World Seed

After taking a moment to think about what happened, I looked to the two birds that were happily rubbing their heads against me as if I were an old friend. Then, something occurred to me… The flock of birds which had managed to scare away everything with sheer numbers had just left… it wouldn’t be long before everything came back!

“Celeste, I need directions back to the grove, now!” Since she’s been recording everything so far, she has to know which way to go for things, so long as I don’t keep my eyes closed when I run.

“Sir, yes, sir!!” She said, appearing in a military dress up, and doing a silly salute. Then, as I began running for dear life for the second time today, she began guiding me back to where I had been cultivating. On the way there, I naturally caught sight of several animals returning back to their homes now that it appeared safe. A few of them recognized me and cringed away, as if fearing the swarm was right behind me again.

Of course, there were several that chose to attack on sight out of frustration as well, including a pair of rather angry looking wolves. I was about three minutes away from the grove at a dead run, and with no way to kill the wolves. The two birds were still uselessly sitting on my shoulders, as if the wolves or the run were of no concern to them.

Hastily, I thought through my list of spells, and realized there was only a couple of things that I could do to get them off my trail, but I had to act fast. Those teeth were starting to look very vivid whenever I turned my head back to look. In the same manner as I had fused my Alchemic Poison with Wind Magic, I started fusing Wind Magic and Alchemic Sleep. There was a ding in my head from a notification, but I was a bit too busy to take notice.

Stretching my hands out to the side, I worked the makeshift spell to spread the sleep spores behind me. Even if it didn’t knock the wolves out, it should at least make them slow down for a bit! I kept casting the spell again and again, not daring to look back in case I was met with more teeth.

By the time I was nearing the grove, my mana had almost completely run out. However, I had finally mustered up the courage to look back, seeing that there were apparently no longer any wolves chasing after me. I let out a sigh of relief, and dragged myself over to the small pond while my legs felt like they were ready to give out. I’ve never run so desperately in my life… and now I did it twice in one day. This can’t be good for my heart..

Looking at the notification that had appeared during my run, I wasn’t surprised to see that it was just another spell notification, letting me know about the new spell Sleep Spores. However, I was a bit surprised when I heard a young voice speak up from nearby, in a rather amused tone. “What’s this? A couple of young lovebirds, huh?”

Looking over, I saw Jarl smirking in my direction, and quickly looked around as if to find the couple he was talking about. I surely would have noticed people here on a date, right? This is too far out of town for there to be just anyone enjoying a stroll. Seeing my reaction my Jarl laugh earnestly. “The birds, they’re called lovebirds. A pretty common species in the forest, though many people tend to dislike them due to their clingy nature.”

“Yeah… I noticed that too.” I turned to look at each of the birds on my shoulders, who seemed happy for even that little bit of attention. “What can you tell me about them…?” Asking him was a far safer option than trying to figure it out on my own, no matter how rewarding the latter experience is supposed to be.

“Well, male lovebirds are quite rare, roughly one percent of the species. Thus, they are able to take any mate they want. The males also have decent combat abilities, on par with a full grown wolf, as their talons and beaks are sharper than the females. On the other hand, the females have the ability to camouflage themselves by altering the pigmentation in their feathers. They use this ability to try to attract a male, and hide from predators.

“Females not chose as a male’s mate will often hide out in trees near their favorite fruit, earning it the name Heart’s Apple. Whenever someone comes by and picks the fruit, all of the surrounding females will swarm that person until they choose to feed one of them. After that, well… I think you get the picture.” He smirked slightly towards the two birds on my shoulders.

“So… aside from their stealth ability…” Before I could even finish asking, he nodded his head.

“Completely useless in a fight. Their talons are dull, and their beaks too curved to use as a weapon. Some tried to train them to use their tails as whips, but that never ended well.”

Great… so I got two useless birds… Well, from the looks of it, nothing short of killing them will make them go away, and I wasn’t exactly looking for a combat pet. Being able to fly and gaining their stealth power is already good enough of a reason to keep them.

I sat down, or sprawled out on the ground, depending on how delicate you want to be about it. Once I recovered my mana, I sent a bit into each bird, hoping to establish the animal companion link as Jarl had described it. The birds seemed more than willing to allow it, and even guided the mana to make it happen more quickly. Once it was established, they both squawked out a resounding “Mine!”

Hearing this reminded me of the swarm, and I cast a depressed look to Jarl. “Can they at least be trained to talk?”

He smirked again at my misfortune, the bastard! “If you practice your Nature Magic with them enough, they may glean enough information to project a voice. That all depends on how quickly they learn, though.”

I shook my head helplessly, and propped myself up to sit in a meditative stance. Okay…. gameplan, train Nature Magic for a little while until they show signs of being able to learn. Then, start cultivating Wind Affinity. Maybe these birds can pick that up and make themselves useful. In the meantime, I can try to copy their traits. Being able to fly and hide like that would certainly come in handy no matter where I was.

“So… how exactly do I practice the bestial aspects of Nature Magic? Rita taught me how to do the plant side, but this doesn’t really seem similar at all.”

Hearing my sudden question, Jarl looked up at me, and tilted his head before realization dawned on him. “Well, it’s actually quite similar. Just like with the plants, you need to analyze a beast with your mana, identify how they use their ability, and replicate the mana signature. For gaining body parts like wings, you have to carefully analyze the appropriate body part, in as much detail as you can, and then try to guide your mana within your body to match.”

To demonstrate, he lifted one of his hands up, which quickly turned into an oversized bear paw, lengthening and widening with brown fur sprouting out. The fingers became indistinct as the paw form settled in. A moment later, it started the shift back to a normal hand. “Mastering either the plant or animal sides of Nature Magic will each grant extraordinary gifts. For instance, a master of the beast path can grant themselves eternal youth by simply shifting into a younger form. Likewise, a master of the plant path can use medicinal effects to achieve the same result.”

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I nodded my head, and extended one hand in front of me. Only now did I notice a blinking icon in the corner of my vision, and had to wonder how long it had been there. Once I focused on it, it enlarged into a notification.