Own and spell

I walked behind Plot as he led me through the sands, listening to his words about combat.

"..-er how you approach it, as long as you can damage them enough."

I nodded.

"That is basically how to deal with almost every Cor that hasn't reached stage 4, any questions?"

Plot paused his walking and looked at a small rectangular device strapped to his left sleeve.

"Stage 1 Cors, how don't they dissipate?"

Stage 1 Cors couldn't even form a proper shell, so I was quite curious how they managed to survive, since they kept losing their 'Da' until they reached stage 2.

"Oh they do, just not that often."

He pressed a button on the device and then looked at me.

"That usually depends on their location."

He held up a finger.

"In this world, they won't survive for more than a few hours before their shell disintegrates."

He put up another finger.

"In the world of the living, if they're in a deserted place, it will be similar, but..."

He stretched out a third finger.

"If they are near any place with sufficient Negative 'Da', they can survive for decades."

He put his hand down and shrugged.

"In the end, it's just about if they can recover their lost 'Da' or not, if they can't, they die, if they can, they will until they gain a sufficient amount to achieve stage 2."

"Now then, we can talk later, please show me your spells first."

He gestured to the distance, where I could make out a figure approaching us.

"It's a stage 2, so your spells should be enough to deal with it."

I nodded and took a few steps forward, thinking about which spell I should use.

I thought for a moment as it approached our position.

It roared and I raised my hand, my index finger stretched out, pointing towards my target.

The tip of my finger started to glow orange.

"Basic, but very effective in this situation."

Plot seemed to have recognized the spell I was using, and approved of my choice.

The Cor was now fifty meters from our position.

The glow on my finger was very bright now, and I moved my finger to bring it to the center of my vision to aim better.

'Disperse.' I announced loudly within my own head, and the glow turned into a beam of light as it shot out towards the Cor that was just thirty meters away from us, widening slightly as it went.

It was hit in the shoulder, and the ray pierced through its entire body and left through its back, taking a large part of its left shoulder and back with it.

The creature stumbled and fell into the sand.

A second later, a thick black mist started to flow out of its injury and dispersed into the surroundings.

It struggled to get up, and as it did, I could see a slight orange tinge on the edge of its injury.

The orange started to expand outwards, consuming the creature's body.

Its arm dropped to the ground, causing some sand to be displaced.

Then it fell back to the ground and did not move again.

I watched it in silence as its body slowly started to turn to black mist and dissipate.

Plot's words drew my attention.

"Another one is coming."

He pointed to the right, where a similarly sized Cor had appeared.

"Another spell, if you don't mind."

I walked a few steps to get into position.

Then I waited for it to get a little bit closer as I prepared my next spell.

I clapped my hands, then drew them apart slowly till there was a shoulder-width of distance between them, strands of lightning crackling in the air in between them.

The lightning intensified and formed a small ball between my palms.

The creature let out a weird sound, a mix between a hiss and a screech.

I drew my palms close, cupping the ball of lightning in them as I waited for the creature to draw close enough to attack.

When it drew close enough, I jerked my arms forward, and let go of the spell, causing it to shoot forward.

It slammed into its target and exploded with a bright flash of light, kicking up a small dust cloud.

I blinked, seeing this phenomenon for the first time.

I turned to Plot and asked him about it.

"The dust?"

He looked genuinely confused for a moment.

"Ah! Right!"

But that confusion went away in a moment.

"It's due to the destruction of solid 'Da', which in this case is the white sand."

The dust started to settle as he spoke, revealing a part of the creature.

"It explodes into that when it gets hit with enough force, before landing on other solid 'Da' and fusing into it."

He gestured to the dust that had all but disappeared, showing the Cor that now had a large hole in its abdomen.

"Hm..." 

He hummed as he looked at the damage that my attack had caused.

"I thought it would be stronger."

He looked down at the device on his arm.

"The next one is still some distance away, how about we move towards it as well?"

He looked up at me, asking my permission.

I nodded.

"It's this way."

As we walked, a question occurred to me.

"How powerful are you?"

"Me?"

We made eye contact as he turned to answer my question.

"Well I'm not that powerful, if I was allowed to use everything at my disposal but I can take on a few stage fours at the same time. If not, and all I have is my Own, then just two stage fours would be enough to overwhelm me."

"You only have one Own?"

Plot seemed to be quite high-level in the hierarchy, so the fact that he only had a single Own was a little surprising.

He just shrugged.

"I am not a combat-oriented spirit, so even though I do have level 12 Da, I only have a level 7 shell."

His face took on a thoughtful expression.

"Even if I did, I probably wouldn't get a second one. It takes time and effort to use an Own properly, and I don't really need it either. Not to mention that it would put a lot of strain on me if I didn't integrate it properly."

"Maybe I'll get a second one if I get my shell to level 10, but not before that."

A beep interrupted his next words.

He brought up his hand and looked at the device on his arm.

"It's close."

I looked to see if I could spot it, our spot on the top of a dune offering us a better view.

"Use your Own this time please."

I nodded at Plot as we continued our walk.

"Have you gotten used to it yet?"

I shook my head.

"Better bring it out now then, it'll better to do it now, just in case there is a problem."

I nodded and willed for my Own to emerge from me.

Plot looked at me to see it.

As we walked, a stream of shining silvery liquid-like substance flew out of my robes and gathered into a sphere in front of me.

"What can it do?"

Plot asked curiously.

My thoughts moved, and the sphere with a diameter of 40 centimeters changed into a sword.

"Is that my 'Burst point'?"

I nodded, then shook my head.

"You can mimic its appearance, but not its ability?"

I nodded, and the false 'Burst point' in my hand melted back into the sphere.

Then the sphere changed its shape again as I willed it to, changing into various weapons that I had seen.

"All the weapons in your memory..."

Then it flew around me, forming various shapes.

"And all your imagination as well..."

Plot seemed impressed with my Own.

I looked at the creature that was bounding across the sand towards us.

Plot stopped, but I kept walking towards the creature as my Own formed back into a ball.

It let out a roar as it charged towards me.

When it was close enough, I threw up my hands, and my Own formed a barrier between me and the Cor, which struck it.

The blow did not cause it to shake, and the barrier grew spikes that shot into the Cor's being, skewering it.

I rotated my palms outwards, and my Own pulled it apart, tearing it into multiple pieces.

I lowered my arms and looked at Plot as my Own formed back into a sphere floating next to me.

"Not bad, that's all for your own for now, for the next Cor, use this."

He tossed me a sword.

I caught it and nodded.

Then we started our walk towards the next Cor.