The ruler's den strangely felt like... home. It wasn't that I had the cat's memories or anything, but I definitely had bits and pieces of its nature melded into my own now.

The lack of lighting in the dry, cozy rock structure didn't bother me either. For whatever reason, I hadn't had trouble seeing in the dark since waking up in the dungeon; a benefit of my new body I imagined.

The instincts of the assimilated ruler led me to the deepest part of the rather shallow cave it had called home. A bedding of leaves, twigs, and various bits of scavenged scruff greeted me there.

I leaned down to one knee and stared into the ruler's unceremonious sleeping spot.

Why... why exactly did I want to curl up in the feral looking bedding? It was a far cry from the soft, cotton sheets I'd gotten used to at home. Just how much of me was now... the cat?

I shook my head and allowed myself to fall back against a nearby cave wall, close to but not within the nesting. 

Alrighty this was way too weird.

I closed my eyes.

Higher musings about the current nature of my soul aside, I was very tired and very hungry.

After assimilating the western ruler, and looting my many kills, I'd broken down and drank from the nearby glowing stream. I'd partially been motivated by a newfound feeling of ease at the idea that probably also came from the absorbed ruler, and to my relief, the water hadn't really had any ill effects.

In fact, despite already having my mana at max capacity post-level up, the liquid had actually given me a feeling of warmth in my mystical core--as if the water was capable of not only quenching thirst, but also slightly restoring one's mystical energies.

A part of me wondered if this mana-restorative property of the water could be distilled and concentrated. Perhaps into a sort of mana potion?

But I didn't have any containers or anything to work with, so I was forced to shelve the idea.

Though I was tempted to sleep first, food was my next priority.

I still felt a very strange, instinctive wrongness at the thought of consuming the skulker flesh, so I instead summoned forth some of the mana cat meat that I'd looted post-battle.

It turned out that I could store about ten pounds worth of a stackable item, like meat, in one slot of my thirty-slot inventory. I could also choose the amount that I'd take out any given time.

A small piece of feline breast-meat appeared in my hand. Not at all having the desire to go scrounge up fire wood, or even seeing the need considering, I instead bathed my hand in relatively low-heat aura of blue flames.

It was a weird sight, now that I thought about it, watching the uncooked flesh of the mana cat sizzling and shrinking in my flaming hand while my own skin didn't feel anything but a pleasant tingling of mystical power as my conjured fire danced over it.

I rotated the meat in my hand as I crudely cooked it.

[+1 to Cooking.]

Funny. I was feminine in a lot of ways, but I'd never been much of a chef. The System seemed to recognize this as it rewarded me with skill points for the most basic of acts: that of simply heating meat.

As the meat sizzled a pork-like smell, I mentally signaled my Character Sheet to open.

[Clarissa Ardent, Level 25]

Health: 190 (20 r/pm)

Mana: 380 (35 r/pm)

Stamina: 50 (20 r/pm)

Core-Points to Distribute: 70

[Stats]

Strength: 13

Endurance: 16

Agility: 46

Charisma: 14

Perception: 14

Intelligence: 46

Willpower: 20

Stat-Points to Distribute: 21

[Skills]

Acrobatics: 170

Blind-Fighting: 1

Cooking: 1

One-Handed: 106

Fire Manipulation: 117

Grappling: 50

Spell Attack: 9

Spell Control: 19

Spell Efficiency: 7

Unarmed-Fighting: 50

Writing: 50

Skill-Points to Distribute: 70

[Spells Known]

Raging Blade [1st]: Summon a blade of conjured fire. Mana cost dependent on blade potency; intelligence score governs your bonus damage with this weapon instead of strength.

Fireball [3rd]: Conjure an explosive ball of fire. Mana cost dependant on fireball potency.

Mana Flicker [3rd]: Break your body down into pure mana to quickly move from one place to another. Mana cost dependant on teleportation range.

Summon Mana Cat [3rd]: Construct a singular mana cat from your own being. Permanently restricts 10% of your total mana. Companion grows as your mystical reservoir does.

[Abilities]

Throw Sword: Utilize your familiarity with a sword’s weight and your excellent mind-body connection to hurl a sword at an opponent. Accuracy dependant on Agility score; range and damage dependant on Strength score and Stamina expended.

[Perks]

Pure Flames [RU]: The purity of the Western Ruler’s mystical energy has combined with that of your inner flames. You bypass resistance to fire damage and deal half-damage to fire-immune creatures.

Raging Sorcery I [RU]: You can channel strong emotions into your spells, causing them to explode in a violent burst of mana that deals extra damage. Spells that are already concussive/explosive have their range and potency increased.

Trailblazer I [R]: You've led the way as a member of your world. The System will always reward ingenuity. You gain all skills slightly faster to acknowledge your efforts.

Warmage [R]: All of your offensive spells cost half as much to cast and deal an extra 50% damage.

Spelldancer I [Un]: When you are channeling mana your reaction time and movement speed increase moderately.

Elder Blood I [B]: As a member of the caliban race, you gain a bonus to mana regeneration that increases as your mana does.

[Inventory: 8/30]

Simple Traveler's Garb: The basic, functional clothes of a traveler. No bonuses.

Skulker Hide: The skin of a mid-level skulker. Item level: 30. Can be used in crafting or as a reagent in certain spells.

Skulker Meat: The tough and muscled meat of a skulker. Restores 20 health/minute for 1 minute. Will begin to spoil in 12 hours.

Mana Cat Fang: The fang of a mid-level mana cat. Item level: 30. Can be used in crafting or as a reagent in certain spells. Quantity: 1.

Mana Cat Meat: The sweet and sour meat of a mana-cat. Restores 10 health/minute and 10/mana minute for 1 minute. Will begin to spoil in 24 hours. Quantity: 2 Units.

Mana Cat Pelt: The pelt of a mid-level mana cat. Item level: 30. Can be used in crafting or as a reagent in certain spells. Quantity: 4.

Greater Bestial Shard: A soul shard that brims with a greater than average amount of animalistic energy. Can be used for spell-forging/enchanting, combined with other soul shards, or refined for consumable crafting.

Greater Mana Shard: A soul shard that brims with a greater than average amount of mana. Can be used for spell-forging/enchanting, combined with other soul shards, or refined for consumable crafting. Quantity: 3.

Much like the skulker, the mana cats had dropped various bits and bobbles. Interestingly, four of the five of them had given me a pelt, whereas one had given me a fang. 

Furthermore, only three of those had dropped a soul shard. Apparently, it wasn't guaranteed that you'd get one from a monster.

The shards that the cats had dropped were different than that of the skulker, however.

Whereas the hideous, stinking creature had produced a bestial shard that radiated a wild and animalistic force, the shards of the mana cats seemed to pulse with a synchronized hum of pure, non-specialized mana.

I felt myself regaining a bit of my mental energy as my mind mused on the possibilities behind the shards.

I had seventy skill points to distribute. 

I really wanted to try out the so-called enchanting and spell-forging that the item descriptions of the shards hinted at.

Still, could I even put points in a skill I hadn't discovered?

"System," I said aloud. "Distribute ten of my skill points into Spell-Forging."

[+10 Spell-Forging.]

[-10 Skill points.]

"Damn," I muttered.

It had worked.

A new menu opened. 

[Spell-Forging]

Available Elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Air, Force, Radiant, Necrotic, Mystic, Psychic.

Available Ranges: Self, Touch, Ranged.

Available Effects: Buff, Damage, Debuff, Enchantment, Summoning, Manipulation.

Available Shards: Greater Bestial Shard x1, Greater Mana Shard x3.

Okay, well at least I was spoiled for options.

I just had to figure out how the whole thing worked.

To test the waters, I selected water as an element.

[You lack the Water Manipulation skill. Spell Control will be substituted to decide the maximum level and overall effects of your created spell.]

[Please envision your desired spell effects. Then you will be able to decide the level of your desired spell.]

I had to imagine the spell? So the whole spell-forging thing didn't just operate off of rigid, menu based choices then. I guess that made some kind of sense, considering that this was still real-life, or at least I was pretty sure it was.

I already had fire-based magic and both close and ranged attacks. What I lacked was utility. Maybe I could see what options I had to resolve that?

I imagined my mana forming into a flowing state, running through my body and granting me increased fluidity in battle. Essentially, I was trying to make a spell that allowed me to become ever-moving and adaptable like water.

I was also somewhat trying to see if I could use a spell to mimic a perk, in this case the [Spelldancer I] perk specifically. 

As my thoughts crystalized, a series of notifications spiraled down.

[Select Spell Level: 1st.]

With limited options, which I imagined was either based on my rather low Spell Control score or even lower Spell-Forging skill, I selected the only level of spell that was available to me for a water based spell.

The system then responded with more dialogue boxes.

[Envisioned Spell]

Flow [1st]: Take on the nature of water. Slightly increases your reaction time and flexibility. Expends 20 mana/minute.

Spell Cost: 1 Soul Shard of at least Mundane quality.

Select Shard: Greater Bestial Shard, Greater Mana Shard.

I found it somewhat odd that I could use something other than a water shard to create a water based spell. Perhaps using a mana shard made sense, as it lacked a defined element, but a bestial shard? It didn't really track as far as I could tell.

I selected the bestial shard out of curiosity and watched as the spell text, surprisingly, changed.

[Envisioned Spell]

Sea-Beast's Flow [1st]: Take on the nature of a sea-beast. Slightly increases your reaction time and flexibility, while also allowing you to move underwater like a native of the sea. Expends 20 mana/minute.

Selected Shard: Greater Bestial Shard.

Create Spell: y/n?

Now things made more sense. The shard type used would alter the spell in unique, and I imagined potentially powerful, ways, but it didn't look like it could raise the spell level beyond that of minimum required shard level--even if you used a stronger shard than was needed.

I selected no to the question of if I wanted to create the altered spell.

With the influence of the bestial shard rejected, the text of the envisioned spell returned to the original, simpler version and once again prompted me to select a shard to expend in its creation.

Wanting to confirm my suspicions, I then selected the mana shard next.

The spell, however, at first glance didn't seem to alter like it had with the bestial shard.

[Envisioned Spell]

Flow [1st]: Take on the nature of water. Slightly increases your reaction time and flexibility. Expends 10 mana/minute.

Spell Cost: 1 Soul Shard of at least Mundane quality.

Select Shard: Greater Bestial Shard, Greater Mana Shard.

So that meant that mana shards only granted you exactly the spell you'd envisioned then?

No, I did notice a change as my eyes rescanned the mana-shard backed [Flow] spell. Instead of costing 20 mana per minute as the original [Flow] spell had suggested it would, the addition of the mana shard reduced the cost of the to-be-created spell by almost half.

Perhaps then, I imagined that meant that if I'd chosen a water shard, if they existed, then the spell would have been slightly stronger for its level or something due to synergy between spell and shard?

Glad to have the information, but not wanting to waste a higher level shard than was needed, I withdrew my request to create the [Flow] spell.

"System," I addressed the seemingly-ever present onlooker, "what's the difference between how I created spells before and spell-forging?"

[If you posses the required affinity, you may create a spell with the aid of both strong emotions and a clear need. Spell-forging allows you to harness the power of soul-shards and your affinities to create unique spells at any time; careful spell-forging may also allow you to create spells that are stronger than their level and mana cost would otherwise indicate.]

Well, it was an answer at least. It seemed that what I'd done was the quick and dirty method, whereas spell-forging was the hard science behind making a spell.

The System also seemed to pretty strongly hint that spells created through the expending of mana-shards could be more powerful and specifically crafted than their self-learned counterparts.

It was an interesting system, but not one that seemed like it could outright be worth the initial investment I'd have to make in it at this very moment if I wanted it to grow in power enough to be useful. 

Not, at least, when I could still seemingly acquire pretty potent magic without it.

I closed the spell-forging menu altogether.

I didn't regret the ten points I'd spent into the skill, but I also didn't quite want to explore it further until I had more skill points to play with.

I finished off the remainder of my meat, as I split my newly acquired core-points between Health and Mana. I'd probably need to shore up Stamina soon, but as it was I'd only unlocked one physical ability and I wasn't really too concerned about it at the moment.

With the addition of the [Pure Flames] perk, which seemed to ensure using fire magic would never really be completely useless to me, I figured continuing to level my [Fire Manipulation] wasn't as much as a risk as before.

So, with that in mind, I put my remaining sixty points into the flame-based skill.

I then closed my Character Menu.

There was really only one more thing I wanted to do, before I rested.

While the instincts and vague feelings I'd picked up from assimilating the spirit of the Ruler of the West did seem to indicate that there weren't really any other threats in its immediate territory, I couldn't help but not want to fall asleep unguarded.

And, honestly, I also just wanted to look at something that didn't want to kill me.

I took a deep breath and reached for the feeling of my heart-based mana-core.

I felt my well of power ebb and flow with my heartbeat as I tried to summon forth the spell that I desired.

To my surprise, I found my awareness shifting into a sort of inner soulscape as I did so.

Mist swirled around me in my mind's eye as my attention was split between the real world and my inner one.

I felt [Summon Mana Cat] siphoning off the promised percentage of my power as a figure began to emerge from the mists of my mental domain.

Somehow, I knew that what I was now 'seeing' was a place that was a manifestation of my mana core itself.

And the creature approaching me from out of the ethereal mists of possibility that made up my mana core? It was none other than the being I had summoned with my spell.

Unlike the other mana cats, though, this one was white in coloration and larger than they had been; it's eyes also shone with a much greater intelligence that it met my own gaze with.

The creature blinked at me and then roared; the echoing shout lacked some of the strength of the Western Ruler's, but none of the pride. I also somehow knew from the vibrating power that, like the ruler, that this cat was also female.

Then, as the creature still roared, I suddenly opened my eyes again.

Standing before me, where there had previously only been unoccupied space, was the large creature that I'd seen in my vision.

I could somehow sense its power and the inherent loyalty towards me that radiated off of its very being. 

It was almost as if the creature was a part of me... no, that wasn't accurate, it had been a part of me, but now it had already become something all its own.

I reached a hand out and the female panther lowered her head for me to place my palm upon it. Her fur was as soft as it was pristinely beautiful, and I realized, very fluffy.

A low purring came from my summon as I pet her gently and with respect.

Then, without warning, the cat took a step towards me, knocking my hand away playfully and dragging her scratchy tongue up my cheek harmlessly.

I found myself letting a much-needed laugh out. I hadn't realized how stressed I'd been before. Just seeing a friendly face made a world of difference.

"Woah, girl," I said to her.

The cat licked me one more time and then sat back on her haunches before me. The posture was almost more canine than cat-like, though.

"You are tired, Lady Clarissa," a regal voice echoed suddenly in my mind, "allow me to watch over you while you sleep."

My mouth fell open. The mana cat's own lips had certainly not moved, but I'd also definitely heard the words coming from it. Almost telepathically? 

"How... how do you know my name?" I blurted out in surprise, perhaps missing the more salient questions as I did so.

The panther purred in what I assumed might have been amusement at my expense.