Looking at the portal, a screech echoed through it. My heart raced, and flashes of pain that I had experienced shot through my body. From within the darkness, a black, taloned limb appeared. Then another. And another. Eight in total emerged from the portal. Pulling itself out, a face that I found so familiar looked at me. Its body was black, its flesh rotten and decayed. It screeched, its many eyes looking at me. Black chains disappeared into its decayed flesh and wrapped tightly around its body. My crimson eyes pulsed slightly, matching the ever-increasing rate of my heart.
The monster's face split, revealing its black fangs and central eye. It growled slightly as we looked at each other. After a second, my head started to throb; it felt as if something foreign was within my mind and was trying to break free. I grunted, and so did the monster. Grasping my hair, I fought back against whatever the pain was. My eyes glazed over, my legs buckling. I gasped and fell to my knees, but thankfully the pain had disappeared.
I looked into the monster's centermost eye and watched as it hummed calmly. Slowly it approached me; as it did, I crawled away in panic, the memories of what this creature did to me in the cave surfacing. Feeling Liora's hand on my back, she stopped my retreat. I pulled at the grass as it got right in my face. I closed my eyes, but nothing happened. Opening them, I saw the creature standing there, looking at me, confused.
It hummed before ramming its head into me softly. I flinched, but it did not hurt. Moving my hand, I touched the creature; it was slimy but surprisingly warm. I smiled softly and patted the creature; it hummed, rubbing against my chest.
"Excellent, Luna! I'm surprised you were able to summon a creature right away," Liora said while looking at the monster.
She mumbled to herself while poking the monster in its side. "It's definitely a demonic beast. I wonder..."
It instinctively moved closer to me and away from Liora.
"Why are you poking it?"
"Just examining."
"You're just poking it"
"Same thing."
I looked at it again.
Fleshweaver
Race: Demon Beast
Level: 2
So that's its name... A fleshweaver, huh? I examined the creature, my hand stroking it.
"Now give it a command," Liroa said.
"Command?" I asked.
She walked away. "Tell it to attack me."
"What!? No, I can't do that. What if you get hurt?"
"Don't worry, a creature like that won't be able to harm me," she responded.
"Okay... how do I give it a command?"
"Just tell it to attack me; it should be able to understand," she said while preparing herself. "Since you successfully summoned it, the creature should have formed a pact with you; the black chains are probably a visual representation."
"Alright... Fleshweaver, attack," I said while pointing at Liora.
The creature, which had been snuggled against my chest, quickly turned around, baring its fangs at Liora. It screeched and rushed at her, its legs sinking deep into the ground and then pushing off towards her. Reaching Liora, it jumped at her. Its talons lashed out, and it tried to knock her down. Liora, sidestepping the creature, watched as it flew by her, landing and rolling against the ground.
It screeched and dashed at her again, only to be avoided effortlessly by Liora. She smiled, dodging effortlessly as the creature grew more frustrated. With a light kick from Liora, it yelped and was sent flying, landing next to me. It staggered back to its feet, its side damaged from the impact. Even as I watched, its flesh began to regenerate.
"You brought your sword as well; attack me too," Liora told me.
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Yes."
Grabbing my blade, which I had left by the door, I dashed at Liora as well. She smiled as I struck at her. Dodging out of the way, she flicked my head. My eyes widened as, during this interaction, she dodged just in time for the charging fleshweaver to miss her and hit me instead. It whimpered as we tumbled to the ground.
Recovering, the two of us stood up again, ready to charge. Liora taunted us, waving her hand. Yelling while charging, I focused on my strike but ended up accidentally hitting one of my summons' talons, instead allowing Liora to knock us both down.
"That's enough," she said.
"Okay," I said while telling the fleshweaver to stop.
"You can summon it, and you can command it. That doesn't mean you know how to fight together."
She pointed between us.
"Right now you're just getting in each other's way."
She sighed, looking up at the sky, the sun now beginning to fall.
"That's all for today. Send the creature back and go home to get some rest," she told me. "Oh, and make sure you tell Roderic."
I bowed slightly. "Thank you."
She nodded back at me before heading inside. "Oh, and Luna, our regular lesson times are normal, but I want to see you every day before sundown to help you learn how to control it."
Smiling, I nodded, watching as she shut the door.
Looking at the monster, I raised an eyebrow. "Wait, how do I send it back?" I asked aloud, but she was already gone.
The fleshweaver looked at me while humming.
"Do you wanna go back?"
It tilted its head, multiple eyes on its body looking at me.
"Ok, um, go home?" I told it.
It looked at me. The chains within its body began to glow, and in the yard a portal began to form. It hissed slightly before the portal opened. Looking at me, it bumped me with its head. Its face closed, and with it the chains dragged it into the dark portal.
I smiled slightly, feeling where it hit me. The portal vanished, and in its place the grass had turned black and rotten. I saw the decayed ground and quickly picked up my bag and sword.
Oops!!
I went around the house and into the front street, walking slowly; a massive grin formed. This is so cool!
Basically skipping through the streets, I arrived back at the commander's house. Opening the door, I dropped my bag on the floor and placed my sword against the wall. Walking into the kitchen, my eyes met the commander's. He seemed relaxed and was silently sipping on some tea. He smiled at me.
"What have you been up to all day?"
"Well, I went over to Liora's house."
He nodded.
"And I think she had some company, but she said she was alone."
The commander, looking at me, coughed slightly. "Is that so?"
"Yeah, it was weird, but guess what!"
"Hm?"
"You're looking at someone who has the Demonic magical affinity!"
He spat his tea out and began coughing violently. "What!" He screamed.
The commander did not take the news well, and most of his tea ended up on the ground. But after calming down, I told him what happened, how Liora used the Affinity Crystal, how she taught me how to use mana sense, and how I cast my first spell. The only thing I left out was the vision I had.
We sat at the table together, him listening patiently. After finishing, he stood up before walking over to my side of the table.
"Good for you, kiddo, good for you," he said while patting me on the shoulder. "You gotta show it to me tomorrow."
I smiled. "I will."
He walked away, entering his room and closing the door. From within, I felt his vibrations, them slowing down as he entered his bed.
Wait... I know those vibrations...
I thought for a second.
It was you! You were the one at Liora's house!
Looking at his door, my mind raced.
What could they have been doing?!
Standing up, I approached his room; almost about to knock, I froze. Standing there, my hand still in the air, I turned around.
They probably have their reasons!
Huffing, I grabbed my bag and sword and headed upstairs.
Running into my room, I dropped my stuff and fell face-first into my bed. After rolling around for a few minutes, I stood up.
"It's not the same!" I exclaimed while thinking about Liora's couch.
Looking outside, I saw that Umbra Astrum had risen, and the sun had compleatly faded.
Grabbing my bag and stuffing a new pair of clothes into it, I opened the window. Tossing the bag out the window, I picked up my sword. Climbing out, my feet dug into slits in the wood. Slowly closing the window, I jumped down, landing and rolling on the grass.
Picking up my bag, I dashed into the forest. Looking around, the trees towered into the sky. Walking slowly, I descended deeper into the woods.
Time to practice magic!
Stopping a few hundred meters from the village and entering a familiar clearing, I stood at the center. Rays of light that came from Umbra Astrum illuminated me as they broke through the dense forest.
Ok, there were two other spells: Hellflames and Decayed Weapon. Which to try first?
Looking at my hand, I thought about Matt and how he once created a fire in his palm. Tapping my head, the blue lights appeared. Drawing them in, I watched as they turned black. I envisioned a flame on my palm, and as I did, the mana began to move. Turning my mana sight off, I watched a small flicker appear in my palm. It grew to the size of a small ball.
The flame was eerily cold, but I could tell that it was dangerous; I doubted anything else that touched this would be okay—a deep crimson core, black edges. The forest around me glowed a dark red, pulsating slightly with the fire. My other hand hovered above it, my hair standing on end as a shiver shot up my arm.
What can I do with you?
I twisted my wrist, pointing it at a nearby rock. I felt the mana within the fire and tried to direct it forward. My eyes widened as the flame bolted forward towards the rock. The flame struck the rock and burst across its surface. Cracks spread from the impact as black-and-crimson fire clung stubbornly to the stone.
Smiling, I took a step towards the rock to examine the damage, but my vision blurred. I lost my balance, plummeting to the ground and landing on my hands and knees. I felt sick; placing my hand on my mouth, I coughed, but unlike before, no blood covered my hand.
I guess... I think that was my limit for that spell...
Standing up, my vision still slightly blurred, I slowly approached the rock; I traced my hands along where the rock was struck. It was as if the flame had spread throughout it. Sliding down the rock, I lay there resting, breathing heavily.
I think I'm going to take a break here...
Lying there, I thought about all the cool things I could do with magic.
If I get better and stronger, could I create giant fireballs? Flame walls, or even hellflame tornadoes? And for summoning, what are the true limits? The fleshweaver is already really strong, but if I could summon something like the winged monster... Or even that...
The Leviathan tentacle creature flashed through my head. I activated magic sight and took in the mana all around me.
What endless possibilities.
After resting for a while, I pushed myself back to my feet. My head still felt light, but a grin spread across my face.
One more spell to try out!
Decayed Weapon, I thought about the spell.
Okay, think of what you want to make.
I looked at my wooden sword.
Alright, I can do this.
Drawing in the mana, I imagined it in the form of a sword. In front of me, I watched as decayed flesh began forming out of the mana, coming together to create the weapon. I concentrated hard, but to my dismay, the weapon disintegrated, the rotten flesh falling to the ground, causing the grass to turn black and rot. My head began to throb.
Okay, maybe I can't do this... Try smaller then!
I thought of a dagger, and in front of me black and red flesh began to writhe and connect. Their tendrils wrapped together, forming a small dagger. On its hilt was an eye that seemed to follow me; after a moment, I felt as if it was complete, and it fell to the floor.
Around it, the ground blacked even more. Bending over to pick it up, the tendrils suddenly reached out, wrapping themselves tightly around my hand. I tried to let go, even opening my hand, but it clung to me. Surprisingly, I could grab and drop it with my left hand, but when my right hand got close again, it grabbed on. It was as if it didn't want me to drop it by accident.
I opened my hand and looked at its eye. "Aren't you a strange thing?" I said, my eyebrow raising.
Clasping it, the blade was cold, and it wriggled slightly, making me uncomfortable. Looking at the rock, I slashed it. The knife cut through the surface with relative ease, and I saw as the grey stone darkened slightly where it was struck. Stabbing the dagger in the same spot a few more times, I watched as the spot turned compleatly black before beginning to fall apart.
Smiling, I opened my hand again to look at the eye but noticed that it had begun to close. With it shutting, the blade's strength dissipated, and the flesh began to fall apart. The dagger let go, falling to the ground and disintegrating. Watching as it broke down, I frowned.
Well, that sucks! It was super cool!