Devil’s Doll Reincarnation | Chapter 6 | Knowledge Incarnate
“God. Fucking. Damnit.”
I repeated these words over and over as I walked around, having no clue of where I was headed. To think I, of all people, would get lost in this never-ending labyrinth of a forest. Everyone knows you’d get lost if you travelled too far in, yet I chased after him anyway… Had that stupid old man just let me kill him with his damned doll earlier, instead of running, none of this would’ve happened. I’d be back at the village drinking some fine elven wine right now, if it wasn’t for him leading me so deep into the forest.
I could’ve turned back and let him get lost in here, but I just couldn’t help myself before the two delicious souls ahead of me. I didn’t even manage to get it in the end though… maybe I should’ve held back a bit? A soul like that is only wasted if I disintegrate everything in one shot. He was holding that doll when I shot him right? He did some strange manoeuvres near the end, and I lost sight of him for a sec. Hmmm, no matter. What was it that adventurer called it? A double kill… yes, that sounds right. That adventurer was ridiculously powerful, but really strange. It seems to be a trait with powerful people these days… but I’m a powerful person, right? And I’m not strange at all, am I? Something didn’t sound right about that thought, maybe I should think that one over a bit more…
No, hold on… I’m getting off track. I should be focusing on getting out of this place, not self-evaluating my personality… but the way back has already changed. Even now, I can sense the trees moving around me ever so slowly, perhaps if I was better with Earth magic I’d be able to… no, plenty of wizards and warlocks, that were more powerful than me, have gotten lost in here. I shouldn’t think my case would be any different. It’s good that there aren’t any monsters prowling the grounds, they’d just get lost like me.
While I continued walking, and silently contemplating idly to myself, I felt the pit-pattering of water droplets hitting my head. Pulling my hood back on, to combat the weather, I nearly tripped over a loose root sticking out from the ground in the process. In that moment I felt a nasty killing intent behind me, not taking any chances, I activated my lightning barrier. A painful, animalistic screech came from behind me, and soon after I heard the thump of whatever it was hit the ground lifelessly. Turning around knowing it to be safe, I identified the attacker.
“Oh, It’s just a Devil Ape. Well… it did die from just touching my barrier, so I shouldn’t be so surprised.” Taking a step forward I kick the ape onto its side, confirming its death, I then take its soul for sustenance. Although I gain strength from taking souls, it’s not like they make me any less hungry… even if they do taste nice. Monster souls don't disperse like Human ones, they don't have any lingering feelings, like regret, to keep them bound to this plain. So, how come the old man's soul left so quickly? Just my luck for him to become content with his life right then and there.
Well, these things are the only native monsters that can survive here so easily. All they have to do is hang out at the top of these endless trees, and then jump down on unsuspecting prey. Even I didn’t notice this one sneaking up on me, which is an amazing feat in itself. Hmmm… perhaps I should start sending out electric pulses to get a better grasp of my surroundings? But what if another magic user senses it though?
Bah! Who am I kidding. I’d want to be found at this point.
Finally deciding on doing it anyway, I started passively sending out weak pulses of electricity. These would bounce back off of the surroundings, come back to me, and then I’d be able to process the information into a mental image. If only some of the pulse came back, it means that something conductive absorbed a bit, allowing me to figure out what it is with the rest that came back. If it all comes back, but I get an image of a weird shape, it would help me identify if it could be a monster, like a golem or Tree Ent.
…
Meanwhile, somewhere in the middle of a forest:
“I'm sorry Anna, can you explain it to me again, just one more time?”
Really? I've explaind it to you a dozen times. What’s so hard about it? Isn’t it normal for every being in your world to have magic?
“No… we have fictional stories about magic, but it doesn’t actually exist… and besides, your version of magic sounds way too good to be true. Isn’t it just a bit too convenient for all this magic to just be floating around for the taking?”
Not at all! You’re just jealous you didn’t have magic in your own world, aren’t you?
“W-what… that’s preposterous. I’d never think so shallowly like that, especially in front of someone like you… Anyway, I was too busy trying to find a job to think about stupid stuff like magic.”
Mhmmm…
“Well… I’m grateful that you taught me the basics. If it weren’t for you I wouldn’t be capable of speaking at all right now.”
You could always just speak your mind, literally, since your barrier is so weak I’d be able to hear you anyway. So, why would you prefer to waste precious power like this?
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“I don’t intend to never talk to people again. So, if I don’t do it now, how will I ever get used to it? As great as a person you are, I still don’t want to only talk to you for the rest of my life. Also, aren’t you mad that cloaked guy pretty much killed you, and what about Geralt? It’d be too optimistic thinking he was still alive right?
OF COURSE, I’M MAD! H-how could I not be… I can’t see, hear, touch, or smell. I can only talk to you when you hold me… and not only is Geralt dead, I’ve got no home to return to…
Damn, that was stupid of me. Am I getting dumber the longer I stay here? I hope to god I don’t become like one of those dense harem protagonists. Actually, I don’t think I need to worry about that. I’m a living doll for Christ’s sake.
Hmmm… I think its best if I just leave Anna to herself for a moment. Seeing as she has gone silent, I decided that I’ll just stay quiet for a bit as well. In the meantime, I could practice what little magic she had taught me. Anna said that the only chances of us both getting out of here, is for me to learn how to use magic. Although she didn’t tell me how it’d help, and just pushed me into it, she still taught me a simple meditation technique that’s supposed to help with finding your mana pool… or something.
It took a good five or so hours before Anna went back to her regular, cheerful self, and even longer for me to actually find, what I believed to be, my mana pool. I’m very nervous to be honest. I’m not much of a people person, so I don’t know if anything I say will help her. The thought of having the only person willing to help, hating me... is just gut wrenching. Even though this magic thing is supposedly real, it’s not something anyone can just accept without any doubts, but I'm not in kind enough situation to start denying the things around me. I either go with it and accept what's happening, or die. However, with Anna in her current state… It feels like I’m just being too selfish.
Mustering up the courage before the awkward silence could get any worse, I told Anna that I felt a strange, cold, sensation. To which she, straight away, replied “That’s your mana pool” and urged me to continue. Apparently, a lot of mana was leaking from my body… just mainly from my missing arm.
… Fucking cloaked bastard, you still managed to cripple me after all that, didn’t you? Well… I hope you starve to death in this place.
It didn’t take long before I figured out how to use the meditation technique. So? what if it took me almost all day? With it being the only thing to do, I was bound to figure it out eventually.
Okay… you’re doing very well so far, but this is where the real stuff begins. Because you can barely move yourself, I’m going to teach you something very useful. They call it: Body Reinforcement magic. Can you guess what it does?
“Oh? I wonder what it could possibly do. Perhaps it reinforces your body.” I answered. The sarcasm practically oozing off my every word.
Only after Anna had finished berating me, and I’d apologised enough, did she start teaching me the technique.
Anyway… she told me we would have to stop myself from leaking mana, and that the solution to it was to stop the circulation of mana to my arm. Before she could tell me how to do it, I imagined tying a knot in a water hose, to which, almost immediately after, I felt a sudden surge of energy returning to me.
Anna was shocked into silence, but she soon praised me for my quick thinking, and explained that the pathways mana flows through were almost as unique as a fingerprint. I was confused as to how she knew about fingerprints, since I was certain this was a far less advanced world to my own. She, like usual, answered my blank, questioning gaze, without even hearing my question. Even though she was capable of hearing my thoughts, I could tell Anna had been respecting my privacy.
Supposedly, there are special magical tools that can scan people’s fingerprints. Although some races lack fingerprints, this can be helpful in its own way. If something was simply disguising itself as human, the scanner would be able to tell it was just a mimic. You’d have to be a very capable shapeshifter to change such minute details.
The fact that I was so good at manipulating my mana due to reading a few web novels doesn’t need to come to light, but honestly, who thought those made up methods would be so useful here. As a result, it didn’t take long before I mastered the meditation technique. Although, again, since it was all I had to do it wasn’t all that surprising. I had possibly trained to the point where I could do it unconsciously, and was now constantly running it in the back of my head.
How long this task actually took, slipped my mind. I think it was a few days, but I can’t be sure. I was just too focused on figuring it out that I didn’t notice. Between the long silences of practicing the Body Reinforcement technique, Anna and I had only talked a few times. It was often just small talk about how to improve myself, and what we’ll do after this.
We’d decided that we’ll practice with my movement as soon as possible, and then try to establish a temporary base of operations here, in the tree. Anna had been getting increasingly worried about something, yet she wouldn’t tell me no matter how hard I pried.
The results of my ceaseless training were quite impressive, if I do say so myself. I was now capable of sealing any leaks of mana in my body, and I could passively meditate and constantly fill myself with mana. Sadly, Body Reinforcement magic only sounded simple to do, but actually enacting on it was much more difficult than you’d think. Certainly so, compared to the other things I’ve learnt.
Step 1:
Encase yourself in a layer of mana, to increase the endurance of your body. Essentially holding you together.
Step 2:
Send mana to the joints, and muscles of your body, to strengthen them. Allowing for faster movement and the like.
Step 3:
Manage the speed and flow of mana travelling within your body to prevent combustion, and improve efficiency.
Now… steps one and two were easy enough. Three, on the other hand, sounded terrifying as all hell. Step one only took me a few hours to get the hang of, and if I had to describe it, just imagine covering yourself with a skin-tight blanket. The amount of mana infused would increase how thick the blanket was. After successfully using step two, only now did I realise how empty I’ve felt for the last few days.
The mana I poured through my body filled up the empty spaces inside. Compared to before, I no longer felt like an empty husk. With the mana creeping into every nook and cranny, replacing my muscles, bones, and organs. It was a refreshing feeling in the least. Although it didn’t feel exactly the same, just a synthetic copy built for looks. It made me feel more… Human. And that’s all that mattered, really.
Eventually waving those melancholic thoughts away, I began the gruelling trial and error tests that came with step three. So, allow me to put it into perspective for you. Even just the simple motions of using my hands to get rise me onto my feet, was incredibly tedious. If I poured too much mana into one joint, a surge of pain stabbed into the spot like a hundred needles, making me lose concentration, causing another surge of pain. If I poured too little, I wouldn’t be able to hold myself and would faceplant pathetically into the ground.
Anna wasn’t being of any particular help at the moment. With her, incessant, muffled giggling I only felt more and more embarrassed as I went through the motions of failing over and over, until finally getting each step correct. She cooed at me and encouraged me whenever I felt pain, but laughed at me when I flopped over. What does this mean? Sighing in my mind, I tried to look on the bright side of things…
Such as… ummm…
… Give me a minute, damn it!
…
Well… at least I met Anna, and that’s a positive at least, even if she teases me a bit too much.
Yes... everything will be fine if I just try hard enough.