11- Shot through the heart and you're to blame

4/1/5/4353 M.A.C - Great Western Rainforest - Dusk

Emi woke up and had yet to open her eyes, but she could feel that most of her feathers were covered with some sort of sticky residue.

At least it smells good... Actually, why does my mouth taste fruity?

Emi slowly opened her eyes, only to see a wooden floor less than an inch in front of them. She could not help but feel grossed out as she stood up and gradually got herself unstuck from the floor, leaving a handful of feathers behind.

So... I passed out in the forest and now ...

Emi looked around herself in pleasant surprise. She had somehow woken up in a fairly spacious wooden cabin, furnished with simple wooden furniture. It had probably been clean at some point, but some wild beast appeared to have broken in and ravaged the section of the room that contained the pantry. Food was strewn all over the floor and some had even splattered onto the nearby walls. A large puddle, of what appeared to be honey, had thickened on the floor in front of an overturned clay pot, around which a plethora of smaller empty clay pots could be seen, colorful residues dribbling out of them. Emi might have started to worry for her safety if she thought the beast that had done this might still be in the room with her. The large owl-shaped imprint on the honeyed floor painted another picture, which made her worry for another reason altogether.

Did I do this? I've heard of sleepwalking before but never of sleep-eating! Am I going to be ok? It looks like I ate a ton, and none of the leftovers look like something an owl should eat. I need to check the damage though, with how sticky I feel, I must be coated like a candied apple.

Emi looked down at her body but the state of her feathers was pushed to the back of her mind as she realized something else was a bit off.

Huh? Why does the ground seem further away than yesterday? I've heard of growth spurts but-

Emi's train of thought was interrupted when she saw the cabin's front door begin to open. Her brain began to frantically search for a believable excuse for the situation, but there was not enough time. Majusculus stood in the doorframe with eyes wide open and directed straight at Emi, who began to squirm in place.

"Hum, would you believe me if I said I have no idea how this happened and that I just woke up?"

Majusculus blinked twice and started looking around the room, registering its state for the first time. He began a series of signs, but to Emi's amazement, each sign produced a word appearing in her mind. Furthermore, the words were arranged in sentences that made grammatical sense to her. The strangest part of this situation was that she could understand what some of the signs represented visually, but what got picked up by her brain had more complex meanings than these simple gestures should have allowed. Even stranger was that her brain was picking up the signs and rearranging them in an order that made it easier for her to understand.

Oops, I was so busy trying to figure out what was happening that I actually didn't pay attention to what he was saying...

Emi signed for Majusculus to stop, spreading her talons out as if to mimic an open palm. She pointed at her ear once and then shook her head to communicate that she hadn't heard.

"Let me try again. I was saying that I didn't care about the room. Are you fine? You nearly doubled in size since I left a couple of hours ago, and your feathers have changed their color and pattern. Had you not immediately tried to communicate with me, I would have thought a larger owl had come in and eaten you...Not that I have seen any owls that look like you do now."

"Majusculus? Are you using some translation magic? I can hear you speak in my language right now."

Majusculus's eyebrows tilted in a confused expression as he replied.

"I am just using my hands and face as usual... Also, you are the one who just suddenly started speaking Imperial Common to me. Which begs the question, why were you speaking to me in a strange Brihonian dialect earlier if you understand Imperial?"

What the hell is going on? Am I the one doing this?

Due to the strange situation she had awoken in, Emi hadn't had the time to process what happened during her sleep, but it was at this moment that memories of her choice and Sundar's message resurfaced in her mind.

Oooh! So that actually happened? It wasn't a dream? Maybe this power is something that came with my Choice. That would also explain why I feel bigger, and why Majusculus says I look different.

"Well actually, I had a strange dream while I was asleep. To make it short I had to pick something called a "Choice" and-"

Emi was going to keep going with her explanation but when she said the word "Choice", Majusculus began to sign at a frantic speed while stomping on the ground repeatedly, as if to show his frustration.

"What!? You got a Choice!? That's so unfair! I've been doing my best for over three hundred years to become a true Spirit Beast and you just get to become one like that!? You are still so young, and I can't feel any significant reserves of Vitality in you... How did you do it!? Tell me!"

Emi was startled by the sudden liveliness put on display by Majusculus, who had acted in accordance with his aging appearance thus far. Not only was he acting more vivaciously than she had assumed him capable of, the aura of elderly wisdom that he had previously exuded began to seem like naught but a distant memory.

"Calm down. I'm not sure what exactly happened. I don't even know what a Spirit Beast is. All I know is that some guy who said he was an Ascendant, from thousands of years ago, talked to me in my dream and said I would get to make a Choice. Are you sure I am a Spirit Beast, whatever that is? The man in my dream called me a Blessed. Is there such a thing as a Blessed Beast maybe?"

The color drained from the small patch of skin that wasn't covered by Majusculus's abundant fur. He hurriedly went down to the ground and kneeled in front of Emi.

"This one apologizes for his outburst, oh great Blessed. This one is not worthy and implores you for your forgiveness. This one would not have dared question your intelligence through such a farcical test had he known of your status. Might this one know which Ascendant had the foresight and good judgment to offer their patronage to such bright and promising a personage as yourself?"

What now...? He is going to regret kneeling when he calms down and realizes that he did so right in the puddle of honey...

"Could you please maybe...Not? I don't know what a Blessed is, and until I woke up yesterday, I was just a somewhat normal 21-year-old woman. Please stand up and talk to me normally because this is just awkward. To answer your question, the one who showed up in my dream said his name was Sundar."

Majusculus exhaled deeply and Emi only now noticed that he had been holding his breath for the last while.

"Oh good. I was scared it was going to be one of the scary ones. If I remember properly, Sundar is one of the Ascendants venerated by the Ashrama of Inspiration, and most of them aren't violent or warmongering types. Sorry, you said you didn't know anything about your situation so you might be confused. History has proven that, in most cases, the personality of a Blessed doesn't stray too far from that of their patron. Some Ascendants were quite the characters, so depending on who yours was, I might have needed to sound the alarm and have the tribe scatter in every direction to make sure at least some of us survived."

Not sure I agree that my personality is similar to that of the over-decorated Christmas tree who serves as my patron, but it seems I could have picked a lot worse.

"I don't think you need to worry there. I don't particularly like fighting. By the look of my patron, I believe he would rather have a scented bath and a massage than a battle. Although, he would have probably enjoyed the way you spoke to me earlier, that self-important prick."

Majusculus looked up toward the ceiling and winced visibly at that last bit.

"The Ascendants cannot affect the world directly, but you might want to avoid insulting them. If you ever ascend, you will have to live out your immortality alongside them in the celestial realms. Also, if you piss one off enough, they might send a Blessed after you in one of the next waves."

"Oh, don't worry, I think he is having a long nap. I can't wait to say it to his face though. You want to know what that buffoon did? First, he spent nearly half the time he was given to tell me what I needed to know posing silently so that I could "take in his beauty". Second, and that one is a doozy, he was supposed to incarnate me as a Human. He told me he would incarnate a second soul in a pretty bird in a nearby forest. As you can see, he fouled up somewhere in the execution."

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Emi spread her wings wide to illustrate the point she was making.

"...Indeed, that is pretty bad. I mean, I'm not quite a human myself, but my body is not that different. Not sure how I would react if all of a sudden I woke up in a fragile bird's body. On the upside, flying must be pretty nice?"

"I'll let you know when I can fly freely without the fear of giant predator birds making a snack out of me. With all the tree trunks and rogue branches in the forest, picking up any speed makes it too dangerous to enjoy. One lapse of attention and splat, no more Emi. On the other hand, if I don't pick up enough speed to glide, I can only fly a few minutes at a time before I get exhausted."

Majusculus shrugged and started standing up, only to finally realize the mistake he had made earlier. A look of determination spread across his face as he braced himself for what had to be done.

"One, two, Thr-OUCH! Note to self, don't kneel in a puddle of drying sticky liquid again. Still, I'm even more jealous now. You are not a Spiritual Beast that has One Choice, but a Blessed with two of them. Think you can share the wealth and send one of the two my way?"

"Even if I wanted to, not quite sure how I would do that. Also, I have no idea what my other Choice is since I only got to pick one."

"Well I don't personally have one but, as far I know, everyone that has a choice, Spirit Beasts or people, can make the sigil of the Empire appear somewhere on their body and have it display information in a way that they can understand. From what I gather though, one does not actually need to see the sigil, as it is supposedly just a reflection of the information the Akashic Network sends to your mind. Mind you, these are things I have uncovered in my quest to attain a Choice for myself."

"Status! Open Status! Stat Screen! Character sheet!...Menu?"

Majusculus developed a hint of a smile as Emi started yelling out a series of words to try and make her sigil appear. After a few attempts, she quieted down and looked at him sheepishly.

"Don't worry. I have heard people say it enough throughout my travels to remember the key. Concentrate on the word "Akasha", say it if you need to. Do the same once again when you want to dismiss it. While it is active, concentrating on the word "Choice" should give you the information you want"

Yup, would have taken me a while to figure that one out on my own. Feels like something that would take well under a minute to explain in a certain message...Let's do this. Akasha!

Emi gave herself a quick once-over, getting her first good look at her new coat of feathers. She looked where she could, which with the neck of an owl meant pretty much the entirety of her body, but she still could not locate the sigil. She did note that her feathers seemed to have shifted in color, the lighter browns had developed a slight golden hue, and the darker browns had grown closer to black. Furthermore, what had once been a hint of purple had now spread and grown more saturated.

"Hum....Emi...The sigil would appear on your skin and, well, you are entirely covered in feathers. Give me a second."

Majusculus went to the carved holes in the walls that served as windows and pulled a pair of wooden shutters closed. With the last rays of the setting sun now mostly unable to enter, Emi noticed a peculiar glow coming from where her solar plexus would have been, were she still human.

"Ah, smart. Am I going to need to pluck my feathers to read it though? That doesn't seem like a good time."

"Don't worry. From what I understand, anything displayed on the sigil is just mirroring what is in your mind. Once you make it display something, the knowledge should be at the forefront of your thoughts. I've heard it described as feeling as if you just remembered something you hadn't previously known."

He said my next prompt was the word Choice, so let's give it a go. Choice!

Emi immediately tried to peek down at her upper chest, but a message popped into her head before she could get frustrated by the obstructing feathers.

Oh, it's kinda like when a random song lyric comes to mind out of nowhere. Like he said though, remembering something you didn't know feels pretty strange.

[Harp Owl 1/3]

[Comunicative Intent]

Ability to understand and convey the meaning behind attempts to communicate. Expends negligible amounts of energy but requires the ability to hear, see, or smell the target depending on the means of communication.

Well, that explains the last few minutes. So, three Abilities, and the first is a universal translator? Going by anime tropes, are the other two an item box and an appraisal ability?

[Anthropomorphic Form]

Ability to morph into a humanoid form of the same mass. Morphing is not instantaneous and requires energy. The humanoid form reflects the ideal of the user but is limited by skill and knowledge.

Okay, now we are talking. With these two I should be able to look and sound relatively human, fewer chances for random hunters to target me out in the wild. With these two Abilities, I should be able to have some sort of normal life once I reach the empire Majusculus spoke of. What's next?

[Reciprocal Empathy]

Ability to perceive the emotional states of others and convey your own. Expends negligible amounts of energy but requires the ability to hear, see, or smell the target.

That sounds like one of the crappiest esper powers I have ever heard of... Better than nothing though. Between that and my first Ability, I should be able to express myself very well. Also, if someone's emotions don't match their words, then I'll be able to tell something is off. Maybe it will get better as I level and turn into full-on telepathy or mind-reading.

"Alright so I was able to check my Choice and it looks pretty good. I have a translation Ability, one that will let me change my shape to be more human, and one that lets me see the emotional state of others. No info on my second Choice though. Any ideas?"

"Those Abilities don't seem like they will help you survive in the wild...Hopefully, your second Choice comes with some Abilities you can use for survival. As for your second choice, I am not quite sure. Why don't you try different word combinations like Second choice, secondary Choice, or extra Choice. Pretty sure it should involve the word Choice."

Okay, buzzkill...I'm not Meg though. There is no way I would be happy with a set of Abilities that transformed me into Rambo. I'm okay with not being able to wrestle a bear. I don't have much of a choice for now but I'm not planning on living in the forest permanently. Let's see what kind of Choice my previous life earned me.

After a few unsuccessful attempts, Emi managed to find the right key phrase and information started appearing in her mind.

Onomancer? So like pyromancer or necromancer but I control...ono? Oh...A choice that specializes in controlling sound waves? Promising! Hopefully, the Abilities are good.

[Onomancer 1/4]

[Persistent Memories of the Blessed]

Ability to use a minute amount of energy to access soul-bound memories and create vivid and detailed recollections of specific events.

If Soulbound memories refer to my previous life, then that is not too shabby. With all the media I consumed, that is a huge library of music and sound effects constantly at my fingertips. I would need 100's of hard drives to store all of that data and finding the right sound in all of that would be a nightmare. Souls are high-spec!

[Wave vision]

Ability to visually perceive and interpret sound waves. Energy costs are negligible and the range is dependent on sight.

Damn, my eyes are also super high-spec! I started with owl eyes that are as sharp as a hawk's and have great dark vision, and now they can see both sound waves and emotions. I hope there isn't some bigshot out there with a magic eye collection or he might try to pluck mine out.

[Onomancy]

Ability to create and modify sound waves in a small area surrounding the user. Allows control over frequency, wavelength, amplitude, time period, velocity, and the direction of propagation. Energy expenditure is variable. Results are affected by knowledge and understanding.

....How is that a level 1 Ability!? I mean, the shape-shifting Ability also seemed to be quite big for a starter set but this? I thought this is what my whole Choice would be able to do, later down the line, after I gained more Abilities. This Choice might be even better than I thought if all of that came in a single Ability. Who needs an editing set up on a PC when you have this? Goodbye Cubase! Goodbye Protools! You two have been replaced by big brother Onomancy. Plus this Choice came with four abilities so I have one left.

[The world is a Soundstage]

Ability to create energy nodes that allow the use of their creator's Sound-based Abilities in their vicinity. Nodes cost energy to maintain and use up stored energy to serve as sources of sound. The nodes can be used at any distance but are only mobile as long as within the range of the onomancer. Energy costs are variable.

It even comes with its own home theater surround sound setup!? This starter package would be worth thousands of dollars of gear back home...More if you consider the price of high-end audiophile equipment and software subscriptions. Plus, none of this is digital, so I'm not going to have to worry about interference or compression. All I need is a projector and I could run a badass movie theater, and thanks to my translation Ability, I wouldn't even need to worry about subtitles.

"Did you forget about me or..?"

"Sorry Majusculus, this second Choice came with a lot more information than the previous one and I got lost in thought."

"So, what did you get? Something that lets you fly better? Hunt? Hide?"

Emi thought over the question before answering.

"Well...I'm sure some of these abilities might help me be more stealthy if I use them a certain way. Don't think they'll help with flying, but they could help with hunting, if not directly. It should help me spot prey and maybe herd them where I want them to go."

"Well, that's better than nothing. So what is it?"

"It's called [Onomancer] and seems to use energy to produce and control sounds. It gave me an Ability that lets me see sound, one that lets me produce and control sound around me, and one that lets me make energy constructs that I can use to make sounds at a distance."

Majusculus's face scrunched up as he put a hand on his chest.

Don't know why but that provoked quite a reaction. Good timing.

[Reciprocal Empathy]!

Oooh! It worked!

A translucent aura appeared around Majusculus, extending about a foot away from him in every direction. The aura seemed to be unstable as greyish blues and yellowish greens danced about languidly with little accents of crimson red appearing sporadically. As if by instinct, Emi could roughly match the colors with a corresponding emotion.

So that greyish blue should be some sort of sadness and that yellowish green is a mix of jealousy and...annoyance? Pain? With a splash of anger for the crimson red.

"Hey Majusculus? I wasn't quite sure how to read your expression so I tried one of my Abilities. Would it be accurate to say you are feeling envious, sad, annoyed, and a little angry?"

The Aura around Majusculus shifted as the greyish blues were overtaken by more crimson reds and yellowish greens.

"Ah, wait, forget the sad part. The anger, jealousy, and annoyance seem to be taking ove-"

Majusculus slammed the bottom of his staff onto the ground, making a loud thump, and began signing with wide and exaggerated motions.

"OUT! My heart can't take any more tonight. Not only do you naturally have a voice that you can use to communicate, and a translation ability, but now you tell me you can even use energy to produce sounds while keeping your mouth shut. In three hundred years of hard work, I managed to learn how to read and write in multiple languages, but speaking still eludes me. Your Abilities make all my hard work seem like a joke...Go find the little one if you want, but don't bother me until tomorrow. My heart needs to recover."

Without waiting for a reply, Majusculus shoved Emi out of his cabin and slammed the door behind her.

"Yeah... with how ancient he is I should be careful not to give the old monkey a heart attack."

Something heavy hit the door from inside the cabin making Emi scamper away hastily.

Oops. Was still within earshot. Maybe I should avoid seeking death for now. I'm still a lowly level 1 after all...Now, where is Arctic?