29 – Spell Evolutions

No way. Spells can evolve?

I hadn’t heard the wizards mention anything about this. Then again, I hadn’t asked. And I had been progressing a lot faster than they probably expected. I resolved to ask them about spell evolutions in the morning. I wasn’t sure if it was something all spells underwent at level 5, or if this was a unique scenario that happened because of my orb world. I might even mention my spell creatures to them, depending on how I was feeling.

But right now, I had to choose an evolutionary path. [Void Thread] continued to hang in a purple glow, as if waiting for me to pick one. Blade wandered over, sniffed the glowing caterpillar, and batted at it curiously with his paw.

“Hey, be careful with him,” I said, gathering Blade into my lap. “He’s in the middle of evolving.” Now I just had to choose.

I focused my awareness on the spell evolution paths, and a description appeared below each one.

✦ [Void Thread II]
Casting cost: 200 mana
Anchors the thread to the end of the caster’s staff like a whip. Thread behaves more like a string than a laser. Returns to its original width of an impossibly thin line. Requires a staff to cast. Duration: 5.0 seconds.

✦ [Void Net]
Casting cost: 200 mana
Weaves an interlacing pattern of woven threads in a stationary magical construct. Whatever passes through it will be cut to pieces. Ideal for setting traps. Duration: 5 minutes.

✦ [Void Shot]
Casting cost: 200 mana
Condenses the energy of [Void Thread] into a single bundle, increasing width but decreasing length. Passes through almost anything it encounters. Ideal for long-range attacks.

Dang, all these evolutions sounded good. [Void Thread II] would make the spell behave more like a thread, which gave me more power to control it. However, being anchored to the end of my staff was a real downside. I imagined a wet noodle of void energy dangling from the end of my staff. Yes, I could cut enemies in two with a swipe, but I was more worried about accidentally cutting off my own arm.

[Void Net] was the stealthiest option. I could already imagine digging a hole and laying a [Void Net] over the top. Or even casting one around a blind corner that an enemy might be charging around. Either way, they’d be turned into french fries.

[Void Shot] was what I had been looking for. A long-range, sniper-like attack that solved the issue of width. I could even imagine future upgrades shooting increasingly large bundles of void mana.

I was essentially being given three options that would significantly solidify my build in different ways. [Void Thread II] was the mid-range option. I imagined it would work a lot like the [Water Whip] I had seen Becca use, except a lot more effective. The problem was the effectiveness itself. I would essentially be wielding a liquid lightsaber. One wrong move and I could decapitate a nearby ally. Or myself. It would take a lot of control.

[Void Net] was the trapper’s path. Part of me wondered if I had been offered this evolution because of how I’d killed the boar. I could also imagine casting multiple of these void constructs on a battlefield to hem my enemy in and create obstacles. If I was quick, I might even be able to surround them with these nets.

[Void Shot] was the long-range option, and if I was being honest, it was what I had hoped to use [Void Thread] for since the beginning. As powerful as [Void Thread II] seemed, I already had [Void Blade] for cutting my enemies up at close range. Plus, future upgrades would only increase the reach of the weapon. I wasn’t really interested in a trap-setting stealth build, so my choice was clear.

“I choose [Void Shot].”

The glow around the caterpillar brightened. The koi in the pond watched it with interest. Blade barked at it. “Shh, boy,” I said. “It’s gonna be alright. Just watch.”

When the glow faded, a completely different creature appeared in the place of the caterpillar. Dangling from the void thread was now an armored black cocoon with purple, insect-like eyes. In its chest area was what looked like a small cannon, or the sawed-off barrel of a gun. Spirals of energy lined the inside of the barrel, leading to a glowing purple light within. Above the creature, blue words read:

[Void Shot] Level 5 ✦

“That’s incredible!” I said to no one in particular. “My spell just evolved!”

I couldn’t wait to tell the wizards about it. I might just have to reveal the existence of my spell creatures after all.

But I also wanted to get up to level 11 tonight. After a quick meditation session, my mana was fully recovered, and I checked my status to see how far I had to go.

Wizard – Level 10
Mana: 2620 / 2620
(Mana required to reach next level: 3040)

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

Spells:
[Void Shot] Level 5 ✦
[Void Blade] Level 3
[Outer Dark] Level 1
[Healing Water] Level 1
[Spirit Herb] Level 1

I guessed that the diamond symbol signified an evolved spell. As for my mana, it had been over twenty-four hours since I had broken through to level 10, and my total mana limit had increased from 2500 to 2620 thanks to the meditation efforts of my spell creatures. Based on my rough calculation, they were able to accumulate about ten times their combined level in mana per day, granted that I got a good night’s rest and didn’t use too much during the day.

That certainly gave me a leg up, but I still had to cultivate over 400 mana to reach the next level. No way I was hitting that in a single pondering session unless I pushed well past midnight. I wasn’t in that much of a rush to learn [Hermit’s Rest], and I wanted to be well rested for tomorrow’s journey.

Still, I put in a good hour of pondering with my spell creatures, and we managed to raise the total mana to 2730. If my calculations were correct, then by tomorrow night at this time, it should be somewhere around 2840.

I took one final look at my evolved spell creature, [Void Shot]. He hung suspended by a purple thread anchored somewhere up in the branches of the world tree. If I did say so myself, he looked pretty badass. Kind of like a cocoon energy cannon. I patted him on his metallic shell, being careful to avoid the void thread from which he hung. I was pretty sure my spells worked differently in my orb world, but I wasn’t about to test it by running my fingers through that string of dark energy.

I bid my creatures goodnight and settled in for a night of sleep. As my thoughts faded, my head was filled with fantastical thoughts of what my other creatures would look like when I evolved them.

In the morning, I patched the hole I had made in the tent with a repair kit I found in a pocket along one of the sides. It didn’t even require any sewing, just a piece of canvas that was coated in pine tar on one side. I peeled off the protective square of parchment, and covered the hole.

As dawn broke over the horizon, I joined the wizards around the remains of the campfire. The flames had long since died out, but there was still heat emanating from the coals.

“Morning everyone,” I said, stretching my arms and yawning.

“Morning lad,” Linli said. He appeared to be preparing coffee in a kind of travel-sized percolator. I couldn’t see any heat source, but figured the bottom must have one of those heat wards like the stove back in the tower.

“Did you reach level 11 like you said?” Myrl asked in a slightly teasing voice.