Chapter 14: 1.1.13-Nocturnal Blood Carnival
1.1.13-Nocturnal Blood Carnival
5/1/5/4353 M.A.C - Great Western Rainforest- Past Midnight
Emi observed her surroundings. She hadn't been concentrating much before, but she now focused on the ripples produced by sounds too far away for her to hear.
Alright, that's pretty cool. Even though I can't actually hear it, my mind is able to pick up on the shape of the ripples and figure out what it sounds like. Let me try something.
Emi started trying to reproduce the same patterns as faraway sounds by modulating her voice. it was difficult work at first, but after half an hour of trial and error, Emi had managed to get the knack for it. It now took her less than a minute to reproduce most sounds from the ripple shapes alone. Each time she thought she had it, she would compare the sound she made to what her mind had interpreted, and make sure the two matched.
I, the majestic Emi, cannot be bound by such trifling things as Choices or Abilities. My natural talents are overflowing! You gave me [Onomancy] but I was able to develop my own limited version before even using the ability. Plus it didn't cost me any energy! Still got more Abilities to try. Maybe I can do something useful while I try them out.
***
And that one makes 30! This self-imposed extermination quest is going a lot better than I expected.
Emi had often enjoyed stories where someone would be reincarnated, or transported, into a fantasy world. Now that it had happened to her, she decided to treat tropes like a bucket list. Since she was asked to make herself useful, she'd defaulted to one of the oldest plot lines; vermin extermination.
Emi didn't know if Goblins lived in this forest, or if they even existed in this world, but she decided that they would still be too difficult a challenge for her to deal with in her current state. She thought Slimes might have been doable, but the same problem applied. She wasn't keen on venturing out into the forest by herself either, so neither of those options appealed.
The village didn't seem to have a sewer system, so Emi had to get creative. She spent the next hour checking the granaries, compost pile, and other storehouses for mice. Emi used her newly acquired Ability, to visually perceive sounds, to hunt down the little pests mercilessly for about another hour.
After her tenth kill, she started to experiment with [Onomancy], using it to negate any sound she made. Her new stealth approach proved very efficient, allowing her to exterminate the next ten in half the time it took her for the previous batch. The surviving rodents seemed to have caught onto the danger and hunkered down in nooks and crannies that were inaccessible to her.
Emi then resorted to a dirty trick to remedy the situation. It took her a few minutes to come up with the plan and make sure she could carry it out, but after that short respite, death had once more been coming for the tiny thieving rodents. Emi used [The world is a Soundstage] to place small energy constructs in their hiding places, making them broadcast snake-like hissing sounds.
Yup, the first twenty took a while but having the last ten all run together straight into my trap was extremely satisfying and a lot more efficient. I should come up with a new proverb about herding mice with snakes. Why am I so hyped for this though..? Is the part of me that used to be an owl affecting me? I wasn't particularly against sustainable hunting, but fairly sure I would not have enjoyed a mouse massacre before. Not sure I could have gone through with it if I left my emotional and intent perception Abilities on. I'm not back on Earth, can't afford to get soft until I reach proper safety rather than a walled spot in the middle of a dangerous area. Acknowledge the issue then stuff it into a mental box until I can deal with it.
Emi's contemplative look firmed into one of resolve as she decided to leave the thinking to her future self. She was satisfied with her work and proceeded to pile the rodent carcasses on the doorstep of the cabin she had seen Strong Armor Spear retire to.
There you go buddy. Even though you are not as outright evil as I thought, I'm on little Arctic's side. Have some harmless vengeance! I should stake out the entrance when dawn comes, I'm sure his aura will show me a nice display of colors. I might even see some new ones. Break time!
Emi flew back to the causeway to relax for a bit. She had been physically active for a little more than an hour as she completed her quest, but she still felt quite fresh. Thanks to her Abilities allowing her to walk about quietly, she hadn't needed to fly much, and her perception Abilities had helped her find targets one after the other, helping her cut down on wasted movement.
Still, I think my transformation might have boosted my stamina. I don't think I would have been as exhausted as when I passed out earlier, but I would have probably felt a bit tired after moving around this much. Considering I nearly doubled in weight, I'm sure that extra stamina is going to come in handy as soon as I try flying more than a few dozen feet.
Wait... I've been using [Onomancy] and [The World is a Soundstage], so I must have been using some energy. I wasn't suddenly unable to use them, so I probably didn't empty my reserves but...how can I tell how much I have left? Also, how do I regen? Do I need to sleep at least 8 hours like in D&D, or do I need to drink some mage water like in some MMOs? Do I need to meditate in an energy-rich place like in Xianxia and cultivation novels? I doubt this world has a Google or Wikipedia equivalent, but it sure would come in handy...Hell, I'd settle for a "Choices for Dummies".
The sky was already past its darkest but Emi estimated that she still had at least a few hours before dawn. With Majusculus asleep, Emi decided she might as well experiment on her own in the meantime.
Must be a different world though. I'm fairly sure there were a lot more stars in the sky back in Earth's sky. I'm not a space buff, but if not a different Universe, I am at the very least in a different Galaxy. This kind of stuff can wait though, these kinds of answers won't do me much good now.
So...how do I do this? Meditation maybe? Never been very good at it, and getting in a cross-legged, or seiza, position in this body might not be doable...
Emi carefully dropped down to the boards that made up the floor of the causeway and rested her back against them. She closed her eyes and started taking slow, deep breaths. She remained in a near-motionless state for over half an hour as she attempted to sense her energy.
Energy, Energy, Energy, Energy, Energy, Energy, Energy, Energy!
Ok...This is not the way...My body structure is making it hard to concentrate in this position, the base of my wings feel like they are poking into me. Time to try another approach.
Emi stood up and started concentrating on a point in space, a few inches ahead of her. Less than a second later a tiny pale hazy orb appeared.
Alright, so if I understood [The World is a Soundstage] properly, then this little ball should be made of energy.
Emi tried to touch the orb with the tip of her wing, but it offered no resistance.
I should be able to move it, according to the info I got from the Ability, but it doesn't look like I can do it by hand. Or should it be "by wing"?
Emi left her wingtip in the energy ball for a few minutes as she tried to focus on it.
Yup, like it's not there. Can't feel a thing.
Emi let out a small sigh and decided to dismiss the ball.
Wait...I felt something!
Because Emi had spent the last few minutes trying to feel her energy, she did not miss the slight tingle that the dismissal of the ball had produced as it returned to her body.
Oh...Let's make a bigger ball and try again. Seems I recover the energy if I dismiss it anyway.
This time Emi did her best to try and make the ball appear and grow as slowly as possible, paying close attention to it. She stopped when the ball had grown to double the size of the previous one, and then dismissed it at once.
Yup, there is definitely something there. I could barely sense something flowing out of me when I was slowly making the ball. When I dismissed it though, it felt a lot clearer. Felt like a small static shock traveling back up my arm in the opposite direction.
Emi spent the next hour making little energy balls pop in and out of existence. Not only did she have a bit of fun in the process, but she also gathered some new insights by the end of the exercise. She figured out that the energy would travel through her body, starting from the center of her chest, and head to the part of her body that was closest to the energy node. Using that revelation, Emi started making energy nodes appear in all manners of locations to try and map out her energy pathways. This also let her figure out her effective range, as she found herself unable to make energy nodes appear further than about ten feet from her closest body part. Eventually, she noticed that if she dismissed the nodes while they were out of her range, only a portion of the energy would return.
After getting accustomed to energy flowing in either direction, Emi attempted to see if she could do both at once. When she tried it on two separate nodes at the same time, she found that there weren't any issues. When she attempted to both increase and recover the energy in a single node concurrently, something like a static link formed. She found that as long as she maintained the link, she could move the energy node anywhere within her effective range.
Alright, so the energy reserves feel like they should be somewhere around my heart. Don't know that much about veins and arteries, much less in an owl's body, but I think the energy pathways might be mapped out in a similar way. Maybe it follows the central nervous system instead, since I do feel it as a tingle, but then it would probably be centered around the brain and not the chest. Meg would probably figure it out instantly, with how in tune that fitness freak is with her body.
Emi started a series of small tests to try and grow accustomed to the movement of energy. She tried to sense the movement it as it attempted to leave her body and become an energy node, but then dismissed it before it could do so. She repeated the process, over and over, focused inwardly with her eyes closed.
I'll need more practice, but I think I should be able to move my energy around without having to use Abilities at some point. At least I've made some gains. Figured out my range, how to move the balls, and it feels like I'm able to make them appear slightly faster than when I started. More importantly, I can feel my energy reserves with a little focus, now that I know what I am looking for.
Emi had begun suspecting that her energy reserves were either slowly replenishing on their own, or as a side effect of circulating her energy. For the last while, she had been experimenting with moving her energy around without letting it leave her body. She felt confident that, over time, the energy that was returning to her core was becoming more abundant than when she had started with. Emi decided it was time to take a break so she opened her eyes, stretched out her wings, and gave her feathers a vigorous shake.
Urgh, I'm still filthy...uh?
Emi had been so focused on what she'd been doing that she hadn't noticed how much time had gone by. Judging by the color of the sky, she thought the sun was probably about to breach the horizon.
Well, with the tall trees surrounding the village, it'll probably still be a little while until it feels like morning. I'm not too tired but I think I've been up for around twelvish hours, so I'll probably feel like going to bed in a few hours tops. I really want to get somewhat clean before then. At least that timeframe was true when I was a human. Even if I knew about the sleep cycle of a normal owl, I doubt that I qualify as normal anymore...
Wait... I don't actually need to be nocturnal, do I? I'll go get cleaned up quickly, then I'll go have a snack and nap. If I ask Majusculus to wake me up around noon, I should be able to hold until sundown.
With a plan in mind, Emi made her way to the closest of the two wells she had spotted during the night. Her plan quickly crumbled as she came to a sudden realization.
Yep, this is gonna be hard to do without hands...
Emi had grown significantly, as a result of her Choice, but that still left her about eye level with the handle she needed to spin to get the bucket out of the well. She attempted to grab the handle with one of her talons, but it was too high for her to reach. She jumped up and latched onto the handle with her beak and managed half a revolution, but then ended up stuck on her tiptoes with the handle less than a third of its way back up.
...Shit! I can't bend my knees fully to jump without releasing the handle! I didn't really think it through, if I want to get it to the top then the highest point is too high...
Emi tried using her wings to generate enough lift to push the handle back up, but the weight of the water in the bucket, and her awkward position, made it very difficult. She kept making it a bit over half of the way back up, but as soon as her legs stopped providing support, she would quickly stall and drop back down. After her fifth unsuccessful attempt, Emi let the handle go, allowing the bucket to drop back down the five inches of elevation Emi's struggles had achieved.
Time to try my last Ability I guess. Shapeshifting feels a bit scary so I was putting it off, but I need the hands now.
[Anthropomorphic Form]!
Emi waited for a few seconds but nothing happened.
"Uh....[Anthropomorphic Form]?"
Again, nothing.
"Moon Prism Power, Make Up!"
Yeah, kinda happy that last one didn't work...Maybe I can get more info if I manifest my sigil again.
Emi spent the next few minutes trying to figure out why [Anthropomorphic Form] form wasn't working, but nothing in the information she received with the Ability gave her a clue. When Emi inspected her Choice more closely, however, she discovered something.
What's this? Oh...yup! That could explain why my Ability is not activating.
As Emi inspected her [Harp Owl] Choice more closely, a small extra bit of information popped up into her mind.
[Evolution in progress]? Does that mean I need to level up? If so, why the heck did it give me an Ability I need a stable form for at level 1? Or...maybe it was just too much to do in one night, and it will resume the next time I sleep? Welp, guess I'll need to find some help for now.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
HPlow
HPlow If this is the last chapter here and you don't want to wait, next chapter is up on https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/93222/trailblazers-lunatics-slice-of-life-dramedy-cultivation-litrpg/chapter/1800284/1114-destructive-eruption-nurtures-future-growth
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