading of the last notes my dance brings me back to the center of the circle where I fall to my knees and cry. I cry for the beauty of the song that is gone and I cry for the small glimpse of something greater that is now hidden. The Endless Song. As I sang with the water a new piece of it had been revealed. A small sliver of its grandeur now hidden. As I calmed myself and wiped away my tears the notifications I knew were waiting arrived with the familiar ringing of bells. Ding!
Quest Alert: The Endless Song A song of incomprehensible power that bends the very laws of nature; it is beyond your current understanding. To know this song you must know the 6 primal aspects of nature. Feel them, listen to them, and understand them. - Understand Fire (x) - Understand Wind (¨¹) - Understand Water (¨¹) - Understand Earth (x) - Understand Light (x) - Understand Darkness (x) Reward: The Endless Song
Endurance + 2! Mana Manipulation has reached level 17! Spellweaver has reached level 8! ¡°Well Mel would you look at that. When we set out today, I hadn¡¯t expected anything but walking running and maybe a little work on my skills. Instead we were chased by a storm into an ancient cave, learned long lost magics, and have now discovered our second song.¡± I say, smiling weakly and wiping at my face. Melody responds by pulsing gently echoing back the song of water. ¡°Well what do you say we get out of this rain and find somewhere dry to get some sleep?¡± I ask while giving her a few friendly pats. Soaking wet and tired down to my bones I make my stumbling way back to the tunnel. Using my newfound knowledge, I pull all the water from my body then make a warm breeze to fluff my tail and warm the chill from my skin. Now warm and dry I curl up with my tail and fall asleep the instant I close my eyes. Interlude: Greenwood Forest Expedition [Somewhere close but further than you think] Well now the little fox is quite the extraordinary girl. To make such progress in so little time is just simply remarkable. In just a few days she went from absolutely nothing to a real rising star. When she met the Defiler I nearly wept. I thought for sure this is the end, but it wasn¡¯t! Using both her skill and her wit to their fullest she was able to survive. I won¡¯t bore you with the details of how close a thing it was but let¡¯s just say she was lucky the first element she learned to control was wind. After the battle she was also able to obtain a second legendary class too! I am quite interested in seeing how she develops it and integrates it into her life. I will admit that I am the one who intervened to offer her the Ascentium of Speed, but she really deserved it. To overcome the odds like she did you can¡¯t possibly she didn¡¯t deserve such a reward. Also it was quite funny to watch her trip all over herself. Stats are meant to be improved slowly so that the body can adjust, so watching her struggle to just learn how to walk again had me clutching my sides and nearly crying with laughter. What? You think I¡¯m a bit sadistic? Well that may be true. I don¡¯t always find joy in the suffering of others, but I doubt you can say that you¡¯ve never laughed at something similar. That¡¯s beside the point. Her next shocker was to find one of the clues that I left behind. I highly doubt that she will be able to use it in its intended capacity any time soon. I will be interested to see how she uses her new powers. If wielded by a true master of the art the magics she possesses could crush planets. Now the power it takes to do such a thing is still far beyond our little fox so don¡¯t go worrying about her accidentally creating a black hole or something ridiculous like that. To top it all off she even discovered the song of water. This one I can say was expected. With her current affinities and the way she thinks most of the others are still out of reach. For some reason she doesn¡¯t seem to want to call on the power of a song again after she initially discovers it. I have been wondering why that is. I guess only time will tell. Now looking away from our favorite friend the other players are starting to make their moves. A group is gathering to plunge into the depths of the forest. Looking at their levels and abilities they do have a chance of catching up to Reiza if they go the right way, or if she keeps leaving a trail of massive signs in her path. I mean shooting a pillar of green light over a hundred feet wide into the sky! The girl does not know the definition of subtle. Well I mean she really doesn¡¯t I do remember taking that memory away¡­ Ah I¡¯m rambling again. Apart from the group getting ready for the expedition the gods are starting to make moves as well. All of them seem to suspect the others of causing the recent disturbances. This means that they are all moving cautiously and preparing for war. I am quite surprised that they haven¡¯t called for one of their silly council of gods meetings. I would have expected Radiance to do that rather than send a little girl to run an investigation. She does tend to think a bit more on the big picture than the others though so we shall see. I don¡¯t think that I will see any real movement from the gods until Reiza manages to do something either really big or really stupid. The only thing that I know for sure is that when the wrench is thrown into the system, it will be a big one, and it will come from her. Until that day comes, I will just sit here and watch closely as our little fox finds new ways to surprise me. [Greenwood Village] [Lilly POV] I sat in a private room at the back of the village guild hall. I lean back in the unexpectedly comfortable chair and prop my legs up on the large wooden table. Sampson sits beside me with his head propped up on the edge of the table and I look over the profiles of the people who will be joining me on my quest. I had only posted the offer of the quest with the guild yesterday and by the time I came in at noon today there were already fifty applicants. After hours of pouring over the applications I finally came out with three that I think will be the best fit. Okay so the first person who will be joining is Adam. He is a level 63 warrior. His profile says he has proficiency in playing the role of tank and seems to have the stats to back it up. He uses heavy armor, and equips himself with a shield and longsword, but can also wield a Warhammer. He will work well. With his abilities to draw the enemy¡¯s attention and take a lot of damage the rest of the team will be able to preform much better. Furthermore, his versatility in using different types of weaponry will allow us to fight and win against a larger range of enemies. The next applicant that I decided to take was his brother Will. Will is a level 61 ranger. His profile says that his expertise is in tracking and hunting. His skills with the bow are apparently quite well know. I don¡¯t know if his tracking will do us a lot of good in helping towards our ultimate goal but his hunting skills will be essential if we want to make the most of things. On top of all that having a ranged damage dealer helps to balance the party. He claims to also be able to wield a short sword which isn¡¯t uncommon for someone of his level but I think I will keep him as a vanguard for traveling and move him back to rear support for combat. The final applicant was much harder to decide upon. There were a lot more high level warriors and even a couple mages that applied but I think this one will work out better despite her relatively low level. Her name is Mya. She is a level 26 cleric. I had almost put her application aside but am glad that I kept it now. She specializes in healing and protection magic. Her skills are a bit higher than her level would suggest if the report from the guild is to be believed. If she comes with the right gear, she would be a huge help to the party. Her application says she doesn¡¯t have experience with adventuring, but she has spent some time in hospitals and high ranking medical clinics. If that is true then she shouldn¡¯t freeze up if someone gets injured. I will have to keep a close eye on her. Who knows maybe she will do just fine. I let out a sigh and put the papers down to glance at the clock. Hmm almost time for them to arrive. The party looks good on paper, but you can never really tell until everyone actually meets and you can get a sense of how their personalities work. Just as the echoing chimes of the bell tower starts to ring the hour, the door opens and the first group member walks in. She seems awfully young. Is the first thing I think when who can only by the cleric, Mya, walks into the room. Even for a human, who age rather quickly, she looks more like she is 17 or 18 rather than her true age of 20. She is of average height but that¡¯s probably the only thing about her that¡¯s average. With bright eager green eyes and long wavy locks of fiery red hair she cuts quite the striking figure. I am happy to see that even for a newbie to the adventuring life she seems to be fit and has dressed sensibly. Rather than dawning the gaudy white and gold robes that most clerics seem to favor she is dressed instead in faded browns and black. Tall black leather boots come up to just below her knees and a pair of sturdy looking brown trousers are expertly tucked into them. Above that she wears a good traveling shirt and is covered with a dark cloak. Strapped to her back is a long golden scepter of high quality that thankfully doesn¡¯t have any of those useless jangling rings hanging from it. I smile happily at the sight of her. Well it looks like I actually get to work with a sensible one. She might not be as much of a burden as I had anticipated. ¡°I- is this where the meeting for the expedition into the forest is?¡± She asks a little nervously. I nod and smile gently at her before replying, ¡°Yes it is. You must be Mya, please come take a seat while we wait for the others to show up.¡± [Will POV] ¡°I know we were expecting for a quest to investigate the goings on in the forest to come up but I really didn¡¯t expect it all to come together this quickly.¡± I say to Adam as we make our way towards the guild hall. Just last night we had been talking about waiting until a quest came around before setting off and today it is in motion. We had checked in with the guild first thing in the morning and sure enough there was an application open to join a party going into the forest already up. Naturally we put our names in right away and by midday a runner had come to tell us we had been accepted and to meet back at the guild at an appointed time this evening. ¡°Right! Didn¡¯t I tell you that it would work out this way? You were so impatient, ready to set off all on your own and now less than a day later we are joining a party.¡± Adam replies happily while letting out a deep chuckle and slapping me affectionately on the back. ¡°Yea, yea I get the point. I can be a little impatient at times. I just hope that our party is a good one. I don¡¯t want to get stuck with a bunch of newbies again after what happened last time.¡± I mutter, cringing slightly at the memory. ¡°Huu. Didn¡¯t you see who posted the quest in the first place?¡± Adam asks seeming confused. ¡°What are you talking about?¡± I demand. Could I really have missed something like that being on the application? If I did I would sure feel like an idiot. ¡°Oh well I guess that it might not have really been posted. After we signed up I stayed behind for a bit and was trying to chat up that pretty receptionist girl. We talked for a bit and she let slip who posted the quest.¡± Adam replied sheepishly, a light blush coloring his cheeks. Ah well that explains things. My stupid brother tries his charms on almost every girl he meets and I have gotten good at just tuning it out. ¡°So, who posted it?¡± I ask. ¡°Oh it was some druid named Lilly. Apparently she is pretty well known in these parts.¡± He replies offhandedly. The name makes me freeze mid stride. Lilly? Did he really just say Lilly? There is only one druid in these parts that goes by that name and she supposedly doesn¡¯t leave the forest. It can¡¯t be her, can it? I am jerked out of my thoughts by a sharp cuff to the back of my head. ¡°Ouch!¡± I shout, ¡°What the hell was that for?¡± ¡°Dude you just stopped there and I called your name like ten times. What¡¯s going on do you know this Lilly chick or something?¡± He asks seeming concerned by my actions. ¡°Know her? No I don¡¯t know her personally but if she is who I think she is then our trip is going to be more exciting than either of us though.¡± I reply while starting to walk again. If the Lilly really is going to be the leader of this expedition then we really are in for one hell of a ride. For the entire rest of the walk to the guild I am lost in thought, going over stories and rumors of what Lilly has supposedly done. Upon walking into the small meeting room at the back of the guild and seeing the two women sitting there my eyes widen. It¡¯s really her. Lilly the Druid of Death. [Adam POV] Will has been acting weird ever since I mentioned the name Lilly. She must be someone rather important or powerful to make him act this way. I just hope whatever has made her so well known hasn¡¯t turned her into some stuck up bitch. Wouldn¡¯t that be just my luck. Well even if she does turn out that way I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve dealt with worse people in my time so I should be able to handle it. Walking into the small meeting room that had been reserved for our group my eyes were initially drawn to the girl with the bright red hair. Damn she seems pretty young. Is that a scepter? She must be the healer. Most sensibly dressed cleric I¡¯ve ever meet. Looking past the young girl my eyes land on the tall elf who is currently lounging in her chair with her feet kicked up on the table. A large black panther sits next to her and seems to glare at me.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. The elf who must be Lilly judging by the panther seems to be on the younger side but with elves it is pretty hard to tell. She could be a couple centuries old and I wouldn¡¯t know the difference. Her tall lithe body with deep brown eyes and dark almost black hair make her quite beautiful. However, it is always a bad idea to try romancing a party member so I guess I will have to keep myself in check for this little excursion. Okay I¡¯ve been staring a little too long and the panther is definitely glaring at me now. ¡°Hey there you must be Lilly. I¡¯m Adam and this is my brother Will. We are pleased to make your acquaintance and join you on your expedition.¡± I say pointing to first myself and then at Will as I make introductions. I then purposefully take the chair that is furthest from the glaring panther and leave the seat right next to it open for Will to take. He gives me a small glare and takes a seat as well. ¡°Good, now that we are all here let¡¯s get first introductions out of the way. We have a lot to go over tonight before we set off tomorrow.¡± Lilly says, starting the meeting. ¡°To begin with I am Lilly and I will be your leader for this expedition. I expect you all to follow my orders when I give them as we may need to approach territory that is extremely dangerous. I do not say this to be rude, to assert my will on you, or put fear in your heart, it is just a fact. In Greenwood forest there are some forces that we will not be able to face. Know that if I tell you we cannot go a specific direction or that we must not enter a cave I am saying it to keep us all alive.¡± ¡°Now for something a little less ominous I am a level 94 druid. I specialize in using a longsword, attack magic, and am good with animals.¡± She concludes her introduction by dropping this bombshell. Did she really just say she is level 94! If she is such a high level then why does she even need a party to explore the forest? Lost in the shock of Lilly¡¯s introduction I almost miss it when the other girl starts to introduce herself. ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Mya. I am currently only a level 26 cleric. I am really good at using healing and protection magic. I can fix bones and cure some poisons and should be able to reattach a limb but I¡¯ve never tried to do that last one before. My shields are fairly good and I can cast a couple of buffs to help with regeneration of mana and stamina.¡± Mya concludes her introduction blushing slightly and glancing at Lilly who gives her an encouraging nod. Poor thing. It would be hard for anyone to introduce themselves right after someone else says they are a level 96. It was kind of funny how she rambled on for a bit about her skills. I will admit I am a bit impressed by her versatility for being such a low level. I don¡¯t mind her being quite so low a level now that I know what all she can do. It never hurts to have a healer around. After Mya finishes it becomes my turn. ¡°I¡¯m Adam. Level 63 warrior. I¡¯m good at getting the enemy to focus on me and can take one hell of a beating. Ill most likely be playing the role of tank for this group. I am also skilled in the use of shield, sword, and hammer depending on what the situation calls for. The only magic that I do know is personal combat buffs.¡± With that I finish my introduction and turn to Will. ¡°My name is Will. I am a level 61 ranger, and Adam¡¯s brother. My primary skill set is in tracking and archery. I am an expert marksmen with the bow and am skilled in most areas of woodcraft. I am an excellent hunter and can also make anything I kill in the woods into a decent meal. My magic is limited to improving my tracking skills and applying minor enchantments to my arrows.¡± With Will¡¯s short introduction over all eyes turn back to Lilly. ¡°Very good. Now that we all know each other we can get along just fine. If you find you have a problem with another member of the group, get over it. There is no place for trivial matters such as that out in the wilderness. It will be dangerous enough without us snapping at each other. Since you all understand that it is time to talk about provisions. Will can you craft arrows in the wild or retrieve the ones you fire?¡± She asks. ¡°I can retrieve the ones I use but don¡¯t have the skill to make them to the quality that I need.¡± He responds. ¡°Well at least you¡¯re honest. Make sure you bring a large supply of them with you then. If need be I can use nature magic to grow some for you but that will be slow. You all should know that we will be traveling light on this trip. We will gather our meals in the forest and will likely not return for over a month. Do any of you have a problem with this?¡± Lilly asks in a tone that makes it clear there is not much of a question to weather we will be doing it or not. Everybody at the table just shakes their heads. ¡°Good. Now to the purpose behind this expedition. By now I am sure you are all well aware of some of the events that have been happening recently. Several days ago, there was a massive disturbance that came out of the heart of the forest. Also, I doubt that any of you managed to miss the huge spell that light the sky up earlier today. Our job will be to find out what caused these disturbances. If whatever caused them turns out to be a hostile, we will need to be prepared to take them out. If the cause is something or someone else then we will have to play it by ear and try for a peaceful resolution.¡± ¡°Now as to whatever loot or riches we may find along the way, we will try to distribute it as evenly as possible. If one item will benefit one of us more than the others it goes to the person who can best use it. The value of that item will then be deducted from that persons share of whatever¡¯s left. If we find nothing of real value or don¡¯t find much I will pay everyone the standard fee that the guild recommends upon our return. Does that sound fair?¡± This time there is a chorus of nods and murmured ascent. The offer really was a fair one and having this established at the start will help to prevent any fighting later on. ¡°Alright then remember we are traveling light. If you have a storage item use it and if you don¡¯t I recommend you get one. Pack cloths, and whatever you need to sleep along with enough trail food to last two days in case we don¡¯t get lucky hunting and gathering. Sleep well tonight we will be leaving at dawn.¡± With that obvious dismissal Will and I get up and leave while Mya stays behind to ask Lilly a couple of questions. Once we are out of the room I turn to Will and ask, ¡°So what do you think about the group?¡± ¡°I think we have a decent crew. Lilly has definitely covered all the bases for making a solid party. We have a tank, ranger, magic user, and a healer. I am a little concerned about Mya. She seems a little on the young and inexperienced side, but judging by her attitude as well as her gear and skills we should be able to teach her what she need to know to be a proper adventurer.¡± He replies. ¡°I was thinking the same thing. I feel pretty good about this. Let¡¯s go gather the supplies Lilly said to bring and hit the hay a little early tonight, I am not looking forward to getting up and leaving at dawn.¡± From there we chatted amiably about what could possibly be going on and Will finally informed me about who Lilly was. One things for certain things are definitely going to be interesting. [Mya POV] Three days have passed since our group first met at the guild and so far I would say things are going pretty well. Getting up that first day to meet Lilly at dawn was not fun. A girl does need her sleep after all. Today we all seem to be a bit on edge since we are approaching the first point in our investigation. When the group met on the first day by the edge of the forest just as the sun was cresting the horizon Lilly told us where we would be going first. To the sight of the massive pillar of green light. The others seem to think that it was something called a high magic ritual but I have no clue what that is. Adam tried to explain it to me but his explanation wasn¡¯t really good. As far as he could explain it was just a really, really big spell. It is apparently a big deal because to cast something like that it requires a lot of power, something like 12 or 15 powerful mages kind of power. As we set off Lilly decided to take the lead since she knows the forest best. She said that once we picked up any signs of something to follow she would let Will take the lead. After about half the day had passed I could tell that I was slowing the others down a bit but it didn¡¯t seem to bother them. They really are nice people. Adam can be funny and he likes to tell jokes and stories to pass the time. Lilly is also nice though she likes to act tough. She has been teaching me about the different plants and trees that we find. I have learned quite a lot from her and can now identify several edibal and poisonous plants. For the past day I have been working more closely with Will. He is quieter than the rest of the group. He has been showing me how to move more naturally in the forest. I guess he got tired of me stomping and stumbling around. What he¡¯s teaching my is hard to follow but I¡¯m starting to get it and I can tell that I am able to move a little faster and not make quite as much noise as before. ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Lily says breaking the silence and drawing me out of my reflections of the past days. I look around trying to find something different but it just looks like the same forest to me. Well maybe the trees here seem a little wilted but that could just be a water problem. Also the air seems oddly heavy. I wonder why that is. ¡°How do you know this is the place?¡± I ask hesitantly. ¡°Can you feel the difference in the air like it is heavier or maybe like it is charged with energy?¡± Lilly asks. In response to my nod she continues, ¡°What you¡¯re feeling is the mana residue of a large spell. From what I can tell it was some kind of massive cure disease spell.¡± ¡°Uhh, and how do you know that?¡± I ask. This time Will is the one to respond. ¡°Look at the trees. In this area they aren¡¯t as healthy as the ones we have been walking through recently. They look like they have been sick but there is no sign of any disease, therefore a cure spell had to of been what was cast. The ting that is bothering me is that we haven¡¯t seen the spell circle yet. Something of that magnitude would definitely need a large circle.¡± ¡°He¡¯s right. We should all spread out and search the area for anything out of the ordinary. I am going to meditate and try to get any information that the trees can give me. Don¡¯t wander too far and if you find something give a shout.¡± Lilly says before sitting down and closing her eyes. I look at the two brothers and give a small shrug before walking deeper into the grove of trees. The further in I go the clearer it becomes that something terrible happened here. The trees start to look more and more sickly and eventually I reach a ring of them that are completely dead. This is so sad. I¡¯m glad that something cured them all but now that I can actually see the size of this grove¡­ the amount of power it would take¡­ just wow. Oh what¡¯s that? Off about a hundred or so paces away from me is a barren clearing with only a single large stump at its center. The stump looks withered and might actually be crumbling as I watch it. The thing that caught my attention is the long perfectly straight black stick that appears to be coming out of the ground behind it. Perplexed I make my way over to the stump and finally get a good look behind it. What I see almost makes me scream. Piled at the base of the stump is a skeleton. Pearly white bones are stacked delicately around what I can now see is a long black spear. What is this? Is this the person who cast the spell? If it is who stacked their bones? Also why does the skeleton look like it¡¯s in perfect condition. With trembling hands I slowly reach out to touch the gleaming white skull. ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t touch it!¡± The shout freezes me in place my fingers mere inches from the skull. In the blink of an eye both Lilly and Will are at my side guiding me slowly back. With my heart nearly pounding out of my chest I stair between the two of them a question in my eyes. Seeing what I am about to ask Lilly answers, ¡°Those are the remains of a Defiler.¡± The angry look on her face and the hatred in her voice are explained as the image of the disease spreading druids of darkness fills my mind. Oh shit. Oh shit. I can¡¯t believe that I almost touched it. Who knows what would have happened to me. ¡°Wh- why is it he- here?¡± I manage to stutter. Stepping forward Will is the one to reply. ¡°My best guess is that the Defiler was the one who made this grove of trees sick. Someone came here and cured them and then engaged the Defiler in battle.¡± ¡°What do you mean someone? And what battle?¡± Lilly demands. ¡°Well just over there, there are obvious signs of a fight. The ground is all disturbed and there is blood, a lot of it. Whoever won must¡¯ve been one hell of a healer.¡± We follow Will over to the area he described and my blood chills. The ground looks like a slaughterhouse floor. Dark stains cover huge patches of the ground and one patch looks like somebody laydown and bleed out. How could anyone survive something like this? They would have to of lost so much blood. ¡°So what were you able to get from the trees Lilly? I have a general idea of what happened here but I am missing a lot of the details.¡± Will asks. Wow he really can understand what happened just from looking at the ground! This guy is insane. ¡°I didn¡¯t get a lot from them but your guess was mostly right. Someone came here and cured all of the trees with a single massive spell then was confronted by the Defiler and killed her.¡± Lilly responds. ¡°Any information on who did the curing or killing?¡± Will asks. ¡°No for some reason the trees are concealing their presence from me. What can you make of it?¡± Lilly asks in return. ¡°As far as I can tell it was only the two of them, both women. One was wearing armor and heavy boots that were melted by some sort of acid attack and the other was barefoot. That one is who I think we are after. There are tracks coming this way from deeper in the forest and they are the only ones that leave. From looking at what I can see our mystery healer was getting her ass handed to her on a silver platter but it all changes right here.¡± He says pointing to the largest bloodstain. ¡°Right here I believe that our mystery healer was stabbed rather badly and then something happened. The Defiler just fell over and then was gone. I can¡¯t tell you how it happened just that it was quick.¡± Will finishes before turning back to look at the rest of us. ¡°The only thing I was able to see from the trees was that a small figure who I couldn¡¯t make out touched her chest and the she died¡­ painfully.¡± Lilly states, her words causing us all to fall into a deep silence. ¡°So this means¡­ this all means that we are after a small girl¡­ and she can kill with a single touch.¡± I say slowly. ¡°Yes. I guess we are. We now have an idea of who we are looking for and a trail to follow. I say that we stay here and rest for the night and set off tomorrow to find our mystery woman.¡± Adam says to nods and murmured agreement. Well after what I¡¯ve seen today I don¡¯t know if I want to thank this girl for killing the Defiler, or run away as fast as I can from someone who is far more powerful than I expected. 13: The Scar I woke up this morning with a stiff back and the sun shining in my eyes. Ummm damn I forgot how much I hate sleeping on the ground. I really need to start remembering to sleep in trees or something. If I sleep down here in the wrong place I could end up as some besties chew toy. Grumbling some more I climb to my feet and quickly heal my aching back. After a quick bath in one of the smaller crater pools I start preparing for a long day of walking and training. My senses are telling me that my next target is a little over a day away if I can manage to keep a good pace. I don¡¯t know what I am going to face when I get there so that means it is time to train. Yay. Hmm that didn¡¯t quite sound as excited as I had meant it to but if training doesn¡¯t excite me I know what will. Experimentation! I have a bunch of new skills and magics that I am just dying to try out. First off I need to start crafting a bow but when I thought about it my skill showed me several different knives that I would need to do the job properly. Now I do not actually own any knives so I am going to have to learn how to turn my mana spikes into the tools that I need. Speaking of knives my hunter class also showed me different kinds of knives. The ones it showed me would be far better in combat than the simple spikes I can make right now so I will also have to practice making those. After I am done with that I need to try out the elemental arrow spell. I might not have a bow to shoot them with yet but I should still be able to practice making the arrows. If I can level that skill up a few times then it will be much more useful when the time comes to use the bow. Last but not least I have three new magics to play- cough- I mean practice with! I have to see what I can do with spatial and gravity magic as well as water magic. Spatial I only know how to make things bigger on the inside so I will have to find a use for that. Gravity magic I am a bit hesitant to work with so I think I might wait until I make camp to work with it. My water magic I will have to work with along the way. Okay that¡¯s my plan so it¡¯s time to go. I am about to head out when I am stopped by my hunter instincts. ¡°Huu? What now?¡± I ask. It shows me the long path I made on the way to the blight by practicing my throw skill on the trees along the way. It glares imperiously at me and conveys that if I try to do the same thing it will start zapping me again. ¡°Okay, okay I get it. No more throwing things at trees along the way. I will just have to find something I can carry with me to practice on then.¡± I start casting around for something I can use as a portable target when the perfect idea comes to me. Turning slowly and letting out a dark chuckle as an evil glint fills my eyes, I face that stupid stump. I am pretty sure that if it could the thing would have shivered. ¡°Hello friend. Do you remember that time you made me look like a fool and set myself on fire?¡± Yes I blamed the stump for that incident. I mean there is no way it was my fault. Who in their right mind would set themselves on fire? The stump was about as wide as my arm so it would make for the perfect target. Using a combination of water magic and my pure mana I was eventually able to cut the stupid thing out of the ground. With an exertion of will I used my wind magic to levitate the stump off of the ground and float it along in front of me. With my preparations complete I set off. My first order of business was to practice creating knives out of mana. This was easier said than done. My first attempts at it were better off as spikes. Forming the knife all at once was simply not going to work for me yet. Changing tactics, I started by forming a much thicker spike than I was used to. I then focused on the part that was above where I would hold it and started to squish the mana, flattening it out. After getting the correct thickness I worked on properly shaping the edges. Forming a central point at the tip I had the shape curve outward slightly and made an almost oval with the point on one side and rectangle on the other. From the other end of that rectangle I made another smaller oval that fused into the handle I was holding. The end result was an elegant looking blade that extended about two hand lengths from where I held it. Once the shape was done it was time to form the edge. This point gave me a little bit of pause. The images my hunter class was trying to show me were made of metal and had edges that seemed rather thick. ¡°If I am going to be making these out of mana shouldn¡¯t I just make the edge as thin as I possibly can? Wouldn¡¯t that make it sharper? Also, since it is made of mana wouldn¡¯t that remove the chance of it chipping or breaking due to being too thin?¡± I asked the other me. Other me just shrugged as if to say ¡®I don¡¯t know why don¡¯t you give it a try?¡¯ Taking that as permission I set my mind to it. Focusing on the edge of my blade I compressed the structure as far as I could. The end result was an edge that extended about half the width of my little finger away from what appeared to be the actual edge. I had managed to make it so thin that even being made out of pearly white mana it was invisible to the eye. Quite content with what I had made I was about to throw it when I stopped myself. This thing did take a lot of effort to make. I should probably try to make another before I throw it away. So I did just that. It did take some time, I could make about 50 spikes in the time it took me to properly make a blade, but I managed it. After confirming that I could in fact make more of the blades I threw my first one at the stump. The blade flew through the air and hit the stump with a satisfying thud, where it sank all the way up to the handle. Oh my. These really are so much better than those spikes I have been using! Happy with my success I practiced making the knives again and again. I was able to get the time it takes to form the knives all the way down to the time it takes for aa single long breath. No I hadn¡¯t been just practicing making knives. During this time, I also practiced my throw skill. I made the stump I was using as a target move further and further out each time, I started consistently getting all my knives to land in the center of it. At first I was keeping the stump floating with wind magic but eventually switched over to water magic once I figured out how to do it. The only complaint I had about the knives was that being made out of mana they were just too light. After reaching the point where I was satisfied with my knife making skills I moved on to the experiments with elemental arrow. This skill or spell or a mix of the two had a different feel to it. When I focused on the skill, I had an instinctive understanding of how the mana arrow should be formed. When I practiced forming one it came easily if only slowly into being. What resulted was a long slender shaft that was a little longer than my arm and about as big around as my little finger. At one end there was a little notch that would go on the bow string and at the other the shaft converged to form a nice point. The arrow formed in the middle of my palm, so I wrapped my hand around it and stabbed it into the stump. It barely went in at all. With my previous success of having the knives sink deep into the stump this result was not pleasing to me. It was time to experiment with making arrows. The first thing I tried was adding a little more mana to the tip and compressing it like I had done with my knives. This worked a little bit better than the first one but still wasn¡¯t good enough for me. Taking inspiration from my knives I made a flatter wider head like the tips of my knives. This produced much better results allowing the arrow to sink deep into the stump. However, I wanted more from my arrows. If my knives had two blades, I wanted my arrows to have three. I had thought about going up to four, but it just didn¡¯t feel right to me, so I stuck with three. I made all three blades on the head in the same way I did wit my knives, spaced them equally around the shaft and brought them to a single point at the tip. The result was a wicked looking tip that resembled my first arrow at the core but had three blades sticking up about the thickness of a finger spaced equally around it. When it was stabbed into the stump it went in easily and left a deep cool looking hole. I loved it. For a good long while I practiced making arrow after arrow. I alternated between pure mana wind and water as I made them. The two elemental arrows I made were a little less effective against my stump, but I practiced anyway as it would be good to be able to make them if I encountered an enemy where they would be more effective. At some point during all this practice a large fat rabbit hopped across my path. Remembering the image of cooking meat, the other me had taunted me with yesterday I quickly formed a knife and threw it at the rabbit. I frowned slightly as the knife seemingly passed straight through the rabbit before completely burying itself in the ground. I was about to summon up a second knife when the rabbit hopped happily two more times before stopping, when its head fell off. Ah so they might be a bit sharper than I thought they were. Oh well it worked perfectly!Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. I was about to pick up the rabbit and continue on my way when I realized that the sun was starting to make its way lower in the sky. Oh, is it really that late already? Hmm well I¡¯m not all that far from my next location. If I stopped here, I could be there before midday tomorrow. I also have some other skills to practice so I think stopping now would be a good idea. Having made up my mind to stay here I quickly brought out some of the wood I had collected for a fire and followed other me¡¯s instructions on how to properly build it. When the time came to light it, I gave a deep glare to the stump, that was looking extremely shabby by this point, and started calling on fire mana. This time I managed to set the wood on fire while managing to avoid doing it to myself. It was close but it didn¡¯t happen. See it really was all that stumps fault that I set myself on fire the first time! With the fire lit I set the rabbit meat on a couple of sticks to cook and set to practicing my gravity magic. I decided to start with a simple stone and try to make it heavier. Okay so for the spell to work correctly I need to select a target, a direction, and an amount. So, the target is the stone, and it is already pulled towards the ground so let¡¯s try down, and as for amount I¡¯m not sure so let¡¯s say 10? I set the values in my mind and watch as the stone sinks instantly into the earth. Oops. I think I made it too heavy. Good thing I tried that on a stone first. Okay let¡¯s try again, this time I think I will set the amount to two! This time when I form the spell nothing seems to happen. Huu did it not work? Confused I walked over to the stone and tried to pick it up. It was much heavier than it should have been. The stone had doubled in weight. My spell had worked! I danced around happily and was about to start casting it some more when I got a gentle reminder about my cooking rabbit from other me. Instantly swayed by the thought of hot food I dropped my experiments and rushed over to grab my rabbit from the fire. It was a little overdone but that didn¡¯t matter much after I took my first bite. As the taste of hot meat exploded in my mouth I groaned in pure pleasure. The taste was exquisite, so much better than just nuts or roots or berries. Okay well maybe not the berries I did really like those when I could find them. With my stomach full of hot meat for the first time that I could remember I lay next to the fire feeling quite content. That feeling lasted me a little while and then it was back to the experimenting. For a while I went around making things heavier to varying degrees until I got bored and then I thoroughly enjoyed myself as I made things lighter. I would giggle happily as I watched pebbles and sticks slowly float away like tiny birds. In a fit of joy, I pointed at a large rock and set the spell to maximum power going up. Afterwards I made a large mental not to never, ever cast that on myself. By the time I was done playing with gravity I had thoroughly exhausted my mana pool. Feeling tired and happy I sat down next to the fire and worked on improving my coalescence skill. After making some progress in that area it was finally time for me to make my first bow. I pulled a branch out of my storage belt, summoned up a mana knife, and perused the different options of bows that my skill said could be made. I set myself on something called a recurve bow, it looked pretty, and started to carve. I worked for a good long while slowly whittling down the branch so that it would be the proper shape. My motions were a bit jerky and I couldn¡¯t get the smooth lies that my skill was showing were possible. After finally finishing by creating a string out of condensed mana I looked over my creation and was not happy with what I saw. Rather than smooth elegant curves it was a collection of jagged lines and hard edges. Its surfaces were uneven, and it was covered in nicks and scratches. Even my skill seemed to cringe when it appraised my work. The text that imposed itself over my vision made my face flush in shame. [Bow? Quality: Very Low?] Bow? It was so bad that it couldn¡¯t even be recognized as a bow. I really, really need to practice this skill some more if I ever want to make use of the heart tree¡¯s branch. Letting out a sigh of resignation I tossed my attempt at a bow into the fire and decided to pull up my notifications from the day. Ding! Mana Manipulation has reached level 20! Threshold achieved! Mana Manipulation skill has been updated to allow for the simultaneous manipulation of three separate targets or for the ability to combine three types of mana! Throw has reached level 12! Elemental Arrow has reached level 4! Spellweaver has reached level 10! Coalescence has reached level 10! Threshold reached! You have compressed your mana as far as you can with your current understanding. To progress further you must discover a fundamental truth about compressed mana and apply it to your core. Bow Crafting has reached level 2! Smiling happily at the gains I had gotten I pulled up my status screen to get a picture of my progress as a whole.
Status
Name: Reiza Classes Druidic Defender lv. 12
Level: 1 Orionian Archer lv. 1
Race: Beast-kin: Celestial Fox -
Gender: Female Final Class -
Age 14
Atributes
Strength: 20 Stamina: 30/170
Dexterity: 124 Mana: 162/690
Constitution: 27
Endurance: 17 Free stat points 17
Intelligence: 74
Wisdom: 69
Luck: 9
Grimacing slightly at the growing disparity in most of my stats I eyed the large number of free stat point that I had accumulated. I think things are getting to the point where I need to use some of these. I am getting tired far to quickly for the level of speed I am now capable of. I think I will leave 5 of the points for an emergency and dump the rest of them into my endurance. I am no longer making any gains in that area and until I can find a new way to train it this is the only way for me to improve it. With that I quickly dumped 12 points into my endurance bringing it up to 29. As I finished applying the points an unpleasant itching and burning sensation filled my entire body. Having been set on fire for real just the previous day the feeling wasn¡¯t much of a bother, so I simply ignored it. Deciding that I had done all I could for the day I quickly used some water magic to put out my fire and climbed into a tree to sleep. As I curled up in a comfortable place and wrapped my tail around myself, I ran a hand over the long this scar that was now on my chest. It was the place where I had been impaled by the Defiler right before I had killed her. It would have been easy for me to heal it after I woke up, but I decided to keep it. The scar would be a constant reminder of the price I had paid for my weakness. As I drifted off to sleep, I whispered, ¡°I¡¯m getting stronger. I will get strong enough to keep my promise.¡± With my words fading into the darkness I fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, I woke again with the rising of the sun and was able to quickly be on my way. Carrying my new practice stump along in a ball of wind and water I made quick progress Very glad for the huge increase to my endurance. With its value almost doubling I was able to maintain a much faster pace that I had previously been able to. Due to my increased pace I was able to arrive at my destination a little before the sun reached its highest point in the sky. As I got the first look at what I was running towards I almost stopped as a tide of rage filled me. OUTSIDERS! What have they done! Such useless¡­ Such pointless destruction! How could they do something like this! I let the rage flow over me and was barely ably to suppress a scream as I stepped out of the trees. The outsiders had carved a path 30 paces wide through the forest. Every tree as far as I could see in either direction had been felled. The ground had been packed so hard that almost nothing was able to grow. They had destroyed everything along this path. They had carved a massive scar into my forest. 14: The Laws of Nature Hard packed ground, trees uprooted and stolen, these were crimes that no forest dweller could ever commit. These were crimes that could only be carried out by outsiders. The level of destruction they had caused made my blood boil, but it was not what sent my anger over the edge. This wasn¡¯t just needles destruction it was a violation of the natural order. These outsiders had broken the very laws of nature. A crime on that level was something that I could not overlook. When I had seen the part in the quest given by the heart tree about fixing the damage caused by outsiders I had expected something much smaller. What I face instead is something that cannot be overcome with force of arms or some simple magic. I could sense the extent of the damage and to fix it I would need to plant thousands of new trees. With my current abilities fixing this would take me a lifetime. I wracked my brain for a long time going through all of my skills and magics trying to find a solution, anything that could help me to complete this task. I found nothing. With no easy solution in sight my anger quickly faded into depression and I had to fight hard not to sink into despair and wallow in self pity. No! I can¡¯t just give up. Not on something like this. If I can¡¯t solve the problem right away, I will start working at it and come up with something while I do! There is no easy plan so start simple. First, find a seed. Next, try something to get it to grow. After that repeat while changing the method. Find something that works. With a slight semblance of a plan I set to work. Finding a seed was easy as the ground was littered with them. After picking one I made my way back to the scar. Okay as it is now the ground wont allow anything to grow so I have to churn it up. Man do I wish I knew how to use earth magic right about now. No matter I know water and I know wind, with those and my pure mana I can find a way to make the ground softer. I started with water. Collecting a mass of it I started to apply it to the ground. With how hard packed it was the soil refused to take the water, instead just letting it run off. Okay so it¡¯s not going to be that easy. Time to move on to the next method. This time I created long spikes of pure mana and thrust them deep into the ground. That worked relatively well but again the ground was packed to tightly for the water to take easily. Alright so piercing the ground helps but just piercing it isn¡¯t enough. I need some way to finely chop all of the dirt within a small area. Perhaps creating a system of spinning blades would do the trick. If I used something like that it would need to be shaped something like my arrow heads but with the blades angled to the side rather than out. I should also add an additional set of blades on the inside to really dice up the earth while the outer ones dig down. Let¡¯s try it! Putting thought to action I began to form my newest creation. It took a good amount of time and a lot of effort but finally it was done. My practice with creating blades made out of mana was a big help. With high hopes I set the entire construct to spinning and watched with joy as it easily sunk into the earth leaving one patch of nice loose earth. ¡°Success! Alright now onto the next step.¡± I exclaimed happily. Taking the seed I had picked up and placing it in the newly turned earth I started to draw out the spell circle for growth. I had learned this circle while trying to fix the blight. Since I couldn¡¯t directly manipulate nature magic yet this was my only option. The spell circle is essentially a written formula for a spell. By writing it out or forming it out of mana a spell is formed. Once formed it will follow all of the variables inscribed in the circle. This will allow the circle to take mana directly from me and convert it into the proper type and use it in the correct way. By using the spell circle I could sidestep my inability to directly manipulate nature magic or any other type of magic and cast any spell I knew the formula for. I was about to press my hand to the completed circle and apply my mana to it when I hesitated. To grow this seed into a fully sized tree I will need to use almost all of my mana. If I do that then regrowing this entire section of forest really will take a lifetime. Looking for a solution to the problem I glanced back over the circle I had created. My eyes landed on the portion that dictated mana input, specifically the symbol that designated me as the one who would need to provide the mana. I wonder¡­ Acting before I could second guess myself or logic my way out of it I changed the symbol. Now rather than selecting me as the target the circle would draw mana from the environment. I reached out and activated the circle. Nothing happened. Damn, well it was worth a sho- Suddenly there was a slight change in pressure around me and the circle began to glow. There was a bright flash of green light and a faint tremor in the ground as a tree quickly began to sprout. It rapidly grew in height until I was left staring at a fully grown tree. ¡°Yes! I did it Mel! I didn¡¯t think it would work but it did!¡± I shout triumphantly, until I hear an all too familiar chiming noise. Ding! Skill acquired ¨C Enchanting! Enchanting ¨C You have learned the craft of creating prepared spells. By using and manipulating spell circles you can create spells or magical effects that require no input from the caster. These spells and effects can be placed on anything from the ground to a physical object. With the proper application of spell circles it is possible to create any effect or even multiple effects. Increase knowledge and complexity of applied spell circles to increase skill level. +1 Intelligence per skill level! Enchanting has reached level 1! ¡°Oooh I got a new skill out of that little test! Hang on a minute. If I can prepare a circle that will act all on its own to grow the tree it should also be possible to make a circle to do the entire process at once! Well actually I haven¡¯t yet tried to combine multiple effects so I should probably figure out all of the required circles before I start trying to combine them.¡± Filled with new hope and having a goal in mind I set to my new task. Developing the circle for my spinning blades of earth chopping was much harder than I had anticipated. If I wanted it to work correctly I had to define everything. My first attempts were mostly failures due to not getting the shape right, the failures later on were a bit more¡­ extreme. Most notable of these were failing to specify a direction of movement which sent a tornado of mana blades spinning off into the forest, and failing to specify a depth which caused the blades to just sink endlessly into the ground. After dozens of attempts I was finally able to craft the circle correctly. With the spinning blades of earth chopping figured out I moved on to learning the next circle, water. This circle would generate a small amount of water that would soak into the earth and get it ready for a new tree. Luckily for me this circle was much easier to create. The task to be done was much simpler and my previous mishaps had taught me a thing or two about being more careful. The water circle was created after just a couple of tries. Now it was time for me to work on combining two circles. Since they were for two different spells the circles would need to be drawn concentrically around each other, the only question was which way to order it. With a shrug I took a guess and drew the circles. I guessed wrong. As it turns out the circles would activate from the inside out. My mishap resulted in me getting a face full of muddy water. I might have been a little upset about that if I hadn¡¯t gained a level in my enchanting skill. The next test ran perfectly. Pleased with the progress I moved on to trying it with three circles. Digging, water, and growth. The result to this test brought further experimenting to a grinding halt. For the seed to grow and be the target of the circle it would need to be at the center when the first circle activated. This however resulted in the seed being chopped into tiny little pieces by the spinning blades of earth chopping. With the seed destroyed the final circle failed. I did however get enchanting to level 3. ¡°Well this is quite the pickle isn¡¯t it Mel? I can¡¯t start the seed in the circle or it will get chopped to bits, but if I don¡¯t start it in the circle then the portion that will grow the tree won¡¯t be able to work. We need a way for the seed to start in the circle and not be there when the blades show up but also be there when the grow spell starts. Hmmm. Maybe this would be a good place to try out spatial magic. If I can find a way to create a small space with circles that has a time limit on it I could fix this problem. Well time to run some more tests.¡± The tests with spatial magic were a real pain in my tail. They were slow and I had many times more variables that I needed to balance. The first couple of tests resulted in only twisted balls of mana. After that came a long series of tests that created various effects. The most common of these was accidentally sucking the entire circle and a portion of the ground into a separate space that then just vanished, leaving no trace of the missing earth. From there things slowly got better. Finally, as the sun was setting I was able to create a circle that worked. When activated it would store the small object at its center in a separate space pocket and hold it there for the space of several long breaths before depositing it back at the center of the circle. Too tired and mentally drained to cheer I could only smile and make my way up into a tree before falling asleep. Waking early the next day I jumped straight back into my work. My first task was to create the new combined circle. This took a good amount of time. Balancing all of the variables and adding in new symbols for timing I painstakingly lined up all of the circles. With that done I stood back and triggered the new formation. I held my breath and watched as each circle activated in turn. Letting out a loud cheer as a new tree was grown I danced happily. ¡°The circles work Mel! They actually work!¡± My joy only lasted as long as it took me to remember the size of the task still before me. In one day I had managed to only grow a couple of new trees. I needed to find a way to move faster. I already knew the circles I needed but there was just too much distance to travel and the circles took too long to draw by hand. I needed to find a way to use magic to overcome both issues. Deciding to tackle the issue of circle drawing first as it was much easier than the other problem I started a new round of experiments. This process though time consuming was simple. I took a seed and used a filament of mana to etch a command to draw a circle into it. I started with just the water circle as it was the simplest of the lot. To get the draw circle to work I would surround it with the circle I wanted drawn. This caused the water circle to be etched into the ground and then activated. Happy with these results I began the process of engraving the entire circle formation for growing a tree onto the seed. The task tested both my concentration and mana manipulation abilities. I failed several times but after about a dozen I was rewarded with a working product. I had designed the enchantment on the seed to activate when it was tossed on the ground and the results were not disappointing. With that problem solved I turned my full attention on the issue of space. My current abilities in spatial magic allowed me to create a larger space inside of no space or a small space without affecting the outside world. With the way the spatial magic skill had been worded and using simple logic I deduced that the opposite should also be possible. I was going to try and compress a large space into a smaller one without effecting anything outside and then bring it back to normal size. If this was possible then I had a slim chance of being able to fix the scar. My guess was that to do this I would have to reverse the process of making pocket spaces. I would have to wrap a shell of mana around the space I wanted to compress and use that to hold the boundary in place. I would then use spatial magic to try and compress the interior of the sphere. This would result in two concentric spheres of space. One would be holding the boundary of real space and keep it from collapsing in while the other would hold the inner space and keep it from expanding out. In between¡­ Well I didn¡¯t really know what would be left in between. My skill had warned me about creating spaces between spaces but if I was going to pull this off then I would need to be there, so I had to get this right.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. With the fear of getting lost between spaces as my motivation I started practicing. I used stones or patches of earth as my targets. I quickly learned that my method was correct and that carrying it out was much harder and much more dangerous than I had anticipated. I learned that if either of the holding spheres collapsed bad things would happen. If the outer sphere collapsed everything around the area would be sucked in to fill the hole in space. If the inner sphere collapsed then everything that was inside it would explode outward with such force that whatever was inside at the time was destroyed. Worst of all if anything was between the two spheres when one collapsed it simply ceased to exist. I was eventually to create a stable compressed space field the size of several fists. This was where I ran into the real problem. The spell to compress space was power hungry. The larger the area and the greater the compression the greater the power. Both sides of the equation would exponentially increase in power demand as both the size and compression ratio increased. If I was going to be able to complete my task then I would need a level of power that was far beyond anything I could reasonably achieve. Well there is one way that I could get the power to preform this spell. But do I dare to risk invoking the third law? If I try and am rejected then I will likely die. If I do it and succeed in my appeal then I run a pretty high risk of dying and destroying a large portion of the forest in a failing spatial field. I don¡¯t really see any other option though. I have pretty good grounds for invoking the third law, but if I do that then the power influx I gain won¡¯t last me long. If I do this then I will have to be ready to finish the entire task in one go. So how do I gather enough inscribed seeds to replant the entire scar in a short amount of time? It takes me too long to gather and inscribe the seeds. To do it fast enough I would need to go entirely without sleeping. If I really am going to do this then I will have to use tireless hunt. What I was planning to do was pure madness. One does not invoke the laws of nature lightly. Almost any way I looked at it I was risking death. There was the chance of death by invoking the third law. The chance of death in a spatial accident, and the certain slow death of slaving away at this for years on end. I ran my hand slowly over the scar on my chest. I had faced death before and come out on top. I had made a promise to get stronger at any cost. I could do this. I would beat the odds. I would get stronger. Without any further hesitation I activated my tireless hut skill. A haze seemed to come over my mind and all of my worries, my doubts, faded away. All that was left was the hunt. I was consumed by one mission, gather and inscribe seeds. The task became my entire world. I ran through the trees without noticing them gathering as many seeds as my spatial belt could hold. I inscribed seeds until my mana ran dry. I didn¡¯t grow tired, I didn¡¯t have the urge to eat. Days passed without my notice. I repeated the same action again and again. Gather. Inscribe. Gather. Inscribe. Six days. It took me six whole days of doing nothing but gathering and inscribing a mountain of seeds to get enough. When the skill finally wore off I felt like I had been run over by a dragon, no it was an entire hoard of dragons. Do dragons have hoards or is it called something else? Wait why am I thinking about this? I need to keep pushing. I don¡¯t have time to rest right now. At some point during my gathering spree the trees had given me a warning. I was being hunted and the hunters were closing in. I wasn¡¯t given any information beyond that and that I couldn¡¯t let them catch me. It would be a battle I could not win. With a new death sentence hanging over me I gathered the fraying ends of my mental control and dragged my aching body over to the base of the tree I had piled my seeds around. Touching the tree I plunged my mind into the forest¡¯s network. I then spoke the seven most dangerous words of my life, ¡°I wish to invoke the third law.¡± Instantly all activity in the entire network ceased. Invoking the third law was something that the forest could not ignore. I waited in tense silence as my mind was probed again and again to see if my appeal had merit. Eventually the probing stopped and there was a long moment where the forest considered my reasoning. Then my request was granted. My mind nearly cracked as control over the entire network was handed to me. My senses expanded to encompasses the entire forest. I could feel every tree, sense every animal, and comprehend all of their needs. Without hesitating I quickly started to seal off portions of the network before the overload of information drove me insane. My mind was shaking under the strain of maintaining the connection and every nerve in my body was tingling with raw power. Enough power to complete my task. Using my new awareness, I formed the two massive spheres that I needed. The size was mind boggling. Taking a deep breath, I started to draw power from the forest and began compressing the inner sphere. As I worked the entire forest held its breath. No animal moved, no leaf rustled, nothing wanted to distract me. As I compressed the inner sphere further and further, I was left to drift in the space between spaces. It was an odd sensation, more accurately it was odd because there was no sensation. No noise, no sense of touch, no sound, nothing. Cycling a small amount of air mana around my head to keep breathing I worked quickly. When I sensed that drawing any more power from the forest would be dangerous I stopped compressing space. I was now staring at a large swath of forest that had been reduced to my height. The scar that had once been huge was now only the thickness of a hair. Using a long thread of mana I started picking up seeds and feeding them into the scar. They shank into little more than specs as they followed the thread into the compressed space. I watched in awe as the scar was slowly filled. New trees grew quickly under the guidance of my enchantments. A process that should have taken a lifetime was completed in just a few hours. With my task done I slowly expanded the sphere until the two fit together perfectly and disconnected from the network. When I disconnected, I was slammed with a tidal wave of mental fatigue and bodily aches. I was also hit by an overwhelming sense of danger. The hunters were here. Faint voices could be heard coming my way quickly. It sounded like a group of four and if I didn¡¯t act quickly, they would be able to see me soon enough. I guess it is lucky that I prepared a contingency for this very event days ago. With shaking hands, I pulled a small empty seed shell from my spatial belt. When I had been experimenting with mana I had found that combining water and wind would make storm mana. However, if the ratio was adjusted rather than generating a storm the result would be fog. I had enchanted these seed to collect and combine mana in that ratio. It was a portable fog bank. I threw the seed as far towards the approaching voices as I could. A smile crossed my face as the voices quickly turned to panicked shouts as a dense bank of fog exploded into being. I turned in a random direction and started hobbling away from the voices. Nearly blind I forged ahead. I thought my hiding trick would buy me time but apparently they still had some way of following me without sight. I could sense them getting closer and closer. I was too tired to run and too exhausted to cast spells. I was left with only one option. There was one power that I could call on that would give me a chance. I would have to call on the power of a song. There was one simple reason I had not called on the power of either of the songs since first discovering them. The laws of nature. In nature there are three laws that are absolute
  1. Everything has a price
  2. Everything dies
  3. If either of the first two rules are violated nature will strike back
When I had invoked the third law to use the forest¡¯s power I was setting myself as the force that would strike back. When the outsiders had carved the scar into the forest they had done so with no regard to the first law. They had not payed the price for what they had taken. Since they had violated the first law I was able to call on the power of the entire forest to carry out my task. The price I paid for that power was fixing the scar. If I had failed to do that then I would have been killed. These laws are also why I only ever take what I need from the forest. The price for these things is low. If I need to hunt the price is the effort I put into the hunt and the use of anything that I gain from it. If I was to take a branch or fruit from a tree the price would be something like regrowing the limb with magic or giving the tree extra water or energy. The songs though are different. They are pure primal force and thus demand a much higher price. The price for first discovering them is knowledge. By having the knowledge and understanding of the element the song would come to me. To use the song again though an equal sacrifice for equal power would be demanded. I didn¡¯t want to kill my hunters as I didn¡¯t know if they deserved it. With no options left I took a deep breath and began to sing the song of water and as I sang my blood began to boil. [Lilly POV] We had been on the trail of our mystery girl for days now. From the first clearing with the remains of the Defiler we had tracked her to a large clearing. The place was a real mess. It was clear by the numerous shattered trees and craters covering the ground that a large amount of lightning had rained down here. At first, I had been worried that she might have been killed but with no body to be found that possibility was quickly ruled out. Unfortunately, the storm had cost us precious time and destroyed a large number of tracks. It took us nearly three days to explore the remains of the clearing and once more locate her trail. From the start it was clear that she was quickly learning to move with a fair amount of stealth. If it hadn¡¯t been for Will¡¯s skill in tracking, we likely would have lost her at the second clearing. From there we continued at a much slower pace. With the way the tracks were leading we soon surmised that our target was heading towards the Greenwood Forest Road. Once we realized that we picked up our pace. If she made it to the road before we caught up with her we would be hard pressed to track her movements. We were closing in. Fresh tracks made today had been spotted. That was when the forest went still. The birds stopped chirping, the trees quit rustling, even the wind seemed to stop blowing. We also froze. When things get that quiet that fast it is a sign that trouble is close. We stood frozen for a long time waiting for some massive creature to pass, but nothing happened. Will turned to me and raised a questioning eyebrow. I had no clue what was going on so I could only shrug. With no sign of imminent danger we started making our way forward again. Moving slowly and as silently as we could, we continued. After making it only 50 or so steps we froze again as we saw it. A massive shimmering field of energy stretched as far as we could see in every direction. Through the field everything distorted in strange ways seeming to stretch and compress. I had never seen anything like it. Cautiously I stretched a hand out towards the field when I was yanked back. Turning around I was about to rip into Adam when I saw he had gone completely pale and was visibly shaking. ¡°Wh- what¡¯s going on? Do you know what that is?¡± I asked. I was thrown by the way he was acting. The entire trip so far he had been nothing but brave and confident. To see him like this rattled even my nerves. ¡°Th- that, that i- is s- spatial magic. S- someone is m- manipulating s- space on a massive s- scale. It is s- similar to a s- storage item b- but reversed. Th- they are literally c- compressing space. T- to do it on th- this s- scale should n- not b- be possible.¡± He stammered. The explanation chilled me to my bones. I had never seen spatial magic being preformed before but I knew how dangerous it could be. If whoever was casting this spell messed up even in the smallest way we would all die and everything around us would be destroyed. We all waited with baited breath and whispered prayers for the spell to end. After what felt like an eternity the forest came back to life and the field vanished. The shock nearly scared all of us to death. ¡°We need to hurry. If whoever cast that spell is still in there then they should be totally exhausted. If it really is our mystery woman then this could be our best chance at catching her.¡± I shout to the others. Not wanting to let our quary escape we quickly started making our way forward. We were close now. I could sense her presence even though the forest tried to hide it. Why? Why was the forest protecting her? As it turned out she wasn¡¯t out of tricks yet. Just before we would have seen her a massive bank of fog exploded out of nowhere. Instantly we were caught in a cloud so dense I couldn¡¯t see my hand in front of my face. No! I am too close to let her get away! I can still sense her. She is moving slowly and we can catch her. ¡°Follow me!¡± I shouted to the others as I created a ball of light in my hand. After getting everyone to link up I pushed ahead closing in on the presence I could sense. As I got closer I started to summon wind magic to disperse the fog. I was so close. That was when the singing started. The voice was beautiful. It ebbed and flowed like the tide, speaking of things I couldn¡¯t remember. As the music started I stopped. At first I was entranced. The song was so primal that I couldn¡¯t help myself, then my blood began to slow. I felt myself grow heavy and tired. My heart beat slowed down, my thoughts growing sluggish and hazy. Wha- whats happening? What p- power is this? Mya was the first to collapse, she was followed shortly by Will then by Adam. I fought it as long as I could but was soon falling to my knees, then to my chest. The song just kept going. As my vision started to fade a figure started to appear in the mist. All I could make out before my vision faded was the outline of a small girl with steam rising from her body and eyes that glowed a star speckled violet. As my consciousness started to fade the song ended and a soft hand brushed my cheek. The last thing I heard before the darkness claimed me was that same smooth voice. ¡°Be warry outsider. Our time to meet has not yet come. If you truly seek to find me, prove yourself worthy. Obey the laws of nature and our next meeting will be a happy one. I will be watching.¡± 15: Wounded Pain coursed through my entire body. It was not the sharp violent pain of being stabbed, nor was it the burning pain of a cut. It wasn¡¯t even the mind crushing pain of a mental overload. This was a deep, hot, throbbing pain. Every muscle had been pushed to the brink of tearing, my mana channels were dry and cracked from overexertion, my mind was pushed to the braking point, and my very blood had scorched my insides. My use of the tireless hunt skill had allowed me to push past mental and physical limits and now my body had shut down to try and handle the backlash of going six days without stoping. Calling on the power of the forest had allowed me to power a spell that should not have been possible and now my mana channels were blocked as they healed from the overload. Most damaging of all was the price I had paid for calling the song of water. In a final effort to escape from the hunters who were chasing me I had called on the power of the song to cool and slow their blood, rendering them unconscious. The price for that power was a balancing of the scales. As their blood cooled and slowed mine boiled. The pain had been beyond words. If it had not been for my already beaten and exhausted state I am sure that the pain would have made me pass out. My healing matrix had barely been able to keep up with the spreading damage, but it managed to keep me alive. I am not sure what caused me to approach the last hunter. The lady who had strange fleshy ears on the sides of her head and no tail. Something about her called out to me. I had hesitated at first as she was an outsider but I have learned to trust my instincts. I decided to give her a chance. If she wanted to continue hunting me she could, but if she wanted our eventual meeting to be on friendly terms then she would need to prove her and her companions were worthy. My instincts told me she would understand the message. After the final hunter had passed out I left. I stumbled off into the forest my mind and body falling apart more with each step I took. At some point I too passed out, and now I am here. I don¡¯t know where here is. The space I am in feels small. The air is warm and dry, filled with the scent of earth and living beings. There are several large furry masses curled up against me. So warm¡­ soft. Not as soft as my tail though. Where am I? What¡¯s happening. A soft groan makes its way out of my dry cracked lips and I try to open eyes that are held shut with dirt and gunk. In my weakened state I fail to do even that. ¡°Rest young guardian.¡± A soft chittering voice calls out trying to sooth me. ¡°You are safe here with me and mine. Do not try to move you are still to injured and would only hurt yourself more. Rest now.¡± The words sooth me and as soft fur brushes against my cheek I slowly fade back into the darkness. This continues on for some time. When I wake the voice calls out soothingly to me. Once I am able water is slowly trickled down my dry throat, eventually I am fed crushed berries. The entire time I continue to recover. When awake, which is never for long, I focus all my energy on healing my mana channels. Once those are repaired I can feed mana into my healing matrix and speed my recovery further. Finally, the time comes when my mana channels have recovered enough to allow me to pass the smallest trickle of mana through them. I let out a deepfelt sigh of relief as the soothing energy of my healing matrix starts to permeate my body. The feeling of relief caries me once more into the blissful embrace of sleep. When I next woke I felt much better. My body was still a wreck and I doubt I could do more than sit up, but my mana channels are nearly healed. I can feel them knitting back together and the flow of mana to my healing matrix is increasing. My mind also seems to have recovered mostly from the damage it sustained. My thoughts are still a bit sluggish but I can think coherently and can tell my reserves of energy are starting to replenish. With great effort I manage to open my eyes. The sight that greats me is a small dirt chamber. It is barely large enough for me to stretch out in with a low ceiling and rounded walls. I am also finally able to identify what has been curled up against me this entire time. Squirrels? They must be the ones who were taking care of me. So that must mean that I am in their burrow. Large grey squirrels each about the length of my legs and weighing about a fifth of what I do are curled up against my back and sides. ¡°Ah it is good to see that you are back with us at last young guardian. How are you feeling today?¡± Asks a soft female voice from up near my head. Moving my eyes that direction I see a much larger squirrel that must be the mother to the others who are resting with me. ¡°Mm- mm- better.¡± I manage to reply. The effort to speak through my dry lips and throat harder than I had anticipated. ¡°That is good to hear. I will fetch you some water and then we can talk.¡± She replies before scampering off. She returns shortly holding a small bowl that has been made out of a rather large seed and filled with water. Pressing it gently to my lips she tips it and starts to trickle cool water into my mouth. It sooths my throat and the dryness that coats my mouth and lips. Once I have drank it all I find it much easier to talk. ¡°Thank you. Wh- what happened to me?¡± My voice is just above a whisper and still a little shaky, but I manage to get the words out. ¡°We found you out in the forest. You were unconscious and gravely wounded. After what you did for the forest, I just wouldn¡¯t feel right about leaving you there. My children and I brought you back to our burrow and have been taking care of you ever since. I have been giving you water and what little food you would take. My children seem to enjoy having you around and have been sleeping curled up around you to keep you warm. You have been with us for nearly five suns and I had started to worry that you would never recover, but now I am sure that you will be able to heal. I have sensed the return of your magic and since then you have started to improve greatly. I would only ask that you stay with us a while longer until you are fully healed and so that you don¡¯t injure yourself by doing too much before you are ready.¡± The squirrel¡¯s explanation makes me cringe a little on the inside. I have been out for five days. Five days. I really was worse off than I thought. If they hadn¡¯t found me, I probably would have died. I don¡¯t know how much longer I can stay here. I can¡¯t leave yet but if I stay here for too long, I might bring the hunters down on them. I guess that I will need to focus on healing as fast as possible. I also have a couple of breakthroughs that I need to make in my skills, but I am too tired to do that today. For now, I will rest then I will do my best to heal and get stronger. ¡°Thank you for taking care of me. I will accept your hospitality and find some way to pay you back for your kindness.¡± I whisper. ¡°Oh child there is no need for that. You fixed the scar that has marred our home since before I was a newborn. I see this as a kindness that I can provide you after all you have done for us.¡± The squirrel replies while shaking her head. ¡°As you wish then. I think for now I will rest. When I wake again, I should have more strength.¡± I whisper as the darkness once more claims me. After waking from my rest again I do a mental scan of my bodies condition. My mana channels have healed completely and the repairs to my muscles and organs is proceeding slowly but steadily. I am still to weak to move so for now I will have to do what I can mentally. The first thing before I try and make any kind of breakthrough is to check my notifications. I had not looked at them after fixing the scar due to the arrival of the hunters. After dealing with them my injuries had been too severe for me to handle the information they would bring. Now that my mind has recovered however it is time to see what they say. Ding! Enchanting has reached level 7! Mana Manipulation has reached level 25!Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. Spellweaver has reached level 13! Healing Matrix has reached level 15! Pain Resistance has reached level 7! Mental Resistance has reached level 7! For increasing your understanding and use of spatial magic your spatial belt has gained an additional storage space. Size of storage spaces increased by 10%. For increasing your understanding of gravity magic weight reduction of storage belt has increased. Weight of stored items now reduced by 60% Quest Alert!
Quest Alert: Guardian of the Forest The heart tree is dead. You have agreed to take up its duties. This forest is now yours, but you do not control it. To carry out your new duties there is much that is required of you. - Defeat the 4 forest queens o Queen of illusion o Queen of shadows o Queen of deception o Queen of ????????? - Cure the blight (Complete!) - Drive out the drakes - Fix damage caused by the outsiders (Complete!) - Grow a new heart tree
For preforming a great service to the forest class Druidic Defender has been increased to level 14! For gaining a basic understanding of all applicable skills class Orionian Archer has been increased to level 2! For pushing your mind and body past their limit¡¯s attributes have increased Strength +2 Dexterity +3 Constitution +6 Endurance +5 Intelligence +4 Wisdom +6 Luck +1 Oh wow so I made a lot of progress during the days I spent fixing the scar. I made huge progress in almost every area. I improved a bunch of my skills and gained a good number of attribute points. The only shame is that I nearly killed myself doing it. I am happy to have made progress in the heart tree¡¯s quest as well. Since I am still too weak to take on any of the queens and I am not yet ready to grow Mel into a new heart tree I guess that my next target will have to be the drakes that are encroaching on the northern part of the forest. If I want to put up a good fight against them I am going to have to get even stronger than I am now. I will have to improve all of my skills and I will definitely need to make a bow. The one attempt that I made at doing that was a real failure so I guess that will be something I start practicing once I fully recover. In the meantime I think I am finally ready to make a breakthrough in my coalescence skill. Since I was told that I had hit the threshold and that I needed to change the way I viewed mana I have been trying to come up with an answer to no avail. The idea for my breakthrough actually came by accident while I was developing my fog seed. At first the fog seed was working as planned but I had forgotten to put a limit on the amount of mana it could accumulate. As more and more fog gathered in the storage space it started to condense until I checked on it once only to find that it was filled with water. Up to this point my mana had always appeared to be a pearly white gas. I could give it solid form by condensing it in my weapons but in my core it had always remained a gas. My thought was that if I could condense the gaseous mana in my core and get it to form a liquid then I would be able to make the breakthrough. With the idea firmly in hand I delved into my mental landscape. I now stood before a gleaming ball of swirling white mist the size of my fist. Streams of mana flowed from the core into an intricate web that spread through my entire body. I stared at the dense cloud of mist for a long time pondering how to proceed. I knew that I could no longer compress my core so I would need to find a way to condense the mana just a little more without doing that. Having no firm idea of what I needed to do I decided to just act. I reached into my core and tried to grasp at the swirling clouds of mana. No matter how I tried to grasp at it the mana would slip through my fingers leaving thick swirling clouds in my wake. So, this isn¡¯t working. I can¡¯t grab onto the mana when it is like this. Hold on a second¡­ When I try to grab the mana it swirls away and gets a little denser before dispersing again. So maybe if I try spinning the mana rather than grab it I can get it to condense. Having a new idea I set to work. I focused intently on moving the cloud as a whole rather than just part of it. Slowly, ever so slowly the cloud began to spin. As it spun faster and faster the mana was forced to the outer edge of my core and started flattening out into a disk. Slowly as the speed increased more the disk started to be forced into the shape of a ring. Once there was a ring about as thick as two of my fingers whirling around my core the mana began to change. First it was only a couple of specs but those quickly collected more of the mist and began to condense into drops. As more drops were formed they collected together and formed a stream. At long last all of the mana that had previously filled my core to the brim was now concentrated into a ring barely half the width of my smallest finger. If I had thought that my mana had been beautiful before it was nothing compared to what it was now. The glittering white liquid was nearly transparent and refracted any light that hit it turning it into a glittering rainbow kaleidoscope of dancing light. As I watched the beauty of the display, I slowly started to become aware of a problem. With all of my mana concentrated only around the center of my core I would be unable to draw it into most of my mana channels. With a mental sigh I slowly set to the task of separating a fragment of the flow. Splitting off one seventh of the mana I focused on creating a second spinning ring that flowed in a new direction. Once I was able to maintain both flows at once I created a third ring. I did this again and again until I had seven separate rings that were able to flow over the entrances of all my mana channels. What came next was a waiting game. I would slowly draw small trails of the liquid mana out of my core and feed them into my body¡¯s network. When one stream would start to run low I would switch to the next, then the next. If all of the streams were running low I sat and waited for my mana regeneration to refill them. The process seemed to take forever. Once a channel was filled with a thread of the liquid mana and reconnected to my core it too started to flow. Eventually my entire internal network had been connected to my new liquid mana. What started out as just a thread along each pathway started to become a stream as the simple spinning motion of the mana in my core forced more and more into each pathway as it regenerated. After another long period of waiting all of the gaseous mana in my system had been replaced with liquid mana and all of the pathways were now full. Pausing for just a moment to watch the new glittering flow I turned away and exited my mental plane. My breakthrough had been successful, and it was now time to see the results. Upon exiting my mental plain, I was slammed by a new wave of notifications. Ding! Congratulations you have discovered liquid mana! Liquid mana is the condensed form of mana and is thus even more potent! Threshold passed ¨C Coalescence! After discovering liquid mana you were able to convert all the mana in your core to its new form. Due to its condensed nature more space has become available in your mana core. All bonuses from the Coalescence skill have been tripled! Coalescence has reached level 12! Threshold passed ¨C Mana Channels! Your discovery and application of liquid mana to your mana channels has resulted in your ability to pass larger amounts of denser energy through yourself. All bonuses from the Mana Channels skill have been tripled! Mana Channels has reached level 13! Living Enchantment updated! Healing Matrix has become the new skill Liquid Healing Matrix! Your application of liquid mana has changed your healing matrix on a fundamental level. It now permeates your body on a much deeper level resulting in stronger faster healing. Bonuses from Healing Matrix have been updated to reflect these changes. Liquid Healing Matrix now provides a bonus of +2 Constitution and +2 Endurance per skill level. ¡°Wow Mel would you look at that. With this new discovery all of my skills and stats are going to get a huge boost. It will also help me grow much faster. It¡¯s also good for you because now I can start feeding you liquid mana.¡± I whisper to Melody. In response she pulses happily against my chest sending feelings of warmth through my body. Well now that I have finished with my breakthrough it is time to take this new liquid healing matrix for spin. I need to get healed up fast so I can start moving forward again. Activating my improved healing network sent a noticeable wave of relief through me. It felt like cool streams of water were running under my skin. I could feel the difference in the healing, and I liked this one much, much better. I let the soothing wave of healing energy flow over me and drag me off to sleep. 16: First Hunt When all was said and done I had spent a total of nine days living with the squirrels. The first five of these I had spent completely unconscious, then another one making my breakthrough to the use of liquid mana. The final three days were spent fully recovering my body, playing with the squirrels, and improving my skills. During the day I would go out gathering with the smaller squirrels and then spend the afternoon playing around. We would race through the underbrush, climb up trees, and just generally have a good time. During some of our carousing I came up with an idea for how I could start improving my physical stats. In what upon future reflection was probably a bad idea I had shown the young squirrels my gravity magic. This resulted in a long session of us bouncing and floating around nearly weightless. My thought was that if I could make myself and others weightless then I could also do the opposite. By making myself heavier while I traveled I would be able to see improvements to my physical stats. After spending the day or as much of it as I could playing I would return to the burrow and begin practicing my skills. I had to almost relearn how to use elemental arrow and my weapon creation as my liquid mana acted differently than my mana earlier. Being almost liquid when I extruded it the creation of these items took much less mana but slightly more concentration. My first few attempts were¡­ I chose to forget about them. By the end of that first day I had once again gotten pretty good at the process. I also solved the issue of my mana weapons being too light through the use of my enchanting skill. Etching a simple gravity circle into the blades as I formed them allowed me to get them to be perfect. Despite all the improvements that I had seen in both of those skills the two that I thought were the greatest improvements for me were bow crafting and archery. I had spent my nights carving bow after bow. Most of them turned out to be little better than firewood but ever so slowly my skill and the quality of my product improved. On my second to last night I bent all of my will into crafting something that was useable and was rewarded with a decent bow. It was my best work yet, a little rough around the edges but solidly recognizable as a bow. When my crafting skill appraised it I nearly cheered in delight. [Oaken Recurve Bow ¨C Quality: Moderate] Bow Crafting has reached level 4! My final day was spent firing arrow after arrow with my new treasure. The first thing I realized was that my lacking strength was catching up with me and that I really, really needed more practice. I pressed on in my training missing the target almost as much as I was hitting it at first. As the day wore on however I had several notifications come in telling me that my strength had increased and that my archery skill was improving. With these extra bonuses giving me some help as well as learning from my many mistakes I saw my accuracy improve greatly by the end of the day. I was no marksman but I would now usually hit what I was aiming at. With a happy smile and aching muscles, I crawled back into the burrow and started to get ready for sleep. As a new part of my night time ritual I carefully fed Mel several drops of liquid mana. In the past couple of days, she had been growing increasingly irritated with me for my forgetfulness when it came to this portion of my duties, but now that she was able to gorge herself on the super dense liquid mana her temper had cooled rapidly. It had taken a good deal of time and a lot of mana treats but I think that we are getting along just fine once more. When it finally came time for me to leave I found it extremely difficult to say goodbye. Up to this point I had been alone with only Mel for company and I had quickly grown to consider the family of squirrels my friends. I think that it was because of this that when they asked if they could do anything else for me I jumped at the chance to be able to see them again. To accomplish this I gave them a mission. Since I would be unable to keep track of the hunters that had pursued me I asked them to do it for me. After listening to what little information the trees would give me on the group I had realized that one of them was a druid and thus I would be putting my new friends in relatively little danger. As one final piece of insurance I created one of my mana spikes and gave it to the mother squirrel to give to the hunter with the strange ears. The spike carried a double meaning to it. First, it would let the hunters know I had sent the watchers and second, that harming them would not be in their best interest. I watched with a hollow feeling growing in the center of my chest as the family of squirrels ran off to do as I had asked them. With no reason left to delay my departure I turned north and started the next leg of my journey. My travels were slowed slightly due to the fact that I had started making myself weigh half again what I normally did. This was about as much as I could handle while not impeding my movements too much. The added weight also slowed me down as I had to put in additional effort to maintain my stealth. When the sun started to fall low in the sky, I found a good spot to make camp and began practicing my archery skills once more. Once I was good and tired, lacking in stamina and mana, I made a small meal from the last of provisions I had and found a good tree to sleep in. After trying several times to climb the tree to no avail I let out a sigh of resignation and returned myself to normal gravity. My next attempt at climbing the tree was much more successful. Checking my notifications, I smile happily to see that I had gained two points to strength, dexterity and endurance. After giving Mel her daily allowance of mana, I quickly curled up and fell asleep.The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Waking up the next morning to a rumbling stomach I realized that I would need to get more food. I had already killed a rabbit but Reina was demanding that I hunt something larger. I¡¯m not exactly sure when I had started calling the other me that represented my hunter instincts Reina but it had started to feel weird calling her other me. Now it just seemed right to call her Reina and it made me feel a little less crazy when I talked to her, or when she tried to tell me things. With Reina firmly putting her foot down and threatening more mental shocks I decided that today would be my first true hunt. I scoured the area around my tree for tracks that were both fresh and from an animal that would satisfy Reina. My search grew in an expanding spiral until I finally found what I had been looking for. Next to a bush picked clean of berries were fresh tracks from a tri-horn deer. Seeing the tracks Reina smiled and gave her seal of approval. I was about to set off when she gave me a small mental zap. ¡°Oh what now?¡± I groaned. She just smiled wider and bent over like she was getting heavier. Groaning internally I whined, ¡°You want me to do this with my gravity increased don¡¯t you?¡± She just nodded. With a final sigh I increased my gravity and set off following the tracks. I found that tracking was much easier than I had thought it would be. Since I had been practicing how to move stealthily I knew where to look for tracks, and what would indicate something¡¯s passage through the forest. I found tracks pressed into soft patches of soil, libs on bushes that were either bent or broken, and scuff marks on trees and roots. Following this trail of signs I was able to track the tri-horn to a small stream. The beast was bent over drinking deeply from the water. It stood about as tall as me and had thin course grey hair. As its name would suggest it had three horns a little longer than my hand sticking from the top of its head. The horns were jet black and tapered down to wicked sharp points that I definitely didn¡¯t want to be on the receiving end of. I crouched in the underbrush about thirty paces away from it and slowly raised my bow. I had formed an arrow out of pure mana and was drawing back the string to take aim when a gust of wind came from my back. The tri-horn¡¯s head snapped up and it looked straight at me before it bolted away into trees. ¡°Damnit! The stupid wind gave me away. The thing must have smelled me.¡± I cursed my luck and lack of foresight. Reina just clutched her sides and laughed before looking at me with you¡¯re an idiot eyes. ¡°Hey, don¡¯t give me that look. What was I supposed to do about it?¡± She just stared at me for a second before sighing and waving her hand as if to call on wind magic. Flushing a bright embarrassed red, I mumbled, ¡°Right.¡± before I called on my magic to form a shell of wind around myself. This would keep any of my scent from leaking out and frightening my prey away, again. I only flushed brighter as I got a notification. Ding! Stealth has reached level 3! Stupid Reina, stupid system making me feel like an idiot. I¡¯ll show them. This time I¡¯ll get the thing. No more mistakes. I grumbled internally as I once more set to tracking the tri-horn. The thing had run quite far and left a much fainter trail. By the time I was able to track it down the sun had passed its highest point in the sky. This time rather than next to a small stream I found the tri-horn in a large open clearing. It was a break in the trees that seemed to be several hundred paces across and was nearly circular. Inside the clearing was nothing but waist high grass. Damn. There isn¡¯t the slightest bit of cover out there. If I try to get any closer than the edge of the clearing it will either see me or hear me moving in the grass and I will lose it. If I get to the trees at the edge of the clearing I should be able to make the shot. It looks to be around a hundred paces which is a little further than I practice at but I should still be able to do it. Taking a slow deep breath I sight in just behind the front shoulder and draw back my arrow. Adjusting my aim slightly for the increased distance and a slight breeze I let the arrow fly. It zips through the air and strikes just a little high of where I had wanted. Letting out a high pitched squeal of pain the tri-horn spasms and falls to the ground. I am about to cheer in victory when it stumbles back upright and starts to take slow unsteady steps away from me. Not wanting the animal to suffer any longer than it already has I quickly form another arrow and draw back my bow. I had just sighted in on my fleeing target when it vanished. ¡°What the-¡°In my surprise I let go of the string. My arrow streaks across the clearing before vanishing in the same spot as the tri-horn. A second later I receive a string of notifications. Ding! Congratulations! For successfully completing your first hunt of worthy prey class Orionian Archer has been increased to level 3! Archery has reached level 5! Elemental arrow has reached level 5! Okay so I killed it but where did it go? I stare at the empty clearing for a long moment trying to puzzle out the answer but come up with nothing. It looks like just an empty clearing. Could there be some type of magic that is hiding something in the center? Could it be some kind of portal? Well standing here guessing isn¡¯t going to get me any answers. With all my senses set to high alert I slowly approach the center of the clearing with and arrow held out in front of me. I am more than happy to experiment with magics and do so in ways that are probably less than smart but even I am not stupid enough to just walk into a strange magic field I know nothing about without testing it first. I edge my way closer and closer to the center until I see the tip of my arrow simply vanish. I push the arrow deeper into the field until about half of its length has vanished before pulling it back to inspect it. Seeing no signs of damage to the arrow I edge a little closer and extend one of my hands. Touching the field is weird. It is like sticking my hand in cool water but there is no resistance to it. It doesn¡¯t feel like I am taking any damage and q quick check of my hand confirms that nothing is wrong. Seeing nothing that should stop me from continuing I take a deep breath and step forward into the field. I close my eyes as I pass through letting the strange cool rippling sensation wash over me. Once I get to the other side I open my eyes and am met with a sight that is as strange as it is beautiful along with a new notification. New location discovered! Welcome to The Moonlit Tower. 17: The Moonlit Tower At first the sight of The Moonlit Tower is disorienting. Having stepped from the bright afternoon sun into darkness illuminated by the light of a full moon, it takes several seconds for my mind to transition. The area is similar to The Twilight Grove but with several distinct differences. The first of these is the gleaming tower rising from the center of the area. Constructed in a rising spiral of gleaming white stone it looks more like it was grown from the earth rather than built atop it. The outside of the tower is covered in a mesh of black lines that seem to flow in strangely familiar and yet completely unknown patterns. Weaving their way around windows and even a couple of balconies the patterns cover all five floors of the tower. The next difference is that unlike The Twilight Grove, The Moonlit Tower is surrounded by a verdant garden that thrives in the soft moonlight. Great flowering trees in shade of palest pink, and deepest purple loose petals to swirl on the breeze. Smaller trees bear fruit in the shapes of apples and the darkest juiciest looking cherries. On the ground delicate blossoms spread wide to reflect the moonlight in a dozen colors while spreading their soft sweet scents. The garden is beautiful beyond words. It grows wild with no semblance of order and yet it all seems to fit together perfectly. ¡°Oh Mel it is so beautiful. I wish that you could see it.¡± I whisper as my gaze roams over the garden. Mel lets out a small sad pulse that makes me sad while at the same time giving me a new idea. ¡°Oh don¡¯t be sad little one. Some day when you grow into a great tree I will create a garden just like this for you.¡± At this Mel seems to brighten and the pulses of energy she emits become happier. ¡°Okay we need to explore this place. I want to know what¡¯s in the tower but first we will have to do something with the tri-horn and have a look around the garden.¡± With an effort of will I pulled my attention away from the garden and set to the task of cleaning my kill. It was a lot of work but the sharpness of my mana knives made any cutting I had to do easy. I followed Reina¡¯s instructions as best as I could but still made a fair number of mistakes. When I was finished I was left with a stack of crudely cut meat, a pile of bloody bones, tattered scraps of pelt, and a pile of unusable other stuff. I stored the meat and pelt in my storage belt and decided to leave the bones behind as I had little use for them. The pile of other stuff I levitated in the air with gravity magic before blending it all into a thick bloody liquid with a combination of water and pure mana. Toting my floating ball of blood behind me I began my exploration of the garden. I found nothing of particular interest in the garden apart from an abundance of beautiful plants. Whenever I found one that was particularly pleasing I would approach it and try to make a deal. They couldn¡¯t talk to me but seemed able to understand the offer I made. I would ask for some of their seeds and would offer a portion of my blood ball to them in return. Most of them accepted my offer but there were a few that declined. One of the trees in this latter category was a particularly pretty shade of deep red and purple. I made it several offers but was gently turned away with a small amount of disappointment. Even Mel joined in on the hunt for plants to add to The Twilight grove. She would occasionally direct me to a plant that she seemed to be able to detect, maybe she sensed its aura or something. By the time we had completed our circuit of the garden my ball of blood had been completely depleted and I was left with a good amount of seeds for future use. I had collected moonblossom, midnight cherry, evening breeze, and many more. All were plants that thrived off of either moonlight or starlight. Some of the plants produced fruit, others had healing properties, a few were poisonous, and a couple were just pretty. All together they would make a good start to a garden for the Twilight Grove. In my mind I was picturing it as a place that held a little bit of everything that I could need while still thriving in the evening light and looking pretty for Mel. With nothing left to see in the garden I slowly began to approach the tower. The gleaming white stone rose higher and higher above me as I drew close to its base. When I got to the wall I ran my hand lightly over the flowing back lines. The pattern teased at my thoughts with that same hinting familiarity while still maintaining its mysteries. I wracked my brain trying to figure out where I knew it from but came up with nothing. While the lines almost seemed to be the flow of mana it was not being shaped in any way that I could recognize. When I started to get a faint headache from my search for answers I gave a sigh of resignation and turned away from the walls. I don¡¯t know why I seem to recognize you but for now you will have to keep your secrets. Since I can¡¯t make any progress out here I guess I should try and find an entrance and see what¡¯s inside. Determined to come away from this area with something to show for my efforts I started to circle the tower looking for a way inside. As it turns out I had approached the tower on the side opposite that of the door. Carved out of the same glittering black stone as the strange lines it stood out starkly against the white of the tower. Standing out just as clearly on the door was a sign carved out of the same stone as the tower. Leaning close I read it aloud to Mel. ¡°We leave this tower as remembrance of our lost leader, in the hope that one day she may return to us. Should her soul pass on to once more enter the great cycle of rebirth may it find its way back to the place she once called home.¡± Hmmm so this place used to be the home of some people¡¯s leader, I guess. I wonder if I should go in. It probably wouldn¡¯t hurt anyone if I just took a look around. If the sign is still on the door then there is probably no one inside. Alright I¡¯ll give things a quick peak and if it looks like no one has been there in a while then I¡¯ll start exploring. Reaching out I pushed against the door. At first I thought that it was locked but then with a loud groaning and scratching the door swung open. Inside small globes of light flickered before stabilizing and filling the room with cool pale light. The room was large circular and completely empty. A staircase started at the side opposite the door and wound its way once around the exterior wall before disappearing into a small hole in the ceiling. Spaced evenly around the room were six more sets of stairs that each lead down to rooms that must be below ground, and everything was coated in a thick layer of dust. ¡°Well Mel I don¡¯t think that anyone has been here in a very long time.¡± I say as I take a step into the room and my foot gets completely covered by the tick dust. ¡°There are no traces of anyone having been through here. We might even be the first to find the tower after it was closed up. I mean we did kinda find it by accident so it is likely. I am going to take a look around this floor. I want to see where each of those stairs lead before we go up.¡± With plan in mind I start making my way to the first set of stairs on my left. I make it only a couple of steps before I have to raise a shell of wind around myself to keep from choking on the dust my steps kick up. This was probably not my best idea as my new wind shell kicked up even more dust quickly filling the room with it. More annoyed than anything else I called on my wind magic and began to funnel the cloud and any other dust that had not firmly adhered itself to something out the still open front door. It took several minutes of careful work but the air was eventually cleared and I set off once more towards my target. Reaching the top of the stairs I looked down and could see that they descended about one level before ending at another black stone door. Going down the stairs and pushing the door open I stood confused for several long moments as I looked at what lay inside. ¡°Sand? They had an entire room for just sand?¡± I ask the empty air. The room was small being roughly rectangular with sides about two and three times my height, and the floor was completely covered in sand. I walked into the room and let the smooth grains of it play through my toes and over my feet as I searched for something hidden. I looked for a while but my first assessment of the room had been right. The place really did contain only sand. ¡°What a weird person keeping a room just for sand. I wonder if it has any purpose of if the owner really was just weird.¡± I say to Mel as I make my way out of the sand room and over to the next. Behind the second door was something just as weird as the first. A bowl filled with bright red and orange flames sat atop a small pedestal. Apart from the bowl of fire the room was completely empty. Okay the sand room was strange but this one could make a little sense. Maybe the owner came down here to cook or something. Hmmm that doesn¡¯t quite make sense. Why hide your kitchen at the very bottom of the tower. It would kinda suck to have to climb all the way down just to cook a meal. These rooms must have a purpose.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Pondering a few different possibilities I made my way from the flame room to the next. The single large floating ball of light that occupied this room started to give me an inkling of what the rooms might actually be. Not wanting to jump to any wrong conclusions I quickly went to explore the next rooms. The next room over was filled only with darkness. It wasn¡¯t a darkness that conjured fear though it was more one that was just the pleasant absence of light. After the dark room came one that had holes covering the walls. Through those walls gental breezes would enter and swirl about before leaving. Before I had even opened the door of the final room to reveal a large pool of water I had known what the rooms were meant to represent. ¡°Mana. Each room is set up to represent one of the basic forms of mana.¡± I was about to leave the room when I stopped. My gaze drifted back to the clear waters of the pool. Water entered in a small stream from one side and left through a crack in the wall on the other. Steam rose gently from its surface and I squirmed in indecision at the edge of the pool. Taking one final look around I let myself give into temptation and leaped in. A sigh of happiness escaped me as I was enveloped by the warm waters. It was the first time that I could remember taking a warm bath, the streams and pools I had used previously being on the cool side. The heat sank deep into my sore muscles and I found myself tempted to just lay back and drift in the waters warm embrace. Had it not been for my mounting curiosity about what ley in the upper floors of the tower I might have done just that. Acting quickly to ensure that the temptation would not overtake me I began to scrub the blood, dirt and sweat from my skin and fur. Finishing as quickly as possible I exited the pool and made a silent promise to come back after I finished exploring. I dried myself off by using water magic to pull the water from me and then conjured some wind to fluff out my hair and tail. Making my way out of the water room I once more raised my wind shell and started for the stairs leading to the next level. After finding all the small rooms on the first floor each designed around a single aspect of mana I was completely surprised by the second floor. The room was a single large open space encompassing the entirety of this floor of the tower. There was a large kitchen in one part of the room, a rusted iron stove taking up space behind a short counter. Dusty and worn shelves adorned the wall behind the stove either striped of their contents or what was once there having turned to dust. Another part of the room was taken up by a large bed. The final portion of the room held a large desk and shelves filled with books. Put all together this floor looked like the living quarters of whoever had once owned the tower. Somthing felt strange about seeing everything here. Most of the stuff in the room was things that I could never remember seeing before yet when I looked at them I just knew what they were. The feeling was quite odd to say the least. I made a quick circuit of the room but my curiosity inevitably drew me over to the shelves of books. All of my knowledge of healing and my resulting skills in magic could be traced back to a single book and to see dozens upon dozens of them here had me nearly squirming with excitement. My hopes for a wealth of new knowledge were quickly dashed when I pulled the first book from its shelf and it crumbled to dust in my hand. With a great sense of loss, I scanned the shelves and found that all the books were in similar if not worse condition. ¡°Why Mel? Why must there be so much here that we are simply to late for?¡± I asked. As I continued to search the shelves for a book that had survived the ravages of time my eyes were drawn to what had once been a large painting hanging for the wall. Like the books most of it was lost to time. All that remained of the portrait was a woman¡¯s face. She seemed young in the sense that she had no grey hairs, but her deep sapphire eyes seemed to hold a lifetime¡¯s worth of wisdom. She had pale skin jet black hair and two furry ears on top of her head. I don¡¯t know when I started to cry but looking at the image of this woman sent deep waves of sadness crashing over me. Just like the exterior of the tower the image brought such a sense of familiarity that I could almost remember something that was being kept just out of reach. ¡°Why does it hurt so much Mel? Why do I feel like I should know her? Why can¡¯t I remember anything!¡± I asked through my tears, the last coming out as a shout. Mel responded by sending out soothing waves of comforting energy doing the only thing she could to make me feel better. I¡¯m not sure how long I sat crying in front of that old painting tormented by familiarity without understanding but eventually I made it back to my feet. I thanked Mel for being there for me and turned away from the painting. I was ready to find more answers and to be away from this place that was causing so much pain. The contents of the third floor were just as much of a shock as the two previous ones. This floor was occupied by all manner of musical instruments. There were lutes and flutes and a myriad of others that I couldn¡¯t identify. Some had as few as four strings and one even looked like it had fifty while some of them had none at all being designed for air rather than strings. They came in all shapes and sizes large, small round, and square and each of them looked completely unusable. Suffering the effects of time just like everything else the instruments had deteriorated and looked like a mere touch would cause them to crumble. I made my way slowly through the graveyard of forgotten things trying to puzzle out what kind of person the owner of the tower had been. First the rooms for mana, then a rather spacious living quarters, and now an entire floors worth of instruments, who in the world was this lady? Finding no answers among the decaying instruments I made my way up to the fourth floor. This room was cluttered with old decaying papers. I walked over to one and looking at the faded ink on it I almost instantly recognized it as music. Notes crawled across the page carrying a silent melody. Below the notes separating each line of them were a collection of wavy lines that I also recognized as mana manipulations. It was at this point that all of the small hints and clues started to come together in my mind. First the individual element rooms, then musical instruments, and now music set to flowing with mana. ¡°She was searching for the songs Mel. It all makes sense now. Everything in this tower was to help her find the songs of nature!¡± I shout excitedly. Looking around the room at the stack after stack of music I could see that the woman had clearly devoted a good portion of her life to the search for the songs. A small thrill of excitement shot through me before I realized that I would be unlikely to find any of the songs here and even if I did I would likely not be able to understand them. Now knowing what the tower had been used for and filled with a burning curiosity I climbed the stairs that lead to the top floor of the tower. I¡¯m not sure what I had been expecting to find in the final room but when I entered, I knew what I saw hadn¡¯t been it. The final room of the tower was set beneath a large glass dome that let moonlight poor in to illuminate the single long glass case that was its only occupant. Approaching the case I could see that it contained seven sheets of paper preserved perfectly in their own individual pains of glass. Five out of the seven were willed with a strange dark mist that prevented me from seeing most of their contents. Looking at the two that contained on mist I gasped as I instantly recognized them. ¡°She found them Mel. She found all the songs and they are right here.¡± My voice was shaking and came out just barely above a whisper. I quickly switched my gaze from the songs of wind and water to search the other sheets. Mostly hidden by the strange mist I was able to make out bits and pieces. I think that somehow she enchanted the sheets so that they can only be read after you understand the song. That¡¯s a bummer but I still can¡¯t believe that they are all right here. Maybe I should take them with me. They are too powerful to just leave here and from what I¡¯ve seen so far I don¡¯t think anyone would miss them. But¡­ As I pondered the merits of simply stealing all of the songs my gaze was drawn towards the seventh sheet that lay in the center of the line. When I saw it my heart nearly stopped. ¡°M- Mel we- we have to take t- these.¡± I manage to stutter through my shock. Mel replies with an uncertain pulse of energy as if asking why. ¡°Mel that- that¡¯s The Endless Song.¡± I would recognize the tiny bits of it shifting in and out of focus anywhere. The song had been constantly tormenting me since I first discovered the song of the wind. If the small glimpses of it I could see and the whispers of power it promised were true there was absolutely no way I could leave a copy of it here. Acting without conscious thought I raised my fist and brought it smashing down, shattering the case holding the songs. The instant the glass shattered I felt a massive surge of magic go off deep beneath the tower. Oh shit, what did I just do? As the surge of magic faded a faint tremor passed through the floor and a soft groaning noise echoed up from the floors below. ¡°Not good. Not good!¡± I shouted as I quickly grabbed the seven songs and put them into my storage belt. The groaning and shaking was definitely getting louder and I looked around desperately for a way out. Seeing the glass above me I threw a handful of mana daggers at it intending to break it and jump to safety but they simply glanced off leaving not even a scratch. ¡°Shit not good!¡± Just as I was turning to run for the stairs the tower shook violently and with a massive groan the floor beneath my feet fell away. I was falling. Falling with the entire Moonlit Tower crashing down on top of me. In a desperate attempt to keep myself from being crushed I threw up a shell of gravity around myself that pushed debris away. I fell into darkness my scrams lost in the crashing of stone. 18: The Silent Song I fell for a long time with the tower coming down around me until with a crash that felt like it shattered every bone in my body I hit the ground. The sudden pain and the stunning blow to my head made my barrier flicker and nearly cost me my life. With a hoarse scream and an effort of will I was able to gather enough thought together to reform my barrier. It was working but wouldn¡¯t continue to do so for very long. Even now with my gravity field at maximum strength I could feel the weight of the stone pressing down on it. I was trapped, buried alive in a slowly sinking tomb. The weight of the tower pressed down upon me and I could feel that my mana regeneration was barely able to keep up with the demands of my barrier. The next thing that I noticed was the distinct lack of air inside my little bubble. It was there but there would only be enough to last me a quarter of a day. After that I would have to decide between a death by crushing or one by suffocation as I didn¡¯t have enough mana to both create air and maintain my barrier. As I started to realize how desperate my situation truly was I began looking desperately for a way out. My gravity magic was barely able to keep the tower from crushing me so the option of using that was out. I could probably cut through the stone by using water magic, if I had a couple of years to do it, so that was also out. Wind magic would only be of use to help keep me breathing a little longer. Next I tried digging at the walls to get out. That only resulted in the rubble shifting and a greater amount of the tower¡¯s weight to come down. With my barrier having shrunk and my situation made worse I quickly abandoned the thought of trying to dig through the walls. I would have tried the floor next but I had landed on some kind of hardened crystal foundation that was too strong for me to do more than scratch. With each avenue of escape that was cut off my heart began to beat a little faster. Panic started to set in as I realized that I really had no way out of here. I was truly trapped and alone, suffocating in total darkness. My breathing became erratic and I started to get lightheaded as I struggled to maintain control over my barrier. ¡°I don¡¯t want to die. Please I don¡¯t want to die.¡± I pleaded with the darkness. My shortness of breath and failing control only served to heighten my fear. The barrier began to flicker more erratically, and I probably would have died in the next couple of breaths if it hadn¡¯t been for Mel. She started sending out strong soothing waver of energy pushing them into my body. At first my panic warred with her calm until I finally gave in and let the feeling of peace wash over me. I closed my eyes and basked in the feeling as I slowly brought my breathing under control and felt my heart rate slow. With the new feeling of calm drifting over me I felt my connection to my magic strengthen and let my mind drift. Holding my connection to my barrier like a tether I floated through the tangled web of my mind until I found a place that was dark and empty. This was a calm place, separated from the crushing darkness of my current predicament. Here it was empty but not in the unsettling way that it had been while I was stuck between two spaces. This was an emptiness that was calming, with enough sensation to keep from feeling lost. The darkness was also not that of the room I had seen in the tower, nor that of the space I was trapped in. Instead it was like the darkness from simply closing your eyes. I was jerked from my temporary peace from a soft chiming noise as I received a new notification. Skill acquired ¨C Meditation! Meditation ¨C You have found peace within the storm of your mind. Able to separate yourself from extraneous thought and emotion you have deepened your connection to the world. Stamina and mana recover faster while not moving and in a meditative state. Stamina and mana recovery increase with skill level. Reach deeper levels of meditation to increase skill level. +1 Wisdom per skill level. ¡°Thank you, Mel. I owe you big this time. You saved us both and helped me to get a skill that will keep us alive until I can find us a way out of here.¡± I whisper. I felt slightly ashamed for how I had let my fear nearly overwhelm me and made two silent promises before sinking back into meditation. Once we got out of here, I would lavish Mel with the best and highest quality mana that I could make, and I would never let fear get the better of me again. As I sank back into meditation I felt my mana regeneration increase slightly and began to weave a spell that would produce the thinnest trickle of fresh air. It wasn¡¯t much but it would give me some more time to find a solution to my current predicament, and it was all that I was able to produce while maintaining an equilibrium with my mana regeneration and output. Floating inside the empty space in my mind I began to pull up my skills one at a time and analyzed them to see if they could be of use. Most of them I dismissed as I had either already tried them or they would be of little use. From my examination I came up with two possible plans. The first would involve creating a large number of mana blades to chop the pieces of the tower into tiny pieces and slowly make my way up. The second plan would involve trying to manipulate spatial magic again. While each had a chance of working I was not eager to try either one of them. The first was likely to cause more problems with the stability of the rubble that I was already barely supporting. My second plan I was even more hesitant to try. I had already experienced what the void between spaces felt like and I was in no rush to end up there again due to a botched escape attempt. With my only two plans set to the back of my mind to try as a last resort I changed the focus of my meditation. The skill had said that in this state I would have a deeper connection to the world around me so I started to move my focus outward. My mind spread out first through my body where I could sense a large number of bruises and cracked bones that I didn¡¯t have the spare mana to heal at present. My heart pulsed with a slow steady rhythm and I used that as an anchor as I slowly stretched my mind out and away from my body.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. I could sense the stone around me. Vague impressions of the tower piled atop me floated into my mind along with those of the earth below me. I could feel how old and heavy the tower was, and how compared to the earth below me it was like a newborn baby. As I focused on the area my expanded senses revealed my attention was drawn down rather than up. The earth below me seemed to contain a great energy that drew me in. At first I thought that I was sensing the echoes of my heartbeat but when I listened closer I found it to be beating much slower and deeper. Letting my mind drift into the slowly beating energy of the earth I tried to listen to what it could tell me. What I heard was at the same time much more and also much less than what the other elements had communicated to me. The concepts the earth spoke of were simple ones but they were on a scale that none of the others could match. It spoke mostly of holding. The earth held everything on its back, carrying cities and oceans, plants and animals. Those were the things it held up, but the earth also spoke of holding back. There was a great fire that was hidden deep in the earth, that was held down beneath the land so that I could not burn everything. I listened intently to everything the earth told me and slowly I started to hear it¡¯s song. It was a strange song, different from the other two I had learned. It was ancient and slow. It was a song that was sung with both the loudest voice and the softest whisper. These though were not what made the song strange. What made this song different was that it was a song of silence. No words would come from my lips, instead they would be sung directly into the earth itself, and so I sang the silent song. Hard rock, soft earth Great foundation Holding all life upon your back Hoarding secrets within your depths Watching for time unending Strong walls, bright gems Life abounding Solid and steady you stand unmoved Sliding you shake and all else crumbles Watching for time unending High peaks, great depths Fire withholding Keeping the balance of cycles eternal Knowing the secrets of ancient steps Watching for time unending First light, last breath All creation Beating heart before life¡¯s first spark Beating heart after life¡¯s last ember Watching for time unending Like with those before it as the song came to a close true understanding of earth filled me and I got another glimpse at The Endless Song. Lost as I was deep within my meditation this glimpse did not overwhelm me. It was a glorious moment of seeing something beautiful that quickly faded. With a way to escape now in hand I pulled out of my meditation and began to call the mana of the earth. Working slowly I stretched threads of it up through the rubble above me. I did not use it to lift or force the rubble aside but rather to slowly bind it together. Moving my way up from the earth below the collapse I melded rubble and earth creating a stable structure able to support itself. With that taken care of I could finally drop my barrier and start the real work. Now able to wield the full strength of my mana I set to moving the earth. I could sense every crack and shift in the structure above me and was thus able to find the places that wanted to move and would leave my safe dome untouched. Focusing on these places I began to push, pull, or break apart rubble carving out a small winding tunnel. Once I felt the path reach the surface I began my climb. Crawling through the small path I had made I was repeatedly showered in earth until coated in a thick layer of dirt and crying soft tears of relief I broke through to the surface. Crawling a good distance away from the remains of the tower I collapsed and simply stared at the night sky above me taking in deep breaths of the fresh air. ¡°We made it Mel, we made it.¡± I whispered into the darkness. Mel responded with a series of happy pulses. The two of us lay there for a long time simply basking in our freedom and I talked endlessly of nothing. I told Mel about the grass and the different shapes that I thought I could see in the stars. The talking helped to ground me and reassure me that I really had made it out of the hole I had been trapped in. Mel for her part did nothing to interrupt my ramblings, seeming happy to just listen to me describe the world to her. After I ran out of things to talk about I let out a small happy sigh and focused on the rapidly blinking dot in the corner of my vision to bring up the notifications I knew were waiting for me. Ding! Meditation has reached level 3! Spellweaver has reached level 15! Mana Manipulation has reached level 27! Quest Alert!
Quest Alert: The Endless Song A song of incomprehensible power that bends the very laws of nature; it is beyond your current understanding. To know this song you must know the 6 primal aspects of nature. Feel them, listen to them, and understand them. - Understand Fire (x) - Understand Wind (Complete) - Understand Water (Complete) - Understand Earth (Complete) - Understand Light (x) - Understand Darkness (x) Reward: The Endless Song
¡°Half way there Mel, half way there.¡± I muttered as I closed the notifications to once more look up at the night sky. It took a while but eventually I realized that I was looking at the true night sky and not the one of the dome that had contained the Moonlit Tower. The dome must have been somehow connected to the tower. The mystery of how such a construct was made is the least of the questions that came out of this little adventure. I wonder who the woman from that portrait was, and how I am connected with her. The tower gave me more questions to ask and new things to look for. With one final question on my mind I curled up amidst the trees in the garden and fell asleep. What other secrets does the forest hold? Interlude: Graveyard of the Lost [Lilly POV] Three days. Whatever kind of magic our quarry had used knocked me out for three whole days. I woke with a splitting headache and a long thank you to the world for the fact that nothing had eaten us while we were unconscious. After taking a few moments to check on the condition of my companions I sat down to focus on my recovery and sift through my memories of our journey. The last moments when the group had closed in on our target were hazy so I focused my efforts on trying to recall what I could about the encounter. As far as I am able to tell whoever she is, she must be very powerful. She has somehow acquired the ability to use spatial magic and was using it to do something when we first arrived. Apart from that she clearly has power in both air and water magic as evident by the fog she was able to summon. If it hadn¡¯t been for my powers as a druid, we probably would have lost her at that point. The most concerning thing of all was that strange song that she used to incapacitate the entire group. I have seen magic used through song before, but this was something else entirely. It seemed somehow primal and far more powerful than anything else I have experienced. If, no when I meet her again I will have to ask her about what she did. On the topic of a future meeting that final warning she gave me before I passed out was quite concerning and might be the most informative thing about who she could be. She called me an outsider so it is possible that she is an inhabitant of the forest. If that were true it makes little sense why she would attack me a druid though. The attack makes even less sense when I consider the ending part of her message where she mentioned the laws of nature. The only ones who should know about those are druids and some rangers. The most concerning part of her message however was that we would have to prove ourselves worthy of a future meeting with her and that she would be watching us. I don¡¯t know what we would need to do to prove worth and if her powers are as extensive as I think they are then she will have little issue keeping an eye on us. Also if she truly does know of the laws of nature then we will have to be a lot more careful while in the forest. If we accidentally accrue a debt by not paying a price for what we take, then running into her again would likely be unpleasant. I will have to talk to the others once they get around to waking up. My internal musings lasted long into the day. I kept going over everything I knew about the strange girl we had met and tried to draw what conclusions I could about who she was. Unfortunately, I just didn¡¯t know enough to get a firm picture. I knew that she was some powerful nature user and that was about it. With noting else to go on and tired of running myself in circles I decided to start meditating and communicating with the forest while waiting for the others to wake up. Nothing happened until the morning of the next day when both Will and Adam woke up. The pair were understandable angry about being attacked and were a little embarrassed about being rendered helpless for several days. We talked for a long time about what each of us had experienced and what we thought it meant about our target. Will offered to try and scout out her trail again but I told him to hold off on doing so until we were able to form a more concrete plan. Not seeming to want to sit still he left to go and scout the area around us. We were supposed to be close to a road, so he went to try and find it. Late that evening Mya finally woke up. I had started to get worried about her but now that she was awake those fears were gone. She was slightly worse for wear than the rest of us due to her low stats but after a little bit of healing magic she was feeling much better. With everyone now awake it was finally time to start making a plan. We chatted of small things until Will returned bringing news. Needles to say it shocked us all. [Will POV] I had been on edge ever since our encounter with the woman we were tracking. Lilly had given us a brief overview of what she had thought happened and the explanation didn¡¯t sit well with me. How could a little girl have done everything that we have seen so far? Just to defeat a Defiler she would have needed to be a high level and that doesn¡¯t even take into account the signs of extremely high level magic that we have seen. Creating that spatial distortion alone would require an amount of power that was just mind blowing. Thoughts and worries like those filled my head and made me restless. Eventually I just couldn¡¯t take all the sitting around anymore and decided to go scouting. Having a firm mission in mind helped me to feel just a little bit less helpless. I was going to try and find the road that should be near this area. I was also going to try and find the target¡¯s trail despite the warning that Lilly had given me to stay away. After what she had done I don¡¯t think that I would be able to rest until I knew she had moved on. I started my search and it didn¡¯t take me long to pick up on her trail. It seemed that whatever she had done to us had taken a lot out of her because she had abandoned her stealth. Her tracks indicated that she had stumbled off to the north and a couple droplets of blood indicated that she was at least slightly injured. I followed the trail to a point where it looked like she had collapsed and decided to abandon my search after that. If she had fallen here for a while then I didn¡¯t want to risk getting any closer in case she hadn¡¯t made it far. Turning away from her trail I started my search for the road in earnest. What should have been a simple search quickly grew into a frustrating endeavor. What the hell! I know we were closer to the road than this! I couldn¡¯t possibly be as far off in my estimation of where I thought we were as this. Could we have really wandered further away than we thought? Maybe that little freak did something while messing with spatial magic that really screwed things up. If that¡¯s the case then there really is no way that we can find the road. With the added frustration of not being able to do my job I started making my way sullenly back to camp. I was not looking forward to telling Lilly that I had absolutely no idea where we were. I was nearing camp when in my distraction I tripped over a fallen branch and fell hard. Cursing under my breath I got slowly to my feet and while I dusted myself off, I took a look at what I had tripped over. Whatever it was it didn¡¯t look very much like a branch. Bending down to get a closer look my breath caught in my chest. It was not a branch; it was a road marker. One of the sturdy posts that the kingdom had set up all along the road. What the? These things are supposed to be next to the road what is one of them doing all the way over here? In confusion I started looking around for possible answers and began to notice something strange about the trees around me. They were all the same. Not just the same type of tree, but the same size, same height, all the same. On top of that none of them showed any of the signs of having actually grown in a forest. There was no damage to them. They didn¡¯t have uneven limbs or wear to spots on their bark, in fact they looked as if they had just sprung into existence in their current form. No way¡­ it can¡¯t¡­ she couldn¡¯t have. My mind was spinning at the scope of what I was seeing. The more I looked around the more the pieces clicked together. The hard ground, the road marker, the trees that seemed too new. I had found the road. Somehow that girl had regrown the forest and the road was just gone. The scale of what I was seeing bordered even more on the impossible than what we had seen so far. This- this is just too much. How in all the hells are we supposed to deal with someone who has the ability to do something like this. For the love of the gods she somehow turned an entire road into a brand new forest! I don¡¯t think we have any chance of actually defeating her if she really turns out to be hostile. With magic as powerful as she has displayed it would be a rough task and likely an impossible one at our levels. I will have to let Lilly know about this but I think I will save the specifics for later once we get a clearer picture of what¡¯s going on. Thoughts and possibilities clashed within me as I made my way slowly back to camp. ¡°How did the scouting go?¡± Asked Adam as I entered our small circle of firelight. ¡°Fine. Found the road, and a bit of her trail. Don¡¯t worry I didn¡¯t follow it long. I just wanted to make sure she wasn¡¯t still hanging around too close.¡± I reply, cutting off the chastisement I could see about to come from Lilly. ¡°I¡¯ll give you all the details in the morning.¡± I say curtly before heading over to an area of flat ground and getting out my bedroll. Quickly getting ready for sleep I lay down and faced away from the light of the fire. Though I was tired and desperately wanted to escape the craziness of this expedition for the peace of sleep, it eluded me until deep into the night. [Adam POV] Clang! Tap, tap, tap. Clang! Tap, tap, tap. Clang! ¡°Uuuhg! Who the hell is making all that racket?¡± I mumble as several loud clangs and a series of faint metallic taps drag me out of sleep. Rubbing the grit from my eyes and sitting up I searched for the source of the unwelcome sounds. Sitting a couple feet away from me in the early morning sunlight was a large squirrel. As I watched it raised an acorn in its paws and brought it down with another loud clang on my helmet. ¡°Oi! What do ya think your doin?¡± I shout at the furry intruder. The squirrel stopped trying to crack open the nut for a moment to stare directly at me. There was silence as we both stared at each other then without breaking eye contact it brought the acorn down with another resounding clang. ¡°You little shit! I¡¯ll skin you alive!¡± I shout lunging at the thing. It jumped back easily avoiding my grasping hands and let out a long high-pitched hiss.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Before I could react the squirrel darted back in to bash the acorn once more against my helmet. Clang! ¡°That¡¯s it! When I catch you, I¡¯m going to make you into a stew and wear your skin as a hat!¡± I shout lunging once more at the infernal beast. Dodging me once more the squirrel chittered and hissed before picking a long glittering white object off the ground and scampering away. ¡°Oh no you don¡¯t! you won¡¯t be getting away that easily!¡± I shout as I gave chase. The two of us raced around the clearing before it managed to escape by crawling up a very surprised Lilly¡¯s leg and perching on her shoulder. With the squirrel being as large as it was the sight was quite the strange one. ¡°Well now, what¡¯s going on here?¡± Lilly asked trying to suppress a chuckle as the squirrel hissed at me once more from its new perch. ¡°That little shit woke me up by bashing its stupid nuts against my helmet.¡± I seethed while glaring at the offending animal. I don¡¯t think I have ever seen a squirrel do the innocent pleading eyes shtick before but this one sure gave it a go as it chittered softly in Lilly¡¯s ear. She cocked her head to listen and burst out laughing. ¡°She- she wants me to protect her from the big scary man who want¡¯s to turn her into a hat.¡± Lilly gasps out between chuckles. ¡°Don¡¯t worry friend I¡¯ll keep you safe from the scary man. Nobody will turn you into a hat.¡± She continued, now speaking to the squirrel. When Lilly turned back to look at me letting out another chuckle the squirrel gave me a look that could only be interpreted as smug. Oh just you wait. I¡¯ll get a hat out of you yet. You may have mommy druid¡¯s protection for now but that won¡¯t last forever. I seethed internally while glaring at my tormentor. ¡°So what brings you to our camp little one?¡± Lilly asks the beast. ¡°Oh you brought me a gift did you?¡± She replies to a series of small squeaks. I watch as the squirrel drops the long pearly white object into Lilly¡¯s hand. ¡°Now this is quite curious. Where ever did you come across such a thing?¡± She asked while closely inspecting the object. At the squirrel¡¯s reply Lilly instantly stiffened and her face went pale. Seeing Lilly¡¯s reaction all of my senses go to high alert. ¡°Lilly what did it-¡° my question is cut off when Lilly raises a hand motioning for me to be quiet as she enter into a rapid exchange with the squirrel in druidic. By the end of the exchange Lilly looks severely shaken. Turning to me she orders, ¡°Gather the others. Do nothing else. Touch nothing, make sure they touch nothing. Do it now.¡± Her voice is low and clipped leaving no room for argument. What in the hells is going on here? What could shake Lilly this badly? I ask myself a long list of questions as I hurry to do as I was told. In short order I am standing once more in front of Lilly with Mya and Will beside me. ¡°So are you going to explain what¡¯s so important and why you are acting so strangely?¡± Will asks. ¡°We are in a lot more danger here than even I expected.¡± Lilly replies, causing the rest of us to share confused and worried glances with each other. ¡°The girl we have been chasing is not some mage. She- she is a guardian.¡± At this Will goes pale and Mya gives me a confused glance. ¡°Umm would either of you care to share what a guardian actually is?¡± I ask, looking between Lilly and my brother. ¡°Guardians are like nature¡¯s ultimate defense mechanism. They show up whenever there becomes a large imbalance in the natural order.¡± Will answers softly. ¡°Umm okay. That sounds a little concerning but I think I am still missing something.¡± I reply. ¡°They share a deep connection to whatever area they appear in and are driven to protect it and fix the balance at any cost. Anything they see as a threat to that balance they either fix or remove.¡± Lilly replies. As I try to wrap my head around the new information Mya asks a question of her own. ¡°I¡¯m sorry but I still don¡¯t get it. Why would we be in danger? Have we caused any imbalances?¡± ¡°Us maybe not. I have been doing my best to balance out anything we may have done so far.¡± Lilly replies before continuing, ¡°What the two of you need to understand is the first law of nature, everything has a price. When you take something from nature it comes with a cost. That cost can vary depending on what you take and if you don¡¯t pay then an imbalance is created.¡± ¡°So if we are careful and try not to take too much without somehow giving back we should be fine right?¡± I ask. The explanation while a little confusing doesn¡¯t seem like it would be that big of a deal. Lilly however shook her head. ¡°Not quite. While we may not be directly responsible for a lot of the harm that has been done to this forest the guardian still considers us to be outsiders.¡± ¡°Okay and that matters why?¡± I ask, starting to feel a little stupid. ¡°Do you have any idea how much has been taken from this forest?¡± Will asks. There is a brief pause before he continues, ¡°Trees, animals and plants have all been taken or slaughtered with no regard to the price. There was a road that cut through the forest and I can say with certainty that no price was adequately paid for the amount of damage that caused. If the guardian considers us to be outsiders then she is putting us in the same group that committed those crimes. Do you see now how much danger we are in?¡± See it I could. The more I reflected on the things that had been done to this forest the tighter the cold fist of fear clenched around my insides. As I mulled over the consequences of the new information Mya asked a question about something that I had missed. ¡°What do you mean there was a road?¡± ¡°It¡¯s gone.¡± Lilly and Will answer in unison. The two share a quick glance before Will explains further, ¡°That massive spatial disturbance we saw; that was the guardian fixing the road. She was able to completely regrow all of the trees that had been cut down. The road no longer exists.¡± H- how? How is it possible for someone to do something like that? How will we even get out of this forest alive if someone that powerful considers us to be an enemy? Thoughts like this swirl around my mind driving out nearly all other thought until Lilly breaks the silence. ¡°With this new information our mission has become more important than ever. With a guardian that is able to cause changes on the level we have already seen we must find a way to make peace with her. If we fail she may very well destroy Greenwood Village and any other town or city she perceives as a threat to the forest.¡± ¡°How exactly do you expect us to be able to do something like that?¡± I ask incredulously. How could Lilly expect us to continue to chase after someone who clearly had the power to mop the floor with our corpses? ¡°Before I fell unconscious when we first attempted to catch her the guardian gave me a message. She said that if we wanted to have a peaceful meeting then we would have to prove ourselves worthy. I believe that if we are able to do something that helps the forest then she will be more willing to meat with us.¡± Lilly answers. ¡°Okay but what is there that we could do to prove ourselves and even if we manage to do that how will we be able to find the guardian again? I lost her trail and I know that you aren¡¯t able to track her through the trees.¡± Will asks. ¡°As to the latter it will be simple. I have this.¡± Lilly replies holding out the object the squirrel gave her. ¡°Umm what is it exactly?¡± Mya asked, looking closely at it. ¡°This is a spike created out of pure mana. Our little friend here said it was a gift from the guardian. Though that may be true I think that it also represents a threat. If we fail to prove ourselves then she will likely kill us. With this I can track her mana signature and find her anywhere.¡± Lilly answered before putting the spike away. Her answer unsettled me as it basically confirmed what I had been fearing. ¡°We may be able to find her but how can we prove ourselves as friendlies?¡± I ask, knowing that I wouldn¡¯t like the answer. ¡°Within our capabilities there is only one thing I can think of. We are going to have to visit The Graveyard of the Lost.¡± [Mya POV] This trip was turning out to be far more than I had bargained for. The information shared by Will and Lilly had given me a whole new perspective on everything and set me on edge. I had never before considered what they described in the laws of nature. After hearing about it I started to see natural environments as more than just resources. They were like communities. Each had its own residents and resources. I felt guilty that I had taken things and participated in the killing of animals for nothing more than gaining levels. My new perspective was making me reevaluate a lot of the actions that I had taken up to this point and I was even starting to question parts of my faith. The latter was hard to consider but I was putting most of those questions off until a later time. For now most of my focus was on the location we were currently approaching. Several days ago Lilly had told us that we would be going to a place called The Graveyard of the Lost. Apparently it was the remains of an old village where a massacre had taken place. All of the inhabitants had been slain and now it was filled with restless spirits. Rumors and legends said that those who got lost in the forest would end up there to wander eternally, never able to find their way out. While the thought of confronting and attempting to banish a large number of spirits was unsettling it was something that I had done in the past. My magic was particularly good at the task and my connection to Radiance should help with the task. I stopped going over different plans that could work as the scenery around us changed. A light fog sprang into existence and the temperature dropped. Even though it was barely past midday the sun seemed to fade, plunging the world into dull shades of grey. ¡°We¡¯re here. Everybody be on guard. Do not wander away from the group and if you see something speak up.¡± Lilly whispered. As we delved deeper into the mist the light faded further until it seemed that all color had been leached from the world. Pushing deeper we started to see the first signs of the village that had once been here. There were shattered foundations, the remains of walls, and burnt charred husks of buildings. The style was something that I had never seen before. The buildings had once been short round things that almost seemed to have been grown or crafted out of living trees. Seeing the way that they wove together was quite interesting. Despite the fascinating new buildings, a vague sense of wrongness pervaded the area. It was like time had stopped in this place on the night of the massacre. Things still seemed fresh despite the time that had passed. Fighting back the feeling of wrongness I pushed on, following the group towards what we believed to be the center of the village. As we got closer a faint melody could be heard drifting through the mist. It was faint and beautiful. The notes seemed familiar and yet completely new at the same time. There didn¡¯t seem to be any cohesive song to it but rather it just wandered. We all tensed at the sound each preparing in our own way for a fight that might start at any moment. I had blessed everyone¡¯s weapons with my holy magic earlier and I started to ready my own spells as we drew closer to the source of the melody. The mist suddenly cleared and a short ghostly figure was revealed. Her form was translucent and she appeared to be young. What was surprising was the fact that she had a long furry tail and two pointed ears atop her head. There hadn¡¯t been a beast kin seen in hundreds of years and to see the spirit of one in a place like this I got a good picture of why that was. As we approached the spirit she stopped humming her song and turned to look at us with a slightly displeased expression. ¡°You are not welcome here outsiders.¡± Her voice is low and icy and as she speaks more spirits begin to condense out of the mist surrounding us. First five, then a dozen, then dozens of them fade into existence. ¡°You have entered the realm of the lost. We cannot let you leave.¡± 19: Magic and Mishaps I woke from dreams filled with half seen faces and shifting shadows to bright sunlight. In a testament to the exhaustion of the previous day I had not risen with the sun which now hung high in the sky. Fighting off the last remnants of sleep I take in my surroundings, memories of the previous day written across the clearing. My gaze is inexorably drawn towards the remains of the collapsed tower and a shiver runs through me at the memory of being trapped beneath it. ¡°Mel we are going to have to be more careful in the future. Even now that I have started to learn earth magic, I don¡¯t want to end up in a situation like that again.¡± I say as I pull my gaze from the tower. ¡°I wish the tower were still standing since there was probably more we could have learned from it, but I guess that I will just have to content myself with what I¡¯ve got.¡± Reaching down to my storage belt I pull out the seven glass covered songs that I had taken from the top of the tower. Three of them are now visible while the other four remain almost completely hidden. ¡°It seems that my guess from last night was correct Mel. By the looks of it whatever enchantment was placed on these will keep me from reading them until I learn the songs.¡± As I speak, I pick up the newest piece to reveal itself, the song of earth. The sheet is divided into three parts. One has the words, another the notes of music and the last the flows of mana. Just like with the previous two songs I can see many ways that it can be used. The flowing lines of mana describe how the earth could be moved shaken or even cracked should I decide to call upon the songs power. This however was not the only thing the song taught me. While the song itself would call directly upon the primal power of the earth it also showed me how I could manipulate simple earth mana. This new knowledge would expand my powers into a new realm allowing me to use new magic and experiment further with combinations of different mana. One of the most important of these was nature. Now having both water and earth within my control I should be able to learn to use nature magic without needing to rely on enchantments. With a mountain of new possibilities before me the urge to spend time experimenting was nearly overwhelming. Trying to find a solution to my dilemma I listened to the forest through my connection to it and tried to see if I had the time to spare. As it turned out I did. ¡°Well Mel it looks like we are going to be staying here for a little while. We¡¯ve got some new skills to play with and I want to try and figure out a few uses for my new magic.¡± I announce. In response Mel sends an indifferent pulse of energy before sending out a faint feeling of hunger. ¡°Hahaha, oh you. Always a hungry one aren¡¯t you.¡± I reply, chuckling softly. I am about to summon some mana to give her before pricking my finger when a new idea comes to me. Why should I feed her both mana and blood separately? I should be able to do both at once. If I can infuse my blood with mana then I could give her both at the same time. Who knows it might even improve the quality of the blood. I will have to ask her when I¡¯m done. Interested to see the outcome of my new plan I summon a mana blade and draw it across my palm. I wait for a small amount of blood to pool in my hand before quickly healing myself. Focusing on the blood I start to extrude a small amount of mana and push it towards the pool. The blood eagerly drinks up the mana that I feed to it. As the blood absorbs more and more of the mana it begins to change. At first it starts to turn a brighter red then as more mana is fed into it the blood starts to shimmer faintly. The shimmer builds until the blood starts to glow, first with a faint light then brighter and brighter until it suddenly bursts into flame. ¡°Ahh!¡± I scream as a small pillar of flame shoots up from my hand completely evaporating the blood and leaving bright painful burns across my palm. ¡°Don¡¯t you go laughing at me. I just gave it a little too much power. Next time it will turn out better.¡± I snap at Mel who is sending out rapid pulses of mirth. After healing my hand I repeat my experiment. This time I stop feeding mana into the small pool of blood when it first starts to glow. Smiling slightly at my success I hold Mel in my other hand and slow start to feed the mana infused blood to her. At first she sends out a little pulse of surprise but it quickly turns into one of delight. She greedily suck it all in and when she is done she is nearly purring in content. ¡°Well I¡¯m glad to see that you liked that so much. Care to tell me if there was any difference to it?¡± I ask. Mel seems to struggle to come up with a way to communicate the difference in a way that is simple enough to get across our bond. After a short wait I get the images of better, stronger, and a circle sent to me. I puzzle over her response for a few moments before asking, ¡°Better and stronger all around?¡± Mel¡¯s response is a happy affirmative. ¡°Interesting. If infusing the blood with mana made it that much better do you think it would do anything for me?¡± I ask as images of me fueled by super blood fill my mind. Mel responds with a hesitant feeling of possibility. I start to get ready to try it when Mel sends me an image of myself glowing before bursting into flame. ¡°Hey! I¡¯m not that stupid am I?¡± I ask, feeling slightly hurt. Mel remains stonily silent refusing to answer. I let out a long sigh before replying, ¡°I see your point. I do tend to jump straight into things don¡¯t I. But I think that it would be worth a little bit of risk to try this. If I can infuse my body with mana then it might be really helpful.¡± Mel again replies with hesitant approval and another image of me bursting into flame. ¡°Will you stop with the whole tower of flame thing. I don¡¯t plan to do anything as extreme as what I did for you. I¡¯m only going to add a little bit of mana to myself and see if anything happens.¡± Taking a moment to harden my resolve I step into my mental landscape. I am once more looking at the intricate glowing display that is my mana core and channels. Hmmm, so how to do this without exploding? I need to somehow infuse my body with mana but to do it slowly enough and dispersed enough that I don¡¯t explode or infuse only part of me. That means that I can¡¯t just leak it from my mana channels as that would be too fast. I also can¡¯t just start feeding mana into my blood as it wouldn¡¯t be done evenly and I don¡¯t think that having pockets of mana infused blood floating around in me would be a good idea. I need a new perspective on this. To get a better idea of how to approach the problem I make a slight alteration to the image within my mental landscape. Where once there was only the image of the mana flows I now add my skeleton and circulatory system. A vast tangle of blood vessels and bones in now displayed before me. The image while fairly creepy is also quite fascinating. As I stare at the intricate tangle I slowly come to realize that if I want to be able to infuse the entire system evenly I am going to need to create an entirely new mana network. Well this is going to be a whole lot of work so I certainly hope that it is worth it. With a mental sigh at the enormity of the task ahead of me I set to work. Over the course of the day I slowly build up the new system within my body. Around the blood vessels I braid small channels that while not totally encompassing them will allow mana to be infused from all sides along their entire length. For the bones I do something slightly different. Being more dense than the fragile blood vessels the bones require a much more robust system than simple braids. To satisfy what I think will be needed I wrap all of my bones in a fine mesh of tiny hexagonal channels. Exhausted and with my mind straining to maintain the new network I step back to take a look at my creation. I look it over time and time again trying to find any flaws or places that are not evenly coated. Not able to find any flaws I turn hesitantly to my mana core. The last step to completing the network is to connect it to my mana core and fill it with mana. Hesitating only slightly I connect the system to my core and begin to fill it with the swirling liquid mana.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. The process takes much longer than I had thought as the new system is much more extensive than any other I have. After waiting for my core to refill several times the network is finally charged. Feeling both tired and excited I step out of my mental landscape. This is something that I will need to be able to experience to properly judge its safety. ¡°Alright Mel I¡¯m ready. Wish me luck.¡± I say before letting the smallest trickle of mana out of the network and into my body. Instantly the strangest sensation washes over me. It feels like the cool rush I get whenever I use my mana is permeating my entire body. The feeling is almost impossible to explain as it sinks into my blood, bones, and organs all at once. As the tingling starts to fade I examine myself trying to feel any differences. There doesn¡¯t seem to be any. ¡°I¡¯m not burning up like a torch and I¡¯m not writhing in pain so I guess that can be considered a success. I don¡¯t feel all that different except maybe like I am suddenly full of energy again, or at least my body seems to think it is.¡± I explain to Mel. Her response is cut off as the familiar sounding of notifications chimes in my head. Ding! Mana Manipulation has reached level 30! Meditation has reached level 5! Skill acquired ¨C Enhancement Matrix! Enhancement Matrix ¨C You have learned that all things including yourself benefit when infused with mana. Without killing yourself you have managed to evenly infuse your body with mana. As your body becomes more saturated with mana it will grow stronger. Your bones will become harder to break, your organs will resist damage more easily, and your muscles will grow both faster and stronger. Be warned that infusing your own body with mana is a delicate process. Should you try to push this skill before your body has time to adjust to and absorb the infusions of mana you will die. +1 Strength +1 Dexterity +1 Constitution +1 Endurance per skill level Enhancement Matrix has reached level 1 Alert! Due to the discovery and use of liquid mana all bonuses from Enhancement Matrix have been tripled! ¡°Holy crap Mel this is amazing!¡± I squeal excitedly. ¡°This new skill will help to improve all of my physical stats! I can finally start to improve consistently. It¡¯s a bit of a shame that I have to do it slowly but if it keeps improving me all over like it says then I¡¯ll take it.¡± I continue to babble excitedly until I am finally hit with a wave of exhaustion. Slightly confused and tired I look around and realize that night has fallen. ¡°Oh my. I guess that took a long time didn¡¯t it.¡± Fighting heavy eyelids I go through the motions of taking care of myself and Mel. I make a small meal from the stored tri-horn meat and make Mel some more enhanced blood before collapsing into the soft embrace of sleep. The next morning I wake with the sun excited to continue experimenting with magic. Today like the days in the past I practice my skills and do my best to test out my new magic. Things are pretty normal as far as I would consider. I learned how to move small bits of earth and to shape them to my will. I could create spikes, arrows and even small walls from earth. Creating the walls was exciting as it meant that wherever I went I could make a temporary shelter rather than just hiding in a tree. After gaining a basic understanding of how I could manipulate earth magic I moved on to trying my hand at nature magic. Mel seemed to especially like this part as I made seeds sprout into plants and shaped the way that they grew. She pulsed in delight as I grew small bushes into the shapes of various animals we had seen so far. I learned that I could also apply this new ability to my bow crafting skill. By using nature magic I could cause the branches I worked with to regrow patches that were sloppy or slightly reshape a branch to fit more with what I wanted. My skills weren¡¯t good enough yet to just grow a fully completed bow but they were good enough to fix some of my mistakes while carving one. My successes with nature magic spurred me to make my first new and startling discovery of the day. I had known that combining water and air mana made storm mana, and that combining water and earth mana made nature mana so I decided to try combining air and earth mana. At first the two just seemed to slip over each other and refuse to combine, this lasted only until I hit some unknown ratio of the two. As soon as the ratio hit a correct amount the two combined and a painful shock of electricity blew me off my feet. I had managed to create lightning mana. This naturally lead to a bevy of tests to see the extent of this new power. I shocked myself more times than I care to admit but was eventually able to gain some control over the element. I could play sparks across my hands and even managed to create lightning arrows. My second startling discovery of the day was when I decided to start applying enchantments to my arrows. I had noticed that while it was possible to create arrows out of the elements they were not as effective as the ones made out of pure mana. To correct this problem I started creating pure mana arrows and etching small spells into their tips. The results were quite satisfying. I could now soot an arrow into a large stump and have it discharge ice, wind, or lightning. Happy with my successes I decided to try putting a gravity enchantment on the arrow. Working off of the sphere I had used to protect myself from the tower collapse I made an arrow that should create a small repulsion field around itself after impact. After shooting the stump with my newest creation I frowned slightly as nothing happened. I was just about to repeat the test when the stump exploded. Staring in shock I slowly let my next arrow fade away and decided that I never wanted to be hit with anything like that. Ever. With the latest shock still fresh in my mind I decided that it was time to stop experimenting for the day. I was happy to see after reading over my notifications that I had gained levels across most of my skills. Mana manipulation, elemental arrow, throw, bow crafting, archery, enchanting, and spellweaver had all gained levels reaching 32, 8, 15, 6, 8, 9, and 18 respectively. After reding over all of the gains that I had made I pulled up my status page to check my overall gains.
Status
Name: Reiza Classes Druidic Defender lv. 14
Level: 1 Orionian Archer lv. 3
Race: Beast-kin: Celestial Fox -
Gender: Female Final Class -
Age 14
Atributes
Strength: 32 Stamina: 79/690
Dexterity: 186 Mana: 123/1470
Constitution: 57
Endurance: 69 Free stat points 5
Intelligence: 138
Wisdom: 147
Luck: 10
¡°Things are starting to look pretty good for me Mel. My physical stats are finally starting to go up and with all the new stuff that I learned today my combat potential is increasing greatly.¡± I say with a smile on my face. With nothing else left to do for the day and the sun starting to touch the horizon I made a meal for myself and Mel before starting to craft my newest bow. With infinite care I slowly shaped and carved the branch. When I made mistakes I would use nature magic to fix them before starting again. It was a long and slow process but the end result was worth the effort. The bow was a glittering smooth grey. Its curves and balance were far beyond anything that I had ever made up to this point. It would serve me well in the days to come. [Ashwood Recurve Bow ¨C Quality Very Good] Putting the bow in my storage belt I lay down closing my eyes. Before sleep claimed me I whispered to Mel, ¡°I think we are as prepared as we can get Mel. I¡¯m not going to improve a whole lot more staying here. It is time for us to finish our journey north. I have drakes to hunt.¡± 20: Burning It has now been three days since I left the clearing that once contained The Moonlit Tower. Since then I have been on a steady trek north. Waking with the rising sun I would travel all day before going to sleep just after sunset in a small shelter made from earth magic. Along the way the scenery slowly changed. As I got further and further north the trees that once towered over me began to shrink in size becoming smaller yet hardier shifting from large leaves to slender pines. I have also been slowly climbing in elevation and the weather has been getting gradually cooler. At several points along the way I ran into animals. Most of them avoided me or kept to their own business. The few that approached me had a faint aura of mana around them and had the faint glimmer of intelligence in their eyes. Seeing this I started to form the assumption that all of the animals that I had been able to speak with must have been changed in some way by mana. Those animals that did approach me I asked for information about the drakes. I got precious little information. They knew that the drakes were close by but had been avoiding the areas they were in. I got slightly clearer directions than just north and was able to narrow down the area that I would need to search significantly. With the new information I was able to reach where I am now. The northern part of the forest reaches up into a large mountain range where the rapid increase in altitude and the harsh weather beat back all but the hardiest of foliage. The area that I was directed to rests in the shadows of two massive peaks split by a narrow pass. I¡¯m not sure if it should even be called a pass as it looks more like a great canyon was carved out of the mountains. The opening was only about 100 paces wide and its shear walls and deep shadows seemed to emanate an aura of malice. Even from my current distance looking at it sends shivers down my spine. From what I was told the drakes are coming through the pass and into the forest. There was no clear indication of just how many had passed into the forest so far but it was definitely more than one. This presents me with two significant issues. First, I don¡¯t really know what a drake is. I know they are large but that¡¯s it. I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll know one when I see it but I really have no idea what I¡¯m getting myself into. The second problem is the pass itself. Even if I am able to fight off the drakes that are already here there is nothing to stop more from simply coming through the pass once I leave. ¡°So Mel what do you think we should do?¡± I ask. Mel responds with a confusing pulse of emotions and sensations. ¡°Hmm, well I¡¯m not quite sure what you mean but I guess we will just have to tackle the issues one at a time then. Let¡¯s start with finding one of the drakes in the forest and see if it is something we can kill.¡± With that I set off to start exploring the area. At first it seems that I might have been mislead about where to look but soon enough signs that I am on the right track start to appear. The first thing I notice is a large footprint pressed deep into the soft soil between two trees. The footprint is about as wide as my arm is long and seems almost bird like in shape. Three long joints stretch forward while one faces the opposite direction. Each of the joints seems to end in a long talon bigger than my hand. I swallow hard at the thought of what something like that could do to me. Looking in the direction the track seems to lead I spot several more before the trail leaves the ground and heads up into the trees. Crushed bark and long scratches indicate that the creature decided to start climbing or leaping from tree to tree rather than continue walking along the ground. The tracks are spread out enough that the drake appears to be rather large but I still can¡¯t quite determine its size. ¡°What do you make of this so far Mel? Any idea what this thing is actually going to look like?¡± Mel responds to my question with a pules of uncertainty. ¡°Yeah I guess you wouldn¡¯t know either lets just hope it¡¯s something manageable.¡± I continue following the trail until I find myself in a small clearing while the sun hang low in the sky. The clearing isn¡¯t a natural one but instead one that was created by several trees being smashed to splinters. Driven by both curiosity and my desire to find my target before nightfall I step deeper into the clearing. It appears that the drake spent some time here clawing smashing and judging by the large teeth marks on some of the trees chewing everything in the clearing. I am bent over one such tree getting a closer look at the bite marks on it when a low rumbling hiss makes me freeze. With every hair standing on end and my senses practically screaming danger at me I slowly turn to look behind me and get my first good look at a drake. The easiest way to describe it would simply be to call it a monster. A combination of lizard and snake it looked distinctly unnatural. Thick reptilian legs ending in razor sharp talons connected to a body coated in sickly green scales. A long serpentine neck arched up to a large triangular head adorned with a crown of scale and bone. Slitted yellow eyes glared at me while a forked tong tasted the air as a barbed tail twitched in agitation.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. As the drake lowered itself from where it had been hiding in the trees a viscous green fluid dripped from its long needle like teeth. Where it struck the ground it hissed and sizzled before melting into the ground leaving a dead charred hole. In my mana sight the drake glowed brightly with the colors of wind and water but the acidic liquid dripping from its mouth glowed a deep blue black that spoke only of death. Terrified at the sight of the monster before me I tried to summon an arrow of mana. After failing three times I was finally able to properly shape and condense an arrow and drew back my bow string with shaking arms. My heart pounded rapidly in my chest and my fingers twitched threatening to loose the arrow as I tried to take aim at one of its glaring eyes. With desperate hope that my shaky aim was true I loosed the arrow. Reacting quickly and with almost contemptuous ease the drake slid its head to the side causing the arrow to impact just above its front right ankle. Rather than piercing through as I had expected the arrow cut a deep gash in one of the scales coating its body and then shattered. Furious the drake hissed before lunging at me moving faster than anything its size should have any right to move. Reacting on pure instinct I dove to the side and managed to avoid most of the vicious swipe of its claws. Small spikes of pain lanced through my right side as the tips of its claws dug into my flesh. With no time to pay attention to the wound I quickly suppressed a cry of pain and pushed some mana into my healing matrix. Before it could turn around I had formed another arrow and fired it to little effect. Damn! Its scales are too hard. Maybe if I had a stronger bow I would be able to pierce them but this one isn¡¯t up to the task. I can scratch it but that¡¯s about it. How do I get through? There has to be away, come on think! Mentally shouting at myself my mind spins through options as I try desperately to avoid the drake¡¯s attacks. The battle has only been going on for moments but I am already at a huge disadvantage. Not only is the drake covered in scales I can¡¯t yet crack but it is also faster than I am, if only just. I narrowly dive over another swipe of its claws only to be slammed in the ribs by a lash of its tail. The loud crack of breaking ribs echoes through the clearing as I am flung into a tree. A haze of pain filled my head and muddled my thoughts causing me to take several long heartbeats to realize I needed to start healing myself. Even having experienced it before and with pain resistance at a decent level the feeling of my ribs starting to snap back into place still nearly made me black out and I had to fight down the rising bile in my throat. Raising my head and getting shakily to my knees I looked across the clearing at the drake who stared right back. As I watched it the mana field around the beast began to change, ribbons of black flowing into its bright aura. It reared its head back inhaling deeply and I realized what was about to happen just before its neck shot out in my direction. The instant a dark viscous stream of acid lanced across the clearing a wall of stone burst from the ground in front of me. The air was filled with a sharp hissing and sizzling steam and acid spraying everywhere as my wall began to sag. Knowing the wall was about to dissolve I dove to the side avoiding the spreading pool of acidic liquid but not the spray that bounced off the wall. Searing pain shot through me as acid fueled by darkness started to eat into the flesh of my left arm and shoulder. I screamed as the liquid ate through layer after layer of skin spreading a taint that resisted my efforts to heal it through the wound. I crashed to the ground and knew that I was burning. Knowing that letting the pain paralyze me would mean death I quickly created a trio of arrows that I had hoped to never truly need. Loading them I fired all three gravity arrows at the drake¡¯s right leg. Just like before as the arrows impacted the scales they shattered but not before they released the spell I had woven into them. A triple shockwave of gravity blasted out from the impact shattering the scales along the drake¡¯s right leg. A hissing roar of pain and rage so loud I had to flatten my ears to avoid damaging my hearing ripped its way from the drake¡¯s throat. It turned its head acid dripping from its maw to face me and shot another stream of acid my direction. Rather than summon another wall I wove a blade of wind and shot it back at the drake. The wind blade bisected the stream of acid sending two smaller streams to either side of me and continuing on to smash into the drake¡¯s head. The backlash of the wind crashing into it caused acid to spray everywhere. The drake let out another roar of pain and rage as its own acid started eating away at the scales covering its head. As it glared at me with eyes full of hate I could feel a weight dragging at my mind telling me that I was running low on mana. I was only going to have enough for one more spell that would be able to do any damage and if I couldn¡¯t kill it in that one strike it would kill me for sure. As I tried desperately to come up with a solution discarding one idea after another the drake sprung at me. It moved even faster than it had before crossing the distance between us and smashing me in the chest before I had time to react. I flew through the air once more, clearing the pools of acid still filling the clearing and landed hard on my back before my head cracked against a rock. Stunned and gasping for air driven from my lungs I could only lay there as the drake slowly crossed the clearing and set one heavy leg on my chest. Yellow eyes filled with hate and a mouth full of long needle teeth glistening with acid loomed over me. I could have sworn the beast smiled sure of its victory as it began to lower its head. ¡°I¡¯m. Not¡­ dead. Yet.¡± I cough as I shape all of my remaining mana into a spell and strike. My hand coated in a thin layer of mana thrust through the hole of cracked and shattered scales cutting deep into the drake¡¯s leg, then the spell triggered. Both of us screamed as violet arcs of electricity exploded out of my hand. Power arced through and around us. My muscles locked up and I couldn¡¯t even scream, falling into blackens as for the second time today I burned. 21: Ash and Ember ¡°Uhhhg.¡± I let out a small groan. I feel like I am fighting my way through a dense fog. My muscles are sore and my thoughts are sluggish. A heavy weight rests on my chest making it hard to breath and patches of my skin feel raw and burned. I try to sift through my memories to figure out what put me in my current condition. The process is much slower than I thought it should be. It is a little worrying but not overly so. After a little time the pieces start to fall into place. Images of my fight with the acid spraying drake and my desperate gamble for survival float to the front of my mind. Reviewing the memories causes me to wince at the many mistakes that I made. Uhhh that was not a good fight. How could I have been so foolish. Not only did I let the stupid thing surprise me but I underestimated the effects of its acid. If I had been a little more careful I wouldn¡¯t have taken as much damage and may have been able to get the drop on the drake instead. I also need to come up with a new way to get through thick scales for when I run into my next drake. The gravity arrows work well but perhaps there are other ways. I will need to think more on this. Having finished going over the fight in my mind I turn my attention to the state of my body. Things are not great. Had my liquid healing matrix not had a passive ability to heal me I certainly would have died. Acid burns cover my left side, I have several broken bones, and the damage from my final lightning attack is quite extensive. When I hit the drake with the final electrical surge some of it flowed back into me leaving paths of scorched skin and fried nerves. The sensations that rise when I start feeding more power into my healing matrix are not entirely pleasant. There is the usual relief of burns healing and skin reknitting alongside the pain that comes with the resetting and healing of bone. The most unsettling part comes from the mending of my nerves. It feels like a mix of light tingling that comes from an arm falling asleep and the sensation of small insects crawling inside my body, needles to say it was not pleasant. Shortly after I finish healing myself the small blinking dot in the corner of my vision catches my attention and I open my notifications. Ding! You have defeated level 81 Acid Drake. For Defeating an enemy more than 50 levels above you bonus experience has been awarded. Druidic Defender has reached level 17! Orionian Archer has reached level 8! Liquid Healing Matrix has reached level 17! Spellweaver has reached level 20! You have gained enough experience to level up! *Error* Cannot level up while soul is unstable. Reverting to previous solution¡­ host has reached equivalent of level 20! Calculating attribute increases¡­ Strength +8 Dexterity +16 Endurance +8 8 Free stat points awarded Well those are some nice bonuses from a single fight. I now have 13 free stat points so I might as well assign them since they don¡¯t do any good just sitting around. I think I will distribute them into my speed and strength, that should help me to evade damage better and have a greater ability to pierce through armor. After making my choice I distribute 7 points into dexterity and 6 points into strength. I can feel the changes flow through my body strengthening my muscles and allowing them to move quicker. With my notifications taken care of and my healing complete I finally open my eyes. The clearing is in ruins filled with broken trees and pitted patches of ground that still steam slightly from splashes of acid. The charred body of the drake I was fighting lays next to me one of its legs resting on my chest, that must be the source of the weight I was feeling. Using my new strength and a little bit of earth magic to help me I lift the beasts remains off me and make my way to my feet. ¡° Are you alright Mel? The lightning didn¡¯t hurt you did it?¡± I ask as I bring a hand to my chest, gently running a finger over her surface. She responds by pulsing happily. Images of the electricity being broken down into pure mana and absorbed flow into my mind. ¡°Ah so that¡¯s what you did. You broke down some of the magic that was reflected into both of us. I guess you helped to save me yet again I am really starting to owe you a- hey what¡¯s this?¡± While running my finger over Mel¡¯s surface I encounter something unexpected on the once smooth surface. Lifting Mel¡¯s necklace up I take a closer look at her. In a small stripe along the center of the seed is a bright line of crystal. It gleams in bright shades of blue, black and purple. The color is quite mesmerizing and the transformation concerning. ¡°Mel what is this? Is something wrong?¡± I ask nervously. Mel chirps and pulses soothingly in my mind sending reassuring thoughts. ¡°Well if you are sure that everything is fine I won¡¯t question you on it. If that really is the case then I think we should get going, after all I am pretty sure we have several more drakes to kill and this time I don¡¯t want to make the same mistakes as I did with this fight.¡± Having made my preparations and learned from my mistakes I set out to hunt down the rest of the drakes living in the northern forest. Over the course of the next 15 days I hunt down another 9 drakes. The fights range in difficulty from overly easy to mildly difficult. None of them were as difficult as my first battle but I did learn from my mistakes. My first improvement was in utilizing my stealth abilities to greater effect. By moving without drawing attention to myself I was able to take two of the drakes completely by surprise. Those two died instantly. I had thought it would be another tough fight but as it turns out a gravity arrow through the eye is quite lethal and¡­ messy. Watching a fountain of blood and brain spray out of both eyes the mouth and nose was slightly unsettling. Apart from those two I learned more about how to deal with the drakes¡¯ breath attacks. I found that it was quite inefficient to try and block them completely but it took a lot less effort to redirect or simply dodge them. I would use small applications of water, wind, or earth magic to shunt blasts of acid, flame, and even some ice to the side. Beyond learning how to avoid the breath attacks I also learned more about how to get through their armor. At first it seemed like a nearly impenetrable shell but there were some weak points. Most of these weak points were at joints or on the beasts underside. Between the use of my gravity arrows and exploiting these weak points I was able to bring down the other drakes without putting myself in as much danger as the first battle. During my hunting I also gained levels to most of my skills and classes. My mana manipulation and coalescence skills increased by 4 putting them at 36 and 16 respectively. I also increased Druidic Defender to level 20 and Orionian Archer to level 17. Finally I was able to reach an equivalent of level 25 and gained some more attribute improvements. Curious to see the overall results of my hunting I opened my status and skill pages.
Status
Name: Reiza ClassesUnauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Druidic Defender lv 20
Level: 1 Orionian Archer lv 17
Race: Beast-kin: Celestial Fox -
Gender: Female Final Class -
Age 14
Attributes
Strength: 71 Stamina: 887/960
Dexterity: 348 Mana: 1553/1870
Constitution: 71
Endurance: 96 Free stat points 5
Intelligence: 189
Wisdom: 187
Luck: 10
Skills Level
Archery 14
Bow crafting 6
Coalescence 16
Elemental arrow 18
Enchanting 14
Endless song
Enhancement Matrix 3
Light Resistance 1
Liquid Healing Matrix 19
Living enchantments
Mana Channels 15
Mana Manipulation 36
Meditation 10
Mental Resistance 7
Natural Language
Pain resistance 9
Primal Senses 5
Soul Resistance 3
Speed Reading 4
Spellweaver 23
Stealth 5
Throw 18
Tireless hunt
Seeing my progress brings a happy smile to my face. I had noticed a definite improvement to my abilities over the course of my hunting. With my increased speed alone I was able to much more easily dodge and evade the attacks from the drakes. On the subject of the drakes I believe that I have hunted all of the ones that have made their way into the northern forest but I am yet to get the notification of quest completion indicating that there is still at least one running around. Where could they possibly be hiding? I have made my way over a large part of the northern forest and have yet to find any sign of another drake. I guess that there can be only one possible place for them to be. To finish this quest I must go to the pass. I don¡¯t know what to expect there but the feeling I got when I had first looked at it still sits with me and makes me uneasy. Even if I am afraid of what could be in there I don¡¯t have much of a choice. With a growing pit of unease sitting in my chest I make my way towards the small mountain pass. Each day of travel brings me closer and closer until finally I stand inside a large clearing that surrounds the opening to the pass. The area is several hundred paces across and has nothing living inside of it. The shear force of the malevolence pouring out of that pass seems to be driving all life away. Gritting my teeth I take several steps closer to the pass and freeze in my tracks when the entire malevolent force in the clearing concentrates on me driving me to my knees. It is almost a physical thing pressing down gazing at me and finding me lacking. After a few moments of the feeling a deep rasping laughing echoes out of the pass and rolls across the clearing. It is the sound of rock breaking mixed with the echoes of magma bubbling beneath the earth. Out of the darkness a gleaming pair of red eyes gaze back at me. They are the color of fire and distilled hatred. With footsteps that shake the ground a drake larger than any other I have yet seen steps into the light. It has scales like soot that glow with a soft light the color of magma, claws that gleam like glassy obsidian, and a gaping maw that could easily swallow me whole. With my body trembling in fear I look upon the monster slowly emerging from the pass and my heart nearly stops when I see its information. [Drake Broodmother ¨C Level 237 ¨C Mother of Ash] L- l ¨C level 237! Oh crap, oh crap, I can¡¯t win this fight. I can¡¯t even stand when it directs its full attention onto me. I should have known better. Why do I always insist upon running headfirst into every situation? ¡°Puny fox! I assume you are the one who is responsible for the deaths of my children. You slay them one after the other without mercy and now you have the audacity to come here and think you can face me! Your arrogance and foolishness know no bounds. By defeating my children, you have proven yourself a warrior and I shall make your death swift.¡± With a sound of scales scraping over rock and bones grinding a massive pair of black wings extend from the broodmother¡¯s back and a blast of wind propels her into the sky. Hovering above the center of the clearing she appears as a specter of death wreathed in ash. ¡°Now small one you will die. Like the rest of this tiny forest you call home you were born from ash and to ash you shall return.¡± Crushed beneath her power I can only watch as the broodmother inhales deeply, the flame and ash swirling around her. The power grows more and more and I know that I am looking at the last thing I will ever see. With a final surge of power and a blast of wind a surge of burning ash bursts forward and blacks out the sun as it descends upon me. Closing my eyes and preparing for death I am shocked into opening them at a burst of golden light and a musical cry. Hovering in the air before me with wings spread wide is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Feathers the color of a gentle fire, eyes that shine like coals, and wreathed in golden flames it protects me from the storm of ash coming from the broodmother. As I stare at the massive bird a faint word echoes out of my memories. Phoenix. When it speaks its voice is like the purest music, a song of life and hope. ¡°Thank you for your efforts little guardian. All you have done is of great benefit to this forest, however this fight is far beyond your capabilities. Please allow me to fight this battle in your place, and to repay the great debt I owe.¡± Not waiting for a response to make its way from my mouth still hung open in shock the phoenix launches itself at the drake. In a burst of ash and golden flame the two collide. The ensuing battle is nearly beyond words. The two combatants move faster than I can keep track of and the waves of heat and power nearly kill me where I sit on the ground. The musical cries of the phoenix mix with the graveling roar of the broodmother forming a wall of sound that nearly makes me deaf. The clash grows more and more intense as the two rise higher into the sky. As the heat and noise reach a fever pitch a slow rain of scales feathers and blood start to fall across the clearing. With a growing sense of worry I watch and hope for the phoenix to come out as the victor. A massive crash and flash of light and ash draws my attention up to the sky. The two beasts have collided and locked around each other as they start to plummet towards the ground. The broodmother claws at the phoenix¡¯s back with leg tooth and tail while the phoenix fights back with a fury, driving claws and beak deep into the broodmother¡¯s neck and stomach. With blood raining down the two plummet faster and faster until with a final crash that shakes the entire clearing they hit the ground disappearing in a cloud of dust.
Quest Alert: Guardian of the Forest The heart tree is dead. You have agreed to take up its duties. This forest is now yours, but you do not control it. To carry out your new duties there is much that is required of you. - Defeat the 4 forest queens o Queen of illusion o Queen of shadows o Queen of deception o Queen of ????????? - Cure the blight (Complete!) - Drive out the drakes (Complete!) - Fix damage caused by the outsiders (Complete!) - Grow a new heart tree
The appearance of the quest update sends a wave of relief washing through me and I start a stumbling dash forwards hoping that I will find the phoenix alive. Ch 22: The Last Lullaby The air was filled with dust and ash clouding my vision and making it hard to breath as I stumbled over the broken landscape left by the battle between the two titans. Worry gnawed at the back of my mind as I pushed deeper and deeper into the cloud. I knew the Broodmother was dead but I had also seen the wounds that it had inflicted on the Phoenix during their final plummet to the earth, and I feared that the Phoenix too had perished during the battle. My stumbling run through the dense cloud of dust and ash continued until without warning my instincts screamed at me to stop. Not hesitating to listen to the feelings that had served me so well in the past I call forth my earth magic and root myself in place. The sudden stop is jarring and I let out a small gasp of pain that is quickly turned into a hard swallow. Not more than a pace in front of me the ground disappears into a large dark hole. A few bits of rock and earth, jostled by my abrupt approach to the edge, are dislodged and fall into the pit, it is several long moments before I hear them hit the ground. ¡°That was a close one Mel. Running off of that would probably have been unpleasant wouldn¡¯t it?¡± I question while trying to get my racing heart under control. Mel responds by gently chastising me for once again acting rashly. ¡°I get it I get it. There is no need to be rude about it. I really am trying to get better at that kind of thing you know.¡± I respond in a huff of annoyance. ¡°I really should have done this earlier but this dust needs to go.¡± I say mostly thinking aloud. Calling once again on my mana I braid it together into a large spell circle that starts to emit a strong breeze. Carried away on the new wind the dust cloud disperses and I finally get a good look at what I nearly fell into. The crater is massive. Sitting in the center of the clearing is a new scar on the land that will likely become the site of a decently sized lake. At the bottom of the crater is the broken body of the Broodmother and a heavily injured but still living Phoenix. Rather than being relieved to find it alive a spike of concern shoots through me as I see the state that it is in. Long gashes are craved across its back and neck slowly leaking blood that drips into an already sizeable pool, one of its wings is obviously broken jutting out at an unnatural angle, and its once pristine and beautiful feathers are in disarray. Trying to fight back both fear and the growing threat of tears I make my way slowly down into the crater. Once at the bottom I stop, unsure what to do. How can I approach such a large and majestic creature that took on such grievous injuries in order to save my life? How did it know me? What did it mean when it said that it owed me a debt? These questions swirl through my mind only making me more indecisive. I continue to stand there arguing with myself over what to do until the Phoenix lets out a long sad cry. It is not loud but still carries across the entire clearing. The sound is that of a broken heart and of a soul lost in sorrow. The shear emotion in that cry almost breaks my resolve to hold back my tears, and then the Phoenix speaks. Its voice is soft, feminine, and musical. ¡°Why do you hesitate Reiza? Come closer, I wish to see you again and our time is running short.¡± In a slight daze I walk forward until I am standing in front of her. Without really knowing why I sit down and the Phoenix lays her large head in my lap. The two of us would probably make quite the strange sight seeing as her head is nearly the size of my upper body making it so I need but look down to be eye to eye with her. Oh wow she is really warm. That probably has to do with her being able to use fire. So soft too. Her feathers are almost as soft as my tail. Wait! This isn¡¯t what I should be thinking right now! ¡°H-how do y-you know who I am?¡± I ask with a shaky voice. ¡°So it really is true that you don¡¯t remember me. It is no issue after all you did tell me that this would be the case when we met again. There is much that I cannot tell you about our first meeting other than it was long ago.¡± The Phoenix laments before continuing. ¡° I was little more than a hatchling and had gotten myself into quite the spot of trouble when we met. You helped to set me back on the right path likely saving my life and sparing the world from the trouble I would have caused. For that I am in your debt and have hoped to find a way to repay you for it ever since. ¡° Her words make my head spin as I try desperately to penetrate the fog that clouds my memories attempting to recall ever meeting her before. I find nothing. My past remains as indistinct and blank as ever. ¡°I- I¡¯m sorry but I really can¡¯t remember you. No matter how hard I try there is nothing. You say that we have met before but when was it and why won¡¯t you tell me about it? You speak as if we are supposed to be close friends yet you are refusing to tell me anything about the past. Why?¡± I ask starting to grow agitated at the lack of information. ¡°There are two simple reasons Reiza. First, I can not tell you more because I gave my word that I would not and second because to tell you the tale of our time together would take more time than I have left.¡± She replies steadily. ¡°Who could you have possibly given your word to? Isn¡¯t it me you owed a debt to? Why would you not be able to talk to me of all people?¡± I ask, starting to grow even more upset at the seemingly backwards logic of her words. ¡°Naturally the one I gave my word to was you Reiza. I can tell you no more than the assurance you gave me. You told me that all things have their time. Life, death, spring, fall, and even knowledge, all of these have their time and this is not the time for you to have such knowledge.¡± Her words at first confuse me, then make me angry, then finally result in making my pout because despite it not being what I want to hear it makes sense. Even if my curiosity burns brighter than ever I will have to take her word for it and try to find the answers I want on my own. Knowing that I will be unable to get any further information out of her I instead turn my attention to the second thing that has been weighing on me. ¡°What did you mean when you said that you wouldn¡¯t have the time to tell me about our past even if you could?¡± ¡°Hahaha.¡± She lets out a long musical laugh that sounds like sunshine and the crackling of a hearth fire. ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious child? I¡¯m dying. Look with more than just your eyes, even now the darkness is coming to take me back to the great cycle.¡± She answers solemnly. ¡°What!¡± I shout as a new wave of panic shoots through me. Sending mana to my eyes I look at her and see it. Spreading slowly through her body are tendrils of black energy. I have seen it several times before. I saw it in a fallen tree that was decaying on the forest floor, and in the blight, and also in some of the beasts that I have killed. It is the mana of darkness, a should that is only present over the dead and dying. ¡°What can I do? How can I save you?¡± I ask desperately almost pleading. The thought of this beautiful creature and the only living link to my past dying rips at my heart. ¡°There is nothing you can do Reiza and even if there was you know you should not.¡± Her answer hits me like a punch to the gut causing my insides to twist and my heart to ache. ¡°I have lived a long life, a good life. For over 1,000 years I have watched over this world. I have died and risen from the ashes many times but alas it is finally time for me to rest. This was to be my final rebirth, and now that I have finally met you again I can go to my rest at ease.¡± Her voice has started to fade and I can tell that she is trying hard to stay. My head is telling me that I need to let her go but my heart still protests.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Why? Why must you go now?¡± I ask, nearly pleading as the tears I had been holding back start to leak down my face. ¡°It is my time Reiza and I am tired.¡± She responds, and I can hear the weariness in her voice. ¡°I have lived long enough. I have seen both great beauty and great evil. I have done good and I have done bad but like all things I must pass on. You should not fear the darkness and death for they are a part of the cycle and thus a part of life. When we die our bodies return to the earth to nourish the growth of those who come after and our souls reenter the cycle such that we can be born again.¡± As she speaks new pieces of information start sliding into place and the cycle of birth and death becomes clear to me. I can see how neither can exist without the other and my heart finally accepts the truth that I will have to let her die. The tears that were just a trickle before start streaming down my face faster clouding my vision. ¡°Do not cry Reiza, I have little time left and must ask two favors of you before it runs out.¡± She says with definite strain in her fading voice. ¡°W-what is i-it that you w-would ask of m-me¡± I ask between sobs as I try to wipe the tears from my eyes. ¡°I may be moving on from this world but my child is getting ready to enter it. I carry but a single egg inside of me. A daughter who will grow to carry on my legacy. I ask that you care for you like you cared for little Melody. Give her a worthy name, help her grow, and teach her so that she will not make the same mistakes that I did. Pleas I know it is a great deal but I must ask this of you.¡± The request shocks me. Filled suddenly with fear, sadness, and joy that she would trust me with such a thing I find myself unable to speak so I only nod. If this is her dying with then I will do my best to see it through. ¡°Thank you. I know that you will raise her well. Now for my final request. Will you sing for me one last time?¡± ¡°Sing? You want me to sing for you?¡± I ask completely stunned. Out of anything she could have asked for I did not expect it to be a song. ¡°Yes. Long ago I was there when you called to nature with not but your voice. It was the most beautiful thing I have witnessed in my many years and I wish to hear your songs one last time.¡± ¡°I- I can do that. I can sing for you.¡± I search my mind going through the songs I know but none of them feel quite right. I ponder making up a new song but as I start searching for the words I feel something calling to me. The thin tendrils of darkness are humming calling out to me and for the first time I let my fear drop away and open my mind to their voice. It is not dark like I expected it would be, rather the voice it calls out with is a comforting one. It speaks of the same things that the Phoenix told me about and at last I feel that I understand it. I listen a moment longer and then I start to sing. I sing the song of darkness. The day was long, and the sun now sets Come back home to your hearth and bed Close your eyes and lay down your head it¡¯s time to rest The shadows rise you feel no fear You¡¯ll find your peace and your pains will fade To final sleep all thing go to leave this plane and join the endless flow Ash to ash, dust to dust Wood will rot and iron rust All must end to start again Those that die let new life grow The sun has gone and sleep has come The shadows call and the time is here Drift away into their embrace It¡¯s time to rest From light to dark, life to death From newborn¡¯s cry to final breath At the end shadows wait Open arms, death¡¯s embrace The final friend to show the way To guide you on so far away As I sing I watch the darkness. I know that this is only one of the forms that it can take but it is the form that is right for this moment. The shadow that waits at the end of all life to take it on and return it to the endless flow of time. With each word and line of the song that passes the darkness inside the Phoenix grows. It wears away at her pain both physical and mental. The song is meant to be soothing and peaceful, to draw people into the next life, it is the last lullaby. As the song draws to a close I hear her whisper a final ¡°Thank you.¡± before closing her eyes and dissolving into ash. When the last word is sung I am left sitting alone in a pile of ash blood and feathers clutching a single large egg. Pain and sorrow eat at my heart and I am about to truly break down and cry when several things all happen in quick succession. The ash swirls around me pressing closer and I gasp in pain as what feels like a hot iron is being pressed into my back. The pain is intense but fades quickly as notifications start to flash across my vision. The Phoenix Cindra an old friend has died and given you her blessing. From this day on you branded with the Blessing of the Phoenix, as long as you grow and carry out the promise that you have made it will grow with you. Blessing of the Phoenix ¨C In its final moments the Phoenix Cindra has blessed you. This blessing will teach you more about the ways of the Phoenix and grant you a portion of their power. lvl 1 Phoenix Bond ¨C Entrusted with the care of her young Cindra has given you the ability to bond with a single Phoenix. This bond will allow you to sense, care for, and raise your Phoenix. Lvl 2 Locked Cindra¡¯s Gift- Cindra has left to you her feathers as a final gift. Phoenix feathers are well known for their magical properties. Beautiful, sturdy and, highly accepting of enchanting they are a much sought after crafting item. Cindra recommends that you make yourself something nice to wear as she found it quite odd that you have been running around naked. She thinks that you would look quite lovely in a dress.
Quest Alert: The Endless Song A song of incomprehensible power that bends the very laws of nature; it is beyond your current understanding. To know this song you must know the 6 primal aspects of nature. Feel them, listen to them, and understand them. - Understand Fire (x) - Understand Wind (¨¹) - Understand Water (¨¹) - Understand Earth (¨¹) - Understand Light (x) - Understand Darkness (¨¹) Reward: The Endless Song
Druidic Defender has reached level 21! Class Alert! Your classes have reached a sufficient level for you to select a third class. It is recommended that you make your selection now as some classes may cease to be available to you. The sudden deluge of information makes my head spin. New knowledge about Phoenixes wars with the new glimpse of the Endless Song for my attention. For some time I sit there and try to take it all in until finally my mid starts to settle. There is a lot left for me to go through but seeing the final message telling me that I should pick my class now catches my attention. Knowing that the system has rarely displayed messages without a reason I quickly pull up the class selection menu and search for the one class that I know I will pick. Finding it right at the bottom of the list where my other Legendary classes were I make my selection and confirm that I want to become a Spellsinger. The class seems ideal for me and should mesh well with the other classes I have already chosen so there is little regret in picking it out of the long list of options. After confirming my selection I sit and wait for the notification to come up that will give me more details on my class when suddenly the world around me explodes in a riot of sound. 23: A World of Broken Songs The sound of a thousand trumpets blaring, hundreds of drums pounding, dozens of strings humming all poured into me and the world around me dissolved into noise and pain. The shear force of the sound stripped me of all my senses plunging me into darkness as notes of all kinds tried to force their way into my brain. Perhaps if it had just been noise then I could have endured it but the sound was far more than just random notes. The noise was a thousand different melodies assaulting me all at once. A thousand melodies, a thousand songs and they were all broken. The world was broken. Lost in the overwhelming sound and despair that filled me at the knowledge of how broken everything was I lost the fight for consciousness and fell into the darkness. Some time later I woke yet again to an overwhelming assault of sound. In desperation I tried to cover my ears to block it out but that did nothing. Next, I tried to call on my magic to create a barrier of mana to dampen the sounds. ¡°Ahhhh!¡± The instant my mana started to flow an ear piercing shriek rent the air causing me to cry out in pain. Ouuuch. O-okay don¡¯t¡­ use ¡­ mana. Need¡­ to think. How can¡­ I stop this? My thoughts muddled by pain and overwhelming stimuli I tried to organize a train of thought and think of a way to get through this. It all started- uhhg- when I got that new class. So- ahg- they must be connected- ouch. If this class is anything like the others this must be the active- uhg- portion of the skills and there should be a way to tune it out or change its effects. Worth a shot. So the part bothering me the most at the moment is either the intensity or the broken songs. The broken ones might be important and I don¡¯t want to risk loosing them so first I¡¯ve got to try and lower the intensity of this reaction. With a semblance of a plan I ever so slowly started to bring my consciousness inward to search for the source of this new power. As my mind drifts further and further inside myself the noises of the outside world begin to fade only to be replaced by the loudest and most mangled collection of tones and notes that couldn¡¯t even generously be called a melody. What is that noise? It¡¯s coming from inside of me. Could this be the sound that my soul is making? The system did say that it was pretty badly damaged so that could be why it sounds as bad as it does. If I learn how to better use this new power would I maybe be able to start fixing myself? If so that would probably be a good idea. I don¡¯t really have any idea what side effects having such a damaged would is having on me- no stop that. I need to stay focused on the immediate issue. I can¡¯t afford to get side tracked right now. I¡¯ve got to learn what this new power is and how to control it before I can think about using it on myself. Putting my mind back on track I start pushing the thoughts and noise to the periphery of my awareness and focus on finding the source of my spellsinger powers. After a little looking around I find the familiar presences of both my druidic defender and orionian archer powers and sitting alongside them is a new source that is both somewhat familiar and completely alien. Reaching into the new node of power I focus my will on its intensity. Working as slowly and delicately as I can I start to tune down the powers intensity. From what the source communicated into my mind this will reduce its effectiveness but until I get a better hold on how to control the flow of information it gives me I will have to tune it down just to be able to function. Once I have tuned the source to operate at about ten percent of its regular intensity I start to drift out of my mental plane. What was earlier an overwhelming discordance is now only a lot of faint whispers. It now feels like there are a lot of really bad musicians playing their instruments as quietly as they can just out of my sight. The feeling is a bit unnerving but no longer completely paralyzing. ¡°Whew okay Mel that was a bit stressful and I still don¡¯t really know all of what¡¯s going on so let¡¯s check out what this new class can do.¡± Focusing on the blinking dot at the edge of my vision I bring up the waiting notifications.
Legendary Class Acquired Spellsinger For ages bards have known that there is a connection between magic and music but you have dived even deeper than that. Storms, plants, even the very world itself each have their own song. Spellsingers have learned to listen to the songs of the world and when they sing reality itself is bent to their will. Skills gained: Resonance, Singer¡¯s Wisdom +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom per class level
Resonance ¨C you have learned the art of infusing your voice with mana allowing your songs to resonate with the world around you greatly increasing their effectiveness. With this ability it is even possible to overwrite something to make it resonate to a different tune. Singer¡¯s Wisdom ¨C The knowledge of the ancient spellsingers is now yours. The power to bend reality with song is great but so is its cost. With this knowledge you gain not only an understanding of how to read, compose, and overwrite song¡¯s but also the costs that come along with such actions. You have already discovered and are able to sing four of the primal songs, for this achievement Spellsinger has been raised to a starting level of 8! It takes me some time to go over all the new information as I read it several times to ensure that I am able to comprehend all of it. With the class description and the small amount of information I am taking from the singer¡¯s wisdom skill I finally am able to see what was happening to me. When I accepted the new class I was instantly able to hear the melodies of the world. Not the songs of the primal forces like the ones I had already discovered but the songs of the world around me. Each rock and tree everything has its own unique song. With all of them hitting me at once it was overwhelming my mental capacity. Even with the intensity turned down as low as it is the amount of information that is flowing into me is still astronomical. The most startling thing of all is that none of it, not one single song is perfect. Everything lacks symmetry and at some points the songs are disjointed or stuttering. The desire to fix it wells up inside me. I want the songs to be perfect just like the primal ones. The brokenness of it bothers me and I¡¯m not entirely sure why. Determined to try out my new powers and fix start fixing this problem I reach out and grab a small rock from the crater beside me. Focusing on it I listen to its song while trying to tune out all the others. As my attention focuses on the rock the world around me seems to fade from my perceptions with the rock and its song becoming the only thing I know. I listen to its song that speaks of dark and sturdy things shot through with bright spots and jarring cracks. I listen as the small melody repeats itself several times and then I begin to humm back to the rock. I start by humming the same melody and as the two of us sing together a strange and indescribable connection forms between us. Once I feel that we are fully connected I start to change the tune I am humming ever so slowly. I start smoothing out the cracks in the tune and altering pieces so that each will flow into the next. Eventually both the rock and I are humming a new song, a perfect song. With the rock now singing a perfect song I am certain that whatever was wrong with it must be fixed so I stop humming and open my eyes, not even sure when I closed them, to see my handiwork. Instantly I can tell something is wrong. ¡°What the¡­¡± I gasp as I look in horror at what is in my hand. The rock that I had been holding is no longer a rock. Well it is still a rock but not really. Something about it is wrong. It feels strange and alien. Whatever it is that I did fundamentally changed it and now it no longer fits in nature. The rock feels oily except that even oil would feel better than holding whatever this- this thing is. What was once just an ordinary rock is now an unnatural stain, a blight on this world.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Shuddering in revulsion I summon up my mana and deconstruct the ¡°rock¡± until it is nothing but dust then I summon water to wash away and absorb the unnatural dust before boiling it all away with an intense ball of lightning. Only once I am completely satisfied that absolutely nothing of that abomination remains do I calm down and attempt to analyze what went wrong. ¡°So Mel do you have any idea at all what just happened there?¡± I ask in a shaky voice. All I get in response is an indignant huff and silence. Tones that sound both irritated and exasperated radiate from her. ¡°Hey don¡¯t go getting all huffy on me now! I really need your help to figure out what it is that I did wrong!¡± I shout back half pleading half pouting. Mel only remains stoically silent. With it obvious that no help will be coming from Mel I let out a small huff of annoyance and pick up another rock and begin to examine it closely while listening to its song. The song comes to me strong and clear but there are several burrs in the music that make me crinkle my brow in annoyance. I want desperately to fix the brokenness of it but the last time I did that I created some kind of horror so now I am trying to figure out what¡¯s wrong with the rock. I look intently at it and try to follow the song through the rock tracing it for where the burrs in the song are, and I find nothing. As far as I can tell there is absolutely nothing wrong with this rock! ¡°If there is nothing wrong with this stupid rock then why is the song not right!¡± I finally shout in frustration. I am about to throw the rock across the crater I am in when a new song catches my attention. This one is far more complex but still just as broken. However, despite being a broken song it is still somehow one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard. Looking down I can see that the song is coming from the phoenix egg sitting in my lap. ¡°How is this possible?¡± I ask, my voice barely above a whisper. ¡°How can it be that your song is so beautiful and yet imperfect?¡± As I stare at the egg the answer hits me with the force of a stampeding drake. ¡°It¡¯s beautiful because it¡¯s not perfect.¡± The answer is so simple and yet so obvious. How is it possible that I didn¡¯t see it before? Nothing in nature is ever truly perfect. No tree will ever grow just right or exactly evenly. In fact perfect things are so unnatural that the world itself seems to reject them like the creation I accidentally made earlier. It is the imperfections in things that make them beautiful and allow them to fit into the natural order. This realization causes several things to click into place in my mind and everything changes. The songs that were once unnatural and broken to me are now sounding just right. Now rather than being surrounded by a cacophony I am drifting in a sea of pleasant melodies. ¡°I get it now Mel. I understand what it is that I did wrong.¡± I say excitedly. Mel seems to let out a weary sigh before sending me feelings of happiness. ¡°Well now that we¡¯ve figured that out I think it¡¯s time to start making our way back to the Twilight Grove and to figure out what we should do with all the stuff that Cindra left us.¡± Looking around I take in the egg, the scattered feathers, the pools of blood, and the body of the Broodmother surrounding me. Reaching out I gingerly pick up one of Cindra¡¯s feathers and start to examine it. Where once it had been red it is now jet black. The feather is long, slender, and oh so soft. IT is extremely light and yet somehow seems to hold some kind of strength. The shaft of the feather is hollow and my enchanter instincts are almost jumping with joy almost begging me to start enchanting it. Doing my best to suppress the instinct to dive straight in and start pla- working with the new to- resource I store the feather in my spatial belt and quickly summon the rest with small threads of mana before the temptation can set in again. It would not be wise to start experimenting on such a rare and valuable resource until I know what I want to do with it. The next thing I focus on is the phoenix blood pooled around me. At first it just seemed like blood but now that I focus on it the blood almost seems to hum with power. Using both earth and spatial magic I create a small vial out of a clear hard gemstone that is much larger on the inside and use my mana to put all of the blood inside it while removing any impurities I am able to detect. Also not sure what to do with this I simply store it and decide to figure it out later. Finished with my resource collection and with my storages nearly full I pick up the egg and start to slowly make my way out of the crater. ¡°Alright Mel lets get going. We have done all of the tasks that we are currently able to do from the list that the heart tree gave us. I still have a feeling that we are not ready to take on one of the queens so our best bet is to go home and get you ready to become the next heart tree while I try to learn the last two songs I need. Also I need to find a way to fix my magic¡± At that last statement Mel send my a concerned and confused blast of emotion. ¡°Don¡¯t be too worried about it right now Mel but with this new class I am even able to hear the melodies behind my mana and spells. My mana itself has this pure and beautiful sound to it but every time I was using it something was just wrong. I think that if I work on the melodies my spells make I will greatly be able to improve my magic.¡± I respond cheerfully, eager at the idea of experimenting with new magic. With nothing left to do here our long journey south towards the center of the forest begins. All day we walk and I loose myself in the melodies of the forest. Now that I am able to understand how the broken pieces of the songs are a necessity I am able to lose myself in their beauty and after the first day is almost over I am able to pick up small hints about the things that are actually wrong with some of the songs. The first thing to catch my attention is a tree with a broken branch. After staring at it for a long while as I listen and trace its melody I find the spot where there is a break that shouldn¡¯t be there. Working very carefully I begin to sing to the tree. I sing a song that slowly mends the broken piece and watch as the once cracked and barely hanging branch becomes sturdy once more. As soon as the branch is reattached and truly connected to the tree once more I stop. Knowing that my skill is still sitting at only ten percent perception and with the memory of the ¡°rock¡± fiasco still fresh in my mind I don¡¯t dare to do anything more. I also find a small patch of undergrowth that is sick with some kind of disease I can¡¯t identify and after almost an afternoon of study and listening I was able to sing to the plants and watch as the sickness faded from them. Despite my successes in these areas my favorite parts of the day were always the evenings when I would stop to make camp and practice my magic. Before getting my new class I would have said that my skills were pretty good but after getting the class and being able to truly hear the magic I wanted to cry. The sounds produced were so poor and grating I started to wonder if I had ever truly known anything right at all. The first two nights I did nothing but focus on producing my various mana blades and arrows. Through my melodies I learned how truly inefficient I had been and how lucky I had been that they had been working as well as they had. The best analogy I could come up with to describe it was as if someone had tried to build a shelter with only their fists. They would beat a tree until it splintered then take those shards and slather them with mana and stick them together. Yes it worked but it was slow, wasteful, and just downright sloppy. After two nights of little sleep from overworking myself due to my resentment at doing such a poor job I was finally able to start crafting mana weapons that could be called decent. The melodies they were composed of were much simpler while at the same time being much more robust. This made them easier and faster to make while at the same time having a comparable or even better cutting abilities. I still knew they could be improved but I would need to make a great deal more progress as a spellsinger to be able to comprehend how to do it. The next days were spent creating every mixture of mana types so that each I was able to produce was as pure as possible along with an endless line of spell circles that like my weapons all needed vast improvements. I also spent a lot of time consulting the mark between my shoulder blades that Cindra gave me so that I could properly take care of her egg. I learned that for now everything was pretty simple and that the most important thing was keeping the egg warm. Every day I would wrap the egg in a shell of hot air while I walked, and every night I would settle it in my fire. The egg¡¯s song was always beautiful and distracting but every time I put it in the fire it would seem to get much happier. I just hoped that once the phoenix was actually born I would be able to keep making her happy and that I would be able to keep my promise to Cindra. Several days of walking after leaving the crater, not really sure how many I¡¯ve been getting really distracted recently as every time I go to fix a song I seem to get lost in it for an unknown amount of time, I came to a small clearing with a single sickly tree at its center. For some reason this tree had been calling out to me for several days now drawing me unknowingly to it. Just by looking at it I could tell that the tree had once stood tall and beautiful covered in flowers, but now it looked like it would die in a few short weeks. The song emitted by the tree was slow, sad, and nearly heartbreaking. Some instinct inside of me told me that I absolutely had to save this specific tree. Confused I looked inside myself for where the instinct was coming from but was unable to find any answers. Shrugging to myself and deciding to go with my instincts I set the egg at the base of the tree and slowly began to circle around it as I listened and traced its melody. With the world around me slowly fading away I began to sing. Just as I did with everything before I started off singing the same song as the tree until both our voices resonated in sync and then slowly began to alter and change my tune, leading the way and allowing the tree to follow my changes. I worked slowly not wanting anything to get lost between us or for too many changes to be made too quickly. Slowly the disease faded away, the tree began to stand straighter its trunk and bark reinforcing themselves, and finally life began to course through the branches. As everything began flowing smoothly once more a riot of pink blossoms shot through with streaks of red and gold began blooming all across the tree. I brought my song to a close as I caressed one of the branches that drooped low enough for me to touch and admired the beauty of it. I took a deep breath enjoying the fragrant sent drifting from the blossoms before letting out a soft sigh and speaking loudly. ¡°You know it¡¯s not polite to stare without coming out and introducing yourself.¡± Interlude: Singers Part 1 Lilly POV ¡°You have entered the realm of the lost. We cannot let you leave.¡± Trapped and surrounded by seemingly endless ranks of spirits the words of what appears to be the spirit¡¯s leader sends a shiver down my spine. I had not expected this task to be easy but if all of the spirits attacked at once or if they were truly determined to keep us here we might be in trouble. Something here doesn¡¯t feel quite right. I¡¯m not really able to put my finger on what it is though. There is something about that lady and what she said. Is it that she seems oddly familiar? Perhaps but it could also be the way her statement was worded. With the situation this precarious I really don¡¯t want to have to fight if it can be avoided. Maybe she will be willing to talk and we can get a little information that could help us resolve whatever it is that went wrong here. Proceeding with caution I decided that if possible I should try to get us out of this situation before we decide to go into full combat. Motioning to the others to stand ready I take a step forward before speaking. ¡°Lady spirit, before we engage in combat if it is necessary could I by chance speak with you?¡± ¡°You wish to speak?¡± She responds cocking her head to the side while her tail and ears twitch. ¡°Very well, I suppose that I could entertain a few questions before you join us.¡± Letting out a small breath I bow slightly before speaking, ¡°Thank you lady spirit. You called this place a realm of the lost, could you tell me what you mean by that statement?¡± At my question her expression changes from intrigued to furious. ¡°You are quite the impertinent one aren¡¯t you. After all it is due to you outsiders that this place became what it is. It is because of your kind¡¯s actions that we are all trapped here and why we will not let you leave.¡± She snarls. Swallowing quickly and thinking desperately for a way to diffuse the situation I lower my head slightly while raising my hands in a conciliatory gesture. ¡°My apologies lady spirit I did not mean to offend. I know only of this places existence but not of the events of which you speak. Please could you enlighten us as to what happened so that perhaps we could find a way to resolve this peacefully.¡± ¡°Hahaha.¡± She laughs derisively, the sound hollow and lacking any humor. ¡°After what your kind has done I doubt there can be anything you have that could lead to peace. Do you truly have no concept of what it takes for a place of peace to become a nexus of the lost?¡± She asks. No¡­ Could it really be true? I had heard the rumors but I had not been quite sure if they were true or not. But that still didn¡¯t make any sense. Even if what I¡¯m certain happened here did it shouldn¡¯t have been enough to create a nexus. ¡°Long ago this place was once a peaceful and prosperous place for my kind, however that all changed when we first came into contact with the outsiders. When we met you kind immediately grew jealous of the power that our mistress possessed and out of fear they decided that no one should be able to have the chance to threaten them. In an act of fear and cowardice the outsiders attacked our village in the middle of the night. In an attempt to take the powers of our mistress they slaughtered us all. The men were slain, every warrior cut down and the things that they did to the women and children were unspeakable. By the time they were done all of us, the entire tribe was lost.¡± As she spoke images of what must have happened flit through my mind and make me shudder. I know that the hearts of men are often dark things but to do what was implied is truly unspeakable. If they were attacked after coming into contact with the people outside the forest then there really must be little to no chance for a peaceful resolution. However, who is this mistress they speak of, what power could she have that would cause people such fear, and why was she not here to protect the village? I am about to ask some of these questions when the spirit speaks again, continuing her explanation. ¡°However as I am sure you would know druid just a simple massacre would not be able to create a nexus. After our slaughter was completed someone messed with forces that should not be messed with. When the endless flow was touched it sent ripples through the world and broke the great cycle. We were trapped here and forced to live through our peoples slaughter again and again.¡± What! How- how could someone be so stupid! To touch the flow of time is beyond insane. Who could have such power and use it in such a reckless way? ¡°Ah, I can see by your expression that you understand the consequences of what was done to us and how a nexus was created.¡± She states in a sad voice. ¡°I- I do see what has lead to such a tragedy. I know now why you would harbor such hatred towards us but please I ask that you let us help you. We could free you from this place and help all of you pass on-¡° My plea is cut off when the spirit bursts into a fit of laughter, ¡°Sorry, young druid but things are not that simple. Do you really think that it would be possible for me let alone all of us here to keep our sanity if we were kept tethered to this plane by hatred and a lust for revenge alone?¡± She¡¯s right! That¡¯s what has been bothering me this whole time. Spirits of this age are usually mindless and incapable of higher thought driven only by hatred and a lust for revenge, but this spirit still has its reason intact. So what¡¯s going on here? ¡°We are all here waiting. We await the day that our mistress will return to us. She did not die and so now we wait and protect this place for the day that she returns to once again claim her throne. We draw the outsiders who trespass upon her domain to this place and ensure that none will be able to escape with her treasures. Thus we come to the reason for why we cannot let you go. You have trespassed into our mistress¡¯s domain and we cannot allow you to live. I know you wished to avoid conflict and out of respect for your position as a druid I have granted you this explanation but even one such as you is still an outsider and thus we must now fight. Ready yourselves, prey to whatever Gods you will and we shall fight.¡± Obviously done with talking the spirit turns away and focuses her attention on the burned remains of a tree. Knowing now that a confrontation is unavoidable I turn back to the rest of my group ready to comfort them and get them ready for conflict. I am surprised when rather than fear I see determination a resolve burning in their eyes. Both Adam and Will are looking over their weapons slightly tense but not giving in to fear. Mya finishes her prayer before looking to me and giving a small nod. ¡°You are all brave beyond my expectations, let us now go into battle with our heads held high. We will purge this place of its darkness and free these people from the bonds that keep them here.¡± Done speaking I turn once more before drawing my sword and preparing for battle. Seeing that we are ready the spirit of the demi-human simply nods before the spirits surrounding us begin their advance. Will POV So it is finally time for battle. The explanation the spirit lady gave was disconcerting to say the least and the discomfort that it gave to lady Lilly was more concerning. We had prepared for the eventuality of a fight and with the magic that Mya gave us it was finally time to show the others why I am considered to be a real warrior. With a cry and a blast of holy energy Mya is the one to get things started with an area burst that deals wide ranging holy damage. Screams of pain echo out from the spirits leading the charge as the impact of holy magic causes them to steam and fade slightly. Taking advantage of the faltering charge in the enemy line I jump forward sword glowing with holy magic and slash through the torsos of three of them. Immediately spinning into my next attack I start driving into the enemy ranks. Ghostly swords and spears flash by me as I weave and dance through the gathered spirits. An arrow flashes past my head and impales itself into the chest of a spirit that had been sneaking up behind me. ¡°Thanks for the save!¡± I shout back to Adam who was no doubt the one to fire the arrow. A grunt of pain leaves me soon after as an ethereal blade manages to scrape across my shoulder, completely ignoring my armor. The spot where the blade had struck goes cold the attack aimed more at my own spirit rather than at my body. This is the problem with fighting spirits, armor doesn¡¯t mean shit. I can¡¯t afford to take too many hits since the damage is being done to my own spirit. With each hit I take I will only grow weaker and fighting fill grow harder. With Mya here we are at least able to damage them and with our weapons blessed as they are we are able to counter their blows. The fog around me starts to grow even thicker as I wade deeper and deeper into the lines of attacking spirits. Intermittently flashes of light brighten the mist as blasts of holy magic and fire are unleashed. With more and more spirits closing in around me my skills are starting to be pressed to their limits. Countering, dodging, slashing and stabbing I push the enemy back. Despite my efforts strikes still find their way past my guard. It is something that is unavoidable in combat against such numbers. With each hit I feel myself getting slower and the next strike finds me a little easier. After a particularly brutal slash across my back I am forced to my knees and looking up at the spears being raised to run me through I see my life flashing before my eyes. The incantation from Mya rings out behind me just in the nick of time. Hallowed Ground is an area of effect aura spell that sanctifies a small area to both provide healing energies to allies and weaken spirits and the infernal. The spell brings warmth back into my body and drastically slows the spirits around me. With my injuries healing and the spirits around me slowed I am able to dodge the incoming strikes and counter to disperse the spirits immediately around me. With myself back in the clear I fight my way back closer to Mya slightly chastised by my failure to stick with the others and allow myself to get surrounded.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Making my way back to Mya and Will¡¯s side I see a sheen of sweat trickling down Mya¡¯s forehead and realize that the large scale spell she is trying to maintain must be draining her heavily. ¡°Well done all of you! We are almost through with them! Just push a little harder and the day will be ours!¡± Lilly shouts. ¡°Hahaha, you have fought valiantly brave heroes but it is time this conflict came to an end.¡± For the first time since the beginning of the battle the spirit who Lilly had talked to speaks. With the end of her proclamation she raises both of her hands and begins to sing. The melody is slow flowing smoothly like water in a river from note to note. The words ring clearly but are somehow still unintelligible refusing to be comprehended by my mind. As I try to focus closer on them pressure builds in my head and I feel a warm trickle of blood start to flow from my nose. Sensing that trying to press harder would lead only to more pain I stop trying to focus on the strangely familiar melody. As she continues to sing the mist around us darkens and a deep chill starts to settle into my bones. The feeling is familiar and the memory of the encounter with the one Lilly called a guardian drift to the front of my mind. With that memory coming forward I can recognize that this is indeed the same song that was used on us before. It seems less powerful and somehow incomplete but its effects are still the same. The longer the spirit sings the colder and slower we all become. Beside me Mya falls to her knees. Being weaker and pushed harder by the battle her resistances are unable to keep her unaffected. ¡°H- how does she also know this power? W- what is happening to us?¡± She gasps trying to remain conscious as the spirits draw closer fully encircling our group. ¡°This p-power it¡¯s the same as b-before isn¡¯t it. H- how do you also know this? Wha- what are you doing to us?¡± Lilly asks, trembling as the song continues to build in power before suddenly cutting off as the leader of the spirits cocks her head to the side a questioning look in her eyes. The spirits closing in around us freeze as she lifts a hand. ¡°You say you have encountered this power before? Explain. This is your only chance so answer quickly.¡± She demands. The party exchanges warry looks before Lilly tentatively starts to answer. ¡°Yes we have experienced the power you have just displayed before only it was somewhat different. We were in pursuit of a person we believed was responsible for several large scale magical disturbances. When we caught up to her she deployed a large scale mist or fog bank to try and evade us. After the attempt to distract us failed she began to sing almost exactly the same melody as you did only hers felt more powerful or more complete than yours. With what we witnessed and the powers involved I believe that what we met was a guardian. Just before I lost consciousness she told me that it wasn¡¯t yet time for us to meet and that we would need to prove ourselves as friends before we could. That is the reason we came here. I believed that by purging this place of the nexus that we could prove ourselves as friends to the forest.¡± As Lilly speaks a drastic change seems to come over the spirit. She starts trembling and covers her mouth trying to suppress a gasp as tears build in her eyes. ¡°Sh- she truly has returned then? Mistress must once again walk the world. She is the only one who would know such power and be able to use it better than me. If you truly are here on a mission from the mistress, then we really have no more reason to fight.¡± Still trembling and seeming to be overcome with emotion she stairs off into the distance seeming to be lost in memories. We all exchange wary looks with each other not wanting to disturb the tenuous peace that has developed as we each start to recover. After a few moments Lilly tentatively asks a question, ¡°W- would you m- mind me asking what that power you used was?¡± ¡°Hmm?¡± The spirit responds seeming to snap back to reality. ¡°Oh that was the greatest power that my mistress ever developed. If you are able to listen properly you will be able to hear the voices of nature. Once you are able to hear those voices you will be able to sing to them. If you do it right you will be able to bend the song their voices to your will.¡± Hmm whatever it is it does sound powerful but likely not something that I would ever be able to learn. In all honestly the only person here who could likely learn this power is Lilly. However that is not what is immediately concerning me. What is important now is getting the group out of this situation alive. To that end it would be wise for me to speak up before Lilly gets drawn too far down the rabit hole with the possibility of this new power. ¡°Excuse me lady spirit. You said that we would no longer need to fight. If that is true would you be willing to let us leave this place?¡± I ask. Turning to me the spirit looks at me for several long moments before responding. ¡°When first you arrived we were indeed enemies but, with the mistress returned and her giving you a mission I cannot go against her will. Now that I reflect upon it the job we have been doing here is no longer necessary and indeed will go against her greater goals. If a place such as this is to remain then it will be only a blight upon her domain. We have become unworthy of her since the great cycle has abandoned us. So now I must ask a favor of all of you.¡± She pauses a pained look crossing her face before continuing, ¡°I ask that you free us from this prison we have built for ourselves. Please free us and when you meet the mistress properly let her know we have passed on and that our love for her never faded.¡± The plea somewhat surprised me but a moment of reflection let me see it in a different light. With everything changing so fast it was a little hard to keep up but the spirit seemed to be honest in her plea. If she really wished for us to stop fighting and put the spirits here to rest then I was all for it. All around us the spirits fade into the mist which also starts to disperse leaving only the leader spirit and a light mist. Gesturing at the stump by her side she again begins to speak. ¡°This was once the heart of the settlement surrounding you and became the sight of the nexus. Once you have rested please destroy the nexus.¡± With that said she turns and walks away to sit next to one of the destroyed remains of a building. Relieved I turn the other party members who are all gathering themselves and resting. ¡°So uhh¡­ how exactly do we destroy a nexus?¡± I ask. ¡°It is fairly straight forward but somewhat power intensive. We need only apply a purge or sanctification spell into the nexus then overload it. The overload of the spell should destabilize and collapse the nexus. I could do it myself but Mya would have an easier time of it, plus it would be good experience for her if you¡¯re up to it that is?¡± Lilly says turning to Mya with the question. Mya considers for a few minutes before nodding. ¡°Yeah I think I should be able to do it, I¡¯ll just need a little time to rest and recover myself.¡± ¡°Here drink this it will help a lot.¡± Lilly says as she offers a mana potion to Mya who quickly downs it with a slight grimace. After about a single bell¡¯s worth of time we gather around the stump so that Mya can attempt to purge the nexus. Walking up to it she kneels and begins the incantation for the consecration spell. She starts glowing with a soft golden light as she pours more and more mana into the holy spell. The light continues to grow and Mya begins to shake with the effort. ¡°Are you sure you can continue Mya?¡± Lilly asks softly from where she kneels next to her. Mya¡¯s only response is a nod as she pants for breath. Screwing her face up in effort Mya begins to prey, ¡°Radiance give this servant your blessing, purge this place of its darkness and drive evil from these lands!¡± She finishes with a shout and a huge push of effort. The symbol of a sun blazes brightly on her chest and an enormous surge of mana flows out of her into the stump. A moment later there is a bright flash of light and a pulse ripples through the air and a feeling of something heavy that I had not really noticed was there lifts. Looking up I watch in astonishment as the mist begins to disperse. My eyes land on the spirit who had been talking to us as she looks off into the distance. Just as she fades away I see a small smile cross her lips as the tension leaves her. ¡°It¡¯s rather amazing isn¡¯t it? That she would wait here for all those years trying to protect what the one she followed left behind. It shows a great love and devotion, this mistress must be one hell of a woman. If this is the one we are going to meet than I am interested to see where it goes.¡± Adam comments from beside me. ¡°I guess you¡¯re right I am quite interested in meeting this guardian.¡± Adam POV In the aftermath of the fight at The Graveyard of the Lost the forest itself seemed to come to life once again. The sounds of small birds and insects along with the warmth of the day returning as we all rested. While waiting for the others to recover I sat on watch pondering both what happened and what was to come. The information given to us by the spirit had made me think over a lot. She had been standing sentinel over this area for hundreds of years, or so I believe, just for the purpose of keeping her mistress¡¯s domain safe. That level of loyalty makes me think about the things that are important to me and if there was anything that I valued as much as that. Will came to mind but I don¡¯t think I would be able to go that far even for him. It was something that I would have to consider for a while to come. Beyond reflecting on the past all the information about the mistress was extremely interesting to me. If she really is a guardian like Lilly suspects she is the meeting will certainly be interesting. I¡¯m not quite sure how the meeting will go though. Our group will likely have views that are completely different from those of the guardian and that could make it hard for us to understand each other. Lilly had given me the mana spike that was left to us so that I could use it for the purposes of tracking. Twirling it through my fingers I observed the curious object. It was quite the extraordinary thing. Crafted out of what I could only guess was pure mana the long spike glittered dangerously in the light. ¡°Both beautiful and deadly I really can¡¯t wait to meet this guardian.¡± I mutter to myself. After several bells of rest it was finally time to move out. Gathering all of the party members I activated my tracking skills and started tracing the mana from the spike back towards its source. The source seemed to be several days travel away and moving at a rather interesting stop and go pace. With a direction to head we started to move. The days passed quickly and the conversations we had were mostly lighthearted. Mya questioned Lilly incessantly about magic and the things she didn¡¯t understand from the previous conversation with the spirit. I had been a little worried about Mya after the nexus was purged as she had seemed quite weak and took a lot longer to recover than I thought she would. However she recovered soon enough and was even able to keep pace with us for the first evening of travel. In the later days we discussed in detail the battle we had with the spirits and what we could have done better. There were many mistakes that were made so it was important for us to learn from the experience. I believe that it was quite helpful especially to Mya who seemed to think she had done badly. When the mistakes the others had made were revealed it seemed to console her. Finally what would be our last day of travel came. With the confrontation on the horizon tension once again began to rise. No one was sure how the meeting would go so the group started to drift into silence. With the midday sun come and gone the goal was closer than ever. Weaving our way through a tight copse of trees a faint melody started drifting through the trees to reach us. Upon hearing it we all froze listening closely and waiting to see if any negative effects came from it. This melody had no words and lively seeming to speak of growth and life. Feeling no ill effects the group once again started moving forward as silently as possible. Coming up on a clearing one of the strangest sights I have ever been witness to greeted me. In the center of the clearing was a tree and dancing slowly around it was a small demi-human girl. She was young and quite short. Her dark black hair was tied in a messy braid down her back. When the sun caught on it small glints of a dark purple could be seen running through it and the strands that had escaped the braid. Two small pointed ears stuck out of the top of her head covered in fur the same color as her hair. A long bushy tail waved happily behind her as she danced and sang. Woven into her hair just behind one of her ears was the most beautiful flower I had ever seen. We all sat in silence simply watching in awe as her song breathed life back into the tree. It was something that none of dared to interrupt, the type of beauty that is rarely seen in the world. It was a little hard for me to believe that this girl was the one we had been looking for since the power she had displayed up to this point was already beyond belief. As I watched Will shuffled up silently beside me before whispering in my ear, ¡°Is she the one we¡¯re looking for?¡± I nodded in response. He nodded in return before leaning a little closer, ¡°Soooo¡­ why is she naked?¡± Interlude: Singers Part 2 [In that place that¡¯s always just out of sight] Ahhh so the time has finally come for the two groups to meet. I¡¯ve been looking forward to this and am quite interested to see how it turns out. There have been a lot of pieces moving recently and this meeting will be a tipping point for the things to come. I know how I want it to turn out but any interference on my part could make things go terribly wrong at this point. For now all I can hope for is that the things I set in motion will bear fruit. The spirit that the little group of hunters encountered got a little too chatty for my liking but I don¡¯t think that they will be able to connect the dots and figure out anything important. I guess I will have to keep a closer eye on it in the future. On the topic of watching them closely one member of their party caught my eye as someone rather familiar. Out of anywhere they could have turned up I was surprised to see them here. I¡¯ll have to look back at the history of the game to see what moves created this change. Despite them showing up earlier than anticipated I do want to see how Reiza will react. Speaking of things showing up earlier than expected Reiza is moving along far faster than anticipated. Her actions border on the reckless or insane yet she always seems to get past it. I would be quite disappointed if she got herself killed. I hope she slows down a bit or she might get in over her head. Many things are in motion the only thing left is to sit, watch, and see if things follow my expectations. Lilly POV [Greenwood Forest Clearing] I guess that¡¯s really her. Adam said so and listening to her voice I have no doubt at all that this really is the guardian. Her voice truly is beautiful and the way that it is literally breathing life back into that tree as if reality itself is being over written is just¡­ amazing. The thing that surprises me beyond anything else is her age. It may just be a trait of her heritage or something else but she seems rather young to possess such potent magical powers. Perhapse it is a special ability or some other trait that has allowed her to grow so quickly. I will need to ask, but I just don¡¯t want to interrupt her song. While I wait I think I¡¯ll try to gather a little information with my identify skill. [Reiza ¨C Level 1 - ??@>?/?? ¨C further information unavailable] So her name is Reiza ¨C wait! Level 1! That can¡¯t be right can it? How could a level 1 possibly have such power? Something is definitely wrong here. And what does it mean by information unavailable? My skill should be high enough to show me her classes skills and magics. Does she have some way to block my skill? While I am stunned at the information provided by identify I hear Will speaking to Adam and am barely able to choke back a laugh when he asks why she isn¡¯t wearing any cloths. With everything else that I have seen and learned today I hadn¡¯t even noticed something as simple as that. The realization brings me out of my shock and my mind starts working trying to figure out the best way to approach this Reiza when I realize her song has ended. In the silence that follows her voice makes me jump. ¡°You *********** not polite ** stare ************ out and introducing *****self.¡± Well here goes nothing I hope things go well. Not having much of a choice I motion to the others with me to stay back and be warry before stepping cautiously out into the clearing. Crossing the distance to the tree feels like walking across a battlefield without any armor. Reaching the base of the tree several paces away from Reiza I stop and just stare into her vivid purple eyes. For a few moments I just stand there forgetting what I am supposed to do until she speaks again. ¡°***** well introduce ****self¡± Just like before I can tell she is speaking some ancient form of druidic but I can only understand a fraction of what she is trying to say. Wracking my mind I try to dig up everything I know about the ancient language before responding. ¡°I¡­ Lilly¡­ pleasure meet you¡­ have¡­ companions?¡± My statement comes off more as a question due to my unfamiliarity with the language. Reiza huffs and crosses her arms pouting slightly. The look is really quite adorable. ¡°Not speak old?¡± she asks using only simple words and obviously not too happy about it. Not knowing what else to do I shake my head. ¡°No. have spell¡­ help. Can use?¡± I ask in response blushing slightly. We must seem like trolls communicating so simply. She looks at me for a long moment before nodding. Letting out a breath of relief I quickly start crafting my translation spell. The circles form and I am about to cast the spell when Reiza blurs forward faster than I had thought possible and grabs the spell. I let out a gasp of shock as control over the spell is ripped away from me and Reiza starts manipulating it right in front of me while muttering to herself. Did- did she just steal my spell? What is she doing to it? Shocked I am able to only make out a few of her words. ¡°Sloppy¡­ not needed¡­ *******¡± Sloppy? If she didn¡¯t have a translation spell then how is she able to know what she is doing and what does she mean sloppy that is a high quality spell! After a few more moments of muttering and humming softly I watch in awe as the spell circle I crafted fills with her mana before shifting, shrinking and finally clicking into place before flashing out across the clearing. ¡°That should do it.¡± She says with a bright smile on her face. ¡°Wha- what did you just do?¡± I ask stammering slightly. ¡°I thought that was obvious.¡± She replies with her head cocked slightly to one side. ¡°I fixed your spell. It was quite messy. There was a lot of stuff that didn¡¯t need to be in there and by moving things around a little I made it better, and now we should be able to talk easily.¡± ¡°V- very well I¡¯ll have to ask about that later then. To introduce myself I am called Lilly a druid from Greenwood Village with me are my companions Will, Adam, and Mya.¡± I say with a slight bow. ¡°I am Reiza and this is Melody.¡± She responds with a wide smile while gesturing to a small seed she wears on a necklace. A little confused as to why she would introduce a seed as if it were a person I decide to just go with it. ¡°It is a pleasure to meet you both lady guardian.¡± She looks at me slight confusion on her face, ¡°Lady guardian? I¡¯ve been hearing that around a bit but what does it really mean?¡± She asks. ¡°Umm.¡± Her question throws me off a bit, this definitely wasn¡¯t how I pictured this going, but I again just decide to humor her. ¡°Well to the best of our knowledge a guardian is a being created by nature when there is a great threat to it. They are always extremely powerful and they fix problems in nature. Wouldn¡¯t you know if you were a guardian or not?¡± I ask. She seems to ponder my words for a bit before replying. ¡°I guess I could be a guardian from the way you describe them. I do really want to protect my forest and fix the things that are wrong with it but I don¡¯t know if I could call myself powerful since Mel and I are the only people I know.¡± So wait she could be a guardian, well I¡¯m pretty sure she is one and she doesn¡¯t seem all that hostile at the moment¡­ ¡°Wait what do you mean when you say your forest.¡± I ask, catching something important in her reply. ¡°Well I mean to say the forest belongs to me, or well it kinda does. Not yet really but it will soon.¡± ¡°How could the forest belong to you?¡± I ask stunned a little by her assertion that the whole forest belonged to her. ¡°There was this really, really old tree that I met when I woke up and it told me that the forest would belong to me now. I think it called itself a heart tree? Anyway it gave me a list of things that I had to do to claim and protect the forest. Oh and it also gave me this!¡± She replies excitedly, pointing to the beautiful flower in her hair. I can¡¯t believe it she actually met the heart tree! Those things are so rare and are supposed to be something like the mind or well heart of the entire forest. If the thing told her the forest was hers I don¡¯t think I can argue against it. ¡°Yep so anyway why have all of you been following me through my forest. I can sense that you have held up your end of the bargain I offered so I am willing to speak with you?¡± She asks. Gathering my thoughts into a reasonable line of questions I start getting to the reason for why the group came on the expedition. ¡°Our party was formed to come into the forest and investigate a large magical disturbance that came from this forest almost two lunar cycles ago. We would also like to ask if you were behind the disturbance that happened at the site of a previous blight?¡± ¡°Hmm well I can tell you that I was the one who cured that section of forest of the blight and as I¡¯m sure you know I also fixed the huge scar that used to cut through the forest where we first almost met. But huge disturbance? I don¡¯t know what to tell you about that. I woke up¡­ well I¡¯m not really sure how long ago it was but I was underground for a while so I don¡¯t think I would have noticed something like that.¡± She responds easily. The shear levity with which she talks about these large scale magical exertions absolutely floors me. Does she really have no concept about how much power was used to accomplish these feats? ¡°Did you do all of that by yourself?¡± I ask. She looks at me with a scowl. ¡°Well of course not. Mel was there with me and I asked for help.¡± There she goes once again talking about her seed as if it were a person. ¡°So who did you ask for help to do all of this?¡± I ask. Reiza gives me a look as if I am an idiot before responding, ¡°Well obviously I asked the forest for help. Where else would I get the power and knowledge to do what I did?¡± Well I guess that does make sense with everything I have seen and sensed so far. Still this girl is quite impressive. ¡°I see. So have you by chance met or hear of somebody called The Overseer?¡± I ask and hold my breath hoping that the innocent looking girl before me is innocent. She sits there for a few long moments scratching her head while she thinks. ¡°Hmmm, I don¡¯t think so. The name sounds a little familiar like it¡¯s one I should know but you are the first person I¡¯ve talked to.¡± I let out a small breath of thanks. This means that baring any future complications things should go peacefully. ¡°That¡¯s good to know they are not a person you ever want to get involved with they are very dangerous. The only other question I really need answered is whether or not you are going to be hostile to others outside the forest?¡± She responds quickly, ¡°That is difficult to say. I am not opposed to letting people enter and use the bounty of the forest as long as they follow the rules that you should already know druid. But if they break the rules then I would have to punish them so the answer to your question is both a yes and a no.¡± Her reply makes me tense for a moment before I just accept the state of things. The issues will be for people higher up the totem pole than me to handle I¡¯ll just be the messenger. ¡°Thank you for answering my questions lady Reiza.¡± With the end to my interrogation obviously over a huge smile lights up her face and I am reminded of a kid who is happy to be let out to play. ¡°Great! I don¡¯t really like thinking about all that boring stuff. Do you like my tree? I made her all pretty again!¡± She gushes exuberantly while petting a blossom covered branch. The rapid shit in topics has me off balance once more so my reply is a little hesitant though still light hearted and honest. ¡°Y- yes it is quite a lovely tree. How exactly were you able to do that?¡± She looks at me for several long moments before shaking her head. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you that right now. This is not the time to make deals and anyway in your condition you wouldn¡¯t be able to do it.¡± ¡°H- how d-did you know?¡± Is all I am able to stammer out. The fact that she knows of my current condition is unbelievable. I have told no one about it and for her to be able to tell right away is shocking to say the least. ¡°I know because you are like me. Your song is broken.¡± She replies cryptically. What does she mean my song is broken? I doubt she will even tell me if I ask. That or she will answer with something equally as cryptic. ¡°So can I meat you friends now or will they just keep hiding?¡± She ask. Seeing no reason to deny her I motion for the others to join us. I can tell the moment the others step into the clearing because I see Reiza¡¯s eyes go wide and then she disappears in a blur of motion. Will POV No sooner had I stepped foot into the clearing where Lilly and the guardian who is apparently named Reiza had been conversing when a dark blur shot across the clearing and Reiza appeared right in front of me. ¡°Holy sh-¡° I cut myself off mid curse and barely stop myself from drawing my sword as my heart hammers. How can she move so fast? I barely even saw anything! Does she always move like that or was it some kind of magic or skill? Also why is she so close and looking at me like that? She is looking me up and down almost seeming to be in awe. ¡°Hello metal man.¡± She says her face breaking into a big smile. ¡°Metal man?¡± I ask stupidly, still in shock due to her sudden appearance. ¡°Yeah metal man. You look like me and Lilly but you are made of metal!¡± She shouts happily, before speaking again this time to herself. ¡°But how do you move? I think Lilly would move like me but what would make metal move like me? What do you think Mel?¡± Wait does she actually think I am made out of metal? Has she never seen armor before? Wait what is she doing? While my thoughts were spinning slightly Reiza had leaned in close pressing one ear against my breastplate and started tapping it slightly with one fist. ¡°You have an odd song Mr. metal man. It sounds a little sad but mostly happy and sometimes flat.¡± ¡°I uhh¡­ I¡­ you know I¡¯m not made of metal right?¡± I finally mange to ask deciding to put most of the crazy words and actions out of my mind. That last part is made slightly difficult by Lilly and Adam who are both fighting off fits of laughter at her antics. She looks at me now seeming to be just as confused as I am. ¡°What do you mean you¡¯re not made out of metal? I can see it covering you although it does sound a little strange.¡± ¡°It only looks like I am made of metal because I am wearing armor.¡± A light of understanding fills her eyes as she responds, ¡°Oh so metal man is like a drake but instead of scales he uses metal. Which do you think is tougher Mel metal man or a drake?¡± She then nods to herself several times before continuing the conversation with the unknown Mel. ¡°I agree the drake is probably tougher than metal man.¡± Is she crazy? Also why do I feel a little hurt that she would say a drake is tougher than I am? I mean she is probably right but still I paid good coin for this stuff! ¡°Umm so who is Mel?¡± I ask deciding to test my crazy theory. Her attitude shifts almost immediately going from happy and maybe a bit air headed to stern and reprimanding. ¡°You don¡¯t get to call her Mel only her friends can do that. You can call her melody and obviously this is her.¡± She says pointing to the seed on her very naked chest which I am trying very hard not to look at. In fact the whole deal of having an obviously young and naked girl right in front of me is making me very uncomfortable. No one else has mentioned it yet either so I decide to just try my best to ignore it as well. ¡°Okay well it was nice to meet you metal man work hard and maybe you be as tough as a drake one day. I am going to go talk to laughing man.¡± With that she is gone and I am left still trying to process everything she said while working to determine whether or not I am actually the one who went crazy. Adam POV I can say that without a doubt this meeting had not gone down the way that I had expected it to. Reiza, the girl who we have been hunting is quite the interesting character. She seems like a child who has been given near god like power. Her mood shifts quickly depending on if something is to her liking or if you offend her. Further evidence supporting her young age is her seeming lack of what most would consider common knowledge. Either that or she truly has been isolated as she has claimed. The way she was interacting with Lilly almost seemed normal but when she got to Will I couldn¡¯t contain my laughter. The whole thing was just too funny. At first she didn¡¯t seem to know what armor was but once she was told she immediately connected it to something she as obviously seen before. When she kept calling him metal man I just couldn¡¯t help but laugh. After finishing her conversation with Will by telling him that if he worked hard his armor would grow just like a drake¡¯s I had to work as hard as I could because a second later she was standing right in front of me. It is a little unnerving how fast she can move. ¡°Hello laughing man!¡± She shouts excitedly eyes roaming over every inch of me. ¡°Ah, hello my name¡¯s Adam it¡¯s nice to meet you lady Reiza.¡± I respond smiling back at her. Her gaze snaps to my shoulder and her eyes sparkle with wonder. ¡°Is that a bow? You use one too? Can I see it?¡± She fires off questions almost as fast as she can move while making ¡®give me¡¯ hands towards my bow. ¡°Ah yes that is my bow and I do use it quite well in fact. How do you know what a bow is?¡± I say trying to answer all her questions at once while asking one of my own. She pins me with the same ¡®are you stupid¡¯ look that she had given Will several times during their conversation. ¡°Obviously because I use one too. Now can I see it?¡± She asks. I hesitate not really wanting to give up something so precious to me but also not really willing to anger her. After a moment I come up with something that I think will satisfy her. ¡°You can see it but only if you let me see your bow.¡±This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it One quick blur of motion later Reiza is holding my bow pouring over it with the intensity of a seasoned veteran and I am holding a bow that I can only assume to be hers. Disoriented by the rapid and somewhat unwilling exchange I look between her and the bow in my hands several times before shrugging and deciding not to press the issue. She has definitely not been around people before. She gets excited by every little detail and is very easily distracted. Also she doesn¡¯t seem to have a sense of personal property or how to properly interact with people. Her slightly erratic behavior is probably due to being isolated for her entire life. Oh well all just interesting facts now let¡¯s take a look at her bow. Speaking of where in the world did this come from? Never mind I¡¯ll ask later. This¡­ this is not too bad. It¡¯s obviously hand crafted, likely magically assisted from what I can tell. The quality I would rate as moderate but still well done for someone with no training. She probably has some archery related class that helped her with it. I wonder what she uses for arrows, and this string¡­ yep it¡¯s definitely made out of condensed mana. I can say that I am actually impressed. Given the right arrows she could do pretty good with this bow. My thoughts are interrupted by Reiza tugging at my sleeve and firing off several more questions in rapid fire succession. ¡°Mr. Adam¡­ Mr. Adam, Laughing man what is your bow made out of, how is it so nice, why is she sad, do you want me to fix her?¡± ¡°Um thanks, she¡¯s made out of a special wood from near my home, and- wait what do you mean sad and fix?¡± I ask just now processing what she had said. ¡°Its song. Her song is sad because she is damaged, well not damaged yet but she will break soon.¡± There she goes talking about songs again. I still don¡¯t know what all that is about but hearing that my bow is wearing out is not anything new to me. I had known it was wearing out for quite a while now but there wasn¡¯t anyone I had found who would be able to fix it without damaging it more or changing it. ¡°Um how would you fix it? Also if you did try to fix it would it be different from how it is now?¡± I ask not sure what she will say. ¡°Well I would fix it by changing its song, well not really changing it but more¡­ reminding it what it once was just like my tree.¡± Her answer involves no real cutting or changing of my bow so I am left once again trying to decipher her cryptic form of speech involving songs. ¡°Do you promise that no harm will come to it if you do try to fix it?¡± I ask. This question seems to stump her as she stops and thinks hard for a long while ocationaly bringing my bow to her ear and then going back to thinking. After doing that several times she vigorously nods her head, ¡°Yes I promise that no harm will come to her and that she will not change in the way you are afraid of.¡± The words seem to go beyond a simple promise as a weight settles in the air between us. What was that? Was it something like a fey oath? Did I accidentally just push her into a binding contract? Could it be that her word carries weight like that? I would guess so judging by this feeling. I will have to tell the others because this could cause some real trouble if we¡¯re not careful. While I a pondering over the implications of what just happened Reiza brings my bow up to her mouth and softly begins to hum to it. At first the melody is a little¡­ broken or disjointed for lack of a better term. This continues repeating several times and soon it almost seems like my bow is humming the melody back. What is this? Is it some kind of magic? Is this the songs she keeps talking about? If that really is the song that my bow is making I can tell what she means when she says it is sad and need to be fixed. After both Reiza and the bow are humming the same melody she slowly begins to change hers. Repeating herself over a dozen times the melody slowly shifts over into something much happier and more lively. After repeating herself several times with the final version of the melody she stops and listens to the bow for a few moments before nodding and holding it out to me. Looking it over there is no real outward change to my bow except for possibly it looking a little shinier and maybe a little less scraped up so with bated breath I reach out to take it from her. The instant I wrap my hand around the grip I can feel the difference. It isn¡¯t really anything that I would be able to point out but it is more just something I can feel. The bow feels healthier and¡­ yes it feels happy. I had been using it for so long that I couldn¡¯t tell there was a problem but whatever Reiza did the bow feels exactly like it did on the day I first got it. ¡°H-how is this possible? What did you do?¡± I ask my voice shaking with repressed emotion. The bond between weapon and user runs deep so the service Reiza just did for me has rocked me to the core. She just smiles as if she knows what is going on in my head, for all I know she might be able to tell, and replies, ¡°I fixed her song. She had forgotten what she once was so I helped to remind her.¡± ¡°I- I don¡¯t understand. How could humming fix it like this?¡± I ask still confused. Reiza seems to think for a while before responding as if weighing her words carefully to not give out too much information. ¡°Something is its song. Change the song change it. I changed her song.¡± The explanation must have made sense to Lilly since I hear her gasp quietly from off to the side. I make a mental note to speak with her later. Bowing deeply to Reiza I thank her gratefully. ¡°Thank you lady Reiza you have done me¡­ a great service today.¡± Not know quite what else to say my mind lands on the first thing I can think of and I regret it the moment the words leave my lips. ¡°So¡­ uhhh¡­ why are you naked?¡± Damit Will! She looks at me seeming to either not understand the question or wonder why I asked, possibly both. ¡°Naked? What do you mean?¡± She asks. Out of the possible responses I could have gotten that one I should have expected. Now I have a dilemma on my hands. How to explain cloths to someone who obviously has no concept of the reason people wear them. ¡°Umm¡­ well¡­ you see¡­¡± I flounder for a bit trying to come up for something before deciding to just wing it, ¡°Look at us we are all wearing cloths. Most people wear them because¡­ because they just do. Cloths can be pretty and they help to keep you both dry and warm while keeping it so others don¡¯t see you naked. They also usually have pockets to hold all of your stuff so you don¡¯t have to carry them.¡± There I think that explanation was pretty good¡­ and obviously it wasn¡¯t because it just seems to make Reiza more confused. She sits there deep in thought for a long while pondering what I said before speaking, ¡°I still don¡¯t see why I should wear them. I can keep warm and dry on my own with magic. I already have something to carry all my stuff, and why would I worry about someone else seeing me like this? None of the animals care and they don¡¯t wear cloths, except the drakes. The drakes wear armor like metal man does.¡± I¡­ I really have no way to explain this. Thinking about how to explain why people wear cloths is like trying to explain why people breath. It is something that is just so natural that it is beyond my ability to explain. More confused at trying to explain the issue than anything else I decide to just give up and simply shrug in response. ¡°Well I hope we meet again Mr. Adam.¡± She says happily and just like that she is gone leaving me standing there awkwardly holding a masterfully restored bow and contemplating whether it would be better to be struck by lightning or simply sink into the ground and disappear forever. Suddenly I remember the bow she had given me and look around trying to see where it had gone but just like how it had appeared the bow like Reiza was gone in a blur of motion. Mya POV If I had to describe Reiza in a single word I¡¯m not sure I could do it. Based on her attitude and actions I might say strange. She keeps flipping between acting almost child like and wise beyond her years. It is a little disconcerting to see the disparity between the two modes so strange would definitely qualify. She is also very¡­ pretty and her voice¡­ when she sings¡­ it¡¯s beautiful, so I guess I could also describe her as beautiful. She is also very powerful. Her movements are so fast that I can¡¯t track them and her magic¡­ the way she can just change things by singing, or well humming to them is beyond amazing. With all these differing descriptions of her in my head and the odd way she acted with each of the others I had absolutely no idea what to do when Reiza appeared in front of me. I also definitely wasn¡¯t prepared for the way she looked at me. It was the kind of look you give a person you are almost certain that you know but can¡¯t place how it is you know them. That look seemed to confuse Reiza more than me since she obviously had been isolated and alone up to this point. Finally most of all I wasn¡¯t, not in any way whatso ever, prepared for the first thing she said to me. ¡°Pretty.¡± It was a whisper almost as if she hadn¡¯t meant to say anything at all. The complement made me blush a deep shade of scarlet and I could already hear the others laughing at me in my head. What¡¯s going on here? Why would a simple complement make me react like this? I don¡¯t- she- no way- it- why is she suddenly so close? While I was floundering in my own head Reiza had moved again and was now so close as to be almost chest to chest with me. Her eyes were closed and there was a happy and contented smile on her face. Still off balance and confused the only response I seemed capable of was embarrassment so my face heated up a little bit more. When Reiza finally opened her eyes to look at me I was lost for a moment in those luminous purple orbs that reminded me of the night sky and almost missed what she said next. ¡°I like your song. It is pretty just like you.¡± ¡°I- uh¡­ I- I like your tattoos.¡± I blurt out through my stuttering. It had been an instinctual reaction to need to return a complement and they were one of the first things my frazzled mind had grabbed onto. I mean how are you supposed to respond when someone telling you that you have a pretty song? What is that supposed to mean? Despite all of that I actually do like her tattoos. Some of them are dark and stand out boldly like the spiral on her chest and the swirling belt around her waist, while others are faint like the hexagonal grid that seems to fade in and out across her body and something else that seems to do the same but follows her muscles and veins. Reiza just smiles and nods happily before responding, ¡°Yes. Magic. Very useful.¡± Wait is she saying that she made them all with magic or that the tattoos themselves are magical? One would show that she has excellent control over her ability to mark herself with magic and the other would just be the coolest thing ever. I mean who doesn¡¯t want magical tattoos. Realizing that I am staring while lost in thought I quickly ask, ¡°Do you mean to say that the tattoos themselves are magical?¡± She nods again a little more enthusiastically almost bumping my chest with her head as she is still very close to me. ¡°Soul lock, healing, enhancement, storage, phoenix blessing.¡± She says pointing to each in turn as she describes their functions including the dark phoenix shape on her back that I hadn¡¯t noticed. Amazing! I wonder how she got all of those? Could I get any? I wonder if- ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± A thin scar on her chest just above where her heart should be catches my attention and I reach out to touch it. The instant my fingers make contact with her skin she appears several steps further away from me now holding her tail while looking away with slightly colored cheeks. What was that about? Does she not like to be touched? Wait is she blushing? ¡°Reminder.¡± She mutters. Unsure if I did something wrong or not I hesitantly ask, ¡°Reminder of what.¡± ¡°My first fight.¡± She seems about to stop there but continues, ¡°I was loosing and had to do something terrible to win¡­ to survive. I got stabbed at the end and now the scar reminds me to get stronger. I need to be strong enough to win without doing something terrible again.¡± I¡¯m not really sure what to feel about that. Is it pragmatic? Chilling? Should I feel sad? Whatever the right answer is I don¡¯t know but I guess it getting stronger to avoid needing to do whatever she did again is as good a reason as any. I am about to ask another question about what lead to the fight or what happened when her question brings all the gears turning in my mind to a grinding screeching halt. ¡°Why are you cursed?¡± The responses I have seen others give when told they are cursed is crying, screaming, even anger. My response, ¡° Huuuuu?¡± A long questioning sound of disbelief. ¡°What do you mean cursed? I¡¯m not cursed. I would know if I was cursed.¡± I press defiantly. ¡°Yes you are cursed. Very subtle. Very nasty.¡± Reiza counters. Could I possibly be cursed? No it shouldn¡¯t be possible my holy magic would react to it and if not my blessing should definitely counter it. ¡°How do you know that I¡¯m cursed?¡± I ask trying to find a reason to doubt her. ¡°I can hear it. It¡¯s song is evil and¡­ hungry. I couldn¡¯t at first because it was hiding in your song but now I can.¡± She replies nodding her head as if to confirm her new certainty. ¡°Umm, okay? Where is it then?¡± I ask still not sure weather to believe her or not. In another blur of motion she is standing right in front of me with he finger pressed to my chest¡­ right over the mark of the sun given to me by Radiance. ¡°What are you talking about!¡± I shout anger bubbling inside of me at the notion that she would call this blessing, this gift from my Goddess, a curse. ¡°That¡¯s not a curse it¡¯s a blessing from Radiance.¡± Reiza only shakes her head. My anger continues to grow and I am about to push her away when she speaks again. ¡°I can prove it.¡± I pause my anger still simmering beneath the surface. ¡°How?¡± I ask slowly. At the question she seems to go through a mental argument fighting with herself over what to do next. ¡°I will make a deal with you need to find right words. Will require mana link you will have to accept.¡± After her response she goes quiet again considering the wording of the deal she wants to make. The process obviously carries a lot of weight with the amount of effort she is putting into picking her words. ¡°Very well. If the deal is acceptable I will let you in.¡± I¡¯m not quite sure what made me say that but the seriousness with which Reiza is taking this made me think it could be a wise choice. After a few more moments of consideration she speaks again, ¡°If you let me in you have my word that I will not attempt to harm or deceive you in any way and that my only purpose will be to show you the true nature of that which you carry until the end of this mana link.¡± The words seem to settle as a physical weight in the air and I can tell that if her word is broken there will be major consequences. ¡°Mya¡­ you need to accept this deal. The words she spoke are binding I am sure you can feel it.¡± Lilly states from off to one side. The added reassurance of the woman I have come to call my friend recently helps to ease my mind and without further hesitation I say, ¡°I accept.¡± Reiza nods and starts speaking to me. ¡°Stay still and when you hear the songs do not panic. I will protect you as best as I am able to but it might be a little overwhelming. You must stay focused on me.¡± With that she brings her other hand up to my forehead and I feel a thin stream of the purest mana flowing like a clear stream into my head. Like I had promised I put up no resistance to the intrusion and the world seems to shift around me. The colors change becoming more vibrant with new shades I had never imagined, the feeling of the forest around me shifts from a place that felt pleasant to something that feels truly like home, and the songs, I finally hear the songs. The first one I hear is bright and happy, a tripping tumbling melody of joy and contentment. Immediately I some how just know this song is me. Not just about me but it is me. With this realization all of Reiza¡¯s previously cryptic replies involving songs suddenly make sense. The second song that I hear is definitely not mine and it is¡­ broken. It is a complex symphony containing joy, and sorrow, grim defeats, and great victories, loneliness and companionship and above all a vast gaping emptiness. It is almost as if a large portion of the song has just been ripped out while someone tried to scramble the rest which is slowly being put back together. This is Reiza¡¯s song. ¡°Wha- what happened to you?¡± Just knowing the weight of the burden that holding such a song brings threatens to reduce me to tears but Reiza just smiles sadly. ¡°I was broken but I am fixing it. Someday I will be whole again.¡± For a moment she closes her eyes lost in the mingling of our songs. When she once again opens her eyes she is looking right at me with determination and compassion. ¡°Please know that I do not do this out of malice or pity but from compassion. Do not let what you hear break such a beautiful song. This will be but one note of sadness before it gets lighter again.¡± Her words worry me deeply for what could come next. I had been so sure that she was lying to me or somehow misunderstanding what she heard but after being here seeing the world like she does, after hearing the songs I know she¡¯s not wrong. I can already feel the foundations of my world starting to crack from what I know must be coming but I still have to know the truth. The only thing keeping me going is Reiza¡¯s promise and her song. If she could push on after being so broken then so could I. Looking into her eyes I muster up all of the resolve and nod. She closes her eyes for a moment as a thin stream of mana enters Radiance¡¯s mark and she pulls. My world shatters at the sound of the third song. What comes out of the mark is no blessing. Instead it is a writhing black serpent. Its disgusting oily appearance I eclipsed only by the slime that is its song. Malice, hatred, and hunger. It sings not of a blessing granting power from a Goddess but of devouring ones own soul to fuel both the Goddess and the marked. Any who were gifted this mark would think they were granted power from above when it simply fueled them through their own self destruction. It was a curse. Even with the curse hidden once more the memory of it still tainted me like oil that I would never be able to wash off. Worse than that it had tainted everything before it. All the memories I had gained growing up and of my life in service to the church were now soaked in the oil of lies and set aflame with the embers of betrayal. Slowly I started falling away as I felt my song begin to unravel, then I was jerked to a stop. ¡°No. All is not lost. There is still joy in your song.¡± Reiza¡¯s voice is like iron stopping me from falling away but I still fail to see any light. My song has been consumed by flames and darkness. Feeling only betrayal and despair I turn away from Reiza. I turn away from my song. That is when I hear it. At first it is soft barely above the whisper of the wind but it grows. Reiza is singing. She is singing my song. As she sings I feel our connection deepen and no longer am I just hearing the song but I am now a part of it. In the song I become a ship lost at sea. All around me is darkness as far as I can see. For a time we drift in the darkness despairing at the loss of everything when a small light breaks through the darkness. High overhead a single star burns, its dim light driving back the emptiness just a little. The star is a memory, the first time I ever used healing magic. It is a small light of joy in this dark place, but soon it is joined by another and another. Star after star lights up the darkness around me. A thousand small memories, a thousand small joys that I never appreciated now light the sky. My song has changed what was once a bright and shiny meadow is now a dark sea lit only by the light of a thousand small joys. ¡°You are never truly lost. There will always be light you just need to know where to look.¡± Reiza¡¯s voice echoes softly in my mind, ¡°Let these stars guide your way, fill your sky with them and keep sailing on.¡± As her voice fades away the song starts to close, the vast sea slowly fading away. But just before it all disappears a new star lights the sky. A shining north star unwavering, a star to guide by sits on the horizon. Returning to the world is a jarring experience. The colors all seem a little too dim and everything a little too quiet. I miss seeing the world as Reiza does and hearing the songs it sings but at the same time I know I am not ready for something like that quite yet. As the world slowly resolves itself around me I find myself sitting on the ground surrounded by my friends. They all look worried and concerned for me so I manage to scrape up a sad and slightly forced smile. ¡°I¡¯m going to be alright¡­ I think. It will take time and I still have a lot to work through but I should be okay.¡± My words seem to comfort them slightly and they all let out sighs of relief before thee avalanche of questions come barreling in. ¡°What happened?¡± ¡°What did you see?¡± ¡°What did she show you?¡± ¡°What is it like to do a mana link?¡± ¡°Whoa, whoa, everybody stop please, I can¡¯t answer you all at once. The link was¡­ impossible to describe. I just don¡¯t have the ability to put into words what all she showed me other than that I got to see things the way that she does. I¡¯ll tell you a little more but it will be later I need time to go over it first.¡± I say trying to placate the party while also escape their questions. Turning to Reiza I speak again, ¡°You can¡¯t get rid of the curse can you.¡± It is more of a statement than a question. The brief glance I had gotten of her giving me a small understanding of her nature. In response she shakes her head. Before the rest of the party protest she starts to speak. ¡°Not hear. This is not a place for such deals to be made. If you want to make deals you must come to my home.¡± A long black feather cut through with lines of red appears in her hand as she extends it to me. ¡°Bring this to me in the heart of the forest if you wish to make a deal. The rest of you are welcome to come.¡± Facing us all now she concludes, ¡°For those seeking a bargain or answers to questions I will see you again in The Twilight Grove.¡± With that she walks over to the tree and picks up a large dark egg. Holding it tightly in her arms she starts walking toward the edge of the clearing. ¡°Wait!¡± I shout just before she reaches the tree line. She pauses turning back to face me with one eyebrow quirked in question. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I ask. A sly smile lights her face and I know the answer even before she gives it. ¡°Secret. Not Telling.¡± With that she vanishes once more in a blur of motion. 24: A Place to Call Home ¡°So that is what it is like to talk to other people! I think I can see now why they all seem to like being around each other. They were all so different and talking to them was so much fun, but they seemed a little weird. First why did they have to be so slow? I mean I was in a bit of a rush to meet them as they were interesting but when I rushed them, they didn¡¯t seem to be able to keep up. Is that normal or was it me? Also I¡¯m not sure if they were just really surprised or if they were rather dumb. I have a feeling it might have been me but I don¡¯t know-¡° I was cut off by a pulse of suppressed irritation from Mel that made me realize a few things. I had been talking out loud so that I could share my thoughts with her but in my excitement, I had been speaking as fast as I could which was making it hard for Mel to keep up with me. She wasn¡¯t mad because I was talking, in fact she implied that she enjoyed it when I spoke to her, she was just irritated that I wasn¡¯t allowing her any time to respond or reflect on what I was saying. Taking a deep breath, I tried to settle my excitement a little before speaking at a more normal pace. ¡°Sorry Mel I didn¡¯t realize I was doing that. Now that I think about it I might have been doing that to Lilly and the others as well. Overall, I think the meeting went well but the whole experience was more than a little strange for me. At first, I was super excited to see other people especially since I was able to tell that they were following the rules. I really wanted to talk to them and learn everything about them but I feel like I was so easily distracted. They all had so many things that I hadn¡¯t seen before and plus the new class is still something I haven¡¯t learned how to manage yet so that was another distraction. One thing that was a little strange was that as I talked with them it felt like things were being plucked inside of my missing memories. I found myself responding a few times with an answer that was perfect, but it would come from a part of me that I didn¡¯t know was there. Perhaps I interacted with others in that way before and was only able to glean those hints of wisdom due to new interactions? Even with that though it wasn¡¯t the biggest surprise that came up. Each of the people were interesting in their own way. Lilly is a pretty devoted druid as far as I can tell but she has a serious problem and I think I know what favor she will ask from me the next time we meet. I don¡¯t entirely know why I have the desire to make deals with people but that too might be something from my past that I am yet to rediscover. I seem to have a deeply ingrained desire to help people get what they want but at the same time I feel obligated to charge some sort of price for it. I think that might be why I was reluctant to share much information with them because doing so without a price would cause something bad to happen. The metal man was a strange one for sure. He wore a shell, but it didn¡¯t seem to be a part of him, well not completely. It was connected to him by magic. He said it was like the shells that the drakes wore but his seemed pretty weak, I do hope it gets better. He was probably the hardest one to pin down and I really don¡¯t know if he will come to meet me again and if he does I¡¯m not sure what he would ask for. Now the other one¡­ Adam, I think it was, seemed pretty fun. He made a few jokes and had a really pretty bow. I¡¯ll tell you Mel his bow made mine look like just a collection of sticks! I thought mine was good but I was glad to see something that was truly amazing so that I can make my next one better. After seeing his bow and learning how they should sing I think I am getting close to being ready to make use of the branch the old heart tree gave me. I think I will make one more practice attempt and then try to make use of that gift. The real shock of the meeting came from Mya. Just looking at her triggered all sorts of things in the missing part of me. I could have sworn that we had met before but apparently not. I am a pretty distinctive person after all so I would hope that she remembered me. As it seemed fairly clear that we hadn¡¯t met before it must be something else. I would almost say that I had met someone very similar to her but that doesn¡¯t feel right. Something inside me just tells me that she is really important. She had a song that was beautiful and happy and I feel really bad that I was forced to change that due to her being cursed and all that. You know I think that may have been my first real bargain. She gained the knowledge and proof that she really was cursed but had to pay the price of carrying that knowledge and trying to deal with it. I know it almost broke her but that strange part of me I still can¡¯t find was able to help me guide her to a point where she wasn¡¯t completely lost. I really enjoyed helping her but in the process of doing so I got these really strange feelings. It was all warm and tingly and it made me want to help her more but I don¡¯t know what it means. Do you have any idea what all that was about Mel?¡± After rambling for a while I finally come to a point where I need to ask Melody a question. Feelings and that kind of stuff are all so new to me what with missing my memories and all so I often lack the words or ability to know what I am feeling. In response to my question Mel just sends feeling of great amusement and the sense that it is at my expense. ¡°Hey that¡¯s not fair! Don¡¯t be like that! You know what, fine keep your secrets I¡¯ll figure it out just you wait and see!¡± I shout while Mel just keeps laughing. ¡°Putting that aside there were two very important issues that did come up during that meeting. First it has become clear that the missing parts of my past are far more important than I have realized and it is time for us to start trying to find some answers. There is knowledge there that has both importance and power. If I want to be my best me I will need to start getting some of that back. The next issue is that I told them to meet me in my home. I know that the entire forest is like a home to me but there is still not really a true place that I call home. The closest would be the Twilight Grove but even then, that place isn¡¯t really mine. I feel like I need a place that I can claim truly as my own and I would like that to be the grove. I don¡¯t really know how I could claim it but I have a few ideas.¡± Several days pass by rather quickly as I travel back towards the Twilight Grove. Most of the time is spent talking with Mel and trying to analyze everything that happened during the meeting. I also go into more detail about the plans that I have to claim the grove. I feel like the talking helps to settle my mind a bit and I notice myself growing calmer and less erratic. I also spend time taking care of the phoenix egg, feeding Mel, and trying to get a better understanding of my Spellsinger abilities. So far I have been able to figure out that the class has helped to attune me to the world to a much greater degree than I had been before. It is this attunement that allows me to hear the songs that each thing has. After being able to hear those songs I am able to link to them and encourage them to change. I still struggle with the changing part as I tend to try and imprint my own desires onto things but I can sense there is a deeper level to the changes. I will need to become better at using the ability or merge more fully with it but I feel that something is trying to guide me to make the changes in a specific direction. At long last the mesa that sat at the heart of the forest came into view. The sight of it stirred up many emotions within me. Most of them I didn¡¯t understand but among them was definitely relief to be back as well as a little bit of sadness. The latter didn¡¯t make much sense to me so I decided to just ignore it for the time being and to focus on the happiness of coming back to the place I had started to think of as home. Upon entering the Twilight Grove for the first time since the start of my adventures I was once again struck by the ethereal beauty of the place. This time rather than just getting lost in the sight of the beautiful but mostly bare cave I looked at it with a critical eye. The cavern was large with the crumbling temple on one side and a small stream cutting across the center and forming a small island that used to house the heart tree. Taking in every detail I started to ponder how I could turn this place into my home. ¡°Well Mel what do you think? I like this place but it¡¯s still not quite fit to be called home yet and I can tell it doesn¡¯t belong to me yet. I¡¯m fairly certain that if we do it right then this place will become ours. I¡¯m not sure of everything that we will need to do so I say we just start working and hope it becomes clear as we make some progress.¡± Discussing my ¡®plan¡¯ with Mel helps to break me out of the rut my thoughts have fallen into and a small pulse of approval from Mel helps me to think I am going in the right direction. ¡°Alright so now we just need to figure out everything we need to make the place feel like home. First would probably be somewhere to sleep since I don¡¯t want to just lay on the ground. We could go for something simple out of stone with my earth magic but that doesn¡¯t seem to fit the feel of this place so I think we should go for a house made from a tree. I should be able to grow it hollow and we can work on the interior a little later. I want to place that over by the temple so we can section off that space. Next, what should we do with the center island? I think we should leave it as it is for when we finally make you into the next heart tree. That will be a good place for you to be and will allow you to grow as big as possible. I think I might either make the island smaller or the moat around it larger. If I do that I can add a second smaller island between it and the main area. That would be a good place for me to meet others that come here so that I can do business with them before they could have the chance to get too close to you.¡± The idea of other people getting right up to Mel once she became the new heart tree bothered me immensely which lead to the proposal of the small island. This idea was very appealing to me since it would allow for me to meet other people while off of the main patch of land but still have some separation between Mel and the meetings. The place would be ideal for making deals since having the heart tree close by would allow for some of its power to be used to ensure that both parties upheld their end of the deal. ¡°If we really are going to do that though I am going to have to rework how the water flows through here, although I would probably have to do that anyway to do the other thing I want. The last idea that I really had to make this place our new home was to turn most of it into a garden. I loved being in the forest and around all those plants especially in that garden that we found around The Moonlit Tower, that place was sooo beautiful. I really want to turn this place into something like that just better. I have been collecting seeds from all the interesting plants that I have seen along the way so all I will have to do is plant them and change the landscape a bit before growing them. Finally the last thing I can think of is a nice place to bath. It feels really nice to be clean and I do love just sitting in the water, oh also it should be warm I¡¯ll have to find a way to make the water warm so that I can enjoy it more. I do enjoy a cold bath from time to time though so maybe I will make two pools.¡±The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. The last suggestion makes Mel send me feelings of laughter as I go on rambling for a short time. With my ideas for the Twilight Grove finally laid out I look out over the cavern again and slowly start to see what I want it to become. My minds eye paints a beautiful landscape. A garden raised on tiered pillars of earth form a ring around the central two islands. Hidden among the plants and trees are small creeks for irrigation and a few small waterfalls because who doesn¡¯t love a pretty waterfall. Along the back wall a large tree grows next to the remains of the temple, the tree that will soon become my house. The scene is beautiful and I can¡¯t wait to see it come to fruition but there is still one thing that I can¡¯t see quite yet. At the very heart of the grove where Mel will grow is a blank space. I can¡¯t yet see what she will grow to be and a small feeling tells me that she hasn¡¯t quite decided what to become yet. The feeling also tells me that the answer will only come when it is finally time for her to grow. ¡°Alright Mel let¡¯s get to work!¡± I chirp happily. With a vision of what I want in my mind I start walking around the grove to mark out boundaries of where I want everything to go. Using one of the last sticks I have in my storage I start marking out where I want the towers of earth to be and where the streams will go. Along the way I begin planting seeds of different plants and trees. Most of them are pretty while others have fruits that I really enjoyed and a few are even poisonous. Those last ones I spread out among the other plants. At first I thought it would be a good idea to put all the poisonous plants together but now I feel like that would be too much bad energy all in one place so I spread them out with the other plants to balance things out. While it is hard to tell time inside the grove due to the lack of sun the process of marking and planting takes me days. When I am finished and standing on the heart trees island I finally realize just how much work I am going to have to do to make my dream become a reality. Just the amount of mana it would take to grow all the plants was enormous not to mention how much it would take to reshape the environment to the extent that it needs to be. ¡°Well Mel we may have a slight problem. There is no way I am going to be able to do all of this with just the mana that I have in my mana pool. I am going to need to do it all at once or the water flow will be even harder to fix so we need to find a way to store mana up. I could draw on the forest¡¯s reserves but I feel like using that to create something personal would be wrong and I also don¡¯t want to be in debt to the forest for that much power. So how can we get that much power?¡± I ask more to put my thoughts into words than to actually ask for Mel¡¯s assistance. Mel responds to my musings with a small huff of irritation before sending a string of memories and images across our bond. I watch as scenes of me manipulating the ambient mana flash across my vision ending with the scene where I took over Lilly¡¯s spell by flooding it with my own mana. The scenes give me a flash of inspiration and the missing piece of what will truly make the grove mine clicks into place. ¡°It¡¯s about my mana isn¡¯t it!¡± I shout before continuing. ¡°I was able to use all those spells and even steal Lilly¡¯s because I overpowered them with my own mana! If I want this place to become mine then I will have to do what I did to Lilly and fill this place with my mana. That will give me enough power to begin the reshaping and soak this place with my power so that I can claim it!¡± Looking around my enthusiasm begins to drop slightly. ¡°This place sure is huge. It is going to take a lot of mana to get this done.¡± I pause for a few moments before sighing, ¡°Well I guess there is no time like the present to start I just need to get a few things in place and then we can begin.¡± Sitting down in the exact center of the heart tree island I take the phoenix egg and set it in front of me. Focusing intently I shape some mana and after a few moments a small fire starts around the egg. Fire is still really hard for me to make since I don¡¯t understand it yet but this is something I can do. The small blaze is sustained by my mana and after a few adjustments I am able to get the size and temperature to a point where the egg seems happiest. I also put out enough liquid mana to surround Mel in a small bubble and set it to keep drawing on my pool to sustain itself. With these preparations in place I get ready to start filling the cavern with mana. I could do it by repeatedly emptying my own mana pool but that strikes me as a bad idea. I want to be able to respond to any threats that may appear so I decide to only empty a quarter of my pool to start and then redirect all of my regeneration into filling the room. Using this method would allow me to keep up my reserves for an emergency but still make the fastest progress possible. To maximize my regeneration I would need to go deep into meditation thus the need for my preparations. As I started to sink into meditation I focused on drawing mana through my channels and bringing it to the surface of my skin. Unknown to me beads of mana started to coat my skin like drops of sweat before evaporating into a vibrant shimmering mist. Once I finished emptying a quarter of my internal pool I focused on my regeneration and forcing it to act in the same way as I had just expended part of my internal pool. The world around me faded from my perception as I sunk deeper into meditation than ever before. I found myself once more in my mental plane but this time it felt a little different. Rather than feeling like I was inside myself I felt almost like an outside observer. I could see a small thread of mana representing my regeneration flowing into a glowing figure that represented me while three threads flowed from the body to the egg Mel and the surrounding environment. While in this stat I was able to notice something that while not really a problem was somewhat concerning to me. I was so deep in meditation that my regeneration was starting to outpace the ability of my channels to output the mana. Deciding that this would be a good time to make some more adjustments to my body I directed mana to start flowing into the enhancement matrix and watched as a small amount of mana began to saturate to figure in front of me. The amount was small due to me not wanting to overdo it like the skill had warned and I was careful to watch that none of the cells were oversaturated with mana. I regulated the flow so that the flow in was just slightly less than what the cells were absorbing and utilizing. After playing around with the enhancement matrix for a little while and tweaking it to my satisfaction I began to work on my mana channels. I needed them to be improved in a way such that they could move larger amounts of power much faster or the process of claiming the Twilight Grove would take too long. From my previous experiences in this area I knew that I could no longer just expand the size of the channels so how could I improve them? A large number of ideas passed through my mind before I decided on one that I thought would be the best. My channels were currently set up similar to pathways for water to flow along so I needed a way that would allow for that water to flow faster. I couldn¡¯t expand they¡¯re size so I would need to increase the flow rate. If I wanted to do that in the closed system that was my mana channels I would need to increase to pressure of the system. Following that logic if I wanted to increase the pressure I would need to reinforce the system. Right now my mana channels were similar to my circulatory system in the way that they were slightly membranous tunnels filled with liquid and increasing the pressure under the current design would cause them to burst. I needed something stronger and since I knew that mana could pass through solid objects with my understanding of earth magic I decided to make the membrane surrounding my channels and core solid. Drawing again on my understanding of earth magic I looked at dozens upon dozens of mineral designs before deciding on one that looked the best. My chosen material was something called mananite and it had quite strange properties. In ist natural state it became nearly unbreakable so long as it was suffused with power. The mana filled the molecular bonds and kept them from being shifted. However when the material was supplied with mana at a particular frequency it became much easier to shape and mold. This material seemed like the best to me because it could become indestructible with my own power yet still ablow me to move around by making parts of it pliable. Starting with my core I began the excruciatingly slow process of building a mananite crystal structure particle by particle with pure mana. For this process I drew from my reserves still allowing my regeneration to fill the cavern. The process was laborious as I wanted no mistakes to be made during this alteration and even in the timeless void of deep meditation the process seemed to take forever. At long last all of the channels inside of my body including those for my healing and enhancement matrices were encased in a layer of mananite. With that done it was finally time for me to start ramping up the pressure. Going back to my mana core I focused on the spinning liquid and started forcing it to spin faster and faster. As the speed of the liquid in the core increased all of the liquid mana compressed further and forced the mana flowing through my channels to flow even faster. I continued to do this until everything was going about three time the speed it had been before. This I sensed was the current limits of my ability so I stopped and watched happily as my new high flow channels were able to easily keep up with my regeneration. I sensed that they could do much more but to do that I would need to improve my regeneration. Deciding that I might as well try to figure out where my regeneration actually came from I sank deep into my core until I was able to locate the threads of incoming mana. Latching onto the largest of those threads I began to send my consciousness down it. The damn thread was hard as hell to follow. It kept twisting and turning, doubling back and crossing itself. There were multiple times when I got lost and had to start all over again. Curiously after following the thread for some time it left my body. Now more determined than ever to find where all my mana actually came from I doubled down on my efforts to find the source. I followed the thread as it meandered its way through the grove around me and was surprised to see it went into the temple where I had first woken up. Now why would my mana come from this old temple? Is it just because I woke up there or is it something else? This needs further investigation. Following the thread into the temple I watched as it went up the stairs and proceeded to wrap heavily around the alter where I first woke up before traveling on and ending at the large wall of dark crystal. That¡¯s where I first saw what I looked like! Could it be possible that there is something behind the wall? This definitely raises a lot of questions about what this place actually is let¡¯s see if I can follow the thread a little further. Putting action to thought I tried to follow the mana through the crystal. Emphasis here should be put on try because as soon as I tried to follow the trail through the crystal wall a large array of circles and runes flashed into existence and I was blasted back away from the wall. What the hell was that! That thing is protected by some serious magic, I saw at least 15 circles there 15! That level of protection is insane. I don¡¯t think there is any way for me to get through that in this state I will have to go back and try to get through once I finally wake up. With protections like that the mystery of what is behind that wall and what this temple is has definitely shot to the top of my list of things to figure out. I was about to try puzzling out more of the temple when a faint tugging and stirring sensation pulled at my consciousness. Whatever it was it felt important so I followed it. The feeling brought me back to my body and looking around for the source of the feeling my attention was brought to the phoenix egg. The feelings it was sending were a mixture of happy, excited, and panicked. Then new phoenix was ready to hatch but something was wrong. While the fire and mana had nourished its growth the missing connection to its mother was keeping it from attaining the strength it needed to fully hatch. Instinctively I knew that just breaking the egg to get it out would be catastrophic so I started searching through everything I knew that would have enough power focused in life energy to help and came up with one solution. I needed one of the primal songs and it would have to be the song of light. I had felt myself getting close to figuring it out but there was still something missing and now I was on a timer and a short one at that. Knowing that I would not find the missing link while in meditation. The first thing I noticed upon opening my eyes was the oppressive aura of mana filling the cavern. There was so much ambient mana floating around that the cavern could no longer absorb it so it hung in the air like a glittering fog. Guessing that I had to have been out for days if not longer. ¡°Mel I¡¯m back but we don¡¯t have time to go over much right now.¡± I say hurriedly as I get to my feet. My muscles are sore and aching from sitting so long but I ignore the slight pain and send a pulse through my healing matrix to fix the issue. I can feel major changes in my body and the notification light is pulsing incessantly trying to get my attention but I ignore all of it. ¡°Alright Mel time is short and I think I¡¯ll need your help on this. We have a song to sing, a phoenix to save, and a home to build. Let''s get started.¡± 25: The Singer and the Looking Glass ¡°Mel we don¡¯t have much time. The phoenix is trying to hatch but it doesn¡¯t have enough energy to do so. If we want her to survive then we need to work together to develop the song of light. It is the only thing that would have enough creation energy in it to let her hatch without any adverse affects. We need to compile everything that we know about light and use all of our knowledge to fill in the blanks left behind.¡± After telling Mel what needed to be done I tried to put my mind towards piecing together everything that I knew about light but my thoughts were jumbled. Fear clouded my mind with the knowledge that I was running out of time. Mana weighed down on me with an intensity that I had never felt before. The power around me made me feel nearly invincible further distracting me with images of what I could do with it. No! I can¡¯t let these distractions get the better of me! The scar I wear was gained because I was too weak to master my power. If I let myself be stopped by fear or be mislead by overconfidence then I will fall right back into that trap! This is my mind my power and it will bend to my will! With a deep breath the panic fell away and thoughts of grandeur were dissipated. My mind cleared and I was able to put my focus towards the task at hand. What is light? What does it do? The first thing to come to mind is the sun. It provides light to the world. With it there is a cycle of day and night. The light pushes back the darkness but it also gives more than that. With the light comes life. All of the plants I saw while outside needed that light to survive. They took the energy that is gave and were able to grow. So light is connected to life but there is more to it than that. When I was laying in the clearing where I learned about the wind it burned me. So light can bring life but it can also bring harm to things. That¡¯s another piece of the puzzle but there has to be more to it. I am getting close but there are a few things I am missing. As my thoughts started to slow Mel began to send images to me trying to help. A large tree. A blinding radiance filled with warmth. A long shadow. An empty crater. What do all of these represent? The first two are obvious I already drew those same conclusions. How does a shadow connect to light? Wouldn¡¯t that fall into the song of darkness? Also isn¡¯t that the crater where Cindra died? That is definitely part of the song of darkness so why would Mel show them to me unless¡­ I start running the song of darkness through my head again reviewing each line and trying to find its meaning. As I went through it a realization started to dawn on me. The song of darkness is all about something reaching the end of the cycle! If the cycle has an end then it must begin somewhere. Light and dark aren¡¯t total opposites like I first thought they were. Light is just the beginning of the path while dark is at the end of that path. The two are at different ends but are still connected and neither can exist on its own. As the realizations started to come to me I could feel my understanding of the world deepen. Pieces in my mind twisted and began falling into place as a new melody that had always been just outside of my hearing began to hum through the air. This melody spoke of creation the birth of new things and infinite possible beginnings. I let the melody wash over and around me listening to its ebbs and flows. The longer I listened to it the more I began to feel my body resonate with it. The song could feel all of the potential for life within the Twilight Grove and it wanted to start something new. With my entire body in tune with the new song I started to move. Every motion grabbed onto the power within the grove twisting and moving it to where it needed to be. My movements were my own but at the same time they were the song¡¯s, two parts working in harmony. Clouds of power swirled around the room and just as the first sparks of new life began to thrum through the ground I opened my mouth and began to sing. Darkness fades with dawns first light A world bathed in warmth and life Out of shadow¡¯s hold the new day¡¯s born Its time to rise so lift your head If your path just starts or continues on It¡¯s not the end So take a step don¡¯t be weighted down The day has dawned and new things wait See them all and know that life continues on From dark to light the cycle flows From each death a new life grows The end has passed and the start is here A brand new day in the endless flow It may be cruel, It might bring pain Life¡¯s not free from darkest days But the sun still shines, It will always rise To bring new hope to empty eyes The light of life, the warmth of hope The cycle turned to bring new life As I sang everything in the grove moved. The stars and moon lighting the cavern glowed brighter than ever, the clouds of mana shone with a new brilliance before swirling into ancient patterns. Circle after circle formed all across the grove before pulsing with light. In that flash something new was born. The Twilight Grove had transformed from a place that was only a reminder of what had died before into something beyond anything I could have imagined. Every thought every image that I had believed the grove could have become was realized and surpassed. The song of light had used all of the power I had put into the room to give birth to something new. I was still standing on the old heart tree¡¯s island but outside of that was a garden that was beyond explanations. Quiet creeks and waterfalls snaked through the new hills and trees. Flowers in full bloom wafted pleasing scents through the air. A great tall tree hollowed out shone with an inviting light. The home that I had imagined that I didn¡¯t know I had been longing for had finally been born. A sharp cracking sound brought my attention to my feet where the phoenix egg was shaking cracks spreading across its surface. The song had not only given me the home I had dreamed about it had also give the phoenix, my phoenix, the strength to hatch. With a few more shakes and sharp cracking sounds the egg exploded outward and a new phoenix was born. She was beautiful. Standing only about two hand spans tall she was covered in fiery feathers. Reds and oranges flowed into bright yellows and the smallest flickers of flames traced along her body.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. Instantly upon laying eyes on her I felt a deep connection snap into place. The bond was not like that seen between a mother and child but like one that is between two best friends who would do anything for each other. The bond was like the one that I had with Mel. Falling to my knees I quickly pulled her to me and cuddled her to my chest. The phoenix rubbed affectionately against my cooing happily as new thoughts and images from its mind came to me. ¡°Haha I¡¯m so happy that you¡¯re okay.¡± I managed to get out between laughs and a few tears of relief. Her feathers wer so soft and a little ticklish. Between that and the feelings of love and joy being sent across our link made it a little hard to focus. ¡°I should probably name you shouldn¡¯t I? I don¡¯t think it would be right to keep calling you phoenix now that you are hatched, but what should it be? Hmmm¡­ you need something good.¡± I stopped to think for a few moments. Memories of everything that had happened to bring the two of us to this point flickered through my mind and finally the perfect name came to me. ¡°I¡¯m going to name you Ember. You were the last spark in a dying fire but from that one small spark new life and flames were born. Together the two of us will make sure your fire burns long and bright. So how about it?¡± Ember cooed and chirped happily sending thoughts of agreement happiness and then hunger to me causing me to laugh again. ¡°Well I guess you would be hungry after all of that. Let¡¯s see what do I have that you can eat?¡± Pausing I focused on the knowledge of phoenixes that Cindra had given me. ¡°Okay so it seems that you can eat just about anything but until you are older and strong enough to hunt on your own I will just be feeding you mana.¡± Willing a small ball of my liquid mana to appear I was slightly startled by how fast and easily it appeared. Recovering quickly so to not loose the ball of mana I refocused and offered it to Ember who eagerly consumed it. Letting out a happy chirp and snuggling tighter into me she promptly fell asleep. ¡°Haha I guess you were rather tired after all you have been through today. You just sleep now. I should probably check the notifications I have been getting before it gets any angrier at me.¡± I whisper with a soft chuckle. Looking down to the corner of my vision at the light angrily blinking there I open my notifications. Ding¡­ Meditation has reached level 15! Mana Channels has evolved into High Flow Channels! High Flow Channels ¨C You have changed the nature of you mana channels. Now encased in a layer of mananite your mana channels have become more resilient and are able to handle a much greater pressure allowing for faster mana flow. With their current design they are nearly indestructible. The pressure you are able to put them through is up to you. Current bonus ¨C 3x faster mana flow. High Flow Channels has reached level 18! Mana Manipulation has reached level 39! Coalescence has reached level 20! Liquid Healing Matrix has reached level 22! Spellweaver has reached level 25! Enhancement Matrix has reached level 9!
Quest Alert: The Endless Song A song of incomprehensible power that bends the very laws of nature; it is beyond your current understanding. To know this song you must know the 6 primal aspects of nature. Feel them, listen to them, and understand them. - Understand Fire (x) - Understand Wind (Complete) - Understand Water (Complete) - Understand Earth (Complete) - Understand Light (Complete) - Understand Darkness (Complete) Reward: The Endless Song
Spellsinger has reached level 11! Druidic Defender has reached level 23! Partial Domain created! Partial Domain ¨C A domain is you seat of power. In this place the natural world has been saturated with your power and has become deeply connected to you. With this connection mana regenerates 10x faster and spells are 2x more potent while inside the domain. The holder is also able to use their influence to bend the natural environment to their will and is even able to affect others ability to use or access mana. As you do not yet have the ability to fully claim The Twilight Grove you are only given a partial domain. With this you are able to regenerate mana at 3x speed and experience a 1.25x boost to spell potency. You are not yet able to bend the environment or affect others ability to use mana. Oh wow that really is a lot of gains I earned over the past¡­ however long it¡¯s been since I went into meditation. I¡¯ve definitely grown a lot stronger with the changes that I made to my mana channels. With the bonuses I get for increased mana flow I will be able to make spells faster. I am also on the cusp of understanding enough to use the endless song. I can feel it at the back of my mind now and the only piece I am still missing is fire. This bit about domains is also interesting. It is obviously something very powerful and I guess it is what came from mee trying to claim the Twilight Grove but I¡¯m not quite sure why it says I can¡¯t claim it yet. Maybe it is because I haven¡¯t yet completed the quest given to me by the old heart tree. I will need to think about that. I know I still have to defeat the four queens but something tells me that I am still not ready for that yet. Speaking of my gains from meditation what was the deal with that crystal wall in the temple I think I should head over there and see if I can figure anything out. It is where my mana is coming from so it is something that I should know about. ¡°Alright Mel you were a huge help in getting me to finish the song of light but now its time for our next adventure. I learned something interesting about that old temple I woke up in and we need to go investigate. Hey what¡¯s up with you?¡± Just as I am about to stand up to head to the temple I notice Mel has gone through some changes. Where the was once just a small thread of crystal on Mel¡¯s seed there is now only a little of the original seed left while the rest is crystal. The crystal has grown around her in shimmering shades of purple black and white with streaks of blue. It feels nothing like a regular crystal would feeling smooth, soft, and almost alive. In response to my question Mel just sends feelings of completeness and reassurance. Not really sure what else to do I can only shrug and take it that Mel would know what is best for her. With my curiosity sated for now I turn and walk to the temple where everything began. Walking into the dark room a confusing mix of emotions fills me as I see the murals wrapped around the wall and the alter where my life as I know it began. More than being happy, sad, frightened, or excited to see it the room just makes me feel confused as the old questions of my origins come to the surface. Trying not to get lost in thought I force myself to focus on the dark crystal wall that stands across from me. It still looks exactly the same as it did on the day I woke up to see my own frightened reflection in it. I now know that there is something more to it and determined to find out what it it I cross the room until I am able to place one shaky palm against its surface. Balancing Ember in one arm I focus all of my attention on the feeling of the wall against my hand. At first it feels just like it did on that first day, cold solid, and unmoving. Knowing there must be something more I let myself fall into a light meditation. As my mind clears I feel a small pulse of energy flit through my awareness. Excited I try to follow the pulse but lose it as I fall out of my trance. Pouting slightly at my mistake I focus on recentering and calming myself to once again enter a near meditative state. With my mind quieting down I am able to quickly feel the energy pulsing through the wall once again. This time I am able to stay focused and begin using some of my own magic to follow the pulses. I let my power twist and flow through the crystal until my senses come to a small tightly packed ball of energy. The ball pulses and hums and something inside me whispers the word ¡®key¡¯. So this is some kind of key? If so it must be what opens the path to whatever is beyond this door. I almost feel like the key is trying to sing to me¡­ or maybe it wants me to sing to it? Yeah that feels more like the right answer, now I only need to find the right notes. Focusing on my Spellsinger abilities I let myself resonate with the world around me and open myself to the melodies of the world. Withing the rising tide of songs I am able to pick out and isolate a single one quieter and overshadowed by the rest. Focusing on that one song I let it grow in my mind before I begin to hum the melody it projects. The effect is almost instantaneous. A large pulse of energy flows through the crystal and I pull my hand away as I feel it start to change on a fundamental level. Just looking at it there doesn¡¯t seem to be any change but I know that something is different. Hesitantly reaching out one finger I tap the crystal before quickly withdrawing my hand. Where I had touched it ripples form like they would on the surface of a lake. The ripples flow over the crystal before it once again settles to once again look like a perfectly smooth wall. ¡°Okay that is pretty weird Mel. It felt almost like I was touching water. I think that we should be able to cross through it now. Are you ready?¡± Getting a hesitant affirmation from Mel I firm up my resolve and step through the wall. It feels like stepping through a sheet of water only the water has no temperature and none of clings to you after you get out. The thick liquid feeling of it makes me shiver slightly as I get my first look at what was behind the wall. The room is small dark and perfectly circular. The only light comes from the nine archways sealed by panes of smokey glass and a large circular section of the floor that is made of the same material. The only thing visible through the fog that fills each is a large glowing symbol. If the temple outside had felt old this place felt ancient. The air carried a feeling of timelessness and a heaviness of barely restrained power. Drawn by a feeling of familiarity I walked around the small room lost in a haze of missing memories. Each time I would walk past an arch marked with a symbol a name or possibly a title would come to me and I instinctively knew what it was. At the first arch ¡°Alpha.¡± Next was a symbol of a winding path ¡°The Traveler.¡± Then the symbol of a lute ¡°The Musician.¡± A long thin sword ¡°The Warrior¡± An open book ¡°The Researcher.¡± A small hut ¡°The Chief.¡± A cracked heart ¡°The Lover.¡± A dying tree ¡°The Defiler.¡± An empty circle ¡°The Hollow.¡± And finally, the symbol glowing on the floor ¡°Omega.¡± Questions swirled through my mind and I sunk to my knees unable to process everything at once. I stared at the large symbol for Omega on the floor and with my head spinning I asked. ¡°What is this place? What do each of these symbols really mean? Why do I know the title associated with each path? Who do these titles belong to?¡± My questions go unanswered in the silent room, my memory still just as blank and lacking of answers as the smokey panes of glass surrounding me.