Three ghostly figures drifted out of Dalric's line of sight.

Huh?

Just as they appeared, they disappeared. Before he could commit their visage to memory, they had already dissipated. Dalric squinted. Then he turned towards the graves.

No… I can't remember because they're Remnants.

He took a few steps towards the nearest tombstone and examined it for a name. Alas, it had deteriorated too much.

This may still be a clue. Must have been quite powerful to spawn Remnants.

…

Or maybe it was just the Dance's doing.

He walked through the graveyard just to be sure. His new eyes weren’t as sharp as his old, so nighttime threatened to make the effort foolhardy, but as trees and vines had made the graves their home, bright neon yellow flowers joined in. They didn’t make the job easy, but their brightness allowed him a semblance of thoroughness.

After a twice over, however, he found no names or identifiers. He did a third, holding one of the flowers in hand while straining his sense, but the result was the same. Coincidence or purposeful? It wasn't strange for time to erode such things, but Dalric had an odd feeling.

That could also just be his inexperience with his human physiology.

Hmm.

He noted the occurrence but shelved it for now. He could return later, during the day, but currently the graveyard didn't hold any secrets he could unearth.

For now…

He eyed the vegetation encircling him. His previous curiosity at the small graveyard in a sea of greenery returned. At first, he wondered why there were no other signs of civilization, but after getting a better understanding of the denseness of the jungle it laid in, he wondered why it was here at all. There couldn’t possibly be any major cities or even decent towns in the vicinity. Why build tombs here? What was the significance of this location?

He wasn't sure the answer to those questions would be of use to him, but he didn't have any better leads. This was the area he was reborn in, there was a good chance there was some importance to that. He just had to do some scouting.

He laid his left palm on his bare chest, drawing his ahjer to—

Hm...with this much ambient ahjer, I might as well use it.

He left his palm on his chest but released his ahjer. The ahjer around him gathered as he chanted an incantation.

~The king of the sea wields the mightiest of weapons~

Ahjer flowed into his right hand, slowly morphing into a long cylinder. As more coalesced, the ahjer condensed. Sharpness and color emerged and a sapphire spear took shape in his palm.

~The king of the earth wields the mightiest of shields~

More ahjer flowed towards him, this time converging around his left hand. At first it formed a misshapen rectangle, no more than one foot wide and two feet long, but as the ahjer continued to cluster it expanded until it crossed both sides of his shoulders and brushed upon his feet. Soon after, a thick, earthy shield graced his left arm.

Dalric frowned, but continued.

~But the king of the sky is the mightiest of all~

A thin layer of light shimmered in the night as ahjer coated his naked body. It grew thicker and dimmer as it pulled more and more ahjer into it. Beginning right above his heart, the ahjer morphed into a tough metallic plate. First, it covered his chest and shoulders, but it quickly spread further down. In a matter of blinks, the plating cut off his torso from the elements. His arms and legs soon shared that protection, with his extremities not too far behind. Eventually, slick gauntlets covered his hands while thick boots shaped around his feet.

He cracked his neck, now donning a pure white suit of armor. It was sleeker than a typical set, lacking much of the bulk and jaggedness associated with them. Save for the joints, it appeared like one flowing sheet of metal, more akin to skin-tight silk than impenetrable cloudsteel.

The spell’s design also intelligently accounted for Dalric’s nudity and created a form-fitting gambeson-like layer underneath the plating. With the armor fully materialized, there was only one thing left.

Out of his back, two large, seven-foot wings sprouted. They first appeared skeletal, thin and unmajestic. The ambient ahjer didn’t flow quick enough for them to sprout fully formed. Dalric could’ve used a portion of his own to supplement, but this was a test. A test that wasn’t going well.

Eventually, after a bit of waiting, muscles covered the bone, followed by skin, followed by perfect white feathers. The ambient ahjer dispersed as his wings fluttered in their full form. The spell was complete.

Dalric's frown didn't budge. He couldn’t recall the last time he used an incantation, partially because they were redundant but mostly because they were slow. And by the Elders were they slow.

He could have completed the entire process in a few blinks if he did it manually. Sadly, he’d have to get used to it. His paltry ahjer levels would have been enough for this spell, but if he wanted access to a greater portion of his arsenal he’d need more. The ambient ahjer was that more, he’d just have to completely relearn how to cast spells to account for it.

And then throw it away when they rise again.

It wasn’t all bad though, his voice was smooth. Quite smooth. After a bit of speaking and humming, he could openly admit he preferred it to his old voice. It was still deep and full of bass, but less unending abyss and more large canyon.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Sunshine, look for the sunshine.

He could almost hear Laekna drilling those words into his ear again. Always trying to get him to look for some positives. Now that he may just have something to be hopeful about, she’s not around.

He quickly tried calling for her again, but the result was the same. Alas. As long as the bond was intact, he knew she was alright. That was good enough. When he was stronger, he’d crack whatever was clouding their connection. For now, he'd do what he could.

Before setting off, he cast a quick illusion. Flying around in a bright white suit of armor would be less than wise. In less than a blink, the armor exchanged its pristine white for a muted green. Some variety of dark grey would be preferable for nighttime camouflage, but on the odd chance someone spotted him, it was better to not appear so menacing.

The Undir’s denizens were no longer a threat, at least no more of a threat than anyone else in Frysta, but a valinoid creature with dark wings would always be unnerving.

He briefly considered using a more complete concealment spell, but decided against it. With his current measly ahjer levels, the cost would be too high to be reasonable. He had no idea how long he’d have to keep it up. Green, feathered wings still looked odd, but they’d have to do.

He also dispelled the now green spear and shield. Their color wasn’t an issue, the shield was mostly green already, they were just bulky and unnecessary.

With his appearance sorted, he stretched out the wings and lifted himself off the ground. He rose steadily, acclimating himself to the weight difference.

Hm.

As he expected, flying was far more comfortable as a human. What he did find odd was the fact that there was no change to the performance. Even though he was less than a third of his old height and likely less than a fifth on the mass side, speed and maneuverability were the same. He just felt much less of a strain. That shouldn’t be the case, but Dalric would happily take it. The strain was what made flying massively inconvenient in his old body.

Hm. Old body…

He hastily shook the encroaching thoughts from his mind. Instead, he thought about the Gods, or rather their absence. He faintly found it strange that they would go through the effort to make him human just to miss what would have been the prime opportunity to indulge themselves in his misery. They would have been disappointed of course, but it was strange all the same.

A new thought came to mind.

Maybe this part wasn't in the plans...

He smirked. The thought was nice, but he kept himself level headed. Ultimately, he knew near nothing. All that he did know was that he was free from their direct influence, for now. He'd make sure to capitalize on that.

He rose above the trees and gazed around. Blackness greeted him, a reminder of his weaker vision. He moved to rectify that failing.

Though the effect would seem simple, bestowing the ability to see clearly through darkness required a very complex spell. Altering the body always did. Giant’s natural quasi-darkvision combined with his own unique birth meant Dalric had rarely ever used the spell, night was more often his ally. That lack of practice meant he... made a mistake. Instead of increasing his eyes’ sensitivity to light, he decreased it.

Dalric blinked.

He'd blinded himself.

FANtastic.

The spell only lasted a bell. He wouldn’t be permanently sightless, but it would make the scouting process a great bit more troublesome. He lightly shook his head, lost for words at how he made such an error. A lack of practice wasn’t a good enough excuse.

Are human eyes compositionally different?

He was fairly sure they functioned the same, but there was a lot of room for him to be wrong. He was no expert on the subject.

He contemplated re-doing the spell, but without knowing exactly why he failed it could just make things worse. He was sure he completed it perfectly so something else must have been at play and this wasn't the most opportune time to try and figure that out.

Not a single part of him had any interest in landing, analyzing his eye in detail, reviewing the components of the spell and re-configuring it to work the way he intended. That was a potentially lengthy and certainly involved process for an ailment that wasn’t true blindness.

Even without physical sight, he could still ‘see’. He just had to rely on his ahjer sense. It was much better in certain ways; it was omnidirectional and couldn’t be blocked by most things. While a simple tree could bar one’s vision, objects had to be reinforced with ahjer to block the sense.

On the other end, however, it lacked the detail, distance, and resolution that eyesight offered. Especially now, since he wasn’t at all used to his new body and the minute ways it reacted to ahjer. Either way, suffice it would.

Without a more deliberate means of picking a direction, he followed an old superstition of his and turned completely around. It didn’t really matter which way he headed, he’d loop around and come back to the graveyard at sunrise anyway.

His wings flapped as he carefully hovered above the trees, scanning for.. whatever happened to be below him. An Enlightened beast would be the best find, they’d at minimum know where he was and what the major landmarks were.

Though, a tiny part of him wondered if he could be in some deep heartland of the Wyld. That would explain both the ahjer thickness and the jungle denseness. He threw out the thought after lowering himself to examine some trees, however. They were nowhere close to old enough.

Fortunately, almost immediately after he rose above the foliage again, he encountered an ahjer-wielding beast. Unfortunately, it was neither Enlightened nor interested in helping Dalric. It was on the hunt.

He awkwardly dodged as an eight foot bird blitzed by. He noted it was both silent and exceptionally quick for its size. It boasted an impressive amount of agility too, spinning around before swooping for him again.

Dalric stretched his fist out and let his ahjer flow into his knuckles. Moments before the bird collided with him, it burst out into a massive hand. He successfully snagged it, but before he could do anything else its feathers flared with its own ahjer and his conjured fist melted against them.

Huh.

Once free, the bird immediately flicked both of its nine foot wings towards Dalric. The very same feathers that had melted the fist now flew towards his face. He didn’t have the maneuverability to dodge, so he clapped instead. Ahjer trickled through the palm of both of his gauntlets so as they impacted one another they released a forceful wave of wind. It wasn’t enough to completely halt the feathers, but by the time they reached him he easily shifted out of the way.

While he did so, he noticed the bird made a prompt and soundless exit. Dalric could follow, but he doubted it would lead him anywhere he wanted to go. It was likely still on the hunt, just aware enough to realize he wasn’t worth the trouble.

Though that raised a concern. A beast like that was almost always an apex predator. While all animals, all living creatures, could use ahjer at some basic level, very few could use spells. Fewer still could use spells as powerful as he'd just experienced. The ones that learned how, always rose to the top of the totem. And yet… for that bird to be so quick to retreat meant it was far from an apex.

What could that mean? An Enlightened alone can't rein in a whole jungle… multiple?

He put the large avian out of his mind and continued heading in the direction he picked earlier. He didn't know what he'd encounter next, but he had a feeling he'd find a willing talker soon enough.

----------------------------------------

In a place far out of reach, something stirred.

He's returned!

Ahjer exploded in every direction all at once.