Salvos (A Monster Evolution)

Chapter 22- Recognition

I stared at the fire I held in my hands as it moved. I was manipulating it— shaping it to become what I wanted it to be. The small ball of fire— like a pebble in my hand— shifted. It grew in size as I poured mana into it, feeling it drain from my body like blood flowing out from a large wound.

The magical flames first turned into a spike, then into a dagger. I narrowed my eyes as I reached the limits of what I could do with it. I tried to shape it into a blade— one as long as Daniel's— but I couldn't. It would not not accept the mana. Or at least, [Basic Fire Creation] wouldn't.

So I relaxed; I dismissed the Skill as I tried to maintain the form of the fire weapon I had created. It wiggled at first, losing the stability the Skill gave it. But I knew what the feeling was like— I knew how to keep it from snuffing out in my hands. Then I slowly ran a clawed finger through it.

The tip of my claw dragged across the fire dagger, finally reaching its edge before I pulled my finger away. I watched as the tip of the weapon extended with increasing volatility. I tugged at the strings of mana, manipulating it to remain a solid. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I tried.

And the magically created weapon grew longer and longer, increasing in length until it was about half the size I wanted it to be. I stopped— not because I wanted to— but because my entire body was quivering; I was concentrating only on the spell and nothing else. If I even could stabilize it— I probably wouldn't have been able to swing it around. But perhaps if I did this, I could level a Skill. Or perhaps I could learn a new Skill—

There was a shriek, and I jerked.

I lost control of the magic holding it together; the short blade of fire plumed out and up, lighting up my surroundings very briefly as it blazed through the air. Then it vanished.

I sighed as I turned to the source of the noise. A large, dark creature came falling from the sky. It nearly crashed into the earth, only spreading its wings open just in time to slow its landing. I stood up, readying for an attack.

The monster turned its crimson eyes to me, still a dozen paces away next to a broken down house. I cocked my head as he bared his sharp fangs, hunching over to reveal thin, long nails on either side of his wings.

[Vulture Bat - Lvl. 16]

"Well?"

I asked him curiously, waiting to see what he would do. Slowly, he turned away from me, before abruptly grabbing a body off the ground and flying away.

"Huh."

I had nothing else to comment about that. I wasn't sure why he was grabbing the bodies at first, but then I remembered Daniel. He had been eating pieces of dead animals to fill himself with energy, or something. That was probably what the [Vulture Bat] was doing— feeding.

That's creepy, I thought, grimacing. Eating is creepy. And weird!

Later that night, more [Vulture Bats] came, claiming the bodies of the dead strewn about the village. But none attacked me. So I didn't attack them either.

—--

The two Humans emerged from the half collapsed house when the sun rose, bringing with it the brightness of day and an upset looking Edithe. The woman held her staff up warily when she saw me, but did not take a swing at me. Why would she? I had nearly clawed her face off when she tried it last night.

The only thing that stopped me from killing her for trying to attack me multiple times was Daniel, who convinced me that she wasn't trying to kill me. She was shaken— or something. She had just fought Lucerna, so she might have known where he went. More than that too, she could help us defeat him if we did track him down. I needed to find him so he could tell me how to go back to the Netherworld since Daniel and the other Humans weren't able to help me anyway.