《Free Flight》 Prologue There is blood everywhere. In the middle of the pool of blood is the half eaten body of a man, his eyes glazed over. The bear had its fill of his body and left the rest of him there. Surprisingly, it ate just enough of him to keep him alive. The pain of being eaten alive was unimaginably horrible which made him feel some relief once the chewing stopped. After all, the pain was gone for now and his body was going numb. In the distance, the sound of running from a group of men could be heard coming his way. Leading them was a young woman in her twenties. As she saw him, she gasped and stopped in her tracks. ¡°Search the perimeter and find the animal! Kill it!¡± An officer, who seemed to be leading the group, ordered the men after seeing the half dead body. The men immediately scattered throughout the forest to kill the ferocious beast. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. There was no medic in the group of men to care for the man. The group of men only brought a first aid kit, just in case. They never believed it would come to this when the lady asked them for help. Another officer approached the man intending to administer first aid but once he saw the state of his body, he turned his head and walked away without saying a word. When the woman saw his face she knew there was no hope. Gathering up here resolve she approached the man, who was unresponsive to the happenings around him. As her crying face got into his field of vision, his eyes finally moved to look at her face clearly. Surprised, the woman couldn¡¯t find any words to say to this stranger who saved her life. After all, he was the one who drew the bear¡¯s attention while she fled. If not for him, she would have been the one lying there in the cold forest, waiting to die a horrific death. ¡°Why¡­ Why would you save me?¡± ¡°B-Because¡­ I¡¯m tired¡± The pain he was in was evident in his voice. His eyes lost the remainder of their luster and he died after uttering those final words, leaving behind the stunned lady. She didn¡¯t understand what he meant, all she could do was be grateful for the new slip on life that he gave her. The bear was eventually hunted down and killed. The woman went back to her loved ones. The incident was reported in the news, talking about how a complete stranger, a hero, saved a young woman in distress. The man¡¯s soul moved on, his only wish in life, unfulfilled. ¡°I wish I could fly!¡± Unbeknownst to him, that wish was about to come true¡­ Chapter 1 - Mother Stend¡¯s array A magic array that envelopes an area where new born children are raised. Its development improved the speed of magical advancement tremendously. First developed by the elven arrayist Stendinar Falkor in the second millennium. He used it to teach his new born children how to understand speech in less than a month, even before their vocal cords fully developed. The array itself uses array techniques along with the knowledge of advanced body and memory magic to impart the knowledge of the parent or whoever controls the array into the minds of those inside it. It works best with newborn children because their mental capabilities aren¡¯t fully developed yet and their mental defenses are almost nonexistent. Which allows for smooth information transference. Through the passage of time, malicious versions of the array have cropped up. Allowing people to turn children into killing machines and slaves. To this day, regulating the array¡¯s use has been difficult. ---- ¡°Why is this happening?¡± A thought rang in his head. He thought it was over when the world went blank. But this¡­ this wasn¡¯t possible. The darkness only lasted for the briefest of moments. After that, his eyes shot open and his senses started to come back to him, bit by bit. However, his body wasn¡¯t the same. It was full of yellow feathers, instead of a mouth there was a beak, instead of arms there were wings and his legs were pitifully skinny. He was on a small nest on a tree branch with a bunch of other birds but his mind had yet to process his current predicament. All he could think about was how he was where he was and what happened for him to be here. Confusion filled his mind, disabling him from checking his surroundings carefully. ¡°I should definitely be dead right now¡± he thought. Not much time passed before he felt very tired and went straight to sleep. When he woke up again he saw a giant bird come towards him, opening his beak forcefully and spilling food into his throat. He tried to struggle but it was all in vain, for he realized that the bird wasn¡¯t that big, it was just that he was very small and weak. Therefore, his resistance went unnoticed by the big bird. Unknowingly, the hunger he didn¡¯t realize he was feeling started to dissipate, replaced by a feeling of satisfaction. After the bird finished feeding him, his body relaxed. He lied down on the nest, allowing himself to sleep soundly. The bird fed the other chicks in the same fashion. This process continued for many days. Finally, one day after feeding as usual, he didn¡¯t go to sleep right away and instead was able to move around a bit, albeit a little awkwardly. After all, his body wasn¡¯t the same and it belonged to a small weak chick. He had accepted his state after a few days and decided to not ponder over it for the time being. He wasn¡¯t going to mull over what he couldn¡¯t control. Instead, he grew very curious about his new body. He wondered why he was able to control it so easily when he was just a human a short time ago. Birds and humans were fundamentally different, just because he knew how to move as a human added nothing to his ability to move as a bird. It was like the difference between writing English and Chinese, both of those writing systems had nothing to do with each other aside from the fact that they were both used for communicating our thoughts. However, their rules and fundamental structure were different. Someone who could write English would still have to learn how to write Chinese from scratch and vise-versa. It was the same for moving, just because he knew how to move as a human he shouldn¡¯t have been able to move as a bird at all. Yet, surprisingly, he could move quiet naturally for a bird of his age. His muscles weren¡¯t yet firm, which was the reason for his awkward movement. Aside from that, he felt completely normal, as if he was always a small young bird. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. Even his vision which was different from a human¡¯s didn¡¯t affect his movement at all. Surprisingly, he could see in color like a normal human. Although, it still took him a few days to get used to his new view of the world. Now that he was able to move about, the lightness of his body made him have a strange feeling of happiness. It was as if he could float in the air without doing anything at all. ¡°I never thought that after all these years, my dream would come true in this way¡± he thought merrily to himself. After all, his biggest dream in his previous life was to fly. While he was busying himself with examining his new body, the mother bird was feeding the other chicks and leaving them to sleep. She would move to each one individually, push her beak down their throats to feed them and then moves on to the next one. When she was done and all the other chicks were sleeping, she put her body in the middle of them to give them warmth while they slept soundly. Only now did she notice the one small chick that was still moving about. She looked at him strangely for a brief moment, before the faintest feeling of a smile could be felt from her expression. When he looked at her, he knew what she was feeling almost instinctively. It was one of the most honest and purest of feelings he had ever seen. Without realizing it, his legs led him to her side. He didn¡¯t know if this was his body¡¯s instinct or his own desire that brought him to her side. He lied there with his other siblings and slept a most peaceful sleep. When he woke up, his mother wasn¡¯t back yet. Taking a look at his siblings, he realized there were four of them in total. ¡°They¡¯re sleeping so soundly¡± he thought to himself. Since he had nothing to do, he started getting a feel for his wings by moving them about. This boring activity didn¡¯t last, before his mother came along to feed them. However, after he was done, he was still full of unspent energy. He decided to try and communicate with his mother, to try and see if he was truly a bird in body and mind. Looking at her, he started chirping while having the thought of saying ¡°mother¡± in mind. To which a reply came from his mother in the form of another chirp. ¡°Hello, little one!¡± Suddenly, the sound of a thought rang in his mind. But, that thought somehow wasn¡¯t his own. It even sounded like a woman¡¯s voice. ¡°Is this my bird mind interpreting her chirps? But this feels¡­ different, somehow. It shouldn¡¯t be like this¡± His judgment told him that this wasn¡¯t natural but he couldn¡¯t exactly figure out the reason. ¡°Moreover, how can she understand what I¡¯m saying in the first place?¡± Confusion clouded his mind. ¡°You are a quick learner, child¡± He heard another thought ring in his mind. Looking over at his mother, he realized that the thought was from her. Appreciation was apparent on her face. He was stunned hearing her ¡°speak¡± such sophisticated and complex words but he didn¡¯t know how to react for a while. He didn¡¯t know whether this was ¡°normal¡± or not. After all, he was also a bird now, so he expected to at least be able to understand the mother bird¡¯s behavior and ways of communication eventually. But for her to speak so casually, was not expected. ¡°How come she isn¡¯t surprised that I know what the word mother means?¡± He asked himself inquisitively. ¡°You should be tired, child¡± The mother told him warmly ¡°Come and sleep¡±. ¡°Um¡­ I¡¯m not tired yet¡± He spoke to her using the same method as before, by using his intentions to voice his thoughts while chirping. The mother was surprised to know that he wasn¡¯t tired but that was only for a moment. ¡°Strong in body and mind¡± she exclaimed ¡°you are gifted, young one¡±. His understanding of the situation was waning more and more. How could this bird know such vocabulary, why did it seem like she took his understanding of her words for granted, even though he was still only a few weeks old, and how could an animal speak using something similar to telepathy? ¡°This is getting very weird¡± He thought. ¡°T-Thank you¡± he told her. ¡°Let me show you a little game I used to play when I was young. The way you play it, is by focusing on your body and moving the mana in your body around to specific points¡­¡± She started describing her little game to him. As the man listened on, he wanted to ask her what she meant by ¡®mana¡¯ but by the time this thought surfaced in his mind he actually started to recall a description of the word in his mind. Mana was the energy that all life had and controlled, either on an instinctual level or a conscious level. Like moving an arm or a leg, one could also move mana. It had a base in the body of every living organism. Like an organ but not quite like a physical organ. Mana also existed in the atmosphere like air but the one in the air had different properties unlike the ones in living organisms. Each form of mana had its own uses and properties. The one his mother was talking about was the one in his own body. Astonishment filled his mind instantly. ¡°How do I know all this?¡± he thought. He couldn¡¯t comprehend what was happening to him at this moment. He was certain that he had no memory of learning such things, so how come it came so naturally to his mind? ¡°Wherever I point, try to channel your mana like a stream to that point on your body. Are you ready?¡± Without realizing it, his mother had finished her explanation and was prompting him to start the game. ¡°Hmm!?¡± waking up from his stupor, he realized his mother was already pointing at his beak. ¡°Go on, then. Start!¡± she said enthusiastically. Stopping his train of thought, he started to follow her instructions and felt for his mana. The feeling of the mana came naturally to him. Therefore, he knew when he found it. He started to direct it with his will to his beak like his mother said. For a while, the mana wouldn¡¯t move exactly where he wanted. But in a short time, he got the hang of it. Very slowly, he moved the mana to his beak. By the time he was half way there, his mother pointed at a different point on his body. ¡°Keep up, child!¡± His mother could see his progress in front of her and decided to challenge him more. A sense of pride and happiness grew inside of her the more she saw him overcome his small struggles to meet her demands. After a few minutes, he finally grew tired ¡°I can¡¯t keep up anymore¡± he told her She chuckled a little and told him ¡°You did very well for your first time, child¡± She pointed to a spot near his resting siblings ¡°Come and sleep. Tomorrow, I might take you with me flying a little¡± she added. Tiredness overwhelmed his small body, making him unable to think about today¡¯s events fully, as he made his way over to her side in small steps. He slept soundly along with his siblings in their mother¡¯s embrace, covered by the shade of the tree leaves above them. Nothing could indicate that this was an unordinary bird nest from this view. Chapter 2 - Magic He woke up earlier than usual today to go with his mother. His body was requiring less and less rest by the day. Today, he might even be able to stay awake to see the night in this world. Once he woke up, he looked up to his mother¡¯s face to see if she was still sleeping. He found her also staring at him. ¡°Have you woken up, child?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯m ready¡± His mother chuckled softly ¡°Not until you fly, you¡¯re not¡± ¡°Oh¡­¡± Because he just woke up, it took him a moment to remember that he wasn¡¯t going to walk out of the nest like a human being. ¡°Will I be able to learn to fly quickly?¡± he thought to himself. ¡°I¡¯ll try¡± With a determined look, he headed to the edge of the nest to set off. His bird instinct told him to lookup while his human self told him to look down¡­ He looked down. He sucked in a deep breath of air. The way down looked very high from where he stood. In reality, it was only 3 to 4 meters off the ground. It might have been because he was smaller so the whole world suddenly got bigger in his eyes. ¡°If you fall, I¡¯ll catch you¡± His mother reassuringly told him from behind. ¡°This has always been my dream. I¡¯m not going to let a little height stop me¡± he thought to himself as he spread his wings and jumped off the edge. Once he was in the air he flapped his wings vigorously. But without proper coordination, the flapping was useless. He felt the wind brush past his stomach feathers as he was falling down. He kept readjusting his wings with every flap to see how it works. Some flaps managed to slow his fall while others actually propelled him downwards a little. By the time he was half way to the ground, it somehow suddenly clicked in his head. His flaps became more coordinated and he managed to fly upwards. The whole process only took him a few seconds from beginning to end. ¡°Woah. This feels amazing¡± He was flooded with excitement as he flew back up to his nest and circled around it. ¡°I did it, mother!¡± He looked to his mother and said with happiness. ¡°Well done¡± she said proudly ¡°Now, let¡¯s go get some food¡± ¡°Yes¡± They both flew to a few neighboring trees together, from which they gathered a few seeds, insects and small fruits. He directly ate the food that he managed to find albeit with his mother¡¯s help. The insects that he found looked rather different from the ones he was used to seeing in his world which reminded him of the strangeness of the world he was currently in. After a few days of eating the insects, he got used to them. He even found them a bit delicious now. When he first saw an insect, he wondered what it was. Then suddenly, like yesterday, an immediate thought came in his mind describing the name of the insect, where they usually live, when they mate and all other sorts of miscellaneous information. Only now did he remember the strangeness of what happened yesterday. This world was completely different from his original world. He wondered if this was truly the afterlife. After all, this was a place where his dream came true and so far there was nothing that made him feel sad or in pain. In fact, he only felt happy here. ¡°Maybe my mother is an angel who is ensuring a happy eternity for me¡± thoughts like that flashed in his mind. But before he could revel in his glee, he also remembered what his mother taught him about mana. If this was the afterlife then why would his mother teach him something like that? It felt inconsistent with his image of paradise. They were still flying around from tree to tree gathering food. He put those thoughts in the back of his head for the time being. Time passed by and they returned to the nest. He ate his fill and helped his mother gather extra food just in case. When they reached the nest a surprising scene occurred in front of his eyes. He saw one of his siblings flying in the sky around the nest while the rest of his siblings were merrily palying with each other. ¡°Mother, you are back¡± cheerful voices sounded out in his mind. It belonged to his siblings. They were chirping like normal birds but their voices could be heard in his head. The same way he and his mother were communicating. Surprisingly, all of his siblings were now talking as if they were able to speak for years. The only way to recognize that they were kids was from their childish personalities. For a moment he thought they were like him, people who died and came to the afterlife, but the way they acted was exactly like a child. They weren¡¯t like him. They were really born here for the first time. ¡°Bro! Take me with you and mom next time¡± The one flying enthusiastically told him. He was full of energy and spirit . ¡°Ah¡­ Sure, why not?¡± he weirdly spoke to his ¡®sibling¡¯ ¡°By the way, Mother, don¡¯t we have names?¡± all the kids had very different personalities but he didn¡¯t know what to call them when he needed to speak to a specific one. ¡°That¡¯s right! What would you like to be called, children?¡± As if she suddenly remembered, she asked the kids. ¡°Won¡¯t you name us?¡± The man asked her. She softly chuckled and smiled ¡°Why would I name you when you are perfectly capable of doing so yourselves¡± The man realized the absurdity of the situation. They were all born only a couple of weeks ago and yet they could all speak now and probably think for themselves to a degree. In such a situation, the mother wouldn¡¯t need to name her children because they can think of a fitting name for themselves. Or maybe that was just how she was raised. A thought suddenly sprang in his mind. Who raised this bird that is now their mother? ¡°I wanna be called Maethas¡± The sibling that could fly suddenly said, interrupting the man¡¯s train of thought. All of his siblings were suddenly in a state of intense concentration trying to think of a name for themselves. The flying one was the fastest in deciding, it seemed like he thought of that name long ago. It seemed strange to the man that his siblings who were just able to speak today were suddenly also able to name themselves. The man also decided to think of a name for himself. He decided he wouldn¡¯t pick his previous name because he wanted to start a completely new life here no matter what this place turned out to be.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°What should I name myself?¡± Suddenly, one thought after another rang in his mind consisting of various sorts of possible names. Putting his thoughts together he realized that those children were like him to a degree ¡°So that¡¯s it! That Maethas didn¡¯t really think of his name it just came to him like me. The rest of the kids are probably like me and are able to know things when they wonder what they are¡± For a moment, he thought that the kids were indeed reincarnated like him and their personalities were just childish because he couldn¡¯t explain why they didn¡¯t ask all sorts of questions like a normal kid. For a human child, once they reach a certain age they never stop asking their parents questions over the most insignificant detail. Even if the children could speak this sense of curiosity shouldn¡¯t just disappear. Now, he realized why. They were also spoon-fed their information. ¡°This might be why they can speak so early¡± The man hit the nail on the head. ¡°I want to be called Iola¡± After a few more seconds of thinking, another one of the children spoke up. This was a female bird who gave the man the vibes of an ice queen in the making. She spoke confidently and carried herself with grace. When the man concentrated on her, he thought she was the most likely person to be reincarnated like him. She just didn¡¯t act like a child. ¡°That¡¯s a good name, Iola¡± Their mother spoke in appreciation. ¡°What about me, mom¡± Maethas flew in front of his mother and shouted. He looked exactly like a puppy that desired attention. ¡°Haha¡­ You picked a strong name, Maethas¡± Maethas¡¯ eyes shone with happiness as he heard his mother. At this time only the man was focusing his attention on the female bird called Iola, his sibling. ¡°Well, she is definitely not reincarnated¡± he thought. She was acting shy by hiding her face with her wings while the sound of her happy little squeals rang in their heads. ¡°Ahem¡­ Thank you, mother¡± In but a moment, she straightened herself and spoke to her mother in a dignified demeanor. ¡°C-Can I be called Seva?¡± another one of his siblings, who were still picking a name, spoke up at this moment. From her demeanor she seemed like the low self-esteem type of person. ¡°Of course, child! Seva is a beautiful name¡± Her mother reassured her. ¡°Thank you, mother¡± Seva said happily. ¡°My name will be Adrian¡± Finally, the last of the siblings chose his name. His eyes radiated mischief and playfulness. ¡°Good name, Adrian!¡± Their mother told him ¡°What about you, child? What will you call yourself?¡± She looked at the man, noticing he was the only one who hasn¡¯t picked a name for himself yet. ¡°My name will be Vogel¡± He thought about it for a while and decided on naming himself the same word for ¡®bird¡¯ in German. Becoming a bird, that can fly through the air unbridled, was one of the best things that could happen to him. Therefore, naming himself ¡®bird¡¯ was appropriate. ¡°Vogel, huh. I don¡¯t know that name¡± his brother Adrian thought out loud. ¡°Neither do I¡± Iola echoed. When the man heard them, he realized that his name wasn¡¯t in the list of names that came up in his or his siblings¡¯ minds. ¡°It¡¯s just a name I came up with¡­ uh, it sounds nice, I like it¡± the man, now called Vogel, told everyone awkwardly. ¡°It¡¯s definitely new¡± their mother was also surprised by Vogel¡¯s choice of name ¡°but it does sound nice¡± she complimented. ¡°Mother, when are we going to learn about magic?¡± Out of nowhere, Maethas enthusiastically spoke. ¡°Soon, Maethas! But first you must learn to control your mana¡± A strange conversation started to unfold in front of Vogel. He almost couldn¡¯t keep up with what they were saying. Thankfully, every time he wondered about something, a thought would pop up in his mind immediately explaining everything. The game his mother taught him to play yesterday was actually a form of mana control training that could help in raising his proficiency in it. She taught his siblings how to play it, too, and told them to keep playing until they gained the skill. Apparently, when you practiced something for long enough in this world, the world would acknowledge your effort and reward you with a ¡°skill¡± appropriate to your form of practice. As for the magic that Maethas mentioned, it was an umbrella term that described a creature¡¯s ability to control the world through mana. Magic branched out into countless different types that had their own functions and uses. Some creatures had affinities to particular types of magic. Flying Birds, for example, had an affinity for wind magic. Today, all the children were full of energy unlike the previous days where they slept for most of the day and only woke up for one to two hours everyday. They kept playing the mana control game for a few hours until¡­
[Mana Control lv1] Skill Gained
Such a screen appeared in front of all the siblings one by one. Vogel got it first since he practiced it the most, then Seva, Adrian, Iola and Maethas respectively. The children felt their control of the mana within their body become much smoother once they got the skill. It was like comparing a five year old¡¯s handwriting to a twelve year old¡¯s. One had a rough writing style while the other had a much smoother handwriting that flowed easily. ¡°Mother, how does mana control help us in practicing magic?¡± Vogel wondered. The other children also seemed to be curious about this. ¡°In order to practice magic, you must first imbue your mana into the particular element that you want to be able to control. This imbuing process differs depending on the element you want to control. For example, if you had no affinity for wind magic, you would have had to learn about the properties of the wind. From there you would make your mana imitate those properties, so that you can successfully imbue your mana into the wind¡± She took her time in explaining all of this information in detail to the children ¡°With the affinity, your mana innately has those properties in it. That makes the imbuing process almost effortless¡± Vogel wondered why this information didn¡¯t just appear in his mind like all the other times. ¡°How come we don¡¯t already know this information?¡± He voiced out his thoughts. ¡°Because you haven¡¯t learned it, child¡± His mother answered frankly. ¡°Yes, but there is a lot of other information I don¡¯t know that my mind seems to know¡± ¡°Oh¡­ so you¡¯ve realized that this information isn¡¯t actually your own¡± His mother seemed surprised that Vogel could tell the difference between the information that he knew and the information that was being presented to him. ¡°What do you mean, mother?¡± Adrian asked. ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about this right now children¡± Their mother answered mysteriously ¡°And to answer your question, Vogel, this information in your mind and all of your siblings only consists of undisputable facts. The processes of learning magic don¡¯t all consist of facts. Magic is much more subjective than you realize, you see. The way I¡¯m teaching it to you, children, is only one of many¡± ¡°Wait, I¡¯m lost¡± Maethas said dumbly. ¡°That is natural, child¡± Their mother chuckled softly ¡±When you¡¯re born with something, it¡¯s very hard to realize it¡¯s there. However, your brother discovered it somehow¡± She was rather impressed by the fact that Vogel knew there was external information in his own mind. She could only attribute it to him being smarter than the rest of the children. ¡°Woah, brother¡­ You¡¯re so cool!¡± Seva suddenly said, her eyes were shining brightly as she looked at Vogel in awe. ¡°Uh¡­ Ahem. Y-yeah?¡± Vogel was taken by surprise that he didn¡¯t know how to react. This has never happened to him before in both his lives. ¡°Then, mother, are you saying that there is information being inserted into our mind whenever we are curious about something we don¡¯t know?¡± Adrian inferred from Vogel and their mother¡¯s conversation. ¡°That is correct, child¡± she answered. ¡°But ho-¡° He was just about to ask when a new thought appeared in his mind. ¡°A stend¡¯s array?¡± Iola was the first to know. All the other children who heard Iola wondered what she was talking about and they all got the same information in their minds. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is¡± Vogel thought. This explained everything to him. The children speaking, his mother not finding it weird that they were so smart and all the information that would pop into his mind from time to time. But the information they got seemed a little incomplete. It only explained some functions of the array, it didn¡¯t explain what an array was or how this particular one functioned. All it said was that a stend¡¯s array would take information from a person and give this same information to another person. It didn¡¯t go deep into any specifics. ¡°Do you understand now, children?¡± Their mother said softly. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m even more confused¡± Maethas said. The other children also seemed to agree with him. As if she knew what they were thinking their mother said ¡°A stend¡¯s array¡¯s most basic function is what you children currently know. An array is a construct made using magic and it is something very advanced for you right now¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about all of this right now, children. Everything will happen in its due time. For now, you must practice and gain the second level of the mana control skill in order to start practicing wind magic. At level two you will be able to control your mana outside of your body. That is when you will be able to imbue your mana into the wind¡± she continued. ¡°We still have to practice¡­¡± Maethas begrudgingly said. ¡°It¡¯s okay, Maethas. I will take you all tomorrow to a place that will help you improve your skill faster¡± Their mother encouraged them. After the training session and lecture, the children had some leisure time to play around with each other. By the end of the day, they were all able to fly around with each other. One by one, they got exhausted and slept in the nest. All of them were nestled beside their mother as usual. Vogel was the last to sleep. He looked up at the setting sun of this world. It was the first time he stayed awake this long in this world. He was still digesting all of the information he got from his mother. All his thoughts about where he was and why he was here were jumbled up in a mess. ¡°Everything will happen in its own time¡± his mother¡¯s thoughts rang in his head. Thinking about why he was here seemed to be meaningless at this point in time. All he needed to know was that he had a loving mother and four beautiful siblings. It didn¡¯t matter that they were birds, the way they acted was more human than most of the humans he¡¯d known. His thoughts slowly drifted off to what his mother said about magic. ¡°A world that you can manipulate with your knowledge about it¡± he chuckled at the thought. If his original world had such a rule, it would have been interesting to see. Suddenly, a thought popped in his head. ¡°Mother said that you gain magic by letting your mana imitate its properties and imbue it on the thing you want to manipulate. In my previous life I studied a lot about biology, even if I can¡¯t manipulate my mana outside of my body yet that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t acquire magic related to my body¡± He started to visualize his bodily functions and spread his mana within his body. Every body part or organ had its own function. He had to give different properties to the mana depending on where the mana was in his own body. This put an unbelievable strain on his mind. It was hard to focus on so many parts of the body consciously and try to copy their functions and properties at the same time. In the end, after a few seconds, he failed. Focusing on so many different things was almost impossible to him. ¡°I should focus on only one part of my body and imbue my mana in it¡± He tried a different approach after that horrible failure. The easiest part he could imbue in his body was his skin. It wasn¡¯t as complex as other body parts. Moving his mana again, he sent it to the surface of his skin slowly. He noticed that once his mana reached the surface of his skin, it would be like boiling water that vaporized into the air little by little. That was because he couldn¡¯t control the mana outside of his body yet. Therefore, any mana that lost contact with his body would be outside of his control. Ignoring all of that, he hurriedly controlled the mana to imitate his skin¡¯s functions and properties. A few seconds later, he could feel the mana imbuing into his skin successfully.
[Body Magic lv1] Skill Gained
Chapter 3 - Kindness Vogel was flying around with his mother and four siblings, today. They were searching for food together while playing and having fun. Their mother said she was going to take them to a nearby pond that will help them level up their mana control skill. Evidently, the sensation of the water surrounding their skin will help them feel the mana better once it exits their bodies. That will improve their control on the mana which will shorten the time it takes to level up the mana control skill. Flying around in the lush greenery of the forest in the morning, left a refreshing feeling in Vogel¡¯s heart. He was enjoying playing around together with his siblings while their mother watched them with happiness in her eyes. They took their time flying to their destination. A while later, they reached a small pond in the middle of the forest. The water of the pond looked very clear and pure. ¡°Won¡¯t there be animals down there, mother?¡± Vogel was worried that they would get eaten by a big fish or some other kind of animal in the vicinity. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, child, nothing will harm you¡± she reassured him. He found it a little weird that she wasn¡¯t worried but after thinking about it a little, he realized that he didn¡¯t see any animals in the parts of the forest that they have been in. Not today, not yesterday¡­ never. There were only them. Even that small pond was devoid of any fish or creature. ¡°Alright, children! Now, as we discussed, stand on a shallow part of this pond and let the water cover you. At the same time, take your time in moving your mana outside your body while keeping your mental control over it. It will be hard at first but it will get easier¡± Their mother instructed. One by one, the children landed on the edge of the pond and slowly found a suitable place to stand in the water. ¡°Ah¡­ It feels so nice¡± Seva comfortably spoke. It seemed like she was taking a relaxing bath. ¡°Focus, Seva¡± Iola said, reminding her sister that they were training. ¡°R-right¡± Seva regained her wits and also started to practice. All the children started to move their mana outside their bodies little by little. Their control over the mana was indeed better in the water. Once the mana started to leave the surface of their bodies, the children were able to feel it more clearly in the water. Although, most of the mana still dissipated the rate at which it would dissipated began visibly shrinking. As time went on, their control got better.
[Mana Control lv2] Skill Gained
One after the other, the children acquired the second level of the mana control skill. Their ability to control the mana became much easier and the mana would no longer dissipate outside their bodies. However, that was only within a certain range. If they tried to move their mana outside of this range, it would dissipate naturally. ¡°How are you doing that?¡± Iola noticed that Vogel had a bigger range of control than she did. ¡°I don¡¯t know, I just can¡± he replied. ¡°Your range can increase with practice, Iola¡± Their mother interjected. ¡°Practice hard, child, and you will catch up to your brother¡± Vogel was the earliest of the children to practice mana control, therefore, it wasn¡¯t surprising that he had more proficiency. ¡°Yes, mother¡± she readily replied. It seemed that Iola held her mother in very high regard. ¡°Are you going to teach us wind magic now, Mom?¡± Maethas enthusiastically flew above their heads. ¡°You can do so right now, children¡± Now that they could control their mana while it had contact with the wind, along with their natural affinity for wind magic, they could pick it up in a matter of minutes. Maethas happily flew and gathered with everyone on a tree branch. Their mother guided them on how to imbue their mana with the wind. Afterwards, they concentrated on doing it themselves. Although, their mother¡¯s guide was helpful, in the end everyone had their own style of learning and applying magic.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Vogel slowly made his mana imitate the wind as he focused on imbuing it with the wind around him. He quickly became successful as he felt in tune with the air around him. The more time passed, the easier it was for him to connect to the air around him. Slowly, his control over it began to show.
[Wind Magic lv1] Skill Gained
The power of wind magic allowed one to take control of the air. For birds like Vogel and the rest, they could easily fly wherever they wanted with the use of their first level wind magic. They wouldn¡¯t need to follow the wind with their bodies anymore, instead the wind would follow them. The others also acquired the skill soon after Vogel. Adrian, Seva, Iola then Maethas acquired it respectively. ¡°How do you feel, children?¡± their mother checked on them. ¡°This is amazing, mom!¡± Maethas said. ¡°It is indeed amazing¡± Adrian echoed. The girls and Vogel also expressed their feelings. They felt connected with the wind more than before. It was a feeling that almost manifested into reality. ¡°This is just the beginning¡± Their mother said ¡°Every step you take in improving your magic will make you experience the wonders of nature more fully¡­ it is, as you say, amazing!¡± Their mother continued by describing to them a wind magic skill they could learn at level one called ¡®Jet Stream¡¯. Jet streams were actually natural occurrences that happened in the real world. By using magic, they could learn to imitate nature in this regard. The skill itself would give them the ability to fly at higher speed at the cost of lower maneuverability. It was great for long distance travel and flight through empty spaces, though not very good if used in a place like a forest where one had to turn every now and then. It¡¯s not that it made turning impossible, it just made it harder than usual which increased accidents in places full of obstacles or crowds. Their mother explained the phenomena of jet streams in detail. They started practicing by imbuing their mana into the wind and flying around while trying to imitate this phenomenon according to their mother¡¯s description.
[Jet Stream lv1] Sub-skill Gained
They all picked up the skill fairly easily. Afterwards, the family flew back to their nest. It was still the middle of the day and the children still had a lot of energy so they played around together. Since they just learned wind magic, Maethas suggested they race each other. It wasn¡¯t really a suggestion since just after he said it, he flew off while laughing and saying ¡°You can¡¯t catch me!¡± ¡°He didn¡¯t even say where the finish line is¡± Vogel sighed. ¡°B-But I wanted to go and play in the pond!¡± Seva said despondently. ¡°D-Don¡¯t worry, sis. We¡¯ll go play there again tomorrow if you like¡± Vogel tried to comfort her. ¡°Really!? Thank you, brother¡± Surprisingly, she recovered pretty quickly. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go play¡± Vogel said cheerfully. Adrian and Iola had already flown after Maethas. The siblings flew together through the forest. Iola got ahead of the rest and almost caught up to Maethas. She seamlessly flew through the trees of the forest. Adrian was more laid back and just flew leisurely with everyone. Vogel decided to adopt Adrian¡¯s mentality and also have a leisurely flight through the air while Seva seemed to stick with Vogel wherever he went. Iola seemed to be the only one taking this seriously as she did her best in surpassing Maethas. Eventually, the siblings reached a clearing in the forest. ¡°Whoever reaches the other end of this clearing wins¡± Maethas shouted as he activated jet stream and flew even faster. The wind whistled behind him and Iola as they shot forwards in a straight line. The other end of the clearing was in sight. At their speed they would take less than half a minute to reach the other end. At this time Vogel and the rest emerged out of the forest. Once Vogel saw the clearing, his heart pumped as he also activated jet stream and flew off. This was a great opportunity to fly at his maximum speed and use the magic that he learned. ¡°Ah¡­ Brother, wait for me¡± Seva cried as she used her magic and flew off after him. Even Adrian became interested in the race and followed after them in his highest speed. The wind whistled as the three of them caught up to their brother and sister. Surprisingly, the timid Seva was the fastest. She wasn¡¯t very interested in winning until she met Vogel¡¯s encouraging gaze. At that moment, her eyes shone with resolve as she flew forwards even faster. Iola had passed her brother when Seva shot forwards, passing them both in the blink of an eye. She happily flapped her wings and perked herself on the nearest tree, waiting for her siblings. Iola arrived, astonished at her sister¡¯s display. ¡°Wow, sis. I never knew you were so fast¡± a rare comment of praise came out of Iola. Vogel and the others arrived, too. ¡°You were amazing, Seva¡± Vogel praised. ¡°Yeah, that was awesome¡± Maethas echoed. Adrian couldn¡¯t help but show a hint of admiration for his sister¡¯s talent as well. ¡°T-Thank you, everyone. I really appreciate it¡± Seva replied to her siblings. They continued to play around in the clearing, experimenting with their new found abilities of wind magic and having friendly competitions with each other. They all finally returned home around sunset. ¡°Welcome back, children. Were you having fun?¡± Their mother was sitting at the nest waiting for them. ¡°You should have seen Seva today, mom. She is really good at wind magic¡± Maethas enthusiastically told his mother about today¡¯s happenings. ¡°Oh, you have a talent, child. You should nurture it¡± Their mother encouraged Seva. ¡°I will, mother¡± She happily replied. They all continued to chat for a little while longer before the day¡¯s exhaustion caught up with them. The children all went to sleep soundly beside their mother as usual. In the middle of the night, Vogel lightly opened his eyes. He had had an unpleasant dream about his previous life. He looked up to see his mother¡¯s peaceful expression. She was also awake. ¡°Oh, can¡¯t sleep?¡± She had noticed him looking at her. ¡°A little¡± he lightly replied. ¡°Mother, where¡¯s father?¡± he changed the subject. ¡°Father¡­ is gone, child¡± her voice faltered slightly as a hint of sadness appeared in her expression. ¡°Oh¡­¡± Vogel was sad to hear this. He hadn¡¯t had time to think about something like a bird father in the situation he was in. But now that he was used to it, he started to wonder where he was. From his interactions with his mother and siblings, he realized that their behaviors were identical to humans. That meant that his father was probably like his mother; intelligent and human-like. ¡°Your father was the kindest person I¡¯ve known in my life. He helped me and many others like me, showed us a better world¡± His mother reminisced to Vogel. ¡°If there is one thing I want to teach you and your siblings, it is to be kind. All of you, children, can help change this world for the better¡± she continued. ¡°This world¡­¡± Vogel whispered as he looked up at the sky, full of start light. He didn¡¯t know a thing about this world yet. He knew it was definitely much stranger and probably more complicated than the one he was used to. ¡°Yes, this whole world would be even better if the people were kinder. Because, you see, kindness is infectious. If you help someone that person will also want to help others. It¡¯s such a great feeling to know that you have the ability to make the world a better place, it¡¯s like magic¡± ¡°That¡¯s not always true. Not everyone likes to give back, some people just like to take endlessly¡± Vogel gloomily replied. ¡°Even the deepest well has a bottom¡± she replied ¡°But you¡¯re right, there are some very horrible people in this world. That doesn¡¯t mean you shouldn¡¯t even try to be kind, though. Your father¡¯s kindness brought me here with you, children. Remember that you can also turn someone¡¯s life for the better¡± ¡°I...¡± There was a pause ¡°I¡¯ll try to be kind¡± Chapter 4 - Home The next day, they woke up as usual and flew around together to eat. The children were excited to learn something new about magic today. ¡°We are going home today, children¡± Their mother suddenly said once they got back to their nest. ¡°But¡­ we are home, mother¡­ aren¡¯t we?¡± Vogel said. ¡°Your home is much bigger than this, child¡± the mother chuckled. The others were also confused by what she meant. Maethas kept bombarding their mother with questions about their ¡®home¡¯, Seva and Iola looked slightly worried while Adrian was as calm as usual. ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid, children. You¡¯ll see everything with your own eyes¡± Their mother reassured them all. They flew after her for what seemed like hours in the air. At the start of their flight, they noticed that they passed through what seemed like a bubble¡¯s membrane. Although all of them were slightly worried, they trusted their mother fully. ¡°What do you think our home looks like?¡± Maethas started talking to Vogel, seeing as his mother kept telling him that they will find out when they reach there whenever he asked her about their home. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I thought the nest was a very nice home¡± Vogel didn¡¯t understand what was happening either. He only kept thinking about the nice, although brief, memories of their old home. ¡°What about you, Adrian? Do you think it¡¯s going to be better than our nest?¡± In the blink of an eye, Maethas had moved on from Vogel to start questioning Adrian. ¡°Oh¡­ Stop talking a little. We¡¯ll find out once we reach the place¡± an annoyed Iola interrupted Maethas. Maethas shrunk back away from her to hide behind his mother. He seemed to fear Iola¡¯s temper. ¡°¡­ Big¡± Adrian spoke. ¡°What?¡± Vogel, who was closer to him, replied. ¡°I think our home is going to be big¡± Adrian looked into the distance as he spoke. Vogel followed his line of sight to see one of the biggest trees he had ever seen in both his life times. The whole time they were flying, below them was nothing but a sea of green trees and grass. The average size of a tree in this gigantic forest was much bigger than Vogel was used to in his previous life. But this tree in front of him was as tall as a skyscraper and as big as a mountain. Its branches, that penetrated the clouds, could hold cities on top of them. Its bark was a healthy shade of brown, except for a circular area that was in the middle of the tree. That part of the tree was gray and radiated a feeling of death. Under the tree¡¯s shade, everyone could see a city full of people. ¡°We are here, children¡± Their mother woke them out of their stupor with her words. ¡°This is home?¡± Maethas said with a look of surprise and shook. ¡°Yes, child! This is home¡± They flew for a few more minutes until they reached the vicinity of the city under the tree. Even though the tree looked close the distance was surprisingly larger than the children thought. The children managed to see the occupants of this city once they flew closely enough. They weren¡¯t human at all, they all had distinct animalistic features. Some had feathers of varying colors while others had fur. Some had whiskers while others had beaks for mouths. The children were speechless at the sight, especially, Vogel, who never considered the possibility of what was in front of his eyes. All of these people in front of him looked humanoid with two hands and two legs¡­ mostly all of them. But they also looked like different species of animals of all kinds. He could see cats, dogs, wolves, lions and not to mention the birds and other creatures. They flew until they reached a gate made of rocks that seemed to be about two stories tall. They followed their mother as she flew in front of the gate. ¡°Mother, is this safe?¡± Seva worriedly asked. ¡°Haha¡­ Relax, child. This is your home¡± her mother reassured her. The rest of the children were still processing the sights they¡¯ve come across so far. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. Slowly, the stone gate opened, revealing a woman covered in light blue leather armor. She looked completely human except for her silky hair that matched her armor in color. She gave one the look of a disciplined soldier. The woman walked with even steps to the front of the gate, only a few feet away from the mother and children flying in the air. ¡°Lady Ava, Welcome back¡± The woman raised her right hand to her left chest in systemic manner. Her actions reminded Vogel of trained military personnel in his previous life. ¡°Wow, Mom, that¡¯s your name!¡± Maethas who was oblivious to all everythin around him kept chatting with his mother casually. That woman was clearly talking to their mother. ¡°Are you well, Edith?¡± A human-like sound came out of the mother¡¯s mouth. She clearly spoke in a human-like language. Surprisingly, the children, including Vogel, could understand it easily. ¡°Yes, my lady¡± the woman, Edith, said as she laid her arm to her side again. ¡°Follow me to the house. I need to speak to you¡± ¡°At your command, my lady¡± **** The children and their mother, Ava, along with Edith moved through the streets of the city. Nobody bothered them on their way to the house that Ava spoke about. The variety of creatures and animals they saw on their way made them blend in quite nicely. The whole place looked like a zoo except¡­ these animals were actually as intelligent as a human, if not even more. They could see people haggling for goods in the market as well as what looked like children playing around. They passed by a bunch of wolf kids playing with each other on a playground. The children had more distinct animalistic features and behaviors compared to the adults. They could hear the kids barking occasionally as well as chasing each other on all fours. But they could also speak like a human as well as walk like one. They entered a residential area and passed by many neighborhoods before finally stopping in front of a particular house and entering it. The house looked the same as the rest of ones they passed. Vogel memorized the place by remembering that the house was on the edge of a park that contained many purple colored plants. That was the only unique feature of the neighborhood, all of the houses looked like they were made for middle class families, nothing too lavish or poor. Every house was two stories, had a small backyard and a flat roof like an average human living area. It looked eerily similar to Vogel¡¯s previous life. The streets were made of smooth flat stones that gave it a decorated and well organized look. The whole place looked peacefully simple. They entered the house together and sat in the living room. The interior of the house also looked completely ordinary with chairs and tables made of wood in the room close to a kitchen... They even had kitchens. The kids all took a single seat while Edith and Ava took their own. ¡°Children this is Aunt Edith. Edith these are my children Vogel, Maethas, Iola, Adrian and Seva¡± Ava introduced the kids to Edith. ¡°A-Aunt?!... My lady, I do not deserve such a titl-¡° ¡°Don¡¯t make yourself a stranger Edith. You¡¯ve always been like my younger sister¡± ¡°Hi, Aunt Edith, I¡¯m Maethas¡± Maethas flew and landed on Edith¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You look really strong¡± He commented. ¡°T-Thank you¡± Edith awkwardly spoke. This seemed to be the first time she had been treated like this. ¡°Since this is the children¡¯s first time in the city, why don¡¯t you show them around, Edith¡± Ava merrily spoke ¡°Also, call Demogo. I need to speak to him¡± she said with a serious undertone. A serious light flashed across Edith¡¯s eyes for a second ¡°At once, my lady¡± ¡°Go with Aunt Edith, children, she¡¯ll show you a few lovely places¡± Ava said. **** Although the children were concerned at first, they quickly grew curious about the city and their guide, Edith. Edith showed them to a nearby market, where they sold all sorts of food. ¡°You all must be hungry from your journey, this place has a lot of nice food that you can eat¡± Edith showed them around the market and let them sample the food. There first food item they came across looked to be meat. The meat was juicy with healthy red texture that oozed of a tasty smell once it was grilled. The grilling process was different from usual, the cook, who was grilling the meat, would hang the piece in the air and let it float in front of him as he heated the air around the meat. The tasty smell of grilled meat filled the air at once. ¡°What creature is this meat from?¡± Vogel asked. ¡°It¡¯s from a magical beast of the thadius class¡± Edith replied. ¡°What¡¯s a magical beast?¡± Vogel continued asking. ¡°A magical beast is a creature that has mutated due to some form of magical interference, it could be environmental or man-made. As for its class, all magical beasts are different so we group the ones with similar characteristics together. The thadius class are magical beasts that have mutated from mammals. That cook is probably raising a specific type of magical beast while mutating it to his liking to get the best taste¡± Edith explained ¡°By the way after we eat we should go get you guys a stend¡¯s necklace. It¡¯ll help with miscellaneous information like this¡± ¡°That¡¯s right! That guide in my head has stopped speaking since we came here¡± Maethas exclaimed. ¡°That is because you have exited the stend¡¯s array. The array you were in required a lot of work and is much too complicated to be put in a necklace. The one we will buy is just for miscellaneous information¡± Edith said. Vogel remembered that membrane he felt that they went through on their way to the city. ¡°So that¡¯s what that was¡± he mumbled to himself. The party of six continued to sample the food in the area. The meat from the thadius class magical beast melted in their beaks as they tried it. Vogel thought that it is funny how small birds like them were eating magical beast meat happily and enjoying it like it was the most normal thing in the world. But then again, nothing was normal in this place. After eating the meat, they moved on to eating some insects. The insects in this market were a lot tastier than the ones they found in the forest. They also came in many different varieties. Although, Edith didn¡¯t exactly like insects, she still bought some for the children. They also sampled some delicious candies and nuts before they were full. After, Edith brought them to a store that sold jewelry to buy a stend¡¯s necklace for each of them. Vogel wondered how a necklace would fit on birds like them who didn¡¯t exactly have any necks. He soon found that his worries were baseless as the material for arrays was different from normal jewelry. This material was enchanted to fit the wearer. In the case of birds like them, it changed its shape to a lovely looking collar. ¡°You guys wanted to learn more about wind magic, right?¡± When they left the store, Edith spoke to them. She seemed a lot more at ease with them now that they spent the day together. ¡°We actually have a skill school that teaches magic. Let¡¯s make it our final destination for today¡± The children grew excited once the topic of magic came up. At the same time, they looked up the information on the skill school using their stend¡¯s necklace. It was a school that taught magic of all levels to children and adults alike. The way it worked was by allowing the student to enroll in skill class for a period of time, usually three months, within that time they had to pass the test for that class. The test was available to be taken once every week. If the student failed to pass the test within those three months they would have to pay if they want to take that class again, the first time is always free. The amount of skill classes a student could take at once wasn¡¯t limited but it was common for children to take at most three classes at a time. The requirements for taking certain classes were also presented to the children. **** ¡°Lady Ava, you called for me?¡± In the children¡¯s home, a dark skinned man with a bald head wearing all black clothes and covered in shadowy gases, appeared in front of the small bird called Ava. ¡°How is the situation with the feline clan, Demogo?¡± A serious tone covered Ava¡¯s voice. ¡°They do not accept your rule over the sage¡¯s city. They want to wage war against the extremists instead of living here peacefully¡± The dark skinned man, Demogo, answered gravely ¡°They plan to slowly gather their power and overthrow you¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ I understand their anger for what happened. But to cause internal strife among our ranks¡­ They truly haven¡¯t learned anything¡± Ava tiredly spoke ¡°What about our arrival, have they felt anything?¡± ¡°No, all of them still think you are living in sky city¡± ¡°Good! None of them must know of my children, make sure you guard them well¡± ¡°Of course, my lady¡± ¡°As for the felines¡­ Make sure we build our own faction among them, not all of them want what their clan leaders desire. I¡¯d rather resolve this peacefully if I can. Everyone in this place means something important to me¡­ and to him¡± Chapter 5 - Incident The children and Edith approached the skill school. The school grounds had many buildings and areas for all sorts of experiments and training. The children walked on the school grounds while looking curiously at the sights as Edith led them to the admission office together. Parents could be seen with their children sitting at different tables. The sight almost looked like humans with their pets; most of the parents had prominent human features with only slight animalistic features while the children were the complete opposite. The very young kids like Vogel and the rest looked completely like a normal animal while the older ones had more humanoid bodies. There were children who seemed to be around six years old, with long wings and feathers instead of skin, walking with their parents. Some dog children around the same age were walking on all fours even though they had humanoid bodies. Their nature was still in them despite their bodies. There were also people with ram horns, goat ears, rhinoceros horns, horse legs, cat tails, lion manes and many others there with their kids. Even with all the people there, the hotel-like office didn¡¯t seem crowded at all. There was room for everyone. Not only were there chairs for people to sit on, there were also wooden perches for birds and mats for quadrupeds. The sheer variety was astounding. Vogel could not believe his eyes when he saw a young wolf and a goat sitting casually next to each other on a mat. The children and Edith didn¡¯t have to wait long before someone called their number from behind a counter. This office would mark the number of its visitor as soon as they entered through the front door and by using mind magic, that number would also be known by the visitor. ¡°Hello, Lieutenant Edith, How are you today?¡± A merry looking young lady with fluffy dog ears welcomed them at the counter. She seemed to know Edith. ¡°Hello, Lula, How are things?¡± Edith returned the greeting with a smile as she took a seat. She and Lula had known each other from the military. ¡°I¡¯m good. I¡¯m good¡­ Whose children are those lovely birdies?¡± She motioned at Vogel and the others. ¡°A friend of mine asked me to enroll them in some skill classes¡± ¡°Oh¡­ and where is that friend of yours?¡± ¡°¡­ She isn¡¯t here¡± Edith answered, straight faced. ¡°Well¡­ The kids can definitely still apply to skill classes but if they fail those classes, their parents will be the ones who end up paying for re-enrollments¡± Lula looked at the kids to advise them against biting off more than they could chew. The school didn¡¯t mind the absence of a child¡¯s parents when enrolling. Most of the children in this city were all like Vogel and the children, raised within teaching arrays that rapidly developed their brain functions. So, even a child was considered responsible for his or her own behavior. ¡°That¡¯s alright! They¡¯ll only take one class each beside the elementary body magic class¡± Edith said. It was conventional for every child to take elementary body magic to learn to transform their bodies into a more human body. To the people of this city, having human bodies was more convenient for everyday activities and communication. However, it wasn¡¯t mandatory and many adults liked to live with their animal bodies normally. The children knew what the elementary body magic class was for which was why none of them voiced their disagreement. Edith motioned for the children to tell Lula the class they wanted to enroll in. ¡°Elementary wind magic¡± ¡°Elementary wind magic¡± ¡°Elementary wind magic¡± They all picked the wind magic skill class. ¡°Aunt Edith¡± A meek voice called out to Edith, it was Seva. ¡°Yes, Seva?¡± ¡°Um¡­ Can I enroll in another class as well?¡± Seva spoke shyly. ¡°You certainly can but it isn¡¯t really advised since this is still your first time taking classes. You should wait for a while until you¡¯re comfortable in your classes and then increase your workload as much as you like¡± ¡°Then¡­ Then I¡¯d like to take the elementary water magic class as well¡± A hint of enthusiasm could be heard from her. ¡°It¡¯s going to take you a lot of effort to juggle three classes for your first time. Will you be able to handle it?¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do my best!¡± Seva said with determination. ¡°Alright¡± Edith turned to Lula ¡°Sign her up for elementary water magic as well¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. The others all turned to look at Seva with surprise. ¡°Sis, are you sure you¡¯ll be alright?¡± Iola said. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure¡± Seva replied. ¡°Wait, I didn¡¯t know we were going to do that. I want to take a third class as well¡± Maethas didn¡¯t want to be out done. ¡°Sure, what class do you want to enroll in?¡± Lula said. ¡°Uh¡­ I¡¯m not sure yet. Hold on let me think¡± ¡°Sigh¡­ Please excuse our brother, he could be a bit¡­ enthusiastic. He¡¯s only going to take two classes¡± Vogel told Lula. ¡°No, No. Bro, I¡¯m really going to take a third class. I just still haven¡¯t figured out which one to-¡° Iola lightly smacked Maethas¡¯ head before he could finish his sentence. She gave him a look as If telling him to shut up. As soon as Maethas saw that look in her eyes, he immediately cowered and shut his mouth. ¡°That¡¯s enough, both of you¡± Edith reprimanded them both at their behavior. ¡°It¡¯s ok. They¡¯re like that all the time¡± Adrian teased. ¡°Can¡¯t we just¡­¡± Unknowingly, Vogel had snapped a little from his impatience before toning it back down ¡°¡­ finish registering before we start smacking each other¡¯s heads?¡± ¡°Ehehe¡­ I can see why your friend didn¡¯t come with them¡± Lula giggled. ¡°¡­They have their moments¡± Edith said, dead-pan. In the end, Maethas, despite Edith¡¯s warnings, enrolled in earth magic along with the wind and body magic classes, Seva enrolled in water, wind and body magic and the rest enrolled only in wind and body magic. Lula filled out a form for each of them and gave them their IDs. The schedule of the classes was written on its corresponding building. There were buildings for elementary, intermediate and advanced magic classes. All the classes¡¯ times were fixed and attending a class was only for people to fill in the gaps in their knowledge as well as doing hands on applications of magic. Most of the work was done by the students themselves. The children were each given a small smooth sphere with a hook on it that could be hanged on their necklace. This sphere contained the knowledge they required for their classes. Lula advised them to finish digesting the information in this sphere before going to class. That sphere worked in a similar fashion to the stend¡¯s necklace except this one would transfer the knowledge inside of it directly to the holder. The time it would take to transfer the information depended on several factors but the one they had wouldn¡¯t take more than a single hour. On their way out of the office, they bumped into a man with hair that covered his head and face, making it look like a lion mane; this coupled with his piercing eyes gave him a fierce look. He held a cute kitten with golden fur in one of his giant hands which didn¡¯t fit the look of his giant body. The kitten was sleeping soundly in his palm as he held it gently. ¡°Lieutenant Edith, Surprised to see you here¡± His deep voice resounded in the children¡¯s ears. ¡°Officer Bezir¡± she acknowledged ¡°congratulations on your first born!¡± Edith said as she looked at the small kitten. ¡°Thank you¡± ¡°You here to enroll him in some classes?¡± ¡°Yes¡± he sighed ¡°These days, you can¡¯t start them early enough¡± ¡°Your son is barely a month old, that¡¯s plenty early¡± ¡°With what happened two years ago, it¡¯s never too early¡­ I almost regret bringing him into this world¡± Bezir mumbled ¡°Don¡¯t say such things. That incident will never happen again¡± Edith reassured him. ¡°It shouldn¡¯t have happened at all in the first place¡­ yet, here we are¡± ¡°That incident was traumatizing¡­ on all of us¡± ¡°That day, I barely got to his mother in time¡­ Both of our families were together at our house that day¡­ But I barely managed to save her¡± He lamented, the sorrow and horror was visible in his eyes. ¡°You are not the only one who lost someone. Most of this city did¡± ¡°Hmph¡­ You¡¯d think the elders in sky city would have retaliated. But what do they do? Tell us that hiding is the best course of action. That¡¯s some crap¡± Bezir snarled. ¡°Enough! Watch your mouth in front of the children¡± Edith solemnly said. ¡°Y-You¡¯re right¡­ I¡­ I got a little carried away¡± Promptly, Bezir came to his senses. ¡°There was nothing that could have been done then. Don¡¯t beat yourself up over it¡± She said ¡°take care of your child¡± With that said, she walked away with the children. **** ¡°What was that all about?¡± On their way home, Maethas couldn¡¯t help but ask what was on all the children¡¯s minds. ¡°Just a broken man with a broken heart¡± she replied. The children had immediately looked up information about this ¡®incident¡¯ that happened two years ago. The only information they could get, was that a strange explosion happened near the base of the giant tree covering this city. The children remembered seeing that gray chunk in the tree that looked like it was rotting. ¡°Why isn¡¯t there more information on this incident in the necklace?¡± Adrian asked. ¡°The information in the necklace consists of undeniable facts only¡­ The events of that incident have so many versions told from so many sources that nobody knows what to believe¡± Edith answered. ¡°There should at least be some information on the culprits¡± Adrian said. ¡°Whoever did it managed to flee. No information has been released on their identities¡± ¡°Could it have been a magic beast?¡± Vogel asked. ¡°No, this city has been designed to ensure complete protection from magical beasts and the few strong ones that come our way are stopped by our military forces. This has been the case since the city was founded¡­ That explosion on the other hand, was something none of us had ever seen before. Not even the elders in sky city know what it was¡± ¡°If you no one knows what it was then how can you be sure something like that won¡¯t happen again?¡± Adrian questioned. ¡°That¡¯s enough questions for one day. All you need to know is that we took our precautions to make sure nobody comes near this city uninvited¡± Edith avoided the children¡¯s gazes and looked straight ahead as she talked. **** Together, the company went home. The whole house was empty and quiet except for the presence of a single yellow canary bird sitting on a cushion in the living room. ¡°Mom¡± Seva was woken up from her nap on Edith¡¯s shoulders by Maethas¡¯ shout as he flew towards their mother. ¡°Did you have a good time with aunt Edith, children?¡± Ava¡¯s jovial voice could be heard in the room. She was speaking using a human language, unlike before where her voice was heard directly in the children¡¯s minds. The kids started to talk about the day¡¯s events. Seva kept talking about how nice aunt Edith was, Maethas talked about the food that they ate, Iola and Vogel talked about the skill school and their classes while Adrian kept silent. One look at him and Edith realized he was still thinking about their exchange with that officer and the talk about the incident. Edith let out a soft sigh. Those kids are really a handful, she thought. ¡°You should quickly study the information in the spheres and go to sleep. I¡¯ll wake you up tomorrow for class¡± Ava advised the children. Promptly, the children went to a room upstairs and started digesting the information within the spheres. Only Ava and Edith were left in the living room. ¡°Tea?¡± Ava flew into the kitchen. The cupboard opened on its own as two teacups floated out onto the kitchen counter. ¡°Ah¡­ My lady, let me¡± Edith hurriedly stood up from her seat to help Ava. ¡°Settle down, Edith¡± Ava chuckled ¡°Consider it a small gift for today¡± Edith hesitated but sat down in the end ¡°Thank you, my lady¡± Two different colored stones flew out from the cupboard at Ava¡¯s command. They merged together above the cups and slowly turned into two separate streams of liquid water that poured into the cups. She put in an extra multicolored stone, one in each cup. A soft hand grabbed each cup and the water inside of them started to heat up. By the time, the cups were laid down on the living room table, the water was already boiling hot and the fragrance of tea hung in the air. A woman with bright blonde hair dressed in a white one piece dress sat opposite Edith. She was Ava in human form. The two women quietly drank their tea. The sunset could be seen from the adjacent window. The crown of the giant tree covered this town so the light of the sun would only shine on the city on the break of down and when the sun was setting. The gentle light from the setting sun accentuated the peaceful feel in the living room. ¡°Your children are very smart, my lady¡± Edith spoke courteously. ¡°I see they¡¯ve gotten rather close to you¡± Ava said with a smile ¡°and very quickly, might I add¡±. Edith responded with a light smile. Ava looked at the setting sun as her thoughts drifted to memories of the past. ¡°I didn¡¯t think that raising your own child would feel different from raising any of you when you were young¡­ but everyday I¡¯ve spent watching them play with each other or even bicker and have these small fights¡­ it gave me this feeling that I¡­ that I can¡¯t describe very well¡± Ava suppressed the choking in her throat as tears started to well up in her eyes ¡°I wish we could have raised them together¡±. ¡°I¡¯m very sorry for what happened back then, my lady¡± Edith tried to console her. Ava suppressed her tears ¡°Don¡¯t be¡­ He died protecting what we built¡± ¡°Thank you, Edith, for today¡± she continued. ¡°My pleasure, my lady. You can call for me anytime¡± Edith said. Ava laid down her cup and wiped the tears in her eyes, her expression hardened as she said ¡°Report back to Demogo. He has some tasks for you to do¡± Chapter 6 - School The children had gone up to their room and focused on studying quietly. The room they shared only had two beds but because they were birds, the beds were useless for now. Above the beds were many wooden perches on the wall. Each of them landed on one and quietly began to absorb and digest the information within the spheres on their necklaces. Most of the information inside actually related to different aspects of science. Vogel realized that most of the information inside related to things like the anatomy of different species of animals, the properties of air along with aerodynamics, physics and so on... "This information is very similar to the sciences on earth" He thought to himself. There was no information about magic inside but the children didn''t need it. They could utilize their existing knowledge of wind and body magic along with the information that they just received to make their own style of magic that suited their needs and desires. Their knowledge of these different sciences could help them in creating their own skills in the future, skills that suited them best. **** The children arrived at the school early together with their mother. When they asked where Edith went, their mother told them that she had work to do. They were sad to hear that and in order to cheer them up, their mother decided to go with them to the school. They arrived about half an hour early for their first class which was body magic. They chatted together for a while about the school until it was time for class. Their mother bid them goodbye as they entered into the beginner magic school building. "You think we''ll learn how to crush stones and slice through metal with our bodies in this class?" Maethas spoke to the group as he made grabbing and cutting motions with his tiny talons. He was already lost in his dreams. "It''s a BEGINNER class" Iola ruthlessly woke him up from his fantasies. "Hey, you never know. We might actually learn some cool things" Vogel was also excited about the class. "I hope our instructors will be nice" Seva said. They arrived at their class while they were talking. They already knew where it was from the map that was in front of the building, outside. As they opened the door, a room full of very different sights entered their eyes. It was similar to a lecture hall from earth. There were stacks of creatures inside, all of them were animals that had no aspect of a human body on them. Most of them were children like Vogel and the rest, with a very small minority that were older. The birds had perches on the ceiling to rest on, Vogel and the rest flew to sit on them. The sounds of all the different animals mixed together in a cacophony of noise. Their vocal cords were still also that of an animal''s so they could only communicate through their minds for now. This way of communication was an enchantment that all of the new borns would have imprinted into their bodies. By learning magic later on they could remove it themselves or do with it as they wished. It was only a way to fascilitate the communication between all the different species from a very young age. "Hey, that''s that kid. The officer''s son, from yesterday" Adrian said to Vogel as he gazed at him from above. The kid he was referring to was the golden furred cat that was sleeping on officer Bezir''s hand yesterday. He was sitting on a mat with a bunch of other animals, they were chatting with each other normally. "He seems to be getting along well with everyone. Maybe you should try to do the same. Don''t let that talk about this ''incident'' occupy your whole mind. We''re just powerless kids who are just starting their lives. Enjoy it a little!" Vogel knew that Adrian wasn''t focused since he heard about that incident from yesterday. "Aren''t you even a little curious about what happened back then?" "Of course, I am. But that isn''t something we should care about right now. Right now, I want to enjoy learning about magic and have fun with all of you guys, not worry about something that I have no control over" Adrian shifted his gaze to the front of the room as he thought everything over. "Look, if you can''t get over it that much, we can ask around after the classes are over. For now though, please try to enjoy yourself a little bit. You''re dampening the mood" Vogel said with a chuckle. "Fine, fine, I get it" Adrian said in an annoyed tone, but he couldn''t conceal a hint of a smile that appeared on his bird face. Right after they finished talking, a muscular dark skinned man with four arms walked into the room and stood in front of the class. All the talking immediately quieted down and silence filled the room. "Good morning, everyone! I''m instructor Welford. Welcome to the elementary body magic class. In this class you will be taught how to manipulate your physical characteristics using body magic. You should all have already used your information spheres to study the material relevant to the class..." The four armed man was their instructor for the course. He went on to speak about the details of body magic and the class. After, he explained to them how to imbue their mana into their body to gain the body magic skill. "Gaining the body magic skill is your first step to being able to metamorphose. It will also open up the door for you to start learning many skills related to your bodies. Now, everyone begin imbuing your mana into your bodies" Metamorphosis was a body magic skill that allowed the user to change his appearance to that of other species by changing his very organs to that of the other species. That included everything from the skin and blood vessels to the internal organs themselves. Everyone in the class started to concentrate on their bodies at that moment, trying their best to gain the body magic skill. Instructor Welford was satisfied to see that everyone was trying hard until his eyes landed on Vogel. Vogel had already gained the body magic skill and was at a loss for what to do. "Why aren''t you imbuing your mana into your body like everyone else, kid?" Instructor Welford spoke telepathically to Vogel in order not to disturb everyone else''s concentration. "I''ve already gained the skill, sir" Vogel answered him honestly. "Oh... That''s quiet good. You must come from a family who specializes in body magic" Instructor Welford said "in any case, since you''ve already learned body magic, start working on the metamorphosis skill. To gain the skill, just change some part of you to that of another species. Use your knowledge of anatomy to help you. I''ll give you a small tip, try changing your vocal cords, they are very easy to manipulate for a beginner" "Thank you for the advise" Vogel replied. He immersed himself into gaining the skill after hearing instructor Welford''s instructions. He recalled the anatomy of a human''s vocal cords from the information he got from the sphere and then recalled the anatomy of the syrinx of his own bird body. He then slowly let his mana cover his vocal area and began molding his syrinx to resemble that of a human''s. His neck slowly swelled until he had to revert the changes he had done because he started to have trouble breathing. The larynx of a human was too different to that of a bird''s syrinx. "Maybe it''s better to change them into another bird''s vocals that way I''ll be able to adapt easier" After deliberating for a while he decided on changing his vocal cords to that of a parrot''s. A parrot''s vocal cords enabled them to speak like a human would. Vogel missed having a human voice after so long and was only focused on trying to become more human.
[Metamorphosis lv1] Sub-skill Gained
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. After much trial and error Vogel finally managed to change his vocal cords. His siblings were visibly surprised when they heard his high pitched voice as he gave out a sound with his new vocals. "I''ve barely managed to learn the body magic skill. You''ve already learned metamorphosis?" Adrian said. "I guess I have a knack for body magic" Vogel couldn''t hide the smugness in his tone. "Whoa, bro! That''s awesome. Tell me how you did it" Maethas said. Vogel didn''t hide what instructor Welford told him from his siblings. He also explained to them his brief experience in order for them to learn the skill faster. *** The children all learned the metamorphosis skill by the time class was over. Many others had also learned it in the class. Those that couldn''t gain the skill in class had enough knowledge to learn it by themselves whenever they wanted to later on. It was now time for the water magic class and Seva was the only one who was going to attend it. Her siblings stayed with her until class started. She had to fight the nervousness of being alone in order to enter the class by herself. The inside of the class was very similar in looks to the body magic class. However, the seats were pushed back away from the instructor''s stand in order to leave room for what looked to be a swimming pool in the middle of the room. There were a lot fewer people in this class compared to the body magic class. That was obvious because of the fact that the elementary body magic class was considered obligatory by many people. The other magic classes were for those who wanted to specialize in a field they liked, or excelled in. Seva nervously flew over to a perch and waited for class to begin. She couldn''t put her mind at ease without being surrounded by her family. "Ah" Seva was pushed out of the perch from behind by another bird. She managed to hold her bearings in the air. "Oh, sorry! I''m so sorry, I didn''t mean to do that, I didn''t see you there" A panicked female voice sounded out inside Seva''s mind before she could even turn around to face the culprit. A snow owl that was at least 5 times as big as Seva was seated in her place, looking at Seva with great panic in her sharp yellow eyes. "I''m really sorry! I''m such a klutz. These things always happen when I''m alone... I always have my siblings with me and when I''m not around them I tend to get too nervous and make mistakes and.." The snow owl kept going on and on and just didn''t stop talking from her nervousness. "I... I also get nervous when I''m not around my siblings" A small voice interrupted the owl''s speach. The owl looked at Seva with a surprised look. "... I''m June" The snow owl, June, said. "Hi, June! I''m Seva" Seva spoke lightly. June gave way for Seva to sit on the perch with her. Seva flew over and sat beside her. The mood turned awkward, for a moment. "So, you like water magic?" June tried to start a conversation. "Ah, Yes. Me and my siblings recently went to a pond, the water was so nice there..." Seva''s nervousness subsided slightly as she remembered the time at the pond. June looked into the distance, as if reminiscing about something "Ah... I know that feeling, when the water washes over you and warms your body. It makes me remember my mother''s embrace" "Right?! It just feels so comfortable" The two girls giggled. Their conversation continued until the water magic class instructor walked in. The instructor for this class was a woman with ocean blue hair and a very soft body. Her body looked as soft as jello. She introduced herself as instructor Amina and began to detail what the students were expected to learn in this class and so on... The class immediately began with gaining the water magic skill. The students were instructed to enter the swimming pool in the middle of the room. Those who could swim could enter anywhere and those who were unable to, were directed to enter into the shallow parts of the pool so that they could stand while immersed in the water.
[Water Magic lv1] Skill Gained
The class picked up on the skill quickly and they moved on to learning the sub-skill, Stream. Instructor Amina used her own water magic skill to make a water ball from the pool water. The pool water gathered slowly in the air as it spun into a sphere. The water began to freeze over from the inside until the whole sphere froze over completely and white mist effused off the, now, ice sphere. "Using your ability to move the water with your mana, I want you to make the water into a stream and hit this with it" Instructor Amina pointed at the suspended ice ball. The students were shocked out of their stupor by instructor Amina''s words. They began to focus their mana and followed her instructions.
[Water Stream lv1] Sub-skill Gained
By the time class was over, many of the students had acquired the skill. Instructor Amina told those who couldn''t gain the skill to train on the skill on their own by using rocks or other materials. Seva and June were among those who were able to easily acquire the skill. "I was afraid I wouldn''t be able to focus in class. Thankfully, I did alright" Seva gave a sigh of relief as she spoke. "Hehe... You were really engrossed in the class. It was like you were in a trance" June said. June had stayed with Seva for the first half of the class because she had already gained the water magic skill. The snow owls had an affinity with water and air magic, they could excel in both. When a snow owl learns water and air magic she could just as easily pick up on the more advanced ice magic. "I guess I just really like water magic" Seva said. Both girls went to meet up with their siblings while chatting. There was a hall on the first floor of the building where students could rest, eat or wait for classes in. There, Seva joined up with Vogel and the rest and June joined up with her own siblings. "I see you''ve made friends" Vogel remarked. "Yes, that was June. She is a snow owl and she''s enrolled in the same classes as me. I''ll introduce you guys later" "Well, we brought food. Want some?" Iola said as she waved a small box of food in front of Seva with her small talons. The four of them decided to go home quickly after Seva went entered the class. They ate and chatted a little with their mother before coming back. Seva ate the food quickly as she talked about what she learned in the water magic class and how much she liked it. *** For the wind magic class, it was a breeze for Vogel and his siblings. They did get to learn one new sub-skill called gust, though. Gust, as the name suggests, was a skill for making a gust of wind to push or knock-back objects or people respectively. The children were now ready to go, except for Maethas who still had his earth magic class left. Seva said goodbye to June and her siblings and everyone went to escort Maethas to his class. At the entrance to the earth magic class room, they saw officer Bezir''s son there standing with a bunch of friends. He was also enrolled in the earth magic class. "I''m going to go ask him something" Adrian said out of nowhere. "Hold on, we don''t even know the guy" Vogel knew why Adrian was going but still tried to stop him. Adrian whispered to Vogel "You promised me we''ll look into the incident after classes were over and he might be our first clue. You could see that his dad was really hateful of that incident, he might have said something that his son heard, so, it only makes sense to ask him about it" "His father mentioned how it killed both his and his wife''s parents. Even if he mentioned it in front of the guy, I doubt he''d happily share his information with us" Vogel argued. "Look, I''m going. Are you coming or not?" Vogel still didn''t like the idea but decided he would go with Adrian to at least mend any potential damage or stop it from occurring if possible. Adrian and Vogel turned around and were just about to fly to him, before they stared dumbfounded at what they saw. Maethas was there already speaking to him casually and the golden cat was responding to him in great enthusiasm. If one didn''t know you''d think they''d been friends for years. "Yeah, he is! You should see him when he trains, he''s a BEAST. He doesn''t just break rocks, he PULVIRIZES them, and then, and then he remakes the rocks himself. Or when he wears that golden armor, he looks EPIC..." The cat was talking to Maethas and his friends. He was almost frothing at the mouth from speaking so quickly. "Wow, your dad is goals. I wanna grow up quickly and enter the military, maybe I could even work under him" Maethas and the cat''s friends were greatly fascinated by his stories of his father, officer Bezir. Adrian and Vogel approached the company cautiously. "Hi, we''re..." Before they could even finish the sentence the cat interrupted them "You must be Maethas'' brothers... he told me. I''m Edgar, nice to meet you!" "When in the world did he tell you that?" Adrian and Vogel both had the same thought but refrained from saying anything. "Hi, Edgar! I''m..." "Oh, let me guess. You''re Adrian" he pointed at Vogel "And you''re Vogel" he pointed at Adrian. "That''s completely wrong and how the hell does he know our names" They both thought as they stared at him, dead-pan. "Ahaha... Actually it''s the other way around. Anyway, let me get straight to the point. Did your dad ever mention anything about an ''incident''?" Adrian tried to keep a straight face as he talked to Edgar. "Oh, that..." Edgar put on a hateful expression as he remembered his father talking about it "my grandparents died in that incident, my dad always spoke about how it''s all because of those technomaniacs that I didn''t get to meet them" "Technomaniacs?" Adrian asked. "Yeah, my dad said that they''re a group of people that want to exterminate all magic users from the world. Thankfully, our sage was able to stop them, or else we would all be dead" Everyone was listening attentively to Edgar as he spoke. "Too bad he died. Now our new queen doesn''t want us to fight back and instead wants us to hide here forever" One of Edgar''s cat friends commented. "It''s ridiculous, we should strike back at them for what they did to us" a ram spoke. "But if the sage is dead now, why haven''t those technomaniacs struck back yet?" Adrian asked. "The way I see it, they could strike back anytime" Edgar said while his friends nodded their heads beside him. "Woah, that sounds dangerous" Maethas said. "Don''t worry, with my dad and the military''s preparations if they ever come back, we''ll finish them off for good" Edgar spoke as his tail wagged furiously. It was time for the class to start and Maethas bid his siblings goodbye as he entered with Edgar and the others. "Well, now we know what happened, happy?" Vogel said to Adrian "There''s gotta be more to this story. Like, why didn''t Edith tell us that when we asked her, even kids know this stuff and why isn''t this information in the stend''s necklaces?" "Oh, come on" Vogel said in anguish "...sigh, let''s first go home and eat. Then, we''ll go to Edith and ask" In the end, Vogel gave up on persuading Adrian and just decided to follow him. *** Maethas and Edgar finished class. Maethas gained the skill earth magic as well as its sub-skill rock-formation, with tips from Edgar to guide him. Edgar was already well versed in earth magic from his father''s teachings. He was glad to help his friends in their training. On their way out of the building, they came across the announcement board. On it were various announcements for study groups, events etc... Maethas noticed a particular announcement that struck his eye. "Hey, the school is organizing a trip to the guilds in the city. Maybe we can visit the military, if we go we might see your dad" Maethas said. "Hm, I''ve went to the place were dad works before but I would love to go there again. When is that trip scheduled?" *** At the time the children separated from Maethas. Vogel and Adrian separated with the girls on the way out, Iola wanted to check somethings out in the library and Seva went with her. Vogel and Adrian told them they were going straight home to not raise any suspicions. The two of them used the stend''s necklace to locate where Edith worked. The necklace could only give them the information of where people in Edith''s profession worked. Using that information, they used jet-stream and flew to the periphery of the city where a military base was located. Once they reached the entrance to the base, an eagle flew in front of them. "State your business" The eagle spoke in human tongue. The kids were surprised, they thought they could just fly inside but the eagle''s appearance proved otherwise. "Uh, we''re looking for lieutenant Edith" Vogel said. "Who are you?" "We''re..." Vogel looked at Adrian at a loss of what to say "She''s friends with our mother" "Scram, kids, this isn''t a place for you" The eagle lost his patience. "No, really. She told us to come speak to her whenever we needed something" Adrian made up some lie. "Listen, kid. I don''t care who you are, if you don''t leave right now. You will get hurt" The eagle took an aggressive tone. "Hey, maybe we should leave for now" Vogel was starting to get worried. Despite that, Adrian continued talking. "Just tell her we''re the children of lady Av..." Before Adrian could speak another word a hand grabbed him and Vogel in the middle of the sky.