Up until this point, I've only used magic in the context of not getting killed in the event that I fight something, or, perhaps, someone. But, frankly, you only get into so many fights, and it seems a waste to just, like, not use magic at any given moment, y'know? That said, learning magic is pretty hard, and, though I'd like to be able to do telekinesis or something, I really don't want to go through all the work of actually learning how to do it. So, instead, I'm gonna try to adapt what I already know, but in a more practical context. 

Specifically, I'm gonna attempt to use my NWTs. Currently, at the most basic level, I can create several additional appendages. They're not nearly as useful as hands or anything, but they still could have some uses, like holding on to things, since they should be long enough to, like, coil around something. Probably. I still need to test how practical this idea actually is.

"I'm heading out into the woods for a bit." I say to S. He's currently sitting perfectly still, criss cross on the ground with his eyes closed, like he's meditating or something, as lines of sand orbit all around him. Huh, weird. But, also, strangely cool. I have no idea what the point of it could possibly be, though. 

"Right. Don't go in too deep, and be careful. If there's trouble, scream or teleport out." S said, his mouth being the only part of his body that's moving. Cool.

"Yeah." I said, as I headed off into the woods. I think, for the most part, most of the dangerous creatures reside further within the forest, so I'll probably be fine, so long as I don't piss anything off. 

That said... maybe I'll preemptively summon the NWTs, just in case, y'know? Yeah, that's wise.

I'm hoping to find some reasonably thick tree branches that I can use to test my idea. I'd like to get at least 4, but more would be good as well, so I can see how flexible the half NWTs are. 

Man, the woods are really pretty. Y'know, I think this is the first time I've went into the woods not looking for something that I'm supposed  to fight. It's an incredibly refreshing feeling. I can just enjoy the sounds of the critters, the gentle shade and comfort provided by the trees, and all the colors of nature, the greens, the browns, and even the blue sky, plus all the odd colors that thrive in the spots where the trees aren't blocking the sun, it's all so comforting. I take a sip of my cola. You don't really notice all this stuff when you've got the dread of death, the goal to take the life out of a living creature, never forgetting the possibility that it could just as easily take yours, being forced to accept the harsh reality that is the cruelty of nature and the wrong side of the circle of life.  

No, no, don't think about that right now. Take in the fresh air of nature, feel the sun rain gently upon you in between the leaves, look at the clouds, and feel at ease. Ah, yes, this is nice. I take another sip.

Oh, hey, that branch looks sufficient! A little high up, but I don't think that'll be a problem, I'll be able to snap it off fine. And nothing seems to be growing on that branch, so I don't think I'll be hurting the tree. 

Okay, it looks to be too high for me to grab with my hand, even if I jumped, and there's no way I'm gonna try climbing the tree, because, well, that seems pretty scary. Luckily, I have magic tentacles, baby! They'll reach it no problem! Ready, reach! 

Oh, right, they're only a little longer than my normal arms. Still, no matter! I have other things I can try. 

Earlier, I turned 4 tentacles into 8 by cutting the lengths of them in half. Now, I'm gonna try the opposite, turn 4 into 2 and double their length! Quality over quantity, baby! 

I get rid of the NWTs as I prepare to cast this new modification. Alright, to split them in half, I imagined just 1 part of an arm as I casted the spell. So, for this, should I think of... uh... 2 arms? I guess the opposite of a half would be 2, right? Yeah, that makes sense, probably. What's that even look like anyways... something like... uh... this? Yeah, that's probably what that would look like. I'll just imagine... that. 

Despite all ridiculousness, it worked just as planned, and I have 2 comically long NWTs. Gee, I wonder what would happen if I combined all of them and created 1 tentacle, the purest, ultimate, the prime tentacle. Wonder what that'd look like. I'm not even sure how I'd cast that... would it be 3 arms? or 4? I take another sip.

Well, that's not important right now. I got a branch to grab. Okay, for real this time. Ready, reach! 

Yep, got the branch with ease. Wonderful! Now just gotta get a grip, coiling around it seems wise. Oooh, these things are surprisingly  mobile. Guess all that length adds more control. Anyways, I gotta pull the thing off, now.

Hnng! 

Whew, that was harder than I thought. Man, either that was a particularly sturdy dead branch, or these things don't got a ton of muscle to them. I guess that'd make sense, since they're probably, like, rods of pure magic or something. Anyways, 1 of 4ish down, 3ish to go. Oh, hey I think there's a pretty thick branch on the ground, just over there. Lucky! 

Y'know, I'm getting pretty deep into the woods at this point. I shouldn't go any deeper than this. Once I pick up this one I'll head back and see if I miss-

I heard rustling in a bush next to me.

Hole, hole, go in, close. 

My heartbeat is suddenly going so fast that it's giving me a headache. 

I took several deep breaths, in an attempt to regain my composure. I also take some pretty large sips. I'm almost out, I wager.

"What happened?" S asked, still the same way he was earlier. Has he been doing that the whole time? 

"I, uh, heard something in a bush." I said, plainly. I mean, that could've been anything! A wolf, a bear, any kind of mad beast, or a bandit or some weird adventurer type or something. Too many variables, all of them terrifying. 

"Right." S said, maintaining his concentration. Man, he looks cool doing that.

Y'know, now that I'm thinking about it, I could have just used empty cans of cola and these shower in a can thingies I've been carrying around. I really don't need to go into the woods, honestly. Yeah, I'll be fine out here. 

I finish my drink. 

Alright, let's do this. I put 2 empty cans of cola and 2 empty shower in a can thingies on the ground. I get rid of my current NWTs and re-summon the 4. 

I step a good couple feet back, and I put the NWTs into action. They were able to pick up the cans pretty well. Pretty slow and clumsy, certainly not as useful as good ol' arms and hands, but they're at still pretty decent at picking things up, at least. 

I reset everything, pick them up again, and continue the cycle for a little while longer, to really get the hang of it. It's still pretty clumsy, but I think I could get used to this.  

Man, it's getting kinda dark. I looked over at S. He's still hyper-focused. Eh, y'know, I got caffeine in me, I'll be up a little later, I think we can go for a little while longer.  

Time to try something else. 

I put 3 of the cans away, back in my pockets, and throw the last one in the air, and attempt to catch it with the NWTs. The can hits the ground. Honestly, I'm not too confident I'd be able to reliably catch it even with my own hands. I've never been too good with my hands, especially when using them for catching things. Sports in general, actually. Anyways, with hands, I have the advantage of having fingers and all that. With the NWTs, I'm honestly more likely to just swat the thing out of the way.

But imagine how cool it'd be, I have my hands in my pockets, or holding something or whatever, and suddenly, oh no, a rock or an arrow or something's comin' at me, I'm screwed, when suddenly, bam, I catch it with a tentacle, hands still chillin', and toss it aside. Man, that'd look cool. Just that image makes this training worth it. 

Though, I guess for that to work, I'd have to have casted my tentacles already... Whatever.  

And thus, I tossed, missed, and tossed again for a while. I quickly lost count of how many attempts I made. Not gonna lie, it was frustrating, failing over and over and over again.

As I was doing this ad tedium, I realized that, realistically, I can't think of many 'practical' uses for being able to pick stuff up and catch stuff with these NWTs. Especially since I don't know if it'd be wise to use them in front of people. 

But as I thought that, I kept tossing, missing, and tossing again. Eventually, missing occasionally became swatting. 

Soon, I was swatting about half of the time. Then, most of the time. The end result was still the same, but I felt that, if nothing else, I was making some sort of progress. It wasn't long before I was swatting almost every time. And it stagnated like that for a while. 

As I tossed, I thought back to gym class, back in school, in my other world. I'd always found sports cool, but, well, I was never any good at them. 

toss, swat, toss, swat, toss, swat, toss, miss, toss, swat, toss, swat,

Granted, most people weren't, I mean, it was school gym class, after all, but, I mean, you can only hear 'Part of your grade is effort, you know!' or 'C'mon man, this is a team game, try a little bit!' so many times before the whole thing really starts to get on your nerves, y'know?

toss, miss, toss, swat, toss, swat, toss, swat, toss, swat,

I mean, maybe they were right. Maybe I was too scared or too stupid to actually do my best. 

toss, swat, toss, swat,

But even if that is the case, even if that's true... 

toss, swat,

I'd love nothing more than to catch that arrow, and rub it in their stupid little faces. 

And then, eventually, 

toss, grab.

I'd caught it. 

Nice.

And then I began tossing, and swatting again. 

Suck it.