I stared down into it. It was completely black, black like a void that had no end. It was unnaturally still, looking almost as if it were made of stained glass as it hovered above my open palm. I breathed, letting the air flow between my lips, my eyes never leaving its unmoving form.
For a second I hesitated, then something inside me flared and flowed outwards, carrying my intent with it. Only then did the flame shift; it grew rapidly, becoming pointed and sharp like an arrowhead before shooting forward with surprising velocity. It soared through the air before colliding with its target: the hardened frame of a thick wooden shield held in place by a metal stand.
The shield buckled almost immediately, the flame tearing through its structure and spreading across its surface. It did not crackle or spark; in fact it was eerily silent, engulfing its target in a way that was bizarre, to say the least. It didn't spread like you'd expect fire to, no, it expanded and moved more like water then fire. Either way, the result was the same: it devoured every scrap of the shield, every splinter, leaving nothing, not even ash behind.
"I did... I did it..." I mumbled, looking at the completely intact metal stand that had been holding the shield for me.
(I pulled it off; it worked just like I hoped it would.) I smiled as a feeling of pride filled my chest.
"Absolutely amazing! You did great, Lady Suu." Ranga barked, his tail becoming a blur of motion as it wagged excitedly.
"Thanks, really." I mumbled warmly.
As you can clearly see, my training to understand my skills had progressed, though it had taken a lot of failed attempts. For a while now I had been trying to destroy the shield and nothing else, something that proved to be far harder to pull off than you'd probably expect. In fact, for the past two days all I had been doing was working on understanding my skills; thankfully I had eventually figured out a method to speed up my progress somewhat.
I had done this by spending hours upon hours testing through trial and error with my Mind's Echo skill to create a complex script that would help me manage my skills. For now it could only help with my Abyssal Flame and Flame Control skills; anything more would have taken me weeks just to fully map out. Why? Because the first thing I needed to do before I could start creating the script was not only get a firm understanding of how my Mind's Echo skill functioned but also how the other two skills worked as well, and getting that understanding for just three skills took me, well, hours of testing.
As you can probably guess, my first few attempts had not gone well, to put it mildly. I had, in fact, accidentally burned several craters into the ground thanks to the flames literally eating everything around them, even the dirt and rock. Thankfully, when I told Kaijin about this little experiment of mine, he was more than happy to assist. I hadn't asked for anything amazing, just some flimsily-made targets for me to use; after all, this test was not about power but control.
Despite all of this, I will admit it was fun; in fact it was the most fun I've had in a very long time. Most people probably wouldn't find the whole thing all that entertaining, the repetitive nature of constantly tweaking subminds and chaining them together like code would more than likely bore most people, but I honestly found the work rather relaxing. Although, the whole black fire eating through everything it touched part of these tests was rather nerve-wracking I will admit; however, that's mostly because I was afraid someone would get mad at my antics. Thankfully though, no one actually did, in fact they encouraged me to keep trying. Oddly, this fact made me feel even more anxious, which I suppose made sense: it was normal to expect punishment when that's all you've ever known.
(Still, I have a lot of work to do if I want to get a handle on all of them.) I thought to myself with a soft sigh.
(There is still a lot to be done...) I mused internally. (For now, though, I can be happy knowing I'm making progress.)
"I must say, Lady Suu, your diligence over these last few days has been amazing to witness."
"I-it's nothing worth mentioning." I muttered sheepishly.
"Don't be modest, my lady. You worked hard and achieved your goal; you should take pride in that."
"T-thanks..." I blushed, not at all used to being praised this much.
"Still, I must say, your progress has been extraordinary. It was only two days ago that you were having problems just activating your skills."
(Even if that's the case, it still needs work, no reason to settle for just good enough, right?)
The script itself was relatively simple in practice; basically it boiled down to five main parts. However, despite this, it was made up of no less than two hundred and thirty-four subminds. Basically, the subminds that made up parts one and two helped me create abyssal flames and manipulate them with my Flame Control skill. Part three was made up of subminds that helped with getting my will across, basically using my magicules to carry instructions like neurons carrying information from the brain. And finally, parts four and five basically helped me weaponize the flames in the way I desired and ensured that they only burned what I wanted them to.
Of course there were still dozens of problems with this system, with plenty of parts in the script that could be improved. Most of the work was still being done by me personally, with the subminds just helping to speed up and support the overall process. Still, I was proud of my work, even if it wasn't perfect.
"And it's not just your training that's coming along, you've become more confident in yourself as well." Ranga pointed out.
"I... I guess I have..." I hummed, nodding slightly in agreement.
(Honestly, I'm still a bundle of nervousness and anxieties, but yeah, I'm getting better little by little.) I thought to myself, still not really sure why I had experienced such a dramatic change in my personality.
Over these past two days I had become far more relaxed around the townspeople, not to say I was fully trusting or that my anxiety was magically gone, but things were shifting. For one, I had actually asked for help in my tests, something that would have been completely out of character if it had been the me from back then. After all, simply speaking back then was enough for me to get punished, let alone asking for something.
Ranga had been a big help in that. At first his constant presence made me nervous and uncomfortable; however, that changed over time. As I talked with him, well, I got better at it. I'm still definitely an introvert with a severe case of Enochlophobia mind you, but I'm doing better little by little. It helps that the people here are so kind to me; it makes me feel guilty for lying to them.
In fact, the reason why no one was questioning my lack of understanding regarding my own skills was, well, because they believed I had amnesia. They had assumed that I had just forgotten how to use my abilities and that my current training was me trying to relearn things I had already known beforehand.
"So, my lady, what do you plan on doing next?" Ranga asked, his ears twitching with curiosity. "Do you plan on training one of your other skills?"
I thought about that for a moment before saying, "I think I should take a break, at least for a little while."
"A wise choice." The big wolf mused, nodding in agreement.
"By the way, I never asked, how did you end up here?" I asked after a moment of silence between us. "I mean, was your pack always a part of this village?"
"Ah... no, no we were not." He shook his head as what looked like a hint of regret filled his eyes.
"What do you mean?"
"Back then our pack was led by my father. After the disappearance of the great storm dragon he led us to conquer and expand our territory." He explained with a sigh as he looked up at the sky above. "We had thought that this village would be a minor obstacle in that path; we were wrong."
"We met Lord Rimuru the night of our attack. To put it simply, my father did not survive the meeting, and after his death I and my pack submitted ourselves to Lord Rimuru's service."
(Oh, I don't know how I should feel about that.) I hummed internally, feeling bad for even asking about it to begin with. (But I suppose it's not really my place to judge; after all, they seem to be living in peace now.)
(Hmm? He's feeling ashamed.) I thought, only to pause when I realized that I could actually feel his emotions. (Was that my Eyes of the Abyss skill...?)
Seeing that a somewhat awkward silence had grown between us, I opened my mouth to speak but paused as my mind drew a blank on what to say. "Errm..."
"Yes, my lady?"
"Can I... errm... pet you...?" I blurted out, only to immediately regret saying that as I felt my face warm up with embarrassment.
Surprisingly, Ranga didn't reject my request immediately; instead he leaned forward and rested his head on my lap. For a moment I hesitated before reaching out and brushing my fingers through his fur, and from the way his tail was wagging he didn't mind the whole situation.
(So fluffy...) I thought. Up until this point I had never actually petted a dog before, so this was a new experience for me.
(Despite being a giant wolf, he's surprisingly cute.) I chuckled at my own thoughts as I looked at the blur of motion that was his tail.
And so that was how things went for a while. I sat there enjoying the calming atmosphere as the sky grew darker above us. Honestly, I was tempted to try flying with my wings for the first time; however, I resisted said urge, at least for now.
(This is nice...) I hummed internally until Ranga's ears suddenly perked up.
"Someone's coming."
"Huh?" For a moment I was confused until I noticed three figures approaching us. "Oh, it's Rigur."
(But who are the other two?)