"Begin by imaging the desired form, picture what you see in the mirror when your attendant cleans you up, to the smallest details you can remember. Once you have a clear vision of yourself, begin circulating the magic power inside your body, forcing it from your palms and combining it to appear human-like." Ashkatar closed his eyes and spoke as he envisioned himself creating his own astral body.
"I'm starting..." Willem nodded his head, closed his eyes and followed Ashkatar's words as closely as possible.
"The flow of mana you're releasing is a bit dense, you're getting closer to the mana needed for a homunculus. You are a sculptor, creating a masterpiece, so the details matter." Ashkatar's brows furrowed as he did his best to instruct Willem. Though he was giving instructions, Willem did not seem to be complying with the magic regulation necessary for the astral body.
"Something is telling me to use this amount of magical power. Forgive me, Ashkatar." Willem felt something in his mind. Perhaps it was an intervention of Jörmungandr, as the inclination to subtly change the magical output and mix up the rune word came from deep within himself.
Willem knew that Jörmungandr had implanted in his mind some rune words, spells and many different knowledges, so it was to be expected that some of that knowledge became accessible whenever Willem attempted to do something.
"Are you sure this is wise? Meddling with the flow of magic and rune word while channeling can cause disastrous results." Ashkatar quickly became worried at the thought of something happening to Willem.
If one was to only look at the brief friendship between Willem and Ashkatar, they would see a rather shallow relationship. Despite not knowing each other for long, Ashkatar had so few friends in the world, thus Willem was considered one of them. Willem had stopped the poisonous fog that had been gathering around the Stinging Blood Tortoise, and enough time had passed that the old beast could recover and move around again.
The sway from one massive leg to another was something the humans would still need to get used to, even though the dark elves had long since been accustomed to the movement.
Therefore, Ashkatar absolutely had to mention the risk of tampering with the flow of magic while channeling and recreating rune structures. The possible blowback would not only kill Willem, but also half of Paradiso Rosso. The dark elf and human children that played by the fountains, the hard-working elves rebuilding their homes, they would all get caught up in the blast.
"Please re-think this!" Ashkatar vehemently protested to Willem.
"Quiet, dear friend. Now is the time to focus." Willem had an unshakable feeling that what he was doing was right, and there was minimal risk involved. If there had been any more reason not to do it, Willem would have recalled his magical power back into his body and taken the brunt of the recoil himself.
Ashkatar nodded his head solemnly, as the magical power began to swell and take form. It was far beyond the point of return where there would be no damage for cancelling the spell. Instead of speaking, Ashkatar used his own hastened spell to seal the door so that Willem would not to be interrupted.
Willem continued to form the astral body, shaping the nose, mouth and other various body parts into a perfect likeness of himself. He copied the flow of magic that he felt within his own body and simulated that movement in the magic he was creating.
The magical body that was being created took on a dazzling shine, like a rare jewel that had been shaped and cut brilliantly.
(Crystal Body Creation.)
Willem focused his mind as the rune word formed in his head. Slowly the rune word moved from his mind into the magical body that was being created, taking the place of the brain.
The magical body was suspended in mid-air, slowly beginning to awaken. This was the crucial point where Willem's thoughts and desires and ideas flowed through to the rune word inside. When the magic was completed, Willem had to quickly break all points of magical contact with the body in one quick motion, severing his mind before it got completely absorbed by the 'Crystal Body'.
Willem severed the connection and breathed deeply as the Crystal Body that was previously floating in the air slumped to the ground.
"What is that?" Ashkatar was in a daze as he asked his question, his voice faltering and full of confusion. "It is similar to the Astral Body Creation, and somehow the Homunculus? Is such a thing even possible?"
"I cannot say for sure, all I know is that when I was creating it, there was no doubt in my mind it would work. However now when I try to access that same information, I get a painful headache. I can only assume it is another 'gift' from Jörmungandr." Willem scratched his head as he breathed a sigh of relief, now that the magic had finally been completed.
"That old monster sure is full of surprises... Always acting as he pleases." Ashkatar shuddered as he thought of Jörmungandr, before folding his arms across his chest. "Well, everything worked out in the end, even if I don't get to learn how this thing gets created."
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"My mind is clearly connected." Willem lifted his right hand out to touch the body, and stopped halfway. The Crystal Body mimicked the behavior, lifting it's left hand up until it almost touched Willem's.
Willem gently touched the hand of the Crystal Body, before returning his arm back to his side. The Crystal Body stood up, nodded to Willem and Ashkatar, and headed toward the palace.
Ashkatar blinked incredulously as the Crystal Body stepped up to the door, dispelled the magic seal he had placed, and walked out nonchalantly.
"I don't know what to think. Why bother with this when I could just play with the children." Ashkatar had been racking his brain, unsure of how to respond to what had happened. It if was anyone else, they would have been completely destroyed by magical recoil. No matter what Willem decided to do, it seemed he was destined to succeed.
Ashkatar left the room quietly when he saw that Willem was busy meditating. Considering what he had just done, it was not far fetched to believe Willem just needed to replenish his magical power.
As Ashkatar left, Willem probed deeper within his own mind, embracing the trance-like state that allowed him to create his first soul-form many weeks ago.
Inside his own mind, Willem broke his fingers to create the rune words 'Hoard' and 'Awareness' as he did when first creating his soul-form.
His first soul-form hovered around him as an ethereal wisp, as if to guard him from anything with malicious intent.
Now that Willem had his first soul, the abundant magical energy within himself was no longer something to be feared. The infinite whirlpool of energy had been slightly suppressed and was now crashing against his body gently, soothing him like a soft blanket.
The energy quickly replenished his magical power, by funneling through his mind and into his body, replacing the magical energy used to create the Crystal Body.
Willem noticed that the magical energy seemed to focus on seven specific points in his body, where they would gather in abundance and create a pool reaching from the top of his head to his pelvis.
Willem allowed the energy to freely flow from his mind to his body, completely filling the seven points where they wished to gather. Willem did not try to guide the energy, as it seemed to have a mind of it's own.
As the seventh and final energy point began to pool, Willem's body took on a gentle yellow glow, surrounding him in a shimmering light that felt warm to the touch. Willem could tell as he had focused on circulating magical energy to his eyes, the energy of the seven points was acting as some sort of barrier. What it could defend against, Willem was unsure.
Willem did not have to continually pour magical energy into the barrier to maintain it, and it showed a similar effect to when he obtained his first soul-form and the magical energy surrounded him. It was a peculiar feeling, like being touched gently all over his body.
As for his second soul-form, according to the knowledge gifted by Jörmungandr, the magical energy needed to create it is more than double what it took for the first one. Considering that the magical energy for the first soul-form was taken from a Young Red Dragon, Willem could only imagine what he would have to fight next to get enough.
Instead of attempting to create a second soul-form, Willem focused on refining the first one that gently floated around him.
As the soul-form traced it's way around Willem's mind, a small afterglow followed behind it. Willem focused all the magical energy he could find and gathered it in order to encircle the soul and protect it. The soul-form gladly accepted the magical energy, allowing it to flow freely from Willem's mind through the soul and back out. The magical energy that came out of the soul was more refined and potent compared to the lingering magical energy, which was already quite dense compared to the outside world.
After four layers of magical energy gathered around the soul-form, Willem removed himself from within his mind and stood up from his seated position. He yawned and stretch his hands towards the sky, gently cracking his back. Unknowingly, he had been meditating for quite some time. When he originally consulted Ashkatar, it had been morning, now it was clearly dusk.
"Let's see what the Crystal Body is doing." Willem muttered as he closed his eyes momentarily and looked for the magical connection to the Body he had made.
While Willem was meditating.
The Crystal Body had just left Ashkatar's room, and headed towards the teleportation array with intent. As it had the memories and purpose instilled by Willem, it would of course fulfill it's duties without hesitation. All of those duties took place in the Private Sanctum, so the Body felt no need to wander along slowly in Paradiso Rosso.
Elves and humans alike greeted the Crystal Body as if it was Willem, despite knowing that something felt a little off about what they were looking at. It did not stop them from offering him fresh oranges to eat or a nice word about the weather. The Crystal Body accepted anyone who came up to it to talk, without showing impatience.
When everyone was done greeting the Crystal Body, it took the teleportation array to the Private Sanctum.
"You are not the Grand Mage."
The first thing the Crystal Body heard was from the Matron of the middle area, guide and protector of the array.
The Matron grabbed her cane, which she then pulled apart into two separate pieces. The hilt of the cane became a sharp rapier, as she discarded the hollow wooden sheath.
Despite her 'advanced' age, the Private Sanctum held such a deep and refined magical energy that permeated through the entire area, allowing her to feel the vigor of her youth once more.
"Reveal your intentions." The Matron held the edge of the rapier in the direction of the Crystal Body, her left hand held behind her back and her body turned to the side. This made for an extremely hard target to attack, as there was virtually no area to strike at without going through the rapier first.
"I am a Creation that Willem has made so that he may raise Lia, as well as command his forces from the Private Sanctum as he does more advanced scouting." The voice sounded quite similar to Willem, giving the nearby inhabitants a slight pause.
The Matron could not tell if the Crystal Body was lying, but there was no harm in letting it live and monitoring it temporarily, until she can get confirmation from the Grand Mage himself.
As if knowing that it was being doubted, the Crystal Body raised it's hand gently, and the magical tattoo on the Matron's shoulder began to gently glow, not enough to cause discomfort, but enough to bolster the runes it was made from.
"Will this suffice." The Crystal Body smiled.
"Yes, I apologize for any offense I have caused, Grand Mage." The Matron kneeled down on one knee and sheathed her rapier quietly.
"Carry on, Matron." The Crystal Body placed it's hand gently on her shoulder, a re-assuring sign, and walked to Willem's study room.