Ghost and the Writer

First skill

It was time to get serious and power up! Mandy made a pose of full motivation as she arrived at the Elemental magic section.

Even more than other places, the section was brimming with people with wild hair colors, yet Mandy noticed an interesting pattern - similar shades bunched together at the same shelves and those with natural hair colors had also gathered away at certain locations. There was probably a reason for that.

Mandy approached the Catalogue in this section and after making sure no one else was too close to her, she opened it.

[A pure dark alignment, huh?]

'Huh?' Mandy pursed her lips, this book had a personality? Wouldn't August have problems if the book could read elemental alignments? Had he tried? Mandy wished to ask. More lines appeared below.

[Undead, what do you wish to do?

Hide?

Influence?

Cause harm?

Protect?]

Numbers appeared by each option. Mandy didn't like the way 'undead' sounded, but... she was one, so she let out a sigh. It seemed like only undead had pure dark alignment, but other than telling the general type the book might not be able to specify further?

Mandy approved of the practical way the Catalogue was set up, though. It gave you options based on your desires. Mandy would flip through them all, of course. She started with the first one.

Under the title of 'Hide' there was a list with elaborations.

<Presence manipulation> A skillset to erase, solidify or alter your presence, useful for blending into surroundings or appearing weaker/more intimidating. Description and training methods found in "Basics of your new life as a litch" by Roald Herring.

... New life? Mandy snorted. She shouldn't laugh, but the book title was something. Previously most book titles either matched the content or seemed to be about something bigger in general, this one popped out.

Mandy had only read about ghosts, so she didn't know the specifics of other undead, but would an undead life really count as life? The skill did sound useful, though. It was the same thing Tia and August did, wasn't it? Perhaps even the thing Sarah had used to sneak up on her? Picking that as her first thing to learn didn't seem like a bad idea, but... better see your options before picking.

Right under it was -

<Astral modification> A skillset to change and alter astral bodies slowly over time for permanent results. Most useful for purely astral life forms especially ghosts who wish to hide their dying wounds.

Basically plastic surgery. There wasn't anything she particularly hated about her body and she didn't have dying wounds. Mandy had wished to be taller when alive, but right now she could float to get whatever and could look down on others rather than being looked down on so that was no longer an issue.

<Astral shapeshifting> A skillset to temporarily change and alter astral bodies, especially useful for purely astral life forms, who might even pretend to be a different species.

Mandy zoomed in on this one. This was even better than the presence manipulation one. She could turn into a bird or a cat and lie on August's head or something. She had always dreamed of flying like a bird-- or maybe she could even grow angel wings with this ability! Mandy felt tempted to look up the book right away, doubting there would be anything better than this, but it was best not to rush, she read further.

<Illusory arts> A skillset to create aether illusions to trick seeing eyes or normie eyes or both at the same time. Having this skill almost guarantees getting a job with the guild.