Chapter Seven: Spell Forging

I was dreaming.

It was warm and floaty in the way dreams sometimes are when you don’t know you're in one--when they're a respite from life. Dad was chasing me and my big sister through the orchard behind the old farmhouse, the late summer grass brushing my knees, Anna’s hand tight in mine. We were laughing—no monsters, no Systems, no death. Just wind and bark and sunlight and safety. Childhood.

Then I blinked.

The orchard dissolved into warmth of a different kind. Coarse fur against my skin, the soft rasp of a steady breath, the faint scent of wild musk and lavender.

Gwyn.

I was curled up against her side like she was some loving, oversized housecat. Her tail was tucked lazily near my hip. One of her big paws twitched as she slept. I didn’t remember falling asleep like this, but I must’ve.

We’d talked for a while—an hour or more. About everything I’d bottled up: about wanting to go home, about being scared, about missing Mom, about not knowing what I was becoming--what I'd already become.

And she’d just listened.

That massive, terrifying, soul-bonded apex predator had listened better than most people in my life ever had.

Without thinking, I buried my face a little deeper into her side and squeezed her gently.

I miss home already.

Gwyn made a low chuffing sound in her sleep—almost like a purr.

I let the warmth and steady rhythm of her breathing lull me back under.

When I woke again, the cave was quiet.

Too quiet.

My arm dropped to empty stone where Gwyn had been. I sat up fast, blinking the sleep from my eyes, a cold pit of concern forming in my stomach. The Ruler’s den was still cloaked in half-shadow, the faint pink-gray of dawn bleeding in through the cavemouth.

“Gwyn?” I called softly.

Nothing. No pawsteps, no breath. Just the distant whisper of wind.

Then I felt her.

A pulse of exhilaration sparked through our master-familiar bond. Wild joy. The taut coil of a hunt. Instincts sharper than teeth brushed my own senses, and I staggered slightly, breath hitching. She wasn’t gone. She was hunting, patrolling the area.

Some part of her had pulled me into that sensation, like a whisper saying: I'm fine. This is what I am. I'm close by and still guarding you.

I exhaled slowly and pushed to my feet. My joints cracked. My mouth tasted like moss and deep slumber..

What I wouldn't have done for a toothbrush...

I padded to the edge of the cave and squinted into the morning. Mist hugged the distant forest. The mountains stretched beyond, silent and ancient. The world had kept turning without me. I was still here--in a new world and a new body... with magic fucking powers and all.

But now what?

I summoned my System interface with a practiced thought, watching the clean white-blue light frame my mental screen.

I scrolled down to my inventory.

My soul shards floated near the top—still five Greater Mana, and one Greater Bestial. I focused in on them. And remembered something now that I was rested.

“System. Activate Spell Forging."

The System obliged.

>>

[Spell-Forging]

• Available Elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Force, Radiant, Necrotic, Arcane, Psychic.

• Available Ranges: Aura, Self, Touch, Ranged.

• Available Effects: Buff, Damage, Debuff, Restore, Enchantment, Summoning, Manipulation.

• Available Shards: Greater Bestial Shard x1, Greater Mana Shard x5.

>>

Okay. This was… a lot. I expected dropdown menus, maybe a list of premade spells.

Instead—

[Please envision your desired spell's effects. Then you will be able to decide the level of your imagined spell.]

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That stopped me.

Wait… it wanted me to imagine it? Not just pick from a list?

I hesitated. But yeah—it made sense, didn’t it? This wasn’t actually a game. This was real. Magic here wasn’t really pre-programmed I didn't think. It was about will. Intent. Resonance.

So I closed my eyes and imagined.

A golden light. Wounds sealing. Skin knitting shut, pain ebbing. A soft warmth pulsing from the center of my chest. Something I could cast in the middle of a fight to keep from bleeding out.

Something to compensate, at least partially, for my shitty Armor Class and Endurance.

Range: Self.

Effect: Restore.

Element: Radiant.

The System buzzed.

[You lack the Radiance-Manipulation proficiency. Spell-Control will be substituted to determine spell level and effect strength.]

Figures. Still—

[Select Spell Level: 1st.]

Only one option lit up. I clicked it.

The Spell-Forging menu changed again. Highlighting the spell it seemed to think I wanted.

>>

Close Wounds [1st] – Seal shut your wounds with mana.

• Restores 30 Health.

• Mana Cost: 60

• Spell Cost: 1 Soul Shard of at least lesser quality.

Select Shard: Greater Bestial Shard, Greater Mana Shard.

>>

Huh. Making spells this way really did require soul shards. The System wanted a lesser shard in exchange for creating a first level spell... but I only had greater tier shards.

Oh well.

I tapped Greater Bestial Shard out of curiosity.

The spell and interface warped in response to my selection.

>>

Fleshknit Instinct [1st] – You trigger the animal survival instinct deep in your body, forcing rapid tissue regeneration through primal reflex.

• Restores 20 Health per second for 4 seconds.

• Mana-Cost: 60

Selected Shard: Greater Bestial Shard.

Create Spell: y/n?

>>

The name alone gave me goosebumps.

The spell was better, at least for a drawn-out fight. But then I mentally-tabbed back to instead select the Greater Mana Shard, and the original spell updated again:

>>

Close Wounds [1st] – Seal shut your wounds with mana.

• Restores 40 Health.

• Mana-Cost: 40

Selected Shard: Greater Mana Shard.

Create Spell: y/n?

>>

"Kinda cool."

So the type of shard changed the theme and stats of the spell. Mana Shards made a spell cleaner, faster, cheaper. Bestial ones made them instinctual and body, or maybe animal, themed. But either way… my Spell Control capped what I could do.

I backed out again.

I wanted to push the boundaries to see if there were hard limits.

I focused again. This time: Fire element. Restore effect. Still self range. Just to see what happened.

And, half to my surprise, the System didn’t reject me. It even told me I could create a second tier spell due to my Fire-Manipulation level.

A new menu and spell popped up. I selected the Greater Bestial Shard again as my desired fuel for its creation.

And I was rewarded with:

>>

Emberhide Recovery [2nd] – You call on the regenerative instincts of fire-born beasts—creatures that shed wounds like scorched skin. Your body flushes with internal heat as controlled flame rolls across your skin, cauterizing gashes and stoking your vitality from within. The pain is sharp but cleansing.

• Restores 40 Health/s for 4s.

• Mana-Cost: 24 [60 Mana / (Fire Affinity + Spell Efficiency/2), rounded down]

Selected Shard: Greater Bestial Shard.

Create Spell: y/n?

>>

“Woah.”

I stared.

That was better than anything I expected. And the System wasn’t done.

The moment I selected create spell, it buzzed again.

[Spell created. Emberhide Recovery [1st] added to spell-list.]

[Congratulations. You are the first soul from Earth to forge a spell. Rewards granted.]

[Emberhide Recovery [2nd] upgraded to Blood of the Phoenix [5th].]

I'd half expected it, considering all the upgrades I'd been getting lately, but my breath still caught when I read the spell name.

And then the new spell hit my interface like a thunderclap.

>>

Blood of the Phoenix [5th] – You ignite your own blood with volatile fire mana, catalyzing a primal transformation. The flames surge outward from your wounds, burning away torn flesh, infection, and weakness. As the fire dies down, new skin and muscle are revealed beneath—rebuilt by the will to survive.

• Heals 50% of Health over 5 seconds.

• Deal fire damage to enemies that touch you while the spell is active. Spell-Class for fire damage = [Spell-Attack + (1/4 Charisma + One-Handed + Fire-Manipulation) rounded down].

• Costs: 200 Mana [500 Mana / (Fire Affinity + Spell Efficiency/2), rounded down]

>>

Half my health restored by one spell. For only a third of my mana. With scaling that meant the stronger I got, the cheaper it would be.

I sat there staring at the interface, heart hammering. This was real. I’d made that. Me. Albeit with a lot of help and goodwill--of what I hoped was goodwill--from the System.

I reached out again, ready to start building more—

And then everything froze.

A pulse slammed through my mind. Fury. Blood. Kill.

My hands clenched. Gwyn...

She was not okay.

I was on my feet before I realized it, sprinting toward the cave mouth. Stones dug into my bare feet--I'd taken my boots off while talking with my familiar last night--wind rushing past my ears.

I burst outside—

—and stopped.

Three shapes waited in the clearing below. Long-limbed. Crooked. Twisted. Like wolves stretched too far, their flesh and fur sick with hunger and spite. Clawed hands twitched. Black drool fell from ugly jaws.

Skulkers.

They looked up to me.

And smiled.