She was bored to death, completely alone without anything to do, and could not bear waiting for the next human to pay her a visit doing nothing. And so she did the only thing a sane dog would do in that situation:
She chased after her tail.
It burned a lot of energy and made her feel dizzy and lightheaded, so it was the best non-destructive coping mechanism she had available. Then, she would rest a bit and get back to square one.
Then, once in a while, when she was too bored of being bored, she would try to decipher her main screen or chat with the system.
What's up? Is there anything, in particular, you want to talk about?
The light blue screen asked patiently, as it was more than ten times she did it without thinking. This time was no different, but still, she tried hard to oblige and find something worth talking about.
'Did you make any progress on the small project you mentioned earlier?' She asked apologetically.
It took her some time to learn how to articulate her thoughts into 'words.' But the system was nothing but patient, and they did get some really long chat to help her learn.
Yes! I'm glad you asked! Because I did!!!
I made you several packages of content, all customizing your system in a way that might help you grasp what MAGUS can do for you.
But first and foremost, I made a special one for your 'Soothing Presence' talent, and I'm particularly proud of it. Would you like to try it out?
'Sure. I would definitely like a new toy to play with,' She replied eagerly, trying hard not to overhype herself.
Close enough.
It might initially be a little overwhelming, so don't freak out.
Here goes nothing!
Her vision exploded in a light show of a color she had never seen before it stabilized into lines beyond her box, suggesting a somewhat round solid object was surrounding her on all sides. But the most amazing was that it was completely see-through and did not impede her vision at all.
What you are seeing is a sphere of 5 meters radius centered around you and rendered in false colors. This is the exact same range as your Soothing Presence innate talent, so you know at glance that anything you see inside is affected.
'Err... okay. What about that weird color, though? Never seen anything like it.'
Since canines have deuteranopia, many system colors are disabled to prevent you from freaking out. Since most sentients tend to be afraid of the unknown. But I thought it was a waste not to use it since your brain is already rewired to handle it. So I made you a lot of tools using those colors. The best part of it is: since you can't see those colors natively, there won't be any confusion about what's real and what isn't. Cool right?
'That would be even cooler if I could see anything within that sphere. Except for the wall of my box, that's it.'
My first attempt included an aura around one that went dimmer or lighter, depending on how effective your ability was on them. But MAGUS ruled it out as it would let you see through walls and detect targets trying to sneak on you since you don't have an ability that would let you do that... yet
'That’s unfortunate,' She sighed. It did not help feel any better about that meaner side of the system that would not cut her some slacks and let its nicer side help her for a change.
I know how you feel
It empathizes with her. And while it always sounded nice, she knew it was also manipulative and nagging. And that its following message was more likely to be both.
But you know, while MAGUS prevents me from teaching you any of the good stuff, I can always give you beginners tips and tricks. Besides, even the basic stuff is useful. And you have ignored all my advice so far.
And here it was. First, she sends a juicy bone her way as bait.
The ability to see through wall would definitely save her from her boredom for quite some time. Dogs loved to keep watch of things. And at this point, even watching other dogs fighting their boredom would help her with her own.
But then came the trap. And just like that, the two-face system went from being sympathetic to her to trying and guilt-tripping her into trying her boring tips and tricks that never worked. The next thing she knew, it would tell her about the benefit of meditation. AGAIN.
Yet she gave it her go-ahead because the system, even while nagging 90% of the time, always brought up something new for her trouble.
Thank you for the vote of confidence.
The system retorted sarcastically before going on with her usual nagging.
Tip n°1: Soothing Presence is a mind magic innate talent. So mind magic is most likely to be your most proficient one. Every magic user needs to cultivate their magic to strengthen it, starting by growing their awareness of it. Magical awareness is generally trained through meditation, although each school of magic has a different way of practicing it.
To meditate, you need a comfortable place to sit, as remaining silent, still, and eyes-close is recommended. Your end goal is to let your mind wander, acknowledging and letting go of your thoughts of feelings as they come to you. As such, it's recommended to concentrate on something like a mantra, the sound of water, or your breathing. Trying too hard is also an open invitation to failure, as the proper state of mind for meditation cannot be forced. Taking your time and growing your self-awareness is the only right path to increase awareness of your magic and learn from it.
A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
See? If she good a chewing bone each time the system mentioned meditation before, she might have enough to build a ladder to climb out of her box. And maybe save a few spares for her enjoyment. And all that in less than a day.
She was bored and covered her eyes with her paws and whimpered to convey her feelings as she wished the system's nagging gone, only to see it replaced by the next one.
Once you become aware of your magic, you will get a sweet, sweet 'meditation' card for your specialization slot. Making it so easy that even a dim-wit would never struggle with it ever again.
The system taunted her in response.
'Call me dim-wit again, and I'll shut you down,' She threatened, growling softly.
Fair enough.
Tip n°2: Once you grow aware of your magic. You can learn to meditate in the proper form for the magic you are practicing. The only change for mind magic users is they will have to change their focus to the magic itself and try to circulate it through their entire body, which is counterintuitive to most mind magic users.
Mind magic is always extremely rebellious when trying to incite it to migrate outside the host's brain. However, it's the very nature of mind magic to migrate from one mind to another or from one mind to one's nerves. There is a saying that mind magic has a mind on its own. Encouragement, persuasion, and flattering are all MAGUS-approved methods of convincing your magic to do your bidding, starting by safely making it circulate through your entire body.
Once you successfully manage to circulate mind magic through your body, you will get the 'Akashic Talent' card. Most mind magic users would immediately go ahead and replace their meditation card with it. Although in some cases, doing so could be unwise and slow down one's progress.
She sighed. That one she also read about once or twice, almost word to word, except for the last two sentences that were new and seemed to be suspiciously aimed right at her.
'You should at least try to reformulate,' She complained.
Tips and tricks I'm allowed to teach you are all pre-written, and I have very precious little freedom to reformulate. The next tip is new and one of the most 'advanced' I'm allowed to teach you, so please pay CLOSE attention to every word.
'Sure.' She dismissed the system's retort while trying to reign in her growing expectations
Tip n°3: Once you succeed in circulating magic through your body for at least fifteen minutes without breaking your concentration, the next thing is to try to circulate and concentrate your magic through one organ of your choice. Since most organs come in pairs, running magic through both is possible, if not recommended. However, trying to circulate and concentrate magic through two different organs can lead to CATASTROPHIC FAILURE and is therefore not recommended unless you have a reliable source telling you otherwise.
Different magic might be suitable for different organs or produce a completely different result using the same one. Most cantrips have been discovered through trial and error using this exact method, and there are 320 of them, so keep trying hard and think outside the box.
(Personal tip) For example, circulating mind magic through your eyes or any sensory organs might lead to predictably good results as those only exist to convert senses into information for your brain to interpret. (Please catch my drift)
'Did you just tell me how to get that anti-stealth see-through ability you mentioned earlier?" She asked, not believing what she had just read.
To be clear, please let me remind you that I'm not allowed to do that. You are IMAGINING things.
'Nevermind.' She didn't buy it but chose to play along. 'Thanks anyway. You are the best.'
Don't mention it.
If you mean it, you should hurry up and follow my advice before I get bald!
And then, a clicking sound let her know that the system wasn't in a talkative mood anymore, leaving her puzzled about what it just said. She only recently discovered what idioms were, as the system likes to use picturesque ones to convey its feelings. However, that last one was something else.
'Baldness is bad, noted. Though whoever invented that language must have a nasty case of shedding to be concerned about losing hairs. I'm losing mine like no one's business, and so far, I have been doing fine, right?'
And then, she decided to take a quick nap before going back to her routine.
★☆★
Whoever invented meditation must have been a sadist.
Cause whenever she closed her mind, trying to meditate, daydreams of delicious food or fun games rushed at her like a pack of wild dogs, demanding her attention, barking, nipping, or inviting her to play. It was not hard to acknowledge those thoughts and feelings. But letting them go was torture. And the moment she tried or even succeeded for a couple of seconds, other wants would come and bite at her when she least expected it.
'Magic is cool, and I want it. Magic is cool, and I want it. Magic is cool, and I want it. Magic is...'
She tried to keep focus and not lose sight of her objective. But every time, another wild thought would come and attack her.
'Goddammit. Meditation is a pain. And magic is freaking hard to get.'
Not the right attitude.
The system nagged at her again.
'Not helping,' She retorted.
May I remind you that Soothing Presence's purpose is to dampen any feeling causing unrest within the area of effect... including your own? And since the effect emanate from you, it's ALWAYS 100% effective on yourself
(Personal tip) Maybe instead of concentrating on your wants, you should focus on the thing that you want—namely, your magic. And maybe you should embrace your innate talent instead of fighting against it for a change. Especially since this is the prime and only example of magic you have to concentrate on. (I just crossed the line for you. So PLEASE make my pain worth it.)
That sounded like a piece of good advice, so she decided to try it immediately. Not that she felt guilty for what the system did without her prompting.
Concentrating on her innate talent while trying to meditate was not that hard as it was located in that strange place in her mind right between sleep and wakefulness. She never felt it for long, but right before waking up and right before falling asleep was always when that talent of hers became the most pregnant. So that's exactly what she did, laying down for a nap, only catching herself right before she fell asleep, repeating this process until the whole falling asleep and bouncing back to awakeness became a well-honed rhythm, as consistent as her breathing.
And just as she felt like her innate talent was growing, the more she concentrated on it, a doorbell rang and made it shoot back to awakeness, all idea of meditation and magic soon forgotten. The door rang only when one or several humans were entering the building. And it was the middle of the day. So whoever entered was here to adopt one of them.
'That might be my big moment!' She sprung to her feet, racing to the wall facing the alleyway the humans walked on.
Remember that Soothing Presence might help you make a good impression and keep your future family happy.
Wish you luck!!!
That's right. She agreed to the magic stuff to help her get a family, so better calm down and let it do its job.
Although it was already hard not to be excited when she was hearing the sound of human voices coming closer.
'Please choose me, please choose me,' She desperately wished, wagging her tail. 'I'm small, smart, and sweet, and I can siiiing tooooo'