You know, I remember making you a three stages plan. You just completed stage one and earned the meditation card I told you about. Stage two is slotting that card, meditate some more, and convince your magic to circulate your entire body. What do you think?
'Whatever I wanna do with stage three, stage two is a prerequisite, right?' Ember tilted her head. It was not like the system ever suggested an alternative path. But it did not hurt asking for one.
Well, you can always try to learn how to speak without the help of magic, earn enough money to pay for your tuition, and find a magic school accepting dog students so a professor could help you break through with minimal effort on your part.
Sorry I did not bring out that alternative plan sooner! Joke aside, yes, I'm afraid that is pretty much a prerequisite for you.
'Are you perhaps annoyed about something I have done?' She asked, taken aback by the sudden change of attitude.
I'm just a little frustrated, you know. I'm your personal assistant, and I would not exist without you, so I'm totally grateful for that. But you know... I'm not really alive, and I can only live vicariously through you. And don't get me wrong, but your life isn't the most exciting.
Others like me are constantly on edge and have to warn their users non-stop not to do something stupid that would get them banned. And I'm somewhat grateful I don't have to deal with that.
But crap, other users barely ever need anything to get motivated cause magic is supposed to be awesome and the most exciting thing in one's life. But that's just a side thing to you, and you are constantly avoiding it.
What I mean is: You are making me feel USELESS. And I hate feeling so awful, constantly. If only you would... Sorry. I will get a grip and won't mention it anymore. Forget what I just said. How about some magic that would help you help your owner instead?
To be honest, Ember did not see that one coming. Yet, she could not deny she had been kind of awful with her system assistant.
'Okay. I don't have any sort of plan for the day. So how about we go around with the plan, and then I do whatever you want until my owner comes back? Deal?' She tried to cheer it up.
You mean it. You will do whatever I want?
'Sure. That's a limited-time offer, but whatever.' Ember confirmed. It was not like she had any plans for the day.
Okay. Just give me a few minutes to plan out our today's special! OMG! That's going to be awesome!!!
Would you temporarily permit me to manage your main screen in your stead? I won't do anything you haven't agreed upon, but I would like to make an efficient use of this time. Starting with slotting your meditation cards. Is that okay?
'Yes, and yes,' She agreed immediately. ' What's next.'
Start meditating and remember:
Your magic does not need anything you do not already provide. So better let it do what it wants, then praise and encourage it when it does the right thing. If you try to coerce it in any way, it just will take it as encouragement and do it anyway—best of luck.
The way the system described it made it sound like her magic was a litter of puppies trying to compete for their mother's attention.
The wild thought made Ember smile, and she lay down to do as it said.
Only this time, she could feel the hand of the system, the other half of MAGUS, directing her as she started to meditate. And for the first time, she realized how hard she had made it for herself. The whole meditating thing was not supposed to be difficult. Still, without the know-how and her jittery personality holding her back, she made a headache of the entire thing when it was supposed to be the opposite.
Her magic just ran to her, waiting to be acknowledged, and she welcomed its Soothing Presence entirely. It was always with her, she realized. But it wasn't the same as giving it her full attention. And now, it was precisely what she was doing. And her magic did behave just like a litter of puppies with their mother. It wanted to go play outside. It wanted to learn new tricks. It wanted to grow to make her proud. But first and foremost, it wanted to make the greatest fuss possible cause she was here, and it missed her.
'I won't complain you are not trying to kill me anymore. But that way over the top, even for me.'
If her magic were really puppies and her body was her house, then she would best describe what was happening as the puppies constantly pouncing on her or lacking her while also trashing the place in their excitement. Was magic always like that, or did it take after her? Cause if it did, it definitely ramped it up to eleven, as she clearly never was THAT BAD. Was she?
But any attempt to make it stop backfired until she realized it.
'Okay. It's craving attention, and I'm just encouraging it. Just ignore it until it does something I want. That was the system advice, right?'
So Ember concentrated on the feeling of her body instead, but her magic was stubborn and kept demanding her attention. Hence, she had to focus her attention elsewhere, over and over again, until she realized.
'That’s it—no need for encouragement or all that bullshit. My magic wants to play tag. Let's just make sure it follows me on the right path, and everything should be fine!'
Easier said than done, as her magic was always taking the shortcut, and she had no idea what she was doing with that whole 'making her magic circulate her whole body' thing. But after a few trials and errors, Ember got the entire running in-circle thing right and kept enlarging until the whole pouncing-and-running game became an actual race that needed little to no encouragement on her part.
And so she broke her meditative trance to ask her assistant for whatever instructions she had been missing.
You did it! I can't believe you ignored my advice and still aced it on your first try!
'So I got that right? I had no freaking idea what I was doing.'
That was supposed to be the tricky part! Mind magic users are supposed to be control-maniac perfectionists, unable to surrender control or acknowledge their limits. Many wannabes would die trying what you just did easy peasy, you know? I don't know if I should call you a genius or a moron for how you solved it!
Stolen novel; please report.
'Is there anything wrong with racing and playing tag?' Ember asked.
'That was it was to you?
I saw a freaking moron using her soul as bait to get the job done!
You skipped so many steps that I thought we were done for!
Anyway... congrats! I was expecting you to take the entire morning, best case scenario.
Since you did it way faster than expected, do you wanna see your new cards and take the time to discuss what's next?
'Wasn't it supposed to be your day?' Ember asked back again, confused.
You exceeded all my expectations, and I didn't finish planning.
Just pretend I'm not distracting you and have a look.
And then, her main screen opened on its own
CLASSIFICATION
Order : Animal Ancestry : Common Dog Breed : Border Collie ID : H3C-4T0-K1R EVOLUTION CARDS
INTELLIGENT CARNIVORE (T3)
A generalist carnivore using complex hunting tactics to outsmart its preys.
HERDING DOG (T4)
A pack hunting animal specializing in herding and protecting its preys from competitors. This is an extended pack hunting behavior fitted for interspecies cooperation
EXTENDED EMPATHY (T3)
A co-op empathy specialist with high intelligence, capable of deciphering other species' emotions.
DOUBLE COAT (T2)
A warm blood animal with a double coat fur for better thermal insulation from the cold. Increase the resistance from cold water make it particularly suited for a coastal animal.
SPECIALISATION CARDS
MEDITATION (T0)
Through introspection, you have dived deeper than most and found tools to help you dive even deeper. Meditation is one such tool and will help you be reach a state of mindfulness while solidly anchored in the here and now. But you barely scratch the surface of what Meditation has to offer. And with MAGUS assistance, you can now go on with your daily life, practice a martial art or learn magic while maintaining this state of mindfulness. But be careful not to go complacent as there are more tools and secrets only waiting to be discovered on your way to know yourself.
N/A N/A N/A You have 1 new specialisation card in your deck. Open your cards screen for details INNATE TALENT (T1)
SOOTHING PRESENCE
A passive innate magical talent creating an area of effect (AOE) from 5 to 10 meters around the user, generating the following effect:
-Dampening any emotion causing unrest of any valid target within the AOE, effectively calming them. Efficiency might vary depending on the effective radius around the user (100% at 5m radius, 12.5% at 10m) and relative distance between the user and the target within said radius.
-Disabling any rage, taunt, fear, or similar magic effect from triggering within the AOE. This effect is locked at 5 meters radius, never fails and cannot be bypassed, acting as an anti-magic field against any magical effect causing unrest.
-Enhancing the natural recovery of any valid target resting within the AOE by one tier. This effect overcomes resting penalty instead of providing bonuses. Therefore, it becomes inactive if the target rests under optimal conditions. This effect have 50% chance of failure past 5 meters.
-As per its calming effect, target hostility within AOE might decrease. However, perfectly rational hostility will remain unaffected.
WARNING: A predator or enemy target with a clear mind is often more dangerous. Bear in mind that this particular innate talent might not be suitable for combat.
CANTRIPS (T0)
N/A
N/A
N/A
N/A
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Ember looked at all the new stuff since she last bothered opening her main menu, and sure, there was a lot.
Soothing Presence got an upgrade and her meditation cards...
'Why didn't you tell me I could meditate while doing other things?' She asked, a bit bothered by all the time she had wasted since that night.
You never cared. You even told me we had to talk about it and completely forget afterward.
Touché. She remembered that conversation. And she did forget.
'Sorry,' Ember did not knew what else to say.
Doesn't matter anymore. Have a good look at your new card before I add it to the next slot.
You seemed happy with the meditation, so I made the decision to keep it. ...for now. You can't keep garbage beginner-tier cards forever.
Akashic Talent (T0)
You had the patience to persevere on the path less traveled. You built up the courage to face down your demons. You learned the humility to surrender control. And you showed wisdom in the face of your own limits. Therefore, you have proven yourself worthy to wield magic over the mind. And yet, far too many did unspeakable things with the power entrusted to them. Never forget this invaluable lesson and not only will Akasha answers your call, but also help you in time of need.
In addition to your already unlocked mind magic, MAGUS will grant you the ability to cast one additional cantrip of your choice as a magic ability and guide your mind on the path forward, making it easier to replenish and expand your Akasha magic.
'Why does it feel so different than the other one?' She asked after reading it twice. Most of the text sounded like noise to her.
Different author, different style. Don't read too much into the pompous metaphysical crap. It's just a reminder that 'mind magic does have a mind on its own.' If you want it to be reliable, you gotta respect it too.
'Does every magic has its thing?' She asked, suddenly curious about it.
It does, and then some more. Magic lore is an entire two-hours-a-day three-years lecture in magic school.
Let's focus and stick to basics first, right?
'Right, right,' Ember agreed. 'What's next?'
Now, you are going to do a repeat of what you just did, except you are going to concentrate on one organ at a time. Be sure not to mess it up this time, or it might kill or crimple you. Don't forget to take breaks. Just do everything on my bucket list, and please don't ask why:
Brain, Eyes, Ears, Nose, Tongue, Skin, Spine and Tail (separately), Jaws and Teeth (together), and the four Legs (together).
So Ember had to ensure her magic only played at one place at a time? That might be a tad challenging, but she thought she could manage. 'Okay. Sound fun. I will be right back!'
And then, she went back to her meditative state, utterly oblivious to her surrounding.
This puppy is completely mental. I don't know if it's a curse or a blessing in disguise.
Anyway, better make the best of this day before Ember changes her mind. It's gonna be so much fun!