Ch 10- Human

Upon waking up Glacé groggily opened his eyes and glanced around. After a moment he slowly stretched his long limbs out and thought blankly 'ah right, I'm in the game already'….. Glacés mind slowly turned on and he blinked a few times to help wipe the haze away 'stupid game'.

Glacé was most irritable upon waking up so he grumbled and complained about the game once again internally. He slowly stood up and walked outside to eat some fruit to replenish his hunger bar. Glacé was slowly eating when he heard a yell come from behind him.

"Hey! I know you've finished the task I gave you, so why haven't you come to show me your results?!".

Glacés mouth was puffed up with a mouthful of food, he lazily turned his head to see Trishe standing a short distance away with a wide grin(?) on her face. He saw her distorted smile and almost choked on the food in his mouth.

"Well if you don't want to demonstrate willingly I guess I can open a demonstration first?".

Glacé tried to process her words and the next second his eyes widened as big as saucers as he saw a fireball hurling right towards him. Glacé heavily threw his body out of the way and stared at Trishe incredulously. 'Is she trying to kill me? What the hell set her off?'.

Before he had time to react another fireball fled toward him "illustrious shield!". A large silver shield appeared before Glacé blocking the fireball.

"Ah! See I knew you learned already. Come! Let's put what you've learned to use and practice". The two launched spells back and forth at each other until Glacé ran out of MP and got zapped by a lightning bolt.

"Until you can make one of your spells touch me, we will continue fighting once all your status bars are full. Fight hard!".

Trishe left these words and neatly walked back into her house, Glacé lay flat on the ground panting heavily to catch his breath.

*Ding* - 'New Task unlocked- Open 'Quest' tab for details'

Glacé grunted. 'Even without opening the tab, I have a feeling I know what my task is'. Glacé sighed and munched on fruit while waiting for his stats to recover, he looked up and saw Yuki in front of his house staring at him with a cringey smile.

"Don't be too upset, this is training that will ensure you can handle yourself out there in a fight. It's honing your battle skills, take in as much as you can learn from Trishe. It will greatly benefit you".

Yuki dropped these words and left, Glacé watched his back thoughtfully. 'Maybe the NPCs actually care and want to genuinely help'. Glacé showed a slight smile and continued to enjoy a short rest. The moment his status bars hit full a fireball was heading straight toward him, like this the second sparring match began; the outcome was the same as the first.

Two, three, four….. eight. Match after match passed, and although Glacé hadn't managed to hit Trishe his proficiency and level of his magic skills steadily rose. Finally, at the tenth match, Glacé managed to scorch a bit of Trishes' hair; he jumped up in exclamation "does that count?! It technically touched you!". Glacé heard the system notification before Trishe spoke.

*Ding* Congratulations on completing Quest " The witches warm classroom experience".

Glacé opened the Quest tab and looked at the quest description after hearing the name.

Completed Quests- 'The witches warm classroom experience'- 'The strictest madam of the Winged Unicorn tribe plans to personally train their newest member. Although she seems kind, looks can be deceiving. She has a fierce temper and strong desire for control, listen to her instructions (commands) carefully or you may get burned'.

*Task one- Read the magical book all the way through. (it's as easy as that, read from left to right)

Rewards (received)- +300 EXP +10 Wisdom

*Task Two- Successfully learn at least four spells from the book

Rewards (received)- +600 EXP +20 MP + 5 Dexterity

*Task three- Engage in mock battle with your instructor and successfully touch her with your magic at least once (Hint: water magic will be your best choice to save yourself)

Rewards (received)- +1200 EXP +15 MP +10 Stamina +5 Dexterity +3 healing potions +3 MP potions

Glacé stared at the Quest and felt his whole body bad 'why didn't I check the quest sooner? Maybe I could've avoided the initial rude fight this morning'.

Glacé felt a bit upset by his own assumptions and complacency. While he was preoccupied focusing on the quest information he hadn't noticed Trishes' frenzied eyes. She slowly grabbed her singed pink hair, her eyes slowly turned red and she looked at Glacé and without holding back threw a fireball directly at his mane.

Glacé felt the incoming heat and dodged to the left side which Trishe obviously anticipated, following his movement half his beautiful mane was scorched. Trishe held her chin and admired her work and nodded with a sweet smile "Now we're even". Glacé didn't dare make a peep and stared at her innocently.

"Well now that you've learned magic and have reached level ten your lessons with me are over, so I will hand you over to Elder Dan. Follow me".

Glacé kept a five-foot gap between himself and Trishe as she led him to Elder Dan's house. Trishe lightly knocked on the door and an old man opened the door.

"Oh ho, he already managed to pass your combat classes Trishe? Did you go easy on him? That's no good you know".

"Well… let's just say he got lucky" Trishe grabbed her singed hair and showed it to Dan who laughed heartily in response.

"Looking at his mane I can't tell if he's lucky or not". Dan commented lightly and patted Trishe on her head and turned to Glacé. "Alright you can come with me and I'll teach you the last things you need before leaving the sanctuary. I'm Dan and I'm the Head elder of our Winged Unicorn tribe come inside and sit down".

Glacé slowly walked in and couldn't help but marvel 'his house is huge on the inside compared to the out'. Perhaps understanding Glacé's train of thought Dan spoke up "not everyone lives in a shabby house like you, magic can do many things. If you enter the other's houses you'll find them all similar to mine. Once you master the right spells you can do the same with your home".

'Who would have thought you could do such interesting things with magic'. Glacé who had never played as a wizard or magician in any game before felt faintly excited thinking of all the sorts of crazy things he would like to do.

"Now your first task from me is to learn to shapeshift. This is a basic and yet one of the most crucial spells for our race. Read and study this scroll". On the table, a scroll of papyrus quietly lay.

*Ding* 'New task Unlocked- Open 'Quest' tab for details'

Glacé received the scroll "can I stay here and read it?". 'This place is way better than my house'. Glacé felt slightly apprehensive as he thought about going back to his dreary one-room, busted house.

Elder Dan gave a slight nod, so Glacé found his way over to a large plush carpet and laid down, inspecting the information on the scroll.

The scroll described the history of their race and their past struggles and persecution by various races for their flesh. As the winged unicorn race numbers dwindled the Elders made a crucial sacrifice for the future of the race.

'Basically the elders created a morphing spell and cloaking spell by combining all their magic and life force together to change the race's fate. Making the hidden sanctuary and allowing future generations to naturally have a human form upon reaching a certain age.... It sounds so depressing'. Glacé couldn't help but admire and respect the tribe's ancestors.

Upon reaching the end of the recorded history Glacé landed upon two spells. He paused reading and looked over at Elder Dan and spoke hesitantly. "If the Elders gave their lives for our ability to turn human, how come we can't automatically do it? Why do we still need a spell?".

"It's rather simple, you only need to recite the spell once. After that you'll always be able to change between forms without using a spell, you only need to think about it. The reason it is this way is because the spell taps into the magic the elders left. Our transformations are not a natural part of nature, they are a gift and blessing that is drawn from the elder's magic and life sources. So all unicorns need to recite the spell once to tap into that power".

Glacé pondered over the mysteriousness of the matter "but wouldn't the magic be slowly taken away as more and more unicorns tapped into their powers?". Elder Dan smiled "that's right, that's why when our race reaches near the end of their life they come back to the sanctuary and peacefully give up their magic to the heart of the sanctuary. We are magical beings who can feel when our time is coming so almost all will return and give back to the sanctuary that protected them".

'Wow, that's some serious dedication'. Glacé felt somewhat proud to be part of such a loyal and caring (more or less) race. "I know what the first spell is for, but what's the second spell for?".

"Unless one knows this spell it's almost impossible to find the sanctuary. This spell is the one that can always guide you home. Special outsiders and Allies can learn it as well, however, unless you receive permission from the elders. You must never speak of this spell to others or you will put the whole sanctuary at risk".

Glacé listened carefully and gave a solemn nod and slowly focused on memorizing the spells. He spoke the shape-changing spell first and *poof* Glacé looked down at his hands excitedly "I'm human again!". Glacé couldn't help exclaiming and Dan gave a soft smile and waved his hand, a large mirror floated before him and he held it in front of Glacé. Glace looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar figure and froze before raising his eyes to Dan, "why do I look like a twelve-year-old boy?".

"Because of your low level, every ten levels your age will grow and change with your strength".

'Gahhh this spiteful game, I bet the other races don't have to go through this'. Glacé glanced at Dan sullenly and thanked him. He hurriedly recited the guiding spell.

"Whenever you wanna go home just think it in your heart and the spell will activate, it'll appear as a purple trail in your eyes. Just follow it and you'll make it back to the sanctuary. Well, player Glacé I congratulate you for completing the Winged Unicorns adolescence tests, you are free to leave and return to the sanctuary anytime".

*Ding* 'Congratulations for completing the Quest " Tapping into your roots" (open 'Quest' tab for details)'

"Thank you, after saying goodbye to Yuki I plan to head out immediately".

Glacé walked out of Dan's house and opened the "Quest" tab to check his rewards. Aside from gaining enough EXP to reach level 11 he also gained a 20-slot spatial bracelet that can adjust depending on which form he's in. He also received 'an ordinary black cloak' to disguise himself, 10 apples, and 5 milk both of which can relieve hunger and add +5 health.

'Seems like I'm set and ready to leave then'. Glacé turned towards Yuki's house to bid him goodbye.