What the– is this magic?! My eyes flared open.
A beam of sound hit me from above, where one of the creatures floated. Its white fur stood on end. As its tiny jaw opened to reveal a row of stubby fangs, rings of sound distorted the space between us.
{Starfield Pup Lv24}
{Status: Enraged}
{With high-speed movements, they are nearly invisible to untrained eyes. They make use of Movement and Sound magic to deliver powerful attacks from a distance}
The pressure kept my body frozen in place, almost as if I were under a massive fist of air. It was more powerful than wind magic, and somehow felt much denser. I concentrated on the sensation over me and a moment later, heard the familiar ring of the system.
{You have successfully identified Sound Magic}
{You have acquired the skill
A skill? I’ve never seen this kind of magic before. Uh, it’s coming! My eyes flared past the screen, to the white ball of fluff headed down.
(Hollow, on your left!!)
Hollow arched the faint black curve of his sword over his shoulder, and with a wide arc, launched it out at his left. The spinning blade cut through the air, and by the time the first beat of wind could be heard, the white ball had already been cleaved down the centre.
Blood pooled out in front of the wedged blade, where two ends of a winged rabbit lay on each side of it.
“Good work, Hollow! I didn’t have it in me to run anymore~” Veyra rushed over, gripping her side. “That thing was seriously fast for a D rank quest. No wonder the villagers near here are having trouble keeping them off their crops. Well, that should be the last of them, right?” Veyra waited for a response, but my eyes were locked on the screen hovering in front of me.
“Master?” Hollow observed cautiously.
{Minor Sound Manipulation Activated}
Just as the magic circle appeared, a faint ring left its glow. It came through automatically, but after adjusting the input, I could manipulate the pitch better.
“Griiiiiii!”
Veyra clutched her ears, and I immediately stopped. I had used way too much mana. I tried again with less and produced a low, bassy grumble that could be taken as humming. When adding a bit more power to it, even Hollow's armour began to rattle.
Even though I obtained the skill, I’m still not too sure I can control this just yet. It’s a little too easy to hurt my allies if I’m not careful. I'd better steer away from this one. Still, I can’t help but wonder if there’s a chance I could use this for something else…
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I left one claw on my throat as I let out a groan, “Graaaa–” the low tone rose to a smoother pitch and mellowed out to something pleasant to the ear.
It worked! I can use it to change my own voice, just like that monster did. Running the magic through my body seems to act as a conductor, which brings the output down to a manageable amount.
I kept the volume at an even level and focused more on manipulating the frequency, adding new layers of sound on top of existing ones. It was surprisingly easy when I treated it like adding magic circles to my attacks.
“Graaa— gree— gruuu— grooo—” The sounds morphed with each attempt, until I finally produced something akin to words.
“Atlas, are you trying to talk? I didn’t know you could do that!” Her eyes lit up as she clasped her hands together and watched.
“Neeee—ther— did I… Wait, I think it’s working.” The incoherent sounds flowed out clearer and became a smooth string of words that left Veyra’s mouth hanging open.
“Atlas, you’re talking!” She erased the space between us in a single step. Admiring me with glittery eyes, she stared at my mouth, waiting for me to do it again.
“It’s the same magic that the Starfield Pup used on us. I just wish I could have gotten its quick speed, too.”
It took a little adjusting, but I managed to get my voice pretty similar to what it was in my old life. A small treat for myself, since I was often complimented for my soothing voice.
Without wasting another word, I approached Veyra and reached for her neck. She got visibly nervous and tried pulling away, but couldn’t resist for long.
“Wha– Atlas, what are you doing?!” Her face reddened as my claws rested gently against her neck.
“It might be a long shot, but I have to see if this’ll work.”
I focused on pouring my mana through the magic circle on my fingertip. The silver ring of light clung to her throat, holding the same magic I used to mimic talking. I gave her a nod, and Veyra finally caught on to what I was referring to.
She took a nervous gulp and opened her mouth. Just as her lips parted, and her eyes closed, she strained her face trying to make a sound. Small cracks shot across the magic circle before it shattered.
Damn it! Why didn’t it work? Isn’t it the same way I used it on myself? Did I mess up the frequency or something?
{Minor Sound Manipulation was unable to activate due to targets curse}
The corners of Veyra’s eyes creased as she studied the disappointment on my face. I’m sure she understood the situation without me having to explain it.
“Thank you for trying, Atlas. It was a good attempt, but I’m sure we’ll find another way.” She gave a lighthearted gesture with her hand, but it was obvious she didn’t put her all behind it.
“Master, I have collected the monster remains. The sun will set soon.” Hollow slung the bag over his shoulder, waiting.
(Yeah, I guess we should hurry up and head back to the guild. We’ll try something else tomorrow.)
It had been a gruelling five weeks in the city, and things finally seemed to settle since our rocky appearance.
We steadily breezed through E rank quests every day, while the guild retrieved Veyra’s profile from Orioh, the city she registered in. Once they confirmed her to be rank C, we were given the right to choose from D rank quests too.
It was only a matter of time before our ranks went up, and we’d be able to raise our influence in the city. There was no telling how long it’d take, but hopefully, when it was high enough, we’d be able to meet the saint. It wasn’t uncommon for high-ranked adventurers to work with the saint, from what I’d heard around.
With our goods bagged up, we made our way through the city’s main road and turned left into the guild hall.
Climbing the steps up to the main hall, I placed a stone mask over my face that I fashioned using the Construct skill. Even with my disguise, I still got strange looks from everyone I passed, but at least the suspicion of me being a Golem was lower.
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