The Unbidden: A New World (1) (Short Parts)

Part 48

There were only a couple weeks left in our trip to Kle'Xa. The scenery gradually changed over the days from a forest with gentle breezes and comfortable temperatures to a hotter and wickedly more humid air. I felt comfortable at first as my robe seemed to act as an air conditioner of sorts, but the effects were not as long-lasting as I wished.

I had woken in the middle of the night on several occasions from being too hot, and resorted to dressing down to almost nothing. Jayde ended up doing the same while Thea and Aurias seemed wholly unaffected. I wondered how nice it'd be to be unaffected by temperature.

There were several points where we made turns in order to get back onto one of the main roads. Apparently, the route we had been given was one of several in order to deter people from travelling in large groups as it might've increased the probability of being attacked by a dragon. It made sense to why we hardly encountered anyone else over these months save a few peddlers and travelers.

Our food reserves had begun to dwindle by that point as well, but based on the time we had left, I figured we had enough to sustain us for the remainder of the trip.

The days were sweltering - as though the Sun ordained the area to be so hot. The maximum humidity surely didn't help either. Most of the time Jayde and I felt too exhausted to practice anything too strenuous. I did take the opportunity to come up with a way to maintain coolness in the harsh conditions though.

When we stopped for lunch and dinner each day, I went off into the woods just off the road and focused on creating ice.

Why did I not think to do this sooner? I scolded myself with a heavy sigh.

I used physics to make a PhysX version of an ice shard first. In order to do that, I used magic to gather enough moisture out of the air to make an orb. From the orb, I molded it into a double-sided spike of liquid at which point I used more magic to suck the heat out. It was interesting to watch the water slowly turn from a clear, amorphous blob to a solid shard of ice about the length of my forearm and as thick as my wrist.

I repeated the process a few more times, increasing the speed at which the heat was sucked out until I was satisfied. I launched each one into a nearby tree where it lodged itself halfway inside just to practice my aim. The shards took a long time to melt thanks to the humidity.

Once I was content with my 'PhysX Ice Shard' – to which I duly named it – I created another shard focusing just on the magical effects. Cold air swirled around my hand, focusing into a fine point just above my palm. From it, a shard of ice arose slowly to the length I envisioned – About six inches in length and two inches in diameter.

The PhysX version had imperfections such as air bubbles and slight oddities in shape, probably as a result of various factors, but the purely magical version was perfectly shaped, which led me to think that using only magical versions of spells were better.

Just by doing practice sessions, however, I realized that using only magic was significantly more taxing on my reserves of magical energy. While applying physics allowed imperfections, the end result was mostly the same. As a result of my experiments, I created two different 'Ice Shard' spells.

I also experimented with lowering the temperature around us in a localized area. I first experimented with myself, cooling the area around me by sucking out the heat. I found that doing so also removed the heat from my own body causing me to feel pretty cold.

I instead focused on creating a mobile barrier centralized on my own person that blocked most of the moisture from coming into contact with me. I did so using pure magic as I was unable to think about how it would work normally without having a big object in the way. When I became content with the results, I used it while we rode throughout the day.

"'Tis much cooler with this barrier around, I must say," Thea smirked.

"I've been hard at work, you know," I pursed my lips, assuming she prepared to tease.

"Indeed you have. When a man puts his efforts into something, amazing things can happen. I never knew air conditioning felt so wondrous."

"If you allowed me to, I'd tell everyone about you and your astonishing abilities and problem solving," Jayde commented earnestly, eliciting a slight blush.

It helped make the journey a bit more bearable, except for the fact that the barrier made us look like a large ball of moving water. It also made it somewhat difficult to see around us, on top of the heat still being an issue. Whenever Aurias sensed human or human-like presences, I dropped the barrier and we had to deal with an onslaught of wetness and stickiness from the humidity.

I wonder if I can create clothes like my robe, I thought idly.