I lie there for a while, letting the last of my tears of happiness dry out. I can’t believe it, a divinity came to meet me, gave me the equivalent of Their phone number and permission to contact Them whenever I want to. I assume I shouldn’t make use of it too often, I don’t want Them to regret giving it to me. But then again … No, fuck it, I am who I am. I really hope They won’t mind me being a chatterbox, but if They do, that’s just how it is. I’m going to call you little blue, I say to the stone hanging around my neck. Let’s get along, and have fun exploring this world together. I smile, as I feel a sense of approval coming from the pendant. Great, I think, looks like I don’t need to touch it with my hands. Touching it with the bare skin of my chest also seems to allow me to use my divine cell phone. I chuckle, it came with a hands free kit right from the start. Hmm, that does mean that I have the equivalent of an open phone line on me at all times. However, for some reason, that doesn’t seem to bother me. So I’ll just let it be, They can tell me if they are bothered by it. I allow myself to lay down a little longer, and just let it all sink in, basking in my happiness.

After a while, I slap myself gently on the cheeks. Ok Zafira, time to get planning and actually make something of this new life. Short term, I have food, water and rest covered, so I’m not in any immediate danger. What do I want to achieve in the long term? What would make me look back at my life when I’m older, and make me think that I lived a good life? While I want to move away from the people pleasing attitude I held in my old world, I still want to help people. And my magic’s healing abilities are a perfect fit for that, if I figure out how to use it on others.

I won’t allow myself to stick around people who don’t appreciate my quirks. That means I’ll probably need to move around quite a bit, at least till I’ve found my tribe. So I’ll need a way to ensure my safety and defend myself while traveling. I want to explore relationships and sexuality in a healthy and fun way. Which means I’ll want to live in a way that allows me to easily meet new people. But at the same time leaves room to stick around in one place long enough to allow people to really get to know me, and for me to get to know them. Hmm, not sure yet how I’ll manage that. Hey little blue, I ask out loud, is there an easy way to travel long distances fast in this world? If you’re powerful enough, everything becomes easy, They reply. Hmm, neat, guess I don’t need to plan for that specifically then. And can just focus on learning how to control my magic. Thank you little blue.

Ok, now that I have a general idea of the direction I want to take my new life. Let’s set priorities. I can probably use my magic to find directions to where I want to go just like I found this boat. So that part shouldn’t give me too much trouble. However, what I need most now, is to be able to guarantee my safety while traveling. And also, I add darkly, potentially against other humans in places where I would decide to settle. So, that will be my task for the coming weeks, sharpening my magical claws. Finding out just what my magic can and can’t do, and trying to find ways to use it that would actually be useful in combat. Cause I don’t think anyone with malicious intent will wait for me to finish a long chant, or divinity forbids, set up a full ritual. I guess that little blue’s ability to allow me to cast spells without materials will come in handy in that regard. I only want to use that in emergencies though, gathering everything and setting up the ritual is half the fun of doing magic in the first place. Still, I should at least practice with it, if I don’t, there’s no way I would be able to use it in an emergency under stress.

Ok, now, where to start. I could try to call upon the elements, however that doesn’t feel right as a first step. A witch uses them, but she doesn’t rely on them. I should first try to do things with my own power. Oooh, I know just the right exercise, let’s find out if these principles of magick translate to magic in this world.

I move into a clearing near the creek, and remove any fallen leaves from a wide circle. In the center, I dig a small pit with my hand, and fill it with dried leaves. It’s a shame I don’t have a bucket to fill with water in case this experiment is more effective than expected. However, being this close to the water, I hope that the plants and ground are saturated enough that I won’t start a forest fire. I sit down inside the circle, and meditate a bit to clear my thoughts and find stillness. When I feel completely calm, I start rubbing my hands together, focussing on the sensation of warmth this creates on the inside of my hands. When I have a firm grasp on that feeling, I stop rubbing, keep my hands a little bit apart, and try to maintain a feeling of heat in my mind. Sending energy out through my right palm to feed it, absorbing the energy again through my left palm, letting it cycle through my center, before expelling it again through my right palm. The cycle continues for a bit, and I quickly feel both the temperature in between my hands, and that of my body as a whole rise significantly. I stop the exercise there with a smile, it looks like the basics of magick from my old world apply for energy work as well as rituals in this world.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

On to the next experiment. This time, I place my left hand firmly on the ground, and visualize it absorbing energy from the earth, which moves through my center, and is expelled once again through my right hand. This time, I focus the feeling of heat a bit further away from my palm, into the pile of dried leaves in the center of the circle. I visualize a stronger flow of energy, and an intense, burning heat. All focussed on one point, like focussing the sunlight through a magnifying glass, right on one of the dried leaves. It doesn’t take long for the leaf to begin to smoke. And after a bit, it catches fire, and ignites all the leaves in the little pit. I quickly add some twigs, hoping that the leaves will burn long enough to start a true fire. And to my delight, they do. I slowly feed the fire bigger pieces, till I have a decent campfire going. A way to make fire, check. Now I can start roasting food, and warm myself better if it gets colder.

I leave the fire burning, as I look around for a small puddle of water next. And try to see if I can warm it up using the same method. However, even after a long time of channeling, the temperature of the water has only changed a little bit. Guess that’s to be expected, the energy it takes to create a spark that ignites a dried leaf is way less than what it would take to boil water. There goes my dream of having a hot bath anytime soon. Ah well, on to the next experiment.

I turn back to my campfire that has almost gone out by now. It’s still smoldering, so it’s easy enough to revive with some dead leaves and carefully feeding it. Once it’s burning properly again, it’s time for my next experiment. Now that I have a feeling of what I can do under my own power, let’s find out what happens when I call on the help of the elements. Having the element already present should make it easier to connect in theory. So let’s start with a chant that should hopefully be harmless:

Flame of inspiration, I summon you.

By my will, manifest in this world.

Grace me with the beauty of your dance.

The fire swells and burns into a spiraling shape, climbing several meters high into the air. I can feel its joy from simply existing in this plane. And I sit down, to enjoy a show that people would have paid a lot of money for in my old world. The fire changes color and shape constantly, never the same twice. When I feel the power of my spell fading, I thank the spirit as it returns to the elemental plane. I’m so elated I’m shaking, I still want to focus on growing my own power. However, being able to borrow the powers of the elements in case of emergency will be a life saver.

Since everything is going to plan so far, I guess I can take a bit more risk in my last experiment with fire for tonight. I cover the fire with sand, and once I’m confident it’s out, I start walking along the creek. Gathering dry wood as I walk in search of the perfect spot to try my next spell. After an hour, I find what I’m looking for. A flat stone, sticking out of the water in the middle of the creek, in a place where it’s wide, with no overhanging trees. I place the dry wood on top of it, and retreat quite a distance back from it, still standing in the water. After finding stillness in my mind, I start to chant:

Flame of destruction, I summon you.

By my will, manifest in this world.

Consume this sacrifice, to still thy hunger.

Instantly, the wood on the stone turns into a huge rolling flame, incinerating it in a flash. However, instead of rising into the air, the flames turn towards me. I can feel their hunger, and in the blink of a second, they are all over me. I dive into the water, while focussing on banishing the elemental. When the light disappears, I resurface, and look around to confirm that the fire is truly out. The front side of my body feels like I have sunburn all over. So I drop down into the creek again. Letting the water cool me, and channeling energy to heal myself, like I did when I first woke up in this world. Guess it also holds true in this world, summoning does not mean controlling. Glad I took precautions, considering how much it still damaged me in the fraction of a second it took to dive into the water. I better be very selective with what kind of spirits I summon for now.