Dav’s summons were pretty boring, really. Eldritch Sheathe covered his sword in black tendrils that he could unwind to use to grab things that touched his sword. They weren’t very long, but Sophia could see it being useful to trip someone or maybe even disarm them. Eldritch Anchor was similar to Sophia’s new Rott Grab; she wished it were a spell so that she could replace Root Grab with something she could get again at a higher level later, but otherwise it was extremely similar. Eldritch Arrows literally summoned arrows. They were magical and Amy was certain to like them, but that was really all Sophia could say about them.
His spells were more interesting partly because Sophia might well be able to get them later. Spellwarp was like weakening or dispelling a spell, except that the spell sometimes had additional consequences. Out of the six times they tested it, two spells completely were broken, two were significantly weakened, one exploded, and the last one somehow turned the sand it hit into glass, as if it were hit by lightning. Sophia suggested that Dav try some visualizations when he used the Ability; hopefully, that would help guide the warp to do what they wanted.
Warp Space seemed to be a movement Ability; it let Dav make steps that were far too big. He thought it might let him step past some small barriers as well, but he couldn’t warp space far or go anywhere he couldn’t see. If he wanted to bring Sophia with him, he had to carry her.
Light and Dark literally created areas that were brighter and areas that were dimmer. Dav was able to blind Sophia with both as long as he placed them correctly, so there was definitely potential in the spell.
Eldritch Projection and Eldritch Aurora were similar in their effects; both of them made Sophia feel the presence of the Origin. Neither had any real effect on her, but it seemed likely that they’d be bad for others. The difference was that Projection had the same sort of reach as Sophia’s Bolt spells, while Aurora created a wavering light around Dav and affected only a small area around him but could be maintained while he did other things.
Quickstep seemed to do the same thing as Warp Space, but it was cheaper and Dav could cast it on Sophia as well as himself. That made them go back and reexamine Warp Space. It turned out that Warp Space didn’t have to move an entire person; Dav could use it to attack things that were far from him as long as he did it quickly. The mana cost seemed to depend only on how far away Dav tried to reach and it was expensive enough that he was going to have to use it sparingly.
Eldritch Weapon seemed to be similar to Sophia’s Imbue Weapon. It was possible to put both on Dav’s blade at the same time, but it was hard to tell how much of a difference it made.
As Dav tested his new Spells, Sophia tested her new Magic Attuned Aura. It did exactly what it said: she could affect Dav’s magic as he cast it, making it stronger or weaker. She could even affect it in other ways, like making it spread farther or completely miss certain spaces. It was difficult work and Sophia knew it would take practice, but it was a significant addition to her toolkit, as long as she worked with other spellcasters. For now, it was too difficult to affect her own spells, but she was certain that would change with time and practice.
Magical Translucence was weird. Dav’s spells and summons both had a hard time affecting Sophia, which was definitely nice, but it certainly wasn’t perfect. His Eldritch Anchor still worked on her; it was just a little easier to free herself. The thorns from the Thorn Emitter didn’t seem to be affected at all, but Sophia could get far closer to the Fire Bud. The weirdest effect was with Light and Dark; if he hit her with any Light at all, Magical Translucence scattered it enough that it brightened any nearby Dark areas. It also didn’t dazzle her vision at all, unlike normal. Neither of them could think of a way to use that, but it was still interesting.
Prismatic Magic, on the other hand, was both difficult to use and very useful. If she timed it exactly correctly, she could use it to cheaply dissolve a spell Dav cast into its component parts, making it sparkle in her Aural Mana Sense but accomplish nothing. The problem was that it didn’t work on a spell that was already in place, only on one that was in the middle of being cast. With that, it didn’t seem any better than the normal method of dispelling spells; if anything, it was worse. She was pretty sure she was missing something important, but she wasn’t sure what. Maybe she’d figure it out if she played with it.
Perhaps it wasn’t meant as a combat Ability? Sophia wasn’t a craftsman, but she knew the very basics of enchanting and that involved separating things sometimes. Maybe it could be useful there?
If that was what it was used for, it was a significant disappointment. That wasn’t what Sophia wanted to do with her life. There had to be more to it.
The last Ability Sophia tried out was her own flight Ability, Manifest Wings. She saved it for last because she knew that it would take whatever time she gave it; she loved to fly. She’d only managed it with others’ spells and magical items in the past, so flying under her own power sounded wonderful.
Sophia glanced over at Amy and found her practicing vertical takeoffs. It was amazing how much she’d improved since she started; it’d only been a few hours, now. Sophia hoped she’d be good as quickly as Amy managed it.
Sophia felt her mana reserves plummet as she triggered the Ability. The mana flowed through her body and out through her spine, then spread out behind her. She glanced backwards and saw glowing colors; it looked almost like light moved in waves along her new (if temporary) wings.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Sophia glanced at Amy again. She really, really hoped she could fly without that much trouble. This almost had to be more like her dragons’ flight and flight using items, because a human wasn’t like an owl; she wasn’t made to fly. Her wings also weren’t nearly large enough.
She closed her eyes tightly as she spread her wings wide and flapped. If nothing else, she didn’t want to get sand in her eyes; that wasn’t any fun.
She opened her eyes once she felt her feet leave the ground. It really was just like using a flying harness; she even seemed to naturally float face-down with her wings above her. She could feel it as her magical tail tapped lightly against her feet as she turned, then she spread her wings to glide forward. She didn’t need to flap at all as long as she wasn’t trying to gain height. Magical flight was awesome!
She didn’t even realize that Amy was above her until she saw an image projected by the owl of herself above the sand of the yard. The glow on her wings definitely was moving, and it took the colors with it, changing her feathers as it pulsed along them. Her feathered tail trailed behind her, changing more slowly than the wings but still a beautiful medley of colors in the sunlight.
Sophia in Flight [https://i.imgur.com/tBh7cYl.png]
Sophia flew until she noticed that Amy was back in her normal shape and sitting next to Dav in the sand. Neither of them said anything, but she reluctantly admitted that she’d known what she needed to know about her Winged Flight Ability for a while now. It made flying easy, at least when she was only trying to carry her own weight.
The wings formed behind her clothing but she could still feel them connected to her back, so using the Ability while carrying a backpack on her back was probably not a good choice, but she could carry it around her front instead. The Ability took a lot of mana to start, but as long as she stayed straight and level it used mana as she flew only slightly faster than her natural regeneration rate; she could travel a long way in the air as long as she was willing to be low on mana when she landed. Trying to climb high or weave around obstacles would reduce the distance she could travel significantly.
The only thing she could think of that she hadn’t tested was how much she could carry. Dav didn’t have a way to fly. Her initial guess was that her limit would turn out to be how much mana it would cost, but it might just have a weight limit instead. Whether or not it was limited, Sophia knew she wouldn’t be able to carry Dav, even if she could manage it at all; he was taller than her and heavy. A short flight would be her limit before she wasn’t able to carry him physically, no matter what the Ability could do.
Sophia stumbled when her feet hit the sand. She flushed a little before she reminded herself that Amy had done far worse when flying. Of course, Amy actually had to fly; Sophia didn’t. Her wings were useful when she had to maneuver and helped quite a bit when she was gliding, but it was her mana that was used to lift her in the air.
Dav actually clapped as she landed. Sophia’s blush climbed higher on her face as she dismissed the wings, then awkwardly cleared her throat. “Uh, if we’re all done here, should we go see what we can buy to help on the trip?”
Feather Line Break [https://i.imgur.com/536uGTI.png]
Rensyn watched the winged woman dance in the sky. He didn’t know how she did it; while there were similar spells, the closest one he knew of was Spellwings, and it was a first-upgrade spell. Anything lower than that had to be recast every few minutes and she’d been flying for nearly an hour.
Maybe she was recasting it in the air instead of landing the way anyone else would? Whatever her background was, she was far more comfortable with spellwork than anyone her age should be; Rensyn was pretty sure she could teach Samuel a few tricks, and he’d been a practicing mage longer than Sophia had been alive.
“I’m a lot happier about sending them to Izel now.” Jessamine’s comments pulled Rensyn’s attention away from the window. “That girl is well on her way to being a proper bladestorm mage, while the boy is finally accepting that he needs to use his magic to support his sword instead of the other way around. Good job.”
“I didn’t do much,” Rensyn admitted. “All I did was help them look through the Registry’s records, something I should have done when they arrived.” He bit his lip, then added the part that bothered him the most, “Before I sent them out to look for corpsevines.”
“Yes, you finally did your duty,” Jesamine chided him. She sounded a lot less upset with it than Rensyn felt like he deserved, and her next words told him why. “Except for advising them against taking so many active Abilities. You know better and it’s your job to make sure they learn it from you instead of in a fight when they run into a monster focused on passives when they don’t have the counters. They’re not high enough level for that to kill them yet, but it’s still bad practice; do better next time.”
Rensyn nodded, relieved to know that there would be a next time. He knew he’d messed up repeatedly, and blaming Matt only went so far. “I’ll talk to them about it. Amy didn’t take that many, but she’s planning to rush her first upgrade.” He shook his head, then asked the question he knew he needed to. “Why are you happier about sending them to Izel? Is there anything I need to go over with them?”
The Registry Master smiled at Rensyn. “Now that is the right question. If they were anyone else, the answer would be yes. As is, you need to share the maps we have of the tribal lands near Izel; beyond that, Amy will know more than you do about the tribes and their situation. Night Owls only come from that area, and they’re honored by the tribes. I don’t know of any repeatable Challenges in the area that are weak enough for people below the first upgrade, but Amy is from Izel. She should know places I’ve never heard of.”
Jessamine took another long look out the window, then turned away and shook her head. “I’d better send a few messages. I wonder if Ermine is still handling the Registry in Izel?”