As it turned out, Luna hadn’t been idle while I was away. When I left, the house had been somewhat bare, but now, it was nicely appointed with the various fabrics and furniture we had stored in our magical bags, giving it the appearance and feel of an actual home. Maybe we should go and see if we could find a somewhat intact furniture store in the next town we came across, if the building wasn’t broken, something like a mattress should still be in good condition and now, with the magical bags, we could easily take one or two with us, allowing a much more comfortable rest.
However, until we could accomplish that, all we had were piles of fabric, sleeping bags and pillows, which made for a fairly comfortable resting place, even if there was something strangely animalistic about it. Using these piles of fabric made me regularly feel as if we were making a small nest, den or something along those lines for ourselves whenever we could make a comfortable camp like this instead of simply rolling out a sleeping bag on a prepared surface. Still, it was comfortable, and after the messy, cold, and thoroughly unpleasant time I had spent trudging through the rain, I felt that it was just what the doctor had ordered right after a hot shower. Well, it was hot for me, barely above frigid for anyone else.
A few hours later, after a long and comfortable nap, it was time to go over the notifications I had received and assign the additional points I gained, thus unlocking another pair of traits.
The intelligence was actually something interesting. The trait was called Astral Transformation, which improved my ability to reshape material infused with my Astral Power, though I would have to do a few tests to see its extent. Depending on that, it might be almost as interesting and powerful as the Mind over Matter trait, just directed in a slightly different direction.
The Intuition Trait was somewhat similar. The Sense Infusion trait increased the distance across which I could sense objects infused with my Astral Power, though, just as with the other trait, it would be important to determine what I could accomplish with the information. Did it mean I would be able to influence the Astral Power I could sense over an increased distance, or did it mean I might learn how to use my own Astral Power as a marker to step through the shadows and effectively teleport to anything I marked beforehand? Either way, additional ways to sense things and gain information were always a good thing to have, so I wasn’t going to complain about the trait.
Last, and in this case least, was the Dexterity trait, amusingly called Dexterous Artist (Carving). It took me a moment to realise why I had gained the trait, as it simply improved my dexterity when carving complex shapes. However, it soon dawned on me that it was essentially an improvement to my ability to carve runes into people. Given that one of the last large projects I had pursued had been the creation of that runic enhancement for other people, it made sense. At the same time, I idly wondered if the trait would apply to tattoos, so I made a note to try that out; it might yield some amusing and interesting results.
Once I was out of bed, I looked out of the window, marvelling at my ability to make clear glass from normal sand, especially thanks to my Mind over Matter ability. It allowed me to sense things in minute detail and manipulate anything I could sense within the limited range of my ability. There were times in which I wondered if I would eventually be able to sense and split individual atoms with it but given that I had only a somewhat vague idea of how an individual atom would look like, I doubted it. Maybe one day I would learn enough about the natural world to understand even those minute details, and once I could understand them, I would be able to manipulate them.
In this case, the Mind over Matter ability allowed me to smooth out the crystals that made up the glass, in addition to letting me filter out the various impurities. Sure, it took hours of my time and would take even longer if my Earth Magic didn’t allow me to get fairly close to the desired result in the first place, but it was so very worth it. Just standing at my window and looking out into the rain was a wonderful feeling, made only better by the knowledge I was enjoying something few, if any, could, at least not with windows made after the change.
If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
After all, how many people had that level of magical ability, and of those, how many would use it as frivolously as I did at times? Probably a lot more for the second category than the first, but I doubted I would ever get any real numbers, even if Hecate might actually know those numbers. It would only make sense if she kept an eye on every powerful and capable arcane spellcaster, especially if my theory about her desire to acquire all possible magical knowledge held true.
Letting out a yawn, I continued to stare out into the rain, noticing that the amount of water coming from the sky had lessened, meaning the water might soon drain away in the area around the farm, depending on the circumstances further down the valley. It would be interesting to observe that part, though I wasn’t sure how pleasant it would be to try and clean the area around their farm up once the water receded. Luckily, the weather was still too cold for mosquitoes and similar insects. Otherwise, their population would likely explode in the various leftover puddles where the eggs could hatch without the threat of getting eaten by whatever fish lived in their usual breeding areas. If there was one massive argument for living in an area of permafrost, it was that there would be no mosquitoes and similar insects around. I had a feeling that no matter how powerful I was and would become, those pesky pests would always and perpetually be a thorn, or rather stinger, in my side.
“Mom,” Luna’s voice brought me out of my musings, likely because she had heard me moving around, “Do you want to have some dinner?” she asked, making me smile.
“Sure,” I agreed, putting on some fresh clothes and making my way downstairs, “Want to tell me what happened since this morning? I got some interesting looks when I brought those four back.”
“Well, you left me to heal Cy, remember?” When I nodded, she continued, “That part was easy enough, though it wasn’t all. It turned out, some of the locals weren’t all that happy with the idea of having you look for those four, not quite sure why. Something about depending on the monster or something along those lines; I don’t think they like you very much. Enzo spent the entire time yesterday badmouthing you, and today, that didn’t change much.”
It took me a moment to remember just who Enzo was, not because it had been so long since we met the guy but because he was, ultimately, utterly irrelevant, a gnat I crushed because it had the temerity to sting me. Or rather, a pervert I crushed because he had the temerity to peek at me, which was ultimately the same, an insect seeking something that didn’t belong to it.
“So the criminal cried out for getting the punishment he deserved? How quaint,” I grumbled, though if I was honest with myself, I had a fairly good idea why these people would side with him. He was part of their community, and no matter how he violated an outsider, they would instinctively side with their own group; it was just human nature. Or rather, it was likely natural for all societal species to join with their in-group to oppose an outsider, that was why they formed societies in the first place.
“Well, a few of those who saw what you did were not all that happy with the things he said, or maybe they weren’t happy with the traits you revealed; there was quite a bit of shouting, but it all went ultimately nowhere,” Luna shrugged, making me nod in understanding while I took some of the food she had prepared.
“So, the usual social dynamics, nothing truly new there. What happened after I got those guys back?” I prodded, curious if the successful rescue of their strongest fighting force changed anything.
“Eh, a few complained that they would have to pay you, and some suggested that only Larry and Sylvia, who promised you a reward, so the two of them would have to supply it. At that point, they realised I was there and politely asked me to leave, so I don’t know just where their discussion went,” she shrugged and, somehow, I started to get a bad premonition. Somebody was going to do something stupid, I was almost willing to bet on it. Now, I only needed to figure out what form their stupidity would take and how I would react to various possibilities.
