Chapter 75

Flight of The Dodo

With my recent power leveling venture over, there are a few things that have become abundantly clear to me. First, I am terrible with physical actions. Secondly, I am apparently a very social person, which is odd because I think I hate people. Well not hate them, but generally prefer to be alone. That said, all of my Social attributes are now over the combined two hundred point thresholds. While mental attributes are well over the two-hundred-point threshold.

Physical

Base

Bonus

Social

Base

Bonus

Mental

Base

Bonus

Strength

53

17

Personality

77

133

Perception

117

154

Dexterity

83

89

Sociability

72

133

Intelligence

119

219

Endurance

78

17

Attractiveness

61

174

Willpower

102

349

With my Willpower pushing towards five hundred, my ability to create spells is amazingly easy. This is partly why it has taken me a week to travel through three floors of the tower. Not that I get distracted, well maybe a little distracted, but this world is just so beautiful, even a blind person like me can see the grace and beauty that goes into every aspect of this game.

Take for instance the birds, they are dead. I mean no real surprise, this is a spirit realm after all, but how does a spirit infused pile of bones fly? Magic.

That’s right, the birds here all instinctively know had to cast a magical version of flight that seems to be stamina based. At least some species have a stamina based version of flight, and by some species, I mean the carnivores. Yes, aggressive and carnivorous birds can fly with stamina, so they can take down foes with a full pool of magic. While regular spirit birds fly with either mana or spirit. Honestly it is kind of odd to watch, as I was not aware that spells could pull from Stamina like that, but I guess it makes sense. If Blood Magic, can pull directly from someone’s health pool, then having a set of magic or at least certain type of spells that can pull from stamina isn’t too much of a stretch.

The spells and their structures seem to be fairly similar, other than Stamina based flight seems to make it so you can climb higher faster, but have less endurance.

When look at the spells I make it a point to try to deconstruct the mana based version of flight. With my Intelligence sitting at 338, and my Willpower sitting at 451, I know I would be able to fly a lot longer with a mana based flight spell.

Also, seeing these birds has given me hope that I will be able to use my 94 Merit Points on purchasing two things. First an extra Trait slot, which will likely cost more than the 20 I used to buy my second one. Especially, as this will now be my fourth such slot. The second thing I want to buy is the ability to Fly, looking at these birds and the fact that they have to use magic to fly makes me feel even more confident that flight can be mimicked by magic. I know a lot of higher level people have rocket packs, and other propulsion designs to fly, along with steam ships, but to just fly with magic would be amazing. Though thinking about it, I guess others who have spells or Traits to fly would still be better off to hide their true mode of flight by developing gimmicks that distract the average person. In fact, even if I do get a Trait that allows me to Fly, I think I will go the rocketeer path as well.

Of course, these are all just pipe dreams. For now I am just witnessing the natural use of magic by creatures of the world, well of the spirit world.

Cacaw!

A death screech pierces the air around me. The voice is amplified and projected away by magic, of course the fact that such an act is using magic causes me and my Angel’s Sight to immediately identify the source of the scream. In this case, it is coming from a giant death-head hawk. I’ve been tracking the large predator since they first entered my sphere of perception over a kilometer ago, yes with my newly increased Attributes, my sphere of vision has increased to over three kilometers. This is another reason why I want to slow down my leveling, as my range of Perception is astronomical at this point. To be honest, it is kind of hard to focus solely on what is around me. My increased range of vision has also proven a few things to me. First and foremost, I have learned that I can now only cast up to a kilometer and a half or so away. So, the fact that this death-head hawk is apparently already on their attack run has me quite impressed, as it likely means they can debilitate me rather quickly from that range. Granted I am going around as a scrumptious 18 Human Female named Sabrina Spiritlight, thanks to my Spiritual Doppelganger class Trait, so maybe the hawk just likes the taste of humans?

That or it could be the fact that I am the first living thing in this area and thanks to those who explored before me, all fleshies like me are considered to be kill on sight. Regardless of the reason, the carnivorous creature is coming straight for me. This gives me a few things to key in on. First, there is the fact that they are likely going to attack me with spirit magic, not too hard to believe considering their distance and the fact that they don’t really have too many mechanical components that can survive out here in the wilds, particularly with the near constant corruption that comes from Spirit Magic. Basically, there seems to be a gradient of how effective the different categories are here. Magic is 100% effective in the Spirit Realm, at least Spirit magic is. The next major component are physical actions which appear to be slightly degraded, but not dramatically so, I would guess they are at roughly 90% efficacy. Next are Apothecary potions which seem to be at 85% efficacy. Then lastly we have the mechanoid units, who while seeming to be held to the same 90% damage ratio of physical attacks, they have a much higher erosion, or maintenance rate here than they would elsewhere. This is the same gradient for magic users who try to go full mechanical. If I suddenly went all Darth Vader and had most of my body replaced by mechanical parts, there would be a huge problem, as erosion and gradual wear and tear would build up a lot faster on my body than on the average person who has no sensitivity to magic.

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All this is to say that, for this adversary, I was exceptionally well equipped to combat them. Not only was I drastically over leveled for this area, being that both of my classes were double the level of this creature, but I also chose to sit here and practice some of my skills and newly acquired class Perks related to dueling magic users.

Fortunately I don’t have to wait long, as my unmoving nature makes the Death-Head Hawk think it has distracted me fully. Thus, when it gets to within my own magical range, it strikes out.

HAWKAW!

With that one scream, a giant beam of magical force is fired straight at me. Then using instinct that has been carved by months of near constant practice against targeting my own Simulacrum, and being targeted by my Simulacrum with spells, I lash out with my own form of magic.

Within seconds, I have my own countering wave of energy forming and moving to intercept the incoming attack, the moment our two spells meet, I am met with an all too familiar system message.

You have entered a contested battle of wills with Evolved Apex Death-Head Hawk, Jhalita. Jhalita is attempting to mentally disable you. Warning losing, dropping, or otherwise losing your mental focus with Jhalita will be marked as a failure, resulting in mental and cognitive disruptions of your ability to respond to an evolved predator.

So, this isn’t just an attacker, but seemingly an evolved attacker. Part of me wonders if it gained levels from either feeding off of the high level regressors who were apparently wiped out on this floor earlier, or if they had actually been part of the final assault that ended their lives. In the end, what the giant bird did to evolve doesn’t really matter. What matters at this very moment is winning this impromptu duel.

As the spell gets closer, I see that the system has apparently evolved its choices, no longer satisfied with just the standard rock, paper, scissors, the options have this time evolved to that of forming their spell in the shape of a giant shifting lizard. Seeing the new choice I mentally nod my approval, then proceed to both decapitate and smash the lizard, first creating a giant set of scissors that I use to decapitate the lizard, then with a second focused dispel, I crush the head of the decapitated lizard with a giant rock.

Whoosh!

There is a burst and explosion of force in the air.

Double Critical Success.

Hidden Mage Quest Completed: Establishing Magical Dominance (Evolved Apex Death-Head Hawk): You have completed a secret rite of passage available to all mages, the Rite of Dominance, where you were proven to be successful. Rewards: Experience, and New Magical Dueling Options.

Experience Gained: 500/500.

New Magical Dueling Options: Lizard (Offense/Defense).

Seeing that, I couldn’t help but be a little impressed, while I had dueled myself a lot, this was the first time against a real opponent in quite a while and honestly it felt very good. I also seemed to have gotten twice the normal experience for using both forms that defeat the targeted object. Then remembering the part about the possible side effects, I wonder how long I would have been out for, had that spell landed.

Whipper-whip-woop.

There was the odd sound of something slightly aerodynamic twisting wildly towards the ground at a high rate of speed.

Mentally I look out for the sound and find that it is the same evolved death-head hawk that was just targeting me with a random attack spell. Seeing it, I can tell that it is mentally stunned, as its body is just limply flailing in the ground.

I mentally try to reach out and grab the giant bird, but it is just at the cusp of my effective spell range, meaning that I can’t get a good enough grip. It’s almost like trying to grab something that you can only reach with your fingertip, so you try to reach out as far as you can, and end up touching a rounded part, making it so it rolls away, rather than towards you. Same thing here, except for the fact that I just caused a giant spinning bird to alter its course slightly. Now rather than driving straight into the ground like a spinning screwdriver, it is going at an angle, like a slightly slower spinning falling screwdriver. While it looks like the bird will still hit, it no longer looks like all of its weight will land on its head and neck.

Boom!

The bird lands with a thud, and I pause for only a second, before I Teleport next to the bird and begin trying to save the creature that just tried to eat me a moment ago, like I was a giant piece of human beef.

Poof.

I appear next to the bird, well close enough that I can begin casting, even while taking the last few minutes to begin healing the massive creature.

The creature is dead, well close to it, despite the majority of its impact being off dropping directly onto its neck, it still broke its neck, scrambled what it had for brains, and most of its internal organs have been pierced and punctured by its broken rib cage.

In all, not too good. Had I been any later, or even slightly worse of a healer, I might not be able to do much. Fortunately, I’m pretty good at healing, if I do say so myself.

I begin using two different pools of energy at once. First I cast Omni-Heal, a Void Healer only Trait, meaning my Simulacrum can’t even use this pool of energy. Regardless, of how much her being able to use this secondary pool of mana would help. Fortunately with 451 Willpower and 338 Intelligence my mana regeneration and mana pools are very robust, so even with my Simulacrum being on shift right now, this should not be too much of a drain. Especially as the only actual spell I need to cast on the bird is my first ever Tier IX spell, Resurrection, where I begin tying the soul of the bird back into its mortal body. I even use Telekinesis to help pull out the broken bones and put them into place.

Rustle.

A humanoid figure has come near and is no doubt looking over me and what I am doing to the bird. Likely they will attempt to kill the bird that I am healing, as it will be free experience, but I won’t let that happen, at least not until the bird has a chance to get away.

Fortunately for me, the newcomer seems to be okay with just watching us from a distance. This is good, as I am pretty sure even if the newcomer tried to attack, I could defend not only myself, but the bird.

So, I recognized the threat, but then just continued healing and more importantly resurrecting the bird spirit. I don’t know if it is me, my new power, or my new Reincarnation class perk, but the healing and resuscitation of this predator is amazingly easy.

Within moments, the minute the bird, Jhalita, starts to move, their healthy heart begins to pump vigorously, and then I can all but feel the moment their mind awakens.

Squak-ak!

The bird awakens, clearly frightened beyond compare, and then lashes out wildly. Apparently its first survival instinct is to target the healer, that brought it back to life. I pause, not quite certain how I feel about this, but then realize it is just a dumb bird. So rather than get annoyed, I flick the bird, right in the head with a Telekinetic pulse.

Plink.

Gahh!

After the light flick, the bird promptly passes out once more. At this, the man that has been watching this entire time gets up and looks like they are about to act, when I hold one finger up behind my back gesturing to them that not only can I see them, but I will act with them accordingly as well.

Seeing my reaction to his silent movement, he pauses. With that I nod, and continue healing the rest of the bird. I even heal the slight blood clotting in the brain that I might or might not have caused by flicking the bird a little too hard in the head. To my defense, the entire thing was very stressful.

Finally, once the bird is completely healed, but not yet fully awake, I stand up from my kneeling position, and turn to face the man.

Upon seeing me, the man pauses, as a wave of fear and something else washes over him. They are completely silent, so I take that as my cue to walk forward, until I am but a dozen paces away from the individual.

“Suffice it to say, that this creature is now under my protection until it once again takes flight. Only once it has a chance to get airborne and acclimated to its recent changes will I let you go after it.”

“Go after it?”

“Yes, I don’t know if you are here for sport, or if you think taking down a half wounded creature is acceptable, but I will not allow it, under my watch.”

Silence.

The man pauses for a moment, but then proceeds to take off their cowboy hat and place it over their heart before bowing slightly.

“I am sorry miss Void Healer, you seem to have mistaken me for someone. I must admit part of that is the fact that I stayed back to ensure you were not going to do anything untoward towards my familiar, but then I saw your title, and realized you were not like the others.”

There was a lot to unpack in that.

“Title?” I ask almost out of reflex, before even realizing what it is he is in fact talking about.

“Yes, the title that states you are the Trainer for Void Healers. I must admit I do not know what that class is exactly, but I can see that they are quite powerful.” The man states.

With that, I remember my other boon, that came from me reaching level 50 in both of my Unique classes, and that is the fact that I am now officially recognized as the Trainer for both Void Healer, and Simulacrum Master.

Void Healer Trainer

You have been identified as being the official progenitor for the prestigious Void Healer class. Rewards: Can dictate Class evolutions. All prior class evolutions are 25% more effective for you.

Simulacrum Master Trainer

You have been identified as being the official progenitor for the prestigious Simulacrum Master class. Rewards: Cand dictate Class evolutions. All prior class evolutions are 25% more effective for you.

“Yes, thank you.” I say, then I turn back to look at the giant bird. The entire gesture is pointless, as I don’t actually see the bird any better by turning my head, but it does draw attention to the subject that I am talking about, while also hiding the fact that I am clearly blind, before I continue speaking, “so that is your familiar?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, she was only meant to alert us to…” He pauses as he looks at me, though I think I can understand what he means exactly.

“Fleshies?” I ask, having heard the term a few times while here in the spirit realm, it is a derogatory term meant to describe anyone still living that has somehow managed to transfer over to the spirit realm.

“Yes, sorry.”

“No problem.” I say, just glad it was me, so I could heal him back up after his fall.

“Yes, how did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Shoot him out of the sky like that, I didn’t see you cast anything.”

“I broke his mental resolve when I shattered his spell, making it so what he intended to hit me with was rebounded back on him.”

At that the man nods, “I see.”

More silence.

“So, what do you intend to do next?”

“I don’t know, is there anything interesting to find out here? I am always interested in seeing new things.”