The Basilisk

The last leg of their journey started at a large shanty village built up on a massive stone bridge that forded a mountain river. The village itself was nothing more than a few dozen family sized shacks and a handful of public or commerce buildings in the middle. Despite the fact that they were a small village their main export for trade was lumber that was rafted down the river.

There were only a couple of families that hunted and fished to satisfy the needs of the rest of the labor village.

From here my family and friends would head out to scout for breeding nests set up along the river's tributaries. I, however, would be starting my pilgrimage by heading upstream up the mountain. I, for the first time in either of my lives, was going to journey off alone into some wilderness.

If not for the potential man-eating magical beasts, this could easily be equated to a summer vacation camping trip. It would, of course, be easy like a well planned vacation for someone like me. I had enough magic, know-how, and gadgetry to transport a small army on my person at all times.

At the village, though, I found myself dragging out the process of preliminary checks and last minute shopping. I was honestly excited to go on this trip but I was honestly just as terrified of going off on my own. Anything at all could happen in these mountainous wilds, especially during a breeding season- and it would just be me out there to deal with it.

Dragons were a thing in this world. Lesser species of dragons did inhabit certain areas of the mountainous countryside in neighboring regions. I might have to fight a fucking dragon.

Most anything but magical aerial predators could be easily captured by my magics. Magical birds of prey and even certain insects like advanced metaflies were either too fast or too strong to be comfortably contained or 'snatches' to finish them.

Even reptiles with dragon heritage had some level of natural magic resistance, something pure enough in genes to be flight capable would probably be moderately resistant at the very least. With a Strength stat below one hundred, I would be troubled to break through a lesser dragon or drake's scales with basic magic weapons. I would have to use one of my trump cards and that would damage potential profits.

Against a flock of such enemies, I would be hard pressed to come out alive.

Luckily, there were only a few such predators with enough potential to scare me. However, all of them could be found at any given time once you're 'a few days out' from civilization. This was the general rule of thumb at the Guild.

So, it was with enough hesitance to leave that I actually agreed to stay for an early dinner with everyone before heading out on my pilgrimage. Everybody else were all excited for their early evaluation and talked about it non-stop as if it they considered it a family outing.

Considering their overall stats and equipment alone, a mission such as this should prove easy for them even if they had to face a small flock of drakes. Count in their individual magical abilities and they were equal to no less than two of me. The real difference was that they had less tricks.

After dinner, though, I finally got myself together and started wandering around the public areas of the massive granite bridge village. I had already picked up a few last minute goods as well as information about the surrounding areas. The locals were a decent source of information about things like the beasts that frequented the area and what the weather was usually like.

I actually stopped on the way out to pick up a small casting net but eventually I finally did leave.

Once I was outside the village and wandering up the rocky riverbank I started hovering on my wisps until it became too dark for me to see without magic. For camp, I simply stretched the hoverboard shape of my combined wisps and laid down on them for a bed. Because of how powerful these wisps were when compared to wild specimens, they acted as a natural ward against wild animals.

If my parents ever found out I did something like this while hovering only ten feet above the river itself they would probably never let me leave town again.

The next morning, I let both of my wisps rest in my body before eating a light breakfast of venison jerky while walking. Because the village was relatively small and their hunting impact was similarly sized, it did not take long before I spotted the first signs of dangerous wildlife. An adult basilisk lying at the bottom of the river.

Basilisks in this world were pretty much the alligators and crocodiles of my world with a few subtle changes. Basilisks only had a pair of back legs and those legs were proportionately long. They were mainly just upper bodies like a stretched frog with extremely long reptilian tails. This one had a four-foot upper body with about ten feet of tail and an estimated Strength in the thirties.

The river was roughly as deep as its tail was long and four times as wide across, leaving me safely outside of its range some ten yards from the water's edge. Even from its current position, with a Strength that was no loss than three times its body weight the basilisk could potentially leap out of the water at me. However, my current aura was a brilliant storm of light that revealed my magical strength.

Even if the basilisk could not directly sense my aura it could recognize an even stronger predator as a fellow predator.

While basilisks did have some conductivity in their thick amphibian skin that even made them magic resistant to a slight degree, they were not overall profitable except to sell as pets like Gryn and his friends did. However, the presence of a maturing basilisk like this one meant that this was the edge of civilization on this mountainside. From here on out would be prey and predators.

When I found the basilisk and reached this milestone at the edge of civilization, I wanted to be dramatic and do something to celebrate. While most people would probably kill the basilisk just for the trophy, I decided to do something a little more pilgrimage-like. I was going to make the basilisk into a guardian spirit.

The first step in such a project was capturing not only the basilisk but also a steady supply of food. I caught the food before I caught the basilisk, simply reaching out my awareness into the trees, river, and bushes to seek out wildlife and suitable plants. Into a quickly crafted and voided granite jar went a handful of trout and whitefish as well as ten gallons of water.

After purifying and blessing the water with both magic and prayer to enrich it and the fish, I pull up an assortment of insects from the ground and forestry to likewise bless and enrich with magic. This was simply food to help prime the fish. Into a set of stone cages transmuted with alchemy went an assortment of small game animals and birds.

The birds could share insects with the fish but I had to stretch myself out thin and far to find magical herbs besides the ever present glowing flowers. Once I had a few varied herbs and insects all blessed and in the cages, I used my wisps to carry the cages before using telekinesis to forcibly coil the basilisk up and pull it up out of the water. Of course it tried to writhe and thrash about, but I had close to twice its Strength with my title benefits and it could not leave the position I held it in.

Because the basilisk was am ambush predator it did not have much of an Endurance and after twenty minutes of fighting its Strength with my magic it finally gave up. Once it finally started losing the will to fight physically, I could attack it on a mental level by trying to fill its lesser mind with my awareness. If the creature already had magic, I could use my magic to attract and overwhelm them but for now I had to do this in multiple steps.

After a few minutes of condensing its sub-intelligent mind into a single point, I started filling it with magic and letting it expand from a near-death point into an entirely new consciousness. Stabilizing the magical connection within our minds, I spread my mana throughout its body to stimulate its bones and muscle fibers the same way I did its mind.

This had the potential to be one of the most excruciating tortures known to man, but after condensing a non-intelligent creature's consciousness it was basically the same as crushing and killing every inch of them already. They felt nothing from the act of physio-magical stimulation. Even though it was a near instantaneous breakdown-and-reconstruct of their bodies.

This process was essentially a living transmutation that enriched their bodies before 'enchanting'. In this case, magical awakening and possible mutation of both the body and ego. Like the development of my wisps, this would happen naturally after a few years with a familiar but this was a better shortcut.

The basilisk was now basically a mobile vegetable that followed telepathic guidance. It now stood up on its hind legs and leaned back on its tail to take long and slow bounding steps forward. Behind me.

After a few days of feeding at night and in the morning with enriched food, it should be ready to reach a crescendo while I am blessing the mouth of the spring feeding the river.

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