Go Team One Go!
The jungle towered before Nychta, filled with trees taller and wider than any he'd ever seen-- the trees were maybe about as large as the sequoias he'd seen in books and atlases, but the jungle itself was it's own unique... beauty? Terror? Terror. His stomach tied itself into knots as he began to gaze around. He'd never seen anything quite so… magnificent. Terrifying. Magnificently terrifying. The jungle was biologically interesting and, using the few tall tales he'd overheard during his time at the school as a reference, likely just as diverse. The trees were, of course, green and tall, but they also carried small hints of reds and blues, presumably from orchids and vines and who-knew-what.
Actually, what even
was in there? Surely, there'd be creatures that resembled those Nychta knew back in the forests he'd been to? The jungle and its extremely accurate name continued to bother him for only a moment before he quickly had calmed himself down. Gambling was finally paying off. Figuratively speaking.
The forest floor was covered in plants and bushes, and while there was… well, a
lot of them, it wasn't much of a worry for Nychta. He could lift himself into the trees with water, after all. Still, looking back at his teammates, he began to get nervous again. He could depend on himself, but how much could he rely on
them? Morgan and Fern suddenly looked more frail than they did moments ago. He sighed and shook his head. Well, if he couldn't look at it in any other way, he could at least think that such a renowned institution wouldn't send its students on a first mission that it thought they couldn't win.
"Welcome to the Goliath Jungle, kiddies." From up above, cross-legged on the top of the portal stone, sat Christian Miles, the student body president. "Charming place, huh? As you may be able to tell, it's pretty huge, too. A good example of just how distorted space can get on the Isles, but I guess if it weren't for that you'd be able to see it from the coast."
Christian dropped down from the slab to meet with the freshmen face-to-face, continuing, "You've already been told about it, but I'll remind ya, just in case. You'll all be looking for a flying squirrel-type monster called an Arbor Chipper. It's quick, but not too strong. A little tip: be sure to take out its patagium first, because it'll keep running away until they're torn up a bit.
"I'll be watching over you guys from a distance. I'm here to make sure nothing goes awry, and that no other etherspawn can get in the way of what you're supposed to be going after. All goes well, I'll only have to show up again when you're done, and I can give you your next tutorial then. Any questions before I fire the starting gun?"
Fern thought about it. "Do we get any EXP for this?" It was a weird question but she figured putting it in game terms would give them an idea what she meant. Like, would this be an overall training boon or a confidence booster? Either would be awesome, but confidence boosters were sometimes double edged swords. Like knives! Oh, wait... never mind.
"Well," he answered, "you'll definitely get something out of it. I have no doubt you'll feel like you've leveled up after this."
Fern nodded and saluted. "Got it, Mister Miles!"
Morgan, who had been quiet so far, stood there thumbing through a simple but well worn notebook as Christian spoke, and for a moment seemed oblivious to the older student's presence entirely. Emerald green eyes danced across the pages, reading the seemingly endless notes that had been written on their adversary for the hundredth time, as he reminded himself of everything he had recorded from his brief time studying the creature in the academy library. Even though he had already managed to memorise it almost perfectly, Morgan had little faith in his own abilities, and repeated it over and over again in his mind. Eventually he pulled himself away from the book, closing its canvas cover and taking in a deep breath before he spoke.
"I think- I think we'll be fine, but th- thank you." He paused again, steadying the familiar tremble in his voice. "If we can ground it, as you said, then it shouldn't be too much of a p- problem. Until then, as- as long as we don't leave ourselves too open for it to sneak up on us, then it shouldn't be too much of a problem for us..."
"Looks like we've got all the information we need to pull this mission off without a hitch." Carson took a short stride forward, and turned to face both Christian and the rest of the team. "If the ladies are even half as strong as they are beautiful, we'll be able to take this creature out in mere seconds." He added with a wink to Morgan and Fern. Nychta only felt slightly ignored.
Fern tilted her head. "Thank you? I think?" She wasn't sure if she was supposed to appreciate that comment or hit him for it. Flirting was just weird.
Morgan blinked. "L- ladies-?"
"I think we're as prepared as we'll ever be." Carson continued, addressing the student-body president. "Fire away, sir!"
In response, Christian did exactly that. He positioned his fingers into the shape of a gun, fired an ember bullet that disappeared into the trees, and made a final note to the students before he followed it. "With this, I'll get out of your way, and make sure nothing gets in it. Have fun, guys."
And so, they all left to find and kill a magic squirrel, because magical rodents don't grant wishes. Fern knows one that does, only it is less of a good genie and more of a universe manipulating genie.
Carson found himself leading the expedition, always eager to make a good impression with the female members of the group (well,
member, but Carson certainly didn't know that), with Fern scurrying through the thick forest undergrowth, popping in and out of view as she darted around the trees. Nychta followed at a more leisurely pace, perhaps for Morgan's sake, whose constant referral to his notebooks left him completely blind to the world around him, and he stumbled over more than a few large tree roots as they walked.
Eventually he spoke up. "W-we should be looking for damaged trees. Arbor chippers fly p- pretty low, but they have strong legs, so they crack and break branches when they take off. If we're lucky we'll find it in flight... or, even luckier, and it'll be at rest. A-at least, if we find its trail we could figure where it's likely to go."
"That's good to know." Carson quipped as he examined the surrounding areas for the signs Morgan had notified them of. "Speaking of finding this thing, do you guys think we should come up with some sort of strategy to take it out ahead of time, or we going in guns a blazing?"
Fern made a puzzled puff of her cheeks. Well in games, that was basically how they did it. In real life, that wouldn't really work, obviously. So... "If it's so small, guns blazing would... probably be bad, right?" She paused, thinking it over. "Or we could use that method as a decoy or something but I'm not sure if it would work all that well."
"No, it wouldn't... It's basically a giant flying squirrel. I doubt it's slow by any means, and going guns blazing would only alert it to us being there." Nychta drank from the orange soda he had carried with him through the portal before continuing. "If we're to take it on, we're going to want to be quiet about it. I'm not sure if they're used to being hunted, but it's definitely not a good idea to just go in and startle one. A sneak attack would probably be better, if we can manage it... it'd also be a good idea to take out the patagium before it notices that we're upon it. I can pierce them with spears, but do you guys have any other ideas?"
"I- I can do the same," Morgan stuttered, quiet enough that not a single other member of the group could hear him. "If... I can try to hit it in the air if we n- need to. I don't know if I coul-"
"Sounds like a good enough plan to me. If it tries to take off before you two get to it, I can always send a couple blasts of air its way." Carson unwittingly interrupted, patting the broadsword strapped to his back. "I'm not sure what sorts of tricks you or the ladies have up your sleeves, but I suppose if we have a better understanding of each other's abilities we could plan this thing out perfectly."
"Huh. Well, I wouldn't mind going for perfection." If Nychta could establish good teams and bad teams early on... His mind began to race with possibilities before returning to the mission at hand. It would be better if he didn't get ahead of himself. "We should probably figure out a way to nail it's patagium-- which it seems we've got covered-- but also a way to hold it down while we're nailing the patagium. I have hands which can restrain it, but considering the amount it'll likely take to do so, I won't be able to move around much. And then it's just a matter of actually killing the thing..." Nychta could think of a few ways he could attempt to go at the Chipper alone, but he tried to keep his teammates in mind. "Well? If there really are things up your sleeves, by all means, let them out."
The rush of air and the beating of what sounded like heavy wings overhead silenced the group. What thin light trickled down from the heavily covered canopy vanished as something swept by overhead, its shadow cast over them so large it blocked out the very sun for a moment, and the four students immediately hugged the ground to take cover as the branches overhead were torn apart as something enormous swept low. Covered in brown and white fur, and with large, sickle-like talons, it showered them in broken twigs and leaves as it stormed past them, before with a single beat of its wings it vanished, taking back off into the sky and out of sight. The group heard Morgan mutter under his breath "Arbor chipper..."
They waited until the sounds of movement and destruction stopped before rising back up to their feet and dusting themselves off, but the sounds of crashing arose again off in the distance, as they saw the creature dip down a second time, crashing through the canopy before rising again, and then again, and again, until it vanished completely out of sight. Morgan immediately began to move, following the trail of destruction that the creature had left in its wake. It was easy to follow, a thick line of broken canopy where it dipped, then a stretch of undisturbed woodland, followed by another obvious portion of destroyed woodland.
"C- come on," Morgan called back to the group. "It's flying low, so we might be able to catch it when it lands... we at least have some kind of trail to follow now, right? If it's still in the air, I- I might be able to shoot it down out of the sky, if the trees thin out a little so I can see. I don't know how well, but... If I had help guiding it, maybe?"
"Guiding it?" Nychta looked over. "As in... with bait?"
"N- no, I mean-" Morgan bit his lip to stop it from quivering. "Yes, we could bait. Something to get it out in the open, but... I think I can fire an arrow at it. One that'll hopefully knock it right out of the sky so we can pin it down. You saw h- how fast it was, though, hitting it might be impossible, and I don't think I can..."
Morgan turned to Carson. "C- Carson, you- you mentioned you're an air mage, right? If I fire an arrow, do you think you could keep the wind direction and speed favourable? And- and help my aim by guiding the arrow with wind magic?"
"Absolutely, my dear. It shouldn't be of any trouble at all." Taking a look at the dense overgrowth of the trees, Carson continued. "That being said, it doesn't look like the canopy's thinning out anytime soon. We could always try climbing the trees to get a better shot, although that might take a while, and one wrong move could make for a rather painful landing. Either way I'll leave it up to you, Morgan, since you know your own magic much better than I do."
Fern tilted her head. "I can climb." She still liked heights a bit from her days as a wind mage. Plus, well... she practically had cat magic. Before anyone could actually deny her idea (and could anyone really deny Fie anything, really now) she sank her fingers into the trunk and shimmied up. She made it up into the leaves and quickly caught herself on a tough, thick branch. Now she just had to look for more.
"T-that doesn't really hel- help me up there though..." Morgan mumbled, as he too moved over to inspect the tree that Fern so expertly climbed.
The girl was positively tiny, and how she managed the feat so easily was beyond him. He brought both hands up to test the firmness of the tree bark, and tried to get a tight grip on it. Surely if such a tiny girl, even when compared to his diminuitive height, could climb this so easily then he could too? Morgan paused, took a deep breath, and began to climb. He brought one hand upwards to grasp onto a firmer branch, and slowly began his ascent, one foot at a time, his hand trembling every time it left a branch. He was slow, uneasy, and felt like he was going to be sick, but he was doing it!
As Morgan grew more confident with his motions, he scaled the tree at a swifter pace. He forced a single piece of stone up from the ground beneath him, shooting upwards into his hand, which he used to help his climb, forcing it with magic into the trunk of the mighty tree and using it as another step, before removing it once it had served its purpose to be used again.
"F- Fern?" Morgan called out as he looked up. This tree was massive! Eventually he pulled himself up onto a larger platform where several thick branches crossed over, a relatively safe perch for him to sit on.
Don't look down, don't look down. "This- this might w-work. I just wish it w- were a little more stable..."
"Don't worry, I've got you." With that, Nychta raised his hands up to the sky and followed them with a wave of other, icy hands. Perhaps wave was pushing it-- they were a bit less than fifteen in number. Still, they were enough to clench the branches together and keep them from moving around, even if they kept him from moving around too. "There we go! Can you see the thing?"
The ice alone almost made Morgan slip. He stumbled and clutched tightly to a branch that rested at about his stomach height. It creaked as he caught himself on the branch, and for once he silently thanked the fact that he was so small. If he were any heavier the branch would have snapped, and- Morgan swallowed hard and tried not to think about it.
He looked up instead, and saw the clumsy, shambling form of the arbor chipper as it skipped across the treeline, uncaring in how it uprooted trees and tore through the canopy as it made its way across the forest. It did not go too far, and Morgan kept a close eye on it as it skirted the area. Was it looking for something? It turned frequently, pausing as it perched on a larger tree to inspect the ground beneath it, before it moved on, and repeated the action again and again. Morgan wondered what it might have been searching for. Had it sensed that hunters were on the prowl, or was it something else? It was a fascinating, if terrifying creature, and for a moment he pondered just following it to learn its behaviour properly..
No, he had a job to do. He grasped the branch tightly to steady himself and, with Nychta's icy grip on the branches he stood on, it was quite a sturdy platform. Morgan smiled, and with his other hand that still clutched the sharp stone he had used to help him climb, slowly began to channel magic through it. The earth beneath the tree began to tremble and part, as tiny shards of crystal about the same size as the piece of stone he held began to hover in the air, before moving to hover gently before Morgan. He released the piece he held and let it join the other shards, before clenching his fist and letting them seal together in a large pole. He grasped it and thrust it downwards, the base digging into the tough wood of the branch Morgan stood on, splinting it but lodging it in place, kept firm when another icy hand approached to hold it in place.
Morgan's hand began to glide gently up the shaft of the crystal pole, and when he pulled on the top it bent and creaked into shape, and he skillfully transformed the crystal into a shape reminiscent of an enormous bow, a good two heads taller than Morgan's small form. He brought a foot up to press against the base of it, testing how well it was held in place, and was pleasantly surprised when the only give was from the curve of the bow.
After hoisting himself onto the same level as Morgan, Carson gave
him her a reassuirng pat on the shoulder, a soft touch that made the small earth mage quiver in surprise, before swinging up to a branch above the incredibly large crystal bow. He shot the much smaller mage a quick smile and a thumbs up. "I'm good to go whenever you are."
"R- right," Morgan replied, taking in a long, deep breath as he readied himself. "Is- is everyone ready? Whether we- whether we knock it down or I miss, it'll definitely know where we are after this, so m- make sure you're ready..."
Morgan shifted his weight to lean forwards, one bent leg still resting on a small perch of crystal at the base of the bow, and reached forwards with his left arm so that it met with his right, that still held onto the body of the bow firmly. His hand clenched, and from his fist manifested more crystal, a tiny shard at first that grew and grew and grew, at first taking shape as a crystaline arrowhead, but as Morgan drew his arm back it extended, becoming a huge crystal arrow almost as long as Morgan was tall. Morgan grit his teeth as he pulled the arrow back, feeling resistance as if he were pulling it against a real arrow string, and his arm trembled from the stress against his muscles.
"N- Nychta, hold it steady... Car- Carson, can you see it properly too? We've only got a few seconds before it-"
The arbor chipper began its descent again, and Morgan had no time to react before it buried itself beneath the tree line. It could pop up anywhere, and who knew how far away it would be or how briefly it would rear its head again. Morgan had no choice. He quickly wrenched the arrow back with as much force as he could muster, the bow bending under the force he put it under, and then released. There was no pang of a bowstring, but the sheer power that pushed the arrow forward and cleaved through the sky was loud enough. The arrow seemed on course, but the wind was fierce, and the chipper moved quickly. It was too high. It was going to miss... or so it seemed.
Summoning up a gust of wind, Carson guided the arrow further upwards. The crystalized projectile flew true towards its target, tearing through one of the creature's patagium in a swift blow. With half of its means of transportation gone, the arbor chipper's descent was awkward and unbalanced, ending with it crashing into the tree line.
After a second of awe, Nychta decided that since the Chipper would likely be flying awkwardly now [for fairly obvious reasons], it'd be good to cover some sort of... ground assault. With this, Nychta yelled over to Carson-- something about hands dropping, and "keeping Morgan safe, because it's gonna get a bit shaky up there," as well as "but I'm sure you'll be fine, you made it up there AND are a wind mage after all," but not forgetting "Oh, and just follow me when you're down." With that, the hands indeed begin to drop from the branches and all circled around Nychta's back, making the branches just as unsteady as they were before they were held. Nychta began turning each individual hand into a spear-- each spear amounting to about three feet long-- as he broke into a sprint towards wherever the Chipper had landed.
And then, there it was. What seemed like a "clearing" to Nychta was just the regular amount of space between each tree, and there was a bit of a slope from where he stood and where the Chipper was. Ahead of him was the giant flying squirrel they were ordered to kill, and immediately upon seeing it Nychta quickly hid into the bush. The Arbor Chipper was, presumably, too busy with the fact that there was a giant hole in one of its patagium, and while Nychta felt adrenaline course through his veins—a feeling he felt was both familiar and foreign at the same time—he decided not to deal with it until there was at least one other person on the scene. Preferably someone who could get up close and personal with it, too.
A crack and a scream that echoed through the forest made the Chipper freeze in place, before its head shot sharply towards the source, and in its new line of sight, it saw Nychta.
Behind him, a slender figure slipped and fell from his perch in the tree, wood breaking under his weight and the enormous crystal bow he had crafted coming tumbling down with him. Morgan reached out for something to latch onto but only found air, and his body crashed into another small branch and another, quickly littering his body with bruises and small tears in his clothes as he continued his free fall, flailing and screaming for dear life as he fell further and further down from his impossibly high perch atop the tree.
Fern, having been watching the chipper of doom (couldn't she cuddle it, it was actually kind of cute), snapped to attention at the sound of Morgan screaming in terror. She sprang up and into action, jumping from tree to tree and diving down to save Morgan from his untimely demise or at least serious bruising. She bit her lip as she fell, grabbing hold of her magic and using it to yank Morgan from freefall with the rest of her tiny strength. Her arms closed around his torso and legs in effectively a bridal carry. Which was a slight problem, but she worked around it and used one arm to slow them down against a tree trunk.
"Phew," she chirped, well, quietly. "I got distracted. Sorry! You okay?"
Morgan still kept his arms fully closed, the sickening feeling of weightlessness having not quite left his memories. He almost winced as Fern spoke, as if her voice alone would be enough to send him tumbling even further down the tree, the two of them still a good ten feet off from the ground.
"F- Fern?" he stuttered, as his eyes slowly opened, and he brought an arm up to wipe away a small amount of blood from his forehead where it had grazed against a branch. For a moment he was speechless, turning his head slowly to meet the eyes of his tiny, adorable saviour. "Y- you saved me."
Fern blinked, puzzled. "Uh-huh," she said. Was this a flag? Had she hit a relationship flag? Was this a Social Link? Awesome! "Well, kinda. Let's get you on the ground first." She gave a careful push and slowed her descent with care as her magic flared up slowly around her. Their descent slowed until they were about a foot from the ground. Then Fern dropped them neatly the rest of the way, landing on her feet.
Looking around, she then set Morgan down. "There you go!" she chirped. "Now you're safe!" She looked him up and down. "I'mma have to teach you how to climb."
He nodded back meekly.
Nychta winced as soon as he heard the scream—what was Carson doing? But with the quickly approaching Chipper, he couldn't really worry about that. The Chipper jumped over to the young mage with its arms hanging in front of itself, with incredibly large talons and even larger eyes. Nychta tensed up as soon as it took the first swipe towards him. It was certainly within the realm of adorable, but definitely considerably deadly. With the little time he had to, Nychta quickly stepped back, escaping a rather gross injury by the skin of his teeth, and brought up two more hands to block the Chipper's movement.
The amount of ice he had to keep track of was already becoming a headache, and as Nychta fended off what seemed to be a grab, he realized that he'd hardly had enough experience to tackle it alone. He moved his spears into position to hit the monster squirrel—although he couldn't fire them with confidence due to the fact that he was under pressure at the moment—and deflected the Chipper's attacks, over and over. He'd taken a small risk, and he'd messed up; looking the squirrel dead in the eyes, he just hoped he wouldn't have to pay the consequences.
His icy hands were cracking, a consequence of the constant chipping, and Nychta didn't think they were going to last much longer. At the same time, he was still trying to inflict what damage he could with his spears. One more dive, Nychta cursed, and his only protective measure shattered. Seriously, what was Carson doing? Hitting on their teammates?
...
Probably.
The Chipper bounded off the trees, going for a sure strike with the claws on its little monster hands. Nychta braced himself, his real flesh-and-bone arms lifted up in a boxer's stance, and hoped to maybe survive the impact intact. He did. Rather, the impact didn't come. Instead, it was the sound of slicing wind, and the screech of the Arbor Chipper being cut into. The thud against the trunk of a nearby tree.
"Huh." Nychta looked back and frowned slightly, before facing the Chipper again. "Took you long enough."
"Glad I made it in time. Thing's so cute, it's hard to hurt." Carson's sword was propped over his shoulder, part of the ground carved away behind him as he walked up to meet his comrade. He turned back toward where he came from, calling to Morgan and Fern, "Come on in, ladies! The water's fine!"
Fern blinked, roused from the social link moment. She bobbed her head and lunged forward, disappearing in the blink of an eye. She really only had one shot to get him in the back. It was so cute though! How could she do something like that... okay there was an easy reason for that. Her footsteps were fast, slightly noisy at her haste. At the very least, if a Fie couldn't gain EXP by herself, she could open the way for everyone else!
Morgan scurried after, following in the small girl's footsteps and clutching his salvaged notebook to his chest with both arms, even at the risk of falling over one of the many twisting tree roots and having no way to catch himself. "W-wait for me!" he called, as the tiny form of Fern darted off so far ahead of him he could hardly see her, or any of his team anymore for that mattter. His legs carried him as fast as they could, so far in fact that he could not slow himself down in time to stop speeding straight past the group as he bounded out from a thick bunch of bushes, could only stop uncomfortably close to the looming Arbor Chipper that snarled and hissed at his approach, but having sustained so many fierce wounds already, it seemed hesitant to attack lest it suffer another barrage from the group of mages.
Until Morgan almost screamed in fear, yelping as he scrambled backwards as fast as he could, and the Arbor Chipper charged after him, bounding into the group of young mages and throwing itself at them in a frenzy, lashing out with its claws and teeth.
"H-help me!" Morgan yelled, as he took a sharp turn and narrowly avoided the Arbor Chipper, and hide behind the taller form of Carson.
Past him, the Chipper held its path, knocking its feet against Nychta's forearms—holding them up was all he could do quickly enough to brace himself, but he was still flung backward right between a pair of trees. The monster didn't even touch the ground, kicking itself toward Carson and Morgan.
"Don't you worry about a thing, dear," Carson assured. "We can finish this now."
They had a little more time to prepare than Nychta did. Air flowed around Carson's blade, and he dragged it up from the ground in a ferocious swing just in time to make contact with the Arbor Chipper's body. The sheer force cut through a large chunk of whatever it was made of, and pulled Carson off balance, but somehow it was still flailing on its back.
Thankfully, a Fie knew exactly how to handle the situation: shadow jutsu! Well, not exactly but whatever. She stopped running and ducked under a tree that was blocking the sun. (Granted, all of them were blocking out the sun, but still.) This would work, definitely. She shut her eyes and her shadow started to wriggle. It slipped away from her and moved to the Arbor Chipper. It was a shame, it really was cute though...
Oh well.
Her shadow reached the death squirrel and grabbed a hold of its flailing body. If she really wanted to be creepy it could have come out from the ground and pinned it but Fern hadn't really thought of that! (Honest!) So it just settled for pinning it there. Fie made excited waving motions, trying to keep her concentration. She didn't really use this magic for restraint after all.
Morgan still kept close behind Carson, using him as a shield and making sure he stood between himself and the Arbor Chipper at all times. It proved wize, as Carson so eagerly protected the small form with his sword from the creature that lashed out at them with all its might. When the Arbor Chipper froze in place though, shadows grasping at the huge squirrel's form, Morgan finally, tentatively stepped out from behind his human cover. He had to help, didn't he? He couldn't just hide, could he...?
He could, but he was not sure if he could stomach the idea of letting all the others risk their lives while he did nothing.
Morgan closed his eyes and flexed the fingers on his one free hand, slowly raising it to point towards the chipper. He brought his hand across to his side and then swung it around in an uppercut with enough force to almost knock his balance, the ground cracking and fracturing along the line where he pointed, tearing through tree roots and undergrowth before cracking and breaking the ground beneath the Arbor Chipper. The tiny chasm widened, and Morgan opened his eyes, before clenching his fist and gritting his teeth.
A spear of crystal burst through the ground, the bladed tip aimed straight for the creature's heart. It flailed and clawed as it tried to free itself, turning just so that the spear missed its point but cut across the side of its shoulder, forcing a pained howl from it. Morgan smiled and wrenched his hand across, tearing the crystal spear out from its root in the ground and slamming the flat side of the spear it into the side of the creature's neck like an enormous club.
"I'll be honest," a voice called through the thick forest, "I expected you guys to get hurt more than that, but you handled yourselves really well."
Christian rejoined the team as Nychta managed to recover, the poor etherspawn lying lifeless on the ground. Around Morgan's glistening spear, the Arbor Chipper was slowly dissipating into glowing blue particles, slowly being absorbed into the ground of the Isles.
Fern called back her shadow, and breathed in and out, blinking stars out of her eyes. It was over? Already? Aww... poor cute death chipper thing. She supposed it made sense. It was their first mission, so easy was an understatement.
"
Little brutal on the finishing blow, though. Anyway, we should hurry and take care of the next part of your initiatory outing: absorbing an etherspawn." He didn't give them any time to ask questions, setting his hand on a part of the Chipper's body. "Follow along, and try to keep up. You'll only get this chance before we head back."
Explaining to the freshmen how to break down and absorb ether, the energy that made up both etherspawn and their weapons, Christian demonstrated, drawing a piece of the monster into his body. The same particles of light swirled around his arm, settling inside him, and left a large hole in the Chipper's frame. He then encouraged the rest of them to join him, having them personally experience the feeling of stealing the magic out of the beast they just killed.
As soon as he got the chance, Nychta began to approach the Chipper, with his arms hanging from his sides; the kick from the Chipper had felt quite powerful, and his arms felt a little numb, if not somewhat in pain. He looked around at his teammates and had felt a bit underwhelming around them; they'd done most of the cool stuff. Still, he looked forward at the squirrel and outstretched his hand towards it, trying to do exactly what Christian had done, in the exact same way he had done.
He began to feel the magic—or what he could only presume was magic—nearly immediately. Actually, he wasn't entirely sure that it was ether or whatever at first. He was fairly certain that he was doing something odd with his magic; like some sort of strange... influx of... magic... Huh. On second thought, Nychta realized that that was exactly what it was, however odd it may have been. Well. He broke a small smile, and it felt like his arms were suddenly devoid of pain—as if he'd just stepped onto the island again. From the contacts he'd made earlier in the day, Nychta had already gotten word of how it felt at first, but he supposed that they were right in the sense that it wasn't a feeling which was easily conveyed.
Fern stepped forward to join the others, Within seconds, her fingers closed over deceptive fur. The magic ran into her after a second or so of concentration. She's a Digimon now, for real! She's a Digimon! No wait, wait, she's still injured. Darn it. Hopes dashed. This sure felt nice either way though. Almost made up for killing the death chipper.
Morgan and Carson followed, figuring things out rather quickly and experiencing a similar euphoria.
Once the Arbor Chipper was officially no more, Carson in particular wanted to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. Exerting only the same amount of effort into his sword as before, his enhanced wind-formed edge was larger and sharper.
"You figured that out quick. Ether powers your magic, too," the student body president commented. "It's only a temporary substitute for true growth, but you can pull this off with any loose objects on the Isles for a boost to your abilities." He turned away from the students, and started heading back to the Portal Stone. "C'mon. You'll have plenty of time to relax and practice more when we make it back to school."
Fern pulled her hand into a fist and relaxed it. This was really, really weird... It was like her shadow had gotten thicker or something. For a moment, she vanished from view. Then she took a step and reappeared again. Ooh... so that was what he had met. Weird. She hurried to go after their president and her teammates, not really wanting to stay there too long.
