I had exhausted all my mana moving between the weirwoods, but I could still feel the mana within these trees and was beginning to better understand how they had been created through rituals. Earth, wind, water, and fire lay at the core of their existence. I could understand earth and water, but I did not understand why wind, and especially fire, existed within these trees. Of course, blood sacrifices were also essential. Many lives had to be sacrificed to create a single tree.
Just then, the mana within the tree began flowing into my body, enveloping me completely. My mana core worked as hard as it could to refine this mana and make it a part of me.
I could feel my mana growing with every second. My breakthrough to a level three druid had begun; mana swirled around me, slowly entering my heart. A few minutes later, I had 120 mana, then I felt an explosion within me as this mana formed a second mana ring around my mana heart.
I was drenched in sweat, and the breakthrough had exhausted me, but the two mana rings began spinning faster around my mana heart, continuing to absorb mana from my surroundings. I could not breathe. My body began to feel like an overinflated balloon, and I felt as though I might burst at any moment. Just when I could no longer bear the pain, they stopped absorbing mana, and I could finally breathe again.
My clothes were soaked through, but I was now a level three druid. As usual, information about spells began flowing into my mind, but this time there was something else: I now had the ability to perform ritual magic. My ritual magic was not powerful yet. Like any skill the Order God had given me, this one also had a weak beginning. None of the rituals I could perform now were permanent.
I currently had only three rituals, all of them temporary.
The first allowed me to purify a water source for a day, and I could cast it once a week. So if I went to a water source, I could purify a stream or a well.
With the second, I could create a five-square-meter healing circle once a day that lasted for an hour. Anyone who entered the circle could receive minor healing. Minor wounds on those who entered this area would heal immediately. It could not heal internal organs or bones, but it could stop bleeding.
The third treated minor illnesses. I could not cure deadly diseases like scarlet fever, but since I could use it to reduce a fever, it could give people a little help in resisting deadly diseases if their bodies were strong enough. It could also cure a common cold. It lasted for an hour and could be cast five times a day.
Since advancing to level three, I now had 150 mana and had gained some level three spells. I had received a new healing spell, and this time it was a true healing spell.
Medenvita (nourish and strengthen the body) was more of a spell for enhancement and treating illness than a healing spell.
This one was called Abra Ruklo (flower of life). Although it could heal minor wounds and hairline fractures, it could not heal internal organs or broken bones. However, frequent casting could stop bleeding and accelerate healing. It cost 15 mana.
All my level one and level two spells now cost less mana than before. Level one spells cost three mana, and most level two spells cost five.
Thanks to obtedȳñes (summon animals), I could create animals of the same species as my familiars. With this spell, I could create five small animals, two medium-sized animals, or one large animal.
So now I could summon five snakes, five ravens, or two Rottweilers. Small animals could also be summoned from my hands, which would make this a very effective close-combat spell.
I could summon five venomous snakes and throw them at my enemies. Of course, they were not real animals, only things that looked like them, and would disappear after half an hour.
Zagon jelmāz (summon lightning) could summon lightning, just as its name suggested, but the spell had two versions.
In the first version, lightning shot from my hands, but the second version could create real lightning during a storm when we were outdoors. Its mana cost would be halved, but its power would triple because it was a real bolt of lightning. It cost 15 mana.
Figumorfus (shapeshifting), the druid spell I had been looking forward to most, was finally mine.
I could now take an animal's form, but this was not shapeshifting in the fullest sense. The spell currently had many restrictions: I could only become one of my familiars' species, and I could not change my mass or size. This meant I could not become a smaller or larger animal. Finally, even if I turned into a Rottweiler, I would not have a dog's body.
It would still be my muscles and bones, meaning I would not be as fast as a dog, or if I turned into a shark, I would not be able to breathe underwater. But it was still a useful scouting ability; no one would give a dog a second glance. Like most level three spells, it cost 15 mana.
The Tegon impulse (earthquake impact) spell created a blast of force ten meters in diameter centered on me, damaging everyone around me and pushing them away with its force.
The hebagumen (plant growth) spell was not much help to me now, but it would be one of my most useful spells in the future. It could double the growth rate and yield of plants within two kilometers of me. The drawback was that I could only cast it once a week.
Once my mana circulation returned to normal, I stood up and headed to my room. When I reached the building, I could telepathically sense the apocalypse unfolding inside.
Bo, Erebus, and Berus were fighting. I ran upstairs, and when I opened the door, the sight before me shocked me.
When I entered the room, all four of my companions were there. Yimu lay quietly on my bed, but the other three were tangled together.
What shocked me was their size. Just yesterday, Bo had been 70 centimeters, Erebus one meter, and Berus 70 centimeters from head to toe.
Now Bo was one meter, Erebus was 1.3 meters, and Berus was 90 centimeters. I approached the bed, and when I checked Yimu, I noticed that he had also grown 30 centimeters.
Meanwhile, Yimu turned his head toward me and said, "Master, I've been standing here behaving myself the whole time, but the other animals keep misbehaving."
Hearing Yimu speak gave me another shock. Yimu could use complete sentences rather than broken phrases. I took a deep breath; I had to calm the other companions down first.
"Everyone, stop! What happened here? Someone tell me right now. Why are you fighting?"
They all stared at me in silence. I looked at Bo, signaling for her to tell me.
"Dad, we were all asleep, but suddenly, mana began filling me, and I woke up in pain. Within a few minutes, I began growing, and the same thing happened to the others. Erebus fell from where he was standing onto Berus and accidentally dug his claws into Berus's back."
Meanwhile, Berus walked over to me and said,
"Master, Erebus hurt my back. It really hurts. Look, look. My back is bleeding." He turned toward Erebus and began growling. Berus could speak in complete sentences now too.
"I didn't do it on purpose. Stop crying, you crybaby."
When I looked at Berus's back, there was a deep wound, and he was bleeding. When I looked at Erebus's claws, one was covered in blood, and each was six to seven centimeters long. It looked as though he had four little knives on each foot.
To soothe Berus, I began stroking his head, and he leaned against my leg, making crying sounds. Technically, he was still a baby; he was not even a year old yet.
"Abra Ruklo (flower of life)."
The moment I cast the spell, the bleeding wound on Berus's back began healing slowly but visibly. A few minutes later, all traces of the wound had disappeared. There was not even a scar; it was as though the wound had never existed.
"Master!! My wound is healed. Is this the mana Bo talked about?"
I turned to Erebus and said,
"Erebus, you may have hurt Berus accidentally, but when you do that, you should apologize. You're friends, even brothers, so you shouldn't fight like this. I'm telling all of you to be friendly to one another."
After calming them down, I sat on the bed. Only then did I realize that they had all already been large animals for their species, and now they had grown even bigger.
Berus was the smallest of his litter; his siblings were all only 50 to 60 centimeters long. As the smallest, he had grown bigger than most of the adult Rottweilers in the kennels.
After seeing them, Ser Rodrik would definitely nag me about being a warg. What should I do?
After some thought, I decided to take all my companions to the Wolfswood. I decided to establish a small base near the weirwood in the center of the Wolfswood.
It was two in the morning, and I had to wait until morning; the Citadel gates were either locked or guarded. But I could sneak out of the Citadel using the Figumorfus (shapeshifting) spell. Even if I could get out, there was another problem. I had not received permission to stay outside. I would need two days to reach the druid tree in the Wolfswood, while others would need five or six days to get there.
Thanks to inanis motu (traceless movement), I could run through the forest without any trouble, and the forest would give me a level path. The distance between Winterfell and the center of the forest was about 300 kilometers.
Now I had to ask myself whether I wanted to leave without permission and be punished later, or wait until morning to get permission. Ser Rodrik usually allowed me to camp in the wilderness for a week before dealing with bandits. It was better not to damage the relationships I had built over something so small. I might need that goodwill later.
"Shapeshifting."
When I cast the spell, I felt a wave of dizziness and swayed a little, but it quickly passed. My body was changing shape, yet I could not feel anything.
I truly could not feel anything; it was as though my entire body had gone numb. I could not move or even feel the chair beneath my hands. I had completely lost my sense of touch.
The numbness made me feel claustrophobic, but a few minutes later, I became a Rottweiler the same size as Berus and felt my sense of touch return, calming me down.
Aside from my field of vision, I did not feel any different, but when I tried to move, I felt a huge difference.
Dogs moved differently from humans, and I did not have a dog's muscle memory or muscular structure. Yes, my bones and muscles had taken a dog's shape, but functionally, nothing had changed. After walking around the room for a few minutes, I could walk slowly without any trouble, but running was still impossible.
Bo and Erebus followed us through the air, carrying Yimu, while Erebus and I headed toward an open Citadel gate. As I walked along the road, I thought the snow-covered path would feel cold, like stepping barefoot on ice. But it was nothing like that. Yes, I did feel a little cold, but it was not uncomfortable. As we approached the gate, I could hear the gatekeepers talking.
Naturally, both gatekeepers were looking outward, and since we approached very quietly, they only noticed us when we passed them and went outside. One of the guards shouted in alarm.
"What the hell! You bastards scared the piss out of me!" He raised the shaft of his spear, ready to hit us, but the guard beside him stopped him.
"Can't you see how big and well-fed these dogs are? They must have escaped from the kennels. Do you want to hurt them and get yourself in trouble?"
The guard thought for a moment, then lowered his spear.
"Then what should we do? Catch them?"
The older guard sighed and said,
"Are you an idiot? Do you want to wrestle dogs in this cold? Let them go. If they're trained dogs, they'll come back, and if they aren't, it's none of our business."