Chapter 628: New toys (1/2)

Chapter 628 New toys

‘ding’ ‘You have unlocked three unique Classes – One Core skill point awarded’

A little late, are we?

Ilea finished her meal, refilling her mug with ale as she relaxed on her ashen sofa. She tried imbuing the construct with mana, finding the process as instinctual as the creation itself.

Guess I can’t exactly give commands to a couch, she thought and formed a sphere instead. The little ball looked smooth, like black glass or cast metal. It’s not just ash anymore though, is it?

She focused on the space next to the floating sphere of ash and instead formed a ball of embers, the fiery sphere bursting to life with radiating heat and glowing light. She moved it into her hand and looked at it, felt it. A moment later she fused the two spheres together, lines of embers breaking up the ashen surface. She tried storing heat within but failed. What she could do was increase the heat from the embers themselves, her creation and manipulation allowing her some manner of control.

Embered Heart generated heat within her core, so that wasn’t the issue. She extended a tendril of ash to the floating sphere. The connection established, she managed to pour heat into it. I see. So no wireless heat transfer. A little less utility but I suppose it hardly matters.

The small sphere quickly started to show cracks, the embered lines glowing brighter. She could feel the structure struggle against the heat she tried to store. Ilea stopped the process and sent the sphere flying, the little ball impacting against the cavern wall, bursting into an uncontrolled wave of energy and fire. Hmm, not quite as smooth as my own sphere. The heat just bursts out where the sphere breaks first. Like a grenade or something.

“You can store heat within your ash now?” Kyrian asked, the man standing nearby as he watched her.

Neiphato glanced at the sofa instead. “Imbued with… stability?”

“Yes to both,” Ilea answered and formed another sphere. This one she imbued with mana, trying to give it a command.

Move in a circle around Kyrian. Dissolve when he says bird.

Ilea had no idea how much was too much. This wasn’t exactly a simple command but the instructions were somewhat clear. Her ash would have to hear what he said, if such a thing was possible.

“Can you say bird?” she asked him, watching the sphere float in a circle around him.

“Bird,” Kyrian said.

Nothing happened.

So no communication, she thought and took control of the sphere again.

Float around Kyrian as fast as you can. Dissolve when he claps his hands together.

“Now clap your hands,” she said, watching the sphere swirling around his armored form.

He did so and this time, the little ball dissolved.

How far can I push this, she asked herself and made a copy of herself. Out of ash of course. She added a few burning cindered lines as an aesthetic touch before she imbued the ash with her mana. She could tell that with her current abilities and harmony, she could maintain just about five such copies. Many more limbs, spheres, or spears of course, but an actual humanoid made of ash would be quite a bit more versatile than a sphere.

Protect Kyrian. Dissolve when he claps. Do not defend him again me. Do not attack me.

She watched as her copy jumped back, moving close to Kyrian.

“Are you controlling this thing?” the man asked, touching the ash carefully. “This thing is dense… sure you’re not some kind of golem maker at this point? It’s basically an armored copy.”

“I’m testing how complex of a command I can imbue them with,” Ilea said and stood up. She walked up to Kyrian, finding her copy moving between them with its fists going into a fighting pose. When she took a step back, the ash clone relaxed its posture again. “I’ll attack you,” she said and sent a sphere of ash at her friend, aiming for his shoulder.

The ashen Ilea hovered to the left, deflecting the projectile with a decisive move. Then it attacked, charging Ilea with a few quick steps, its punch coming short when Ilea took control again.

She looked at the clone in mid punch, walking around it. So that was too much. Maybe the attack didn’t count as me attacking him because I used my ash? But it attacked me… ignoring the last command too.

“Can you clap again?” she asked.

The clone dissolved when he did so.

So they take up manipulation capacity… but I can leave them behind somewhere or send them scouting into an area. Not that they could report anything back to me. Or can they?

The next twenty minutes she spent fiddling with her commands, both for spheres, ashen mist, humanoid copies, and spears. Once imbued, the creations couldn’t change form again. However all of them could float, much like if she controlled them directly. Ilea found it difficult to figure out the exact limit of her commands. Complex things like Help Neiphato or Annoy Kyrian both worked surprisingly, though the results were a little unclear.

Helping someone who couldn’t explain what they needed help with was difficult. She felt like her ash did the closest of what she had in mind, or the closest of what she would do at the time of imbuing. It couldn’t use any skills of course but the copy helping Neiphato moved to locations where the elf pointed it to. It also managed to collect pebbles for him after he showed the action himself, pointing at more pebbles and then to his hand where he held a few already.

The copy tasked with annoying Kyrian jumped around him, poked his armor, and chucked little rocks at him. All without success. Then again, Ilea didn’t know how to annoy the man either.

“Seems like they try to the best of your knowledge,” Kyrian said.

“Yeah… it’s a little problematic that I can’t further specify these commands… other than one additional condition,” she answered, forming another copy.

Train those who challenge you. No killing.

The copy stood, waiting until Ilea stood in front of it and got into a fighting stance. It mirrored her.

When she started to circle the copy, it moved as well, its foot work eerily similar to her own style, likely imbued to an extent with her experience and abilities. She attacked, getting into a hand to hand battle with the ash. A few decisive blows let her take the fight rather quickly, her own speed and finesse far superior to the being made entirely of ash and embers.

“It’s surprisingly intelligent,” Kyrian said.

Neiphato hissed approvingly. “With creation, the element you make is always formed from your mana. A part of you. It will retain some understanding of what you are, what you want, and what it is itself.”

My ash did protect me before, moving even without my own command.

“It’s pretty awesome either way. Can you charge it with heat too?” Kyrian asked.

Ilea formed an ashen spear, imbuing it with mana and pushing heat inside at the same time.

Search the cavern and hit the closest monster. Do not injure allies.

Tipped off with heat, the spear shot away, hovering through the air as if it was moved by her will.

Ilea followed it, moving her wings as she watched the spear descend on a Stone Specter, striking the creature directly before a flash of fiery heat and energy exploded outwards, shattering whatever held the floating stones together.

‘ding’ ‘You have defeated [Stone Specter – lvl 508]

“Guided missiles…,” she murmured, returning to her couch. “This is pretty ridiculous,” she added and made a small sphere.

Go find Claire.