After having breakfast we quickly moved into Ninhursag's tent where we met her sitting cross-legged while channeling her mana around her body, it seemed as if the phantoms of several beasts suddenly emerged around her- no, not only beasts, but enormous monsters of all sorts of sizes… three-headed chimeras, giant birds, large reptiles, and more…
"Wow…" said Aquarina.
"What are you doing?" wondered Zack.
"Are these souls?" I wondered.
"Look, children, these are the spirits of animals and monsters I have devoured and gained their power." said Ninhursag. "You know cooking magic, right?"
We quickly sat down over the floor to listen to her words more closely.
Ninhursag smiled gently at us as she began to speak.
"I had already introduced it to you before, with the help of your mother too, Cooking Magic is an important magic that is made out of several elements together, it is a Composite Magic or High Magic, like some call it." she said. "The secret behind the pillar of my magic is Cooking Magic."
"W-What?" I asked in shock. "Really?"
"Yes, Cooking Magic is what helps me absorb the essence and the "spirit" of the monsters I eat, conjuring it over the food I cook allows my magic to fully absorb the essence of a monster, and then through another spell, I channel their power through some of their body parts, usually a bone, claw, or fang does the trick," said Ninhursag, as she showed us her long necklace with many fangs and claws on it, each one was a different monster or animal she could convert into.
"So it was Cooking Magic all along…" said Aquarina. "But it can't be that simple, right?"
"Of course it isn't. There are many things that are essential to learn first, such as all the magic, of course. So it is not something simple even if I made it seem that way." Said Ninhursag. "First and foremost, the ability to conjure the power of these animals and monsters and channel them into a transformation is something that is related with Druid Magic which channels spirits of beasts to fight, merged with Polymorph, the magic that allows one to change the shape of the body temporarily…"
"The steps are simple, though, after you've finally learned the spells what you simply do is use Cooking Magic to consume a prey and gain their "Essence" and "Spirit" after that, you keep a "souvenir" of their bones, most of the time a fang or a claw will do the trick." She said. "After that, you channel the special spell that transform you while touching the "souvenir" of that certain beast or monster…"
"I see…" I said. "But what is the logic behind the transformations? I mean… What's the magic conjuration behind it? Also, how do you construct it? And lastly, what's the basis behind the ability you have as a skin changer? I am sure you got some special ability that makes it easier for you to learn this magic…"
"Okay, wow, calm down Sylphy, those are a lot of questions at once… I get it, you're excited, but let me explain things to you slowly, okay? There's no point in hurrying up too much." Said Ninhursag. "First, the logic behind the transformation is the ability to change your body shape, which comes from Polymorph magic, it is a High Magic that derivates from Life and Blood Magic, which helps at changing the shape of the biological structure of the body, from muscles, bones, internal organs, and more…"
"I-I see…" said Aquarina. "I didn't get it…"
"You don't have to, really, just know that it is an easy to learn High Magic that changes the shape of the body." Laughed Ninhursag. "Anyways, the magic conjuration behind it is always done passively and without incantation through my magic circle, I have engraved the magic into my own magic circle, so it is easy to conjure. For other people, though, you would need incantations."
"You're really an incredible mage…" said Zack.
"Heh, did you think I was just a savage? There is a lot to learn about magic, and in this world ruled by magic, you have to adapt it to your body and use it the best you can." Said Ninhursag. "Anyways, I construct the spells like I mentioned earlier, mostly using several pre-made runes inside of my magic circle… However, without that, you'll have to simply learn how to conjure the runes into magic circles, which might take its time, but it is not like we are going to depart any time soon, even after going away from the jungle, we'll continue sticking together so I'll continue teaching you more…"
Ninhursag continued explaining us more and more about her magic, it was all quite enlightening, from how it was constructed to the very basis of its functions, she had figured out all of that by herself, although part of learning it also came from her family before they passed away, but they only taught her the very basics, and back then she wasn't able to turn into monsters until she reached adulthood, it seems that the spirit of monsters compared to wild animals are way stronger and "corrupt" as she said, so it was hard to channel them without becoming a monster in the process… well, that sounds quite dangerous.
"For now, the very basis of my magic is channeling the spirit and essence of the beasts and monsters you've eaten through cooking magic. As of now Faylen and Nepheline should had already cooked you and feed you a lot of monster meat with cooking magic, so you should at least have a few handful of beast and monster spirits dwelling inside of you." Said Ninhursag. "We are going to try to channel them and awaken them!"
"H-How are we going to exactly do that?" asked Zack, suddenly, Ninhursag smiled maliciously, as she stood up and walked towards us, pointing her finger at us.
"I am doing it forcefully," she said.
"Prepare yourself and grit your teeth, it might hurt a bit, but I got the permission from your parents, so it's okay!"