Otherworldly - A Shadowed Awakening

Peak of Autumn, Week 5, Day 4

When we stopped for the night, I was once again filled with dread of what monsters the wilderness could bring. But, fortunately, when I bathed, there were no more eldritch beings hiding as bars of conditioner. It was all as it should be – and it even came with a welcome notification.

[Congratulations! Inspect is now Level 4!]

I thought, then, that leveling [Inspect] should become a priority for my own safety. Once I could use it without speaking, a new world would open up. I could cast it on anything and everything without drawing much attention. It would be reassuring. And it would progress much faster – I knew it.

That was how it worked, right? Children were meant to have their Skills public because they were meant to only have a few. Not the monster of a status page I had. Fourteen Skills for a child who should have four maximum. Two from the journey here, one from my mental capacity for arithmetic, four Divine Skills, and three Class Skills. [Inspect], [Weaving], [Silent as a Shadow], and [Weave of Darkness] were all from here. From little Eunora’s skill and memory. Granted, the latter two were changed by my own soul, but still. They did not match who I had been.

I tried to figure out how many I showed off already –clearly, Sir Rellar knew [Steal Nerves] as well as that I had a mana Skill. He probably didn’t know that I had specifically [Shadow Manipulation] and [Shadow Conjuration]. All of the Knights knew about [Silent as a Shadow] and [Inspect]. [Weaving] and [Weave of Darkness] were probably obvious.

That left [Otherworldly], [Quick Calculation], [Mental Fortitude], [Shadow Animation], [Tight Lips], [Sophism], and [Eternal Communion] as hidden. That is exactly half my Skills known to the Knights in some capacity, which means known to the Count and Countess.

I let out a breath as I sunk into the tub. It would do me no good to worry about it now. They’d probably figured out I was more than I appeared after the Affirmation anyway –and still, they didn’t recall my exile. Not that I wanted them to. I would prefer to be as far away from the estate and its inhabitants as I could get –and it couldn’t get much farther than the borderlands.

As I washed and braided my hair back into compliance, I envisioned the life I wanted—the kind of life I could find here, in Maeve. What was possible, what it would mean.

I wanted to escape the Dawns –but first, I wanted to use them. I’d need their resources –the book I’d bought earlier today was worth gold. But I’d need more than just their wealth. They had connections to teachers and trainers, and their name opened doors. So, before I cast off the Dawn name, I’d need to use every bit they gave me. From the allowance, to the Knights, I’d use it all.

And then, when my coming of age comes, I will cast it all away and build myself anew. Forged in shadows and fire, I will leave this place –cross the mountain ranges and leave the Duchy of Dawn behind. Leave Maeve. I will go where the Dawns dare not follow.

I laid out Noir, Haze, and Shade.

[Shadow Animation]

“Come alive and chat, friends.”

As I watched the shadow soak into them, Noir stood and jumped in place, Haze rolled over and began climbing down from the bench, and Shade crawled into my lap.

“First thing,” I said, a smile on my face, “Who is everyone?”

“Entertainer,” came a high-pitched voice from Noir.

“Adventurer,” a smooth, feminine voice came from Haze.

“Defender,” Shade seemed to purr in my lap.

Entertainer, Adventurer, Defender. I could work with that.

I stayed up late into the night, weaving and explaining what I was doing to the three knit animals.

I was rewarded with two very welcome notifications.

[Congratulations! Weaving is now Level 5! New features unlocked!]

[Congratulations! Weave of Darkness is now Level 6!]

Mental Fortitude was still my highest Skill at Level 11, but Weave of Darkness was the next highest. And with every level, more options appeared. My dark threads became stronger, could be summoned in more colors, and could become finer and thicker.

It was a productive day, and as I drifted off to sleep, I wished Entertainer, Adventurer, and Defender a good night. They all curled up next to me and chatted quietly amongst themselves, and as I drifted to sleep, their animation ticked down to zero, and they slept with me.

The morning passed by quickly, with Sir Neil and Dame Undine having a spar and several of the knights running the perimeter of the camp while I ate. Klein and Arlen swung their swords through the air the entire time, and I was sure that their arms must feel like gelatin. I debated asking if I could join, and while I was halfway certain my Strength was plenty enough to lift the swords, I knew it would be odd. I’d need something lighter —or rather, they’d think I need something lighter. So I just opted to eat my breakfast and watch the knights train and stretch and break camp.

Dame Arella sat with me and chatted in the gentle way she does. It was a good morning. And at some point, after I ate, I convinced Dame Arella to help me stretch —and so I found myself sitting on a blanket on the ground, being pushed forward by a woman who was very clearly using every ounce of control she could not to accidentally fold me in half like a taco.

The second sun hadn’t even breached the horizon, and we were on our way.

I was tired, but not overly so, so I decided it was time to crack open my new spell book. Shadow: Your First Spellbook.

It was a book in landscape, and when I opened the first page, there were several lines in a column. At the very top, the column was labeled ‘Name’. It was clearly something meant to be passed down generationally —which wasn’t surprising to me, based on the cost. It would take an average family years to save up for even the simplest of spell books. When I’d entered the store, I had no idea it would be that way, but I supposed it made sense. Here, magic was highly regulated —just not by law. It was the [System] that limited magic at its source. But, clearly, there were other ways to obtain Spells and Skills.

Skills, for instance, could be given by Divines, earned through hard work, or even granted by the System directly. All three had happened to me. Perhaps there were other ways, but I didn’t know them. Maybe they could be taught directly or stored in books or stones. Who knows.

Spells were different, based on this book. The second page of the book was an introduction to spell work.

‘Magic is unexplainable, though we try to explain it. It is unruly, though we try to give it rules. But magic of the elements often comes with great boons. They can be crafted and used and turned into Skills —or they can be forged directly each time.

Such works are things of beauty. And I’ll teach you runes, words of power, and some spells I made myself.’

The book was clearly written for children, as it had pictures decorating each page, and it took three whole pages to get through the two paragraphs. But the book was thick, so I wasn’t worried about the quantity of content. At the very least, I’d get more context for the magic of here.

The first chapter was entirely about gaining a Skill necessary for any kind of spell work — [Mana Sense].

‘[Mana Sense] is best learned from a teacher but can also be learned by using any Skill and examining the mana intensely. It requires intention to learn. You cannot stumble across this Skill by accident.

Though once your Magic attribute is sufficiently high, you will no longer need to activate the Skill to feel your own mana or mana of fully formed spells, it is still a requirement for forming beginner runes.’

I wondered if that was why my mana felt like ice. If I wasn’t supposed to feel it at all. And then I thought back to that day in the hedge maze with Evelyn. Where I could feel the power and knew to move. Clearly, my attribute was high enough. I decided I would sift through the other books still packed below the carriage benches and see if there was anything regarding attributes later. For now, I would focus on [Mana Sense].

I chose [Weave of Darkness] as the Skill to examine, not just because it was my highest Skill after [Mental Fortitude] but because when I summoned the darkness, I had never paid much attention to how it was formed from the shadows. I decided now was as good a time as any. But, first, I wanted to examine it slowly.

“[Sophism]”

The world slowed around me while my mind sped up. There were no red or white lights, but that wasn’t the purpose this time. No. This time, I was after the secondary effect of [Sophism].

Whenever you are making a decision, your perception of time will slow but your processing speed will not.

I was ready to try for [Mana Sense].

[Weave of Darkness]

I closed my eyes and looked for my mana within myself. I knew it had to be there, somewhere, with [Shadow Conjuration] and [Shadow Manipulation] it often came from my hands and eyes. Now, though, I could feel the coldness of it well in my heart. It grew for several beats until it encased the entirety of my chest, then sprung from me like a lightning bolt. As it left me, I lost my sense of it. My eyes snapped open, and I watched in slow motion as a standard skein of yarn formed thread by thread in front of me.

And then [Weave of Darkness] was over, and I broke [Sophism].

I wondered if that was enough; it seemed too easy to track the mana within myself. But the green notification meant I was successful.

[Congratulations! You have learned the Skill: Mana Sense. Mana Sense is now Level 1!]

Blinking, I opened my full status.

[Status Summary]

[Name: Eunora Dawn]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 8]

[Unallocated Stat Points: 0]

[Vitality: 55 Endurance: 28]

[Strength: 30 Dexterity: 56]

[Perception: 105 Magic: 55]

[Luck: 45 Divinity: 107]

[0th Tier Class: Child of the Gods, Level Max]

[Boon: Morloch’s Blessing]

[1st Tier Class: Young Lady of Darkness, Level 12/20, 7.6%]

[Skills:

0th Tier: Inspect Lv. 4, Weaving Lv. 5, Mana Sense Lv. 1

1st Tier: Quick Calculation Lv. 2, Silent as a Shadow Lv.2, Weave of Darkness Lv. 6

2nd Tier: Otherworldly Lv. 1, Mental Fortitude Lv. 11, Shadow Conjuration Lv. 5, Shadow Manipulation Lv. 5

3rd Tier: Shadow Animation Lv. 5

Untiered: Tight Lips Lv. 1, Steal Nerves Lv. 2, Sophism Lv. 2, Eternal Communion Lv. 1]

It was no longer a series of Skills that hadn’t leveled –though I hoped [Tight Lips] stayed level 1 forever. The thought of losing even a small portion of elsewhere made me feel empty.

But, instead of dwelling on that feeling, I turned the page of the spell book.

‘Congratulations! You’ve done wonderfully learning [Mana Sense]. Now, we’ll be practicing the Skill. Once you can do it without speaking, you’ll be able to say: ‘I know what I’m doing!’

Before you activate the Skill for the first time, find somewhere quiet. Find a place you think would be devoid of mana. Once you’ve settled there, activate [Mana Sense] and see just how wrong you are!’

I laughed at the book and how it was written to entertain children. Then, I thought about how engaged I’d been and decided not to think too hard about that after all.