Upon entering the courtyard, I decided to play around in the large empty space. Before I could properly test my new physical abilities and changes to my spellcasting abilities, I made sure to lay down a multilayered ward, to shield my surroundings. This ward was to stop me from accidentally obliterating the entire castle and every other living thing in it if I accidentally lost control or underestimated my ability.
This would allow me to practice with both my magic and my body, without worrying about my castle and Soea.
It surprised me how easy it was to lay down the ward, it seemed to consume less Mana then before, but I also had expected this. Not only had my maximum Mana increased, my affinity with magic itself had also increased, which meant that my spells used less mana and were more powerful.
I liked this transformation more and more as I discovered the changes that had occurred.
Just by a simple check, I could tell that my Mana was now at least twenty to thirty percent purer.
The spell which I had selected, to be the first test, was known as 'Magic Arrow'. One of the spells that anyone with even the slightest knowledge of magic knew. It had almost no Mana cost, and a very short casting time, which when combined with my skill 'Chant Omission' was both instant cast and cast very rapidly.
Magic Arrow was a verbal spell, so most people without the 'Chant Omission' skill would have a short chant, which could be shortened with practice to just the keywords.
I gathered Mana into the palm of my right hand and directed it towards the ground a meter in front of me. I kept the Mana contained for a second to make sure that Soea was safely outside the barrier of the Ward, I fired the Magic Arrow.
The results were rather unexpected.
When the Magic Arrow hit the ground, the whole yard flashed with a brilliant multi-coloured light, and the entire ward shook and rippled from the backwash of the power.
A massive concussive force and explosive sound occurred.
Long ago, I had modified my Magic Arrow to be more explosive, at the cost of penetrating power, but this was beyond even my expectations.
Soea looked worried as she peered through the cloud of dust which my spell raised, until she saw that I was untouched, let alone unharmed, by the concussive force.
Of course, I wouldn't allow an explosion that weak to even rustle a single feather of mine, but her worry for me, it made me feel happy.
When I grinned and gave her a thumbs-up, showing that I was fine, she relaxed and smiled back.
But I could still see the surprise in her eyes.
I had already placed soundproofing on the ward, so Soea and the Thralls wouldn't go deaf, but it seemed that I needed to add another soundproofing and shielding ward around myself.
This was to both stop my ears from hurting and to make it so that I didn't need to spend any Mana on affecting the wind currents and force vectors just to stop dust from getting on my clothing and new wings.
At the same time, I strengthened the original ward, factoring in the new power and purity of my Mana.
After finishing this, I returned to testing the capabilities of my new spellcasting in this form, though I stayed at spells that were at or below level-two, so that I couldn't lose control of them.
I could do more damage with just manipulating Mana with my will than from a structured level-two spell.
Though I liked playing with magic, which was also my speciality, I was also a Magic Swordsman. In general combat, I used my magic daggers alongside quick cast runes and non-verbal spells, using most of my magic power to enhance my physical capabilities well beyond normal 'mortal' limits.
Looking back at my magical strength, both when I was a Hero, and when I was an enhanced ex-Hero, I noted that my current base spell power had increased by around three to five times.
This was a massive increase, especially for someone who could cast spells like I could. It meant that I was getting noticeably closer to my end goal of being able to kill the bastard god Arre, closer, but still not yet there.
Yes, I knew that the worst possible thing for me to do was to get overconfident. Master had made sure to teach me that lesson when I was still studying under her, every time I got an increase in power and began to feel invincible, she would teach me a painful lesson.
After testing my magic, it was time to verify my physical capabilities.
Before the Transformation, I already had base statuses that could rival most of the Ancient Monsters and Elder Beings in the Dark Lands, so when the Transformation reactivated my Hero genetics, I had no idea what they were at now.
After moving through a few of the Katas that Master taught me, starting slow and then speeding up as I got more and more comfortable. My statuses had increased similarly to my magic, so my pure physical abilities were around the level of the lowest Demigods. Though I couldn't match any of them in age, experience, wisdom, or the most vital aspect: Divine Power.
Once a being transforms from mortal, or 'Supermortal', to a Demigod, they develop something called 'Divine Power'. This Divine Power is like a super condensed form of Mana combined with Soul Power, it allows them to use spells that anyone below divinity cannot.
They can also use this power to boost their already scary physical abilities exponentially.
This last aspect of Divine Power is actually the most dangerous part, because it is basically reinforcement magic that has no limits, no casting time. As well as increasing speed and strength, it can increase the physical defence of their skin and their innate resistance to magic.
A normal human utilizing a small amount of Divine Power can defeat a lesser Dragon without a scratch, ripping it apart purely with their physical strength, their skin deflecting all claw and breath attacks.
These people are known as Heroes.
Heroes borrow Divine Power from the deity that summons them, which is why they can do something like killing a Demon King, who also has Divine Power.
That generation's Demon King is the Hero of the Demon God, everyone knows this. But what almost no one knows is that the Demon God is just an aspect of Arre, his Dark Side.
Everyone knows: For there to be light, there must be darkness, and the brighter the light, the darker the darkness.
Arre used his Dark Aspect, the Demon God creating Anti-Heroes: AKA Demon Kings as a lure and an excuse to summon Heroes from other worlds to feed himself. He used the Demon Kings as a whet stone, to sharpen the power of the Hero.
Sometimes he boosted Demons born in this world, and they would be fated to lose since they were weaker than summoned Heroes. But sometimes he would summon Demon Kings from other worlds, and if they beat the Hero, they would suffer the same fate as their heroic counterpart.
I no longer had any Divine Power, of course, because Arre had taken it all back when he betrayed me.
A Hero could become a Demigod much more easily than a normal being could, because they were constructed to contain Divine Power. They didn't require the blessings of both the Source of Magic and the Source of Life, though they were weaker than the Demigods that resulted from the two blessings.
As I had expected, my speed and strength were increased to a level much higher than even when I was summoned as a Hero, I was glad for the ward I placed, otherwise, even a single shockwave from my punches and kicks could blast a hole through the stone walls.
Back when I defeated the Demon King, he had already been weakened by a Holy 'curse' from the Pope and an army of a hundred Priests, which was the only reason that we could beat him after only a year of travel and training.
He was one of the oldest Demon Kings, he had killed many Heroes in past conquests, and I still have no idea why Arre hadn't harvested him by that time. Maybe he was a born Demon King, so Arre couldn't consume him without losing a large amount of the power.
But I also had the suspicion that when he was at full power, he may have been at the cusp of the Demigod stage, and had partially wriggled out from under Arre's control.
This could explain why this time, Arre had mobilized a large portion of the Church's fighting force to weaken him before I and the rest of my party arrived.
Having finished playing around, I mean, getting used to my new abilities, I decided that it was time to go get the items and to use my new wings in a real flight.
Dispelling the ward, I flapped my new wings and launched rapidly into the air.
Soea, who had been closely watching me, hurriedly flapped her wings and joined me. She stayed three metres away from me, a safe distance.
As I looked over at Soea, I noted again that my raven-like wings were feathered and looked completely different to the normal Demonic bat-like wings.
To be honest, I liked my wings more, they looked cooler.
Since I had never flown with wings before, it took me a while and a lot of effort to get used to flying, and I didn't even have a tail to help me keep my balance.
I had to use instant cast levitation magic a few times to stop myself from falling, or listing too much to one side, or accidentally bumping into my worried pet. Soea had stayed at a safe distance, but I was teetering all over the place, and sometimes she couldn't dodge quickly enough.
The worry in her eyes, and the way that she would instinctively reach out to grab me when I staggered mid-flight made me feel strangely good. Her hands were outstretched and would twitch every time I moved strangely, which seemed to trigger my sadism slightly, so I did fly badly for a little longer than was absolutely necessary.
While I hated it when she was really worried or scared, yet this protective side of her made me feel good.
What is with my emotions recently?
I hadn't been this confused since Master taught me the ancient Divine Language. She would speak only in that language, and I had to reply only in that language. I wouldn't even be able to get any food unless I asked with the correct words and grammar.
Anyway, after I managed to get full control of my movement, and stopped teasing my pet, I allowed Soea to fly closer to me. Though we kept a minimum distance of one meter more than the full distance of the combined size of our wings, between us, for a mid-air crash would be annoying.
"Soea, let's race!" As I spoke, I turned towards a direction and started flapping my wings.
"My Loooord..." Her voice echoed out behind me as she was surprised by the sudden action and then had to flap madly to try to catch up to me, I could hear from her voice that she felt wronged.
I know, I cheated, but it was amusing.
It took a few seconds for my madly flapping minion to partially catch up, I had only flapped once with all my strength and was now gliding along, it wouldn't be a fun race if I got too far ahead.
Soea looked at me with teary eyes, like I had wronged her. She was deliberately using her puppy eyes and cuteness to protest my treatment.
She knew that I found her attractive, and she was starting to use that knowledge well.
Well, I originally planned to race, but my speed far outstripped hers, so every time I flapped my wings, it was equal to her flapping three or four times.
I smiled at my pet, and after finally catching up, she returned the smile.
"Hmm, well, let's not race," I spoke reassuringly to my poor, hard done by pet.
To which she grinned happily, "Thank you, My Lord. You would win anyway."
She was starting to pant, getting tired already.
So, I slowed down, flapping just enough to keep airborne and primarily gliding along.
Luckily, she could keep up with that speed.
I was unsure how to fly slower if I had to.
With my decrease in speed, Soea managed to catch up and catch her breath.
"Thank you, my lord." She spoke softly, flying by my side. Well, separated by a meter and a bit, but for flying beings, this was right next to each other and only people who completely trusted each other would fly this close.
Strangely, my raven-like feathery wings could glide very well, though I didn't know if real ravens could glide, but eagles and birds of prey were specialized at gliding.
The feeling of the wind rushing through my feathers, and rustling my hair, I really liked it.
I had, of course, flown before.
But it was either by magic, or on the back of Master when she was polymorphed into the form of a Dragon. Polymorph spells didn't work on me because of my Soul Skill, so Master would carry me as we flew around.
I felt a strange sense of pride as I thought of my wings, my speed, and my ability to glide.
Soea smiled quietly beside me as she looked at my face.
After around twenty minutes, I decided that I had played enough, I decided that I liked my new form and that I had finally gotten used to it. Though, it was slightly disappointing to not have a tail, it would have been useful for keeping my balance while flying, and for feeding Soea.
Well, I was a prototype, a never seen before hybrid. So a small thing like that wasn't too bad, it wouldn't hurt me.
I had decided that when I returned, I would cast a spell on the journal, it would be one that was level-ten. This spell wasn't known to a lot of human Mages.
The level-ten 'Divine Divination' was an Elven spell, and it would reveal anything hidden by Human magic that wasn't one passed on by the Older Races, or by a deity itself.
Maybe I had missed something when I read through it for the first time, I was pretty sure that something was hidden within the journal, but I was more interested in my body at the time.
Once we arrived back at the courtyard, I landed stably.
Soea landed next to me and walked over, I had noticed that when I walked, Soea would seem to try to stay a pace behind me and to my left. Which was a little odd, not bad, but odd.
