He wasn't exactly sure where exactly the place he was supposed to go to was, he had not a clue if there was a proper road to it or not. Not even where the others were was something he knew.
But he still wore a small smile despite not having certainty in his future, because... He had spotted something, well, it was more like it spotted him first. A natural advantage of flight over standing on the dirt like he normally did, but he wasn't worried.
He didn't have anything like
He was more hoping that it wasn't weak, that it had a respectable level to act as fuel for his growth.
The master of one couldn't help but feel giddy at the thought.
But he found that the fight didn't start instantly, it just kept circling above the forest.
A problem, a big problem even. How could he kill it if it was up in the air? He needed to drag it out of the sky somehow. It would probably swoop down someday, but waiting for it would restrict his other training.
And more importantly, he had been on a roll for the past one or two days. Today wasn't the day he was ending it, he was even going to force a continuation.
Just how to get close enough, just how to make sure it didn't run away.
Maybe he could make a stairway out of clouds, or maybe try to strangle it with mist? Ben had so many options to choose from, and one of the few drawbacks of having so many skills was a simple thing, not knowing what to try.
He had one real chance to get it off guard, and only one attack that he knew wouldn't have to be made while tracing it through the sky.
...Maybe he could use kinetic mana with
He needed... Lightning.
But he didn't have the relevant skills yet, not a single art or magical skill related to the lightning aspect. But it fit, it just... It was perfect for this. The ultimate enemy of flyers, not having it made no sense.
And, he had indeed been thinking about it before this.
Getting a new aspect in the skill list wasn't something he could normally do at will though. Though he had
Even if it wasn't a direct access like he had with the cloud aspect, expecting that was unreasonable.
He stared at it, slowly swirling around him. It was somewhat strange it chose him instead of any other animal around, maybe it could somehow sense how strong he was and chose him for the sane reason he chose it; to fuel growth.
Ben felt he wasn't exactly the type of prey a bird would go for normally, so it was his best guess.
Whatever the reason, he wouldn't complain about gold falling from the sky. He would take the risk to grab the opportunity, instead of running for shelter from the pelting of metal.
Now, all that was left was to set the scene. Then that bird would know the difference between a run of the mill hunter and an apex predator; paranoia.
Not that he was an apex predator though, neither that he wanted to be one. But he was certain that if it came out alive it'd have to deal with long-lasting mental scars that resulted in it... It was more a hope actually, a hope that it wouldn't get too big an ego while Ben was tracking it down. So that it didn't attract the dragon before he got another shot at putting it down.
He calmly raised his hand to the sky, and called on the most suitable skill for the job "Water residing within the winds, look upon me with your favour. The sky, tainted by arrogance, requires your support to wash its filth. Gather and coil, loom and forebode doom. Accumulate, that I request, that I demand; call nimbus."
With mana burning to fuel a cast of 'Call nimbus' twisted to fit his needs, the small minuscule drops of water in the air gathered above him and the dirty little bird that he had designated as his victim. The vapor coalesced, it accumulated. Suddenly reflecting all light that come into contact with it, the discordant water became a cloud; a nimbus.
Out of his small pool of 32 mp, about 11 mp was used. Leaving him with only 21, luckily he could use call nimbus instead of summon nimbus. If there wasn't enough water vapor he would've needed to directly manifest the water, whether or not he could've shifted it closer to a storm cloud as well he couldn't be sure. But one thing he was sure of; this wasn't enough to fully synchronize with what he was planning "Hatred and madness, let it be instilled in the atmosphere. Critters and bottom feeders will panic while caught up in calamity, beasts and predators will yield in the face of adversity. O' clouds, feel it; the madness. Chaos will bloom along with the storm; turbid tempest."
Even more mana was sacrificed in the name of his goal to the aspects that reigned, his hand crushing into a fist as he started to rush. The winds started to roar softly as the clouds seemed to both expand and circle, darkening as the noon sun was slowly blotted out. There was no eye in this storm, the calamity of this tempest would not be avoided by any random animal.
Normally turbid tempest would be more violent, turning into a true natural disaster instead of a mere foreboding omen of what was to come. But it also suppressed the amount of mana it would cost to cast it, and the remaining 8 units of mana would be the catalyst. Now just to make sure it didn't escape his impromptu keg of black powder, and the eagle certainly noticed. Every animal in range and a good bit beyond it noticed the winds change and the humidity drop rapidly.
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Now just to hope this huge gamble without an ounce of guarantee would pay off, whether or not it would even work wasn't sure. Whether the theoretical side of magic looked on with pride or with extreme disgust, he wouldn't know. If it could work? He hoped it would, the amount of growth it might give him got him salivating. Would it be effective? That didn't matter in the slightest, what mattered was whether he could increase one or two of his skill levels!
The resting birds, once hidden from their apex predator, took to the skies. The small critters scurried throughout the forest in an attempt to weather the coming storm. And the giant bird flew as it always did, not worrying about what was to come. Maybe it could feel that lightning wouldn't strike? Ben wasn't sure, all he was sure of was that he was fortunate enough that whatever it could realize wasn't enough to scare it away from his miniature irregular weather pattern.
Now, just the final bet. No need to think so much about it, he worked better when he didn't think that much.
The jack of many a trade reached to the side of his backpack with his left hand, taking out the ice pick that had been removed from his belt the moment he left mountains "O' lightning that dares to split the heavens,"
The words came to him without any set order to contain them, his mind was more focused on what would come next. How would he train his skills tomorrow? Which skills should he focus on if he met the little birdy in close quarters? "Prove it to me, show it to the world, display your arrogance to all those who look!"
He raised his right hand straight to the sky with ice pick in the left, rushing with all that his 46 agility could give. A lone index finger of half-open grasp pointing defiantly at the sky "Tear it all apart! Shred the sky and shatter the earth!"
Avoiding the trees and the bushes along with the roots that belonged to them, his mind ignored the world around him and tried to feel something beyond. He knew how to do it, he had experience. There was no need to worry about it, he just had to do it "Discard any hesitation, do not halt! Pierce through everything and break apart even the sun!"
He pulled away his right arm from the sky and let it sway to the side, pacing along with his body to reach maximum speed. His every breath was paced for the most effective running motion "With the clouds as your anchor, descend past all the insects in your way!"
He felt that it existed, the lightning aspect existed somewhere. It was frustrating that he couldn't find it easily, but it was also frustrating that the bird seemed to take note of his sudden fervor "Become the one thing feared by all things!"
The bird already began to turn away, he couldn't let it get out before he had his cast finished. But he also hadn't gotten a proper chance to cast a spell yet, and he had to find words to extend the chant. But in the end Ben just gave up trying to keep the chant uniform "I believe in you, that I swear, cast aside all hesitation that I demand!"
He thought for a moment, a bit more than a moment actually 'What is lightning, what makes lightning 'Lightning'? Cast down from a storm's cloud and connecting the earth below to the sky above, like a pillar upholding the heavens. What... What is lightning?'
...Then, something just snapped into place. His head instantly tugged to the right, and he gazed at it; the aspect he had been looking for. Then his head snapped to the left, his eyes still focusing on what existed beyond the physical and the spiritual. And, with his very being he tried to touch it, grasp it. But he was far off from doing something like that, unused to the aspect and still a weakling on the world stage "Hold up the heavens, and let your mere presence bring horror!"
But that was fine, just seeing it was enough. He forgot everything irrelevant and looked at the mana he had, 9 mp, more than enough. He held it within his metaphorical hands, while transporting it to his literal right hand. And he twisted it, tried to contort it. He had a vision for what it had to be, for what it had to mimic, for what it always was supposed to be; lightning. And it responded in turn, fighting against his dreams of a bright flash in the looming storm "Rend it all, or did baby have a little booboo? Go on! Whine about it!"
But it could not stop him, he had experience, he had skills to gain. And he was in the zone, he could feel it. And there he could see the mana change, bubble and screech, and it became lightning mana "Brew and let them rue, make every single being in a 100 paces deaf and traumatized!"
He forced out the mana he had transformed, directing it right under the bird that was expanding its patrol radius. Though it was relatively close, in absolute terms it was quite far away. Luckily he had trained his
He stared at the sudden flash of light, even cringing slightly at how weak and small it was. If he measured it personally, if he could even do that, it'd be at maximum the size of an arm. Just how it looked at least, not the actually bolt it self. That'd be insane, lightning was usually with the width of a finger or two. Still, it was probably even smaller than that! But he expected as much, it cost only 9 points of mana and wasn't even used in a proper spell.
As the the light of lightning faded, and a single screen bloomed at his side, he stared at the blue eagle which seemed to fall. Surprisingly, it had worked, he saw it twitching chaotically and quickly prepared his ice pick with some easily available rope and began to spin it at his side as fast as he could. He couldn't be sure how effective his attack had been, he needed to get to it as fast as he could. Not a single thing should be left to chance if possible, and he was betting on the fact he could latch his climbing implement in it before anything went wrong.
It was falling down, sure, but he could see it already trying to reorient itself back into proper flying position.
It seemed his attack hadn't been as good as he hoped it was, but he was certain of one thing; He wasn't letting it get away if he got the chance. He tossed the make-shift grappling hook up with recently practiced form and respectable precision, his spirit focused and the projectile sped up slightly over time instead of getting slower.
Soaring forwards while also picking up his own speed along, chasing after a certain avian that was rapidly regaining their flight, the ice pick was a hopeful prospect.
"Come on, come on!" He shouted, as he watched the rope start to straighten out as it reached its full length.
His teeth clenched as his eyes stared at the pick whiffing "No, no, no!"
Ben directly burst forth and even flared his spirit a bit in order to use
But it was all for nothing, as he watched the artificial and low clouds part to let the sun shine on him and the bird along with a few trees and other flora and his ice pick fall to the forest's underbrush.
He dropped back to the ground, the wind passing him by, a bit exhausted from the intense use of both magic and arts. Though not physically drained, at least not to the point of being unable to walk, he dropped to the ground in an attempt to rest. Keeping himself up with the palms of his hands, he looked at the valuable experience points escaping from its unsuccessful escapade. And he couldn't help but click his tongue in frustration.
'This isn't the end,' He thought, one or two ideas entering his mind as he stood up with a deep breath or two 'Blue bird, I'm going to hunt you down, so you better not die before I find you.'
He really hoped that this was enough to keep it from anything daring while he was hunting it down 'Anyways, what did I get from that?'
He was hunting that bird down, mostly in order to get another level in
With a new smile on his lips, he patted himself down and looked at the direction where his foe had fled to, focusing on the horizon to see the slowly shrinking dot that was Ben's newest mark. And he started to walk off into the distance, not opposite of the mountain, not even considering the mission he had previously been given.
His own goals triumphed over the empire's goals.