The Dao of Magic

86 - Intent

The wind causes my hair to flow above me in a long streak of messy white strands. The black rock comes closer fast, so I command the wind to cushion my fall. A slight breeze backwards prevents my hair from whipping me in the face and I land in a crouch.

Dust swirls around me. I stand up and look up towards the towering mountain. I want to say 'it's good to be home', but that would be lying. The black peak is obscured by clouds, a permanent mist covering the home base of the entire race of dragons.

Looking upwards, I see three small dots coasting on the updraft caused by the massive mountain. I actually feel slightly guilty. I spent the trip coming here testing out my newly gained cultivation, trying out every trick Drew recorded inside the jade slip around my neck.

There is a massive gulf between knowing something in theory and knowing something in a practical sense. I thought that hearing his story made me a cultivation expert until I tried to do all the things he talked about.

My first commands I send towards the trio brainwashed them completely, every single thought inside their heads replaced with my orders. I learned some finer control on the way here, but the trio still has that glazed 'not here' look in their eyes. They should be fine after a few centuries of sleep.

I think.

The steep slope crumbles under my footsteps and I notice that the solid seeming stone is actually fine compacted ash. It's like walking through fine snow. I flew over this mountain countless times, and it is the first time I ever realized that these grey rocks are not a solid as they seem.

I keep walking as I try to flatten my feet. Drew also included his observations and conclusions about my changing process in the necklace.

I spent half of this trip gaining control over my qi, the other half was filled with experimenting with the changing process. I have some control over it now.

Simply imagining my flesh, blood and bones as tightly interlocked stones that are glued together allows me some control over my shape. The energy that pours through my locking organ is like a glue solvent, allowing me to rearrange the very structure of my body.

I gently turn the tumbler under my heart, guiding a trickle of the energy towards my bare legs and feet. I dissolve the glue holding my feet together and rearrange the soft flesh into flat, wide scales. My left foot dissolves mid step as scales grow from the goop.

I can't control the liquid version of my body at all, so I just use the wind to shape it from the outside. I put my transformed foot down, the wide scales no longer sinking through the fine layer of ash.

Leaving the bones intact was tricky in the beginning. I am glad I did a full body scan like Drew recommended in the jade, else I would have spent days trying to get my limbs back to their original shape.

The roaring trio calms down as my influence begins to leave them. The mountain under my feet rumbles while the members of the Flight who are on duty respond to their emergency calls. Flapping sounds combine with ground shaking footsteps as I see winged shape after shape emerge from the fog. I jumped off my ride at their maximum flight altitude, it will take the on-duty dragons some time to reach their height.

'I SHALL NOT BE SEEN. NONE SHALL OBSERVE ME'

Enough time for me to slip inside the cave complex unnoticed. I have some things to settle.

⁂

"Why does he haaaate meeeee...?" Terrible, feminine wails sound from a small piece of forest lit by multiple small suns hanging in a cloud covered sky.

"He does these kinds of things for a reason, you know?" answers a black haired boy standing next to the sorry figure.

"Vooox, I don't like this Teacher guy, let's leave!"