I walked down the mountain without a worry. The dirt road was safe and the sun was still high in the sky, meaning I didn't have to worry about potentially stepping on the edge and falling to my death. Trust me, it happened once or twice. I moved my hand up and touched my chin, then my cheeks. I slid my fingers up and back, rubbing my ears. This was me trying to get used to this body.
At last, maybe after an hour, my shoes met the concrete street. People strolled on the streets, and a variety of them. A female dog-human hybrid was scolding her son, a human girl sitting all alone on the bench, an older sheep lady putting on red lipstick before she gets approached by an eldery gentleman... gentlesheepman? It's just as the memories of this body told me, this planet seems to be full of different species living in harmony.
The streets were clean and the cars were using magic to drive, obvious by the sparkling smoke coming from an exhaust. It's actually sustainable for the nature. You use magic, it gets fed through the machine, lets you drive and the broken apart magic returns to the world and becomes fuel for spellcrafting. It's an interesting concept.
I didn't see a lot of technology in my lives. The worlds I frequented were more medival, both in appearance and the way they worked. I suppose there aren't that many worlds where people didn't destroy their planet before being able to succeed this far. It's a nice change, all things considered, and I'm sure there are going to be many things to make my life here easier.
I made my way down the streets, keeping to myself. I didn't look out of place, but it's always weird walking between people who have lived their whole lives in their bodies when you're still trying to get used to it. It didn't take me long before I finally ended up before the massive gate to what seems to be the Academy of this city. The sun has set just slightly, magic crackling a little in the nearby lanterns to give light where the shadows have started to darken the place.
It's not open. I walked up to the little screen off on the side and leaned forward to look at it closely. Hmmm. A reader of some sort? I blinked a couple of times, the light in my amber eyes taking a deeper color, but only slightly. There are multiple magical runes applied to this device. Protection against physical and magical attacks, layered multiple times. I hummed and looked at the cord connecting it to the small hole in the ground.
"Spirit of Electricity, as it was promised to me by the Spirit King and the Spirit Monarchs, appear." As the words came out of my mouth, a surge of yellow energy came out of the cord and formed a pair of hands. It lacked a body, but it used sign language to make a conversation. It started furiously forming sentences. It was fast. "Calm yourself. Just open the gate for me." From what little I picked up, it wasn't too happy being summoned from this kind of electricity source.
There are different sets of power everyone can use. Magic, it comes from the heart. Magicians and wizards alike must accumulate mana around their heart, forming spinning circles. Because mana can't be still, it constantly moves in a circle around the heart, allowing the user to use it. Holy powers, that comes from within. It's called spirit, but it's not the same as Spirit magic. It uses your own being to fuel the prayers and miracles. Martial arts would use their brain to form a specific bond between different parts of their body. Someone using kicks to perform their attacks would connect the brain and the legs, someone using fists would connect their brain and the arms, and so on.
Spirit magic is different. You do not need to have mana reserves or sacrificing your own well-being to use the magic coming from the Spirits. They give it to you, free of charge. Since they are not compatible, to be able to use Spirits, it's best you don't practice spellcasting. In my first life, I thought I was incompetent not being able to handle magic, but that's what allowed me to make contracts with many different Spirits. They would say I'm not dirty.
It looked almost like it was sighing. There was no face to sigh, however. It just poked the controller at the gate and it beeped three times before the gate slowly began to move. Immediately, when there was enough space for me to push through, I squeezed inside the grounds of the Academy. I felt a tightening energy pushing my down, like the gravity wanted me to get squashed like a bug. Standing still, I only looked up at the tallest point of the building. There was someone sitting on the roof, one leg crossed over the other, and they were looking down directly at me.
It only lasted a second, but the silence was truly defeaning. I smiled softly, bowed my head and started walking forward, pushing through the resistance. The force disappeared after a few steps, and when I gazed again at the person, they weren't there anymore.
The Academy grounds were beautiful. Large trees that slightly bent when the winds would pick up were enough to cast shadow across the whole courtyard. There were massive patches of green with sprinkles going off. Tied into them, there were those marble-looking walkways, and all of them reached the very center — a massive fountain made of stone and what looks like a sparkling set of gems. It was cut into the form of a lion holding an orb, from which water poured out into the base underneath.
There were no people in sight. The lights were turned on in a few classrooms I could see through the windows, however. As I stepped forward to the fountain, the same tensing energy collapsed around me. It pushed through it and looked forward, past the beautiful lion, to see someone just as beautiful. A tall woman with hair curling down to her shins. It was almost mesmerizing to look at, the deep red color causing what light from the nearby magically fueled lanterns to bounce off and cascade into a pretty array of different tones. She spoke first.
"Who are you? I know you are not who you appear to be, for there are no people who can pass through the pull," her voice echoed straight at me. It was booming almost. If it wasn't for the weird shimmering energy that was trying to push me down to the ground, I'm sure the whole Academy would hear her speak. It was powerful, now even more than before since she was so close. I gritted my teeth and let out the air through them.
The whistling sound alone was enough to cause the water to start bubbling and take form of a massive cat's head. It effortlessly pushed through the magic designed to pin everything down to the floor and roared loudly. This kind of magic which would encompass the whole Academy must be a form of concentration. And the easiest way to deal with a mage's concentration spell? Surprise them.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
The spell cracked at the seams and the gravity subsided, allowing me to get off the floor from my knee. This kind of power could only be possible by an Archmage, or maybe someone even higher. The woman's face was surprised and she didn't know what to say next. As the eyeless cat disappeared into the water, I dusted myself off and walked slowly around the fountain to get closer to her.
She wore a long, black dress that hugged her body. I didn't care much for appearances, but it would have been a lie to say she wasn't pretty. "It seems I— ekhm— it seems I caused some trouble... Headmistress, I assume?" I slipped there for a second. Speaking in this world's language seems easy enough, though. "I suppose it must be fate, since I was on my way to find you." My voice sounded a little weird not speaking in the Spirit tongue. As if the newborn suddenly knew how to talk.
The surprise on her face subsided just slightly and she ran a hand through her red hair, it slightly damp from Felumn's roar. I didn't give her a chance to say anything yet. "I will be withdrawing from the Academy, starting right now actually," I said plainly. She has to look down at me considering the difference in our heights. I was maybe 5'7, she was closer to 6'2? Someone like her was lucky enough to match the level of her power to the level of her appearance. She looks as powerful as she is. I continued talking, "since I doubt there isn't anything legally binding me to stay here."
"I still don't know who you are. You are not Kymil. You are his body, but you are not him." She crossed her arms over her sizeable chest and tilted her head, expecting some sort of answer. I didn't need to confess anything, so I just turned around on my heel and started walking away. The tightening feeling of gravity hugging my body was present again, but both of us knew at this point there wasn't anything that she could do to stop me. As I walked away, she stood still, in that same position I left her. Was she plucked about the situation? Probably.
I walked towards the exit, but something popped into my mind. There was a dormitory and the owner of this body had a few things in his possession. The bits and pieces of his memories were coming to me slowly. I still couldn't remember why exactly he was naked in the forest. I took the pathwalk to the left, towards the dormitory housing. The Academy seems to have different levels of dormitories. It's not chosen by who pays more, but by who gets what grades. The lower your grade is, the worse housing you get.
It was then, when I saw the moldy and rundown building that I remembered it. This was the place. The worst one. I didn't even have to open the door to it since there wasn't one. The creaking of the wooden floor echoed throughout the empty halls and I made my way all the way to the last room. At least that had a door. It wasn't closed, so I just opened it. The room inside had the most basic necessities. One bed without the frame, a desk with some books on it, an unlit candle and a small bag nestled under the only chair that was missing one of the legs. The bag was propping it up.
I grabbed the bag and pushed the chair to the side, letting it fall onto the mattress. I knew what I was looking for, so I opened the bag and dug out a pendant from between the worn out books. It was a silver keepsake of this body's original owner. It clicked when I pressed a small button to the side of it and the picture inside it showed an old photo of two elves, a woman and a man. I assumed they were parents, considering the similarities in the appearance. I pocketed the medalion and left the room, not taking anything with me.
If I needed anything, I'd be able to just make it. The promise to the Spirit King was true. I'll become the farmer and just live on my own somewhere in the forest, maybe. That little opening between the trees was perfect for a little house. Maybe a bit too close to the civilization... I didn't want anyone to annoy me with requests or questions. I sighed, shaking my head. It felt like someone was watching me. The Headmistress? Maybe one of the teachers she asked for help? Her magic allowed her to control gravity on a large scale, and she was pretty proficient in it too.
Pondering about it, I left the dormitory and made my way towards the Academy's exit. I had my eyes closed and arms crossed, thinking if I knew anyone with that same ability. I knew of magic that would allow someone to control gravity and let them fly around, but bending it to one's will was something else completely. Again, no students present. The lights in all of the Academy were turned off, too. The place looked dead for a few seconds before I finally made my way to the same gate I walked through. There were ten people there, one of which was the lady with red hair. They stood directly on top of the gate, helped up by a shimmering pedestal that fit all of them in a line comfortably.
She was standing in the middle. To her left there were four individuals: a man that resembled a lion in appearance, some sort of flying black orb with an eye in the middle, a normal-looking human girl who didn't look older than fourteen years old and an older gentleman who supported himself with a cane. To her right, another set of people, this time five: a pair of male twins with white porcelain masks covering their faces, an androgynous person with a lit pipe, a fluffy brown teddy bear floating in circles, and finally, a burly looking woman with the right arm and left leg looking like they're made out of pure, purple and crackling energy.
They didn't say anything, but I knew what they wanted. An intruder basically crashed through the barrier that surrounded the Academy and went head-to-head with the Headmistress. I'm sure their mission was to apprehend and question me. With the way they were trying their hardest to surpress their killing intent, maybe they wanted to talk first. I stopped to look at them first, but then I just walked closer while muttering under my breath.
"You are all around us, spirit of air. As it was promised to me by the Spirit King and the Spirit Monarchs — descend." Gusts of warm wind began to blow, albeit not aggressively. From nothing, a feminine-looking hand appeared right before me, the palm open. I stepped onto it and it lifted me up, to be on the same level as the ten before me. The hand was almost see-through, made of this very pale teal energy. It was the middle Spirit of Air, Wru, or at least a part of her. "Well, it seems now we can have a conversation on the same level. Yes, how can I help?" I asked and smiled. They offered me no smile in return.
