White Flower, Black Feather

Slow Moments

‘But I can’t just rest the whole day…’ I feel like moving again, at least

I have a few more hours before sunset, I look to the hunter, nod and start moving north, towards the brook… I need to think on my options as I go

‘So… I am halfway to level ten… how do I get the next five? Currently, I don't want to eat, but maybe I should do it anyways, just to not wake up ravenous’ I stop to taste the air below a tree that is a bit taller than the rest ‘I don't think there is anything nearby… before the rites, moving in this direction was… a bad idea… going further south, also feels like a bad idea… maybe when I evolve I’ll try that, now is just a death sentence-’

Ding

‘Status?’

‘Synergy…? Not, combined…? Not complaining, just… curious’ having more Traits like this should be good ‘Now that I think about having more things, I should get water magic, before completing the fishing Deed… Use Water Magic, to fish… Brilliant!’

-From you? Yes-

Something for tomorrow, I have almost nothing in the… void?

‘Need a proper name for that’ I resume movement disregarding the screen ‘What other magics should I try to get…? Earth? To dig places to rest, or hide… yeah… also to get prey that is difficult to acquire’ sounds useful ‘Fire? For cold winter nights… that actually sounds… bad… I risk Magic Drain doing that… but I should have a “Spark” spell at least and use it to start a campfire’ That sounds better… ‘It still sounds dangerous though… Air? I do want to fly, yes… having it should help… but lets only try to get that, if I end getting wings… no idea of how big I am going to get in the future’ I stop

I turn to look at me… if I had wings I have the problem of: they need to be big and strong to lift me, which means, they add weight, so I need them to be bigger and stronger, adding more weight, starting a loop…

‘Either air magic, or gravity manipulation-!’ I shiver ‘Ok, got it, just air, not messing with gravity, Ugh!’ I look at myself again ‘At the relative height of a human… maybe lower, but with the size of a human torso… six to ten meters of length with wings…? Sounds about right… yeah, I will need magic to fly… unless I get legs, but that means becoming a lizard’ I look forwards and move again ‘And the idea of becoming a lizard, is almost as repulsive as the idea of being male… not because they are weak or anything like that… its just doesn't feels right to me…’

I am happy with the idea of being a woman with snake bits… but I do want to look feminine

‘That will be far into the future thought… four days so far…’ I pass under another bush and lie down, there is nothing around and I don't expect anything until the river ‘I can’t hear the river… I am really far to the south… Getting thirsty’ I move

-----

‘This forest is… oppressive’ I am back in the brook drinking some water, I have no idea of how I missed the river, but at least I know where I am now

The forest is quiet, there is no birds, so the only sounds I have heard are the wind, the branches with their leaves, and now the water, every time I look up, there is nothing in the trees, no animals climbing up or down, nothing going from branch to branch, most of the life in the forest is in the ground and at this distance from the city, it gets purged… often

‘Right, I get it, the fliers are dangerous, that is why nothing is going up, they don't want to become prey… that thing that roars in the morning definitively flies too’ I move away from the water and under a bush ‘Why is this system here? What is the need to have creatures become so monstrously strong?’

Nothing comes to mind, so I rest, hearing, smelling, waiting…

‘I’ll need to become monstrously strong too…’ that is not a question, planning how to get there for the rest of the day? ‘Smells… the one I don't know what is yet and… mouse? Let try to find that one, then planning’

As I move, I quickly check the Deeds I have to do and confirm that, those yellow things were monsters, I’m halfway done with that one, bush, stone, tree, tree, before I reach a clearing I see the mouse, its digging near the roots of another tree, I move slowly towards it

‘Same kind as the previous one…?’ aim… launch, bite!

Snap!

Pull back… ‘Uh… oh…’ as I launched it turned around and one of my fangs got it in the neck ‘That… is also a way of getting a one hit kill… I am sorry…? It should have been painless, right?’ I give my prayer and eat it ‘Full again… Status’

‘Yeah, another Burrower… um?’

I look into the clearing with a lot of grass on it and near the middle of it is a stone, I move to it and see that its resting in top of another stone, leaving a gap to a big hole… bigger than yesterdays shelter… there are no smells nearby…

‘No one uses this? What? Is perfect for the night!’ before going in I look around the stone and confirm that is perfectly stable, I even try to push the top stone, but it doesn't budge at all ‘The only problem would be if it starts raining’ I look up, not a single cloud in the sunset colored sky ‘Today’s shelter!’

I get in… nothing happens, it really smells “clean”, just dirt and stone… nothing uses this… why? I turn and look to the exit

‘I’ll plan for the rest of the day and then sleep’ organizing my ideas and getting ready for more dangerous days, what a thrill… ‘Lets get my ideas regarding magic in order, for now’

Water magic, I have the brook and the river to practice, they are near this stone, so if nothing competes with me for this place, or the other stone that I used yesterday (tomorrow I should make sure of where it is), I’ll have a good time getting stronger… but how I get stronger with water?

‘Cooling? I can use magic to cover myself in water to chill and keep moving if needed… or just find a way to remove excess heat from my body’ that sounds useful, especially if I am being chased ‘Or removing the heat from the water to make ice? Could be helpful to maintain food for longer… as long I don't fill it with venom first’ that is more useful for things like the boar (not that I want to fight one soon) or anything too big to eat ‘Also, Ice Wall, to escape or block projectiles’

Tomorrow I’ll begin practice with moving water, first with the flow and then against the flow, I might use my hands as Focuses, to get them in the store… and to turn them into Spell Focus first, to avoid getting blind by accident…

‘If I feel anything wrong with my hands after buying the Item, then I’ll wait until I can upgrade my sight, before turning my eyes into magic, just in case’

After that… practice the use of water to pull things out of it, first stones then fishes… as long I have the… Magic Tank not on “empty” from the previous practice

‘I think it fills faster as I sleep’ there is still some light out, I am mostly looking at the trees, hearing and waiting for some smell to pass by ‘But I might need more than one day, for it to reach full capacity…’ another thing for tomorrow, see if the void, or “tank” feels bigger

Earth magic, rocks and soil aplenty… after I have some kind of water magic, I can make some mud and move it for a bit, before trying to separate it and control just the dirt…

‘Sounds possible… is throwing stones, earth magic or telekinesis… how does telekinesis works? Does it even exist? Is the precursor to magnetism?’ still the primary goal for that, is just digging holes to sleep and maybe some walls ‘Not a house though… if it looks too unnatural, then the humans will start to poke around it’

Air magic… if I get another fire close to me, then I can practice with the smoke…? Maybe? I am not particularly aware of my own smell, so I don't have an idea of how to use air to block it… an air bubble to go underwater for some reason?

‘Besides using it to fly (somehow) I don't have many ideas to use it… blades of wind to cut stuff…?’ that… ‘Okay, now I have to try that too… but I can do something similar with pressurized water… how about a vacuum?’

Using it to remove the air from an area… sounds difficult and not worth it… unless I can move that empty area and I am good enough, to be capable of fighting against the whole atmosphere of the planet, then is a bad idea

‘Unless I can trigger cold welding… nah, things like chainmail have oil on it, so even if I make a vacuum, that, would stop the welding from happening… lightning magic?’

-Are you FUCKING! Trying to think in the most STUPID! Ways of ending yourself?!-

‘Hi! Thanks for joining, I am currently thinking about ways of practicing magic, so I don't hurt myself by trying something way above my league, any suggestions?’ the window closes ‘Boo! But… yeah, electricity is a fast way to die, if I am not careful…’

Fire magic…

‘My instinct cringes, every time I think about it… what is wrong with fire? Even if I get heat manipulation, or magical sweating, from water magic, that is not going to help me on winter’

Nothing comes to mind… just an irrational rejection towards me making fire…

‘Maybe that is why is a Synergy and not a combination?’ is dark already ‘I have a plan for tomorrow, I’ll think about that other day, good night!’

…

-Good Night-

-----

‘…?!’

Cold… awake…?

Death

Move, move, stiff, move, hurts, Death, move, move

Sky, cold, pretty, stone, glows, Death, move, tree, roots, move-

SLAM!

Stone, glows, moved, buried, avoided, cold…

Wait… cold… cold…

-----

‘Ok… what… the fuck?!’ is cold, but at least, some light, is reaching the forest, can think… a bit ‘You stopped… me with, bunny… why not, stone?’

-FUCKING IDIOT! You are going to blame me for everything?! ARROGANT ASSHOLE!-

‘Can’t think… warming up…’

-----

After a while under the sunlight, I can think properly now

‘Ok, sorry for blaming you… let me think about almost getting flattened by the rock…’ that would be a reason as for why nothing uses it, they know is a trap, while I am just a newbie ‘In the middle of the night, my instinct woke me up because the stone… activated?’ the rock looks completely normal now, but the glow at night had the appearance of a circuit, or veins ‘The supporting stone moved to the side, while the other lifted a bit and then fell’

Does this happens every night? Or it just happens if it detects something, other than dirt, bellow? The big stone is currently buried, it didn't move afterwards

‘If this is an ancient… golem? Or a similar human made weapon, that explains why the helper didn't knew it was a threat, unlike the roaring faulty alarm clock, it lacks a Status… maybe… its literally an old weapon in the middle of the forest…? Sorry about blaming you’

-Why the HELL! Are you wasting time?! MORON!-

The window closes. I want to sigh, again. I turn north and slide

‘Some water, then lets go west and see if I can find the previous hideout’ I focus on my magic reserves ‘Less than half… I had a bad night, so if its replenished by resting it makes sense… but I cannot tell if the “tank” is bigger’ that thorns me a bit ‘Do I wait until tomorrow, and a hopefully full “tank” before practice?’

The answer is obvious, if a tad annoying

‘I can’t sit still… but if it works like a muscle, then I really should find the time to rest and let it grow, not now thought’

I reach the brook, the smell is only one of the unidentified small, but bigger than a bunny, creature that has avoided me so far, I drink some water

‘Find the hideout, then food after…? That is not a rock…’ I pull back, my thirst satiated ‘What is a lobster doing in a forest?’

Some distance in the water, is a small lobster, I almost missed it, I get closer

‘Does it counts as fishing?’ aim, launch, grab, throw, it hits the ground out of the water, its many legs wiggling uncontrollably, I get closer and use my claws to turn and pierce its underside ‘Status’

‘Right, that is the name… EP Shop’ the monsters gave me, Monstrous Proboscis ‘Nope! Hide it please!’ I have gotten nothing from the fish

After doing my prayer, I rip the pincers off my snack

‘The fish and this crayfish probably gave me nothing in the progress to the next level’ I swallow it, then I do the same for the pincers, but I eat them from the “shoulder” so the pointy bit is not going to stab anything going in ‘Small… are there any more?’

I look at the water for a bit looking for any weird “stone” I see two more behind a nearby rock

‘Better than nothing’

Catch, pierce, catch, pierce, prayer, remove claws, swallow… unsatisfying

‘Not like they can give me anything interesting either… hole and then magic-! Right!’

I forgot, I look at myself, then I Imbue my eyes, repeat my chant for Cleanse and stop imbuing… I don't feel any difference

‘Status…? Nothing, hole, then more magic’ I move west looking around, I might have missed the river, but missing the sunken place with the rock is going to be harder ‘Do I need to do the chant anyways…? Probably, I have no idea for how long teacher has been doing magic, shorter chants should come with time… or a Trait… that is going to take even longer to get’

-----

Hole found, back to the brook, I’m hungry, the crustaceans didn't help much… I don't see anything nearby in the water, the air is also, fairly barren of new signals for prey…

‘I might move soon… further south is a bad idea, that leaves west or east… later, lets practice magic’ I look to the water at my left ‘With the flow first. Ia! Imbue Arms!’ the tips of my claws have a small gleam now, I point them to the water next of me to my left, I’ll work in the distance later ‘Water follow my movements! Water Movement!’

A very small “wave” forms and moves as I move my arms to the right, it sinks before it reaches the front of me…

‘Bad name for the spell…? Water follow my movements! Water Flow!’ I repeat, the motion with my arms

The wave is still small, and barely moves farther than before… at least I am not consuming much magic…

‘Um~ then…’ I focus again in the water to my left ‘Water flow with me! Current!’ this time the wave is bigger, as if there is a hand scoping and pushing it along, it reaches about my current length in distance to my right before it collapses ‘Yes! Again!’ I do the chant again, the wave is about the same, I do it again, this time I manage to make the wave bigger, the third try now reaches a bit further ‘Now against the current’ I point to my right ‘Water flow with me! Current!’ to the left-!

SPLASH!

‘Ia Imbue Stop, ugh!’ I move back, away from the water ‘I got soaked…’ I laid down, that single motion, against the current of a brook, drained nearly all my remaining magic, my vision is a bit blurry ‘I don't feel… like I used it all… how close I got?’

-Very, IDIOT!-

I focus in the void… only the faintest remains are in it… like a few drops of dew, clinging to grass

‘Sorry… all that I accomplished with that… was the equivalent of giving the water a slap…’ rest for a moment, is the only thing I want to do… ‘Hungry…’

That will have to wait… sadly

-----

‘Ok my vision is good again’ I’m still in the ground ‘Status, Spells’

‘Yeah… it does… EP Shop’ I got Magic Extremities for the same cost as the eyes ‘They are arms!’ I get up closing the screens

A new smells reaches me… together with the smell of freshly removed dirt?

‘Is not rotten…’ I have no reference for this smell… it should be south of the hole? ‘Lets meet the neighbor, I am considering moving after all’

I slide towards it, slowly… my instinct is… wary

‘Could be a mole? That could explain the dirt… perhaps a worm…? Nah… I would expect one of those after it starts raining’ why would something move that much dirt? ‘Hiding from the humans? Making a nest? Evolving soon?’

As I move past the crater, yet another smell joins it… it… feels artificial?

‘Are you making something?’ this creature is becoming weirder in my mind ‘Not a mole then…’ hearing the ground reveal nothing, so I move forwards

Between trees, above a stone, under a bush, I follow the scents of the unknown

‘I hope that is not a complete golem or I-’

Death

I stop

Further ahead, behind a bush I see some dirt above something, and between two trees reflecting a stray ray of sun

Silk thread

‘Nononononononononononono!’ I keep my mouth close, and my tongue inside ‘WHY?!’ there is another thread nearby, I carefully look around, I can’t-

A chitinous leg appear behind the bush, raising and cleaning the dirt from the gigantic abdomen of a-

‘ULTIMATE LIFEFORM!’

I move backwards… very slowly… river… east… far… natural… barrier… west… unknown… no… east… barrier…

‘WHY?!’

I move… and once I feel like I am far enough, I dash away

/////

For spiders, evolving is a very dangerous time, even more so than after molting, this particular spider had the problem of having her evolution cause a molting

It was a consequence of the exact evolution she had acquired

Giant Spider

The outcome of this particular evolution wasn’t clear to her, like many other creatures, the Status was something that worked by instinct, they weren’t capable of rational thoughts, not until far later into the evolution chain

Not long ago this spider found herself capable of accessing her Species section, even before she had reached her current level cap, on it, she was aware of this particular evolution

Her instinct had warned her about size becoming a problem, so she had worked to expand her underground nest, before selecting the evolution… now her work was proven insufficient

The nest was destroyed the moment she started to free herself from the dirt, together with the webs she had used as sensors before around the entrance… as she was recovering from the experience and the nausea, she felt… annoyance, at the idea of having to make such a massive change in her building practice… now it was more efficient to find a small cave and repurpose it

She was also interested in the fact that now she was referring to herself, as a she… the sex of her body had no bearing on her life before the evolution… things like curiosity, or annoyance also were new

After spreading some temporal threads around her previous nest, something she found necessary until she finished to adjust to her new size, she was under the instinct of going to her favorite spot to receive sunlight after a molt… but after a moment she figured that it was not big enough now… thanks to her new size, she was actually using it already!

So, she started to get a bearing on her surroundings, using the spotty memories of her previous evolution… as an ambusher she never traveled far, this was the reason she had managed to survive the recent human attack, many of her favorite prey also should have survived it… they were small after all… too small for her current form

Her instinct also made her aware that the growing Undead presence, was gone, it also made her conscious that being so close to the Undead, was a stupid thing… and now she knew, that she needed to avoid that kind of things going forwards, even if it meant abandoning a nest

She removed some dirt that remained stuck to her abdomen, just as she remembered her old nest, she was nearby a sunken stone before, but a monster had forced her to move, that stone was in a clearing that should be big enough for her to harden her carapace in the sunlight

Her movements were interrupted by a notification

She was bothered by this… not only because it meant that something had gotten close enough, to see her without she noticing, but it also meant that she could not longer ambush effectively… her instinct told her so

As she moved to the clearing to harden, she pondered her options

Going south was out, the same as going north

Going west could meant the possibility of meeting humans, but better prey for her new hunting method

And going east, was also out, it was far more dangerous that the small chance of meeting humans in the west