After taking a moment to think about what happened, I looked to the two birds that were happily rubbing their heads against me as if I were an old friend. Then, something occurred to me… The flock of birds which had managed to scare away everything with sheer numbers had just left… it wouldn’t be long before everything came back!

“Celeste, I need directions back to the grove, now!” Since she’s been recording everything so far, she has to know which way to go for things, so long as I don’t keep my eyes closed when I run.

“Sir, yes, sir!!” She said, appearing in a military dress up, and doing a silly salute. Then, as I began running for dear life for the second time today, she began guiding me back to where I had been cultivating. On the way there, I naturally caught sight of several animals returning back to their homes now that it appeared safe. A few of them recognized me and cringed away, as if fearing the swarm was right behind me again.

Of course, there were several that chose to attack on sight out of frustration as well, including a pair of rather angry looking wolves. I was about three minutes away from the grove at a dead run, and with no way to kill the wolves. The two birds were still uselessly sitting on my shoulders, as if the wolves or the run were of no concern to them.

Hastily, I thought through my list of spells, and realized there was only a couple of things that I could do to get them off my trail, but I had to act fast. Those teeth were starting to look very vivid whenever I turned my head back to look. In the same manner as I had fused my Alchemic Poison with Wind Magic, I started fusing Wind Magic and Alchemic Sleep. There was a ding in my head from a notification, but I was a bit too busy to take notice.

Stretching my hands out to the side, I worked the makeshift spell to spread the sleep spores behind me. Even if it didn’t knock the wolves out, it should at least make them slow down for a bit! I kept casting the spell again and again, not daring to look back in case I was met with more teeth.

By the time I was nearing the grove, my mana had almost completely run out. However, I had finally mustered up the courage to look back, seeing that there were apparently no longer any wolves chasing after me. I let out a sigh of relief, and dragged myself over to the small pond while my legs felt like they were ready to give out. I’ve never run so desperately in my life… and now I did it twice in one day. This can’t be good for my heart..

Looking at the notification that had appeared during my run, I wasn’t surprised to see that it was just another spell notification, letting me know about the new spell Sleep Spores. However, I was a bit surprised when I heard a young voice speak up from nearby, in a rather amused tone. “What’s this? A couple of young lovebirds, huh?”

Looking over, I saw Jarl smirking in my direction, and quickly looked around as if to find the couple he was talking about. I surely would have noticed people here on a date, right? This is too far out of town for there to be just anyone enjoying a stroll. Seeing my reaction my Jarl laugh earnestly. “The birds, they’re called lovebirds. A pretty common species in the forest, though many people tend to dislike them due to their clingy nature.”

“Yeah… I noticed that too.” I turned to look at each of the birds on my shoulders, who seemed happy for even that little bit of attention. “What can you tell me about them…?” Asking him was a far safer option than trying to figure it out on my own, no matter how rewarding the latter experience is supposed to be.

“Well, male lovebirds are quite rare, roughly one percent of the species. Thus, they are able to take any mate they want. The males also have decent combat abilities, on par with a full grown wolf, as their talons and beaks are sharper than the females. On the other hand, the females have the ability to camouflage themselves by altering the pigmentation in their feathers. They use this ability to try to attract a male, and hide from predators.

“Females not chose as a male’s mate will often hide out in trees near their favorite fruit, earning it the name Heart’s Apple. Whenever someone comes by and picks the fruit, all of the surrounding females will swarm that person until they choose to feed one of them. After that, well… I think you get the picture.” He smirked slightly towards the two birds on my shoulders.

“So… aside from their stealth ability…” Before I could even finish asking, he nodded his head.

“Completely useless in a fight. Their talons are dull, and their beaks too curved to use as a weapon. Some tried to train them to use their tails as whips, but that never ended well.”

Great… so I got two useless birds… Well, from the looks of it, nothing short of killing them will make them go away, and I wasn’t exactly looking for a combat pet. Being able to fly and gaining their stealth power is already good enough of a reason to keep them.

I sat down, or sprawled out on the ground, depending on how delicate you want to be about it. Once I recovered my mana, I sent a bit into each bird, hoping to establish the animal companion link as Jarl had described it. The birds seemed more than willing to allow it, and even guided the mana to make it happen more quickly. Once it was established, they both squawked out a resounding “Mine!”

Hearing this reminded me of the swarm, and I cast a depressed look to Jarl. “Can they at least be trained to talk?”

He smirked again at my misfortune, the bastard! “If you practice your Nature Magic with them enough, they may glean enough information to project a voice. That all depends on how quickly they learn, though.”

I shook my head helplessly, and propped myself up to sit in a meditative stance. Okay…. gameplan, train Nature Magic for a little while until they show signs of being able to learn. Then, start cultivating Wind Affinity. Maybe these birds can pick that up and make themselves useful. In the meantime, I can try to copy their traits. Being able to fly and hide like that would certainly come in handy no matter where I was.

“So… how exactly do I practice the bestial aspects of Nature Magic? Rita taught me how to do the plant side, but this doesn’t really seem similar at all.”

Hearing my sudden question, Jarl looked up at me, and tilted his head before realization dawned on him. “Well, it’s actually quite similar. Just like with the plants, you need to analyze a beast with your mana, identify how they use their ability, and replicate the mana signature. For gaining body parts like wings, you have to carefully analyze the appropriate body part, in as much detail as you can, and then try to guide your mana within your body to match.”

To demonstrate, he lifted one of his hands up, which quickly turned into an oversized bear paw, lengthening and widening with brown fur sprouting out. The fingers became indistinct as the paw form settled in. A moment later, it started the shift back to a normal hand. “Mastering either the plant or animal sides of Nature Magic will each grant extraordinary gifts. For instance, a master of the beast path can grant themselves eternal youth by simply shifting into a younger form. Likewise, a master of the plant path can use medicinal effects to achieve the same result.”

I nodded my head, and extended one hand in front of me. Only now did I notice a blinking icon in the corner of my vision, and had to wonder how long it had been there. Once I focused on it, it enlarged into a notification.

You have formed an Animal Companion bond with two LovebirdsPlease name your two new companions.

I blinked a bit, but this wasn’t surprising. I couldn’t really expect the birds to come with names. Though, looking at them, I couldn’t really tell the two apart. I ended up choosing at random, naming the one on my left shoulder Yin, and the other Yang.

“Don’t worry, I can tell the differences.” Celeste spoke up from my wrist again, and I looked down to see that holographic face smirking slightly.

Congratulations! You qualify for a druid Sub-Class!Beastmaster

Often seen with a horde of following companions, the beastmasters are a feared foe. Though only as powerful as their army of animals, such a force should not be taken likely.

Advanced Class path: Colony Druid, able to store the bodies and minds of beasts within themselves, and call upon them to fight in times of need.Do you wish to accept? Y/N

That didn’t take much thought, so I immediately declined the option. I knew what I wanted, and it wasn’t to have a bunch of animals living inside of me. Extending my hand out, I urged Yin mentally to perch on it. She looked carefully at me, before squawking her acceptance and moving to my hand. Yang, seeming to think this meant that she was getting special attention, prodded the side of my head with her curved beak, which was particularly annoying. I could only try to assure her that she’d get the same treatment when I was done.

Once Yin was on my hand, I began circulating my mana through her body. The first things I wanted to analyze were her feathers, so that I could quickly learn the ability to disguise myself. Yin twitched a bit, and I could feel an uncomfortable sensation coming from her, but she endured. As if somewhat understanding what I wanted, her feathers began to change color, from deep red to black.

The pulse of mana throughout her feathers was almost too fast for me to notice. However, she quickly reverted back to her original coloring. The second time she changed, I was much more accurately able to feel the disturbances in one of her feathers I was focusing on. Seeing that I was pleased, she began flaunting her ability, changing her colors like a rainbow.

Given how eagerly she was demonstrating helped me to understand the changes in the mana signature of the feather. It was like there were two different signatures, the outer one and inner one. The outer signature changed every time she shifted colors, and seemed to correspond with the color she took, while the inner one was the true signature. Still, all I needed was the outer one, and information on how it was done. Following the mana pathways, I found that in the shaft of the feather was a mirror-like tube, carrying the color along through the feather and spreading it out.

Going further, I found that on Yin’s skin was where the actual pigmentation shifted. The feathers merely reflected the color of wherever they were embedded. Again, I spent some time analyzing this while Yin happily showed off, noting each time I showed a pleased reaction. Yang again began prodding me for equal attention, but I was almost done with this step.

Next, I had Yin get back on my shoulder, and had to stop Yang from suddenly jumping into my hands for her turn. These birds were already turning into a real handful. Next, I closed my eyes and did my best to focus, trying to ignore the birds cuddling against me. I had spent over an hour simply memorizing the subtle shifts in Yin’s mana whenever she changed colors, and was confident in being able to replicate it.

Unfortunately, it’s never really that easy. The slight shifts in Yin’s mana required a very fine control that I wasn’t sure I was capable of, even though I knew it inside and out. It was like watching someone draw the number 9 on a piece of paper for an hour, and then try to do the same only to realize, you don’t have fingers. At least my practice in mana signatures managed to pay off, but it took me over twice as long to change colors for the first time than it took to memorize the patterns.

New Spell Developed!Camouflage - Nature Magic - ★★

By compying the mana signatures of an animal capable of disguising itself, you too can hold this gift for the low low price of a small headache!

Mana Cost: 30/Minute

I smiled slightly as the prompt appeared, and began working to shift colors again. Even if this was exhausting, I had managed to grind 3 points of Wisdom by trying to control my mana like this for my first shift. Sadly, my mana was being spent faster than it was coming back, so I had to take a break after 40 minutes, during which time I reluctantly pet the two birds.

Once my break was over, and my mana returned, I got back to work. This time, I managed to turn my arm green before the 40 minutes had passed, which I considered a great success. Another break, another attempt, this time it took 20 minutes to turn my other arm red. This continued for a while, and by the time I was able to change colors at a whim, the sun had long since set.

One thing I was happy to discover was that the 30 mana per minute cost only applied if I covered my whole body. Just doing a smaller part cost less, though I didn’t have enough control to do complex patterns or anything like that. Still, being able to copy the ability to change my color after a few hours of practice made me happy.

Tomorrow.. I can try to grow wings, I guess… I thought to myself as I leaned back and drifted off to sleep, a small weight pressing on either of my arms from my new companions.