27 Magic With Morgan 3: He Might Be Evil

(Morgan Pov)

"Morgan, can you check the spiders? Some of them were being aggressive towards us when we were trying to harvest the silk. Some of the girls are getting scared and don't want to work with the spiders that are still calm."(Delbee)

"I can do that, but I'm not sure how much time this will take. If it's something big, it may take me a couple of hours to fix the problem. But, If it is something not that serious it might take a couple of minutes at most."

"We are so close to preparing another bolt of silk, we just need enough spider silk to create a couple more spools of thread. We already have a couple of bolts, but after creating this last bolt we will have enough silk to make new clothes for the entire tribe."

That's nice, I could always use some extra shirts or maybe some pants. My clothes are in great condition due to my cleansing spell, it gets all off the muck and grime out. And it also prevents my clothes from smelling bad. Now that I think about it, when was the last time I took a bath?

I have been relying on that spell for so long, that I didn't even realize that I stopped taking baths altogether. Should I take baths now, or would that be weird now? The others haven't seen me take one at all. Do they do communal bathing? I don't think I'm comfortable doing that.

I think I'll stick with using the magic cleaning spell, it's much more convenient and it saves a lot of time. This is probably the weirdest decision I have made in my second life. I never thought I would be at the point where I would willingly stop bathing. I should probably focus on fixing the problem instead of this.

-------------------A Few Minutes Later

I walk into the tent and I see two blondes, Gerlinde and Lucine panicking. I also see the two pinkettes Dahlia and Sarnai calmly watching them panic. We also have two greenies Khair and Enkh who are just laughing at the panicking blondes.

I wonder who is in charge? It would be faster to ask them, they can also tell me what the problem is. I should ask Dahlia, she is always straight to the facts. There is also the fact that she is also the most levelheaded kid in the tribe. I don't count myself, I made some pretty stupid decisions in this and my previous life.

"I am here to help. So, what's the problem Dahlia? Don't leave anything out, I need every detail I can get."

"I noticed that one of the spiders didn't allow me to get near it, it tried to bite me. So I put it in that empty box. I tried getting another one, and a lot of them allowed me to harvest their silk. I thought it was just a one-time thing. So I thought it was something I can tell you later.

But then, Sarnai came up to me and told me she also ran into 3 aggressive spiders. I told her to put them in the same box I used. Things went wrong when the spiders started to crawl all over Gerlinde and Lucine. They started to run around and scream, so the adults got worried

When that happened our mother left with Auntie Carmine, Auntie Bayamaa, Auntie Saran, and Auntie Beatrice to go find you. Did you see any of them? Why aren't they here with you."

I like talking to Dahlia, she really likes learning and is always looking to learn new things. I did not waste this opportunity, I taught her many things to expand her vocabulary. I also decided to teach the other kids a lot of things. I didn't want to stand out too much with my choice of words.

"It was your mother that told me to run over here and help. She then left me to go look for the others and tell them to stop searching for me. They should be back soon. Did any of the spiders bite you or your sister?"

"No, none of the spiders bit us. You should hurry up and help out Gerlinde, I think one of the spiders bit her."

"Thank you, this was a very informative talk as usual Dahlia."

"Just get them to stop screaming, they are starting to hurt my ears."

I walk on over to the panicking blondes.

"Calm down, I am here to help. Tell me what the problem is, so I can fix it as quickly as possible."

"Morgan, one of the spiders bit me! Am… am I going to die? Please tell me I'm not going to die"(Gerlinde)

"I have to see the bite so I know what I can give you, to make you feel better or cure you."

"But… the bite it's... in an embarrassing place."

"Tell me what you feel then. One of the others can describe to me what the bite mark looks like. Feeling any pain, itchiness, nausea, or any swelling?"

"I'm feeling a bit of itchiness, and the place where the spider bit me feels a bit bigger."

"That's called swelling, I'll give you this, for now just to be safe. I want to check out the area where the spider bit you, but if you don't want to that's fine. I'll go check out the spiders to see what the problem is. If you need me, pat my shoulder to get my attention."

Alright, let's see what the problem is, I hope it's just the spell wearing off and not anything major.

----------------A Few Hours Later

Well, that was a fucking experience I don't want to deal with ever again. The spell was working just fine, it was just that the spiders became more affectionate for some reason. And the way they wanted to show their affection, was through love bites. How can I tell?

I created a spell that tells me the emotions a target is feeling. There are a couple of problems with this spell, it works if I have physical contact with the target. I also have to overpower the target with magic, in other words, the target needs to have a res stat less than 6.

I came up with this spell by accident, while experimenting with the mind. Beings like Clara that can read my mind or speak directly to it terrify me. Clara hasn't done anything that could harm me or even attempted anything of the sort, but I can't assume other beings aren't like her.

I should be prepared in case anything tries to get into my mind, I need to have defenses in case anything wants to mess with my mind. I'm okay with forgetting about the magic that forms the basis of my power, my knowledge of spear play, or even my survival skills.

I do not want to forget anything about my loved ones. I will do everything in my power to safeguard those precious memories. Messing with the mind is the riskiest thing you can do, but I can't rest knowing some beings can interact with my mind.

Dark magic is very potent, it can affect not only the physical but also the conceptual. In other words, messing with the mind is one of the signature traits. I already experienced firsthand how it changes, I had a question on my mind. How do I use this to my advantage?

I messed around doing a lot of things, trying to understand what unique power I was given. Trying to understand what I can and can't control, what are the inherent strengths and weaknesses of my magic. I of course made some discoveries and tested what I learned.

My power has to deal with the concept of forcing a balance, and I can somewhat control how it achieves that balance. I can control what gets increased or decreased in me or my target. I still don't know the limits of what I can do with this, but better to learn how to crawl before running.

For all I know, this is just a rudimentary application of my power, but what I can do right now with this application alone is scary. It's a tough balancing act, but I can increase my mental resistance by lowering some other things about me.

As long as the result is a net-zero change, I can decrease a little from one area and a lot from another area. This is my workaround to the inherent flaws of dark magic warping my mind and changing me. I force myself to maintain a constant personality, so I don't lose sight of who I am.

Before I made the decision to use this sort of mental manipulation on myself, I did some tests just to be safe. I used insects as test subjects, I needed something I can easily dispose of if things go wrong. My experiments were fruitful, I came up with a lot of useful spells that in theory work and have broader applications.

I know dark magic can affect the surroundings. And I know that the changes caused by dark magic can be irreversible. It's all a matter of power, and I know that I am still limited by my current power. My magic isn't potent, it doesn't linger for long when it is outside of my body.

To get around this I need to not only have contact with my target, but I have to make sure the effects of my magic linger. To do this I need to maintain that contact with that target for a long time. Depending on the target I may need to expend more magic to maintain that spell.

The spiders are a relatively small target, as a result, I can engulf them in my magic without much effort. Combine that with their low resistance and I can make sure my magic lingers inside of their bodies. With enough exposure to dark magic, I think those changes could be permanent.

The spiders we use for our silk products, I did something different to them. I wanted to contribute to the tribe, then I remembered something from my past life. Spider silk clothes and armor existed, so I knew it was possible to make something out of their silk.

I decided to use poisonous spiders, just in case others find out what spiders I used to create our silk. I want there to be a risk involved for the others that want to attempt what I have done. I discovered not only a way to use my magic to subdue them but to change their physiology.

To get them to produce more silk, I got rid of their ability to produce poison as a way to maintain a balance. In time their bodies have adapted to suit this change, and while they look poisonous, they are completely harmless. The fact that I can do something like this scares me.

I haven't tried doing this to a human being, I'm too scared of what I will become if I even try it once. I know in time I will have the power to make this possible, and the temptation to do this will always be there. I can't be alone, I need people to keep me grounded in reality.

If I let my morals lapse for even a second, I could lose sight of who I am. This is why I constantly write down anything of major importance to me. Every little bit counts towards steering me away from becoming something my loved ones would be ashamed of.

I try not to use dark magic too much, but I can't deny the results I get when I use it. It's a very fine line I'm walking, but I can manage. I just need to remember my primary goal in this life, and never have any delusions of grandeur. Pride is dangerous, and it won't let it be my downfall.

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