Aegis Story

Chapter 7: Routine

After walking, I finally found my way to the river. Just a fairly slow and not so deep one. I looked at my reflection on the water. What a sight to behold, no wonder that girl froze up when she see me. My maw was covered from the deer's blood, creating a quite menacing and feral look. I don't like that. I took a drink and dived into the water.

Now that I'm cleaned and drank, I feel much refreshed. For some reason, I had this temptation to keep my scales shiny if possible. I don't dally with that thought for long.

Sitting next to the river, I feel like this is a good time as any to start experimenting that energy manipulating thing. I closed my eyes and focused on the usual energy at the center. Letting it flow again to my hands, I conjured another ice shard. While this is handy for a ranged attack, surely I can do more right?

Shards after shards conjured in my han- er claws. I was trying to create something other than shards, like a spear. That didn't work so well. Oh how about I try flowing it to other body parts? This time, I only let it flow until it reaches my arms and expels it there. The result is an extra layer of ice covering my arms, acting sort of like armor.

Phew, I feel burned out by that. Maybe that's the cost of using it too much. The sky is getting dark anyway, I need to find someplace to rest.

Now, I wouldn't mind sleeping on the soft grass. But I don't want to be attacked in my sleep either. Maybe somewhere like a cave would be nice (not back to the ice cave though, I would rather sleep on the ground). While looking around, I mused living under a roof. Heh, one can dream.

There's a big tree down the river. I climbed on top of it and tried finding a spot to lay down. Not very comfy, but it would do.

Aah, that deer sure is delicious and fulfilling. Maybe, I can live like this. Just live my life day to day, lazing around. When I'm hungry, I hunt. When I'm thirsty, I drink from the river. Doesn't that sound nice?

...no, I can't do that. I need to know about my past, and I need to know more about this world. And for that, I can't have this leisurely life. But that is for the future though, for now, I need a temporary place to stay and gather for information on where to go..

The night is eerily quiet, disturbed with occasional cricking sound from the bugs. I don't mind it much, the full belly is already making me sleepy. I closed my eyes.

...

..

.

...

"OOF!"

Oi. I fell out of the tree. What a great way to start the morning.

I begrudgingly got up. Served me right for sleeping there. Maybe later I could fix that by making a platform of some kind.

At that moment, I heard a sound coming from deeper in the forest, like a conversation. I decided to investigate it.

Upon reaching its source, I hide above a tree. A group of strange, short and green creatures can be seen from up here. A name pop up in my mind: goblins. And there's four of them.

They are carrying crude weapons like clubs and spears. They seem to be conversing about something. About what, I don't even know, their language sounds gibberish to me.

Since I'm interested in them, I followed along for an hour. Using trees and bushes as a cover, my feet barely making any sound. They are a chattery bunch, until they came across a boar. Then they just start chasing and swinging their weapons like a madman, hoping to take down the boar. I guess that's their one and true strategy for their kind, overwhelming the enemy with numbers since they looked pretty weak when alone.

I see, so this is their hunting grounds. I can already see a few other boars up ahead. I have no qualms with the goblins, so I will leave them alone for now.

I was able to jump on two boars, both having me to surprise attack from above. Their meat is delicious, and it was enough to make me full. I call this a successful hunt.

On my way back, I saw the group pass by, carrying a dead boar in a net.

---

Aah, this is the life. I was enjoying myself swimming in the river. Really, this is like a cure to a busy mind. I happily swam and let myself float along.

*rustle* *rustle*

...that girl is such a terrible hider. I can already feel the gaze she gave to me. Also, didn't her parents teach her not to peek at someone bathing? How rude.

Decided that I had enough for the day, I swam back to the shore. She scuttled away when I moved to her general direction. Hah, cute. I try not to eye her too much though of fear of giving her another scare.

Now, for my magic practicing, I went to my favorite clearing. The trees around me make for perfect target practice. Even if the shards are my only offensive magic I want it to be fine-tuned to perfection. The aim, the speed, and the shape, it all comes into play to make a good range attack. I conjured my first shard.

I heard a gasping sound from behind a tree. Oi oi, no messing with my concentration. You make a terrible stalker.

I throw the shard at one of the trees (not near her, mind you). It embedded deep into the wood but looked too far from the center for my liking. So I throw again, and again, and again. Later, found myself thrown a few dozens of them. At one point I tried conjuring and throwing a lot of them at the same time. Most hit even farther from the mark, but it sure is flashy.

I find myself getting tired after that stunt, so I rest for a bit. A minute later, I feel my strength returning. I think there is a limited amount of things you could do with the energy before getting tired.

I think that's enough for the day. The girl had already left. There is still time to kill before sundown so I want to somehow improve my 'living space'. Maybe I could tie together planks as a stable place to lie down. Oh, I could keep those boar furs as a bedsheet. Before that, I might need tools because I can't really rely too much on my claws.

And for the rest of the night, I started planning for my construction.

---

For the next week, my life fell into a routine. I would wake up, hunt some wildlife, practice some magic, and renovating my home all the while ignoring the girl's presence. I feel like I was getting the hang of the shards. At some point it became so strong it pierced through a large tree. All seems well, but that may change soon enough.