Getting Stronger (2/2)

I opened my eyes to find an audience of concerned followers. Both monsters and humans smothered me with questions and affection of varying degree. My Altar Room was radiating with an ultraviolet light, of which the origin was none other than my Core. It had transformed to its second Rank, that is why I had lost a chunk of my progress at the 8 hour mark and why it felt as if I had even an even bigger hole to fill after that. Its Mana and Aether capacities were surely higher now. The cluster of violet crystal shards had now become more compact, as if the base of all the shards had melded into a crude sphere of jagged protrusions.

[ Congratulations your Core has reached the 2nd Rank. You can now create two additional rooms within your domain. You now have access to "Traps" and can install them within your domain. The total amount of summoned monsters, ranked higher than 0 that you can have, has increased to 35. Core's Mana and Aether maximum capacity has increased by 50%. You may choose two Traits from those available to you. ]

[ Available Traits: 1) Caves of the Wise, 2) Mists of Fright, 3) Kindred Sight ]

I chose "Kindred Sight" and "Mists of Fright" as my two new Traits. I hoped I had made the right choice because my next Trait wouldn't come until Rank 3. A very discreet sheet of mist suddenly began flowing out of my monolith and covered the entirety of my Dungeon. After explaining myself to Fatna and Sumire I asked them to help me build a small campfire and the girls did so without many questions. I asked to be left alone for their own safety. I had no idea what I was doing but I had to try. My Magic attribute had reached 8, which was almost at the pinnacle of what a normal person could achieve. Attributes surpassing 10 belonged to heroic figures, monsters and other magical beings. My race had an innate connection to fire and I was going to try and exploit that.

Sitting across the flame I extended a hand and began channeling my Mana into it. After feeding the fire about 5 points of Mana, it exploded outwards, washing over me with sheets of hot red! I cursed and tried again.. and again.. and again!

[ Fire Resistance skill has reached Rank 2. ]

• • •

The next morning, Sumiré stirred me from my meditation, presenting me with a cup of water, some desert fruit and dried figs. The young woman's company was a most appreciated distraction as I had spent all night trying to exert my will over the fire. I ended up with depleted Mana reserves, burns all over my body and a singed, brand new sheet! After all that I had finally made some progress. I had managed to augment the flame without it blowing up in my face, earning me the "Fire Manipulation Magic" skill. It must have been a very basic skill to have because even after obtaining it, my understanding of Magic didn't deepen all that much. I could now manipulate an existing flame to some extent, making it burn brighter or less on command. I could also produce a match-sized flame from my palm or finger tips. At first I was quite enthusiastic about it.. but I needed a ranged attack not a parlor trick.

"I don't know anything about magic my Lady.. I wish I could help you more.." said Sumiré as we sat together. "When I was learning how to sew, mother always told me to envision what I wanted to create before I attempted to create it. I let my mind shape the design and my fingers slowly learned to follow.. I'm sure you can do it. You are Lady Minoa, summoner of monsters and warrior of the dunes! Our benevolent mistress who summons powers from beyond in her sleep!" she finished with a smile and raised my hand to her forehead, as if asking for my blessing. "Thank you Sumiré.." I responded awkwardly. No one had ever praised me this much for just doing the bare minimum. I didn't even know how to answer to her support and kindness. The girl soon left me and with renewed resolve I got back to training.

Taking Sumiré's advice, I ignited the small flame in my hand and started to fool around with it. I imagined the flame compressing itself into a sphere, spin and expand. The flame, after receiving another point of Mana, actually responded to my mental command! I compressed the flame once more, spun it and started adding layers of fire on top of it and compressing them as well. I ended up with a dense marble of red hot flame that cost 5 Mana to create. However it did nothing, I couldn't throw it or shoot it somehow.. Shoot.. Shoot it! That's it! Visualize something that's familiar to me!

I cancelled the small sphere of fire and extended my hand, with two fingers pointing forward and my thumb to the sky, like a classic gun sign! "Visualize... Compress.. spin..." as a small mote of flame solidified in front of my fingers, I imagined a great force pinching it so that it would go flying in the other direction, like a marble at the edge of a hydraulic press! I felt an explosive release of force and my fiery projectile rocketed towards the cave wall, impacting and creating a small burst of heat and fire. "Yes!! YES!! I FUCKIN DID IT!! I can do freaking magic!!" I yelled while jumping up and down. I laughed and blushed as Fatná and some Slimes rushed in to see if I was ok.

[ Fire Manipulation Magic has reached Rank 2. ]

• • •

Checking out the spectral shape of the "Pale Bat" I had recently acquired I nodded in approval. Having a flyer during the fight with the giant bird of prey would surely benefit us. The shape in front of me however was no bigger than a rat with wings and had no special traits or abilities, it barely counted as a Rank 1 creature. Having about 200 Aether to spare however, I could definitely give the little critter an upgrade. First I spawned the small creature by expending 3 Mana points. It was already level 3 and a bit beefier than expected thanks to my "Caves of the Strong" Trait. "Let's start off slow.. 30 Aether.. let's see where that gets us.." I said to it and it looked at me with a funny "awe" in its newborn face. The small bat swelled in size, becoming as big as a "Flying Fox", those large fruit eating bats.

[ "Acamar Pale Bat" has reached and surpassed level 10. Creature can evolve to Rank 2. Only a single Evolution exists, "Acamar Pale Imp". Evolve? ]

I gave my approval and the bat increased in size again, now standing almost a meter tall. Sickly pale, hunched over with big ears, gnarly fangs and an elongated pointed tail, resembling that of a dragon's. The bat's folded wings now acted as muscular yet slim arms that could support its weight on all fours. It seemed it had also gained the ability to unleash a sonic screech that may disorient small prey, as well as a bite that could transfer mild debuffs in the form of diseases that had a small range of debilitating effects. These weren't magical abilities, simply natural traits it had developed overtime as a species. The creature really did appear more like a devil than a bat now, the name Imp was fitting, although this had just given me a different idea. The "Pale Imp" had reached level 2 of its first evolution by the time the transformation was complete. I transferred 50 more Aether points to it, wincing at the expense, but sadly we had no time for normal leveling. The Imp grew to the height of 1,2 meters and its muscles swelled enough to stretch its baggy, leathery skin.

[ "Pale Imp" has reached and surpassed Lv.10. No evolutionary path exists. Would you like to sculpt a new Evolution? ]

I accepted and got to work, pouring waves of Mana into my creation, bolstering almost every aspect of it. A sturdier body, a longer but powerful tail for combat and flight stability, augmented echo location abilities and finally, an elongated yet slick snout. The summon reached Level 2 of its next rank but I didn't get a prompt for a free Core upgrade. Apparently my critter had zero experience and hadn't developed any character to speak of. I could still create a Core for it, but it would cost me about 65% of my total Aether points. I couldn't throw all my eggs in this basket if I wanted a win. If I bided my time I knew that I could "have my cake and eat it too" but I needed to deal with this now. If my short time here had taught me anything, it was that the next challenge or danger was always around the corner. So.. I was going to boost some other summons as well and prepare for the day after tomorrow.. That bird was going down.. I looked at my, now large, bat creature which sauntered over to me, pressing its snout against my open palm.

"I think I know what to name you.."