New Room Mate

In the jungle of Wildlings where many savage beasts reside, there exists one territory none dare to encroach upon. To the beasts, it is known as the hunter cub's abode.

There, they find not only the cub, but its parent whom the scent of death lingers about.

However in that very cave one could witness the miracle of life at play.

A miraculous little owl was about to be born, marking the beginning of an epic, all intelligent beasts would come to idolize.

-CRACK….crack crack

"Hurry up dad, it's gonna hatch!"

Clumsily carrying a heap of pelts and fur, father made his way to the fire.

"Here, take those and cover the little fellow when it comes out."

Nodding profusely, I took them from his hand and waited at the ready. Nervous and fidgety I clenched my jaw trying to calm my shivering teeth.

I looked at my calm father and wondered in my head. 'Were you this nervous? This is normal right, right?'

"Don't look at me like that, I wasn't anything close to the mess you are."

I stared at him dumbfounded 'How did he know, I…'

"BAHAHAHH, it's all over your face boy!"

-CRACK

More noises from the egg interrupted our banter. We stopped fooling about and sat close to the egg waiting for it to hatch.

The egg gave one final crack, and a small beak protruded out of the shell. Soon it gave way to a small creature with very thin black feathers. It tapped its feet on the pelt beneath it, before it gave a soft screech.

"Hurry up and cover it with the blanket"

My father instructed me urgently gesturing at the blanket. I did as I was told, quickly trying to cover the small bird yet in my nervousness I completely smothered the small owlet.

"Shit"

A curse slipped for the second time, and a smack to the back of my head reminded me that I was a five year old, and that my father was right behind me.

"Where did you learn that word Elias"

'Dammit, I've been holding back my dirty mouth for five years, and now I slip!'

Turning around I uttered the words all fathers dread.

"I-I heard you say it last night"

As if the world fell apart, my father's face turned redder than a ripe tomato.

"A-Are you son? You must have hear me wrong, I was, Uhm….Whatever, just don't say it again A-AND don't tell mommy alright?"

His flustered response came quick, gesturing with his hands and trying to explain himself.

'Phew, safe'

-screech

Just then, interrupting us once again, the small owlet peaked its tiny head from the blanket and gave a low screech.

'S-so cute!!'

Its tiny body was covered with very thin black feathers. It had big black eyes and a tiny black beak adorning its adorable face.

The little owlet pattered forward and hopped into my lap, nuzzling close between my legs. I picked it up gently, wrapping it in fur and held it close to my face.

"Welcome to Eos Eset."

###

"C'mon, c'mon"

Sat in front of the cave with my arm stretched outward, I twirled my wrist and clenched my fingers, focusing intently on the small rock floating in front of me.

Half the rock was reflecting the morning sunlight, while the other half was flickering between the dull brown color of the earth and a metallic sheen.

'Almost there….'

Squeezing every last drop of Aeter I had, I pushed more threads of it into the small rock, begging the small piece of earth to turn into iron.

-Clatter…

'DAMMIT'

Unfortunately, even a month after I first started practicing the transmutation of earth, I was unable to fully convert it.

On the bright side, I was able to convert a fraction of the intended surface, thus adding more power to my attacks.

"Patience is a virtue, isn't that what they say…damn idiots."

With a sigh I got up and entered my very humble abode only to be greeted by a soft hoot the moment I stepped foot inside.

Eset, the small black owlet perked up from upon her perch. She fluttered her tiny cute wings in happiness hooting repeatedly.

I almost missed her, but can you blame me? She had soft dark feathers, blending in completely with the surrounding environment. If not for the small white stubs atop her heart shaped temple, she would have been darkness incarnate.

'The perfect hunter'

I rubbed her feathery head affectionately, and tapped her beak with my finger then fed her some small rodents.

"Good girl Eset, here have some more."

The owlet gulped down her food, then stood at the end of her perch wanting to jump over to me. She looked over the edge and poised her body forward, hesitating.

With a chuckle, I stretched my arm, allowing her to walk over and settle on my right shoulder.

"HAHAHA, I'm not a tree you know"

Eset tilted her head adorably at my notion which got me clenching my chest as an imaginary arrow went right through it.

'C-CUTEE!!'

Finishing my theatrics, I headed inside the cave and opened a book where I stored all my mastered spells. There, I added one more spell in addition to all the ones I already had in there ;{ Nature's kiss}

Nature's kiss was a spell I derived in order to heal myself; it was a spell where I harnessed the nutrients in the earth's soil to heal.

Inside the book, I had recorder a repertoire of spells that I have learned these past few months. Of which were {Earth shackles}, {Aeter arrow}, {Earth puppet}

These three spells were what I made myself with no tome to lead me. {Earth shackles} was a spell that materializes shackles around the intended target. The perfect spell to constrict prey, I should know, I used it many times.

{Aeter arrow}, was a spell that conjures an arrow made of Aeter energy; pretty straight forward stuff. Funny story about this one, I ran out of arrows when hunting a very elusive rabbit, and I mean VERY elusive. The damn bastard was called a speedy rabbit; a C rank beast with green fur and a brown horn. I ran out of arrows hunting it, and got into a pinch after it started attacking me. I could have used my trusty hatchet, but in a moment of genius I imagined nocking an arrow of Aeter...and it appeared. It seems all that meditation and property changing did wonders to my Aeter control.

Finally {Earth puppets}, it was a spell that forms puppets of earth, molded to my imagination. It was a very versatile spell with many uses, yet it had a very tough restriction. During the spell, as there is nothing powering the puppet but my energy, I have to keep on powering the puppet indefinitely until call off the spell.

However despite my pride of learning new spells, what had me confused, was the runes that appeared on the magic circle when thee spells are activated. What I discovered, comparing them to spells I learned in a magic tome, is that they are able to be modified. The runes on the magic circle, seem to come alive allowing me to fiddle with them. Adding anything incompatible with the spell, could cause it to turn unstable and come undone. On the flip side, I believe adding compatible runes would strengthen it; something to work on in the future.

"Oh well, I have all the time in the world don't I"