Chapter 104: The Unicorn 2

The unicorn's healing process was slow. It took three full days before I was able to safely separate myself from her, but in those three days, things happened.

After the first night, I received new abilities.

[Auras and Essences: "Druid Essence" obtained]

[Auras and Essences: "Aura of Nature" obtained]

[Druid Essence]

*Affinity with nature increased

*Language of nature obtained

*Enhanced Magic(Natural/Druidic)

[Aura of Nature]

-You give off the vitality of mother earth. Nearby friendly/neutral creatures gain buffs to natural regeneration and resistance to ambient elements. It works entirely on beasts or beings with neutral alignment and to a lesser extent with other alignments-

These skills brought me some big changes. Inside the centaur camp, I didn't notice it much, since I spent all the time inside the tent, although I could see the change in the expressions of Marril and other centaurs who came from time to time. Where I did notice it was inside Hogwarts.

Since I got the first ability I have not stopped hearing the voices of animals, be they cats, toads, owls... I could literally hear them speak and understand them. So I have also received some sensations transmitted by the vegetation of the greenhouse.

I learned so many things that could put a lot of people to shame, but that was not the most important thing. Maybe it's because of my new aura, but at the beginning of the next day, the unicorn woke up, albeit very weak.

(Monster...) A very frightened and brittle voice was heard in my head, almost to the point of being understandable.

"Shhh... don't worry, you're safe now" I tried to calm her down by stroking her neck since I saw how her shock was affecting her already deplorable condition.

(Monster... monster... mother... dead... coming for...me...) Her words were increasingly charged with strong emotions.

The backlash produced by fear, sadness, and hatred made her vitality once again begin to decline even with my healing power, so I had to use [Calm] and [Sleep] on her.

She slept for about two or three hours before waking up again, only this time I prepared better and used some calming incense that the centaurs gave me and that I modified with the merchant, in the same way, I also used my blood magic and auras.

I noticed that the dialogue between the creatures from one place to another can vary. The animals of the castle speak much more 'humanly', being easy to understand, but for the creatures of the forest, it is not like that. I feel that the conversation is shorter, with several single words, but that it involves many more feelings and intentions.

Being awake once more, this time calmer, she could see that she was in an unknown place. I was a bit nervous and scared, but because I was able to communicate with her, I was able to try to explain her situation.

Letting her feel for a moment how her life would vanish if I stopped touching her, I was able to dispel any intention to resist my touch. Marill also arrived shortly after with two assistants who helped me with the food care of the unicorn.

After the centaurides left, we were alone again, but she went back to sleep. That's how time passed, where she just got up for a period of time and then went back to sleep.

While she was awake, I tried to talk to her, since I was kind of bored, plus I wanted to meet her. It was somewhat difficult at first, partly because her words became confusing to me until I got used, and partly because she was very defensive.

She addressed me as 'the one who smells of blood' and I addressed her as 'unicorn', since I didn't have a better way, she didn't have an understandable name for me. I told her about my abilities and let her choose if she wanted me to use them on her, which she initially rejected, but after we got to know each other better, she agreed.

I told her what happened after being attacked, that I faced the monster and that although I didn't defeat it, I was able to give him trouble. She told me about how that thing attacked her mother several days ago and about her passing, that she wanted to get rid of that monster but that it was a stupid idea.

She wasn't very old, it hadn't been long since she could consider herself an adult, and her judgment was clouded by grief. She tried to fight, but there was no comparison, if her mother couldn't, even less could she.

Maybe it's because she was such a pure creature or maybe because like me, she had a special aura, we both opened up to each other little by little, but at great speed. We tell each other things, more and more intimate, although with a certain limit.

She belonged to a herd of unicorns belonging to this forest, her only current family was her mother, but she has already died. She separated from her herd against the decisions of others and now was embarrassed to return and to be seen as the unicorn who failed.

She knew centaurs but she had never been that close, so it seemed interesting to her to be in their camp but she still wasn't calm. She liked that I used [Calm] on her, it made her stop feeling pain. She asked me to use my auras when she wanted to sleep and asked me not to let the centaurs give her any more of that medicine that she tasted like rotten grass.

The centaurs helped with the care of the unicorn, but after recovering sufficiently, only a few of them were welcomed by her inside the tent. She was a bit upset by the treatments offered to her, for being 'rough' or 'nasty', preferring my healing which only required me to touch her, although at first, it was very different.

My constant contact upset her greatly at first, even if she knew it was necessary. As we already know, unicorns only allow themselves to be ridden by maidens due to their taste for purity and I wasn't exactly the purest, but after getting to know each other, understanding why, and the use of my abilities, it became more tolerable.

By accepting me, it was easy for her to receive the treatment and even get to enjoy it at this dark time in her life. She even offered to call me the 'nice impure' but I turned it down. I would say that we became like friends, telling each other things, and sharing emotions thanks to my ability.

At the beginning of the third day, I went from being 'the one who smells of blood' to 'the one who dresses in roses', according to her because my hair reminds her of some pretty plants she saw in the past. I think it sounds better...

During noon, after lunch, the unicorn recovered to the point of not dying without me. The centaurs offered me food while I was there, but I politely refused, I wasn't going to eat, I didn't need to, but I changed my mind on the second day. To accompany my new friend, I decided to eat something light together with her.

Feeling that she has recovered enough, I helped her up, which required the help of [Wrath]. We left the tent side by side and walked around the camp a bit, slowly and taking breaks every few steps. She was still very weak, but very happy to be able to leave the tent and get the sun's rays again.

We attracted the gaze of the community. A human child 'dressed in blood' and a badly wounded unicorn 'dressed in silver', according to the words I hear from Marill later.

It was a short but rewarding hike, both for her and for me, it felt good to see that my effort paid off. I was happy for her and for her recovery as if it was myself who was able to walk again.

With my new ability, I began to notice how my perception of the distinction of beings was diluted. Even if I understand that she is a different species, being able to talk and empathize with her made me see her as another individual not too different from me. I'd say that's one of the reasons we became so close in such a short time.

Although this closeness did not come without consequences, around her, I felt different in a good way and a bad way. I can't deny that when I'm with her, I feel calm, without very negative or... sinful thoughts, but the latter made my nightly battles with Gemma difficult these 3 days.

It was dark, it was not long before dawn, and I had decided to separate from her when I saw that it was no longer so necessary. She tried to act like she didn't care, but she hinted very clearly that she didn't want to be left alone.

I spoke with her and promised that I would come back to continue treating her, I would only leave for a few hours to two days maximum. She told me that she would get bored, that the food here would not be as good as the one I bring her from that 'Mirchand', and that she does not feel very safe going out by herself if I am not by her side to treat her if it is necessary... but she still wished me luck.

Leaving the tent, I greeted Merill, indicating that I was leaving for a while, but that I would try to return shortly. She said goodbye and assured me that she would take care of my patient while he was gone.

I left the camp, calling the attention of those centaurs who got up early and were fulfilling their roles in the community. It wasn't exactly necessary for me to walk back to Hogwarts, I could just undo the clone but really wanted to take this trip as tourism in this forest.

After the first visit I wasn't so nervous anymore and I had a little more desire to explore, but an adventure in this forest will be for later, for now, I'll settle for this walk.

I went away to the point of not being able to see the camp and I could feel how the influence of the unicorn in me was fading, which is why I left. I needed to spend a night with Gemma where I don't have to excuse myself with 'being tired'. I'm very frustrated right now.

What I didn't expect was that after being able to get rid of that influence, after getting far enough away, a warning would appear in front of this clone in the forest, because my original body was sleeping.

[Alignment selection is enabled]

* Warning: the thought of the host or his personality will not be modified, but tendencies to the respective selected alignment will be presented *

-Select one of the following alignments-

[Good]

[Neutral]

[Evil]

[Lawful]

[Chaotic]

I was quite surprised, since this message was very different from the usual ones. It was not an ability but not a static warning either, in this one I was allowed a choice. I could see how in these five options there was an indication to 'increase the description' given by my [Help] and I selected it.

[Good]

>Skill Acquisition: [Aura of Good]<

>[Ritual Magic: Good and Neutral]<

>Extra damage against evil creatures<

[Neutral]

>Skill Acquisition: [Nature Aura]<(Already acquired)

>[Ritual Magic: Neutral]<

>Improved damage resistance against non-neutral alignments<

[Evil]

>Skill Acquisition: [Evil Aura]<

>[Ritual Magic: All]<

>Extra damage taken by Good creatures (Pure Good only)<

[Lawful]

>Skill Acquisition: [Regulatory Aura]<

>[Ritual Magic: Good, Neutral, or Evil]<

>Improved magic resistance<

[Chaotic]

>Skill Acquisition: [Chaotic Aura]<

>[Ritual Magic: All]<

>Chance of random magic and/or loss of magic control<

This was kind of hard to decide, mainly when I realized that there was no way to remove this selection screen, it seems that I had to decide yes or yes. It was a bit stressful after the warning told me that I might be influenced by my decision.

[Ritual Magic] is unlocked in all options but depending on which one I choose I will be limited in the type I can use, other than Evil or Chaos, but these have an additional disadvantage.

The camp of good seems to be the typical hero path, if I choose it my power against Voldemort or any dark lord that appears will increase, but I can't tell if it will be a minimal increase or a considerable one. Hard to know if it's worth it, but it's the only one that has two types of ritual magic.

The neutral alignment would be the most lacking for me currently, since one of the bonuses I already have, but this makes it clear to me that even if I don't choose the alignment, I can still gain the corresponding aura through other means. Still, defense against all other alignments is something to thinking, considering there are 5, so it would have an advantage against 4/5 of the beings with alignments if they are balanced in numbers.

The evil side gets a lot of credit for unlocking all ritual magic, but taking extra damage isn't pretty. As with the camp of the good, it does not give an estimate of how much the modification is. I don't know if I could be killed in an instant or if it's only slight insignificant damage... although it says that only purely good beings, so it is more difficult for the situation to arise, there are few people who only have goodness in their heart or innocent enough.

The Lawful... is mediocre, it has only one type of ritual magic but you can choose which one. The magic resistance may be good but, like the others, I don't know how much resistance it brings.

And chaos is like the evil one, it's quite good but it has a flaw and I don't know its magnitude. Random magic can be both miraculous and catastrophic, the outcome too unpredictable to give a good rating.

"What to choose?"