_______________________________________

[A Quiet Island, Day 8, Early Evening]

Well, given that Johmmy's satchel has fallen into my hands, I'm sure he wouldn't mind if I took a look inside. I can smell mana inside of it. I transport the bag to the loot room and form a few tendrils from the stone to manipulate the satchel.

I open it quickly, dumping out the contents into a small pile. I quickly organize everything, and the two things that stand out to me the most are a glass bottle full of some kind of red liquid, and a compass that seems to be broken. It won't stop spinning for some reason.

As I look closer and investigate the mana these objects are holding, I notice a few differences from the unclaimed mana I collect and the claimed mana I have. First off, the mana in the potion is differently colored. It glows a gentle green color, similar to a fresh blade of grass. I can feel a specific intent radiating off of it as well, one that tells the mana to heal and wounds to close.

The compass has the light blue of unclaimed mana embedded into its needle, and an intent to lock on to the biggest source of mana nearby. I guess that's why it's spinning. The mana vortex is kinda getting out of hand. I've upgraded my capacity a lot, but there's still an insane amount of mana still swirling around up there. I've had to arrange multiple vortexes inside each other that swirl up and down in order to make the mana lose enough momentum that I can claim it properly.

Anyways, I'm kind of upset about the potion and compass. Is enchanting or infusing entirely based on intent? Does that mean I can just do whatever I want? That's kinda boring. I had a suspicion that it worked that way while I was making the ants and Sentinel, but I'd thought that I was just brute forcing the enchantment with copious amounts of mana. Oh well. At least I know enchantment and spells should be pretty simple.

I feel like I'm forgetting something.

OH! The delvers! I forgot about them!

I hastily return the potion and compass to the satchel, and lean it up against the pedestal that the bolt of Silkshroom cloth is resting on top of. My perspective changes to fill the dungeon, and I find the group pretty quickly. They're almost to the boss room, and Alectryon is getting a bit antsy.

It looks like the majors helped guide them by blocking off the tunnels to important rooms, indirectly leading them to the boss room. As they walk over the threshold between the tunnel and the boss room, the group notices that something's different here. A few words are exchanged between Tank and Miss Witch, and she lifts her hands up and does… something, with her mana. It just kinda disappears, and a second later two tiny balls of light appear right above her hands and float out to rest in the peak of the room’s dome.

Light spills out from them, illuminating the entire room with a bright white light that casts shadows from the two pillars sitting on a raised platform in the center of the room. Alectryon’s fur bristles with an almost musical clinking noise as she adjusts herself. She's standing right in between the pillars, and I can feel that she's ready to fight. I'm not exactly opposed. You're supposed to fight to get your loot. The only reason the others didn't attack is because I told them not to strike first.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

But Alectryon is different. She raises her obsidian edged mandibles and loudly clacks them together, letting the humans know that they aren't getting past her without a fight. I see a smile cross Tank’s face as he draws his longsword, and I can tell that Alectryon feels the same.

The two charge at each other, Alectryon starting a jump with her powerful legs and throwing herself towards Tank. He raises his sword to deflect her momentum and takes the opportunity to attack as she flies past him, swinging his sword down to strike her abdomen. The sword just slips off, its edge not sharp enough to catch on the slick obsidian hairs.

Alectryon swings her body sideways, her mandibles slicing through the air towards Tank's legs, but he blocks it by sticking the tip of his sword into the ground and bracing his body against the handle. He holds his ground and makes another swing at the ant, this time aiming for her joints. His blade catches on the thinner exoskeleton of her joints and splits it across the knee, Alectryon jumping back in pain. Tank seems a bit upset that his sword didn't cut through, but he's still having fun.

The next minute or so is made up of a tense combat between the two, each of them exchanging hits as it becomes clear that they're about equally matched. Tank with his swordsmanship and skill, and Alectryon with her special adaptations and the raw power behind her movements. Alectryon also proves to be a quick learner, learning from Tanks attacks and sometimes trying to copy them.

The rest of the group watches as the two continue their bout, until Miss Witch decides to step in. I guess she's getting impatient. She yells something at Tank and he visibly becomes disappointed, jumping back as Miss Witch charges towards Alectryon. Her hands raise high over her head as she suddenly leaps into the air, and two shining blue blades sprout from her hands, both about as long as a short sword, and she brings them down in a chopping motion towards Alectryon.

Alectryon dodges to the right, barely escaping the sudden leap. Miss Witch moves with speed and precision, a different way of fighting than Tank. Everyone seems surprised at Alectryon's dodge, but as the battle devolves into faster and faster movements, I notice something. Alectryon is losing hair. She's getting shaved by Miss Witch, those hand blades sharp enough to cut through her hardened obsidian defenses and nullify her protection.

I take a closer look at the blades, no doubt a spell of some sort, and try to find out how they work. It looks like the mana is infused with an intent to cut and then condensed into a liquid like state before being forced into the shape of a blade. Hmmm. I link together with Alectryon and tell her how they work, and something in her changes. Where before she was just taking pleasure with doing her job, it seems that now she's getting really amped up for some reason. She takes a large leap back across the room, getting a large amount of distance between her and Miss Witch.

Miss Witch tries to chase after her, but Alectryon hunches over and lowers herself to the ground, her shaved hairs vibrating intensely before suddenly shooting out like little bullets, forcing everyone else to cover their heads to protect themselves. Miss Witch, being the closest, gets absolutely covered in little cuts, a few of the smaller shards even lodging in her skin. Her mana blades do prevent the shards from reaching her face, but also obscure her vision for a second, and when she brings them down her eyes widen in shock, as does everyone else who's watching.

Alectryon, standing directly between the pillars again, begins secreting a glowing purple oil, which flows down her body and onto the ground as she expels her mana into the atmosphere. It forms a cloud around her, condensing until it takes on a similar appearance to Miss Witch’s hand blades and wraps around her body. Her hairs gain a few inches as an ethereal purple outline forms a ghostly cover around her newly grown obsidian hairs, wavy and unrefined as it is. Her jaws are outlined too, the mana floating down to coat the edges of her jaws and provide a better cutting edge. A dully glowing purple mist floats down from her body, dissipating before it hits the floor, and masking her movements slightly.

Dammit I'm so proud! That's my daughter right there! All she needed was a nudge in the right direction and she made an entirely new spell! It looks like she can feel the pride radiating from me as I watch her transform, her posture taking on a more confident and prideful pose. Ah, this'll be fun.