[Ugh, I need to lie down somewhere. I need a nap.]
Sure, I wasn't physically tired, my current body was just a drone, but flying around for hours with the same endless view gets dull fast. Mentally draining. Plus, the sun was starting to dip, and let's be honest: being out at night in a magic-filled world, surrounded by a dead forest? Yeah, not ideal. Banshees. Ghosts. Who knows what else might be out there?
So I started looking around for a place to crash, figuratively, not literally, and eventually spotted a hollowed-out dead tree perched on the tip of a small hill. It wasn't much, but it had a 20-yard radius of clear space around it, so no sneaky ambushes. Good enough for me.
I carefully flew inside, powering down my propellers as I tried to land on the sticks and branches lining the inside of the trunk. After a few minutes of adjusting and wobbling, I got as "comfortable" as one can be inside a drone. I let out a long, tired sigh and let my thoughts wander.
[Let's see... I'm stuck inside a small blue rock…awesome. Met a thick elf girl, which, I mean, not bad. And now I'm chilling inside a giant dead tree. Oh, the wonders of being in a new world.] With that thrilling summary, I decided it was time to switch things up. I exited the MQ-27-Dragon-Fire drone and unsummoned it, wanting to spend some time in my real body... you know, the one that's a literal rock. Gotta get used to it eventually.
[Mmh, I should check the status for the Dragon-Fire. Yeah… let's pull up the stats.] Figured I'd do one last check before getting some rest, just in case anything new popped up. So, I opened up the status screen for my first summon: the MQ-27-Dragon-Fire.
—
Name - N/A
Species - MQ-27-Dragon-Fire
level - 1 (632/1000)
[ABILITIES]
.30 Mounted Machine Gun - Equipped with a rapid-firing .30 caliber machine gun, the weapon delivers sustained fire with impressive accuracy. Capable of shredding through light armor and multiple enemies, uses a moderate amount of mana per magazine and can be fired continuously for a short period before requiring a cooldown (100 Round Mag, Reload 30s, Mag replenishment 360s)
Mounted Rocket Launcher - Fires high-powered rockets capable of piercing through heavy armor and causing explosive damage over a wide area. (Capacity 3, reload 10s, replenishment 660s)
[PASSIVES]
Targeting System - An AI-driven targeting system that automatically locks down on targets. Accurate within close range, accuracy lessens as target range increases. (50 yard ≤ accuracy)
—
[Ugh, that [Targeting System] would've been so useful earlier. If I knew how to use it, my aim wouldn't have been so shit.] Seriously, if I'd figured it out back then, I could've sniped those bandits clean, or hell, maybe even launched a rocket at them.
I really need to sit down and figure out how my passives and abilities work. No point in having all this cool gear if I don't know how to use any of it. Since there's not much else to do right now, I might as well give it a shot. And, honestly, thank god for my younger self binge-reading fantasy books. Time to put that knowledge to good use and come up with a few ideas for how to activate or train these powers.
And I guess I was actually really fucking stupid, because it's really simple. All I had to do was think about whatever ability I wanted to use, picture how it looked, and then just release it. That's it. No chants, no fancy hand signs, just imagination and intent.
I could tell it cost mana too, since every time I activated an ability, I felt something inside me get pulled out. Like a drain, just enough to notice. The only exception was my passives, those didn't use any mana, and I managed to figure out how to toggle them on and off. That's about all I got from those.
But back to the point: every time I used an ability, I tried to control and trace where the mana came from. I wanted to feel the flow, like those cultivation nerds do in the novels. But nope. Nothing. Guess I'm just too shit at it right now. My body seems to handle all the backend stuff, my job's just to give the command.
After two hours of messing around and brainstorming, I actually managed to learn a decent amount. Not bad, honestly. At least now, when I summon something new, I'll actually know how to use it without looking like a complete idiot.
But other than that... It was time for my well-earned nap.
...
...
"WHO COULD'VE FUCKING GUESSED THAT I'D DIE AGAIN. FACK!" The moment I close my damn eyes, I wake up, again.
However this time, I'm not in that pitch-black void like before. Nope. Now, I'm in some sort of white void, with this strange water-like substance acting as the floor. I can stand on it, yeah, but I wouldn't recommend looking down. The water looks deep, like an endless kind of deep. Gives you that sinking feeling just thinking about it.
Other than the... water? Below me and the endless white sky above, there was nothing. Just an infinite expanse of nothingness. I couldn't help but wonder, do I get a third try at life now? I mean, my second one ended really fast. Too fast.
But I waited… and waited… and nothing. Not even a whisper. I thought maybe someone or something would come and drag me to heaven or hell or whatever cosmic afterlife nonsense this world had going on.
Whelp nope. Nada. Just silence. So I started looking around and realized I could actually move. Or, well... more like roll around. Then I looked at myself, and yep, once again, I was a grayish blob. Kinda slime-like. A soul? Again?
"Alright, Alex. Think of random bullshit. It's all about intent!" I said to myself. I honestly had no clue what the fuck I was doing, but if my powers activate through intent... maybe, just maybe, I could control how my soul looks. Worth a shot, right?
And… I barely changed at all. The only thing I managed was a tiny thin stub that might have been an arm. Emphasis on "might." My soul just flopped right back into blob mode after that.
Apparently, I had to focus so hard just to morph a single part of myself, like squeezing my brain dry just to make a sad noodle limb. And the worst part? The moment I lost even a bit of concentration, everything snapped back like a goddamn rubber band. So my work was useless and I've only received a slight headache.
This was gonna be a long afterlife… So, it was time to touch random shit. And by random shit, I meant the only thing in this godforsaken white void, the water below me.
Crafting a so-called "arm", more like a small limp spaghetti noodle that forgot how bones work, I reached down and dipped it into the water.
I expected something, resistance, magical sparks, maybe a forbidden tentacle reaching out to drag me into this large bathtub. But nope. Like actual water, my sad little noodle arm just slid right through the surface, easy as hell. No drama. No ripple. Just… wet? No, I didn't really feel anything, just my arm felt more… stable? I guess.
Another thing that happened, which definitely wasn't normal, was the fact that the "water" started slowly climbing up my arm. Which… y'know, wasn't what water's supposed to do. Still, I just let my arm dangle in there like a depressed spaghetti noodle to see what else would happen.
"What is this stuff?" I muttered to myself, watching the blue liquid ooze upward. It felt… cool? Not cold, not warm, just cool. Like sticking your hand into a perfectly air-conditioned room.
It didn't hurt. Didn't burn. Didn't make me start foaming at the mouth like I drank bleach. So, that was nice. Eventually, it stopped spreading once it reached the tip of my arm.
So that's cool... I guess? I pulled my sad arm out and looked at it, and yep, there was now a blob of that blue goo clinging to me like a stubborn piece of gum. I tried to shake it off. It just jiggled a bit. Honestly? Kinda funny. Still stuck though.
To be honest, I just let the blue blob jiggle around on my arm for several minutes and for some reason, it reminded me of that elf girl I saved. It was way too eye-catching.
Like, come on, I'm in a literal endless void with nothing but void water and my depressed noodle arm. If a glowing blob of blue goo wants to dance for me, I'm letting it. This was peak entertainment now.
But hey, maybe I could learn something from it too. …Yeah, that hope didn't last long. Eventually the novelty wore off, as it always does, and I decided, alright, time to ditch the goo. I tried everything, shaking it, wiggling, flailing my arm.
Nothing. It just kept bouncing around like "haha nope, I live here now."And then it hit me. Again. Of course. It's always about INTENT in this damn world. Like some kind of metaphysical "Just Believe!" PSA on repeat.
So I stared at the blob, focused real hard, and thought: [Get off. Be gone. Yeet thyself from my soul-body.] Let's see what the blob thinks about that.
And it did. Took like… a solid minute of me doing my best "mind over matter" idea. I had to seriously think about this blue goop just falling off my arm. I pictured it dripping off, bit by bit, imagining gravity pulling it down, even though I had no clue if gravity even existed in this void. Whatever. Didn't matter.
And sure enough, drop by tiny drop, the goo finally gave up clinging to me. It slowly unstuck itself, like it was peeling off in slow motion, and plopped back into the weird ocean beneath me with soft little plips.
Honestly? Kinda satisfying. But now the question is… what the hell was that stuff? Should I try again? Touch more? Maybe try to use my mind to move the water without me touching it?
"Hello? Anyone there?"
The voice echoed like a ripple across a pond, sharp, clear, very real, and my brain did a full reboot for a moment. Everything I was thinking about, the goo, the void, trying to grow a third arm for the funsies, all of that got punted out of my mental hard drive in an instant.
I rolled. Instinctively. No hesitation. Just full blob-zoom mode straight toward the sound. Because really, what else was I gonna do? Try and build a raft out of existential dread? And then I saw her.
Her. The thick elf girl. The one I blasted fifteen dudes to save, no homo. The one that had that weird black vein thing going on, puked black goo, and got marked with a system-brand tattoo by yours truly. That elf girl.
She was just… there. In the middle of this white nothingness, standing barefoot on the water like it was solid ground. Her expression was confused, her ears twitching every now and then like she could hear things I couldn't. Her clothes were better, in some kind of green gown, and that mark I placed was glowing faintly on her hand, which was that of a book surrounded by vials of something.
And me? I was just a sad little blob, bouncing softly as I approached her like a goo-ball in a… void!
"Okay, either I'm dead and this is the world's most specific hallucination… or she's dead too. Or we're both dead. Or maybe this is some freaky soul bond thing because of the emblem I slapped on her." I didn't know. But what I did know was: this might just be the weirdest dream of my life. And I once dreamed I was a toaster.
So. What now? Do I try to talk to her? Bounce into her leg like a friendly hamster? Or… go full system-spirit and pretend to be all-knowing? How should blob-me make an entrance here?
"Meh, fuck we ball." Ah yes, the ancient philosophy passed down from my father, and his father, and his father. Surprisingly really effective, really!
So I blobbed forward with all the elegance of a jellybean, and let destiny take the wheel. Stress-free. Anxiety? Never heard of her.
But man… this girl. She just stood there, practically on top of me, and didn't even flinch when I rolled right in front of her. Not even a blink. I was doing all the blob tricks, jiggle, wave, little bounce, and she just stared off into every direction but mine.
"Uh, Hello there!" I called out, my voice echoing weirdly in the void like someone had cranked the reverb too high. Her ears twitched hard, like, radar dish mode, and she jumped a little, looking around with wide eyes.
Not at me though. Anywhere but me. And that was when it hit me.
[Ohhh… she can't see me.] Or maybe, not entirely. My form, my presence… I was probably stuck in some half-spiritual half-soul-plane Wi-Fi zone, and she didn't have the password yet.
So now I'm just a mysterious, bodiless voice echoing in her ears while she stands alone in a blank dimension. And she looks so confused, and a bit scared. Still. I needed to do something to bridge the gap.
Maybe I could try again, clearer, slower. Or maybe I could try to "manifest" a more humanoid shape? Something more recognizable? Or do I just keep whispering like some off-brand guardian spirit until she finally goes crazy?
[Nah, that'd be too mean.] I shook off the idea of haunting her like a discount poltergeist and reined in the more... feral part of my brain. She was rocking that green gown, and yeah, she looked like she could crack skulls with those thighs and I wanted my head between them. And those breasts, looking like ripe watermelons that were ready to be plucked. I needed my milkies.
But this wasn't the time to get distracted. I slapped those thoughts down into the mental basement, chained 'em up, and duct-taped a 'DO NOT OPEN' sign on the door. Deep breath. Reset. Focus. I rolled a little closer and spoke, calm this time.
"What is your name?" No response, but hey, my voice was more quieter now. She just turned her head, brows furrowed, ears twitching. She heard me, but she didn't say anything.
I tried again. "What is your name?" Still nothing. She looked mildly frustrated now, eyes darting around, hands clenched slightly, looking for wherever the voice was coming from.
I couldn't help the snicker that escaped. "Yo, what is your name, girl?"
"M-M-My name is Bella. W-Who are you and w-what do you want?"
[Oh, so her name's Bella, huh?] I thought, doing a little mental fist-pump as her voice finally cracked through the silence. Nervous, shaky, but there. And that was a win in my book.
Now that was a good question. Who was I? A drone? A soul blob? A rock with possible godlike potential? Probably yes to all of the above. But saying that would just give her a headache… or a reason to start being silent… probably. So I held that in.
[Do I tell her the truth? Nah. Do I ask her out? Such a hard choice!… nah. Not the time. Priorities, man. Let's get the lore dump first, then we flirt later.]
So, instead of answering directly, I started firing off questions. I asked her where we were, what this world was called, what sort of powers existed here, and how mana actually worked. I asked about the forest, the dangers in it, and especially the weird crap going on with her body earlier. She didn't seem to see me still, but at least she was hearing me now, and she hesitantly began to respond.
She gave me snippets, slowly, as if trying to piece together if this was a dream or not. But hey, progress is progress. And to keep her cooperative, I threw out a promise. "Once we're done, I'll give you a gift." Like, who wouldn't want a gift from a random voice in a white void. I would accept without a doubt.
Little did she know, plot twist, I already did. That glowing sigil on her hand? The one pulsing softly with green, but also flickering with threads of red, blue, yellow, and other colors she hadn't even registered yet? Maybe she couldn't see it, but yeah, that's me. My little present. It hadn't done anything so far, but other than glowing and maybe acting like a night light, I had no clue on what it could do.
I wondered what she'd think when she finally saw it. Hopefully not stab me, she was probably thinking about stabbing me when we first met.
But as she continued to talk, she was becoming transparent. At first, I thought it was just my eyes, or, well, whatever passes for "eyes" when you're a blob of soul goop, but nope, Bella was actually becoming see-through. Bit by bit, like smoke blending into the air. She kept talking, completely unaware, going off about old fairy tales and legends like some kind of overenthusiastic fantasy-world professor.
Part of me wanted to listen, really, I did, but another part of me knew the moment was slipping away. Fast. So I cut her off, just before she fully disappeared, trying to keep my voice light but still mean something.
"Thank you, Bell, for your time. As I promised, I will give you a gift. But you'll need to figure out what the gift does." I paused for a second, hesitating, then added with a half-joking murmur,
"And don't worry. The gift won't cause any harm to you… I think?" Yeah. I whispered that last bit to myself, because honestly, I had no damn clue. I mean, it's called [Emblem Marker], not [Explode Target In Three Days]… right?
She didn't reply. Just blinked at nothing, smiled faintly, and that smile just made me fall in love deeper. But sadly, poof. Gone. Like she was never even there to begin with.
"Whelp, that was a nice talk" Just me again. Alone in the white void. Water below. Sky above. And a lonely soul blob. But I got over it with a snap of my finger.
"Ohhh yeah, now we're cooking," I muttered to myself, feeling weirdly proud like I just unlocked a secret cheat code in a game I barely understood. The idea that this whole ocean was mana? Insane. Mind-blowing. Kinda terrifying. But also… freaking awesome.
So I sat down on it, not that I had a butt or anything to sit with, but y'know, soul blob stuff, and focused. Intent. It was always about intent. There are many names for it, like will. It was mostly all the same, with some difference. But intent is how one first becomes a mage, as they need to first learn how to control and move intent before they work with mana, which can take weeks, and yet I learn it in less than a day.
I didn't need hands. I didn't need words. All I needed was a clear vision in my head and a big ol' "I want this to happen" stamped onto it with intent. Intent was like raw desire, a spiritual directive, the stuff that shapes the mana. And mana? It was the fuel that turned that thought into something real.
So I reached out, not physically, more like mentally,and tried to grab some of the blue liquid beneath me.
[Come on… move.] I imagined it like threading a needle, trying to get a single droplet to rise, to bend to my will. Making stuff fall and letting gravity do the rest was way easier, but lifting it up was harder. Nothing happened at first.
So I narrowed my focus. Felt the 'spiritual energy' inside me line up with the thought, like tuning a radio to the right frequency.
[Move.] And just like that… the surface rippled. A single blue drop lifted itself from the ocean like a bead of… water, hovering in front of me. My first actual control over mana.
A tiny success, but a massive step.
"Holy shit… I actually did it," I whispered, grinning like a maniac. But since I lost concentration, the drop of mana fell back into the ocean.
(
I chuckled. "Oh yeah, baby. We're in business."
There was something stupidly satisfying about seeing the system confirming what I learned and guessed. I would've had a goofy grin on my face if I had one and went straight back to work
Focus. Intent. Willpower. Each time I summoned the effort, I could lift a few more drops. First two, then five, then seven. It was like trying to juggle heavy weights at first with one finger at first, but slowly, the weight became somewhat lighter.
Still, progress. At first, I kept them all clumped together, one big, wobbly orb of mana. It was too hard to control if I separated them. But that orb started to grow, bit by bit, as I got more comfortable commanding more drops at once. The sensation was weird, it wasn't physical strength I was flexing, but something else entirely. A muscle of will.
[Yo what the fu…] I blinked, if blinking was something a rock could do. One minute I was a floating ball of soul goo in the middle of a mana sea, and the next, boom… dry wooden walls, stale dusty air, and the sound of my own disbelief echoing inside my rocky core. I didn't die.
That thought alone was both comforting and confusing.
[Okay, okay… not dead. Sweet. Still a rock, still got mana manipulation, let's call that a win.] I gave myself a good ol' mental stretch, like I was cracking imaginary knuckles, and got ready to start the day.
And obviously, that meant summoning the drone again. With a soft hum and a low whirring in my mind, I slipped into the MQ-27-Dragon-Fire body like putting on a second skin. It felt natural now. Comfortable. Like pulling on your favorite hoodie if your hoodie had missiles, a camera eye, and a machine gun
I flew out the hollow tree, expecting the same sleepy, creepy hilltop vibes… and instead got a goddamn mountain view that smacked me in the face.
The entire area was filled with dead trees. There was still not a single living leaf in sight, just gnarled blackened wood and fog curling low like it was trying to hide something from me. t.
[Where the hell am I? Who moved me?] My thoughts were racing, a little more panicked than I'd like to admit. [No way I sleep-flew up a mountain. Right?] But, I unsummoned the drone.
Then it hit me. [The [Map]! Right!]
The [Map] feature was one of those background features that just passively collected data, filling in a 10-yard radius wherever I went. All I had to do was open it, and hopefully I'd get something, a trail, a path, anything that might show how I got here.
And then my non-existent heart just stopped, because when I looked at my [Map], it had updated with way more space... and it was covered in red dots. Practically every inch of it was painted in red.
Now, as someone who plays a lot of video games, I knew exactly what that meant, red dots equal enemies.
So, I did what any sane, panicking drone would do, I flew as high as I possibly could, away from the ground and hopefully away from whatever nightmare monster had decided to surround me.
I scanned the area, squinting through the thick fog, trying to catch any sign of movement… but saw nothing. Just dead trees and endless mist.
So I fired. Yeah, I started shooting random bullets into the fog, hoping I'd hit something and maybe get a reaction, painful scream, ding, yelp, something. But nothing. Just silence.
[Wait… are these trees alive?] The idea hit me like a truck. In a world where magic is everywhere, it wouldn't be too weird if the forest was filled with living, or undead, trees.
So, naturally, I aimed at the tree I had just woken up in and fired. Nothing.I shot it again. And again. Still no reaction. It was only when I looked at the [Map] andC saw that the tree itself was marked as a red dot.
[Alright then. Time for plan B.] I brought out the big guns, the [Mounted Rocket Launcher].
With a puff of smoke trailing from my drone body, I let the missile fly straight into the trunk. BOOM. The tree exploded into splinters, wood shards flying in every direction like a wooden grenade had gone off.
(
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Thanks for reading, and comment if there is any sort of mistake.