Soul of a Human

A day after Snow left, Mor and the human held a strategy meeting about how to carry on after class.

°Fist, we should review our strengths and weaknesses and then proceed from there. We need to figure out what to train next to become stronger overall.° The human explained.

°Yes. But do we even need to continue at such a fast pace? I mean, training with Snow was fun, but she's gone for now, and Ranbor isn't an issue anymore. Can't we just take it slow from here?° Mor asked.

°True enough, but think about this. We know that your monstrosity things are getting more active, and maybe this legendary thing has returned.° The human began, and Mor nodded at that.

°Yes, but we are on a floating island, and the headmaster guaranteed our safety. So no need to be scared.°Mor tried to dissuade.

°You really want to just trust in the security of the floating city? How long do you think it will take for enough of those monstrosities to emerge until they can launch a serious attack? Call me paranoid, but I think it's better to be over-prepared than to complain about not being prepared enough.° The human went on, and Mor had to concede the point.

°I guess you are right...° He said.

°And to really get the point across, would you rather be able to help fight those things or hide like a coward?°The human asked.

°You can stop now. I got the point.° Answered Mor and then asked a question of his own. °Then what do you think we should do?°

°I told you. We'll first go over everything that we have in our repertoire and seek obvious weak points. Then, we'll remove them by training other techniques.°The human said, and Mor nodded.

°Then, tell me what you think. How are we faring?° Mor proposed.

°Well, let's start out with our strengths and advantages. First, we have a powerful and efficient attack with our "Rock-throw". Second, we can move while concentrating or casting a spell. Third, we have very good physical power that we can enhance with magic. Fourth, we can use any kind of magic without pesky attribute limitations. And finally, we have the crystals from Snow, even though we don't really know how to use them. Maybe we can even refill your reservoir with Snow's technique, but I wouldn't count on that right now.°The human listed.

°Sounds already pretty good to me. So, where do we need to get better? Except with our reservoir.° asked Mor.

°That's it. We have some glaring weaknesses, the biggest being our limited energy, but we can do nothing about that. In addition, we lost to Orth with almost the same repertoire, meaning we need something to surprise opponents like that.°The human explained.

°I get it. Even with the more potent "Rock-throw", we still would lose. And while body enhancement was a good last resort, it also has glaring weaknesses. Because we can't continuously keep it up, the energy requirement is too high, and my concentration gets broken with the feedback pain from connecting my fist. So we are just sitting at square one?°Mor mused.

°Not exactly. We now know of those weaknesses and can now work against them. For that, I have two ideas. We will leave the glaring energy problems, for now. Nothing we can do about that. Still, we should get a few minutes of use out of our trump card body enhancement. Which should be enough for most fights.

Now for my first idea, if the feedback pain kills your concentration, we need to get rid of it. That means we must harden your skin by punching a lot, which might take too long. So, how do you feel about a weapon? We could even use the crystals we got from Snow for it?°The human asked.

°The problem would be we can't make a dagger, sword, or Snow's special arrows. So what's your second idea?°Mor inquired.

°We can't make a "metal" weapon and don't have enough crystals to waste them in arrows. But we can make a wooden club or staff.°The human explained, and Mor nodded.

°Still, what's your second idea?°He prodded.

°The second one is a long shot. You told me of elemental puppets, I know, you said a single mage can't control and upkeep those, but maybe we should just try. This would get your body out of harm's way, meaning we are not as vulnerable against area attacks.°The human offered.

°Normaly, I would say, this is not how this works. BUT. We often "broke" rules, old as the soul-kin themselves. It would be nice not to be in danger anymore. So, let's add this to the try-out list. This weapon idea is also good, so let's add this, too. You just have to describe how a "club" or "staff" has to look.°Mor agreed.

°Great, those two would give us the edge on any close-quarters fight. In addition, our "Rock-throw" also covers physical ranged attacks. Which leaves us with one more problem. What do we do against someone like Orth, who can make armor? We can't break through it, and we are at a disadvantage up close...°The human pondered, and Mor thought for a bit.

°True, our repertoire is very earth-magic dependent because the easiest and most cost-effective pupped would also be of earth element... What to do... What to do... Well, for now, a weapon with imbued crystals would probably smash right through magic defenses. At least if I did understand Snow correctly.°He pondered.

°Yes, but we can't rely solely on that. We could try to include some of those crystals in the puppet, but it might also be harmful to it. We need one more good spell we can use easily,° the human said.

°Well, wind magic is pretty effective against such earth spells. Maybe we need a higher level one of them?°Mor offered, and the human agreed.

°Yeah, it seems like it. But I'm not happy with it. It's not creative or adventurous enough. It has no surprise factor!°The human grumbled, then got an idea.

°Do you know a spell where you can see further?°The human asked, and Mor thought for a second before shrugging.

°No, but maybe we can find something like that in the library. Want to explain why you want something like that?° Mor asked while going to the library.

°I will. Once I know what we have to work with.° The human answered.

On the way, Mor was surprised and then cornered by three students. He knew better than he'd like. It seems Ranbor's flunkies had waited for him and now wanted something. Interestingly, only the boys threw him scornful looks, while the girl Anna looked at Mor snotty but with a bit of hope?

"Leave me alone, go play with your Lord," Mor said, and he wanted to leave, but the three ex-bullys blocked his way instantly.

"You will listen to me!" Anna demanded haughtily.

"No." Mor simply stated in a flat voice, stealing her thunder.

"I command you! In my function as noble, you are required to listen to me!" She tried again. This time, Mor only raised an eyebrow and sighed.

"Good! You will go to my lord's room and apologize for your insolence. And I will guarantee that you won't be harmed and forgiven for your insults!" Anna ordered.

Mor laughed at that. "I will do no such thing! Why would I even?" He asked her incredulously.

And she looked at him offended. "Because I order you too! My lord hasn't left his room for the whole week! And it's all your fault because you don't accept your place in the world! Now, go apologize and beg for forgiveness. Then I'm sure my lord will rejoin us!" Anna comanded.

"Of course, as you command. My lady." Mor answered sarcastically, and as slowly a satisfied grin grew on Anna's face, Mor added.

"That's sarcasm. I won't apologize, and if Ranbor wants to be a big baby and sulk because he has to deal with the consequences of his own actions. I. Don't. Care." Mor emphasized the last words.

"Listen up, peasant." Emtsor started, but Mor's stern look silenced him.

"If it's that much of a problem, get a teacher!" Mor stated, trying to walk away again and getting held up a second time.

"We tried. We didn't want to deal with you. But no one would do anything other, than to go to my lords room, and ask him politely to leave. Which is, of course, fine, but it didn't help. He just answered that we should go away and leave him." Anna went on, desperation growing in her voice.

"See, not my problem. The moping crybaby will need to get over his hurt "pride" on his own. Also, if he misses enough classes, I'm sure a teacher will get him." Mor said, now pushing himself between the boys.

"They won't!" Anna tried one last time, now pleading. "You wouldn't understand, for someone as great as my lord, this academy is only a formality! He won't need to attend classes to get passing grades. It's so he can gather more social contacts for later life!"

"Oh, I'm really feeling sorry for him now..." Mor said coldly. "Still, my answer is no. He should have thought about that before bullying me! Now let me go. I have better things to do." He added and left for good.

°How can someone sulk for that long?° The human asked.

°Don't know, don't care. As long as he leaves me alone, he can do what he wants.° Mor answered.

°True enough.° The human said and ended the discussion.

After this interruption, Mor got to the library without further problems and asked a librarian about view-enhancing spells, preferably with low energy requirements. The librarian nodded and pointed Mor to a few books that might have such spells.

Mor and the human began to read and search until finally, a few hours later, the human cried out excitedly.

°This one! That's just what I was looking for!°The human told Mor.

°How will this one help? Now that I look at it, it's just a really simple wind spell.°Mor asked, puzzled.

°Yes.. But it uses air to form a kind of lens, and with sunlight and the right magnification, I can show you something really incredible!°The human explained, and Mor shrugged.

°Ok? Then add that to the try-list for tomorrow.°Mor said, confused.

°Nice. Then the plan for tomorrow is to get wood, try what we can do with the elemental puppet spell, and then create a sun gun!°The human said, confusing Mor even more.

°What's a sun gun?° He asked, but the human wouldn't tell.