It had been a miserable trip through the forest, shortly after entering the forest it had started raining and not just some light drizzle either, it felt like the sky had turned into some great waterfall. Visibility grew poor in the downpour, luckily my sense of smell still worked even though the rain was washing away most scents some things are harder to get rid of. We made it to the cave not long after that, soaked to the bone, I started removing my clothes to let them dry. Lilian shivered beside me in the entrance to the cave, but her eyes grew wide with alarm as she saw what I was doing.

“What are you doing? Put your clothes back on,” she said with her arms wrapped around herself for warmth.

“We need to wait out the storm here for the night, and I don’t feel like trekking through the woods with my clothes sticking to me for the rest of the journey. I suggest you do the same,” I said, humans could be so weird about some these things ‘it was just some bare skin, surely she must have seen it before?’ I could not imagine that they wore clothes all the time, their shyness must get in the way during bath time.

“I suppose you are right, and it’s only us girls here, f-f-fair enough.” She justified to herself, and I felt a bit guilty about not telling her about Lubus, but if I didn’t get to close he wouldn’t see anything and I could preserve their precious modesty. She removed her shirt and pants, but insisted on leaving her undergarments on, and laid her clothes out next to mine.

She needs a fire to warm her up, or she’ll risk getting sick, you too for that matter. You don’t seem to be suffering from the rain as much as Lilian is, how come? Lubus asked in my head, now that I thought about it I was strangely warm. There was a warm glow radiating out from my stomach, it must have something to do with my sun affinity I guessed and told Lubus as much. He grew quiet then, and I decided to go out and look for some wood I could use to light a fire.

“Stay here, and I’ll be right back, I need to look for some firewood,” I said, and Lilian looked at the rain falling in sheets outside the cave doubtfully but shrugged her shoulders shivering all the while. I braved the rain coming down outside, still naked, the little sun in my belly keeping me warm. I could actually see some of the water turning to steam on my skin, and I wondered what would happen if I ran out of mana. I found a tree that had fallen over, it seemed to be dead as it was easy to pry off pieces of wood and bark with my bare hands. When I had collected a sizable pile, I made my way back, following the scent I had smelled earlier.

Actually, this is an excellent learning opportunity for you. That warming effect of your magic is interesting, I wonder if it’s something you are causing subconsciously or if it’s just a side effect of your affinity? There would be no way to tell without measuring your mana… hm… anyway, try focusing on the wood and will it to dry, empty your mind as I have shown you and I will guide you if it gets difficult. I nodded my assent and closed my eyes as I tried to think about nothing but drying the pile of dead wood in my arms.

I could feel the mana in my body flowing lazily like a river of honey, a meager amount it may have been but to me, it seemed to overflow. I tried to grab hold of it by force, and it simply slipped through my fingers like the honey I had compared it too.

Different types of mana require different techniques to handle them, fire mana, for example, requires a firm hand and constant attention to not let it get out of control, sun mana is close to fire mana in some ways, but seeing as your attempt to control it failed I think you should try a different approach. Try setting up frames for where you want it to go, don’t let it move outside those borders, but let it flow as it wishes within. I wanted it to flow up my arms and into the wood to dry it and amazingly as I had the thought the mana obeyed me surprisingly quickly, seeming to come to life from its lazy flow. It shot through my body in straight lines, bouncing off the walls I had created, it gathered in my palms and exited my body.

As quick as that I was out of mana, but as I opened my eyes, I discovered that it had obeyed my wishes as I stood there with a pile of completely dry wood in my hands.

“That’s amazing,” Lilian said with awe in her voice, she must have seen the water evaporating into mist. “Will you teach me how to do that?”

“Maybe, but we need to find out what type of magic you have first though, not like we have much else to do while waiting out the weather,” I answered, “but before we do anything else we need to get warm,” Lilian nodded enthusiastically at this, her mood seems to have brightened at the prospect of learning magic. I found some rocks around the cave and placed them in a circle in the middle of the floor, I asked Lilian to help me place the wood in the ring of stones, and we soon had a nice pile of dry logs ready. I didn’t think I could muster anything more with my magic and I had found no flint to strike a spark with. I was just about to rub two sticks together when Lubus came to the rescue.

Just hold out your hands towards the wood, and I will do the rest, he said in my mind, and I did as he suggested. Keeping my arm straight and my hand pointed at the fireplace, palm out, Lilian watched me curiously as a small flame appeared in front of my hand and hovered towards the wood. They caught on fire almost immediately, and I hadn’t done a thing, Lilian looked suitably impressed, and more guilt at the deception welled up inside me. Don’t feel guilty, what do you think she’ll say if you reveal my existence? She has probably seen the gem in your navel already, but probably assume it’s some form of jewelry. No, better not say anything, for now, all that aside, that was amazing. The ease at which the magic followed my commands is almost uncanny, it’s like an extension of my will. No more stuttering through incantations for me, hopefully, it remains like this when I get my body back. Lubus’ mood seemed to sour at this last thought, and he went back to contemplating our situation. I wasn’t so sure Lubus could even get his body back, but I was not an expert on dungeons.

I had laid out our wet clothes closer to the fire to let them dry, and our bellies were full of grilled meat that I had summoned and proceeded to cook over the fire. Lilian seemed a bit more comfortable around me now that she was warm and fed, she kept looking at me with curious eyes when she thought I wasn’t looking she seemed about to ask a question when she changed her mind suddenly. Eventually, the dam broke, and she blurted it out into the evening air.

“What are you?” She seemed to regret her question as soon as she had asked it as she waved her hand in front of her and hurried to explain. “I mean, it’s not that,” she started over. “I have never seen anyone like you before,” she said and looked pointedly at my tail. I laughed at her slightly, she was so full of energy for such a small package.

“I am a Naga as far as I know, and every person I met before coming to this land was like me. If you ask me, it’s you that is the weird one, how do you balance on those sticks you call legs?” I gave her a mischievous smirk to indicate that I wasn’t entirely serious.

“I guess I’m just gifted like that,” she scoffed, and in an uninterested seeming voice, she asked her next question. “May I touch your tail?” The change of subject surprised me slightly but I nodded my head, and she walked up to me and gently placed her hands on my scales. As soon as she made contact words began hovering in my vision again.

Scan complete

Displaying approximate stats now

Human averages applied where calibration is needed

Name: Lilian Species: Human Gender: Female Age: 13

Attributes:

Strength: 7 Endurance: 11 Constitution: 8

Dexterity: 12 Agility: 15 Perception: 10

Intelligence: 18 Willpower: 11 Charisma: 13

Mana: 25

Inherent abilities:

Child: Lilian is not fully grown, stats are liable to change as she ages

Adaptable: Humans possess a remarkable ability to adapt to different situations. Lilian is not bound to the path she chooses but will have an easier time changing the direction of her life

Dream magic: Lilian possesses an affinity for dream magic, she gains strength from sleeping and may incorporate the things she sees in her dream into her spells. Does not regenerate mana from outside sources, only from dreaming

Notable skills:

Lilian has expressed her skill as a hunter, can presumably use a bow and knows how to butcher a kill

Lilian has expressed her love of reading and her plans to become a scholar some day, breadth of knowledge yet to be determined

“Wow, it doesn’t feel like I expected it too, it’s dry and warm. I had expected it to be, I don’t know, slimy somehow.” She looked up at me and seeming startled at her own words, an apology seemed to be about to come forth, but I stopped her with a laugh.

“I’m glad my tail was up to your high standards, did you want to learn magic or is my tail more to your liking?” I said in a teasing tone, a smile on my face. She looked startled for a second as if she had almost forgotten about her upcoming lesson, but she straightened herself before she said.

“Oh no, I want magic, magic now please.”

Lubus, would you see those words from Red? What is dream magic? He took his time before answering, the feelings he radiated seemed troubled somehow.

Yes, I could see, dream magic is a very rare form of magic that I have only read about in books. It’s best for all of us if she learns how to control her new powers before she goes to sleep tonight who knows what will happen if she has a nightmare.