Soul Transmigration Chapter 6 (original chapter Chapter 102)
"How in the name of all the gods did you know how to do that?!" Emma demanded when we retired to our cabin, Lily and Amelia following us.
"Dad told me about the kind of enchantments that ships have." I shrugged. "They either protect against offensive spells or against physical impacts, a lot of the time both, not to mention protection from biofouling. What they don't protect against is little monsters infiltrating between the cracks and then expanding back to their normal size and smashing the hull of the ships into splinters."
"You are a very scary girl. Has anyone ever told you that?" Amelia remarked casually, seemingly not intimidated in the slightest in spite of her own words.
"I have heard that, yes." I answered dryly.
"I never thought that a single Summoner could single-handedly take down three ships at the same time." Lily said in awe. "Especially one who's not had even half a year's training in her magical education!"
Smirking, I tapped the side of my head knowingly. "The little grey cells overcome most obstacles that strength alone cannot."
OK, so my Mom (in my last life) had liked Agatha Christie's Poirot. Sue me.
"People are going to be treating you like a genius now." Amelia mentioned. "I doubt that anyone could have anticipated that use for, as Victoria Dallon put it, one of the weakest of the monsters to exist."
"I saw a potential weakness given what I knew of the enchantments of ships and just so happened to have the perfect monster to execute the plan I made to exploit that weakness." I protested. "If I hadn't had my Amoeba to use, I wouldn't have tried it."
"You've got six monsters, right? We know you have Amoeba and Meda Bat, so what're the other four?" Emma asked inquisitively. "And could you have done something with those?"
I sighed. "My two Circle Three monsters are a Nature Sphere monster called Lesser Trent and a Fire Sphere monster called Lesser Fire Doom. My Circle 4 monster is a Wind Sphere monster called Breath Dragon, though it isn't actually a dragon, so why it's called a dragon in the first place is beyond me. My Circle 5 monster…eh, let's call it my trump card and leave it at that."
Despite Emma pleading with me, I refused to tell her what my Circle 5 monster was. As the one that was at the current peak of my ability to use [Contract Magic] on, it was considered my trump card and I had the legal right to refuse to disclose its identity to anyone, even the King himself. Unless I had to use it, in which case I wasn't protected by the law anymore.
It took another day, but we safely arrived at the Canis Isles. There were two of them, Canis Minor, the smaller island, and Canis Major, the larger one. The Breath of the North Wind docked at Canis Minor, as it was the designated island for First and Second Years.
Each island had a dock for ships to moor to, a barracks for the detachment of soldiers assigned to guard the precious materials and monsters that existed on these islands. There was also a representative of the mage's Council on each island, usually researchers who were formerly powerful battle wizards. They got quiet, isolation and plenty of materials for their research (within limits) and they protected the island from invaders. Win-Win.
"Gather around!" Master Clarke called as he herded the class off the ship and onto the dock. "Gather around! Valerie Guin, pay attention! Everyone listening now? Good."
Looking around, the old magic user continued. "Ahem. The little unexpected kerfuffle that we ran into en-route aside, this trip has gone according to plan. After discussion with my fellow masters, we have decided to continue on as if this were a normal trip. You all have three days to, in your preselected groups, select the type of casting mediums you wish to make and then gather the materials for it. If you wish to ask one of the Masters about what materials would suit you and the casting instrument of your choice best, then please do so. We are a resource to be drawn upon for this subject. I do ask that you leave Master Weber alone, as he is neck-deep in research and will not take idle questions in good humour."
Some of us tittered. The corpulent Island master had waddled out as we disembarked and shouted at us to not disturb him before waddling back inside his home before slamming the door shut. None of us would have the gumption to dare try talking with him.
"As you have all learned in your classes, the various casting implements have their own advantages and disadvantages." Master Clarke lectured. "For those of you who have yet to make a decision about which specialty you are going to enter, I would recommend a basic wand. It is the best general implement that you can use and offers no disadvantage other than the fact you will be unable to cast spells above a certain Circle with one, even with the best of materials."
Sensible. With most of the class undecided about their Mage Vocation, he's not-so-subtly guided them towards an instrument that's both easy to make and wouldn't hinder most of my classmates in experimenting with spells to find out what they were suited for.
"So what are you going to try for?" I asked Amelia as the lecture ended and most of the class scattered into the area around the docks to talk in their groups.
"I'm going to be a Battle healer, so rings." The Daughter of the Pirate Marquis answered.
That made me raise an eyebrow in surprise. A Battle Healer was a hybrid between a Healer and a Battlemage, mixing modestly powerful healing spells with the versatile number of battle spells that a Battlemage possessed. It was one of the rarer Mage Vocations due to how difficult it was to find someone who possessed the skills, desire, Spheres and discipline necessary to become one.
"Good for you." Lily said with a nod. "Me, I'm gonna be a Battlechanter, so a staff for me."
My second eyebrow shot up to join its twin. A Battlechanter was a combat-oriented Enchanter. Like the Battle Healer Vocation, the requirements needed to balance the aspects of an Enchanter and a Battlemage meant that there were only a handful in the whole world.
"I'm…just going to be a Healer." Emma said shyly. "So…um, what are the suited tools for that again?"
"Rings, pendants, wands, staves and bracers." I said automatically. "I think a pendant sounds like it'd be best for you, though I'd ask Master Clarke, as he'll have a better idea than me."
"What about you?" Amelia asked curiously.
"Summoners need to keep their hands free a lot more than other Vocations, so I'm swaying between rings and bracers." I admitted. "More to bracers, really."
"A sensible choice, Miss Hebert." Master Clarke said from behind me, making me almost levitate in shock. He had snuck up on me completely silently!
"Gah!" I yelped.
"And your idea for Miss Barnes is also right on the money." He continued, ignoring me giving him the stink eye. "Regular Healers have little need to use combat magic, so having a pendant isn't a disadvantage whatsoever."
"Thank you professor." Emma said nervously. "And…what materials should we use?"
The old Mage thought for a minute. "Miss Lavere should have one ring made of Iron Jade and one ring made of Sky Iron. For Miss Lily here, I would recommend wood from the Crystal Trunk Tree. For Miss Barnes, I recommend a lump of Golden Lion Jade. And finally, for Miss Hebert, I recommend the skin of the monster known as the Devil Mamba, along with metal known as Clear Sky Steel and at least ten crystals from the Elemental Crystal Grove. That should last you all until your second trip here in your second year."
"Thank you, professor." Amelia inclined her head. "How are we to harvest the materials? I personally don't know of any spells to do so."
"By hand." Master Clarke said bluntly as he withdrew a set of tools from his robes and handed them out. There were picks, clippers, and saws all sized for children our age.
"The materials you are gathering are sensitive to magical power, which is why you must not use magical means to gather them." He informed us. "Doing so could taint them and make them less effective as casting implements. The only exception is the Devil Mamba."
He then beckoned a soldier over, who expressionlessly handed out rucksacks that we were to use to carry our respective materials.
"Once we return to the academy, skilled smiths and other craftsmen will create your casting tools to your specifications." Master Clarke concluded. "They'll be plain and functional to avoid any kind of competition between you all. Good luck, children."
With that, he moved off to help another group.
"How're we supposed to identify them?" Lily asked after a moment. "I dunno about you all, but I have no clue what Crystal Trunk Trees looks like."
"Over there." Emma pointed at a large board, about the size of a roadside billboard with a soldier standing next to it. It had wooden boards with pictures of every tree, animal, metal and plant on the island. We quickly went over to grab boards that showed our own materials.
"That's a Devil Mamba? Eesh, looks dangerous." Lily commented as she peered at the picture. It resembled a cobra with a single horn in the center of its head. I read the stats that were provided with it.
Species: Devil Mamba
Spheres: Nature, Darkness
Sub-Sphere: Serpent
Rank: Circle 3
Abilities: [Intimidation Gaze], [Constrict], [Poison Bite]
"Best way to deal with it is to use a Summon." I mused. "We'll track down this guy last; gathering the materials that won't fight back first is the best idea."
"Agreed." Emma said fervently.
Two Days Later
'Roughing it' has a different meaning to mages. On the first day, Master Clarke and his companions had thrown up a temporary dorm for us, which was almost as comfortable as our dorm back at the Academy. As I padded down to the cafeteria, I thought about my time on this island.
Over the last two days, Amelia, Lily, Emma and I had gotten ahold of most of our materials. Everyone's materials were amazing to look at; Amelia's Iron Jade was stone that looked like metal, but felt more like plastic, whereas Sky Iron looked like silver, but was light as paper and as strong as titanium. Lily's Crystal Trunk Tree branch was a literal length of crystalline wood, ruby with a smattering of blue sapphires inside it. Emma's Golden Lion Jade was a gorgeous shade of gold that looked as if it was freshly polished.
As for my materials, Clear Sky Steel was metal ore the same shade as a clear blue sky, as the name suggested, while the crystal gems from the Elemental Crystal Grove were all about the size of marbles, and changed colours constantly. This only left the skin of the Devil Mamba to get.
"So how're we gonna find it?" Lily asked as we ate breakfast. "I haven't seen any snakes around while we've been walking all over this place."
"It's an opportunistic predator, and all of us together put of a strong feeling of magic." I informed her. "It'll never show itself willingly. My book said so."
"OK then, so what do we do?" Amelia asked calmly.
"Either we track it down to its lair or we bait a trap." I answered. "The first one is way too risky, as a lair can have upwards of twenty of the things at once. So we'll have to lure it in before killing it and dragging it back here."
"How?" Emma asked suspiciously.
"I'll be sitting in a clearing. It likes to strike from behind, so it'll come up behind me. I'll be counting on you all to blast it with spells to let me get out of striking range." I stated. "If necessary, I'll summon my Lesser Trent to protect me before blasting it as well. Try to avoid cutting spells unless you're aiming to take its head off."
"Tay, that's too risky!" Emma protested.
"I trust you three." I said with a shrug.
That had Emma and Lily blushing and Amelia eying me as if I was odd. Well, to her, I suppose I was somewhat odd. She had started the Academy thinking that she'd be isolated throughout it, but thanks to me, Emma and occasionally Lily, she wasn't. Some of the others were getting over their fear of her father and at least talking to her without flinching.
Wimps.
Once breakfast was over, my group trooped out to start Operation Bait and Wait…Ok, I just called it that to myself. Fortunately, my entire group had been learning spells at a good clip since they learned how to cast magic in the first place. Emma knew several defensive spells and a good handful of offensive ones too, but both Lily and Amelia knew much more than she did, although Emma did know some borderline Circle 3 healing spells that might come in handy if things went pear-shaped.
There were more than a few clearings on Canis Minor; even although the island was the smaller of the two, it was still about the same size as Lower Manhattan on Earth Bet, so there was plenty of room for a fairly thriving ecosystem. Animals, both mundane and monster, lived and died here, with most of the island away from the small enclave in the center point of the beach untamed wilderness. The only exception was the large tower standing atop the tallest mountain on the island. It was the research lab of Master Mage Weber, who could, somehow, transport himself between it and his house in the enclave.
Anyway, the clearing that we chose wasn't so small as to be too cramped to fight it, but it also wasn't big enough to take too long for my friends to come to my aid. There was also a comfy rock in the center that I perched on to read while I waited for the Devil Mamba to show up.
"You do know that you are far too relaxed for what you're doing?" Amelia said dryly via a Wind Sphere communication spell, [Wind Whisperer].
"Shush, you." I said back casually as I read my book. "I'm busy being oblivious."
"Has she always been like this?!" I heard the Pirate Scion ask Emma in exasperation.
"Pretty much. It takes a lot to phase her." my traitorous friend replied.
"I can still hear you~." I sing-songed.
"Quiet you three. I can hear something!" Lily hissed.
Now that she brought it up, I could hear something too…a hissing sound. Oddly, it sounded like two snakes rather than one. I had looked up the Devil Mamba on the first day we were here and aside from when they slept and mated, Devil Mambas couldn't stand each other. They were solitary hunters.
"Taylor, run! It's something else!" Emma shouted. "It's a snake with two heads!"
I went for indolent and oblivious to flat out running in a handful of seconds, cursing the robes I wore as I pelted across the clearing. The loud crunch of jaws on stone behind me told me that I'd only just made it.
Peeking over my shoulder, I cursed. It wasn't just a snake with two heads; the heads were on opposite sides of the body, one being where the head usually was, while the other was where the end of the tail usually was.
"A goddamn Devil Taijitu Snake?!" I shouted in disbelief. "Those are supposed to be on Canis Major only! What the hell's one of them doing on Canis Minor?!"
"You know what that thing is?!" Amelia asked as she sent a spear of water to smash uselessly against the scaly hide of the monster.
"A Devil Taijitu Snake." I repeated as I skidded to a halt next to my friends. "A Circle 5 monster, supposedly an evolved or mutated version of a regular Devil Mamba. It has the special abilities of [Steel Scales], [Double Brain], [Paralysis Vision], [Iron Bite] and [Constricting Coils]. Thanks to the first one, none of our spells can pierce its hide; aim for the eyes!"
"Running sounds like an idea." Lily said with a gulp. I could sympathize; a Devil Mamba was about five feet from nose to tail, while this bastard was triple that.
"Nope, it's as fast as a horse at a slow canter in a straight line." I shook my head.
"Stay still, dammit!" Emma cursed as she blasted it with a shower of water needles. "The eyes are too small to target. Does that book say how to deal with this thing?"
"Unless any of us know Circle 4 Ice Sphere wide-area spells, then no." I answered. "I have an idea that will probably work though. We fight a monster…with a monster."
Saying so, I reached into my bandolier and withdrew my Circle 5 monster crystal. It glittered in the sunlight as I grasped it.
The Devil Taijitu hadn't been coming after us because it had been busy spitting rock fragments out of its rear mouth; the disadvantage of having jaws and fangs strong enough to bite through rock, I suppose. Now that it had finished getting rid of its unexpectedly heavy meal, it was eying us hungrily.
"Beast sealed in crystal, hear my call!" I chanted. With weak monsters, of Circle 2 or lower, a chant wasn't required to summon them. Monsters of Circle 3 and up did need the chant for the [Summon Monster] spell. "Emerge from thine confinement to serve your master! I summon thee!"
With a sharp gesture, I hurled the now glowing crystal halfway between us and the snake monster. It exploded in green light that bulged and expanded until a massive form stood between us and the Devil Taijitu Snake. Huge, covered with thick armor-like purple chitin and with glowing yellow eyes mounted beneath a massive horn.
With a screeching roar, my Giant Hercules Beetle set itself ready to face my enemy.
"A…a Giant Hercules Beetle!" Emma gaped in shock. Unsurprising that she knew about it; these critters had been spotted every so often on the farmlands that Dad oversaw. They had five special abilities; [Steel Carapace], [Sonic Scissors], [Horn Buster], [Beetle Flight] and [Lesser Insect Dominance].
"That's…some trump card." Lily gulped.
I had to finish this quickly; I didn't want to risk overstressing my Magic Veins with the amount of magical power I was going to be using.
"[Sonic Scissors]!" I ordered. In response, my beetle reared back and unleashed a wave of powerful hypersonic wind blades from its chest carapace. They struck the snake monster with deadly effect, actually cracking the scales of the double-headed monster with their impacts. Even if the element wasn't geared to counter the Devil Taijitu or its serpentine physiology, these were Circle 5 spell-equivalent attacks.
In response, the Devil Taijitu hissed and charged towards my Giant Hercules Beetle with the intent of either biting it or constricting it. Not on my watch.
"[Horn Buster]!" I shouted, channeling more magic into my monster to use its strongest offensive ability.
With another roar, the giant beetle lowered its head down and opened its rear carapace to unveil its wings. Taking off with a ground-cracking jump, it shot forwards, gathering a glow of orange magic around its horn.
With an almighty crash, the two monsters collided. The Devil Taijitu came off worse, being flung back in a fountain of blood as its first head was destroyed. Not only was it seriously out-massed by my Giant Hercules Beetle, the effect of the [Horn Buster] ability tripled the damage from its impact. Had it pierced the snake monster, its damage would have been multiplied by six rather than three.
Of course, my monster didn't come away from the clash completely unharmed. Some of its carapace had been gouged off, but it was nothing serious.
"Wow." Amelia breathed before she looked at me sharply. "You're having a hard time with using that thing."
I was indeed panting a bit from the strain. The Giant Hercules Beetle did have a high Magical power cost for all of its abilities, after all. "I don't exactly have a choice." I retorted. "And keep alert; that thing's still alive!"
Thanks to its [Double Brain] ability, a Devil Taijitu could survive the destruction of one of its head with no loss in functionality. Sure enough, the second head reared up and hissed at us furiously.
"Run away, you vindictive snake." I muttered before ordering another [Sonic Scissors] barrage. Wise to this attack now, the Devil Taijitu slithered and writhed away from most of the sonic blades, but was hit by a few, opening up a handful of openings in its formerly impenetrable hide.
"Aim for those holes while I occupy its attention!" I told my friends, who did just that, peppering the snake in fire, water and earth spells, with an [Earth Lance] actually piercing right through its body, making it screech in agony.
"Nice shot, Lily!" I called.
"Finish the bastard thing!" Amelia shouted.
"Yes, ma'am." I rolled my eyes before finishing things with another [Horn Buster] attack. As before, the Devil Taijitu lost its head and this time, it stayed down.
"Tay, you look really pale." Emma said worriedly.
"I'm a newbie Summoner using a Circle 5 monster's abilities." I smiled wanly. "It's to be expected. Anyway, we have to drag this corpse back to show Master Clarke. It shouldn't be on this island and that means trouble."
"What do you mean?" Emma asked in confusion. "It's not far between the two islands; I could probably swim it."
"There's a magic barrier that prevents monsters from Canis Major swimming across to Canis Minor and vice versa." I informed them. "If a Devil Taijitu Snake is here, then either there's a hole in the barrier…"
"…or someone deliberately brought it across." Amelia finished with narrowed eyes. "Why? To kill someone?"
"I have no clue." I admitted. "These islands are directly under the aegis of the Sirius Mage Guild, so it would have to be an inside job. The Mage Guild and Mage Council are officially neutral towards internal kingdom affairs, so it can't be because of you, unless your father's robbed the Guild or something recently, which I doubt he did, as there would be a more formal response involving you being kicked out."
"That leaves personal grudges and rogue freelancing on the part of a member of the Mage's Guild." Lily said, looking troubled. "That isn't good in either case."
"Let's let Master Clarke take lead on this." I decided. "He's the senior Mage Guild representative present. I still have to get my Devil Mamba though…"
Emma walked nervously around the twitching corpse of the Devil Taijitu and gulped. "Uh…found it?"
Blinking in mild confusion, we all followed her. Lying supine in the bushes was the corpse of a Devil Mamba. Evidently it had tried to ambush me, only to be ambushed by its larger cousin instead. How ironic.
"So my plan worked." I concluded. "Go me?"
I pulled out a length of rope from my rucksack that I had found for this scenario and tied one end to the Devil Mamba and one to the Devil Taijitu, looping the rope over the horn of my Giant Hercules Beetle as I did so.
"Hop on guys." I invited them. "This'll be quicker than walking."
Somewhat nervously, they all got on board, my beetle even helping them on with one chitin-clad limb. I was so glad that I had gotten this monster; it kinda reminded me of Atlas.
Seating myself at the base of its horn, I ordered the giant insect to advance towards the enclave at a reasonable speed. Moving like an organic armoured tank, the beetle charged through the forest, following my mental directions to keep it moving along the path, the two corpses being dragged behind us.
When we reached the enclave, Master Clarke was positively gaping at us when we casually dismounted from my Circle 5 monster, and casually handed over both the corpses of a Circle 3 monster and a Circle 5 monster. Then we got hustled into his temporary office and told him about the fight and our suspicions about the Devil taijitu Snake.
"Well-reasoned." He said after a moment of stunned contemplation. "What worries me is that the only people who could have done this are Master Weber and Master Merle. Any breach of the barrier would be reported to both of them. I sincerely hope that when I examine the Devil Taijitu Snake, I discover that it is a recently evolved specimen. You should all rest, especially you, Miss Hebert; commanding such a powerful monster at your current level must have been exhausting."
I had recalled my Giant Hercules Beetle back into its crystal, but I was still pale and tired. In response to Master Clarke's question, I shook my head. "Not really. It didn't fight me at all, just took magical power from me in order to power its special abilities."
"Hmmm…it must respect you for some reason." Master Clarke mused. "Ordinarily, monsters above Circle 3 are stroppy; the Summoner has to prove themselves to their monsters before they stop resisting. A Summon resisting their commands forces a Summoner to expend more magic to control them. That you have gained the respect of a Circle 5 monster on your first use of it…well, suffice to say, I am impressed."
I blushed at that praise. "I just…clicked with it. By the way, can I name my monsters? I've not found anything to say either way in any book."
"You can." Master Clarke nodded slowly. "But I would recommend that you wait until the end of your Second Year to do so. A Summoner giving a name to a Summon forges a deeper connection between them and allows the monster to start growing and possibly even evolving them immediately if they are weak enough. It also drains the Summoner significantly of magical power for a day and a night, sometimes more depending on how powerful the Summon in question is."
"Understood, Professor." I said seriously.
Just then, a mad series of knocks on the door to the office disturbed us. Master Clarke looked annoyed.
"What is it?!" he barked in irritation.
The door opened to reveal a pale and worried looking soldier, who I recognised as the Squad Captain in charge of the Canis Minor Defense Division.
"S-sorry to interrupt, Master Clarke, but…" he swallowed. "An elven ship has been spotted heading straight towards Canis Minor. It'll be here within the hour."
Oh…lovely.
So, this is flowing along rather nicely. Hope you all are enjoying it.
By the way, if you didn't already know, one of my ficlets here, Demon Lord of the Swarm, has been adopted by The Aura King. The fic is called Demon Lord of the End and I encourage you to head over and see what you think of it.