Reincarnated as a Spider (Draft/Writing practice)

• “Do you know anything about magic?”…

‘Magic? How can you not know…’ Magic to the spirits is a thing that they use so much that it has become something mundane. It was their nature for them to use magic whenever and wherever they see fit, even if what they’re trying to accomplish could have been easily done without magic through manual labor. Thus the query was baffling coming from someone with the likeness of a spirit.

She was about to answer with her own question, 'How could you not know magic?'’ It was in the same vein as asking a ‘bird if it knew how to fly, or a horse how to gallop.’ However, ‘Wait she isn’t fully a spirit, then…’ She was under the preconceived notion that Alicia was an unusual type of spirit. ‘Let’s change my method...’

• “I know it... to some extent. What’s this about?”

‘What if I told her that the only reason I know the existence of magic is because of an ability that god gave me as compensation for a life unlived, said to me that it exists…? Yup, even I would think I’m insane. Best to just keep it to myself…’

• “…I just know it intuitively… I’m not quite sure how to describe the feeling…”

‘That’s a whole load of lies I just came up with… Please just don’t question it...’

Not shown on her face, Alicia held such a prayer in her heart…

‘It is most likely her spirit side of her that’s yearning for magic… I know that all too well… If she is truly unaware of her magic then that could explain why she’s leaking it all over the place… Let’s assume she doesn’t know anything… still there’s a problem…’

• “To understand magic first you have to start with the spirits themselves… We are at the most basic, a mass of magical energy that gained consciousness. Magic would not exist without the spirits. Just as we won’t exist without magical energy. Magical energy to us is what bread is to humans, sustenance. Though spirits aren’t the sole ingredient we are nonetheless a vital one. Most spirits have affinity to a single element, with some exceptions having more than one. Through their inborn relation to an element they can manipulate it, creating the phenomenon known as magic. It’s unknown whether we are born from the very elements we have affinity with or from something else.
  However even without the intervention of a spirit, magic can still be used through spells - that utilize magical energy - to create similar events without the need for a spirit. Without a spirit effort needed to use and control the magic deteriorates so it’s preferred to have one. This is one of the reasons why humans or other overworlders seek out spirits to form a contract or covenant. Fortunately the world is filled with spirits and almost everything has some magical energy.”

• “If the world is filled with spirits then, how come you’re alone here?”

After pausing for a while laughter escaped the spirit’s mouth.

• “Of course they are here silly. There are orders to spirits. I'm a type of spirit called sedentary spirit sometimes called greater spirit. We draw our magical energy from the place we’re born from. Bound to a location, often in places that are rich with magical energy and close to their element which they have affinity with. As I mentioned before, there are orders for spirits and not all of them have physical manifestation like me. The other type; the wandering spirits - often called lesser spirits - are the most plentiful, and they are barely visible even to us. But their presence can be felt. Although lesser spirits are amorphous, after gaining enough magical energy they can assume a form like me. Some examples include a water spirit assuming a form of a great serpent and a fire spirit taking the likeness of a swallow. Thus it is impossible to identify a spirit by outward appearance. Unlike me, lesser spirits lack a sense of self or will thus they can be controlled to some extent through magical energy.
  Furthermore, spirits of the higher order can control them quite easily. Drifting and wandering around randomly and congregating in places that match their own affinity.
  Another thing is even if we’re the same water spirit, based on where we are our likeness is different. For instance, there are sea, ocean, river, pond,  spring spirits and so on. Technically we’re all the same water spirits, but due to the nature of the water itself we’re different. Even spirits borne from the same body of water will be different. This difference between spirits is true for all the other spirits.
  The often dubbed contracted spirits, are spirits bound to mages and sorceresses of less magically able races instead of a place. They are a type of sedentary spirit that instead of drawing energy from a place of power, draws it from their host or contractor. And they are contractually bound to assist their contractor’s spells with their magic. They often protect their hosts’ life as if it were their own, afterall without a source of energy they’ll die off anyway.
  The last type are corrupt spirits. They’re spirits without any form of dependable energy source either due to lack of natural places with matching affinity or their own element is too varied and muddled, hence the name corrupt. They either fuse with monsters, the result being called magic beast or demon beast, or manifest as a Djinn who are outwardly similar to demons but much more violent. There’s little difference between a djinn and a spirit.  The former are simply driven by their hunger for more magical energy that makes them violent.”

‘What does that make me… a Magic beast? I wasn’t particularly good with biology, not to mention otherworld biology.’

“Also there are races naturally able to use magic. Often they have a protrusion in their body that acts as a conductor for their magic.”

‘What, you need an antenna for using magic?’ Alicia made such a mental comment to the spirit’s ongoing lecture. Despite the cynical comment, she was still attentively listening hoping to get as much information as possible.

Unbeknownst to her, due to her long social isolation the water spirit was in a great mood and more talkative than usual.

• “Thundergoats that reside in the mountains to the north are great example; as their name suggests they can use lightning magic, specifically with their curved horns. They get their names from their tendency to butt heads. When they do a booming sound akin to that of thunder echoes.”

‘Yup don’t piss off the goats. I don’t wanna get rammed and zapped’

• “Other races that lack one or simply inept at it, often use staves made from old trees which have become home for some wandering spirits. This allows them to use magic. However, particularly gifted individuals who are naturally able to use magic of course do not need one of these. That should be all there is to magic… Am I missing something…?”

• “You’ve mentioned spells, are they the same as magic?”

• “Ah, right I forgot about that. Spells are created to use magic in a more efficient way. They often have an Aria or a Chant, depending on where you’re from and how you perceive magic. Spells are a way to make complex magic simpler. They are usually used by mages to conserve what meager magical energy they already have. We usually don’t have the need to use spells so it escaped my mind.
  They clamor about chantless magic spells when in reality it’s just brute forcing their way with enough magical energy. No elegance at all.” She started to trail off topic and mumble something to herself. Before she got too off topic Alicia interrupted her and asked.

• “So I need a staff to use magic then?”

Immediately snapping back to reality the spirit answered.

• “For you it’s not necessary, it’ll just be a dead weight.”
• “But didn’t you say you need some sort of conductor for magical energy to use magic?”
• “Yes, but magical creatures with their own doesn’t need it.”
• “But I don’t have one of those protrusions… do I?”
• “You do, how else would you explain that magical energy you leak.”

Alicia was in a state of bewilderment, examining her own body, that she wasn’t very familiar with just yet. Looking for anything that could be a conductor. Seeing her confusion, the spirit told her:

• “It’s coming from your whole body; the lower part of your body and curiously from your hair too.”

After a short moment of processing what she could have meant in a sudden revelation she realized something. Her spider half had near invisible thin hairlike malleable bristles that acted as an extension of her senses, particularly her sense of smell, taste and vibrations.

Although they’re not fully covering her body, being mostly restricted around the legs and and mouth parts with only a few of them spread around her own body. They were the answer to her question. She didn’t need any horn or antennae. Her whole body was covered by her conductors.

‘Then what did she mean by my hair? Wait she said it’s from my whole body but more is coming from my lower body and my hair. Unlike a spider that’s covered by their tactile hair my human self has comparatively much shorter  and scant fewer of it in body hair… Geez what a way to call me hairy… Still though I didn't know my hair, of all things, was useful for magic. Now for the biggest question...’

• “Can you teach me how to use magic…?”