Mythshaper

There were over twelve hours of lessons recorded on the discs. Even though Aunt Emi sent books to ensure my knowledge base was solid, she still explained every part of the shaping before demonstrating it. Thankfully, whatever new essence science my aunts applied to the Bloomshard discs was able to capture all the essence threads weaving to their finest details. Clear enough that I could even copy them after a little practice—if Rose let me.

She took over the practical part of the training the next morning. And whatever she said about theories being overrated, when she got to lecturing me, she made sure I applied the weaving closely to the theories.

And all the weave duels were for no reason either.

"People mistakes thinking it takes a monumental effort to create lightning," Rose said, as we stood side by side in the middle of the Monster Hunter Guild's unoccupied training ground. "Even a child can create static charge by combing their hair too fiercely. The method we would be trying is perhaps only a couple of steps more complicated than that. The burden comes in aiming the lighting, and ensuring that it doesn't hit you."

I had read all I could about the subject—some parts more than twice—and in every one of them, the writers mentioned the safety protocol more than once.

The easiest way to shape lightning was the same way it formed in the cloud. We formed two weavings, one of positive and one of negative charge, and combined them just enough to create a lightning field. Here, the balance of the opposing charges needed to be perfect, as you could already imagine what would transpire if that was not the case. The two opposite charges would shoot at one another, creating lightning strikes that could neutralise the shaper first before going anywhere.

"A trick to make sure that did not happen is to create a layer of charge around you," Rosalyn said, sending lightning sparks between her palms. "As you know, similar to a magnet, same charges repel each other. So when you want to shoot a negative charge, you can create a weaker field of negative charge around you, and vice versa."

Which was to say I should not implement lightning with all my threads.

Rosalyn demonstrated it a couple of times before the surges of her essence began to spread chaotically. They formed a circle around her, shifting in winding branches while still maintaining the circular path. "Once you grow confident in wielding one charge, you may create a field of both positive and negative charges."

I watched her essence threads shifting through the lightning, transforming into the current as she wielded them masterfully. It looked easy—or rather, she made it look easy.

"Now, something most books do not teach you," Rosalyn said. "Most demons you'll face, the likes of Corpse flies, devourers, or even the ravagers carry a negative charge."

"So I'd have to hit them with the opposite charge," I completed. "Aunt Emi talked about it in the record."

Rose inclined her head once. "Now, you'd think the complication ends there, but that is not the case."

She shot a negative charge at a target, creating a charred crack on the wood. "Watch closely."

She cast an exact charge once again at the target, but as the lightning grew close, it bent on its way to miss the target completely.

"Once you hit something with a negative or positive current, it began to carry that charge." Rose prepared a positive lightning this time. "Now see the difference."

She barely had to shoot the charge forward. The lightning almost sprang on its own to strike the charred wood.

"Opposite charges attract each other. This makes the casting easier and difficult at the same time."

"So as long as I can maintain alternating between the opposing charges," I concluded, "aiming is effortless?"

"I like the way you think." My aunt grinned. "But do not mistake thinking it will come easier. I had to wear a special protective vest for months during my training. Whereas your fancy relic may save you from the zap, it cannot help you master the way of Lightning."

With that, I finally sat down to shape lightning, beginning with the negative charge. Rose only let me practise with the smallest number of threads possible to cast lightning: thirty-four. The weave was not any more complicated than when I applied empower and compression into an elemental weave. It was more of a combination of wind, water, and fire—the elements in storm clouds. It was far from the most complicated weave I could pull, and I succeeded the very first time. Only that, as soon as my essence transformed into flickers of current, it shot off from my palm to hurl at me.

"Now you know what I'm talking about," Rose said.

Of course, [Vigil of Protection] did not let the current strike, but that half-baked thirty-two-thread weave already had the power to stun most early-stage noble-class awakened. Well, a well-shaped wind blade of thirty-two threads could cleave through someone at the noble class, but the point here was that my cast was in no way or form well-shaped. Also, lightning was unimaginably faster. Once the weave was complete, it gave the other party no time.

[Way of Lightning I (1/100) is available.]

For my second try, I wove the threads a couple of metres away from my body, which solved the fatality of zapping myself with my own essence.

"You did not think of this before putting on a lightning-resistant vest?" I shot a lopsided grin.

"What an absolute genius you are!" she mocked. "I'm certain nobody over the last century had thought of this. Now increase the charge, and you'll see how effective it is."

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Of course, I was not a fool. The higher the charge, the greater the attraction and repelling force.

"I can distance the weave even further." But I was not easily persuaded.

"I'm sure you can," Rose slapped lightly on my shoulder, "and you should. But remember, the further it is, the more you have to stretch your Will, and Weight, and you know how that math works."

I was fully aware of it, but she still spelt it out for me.

"The further you stretch your aspect, the more difficult it is to concentrate them. No training or tool solves the issue. But that does not mean you should not try it. It is prudent to push aside all the dangerous casting as far away as possible, but in Lightning shaping, you have to juggle so many things together that stretching them too far adds more complication—a complication that can easily be solved by a piece of article that repels the lightning charges."

For the next half an hour, I did some target practice, alternating between negative and positive charges. For being so good at archery, my aim with lightning was subpar, to say the least. I bet the problem, however, could be solved with simultaneous casting of both charges. I could simply stretch my threads to mark a demon with a simple charge, and shoot a robust opposite charge.

The plan sounded foolproof in my mind, as many others, but as I got to simultaneous weaving, a thunder crackled immediately before the lightning charge burst, flinging me several metres away. My relic restrained the blow completely, and I managed to balance with the help of levitation boots.

"I'm fine," I said immediately after landing on both feet.

Rose burst into a fit of laughter. "I did not warn you because I really want to see you fumble at least once. Now with that, observe closely."

Once again, she cast both charges of lightning in her palms.

"See how it's not just the negative charges going towards the positive ones, the positive ones reaching for the other way too. You know the attraction works both ways, but you failed to act upon the knowledge during casting."

"Oh," was all I could say.

"Now try again."

****

The other advanced shapings—ice, lava, or even light—were not as difficult, though neither were they cost-efficient. However, something like plant (life), shadow or darkness, or even space was not viable to your regular shaper. For example, a hybrid shaper of Dawn essence and Transformation essence could grow humongous roots from the earth, while someone with the Midnight essence could shape darkness.

Perhaps I could manage a fraction of their capability in those fields in higher stages, but they would be through different means. In most cases, they were not worth it.

So there went my dream of casting instant transportation spells. But maybe with a fabricator it was possible. After all, the waygates made it almost possible, and so did the charm Master Gaius had gifted me. I would need to research that trinket more. Unfortunately, Mum was of little help in finding any path of reverse-manufacturing something similar.

As we went for the chasm run during the day, Rose did not stay in the guesthouse alone. I was sure she would ask to join, but to my surprise, she returned to Vasher, saying she'd come back in the night.

She did that for the next few days until I had a firmer hand on the advanced shaping. The waygate sure made the journey easier, but I could not help but be grateful to her for taking time in her busy schedule to help me.

Mum was obnoxiously proud watching the capricious little girl she knew growing into a responsible woman. She was distraught, too, remembering she did not get to see most of it.

The coming day, we made a trip to Klearon to bring Diana before she fell into the old pattern of doing housework. She was not elated to find that the happy vacation she had imagined turned more into a militant training camp.

I also got the news that Eran and others would be coming next week. Thankfully, I was mostly done with his equipment. The only thing left of his armour set was some finishing touches. As for Paximus's spear, I had to leave it to Mum, since most of my time was spent either on chasms or shaping practice.

In a short span of a few days, I had actually gained quite a lot of attribute points—mostly in the aspect of aura, since I still restricted myself from using essence most time in the fights.

[Way of Aura Sense II (250/250) is complete.]

[+2 Enhanced Aura.]

[Way of Aura Mastery II (250/250) is complete.]

[+2 Enhanced Aura.]

[Way of Body Forging II (250/250) is complete.]

[+2 to all attributes.]

[Allocation of attributes is held off for attributes on a threshold.]

[Way of Aura Forging I (100/100) is complete.]

[+4 Enhanced Aura.]

[Way of Arcane Tolerance II (250/250) is complete.]

[+2 Arcane, +2 Fortitude.]

[Allocation of attributes is held off...]

[Way of Pain Tolerance I (100/100) is complete.]

[+1 HyperCognition, +1 Fortitude.]

[Way of Swordsense I (100/100) is complete.]

[+4 Enhanced Aura.]

[Way of Swordsense II (254/250) is complete.]

[+4 Enhanced Aura.]

[Way of Demon Hunting (Lesser) III (507/500) is complete.]

[+3 to all attributes.]

[Allocation of attributes is held off...] With spending some more points on my physical attributes, now there were too many of them on a threshold.

I also advanced another step into Noble Class, grasping more threads of my Relic. With that, I almost felt like I had reached a plateau of improvement I could make at the Noble Class.

============

[Profile]

Arilyn Arcis O'Ryon

Path: Shaper (Common)

Wayfarer (Noble)

Honours: Prime Seed (Prestigious), Journeyman Artisan (Prestigious), Nascent Demon Hunter (Noble)

Aspects:

Influence: +10 (+40%)

Weight: +10 (+40%)

Will: +18 (+70%)

Attributes [8/9]: (Unallocated Points: ~) [+30%]

Arcane (Greater): +299

Adaptive Physicality (Greater): +178

Split Focus (Advanced): +99

Fortitude (Advanced): +99

HyperCognition (Advanced): +99

Uncommon Reflexes (Advanced): +99

Enhanced Aura (Advanced): +92

Agility (Elementary): +67

Gift:

Fractal Soul

[Rune Imprint]

=================

However, the most welcoming feeling was how at ease I felt fighting the flocks of demons. Something occurred on the third day—I could not pinpoint an exact moment other than my nerves getting used to the hyperactivity—but I was finally assured. I still needed to test it against some elite demons, but I was sufficiently assured to crack jokes at others during the fights. Surprisingly, Tellus and Valeria were very welcoming of me, learning I did not come from a high noble house.

Then, on the fifth day, Mum finally decided I had had enough practice with aura. Now it was time for me to get more experience fighting with essence as well.

Of course, she would not just let me go off on my own to slay demons. I was still working with the team, but from now on, I would be the one to lead the battle and set the pace for others. Apparently, that was how a shaper fought with their team.

============

(Author note: Did not bother to calculate the status page. Since I'd again have to fix them when I'm done editing book one (where the Way system is going through some rework). They will remain roughly the same, however. Hope that's not too much of a downer in your reading experience.]