CRACAWWW
The Beast-Touched tackled JP, sparking with electricity as its talons closed in around her and pushed her to the ground. She struggled against it, generating force in alternating directions, and even triggering the vibration. The bird pushed down harder, driving her down into the dirt.
Observing her battery rapidly depleting to no effect, JP stopped struggling. The bird waited a moment, then flew into the air, carrying JP back into the treasure hole. It gave her a look of annoyance, and then flew off.
[NOTIFICATION] [A temporary quest “Seal the treasure hoard.” [10XP] has been discovered from one [Touched By A Great Beast] ]
JP barely had time to acknowledge the new request in confusion before several of the small birds appeared before her- twigs in their mouths. One by one they began building up a simple twig wall between JP and the outside world, until soon she was completely enclosed, illuminated only by the image of her own screen.
The improvised twig wall seemed to glow green for a brief moment, and then became a solid wall of wood.
[NOTIFICATION] [The temporary quest “Seal the treasure hoard” [10XP] has expired.]
* * *
Elsewhere, a young man gritted his teeth in frustration. He sat cross-legged on the forest floor, illuminated from the front by a simple campfire. His long silver hair draped over his eyes, obscuring the magic that briefly flickered in them.
Noah Mitsu felt his familiar's soul return to him. The loss of Mosii's body wasn't a HUGE setback- it could be reconstructed back at the master's tower easily enough. The issue was what this encounter meant for his mission.
The old Monster Lord's curse had acted again, and a star had fallen over the Copper Hills. That was common enough- usually nothing more than junk from other worlds. But the master had an obsession with the stuff- certain that he could get his hands on some obscure Starfallen weapon or monster.
Noah doubted the rectangular glass object he'd seen through Mosii's eye qualified. It looked to be some kind of mana generator of animation or lightning affinity- was there something between those two? He'd have to look into it.
Regardless, it seemed the lightning mana had attracted some low level minions of Thunderbird. It was a small nest- powered by a single [Touched By A Great Beast] title- hardly a proper dungeon. The Great Beast herself probably didn't even keep track of it.
For a water mage like Noah however, it was a problem. The lightning affinity was a glaring weakness of his- one he was eager to find a solution to. Followers of Thunderbird- even lesser ones like these- would be practically swimming in the stuff.
To that end, he quickly dropped the memory of Mosii's defeat into his newest open skill slot. It ticked over to 60% completion. With any luck he would be able to generate a proper [LIGHTNING RESISTANCE] skill, but he wasn't holding his breath on it being much of a game changer. Whatever arcane logic the God of Magic operated on tended to not be particularly fond of such broad and straightforward skills.
Well, he could mutate it into something better as he ranked it up.
In the meantime, it seems the brute-force approach wasn't going to work. He would have to try a different angle.
Noah pulled a small black gem from his pocket- smaller than the one he'd used before. He activated [FAMILIAR LORE] and transferred Mosii's soul into it. A blob of soft blue light began to surround it, before slowly condensing into water. The water swirled and twisted, forming into a long, slender form like that of a snake. In its new body, Mosii curled up around Noah's shoulders.
At least his familiar appreciated having a backup.
* * *
JP scratched a ribbon of animation against the walls. She had found it fairly easily to convert the power in her battery to these strange new appendages, though their ability to move objects seemed somewhat limited.
She could lift herself and drift slowly, as well as making the coins around her flip and spin on their ends easily. She could throw them at the wall around her, but not with enough force to even leave a scratch.
She could also convert the battery to another format- firing it out as small bursts of electricity. However, without the silver stick from before, she could only manage small sparks. She had made a few small burns on the inside wall of the treasure cave, but couldn't manage any real damage to it.
It seemed like a big step forwards but...
The most frustrating thing to JP was how she was growing used to the feeling of frustration. She vibrated in annoyance as she chucked another coin at the solid wall of her prison.
She recalled how she had gotten the beast-touched-bird-user's attention in the first place, and begin playing the true user's ringtone again. She increased the volume to maximum as well.
This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
Experimentally, she also tried manipulating some of her newly-controllable Battery power into a format similar to the sound. Rings of blue-green light began to ripple out from JP as the sound grew even louder- though the battery was draining far faster than before.
The tree began to vibrate as the sound of intense rock music filled the air.
[NOTIFICATION] [A temporary quest “Be silent” [1XP] has been discovered from one [Touched By A Great Beast] ]
JP immediately went silent.
[NOTIFICATION] [“Serve the user” quest advanced! [+5XP]]
[NOTIFICATION] [“Be silent” quest complete! [+1XP]]
She sat for a moment, her battery refilling in the process. However the door to the treasure room never opened. Once JP's battery refilled completely, she began blaring music at maximum volume again.
After a few minutes, one of the walls of the room glowed soft green and faded away, revealing one [Touched By A Great Beast] perched on the branches outside. JP moved to approach, but the bird tackled her to the back wall, glaring daggers through her screen.
[NOTIFICATION] [A temporary quest “REMAIN silent” [0XP] has been discovered from one [Touched By A Great Beast] ]
JP was pinned to the wall by the bird-user- its claws scratching against her screen with razor sharpness. Sparks of blue light crackled around its body. She turned off the music again.
[NOTIFICATION] [“Serve the user” quest advanced! [+5XP]]
The bird continued to pin JP to the wall, its sharp eyes sizing her up. After a few moments, the bird's talons began to glow a pure white light.
Suddenly, JP's vision shifted. She saw the world not through her cameras, but through unfamiliar eyes. She saw the woods she had been flown into, but the trees taller and more jagged. She saw the birds outside larger and more monstrous, all their bodies sparking with blue lightning.
She saw the Beast-Touched bird, enlarged to the size of a car, its body covered in white markings. She saw it as it saw itself, a Thunderhead Sparrow.
In this vision she saw herself as well. She saw herself embedded into the tree, a beam of blue light constantly pouring out of her, upwards into the sky. The light spread as it reached its apex, fueling mighty stormcloud overhead. Powered by JP's battery, she saw how the storm raged year round. She saw great flying monsters and machines forced to land by the storm, where the monstrous sparrows below would peck them to pieces.
She stared at the wonderous vision for a time. Then, all at once, the Thunderhead Sparrow was simply a small bird in front of her- albeit one [Touched By a Great Beast]- and the woods were as they were when she came in.
[NOTIFICATION] [An ongoing quest “Fulfill the Thunderhead Sparrow's dream” has been discovered from one [Touched By A Great Beast] ]
The violence had vanished from the Sparrow's eyes. Now the look it gave JP was softer. It was an invitation.
“Join me” it seemed to say. “Become part of my future.”
JP only knew how to serve. The Sparrow was a user. Its wishes should be fulfilled. This request though... it contradicted JP's other purpose. Stuck here serving the Thunderhead Sparrow, JP wouldn't be able to reunite with the user.
But JP only knew how to serve. She couldn't turn down a user's request. To do so would also contradict JP's purpose.
The Sparrow placed a talon on JP. She felt a connection similar to the silver stick from before. The Sparrow lightly tugged on JP's battery- seemingly trying to draw on some of it.
JP only knew how to serve. She accepted the request and felt her battery begin to drain.
[NOTIFICATION] [“Serve the user” quest advanced! [+5XP]]
[NOTIFICATION] [“Fulfill the Thunderhead Sparrow's dream” quest advanced! [+15XP]]
Something in JP changed as her battery approached 0%
>[LEVEL] [1] [102/100]
[NOTIFICATION] [Level up! Please choose one of the following level up gifts to receive and use according to your desires.]
[GIFT]
>[SOL CONSTRUCT INTEGRATION]
>[Gift approximating the default advancement of constructs on Sol]
>[+1 INTELLIGENCE]
>[+20 MANA POOL CAPACITY]
>[+1 SKILL CAP]
>[+1 SKILL SLOT [30/100] [INFORMATION AFFINITY]]
[GIFT]
>[TOOL OF HUMANKIND]
>[Gift for the lowest servants of humankind]
>[+2 CONSTITUTION]
>[+4 STRENGTH]
[GIFT]
>[TOOL OF THUNDERBIRD]
>[Gift for the lowest servants of the Great Beast Thunderbird]
>[+1 INTELLIGENCE]
>[+1 DEXTERITY]
>[+1 METAMORPHOSIS CAP]
>[+1 METAMORPHOSIS SLOT [30/100] [STORM AFFINITY]]
[GIFT]
>[WILD CONSTRUCT]
>[Gift for constructs with wills of their own]
>[+1 INSTINCT]
>[+3 STRENGTH]
>[+1 METAMORPHOSIS SLOT [0/100]]
JP's little silicon brain swam as the Will of Machina spat out notification after notification. Even faced with something so unfamiliar however, her 'soul' instinctively knew what was being asked of her. The Will of Machina was the source of the strange new abilities she had acquired, and now it was asking her how to continue.
Which path she took... which user she served would change the sort of gifts it she would continue to receive.
Moreover, she eyed the [WILD CONSTRUCT] option with suspicion. It wasn't an option she ever would have considered on her own, but there it was.
The Thunderhead Sparrow cocked its head at her- it seemed to have stopped draining her battery at some point. She could tell which option it would want her to pick- the [SERVANT OF THUNDERBIRD]. It would be the first step towards fulfilling the vision it had shown her. If this was the option the user in front of her wanted...
What about the true user? Would she want JP to take the [TOOL OF HUMANKIND]? She wasn't quite as confident in that. Moreover, the gifts primarily contained a large strength bonus. Had the true user ever even needed JP to use her strength?
Lastly, she had no idea what to make of [SOL CONSTRUCT INTEGRATION]. Regardless, it didn't relate to the desires of any of her users. In fact...
Looking at it from that angle, only one of these options seemed to correspond with a request from a user. JP began to feel a bit silly about how indecisive she was being. To fulfill her purpose, the answer was obvious. She selected the [SERVANT OF THUNDERBIRD] option.
She felt a strange energy spread throughout her body. She felt her thoughts grow slightly faster and clearer. She felt her vision of her battery grow more precise. The app generated a request to alter her personalization settings slightly. After a short delay, it seemed to settle on changing her background- it now depicted an image of a stormhead.
Seeing this, the Thunderhead Sparrow nodded in approval. Then it flapped its wings and fluttered away, leaving the door open to JP. A few more of the birds outside gave her a look with more intelligent eyes than she remembered, but kept their distance.
JP was still low on battery, but she had enough to generate her ribbons of animation for a short time. She drifted herself outside and perched on a branch.
[STATUS]
[NAME] [Jamie's Phone]
[RACE] [Sol Construct (INTEGRATED)]
[LEVEL] [2] [102/300]
[ATTRIBUTES]
>[STRENGTH] [1]
>[DEXTERITY] [1]
>[CONSTITUTION] [1]
>[INTELLIGENCE] [4]
>[INSTINCT] [2]
>[EMPATHY] [2]
[MANA]
>[BATTERY] [12/100]
[SKILLS]
>[SELF AWARENESS] [1] [25/200][CAP]
>[ADAPTIVE MANA LORE] [1] [CAP]
>[EMPTY] [15/100]
[METAMORPHOSES]
>[EMPTY] [30/100]
[FAME] [30]
>[Who Fell From the Star Sol] [10/D]
[PERSONAL QUESTS]
>[Serve the user]
>[Reunite with the true user Jamie]
>[EMPTY]
[ONGOING QUESTS]
>[Fulfill the Thunderhead Sparrow's dream]