Spirit Warrior
Taking a breath Astridr moved her fingers to the patterns long practiced. Breathing long and deep with moving her will through the cloud of Seidr near her skin. Caused the energy to flare a light cyan with flickers of gold.
As the first Beast broke through the edges of the fields Astridr let out a particularly sharp breath followed by a gesture, a sharp slash of her index finger. A spike of earth thrust itself up into the path of the Beast. It promptly impaled itself, struggling to push through the spike before expiring.
She wasn't sure what it was exactly, but likely a rabbit, boar, or deer Beast given it's size. No glowing patterns to indicate a Seidr presence, so they would be worthless for her own progression. Beyond the stream of golden mist that twisted towards her in the darkness.
The light tingled her skin as usual, but only a small amount of this Wyrd would be turned into Seidr. Warriors had it easy since so many Beasts followed their path, and so they gained more from fighting such.
It's also a reason the Shaman didn't patrol the towns and villages of the isles. It was rare for magical Beasts to show up in the islands near the center of the Veil. They happened to appear in the wilds of the outer islands near the Shroud.
Another Beast charged in, following the path of golden lights, and Astridr repeated her actions with the same results. A few more creatures came through the tree line before they stopped completely.
Beasts might be aggressive and brutal, but they weren't actually stupid. They wouldn't have found a way to refine Megin without some level of intelligence. Which is why the number of Warriors was always the same.
It was tempting to gather a large force of them, or teach everyone, but history showed that was a dangerous path. With stories of only a few people surviving the lack of Wyrd and food left in the wake of those attempts.
Plus, it was easiest to become a Warrior, but Megin also pushed on the aggression of those that used it. Fear, anger, and passions are all enhanced by the power of the crimson light. While Seidr pulls those into itself and feeds it to the spirits and the world.
As the last of the Wyrd travelled to her, she took a deep breath as the last of her wounds mended from the infusion of power. A smile twitched on her face, before cooling off as she considered the hours of dark still to go.
---
"HEALER?!" Midera yelled, staring at her daughter knelt before her, "Would you bring dishonor to our house with such a request?" Yet, her daughter didn't move bringing a sigh to her lips.
"Girl, you are my light, and Fate has a great path open to you and your clever mind." Still nothing, "Yet, you wish to bind yourself with the most restricted of the Techniques I could give you?" a note of anger bleeding through.
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"My siblings have the will and mind for your inheritance of storms and fire." Astridr replied, not moving or looking at her mother, "Mine has always been the goal of helping our people."
"And you think Healer is the path to follow? You realize that the Beasts kill and not maim, you would be fixing every broken finger." Midera's heat rose another notch, "No doubt from the foolish wishing to impress a wandering Warrior!"
"I will still learn the basics of magic so you need not worry for my safety, mother." A faint smile on her bowed head, she could sense the weakness in her mother's words. A loud sigh filled the stone chamber.
"Fine, as Wind's Daughter, I, Midera accept your request."
---
Over a dozen of the wild Beasts had tried to attack them during the night. The sunlight warming the sky showed Astridr that there wasn't a single body or material left behind only bloody stains. All of said stains lead back to the prone, but far healthier child.
Astridr had intended to force water into her if she didn't wake on her own today. The nights gift of Wyrd would help her body stave off the need for sleep. Which was one of the benefits share by Drang of either Warrior or Shaman.
What was alarming was the speed at which the girl was recovering without eating or gaining Wyrd herself. Though the answer to that was revealed when Seidr passed through her, and Astridr could see some kind of seed releasing a steady amount of Wyrd into her.
It was far more than she had seen yesterday, and the source had been hidden too. Yet, now she could see the vast amount of power growing the veins of her Warrior's Heart. Such growth wasn't often seen first hand.
So, she sat down to watch the power flow and build up the foundations of the girl's spirit body. Taking a deep breath and sinking into meditation, she found double ring of tree branches and roots that made up her Inner Tree.
The golden Wyrd was in the center and was being pulled through the looping patterns. Changing into the familiar deep blue and then cyan of her Seidr as it reached the edge and flowed around her body. Creating an outline of herself that was a few inches away.
Her own image was close to reaching the manifesting stage, Thegn, when she would be able to use it to heal from a distance. Or, make a pact with a spirit or Fae and amplify her power by a whole step.
It was the reason why Shaman ruled the Veil in all by name. They could always wield power beyond that the Warriors could reach, even if they couldn't reach beyond the Karl realm. Yet, without the binding the Shaman would rapidly lose power until they were nothing but mortals again.
The girl's inner self was usual beyond that odd seed of power, or was until Astridr tried to look at it as a whole.
"What in Odin's name..." Her fingers waving near, but not on, the girls exposed face, "Seidr." Her hands trembled as she repeated the action several times, forgetting where they were entirely.
All that mattered was to confirm what she saw and felt, but still couldn't believe. It was one thing to see someone using Seidr, but another to confirm that it wasn't some trick. Fae, Artifacts, or residual Seidr from a Beast could all be the reason.
Yet, this showed her a very different reason. The girl had the usual blurred Heart and growing veins of a Warrior, and she also had a faint outline of a Shaman. The only thing that gave some measure of calm was that the Megin was at least three times stronger than the Seidr.
She had reached the Drang stage not long ago, and the Seidr was only at the initial stage. Yet, the fact that both were present posed many questions. Like what Technique did she use for such a thing.
The patterns for Shamans were well recorded by the Conclave because Shaman liked to understand the world. The powers of Seidr and Megin were just another thing to study and understand with practice and research. Another reason the Shaman controlled the Veil.
There was only a single story about such an aberration.
"Einheri, Spirit Warrior..." was the whisper that left her lips.