Chapter 7: Loyal Servant

The ground was filled with foliage.

As Morgana arrived on the surface she was met with a sea of tall trees growing very close to each other. They towered over her as if trying to reach for the skies.

She had only just sprouted off from an enormous crater on the ground but was already bothered by a great number of mosquitos, some of the witches enjoyed sucking blood while others were simply irritating.

Morgana walked around, looking for the tallest tree, which was more than sixty meters in height and climbed it immediately. When she reached the top, her surprise was in no way small.

A green mantle covered the earth as far as the eye could see. From horizon to horizon, vegetation was rich and plentiful. On the most elevated peak, as well as in the deepest valley, space was filled to the brim with life.

Morgana did not know it yet, but this was Azov, the greatest forest in the entire continent.

....

In a dark room, a giant jaguar was held in chains. A four meters tall creature witch was considered a great predator on its natural environment was now looking miserable and powerless.

At its side stood the culprit behind its captivity, a dark hooded figure surrounded by shadow.

Morgana had finished inscribing symbols on the ground and now had adopted a very solemn continence. This was the moment that would decide if her efforts would pay off or not.

Morgana started chanting in a strange language but the meaning roughly translated to this:

"As one perishes, another rises. Such is the circle of life. Guide the energy, built the strength. From the earth, I craft a loyal servant. Be forever bound to my will from your shining heart."

The routines on the ground started glowing white, so Morgana understood time was ripe.

She took out a dagger made of crude iron and in an instant the weapon was surrounded with a purple arcane aura. Morgana made one swift motion and, moving like thunder, pierced the jaguar's heart.

It didn't even make a noise, almost as if it was already dead on the inside even before the beginning. Blood flowed like a waterfall, soiling Morgana and spreading all over the stone floor.

As the arcane characters on the formation were tinged in red, their glow changed as well. Almost as if it was being corrupted by the blood.

One the ground there were two half circles connected by a line. These were formed entirely by mysterious words written in a magical language. Inside one of these circles was the dead jaguar. While, on the other, there was a very large glowing yellow gem positioned on a pedestal, around which there were several basins filled with mud and surrounded by loose rocks.

Morgana started chanting fervently and the red glow intensified by tenfold. Immense pressure-filled the room as an invisible aura was being extracted from the corpse.

With several hand gestures, purple strings began to lodge themselves on the target making the whole process much easier.

Once it was over, the time had come for the next step to begin. The energy was channeled through the formation and was safely stored inside the yellow stone.

Morgana felt glad. So far the process had gone by without any problems. She thought - "It's time for the finishing touch."

With round hand motions she agitated the elemental particles taking control over the mud. Like the formation before, the gem also glowed much brighter and appeared to actively help Morgana as she sculped the mud around it, giving it shape. Fingers snapped and the loose stones sprang into action attaching themselves on the mud made core.

In the beginning, it was only a formless mass but, as Morgana grasped the air, it's shape was manipulated. As a skilled artisan slowly molding pottery, the wizard was little by little perfecting her work.

From the original chaotic mass, a humanoid shape was created.

A smile rose from Morgana's lips. After so much effort, she had succeeded at last.

....

Morgana had gone through a rocky start, having been trapped in a gloomy dungeon for her first week in this new world. She also had trouble adjusting. Especially when it came to magic. Since everything was new and looked very alien.

But now she was out, having escaped from that dark prison.

After six months of hard work, alone in the wilderness, results were very impressive.

Morgana spent great effort and transformed the dungeon entrance into her own personal headquarters. By using earth magic and transmutation she could alter the environment to better fulfill her needs and keep unwelcome guests, like the monstrous bats, away.

Elemental magic had never been her specialty, but earth in particular was vital for her activities here. After all, this world, as far as she could tell, was a very wild place and devoid of any intelligent creatures. So the ability to alter her surroundings and build quickly was very useful.

As such she had taken the time to painstakingly polish this skill into true mastery. Morgana was confident that as long as she could prepare the terrain, victory could be achieved even against much stronger foes.

Transmutation was very important as well, allowing her to easily craft simple items from raw materials, which saved a great deal of time. Even the knife she used on the previous ritual and her clothes were made through this method.