Chapter Twenty-Three
Master Samantha and I never spared in the traditional sense, because she said that I would have to rely on my combat training given that she was a much faster and much more skilled spell binder. At times she might test my defensive spells with an attack, or show me the effectiveness of a spell by having me attack, but that was the extent of our physical exchange in the combat area at least. She continued to press the boundaries of my comfort by ignoring my personal space, and enjoyed it when I would get uncomfortable. Her training was more demonstration and practice, but still I learned a great deal from her.
The normal assortment of open books that were hundreds of years old; tables covered in said books and even older scrolls, and random size, shape and colored stones, all of which I was told would be needed in later training was all moved up against the walls of Master Sam's training chambers. That gave us more room than we'd had, or needed in the past.
"So Jason tells me that you want to know more about the powers of immortals." Master Sam said. I hadn't seen her when I walked into the room but I had learned to not pay that too much attention. She had made it a habit to literally becoming one with the shadows in the room and then trying to surprise me from behind. She put her hands on my shoulders and I did my best to ignore her. "He and I can only instruct you in the ways of imitation since neither of us is or has ever been immortal. However, spell binding can be used to grow wings, heal injuries, and even to improve the body." she said.
I almost hesitated ,but my curiosity got the better of me, so I had to ask. "Improve the body how?" I asked, somewhat expecting to learn how to make wrinkles disappear.
"The wings are the most noticeable changes, but the human body is far from perfect. We have no claws, or fangs to attack our enemies. Our eyes are limited like those from an animal of prey. Our hearing it self is adequate, but the ears themselves could stand a little improvement. Consider your current self the foundation and know that your body will bend to your will." she said, answering as cryptically and vaguely as ever.
Still it wasn't what I had expected. "Are these enhancements permanent, temporary, sustained by your shockhaven, or natural appendages?" I asked, trying to word my question carefully enough so that her answers would hopefully be somewhat less cryptic.
"That depends entirely on your will and how well you're able to express that will." She said. I realized that she meant you would get exactly what you asked for. I should've known this already, given that spell binding was particular that way. In fact I think that was really the main reason behind why she was so cryptic, to teach me to say what I mean and to think before speaking. Or maybe she was so use to speaking to her shockhaven in such vague terms that were left up to the interpretation of the recipient. Either way it was apparent that her speech was directly influenced by her Mastery of the art of spell binding. As I thought about it I realized that it wasn't just her, all of the Masters were affected by their own arts. Master Jason's sight changed because of his advanced haven awareness, Master Miller's body was nearly all cybernetic and permanently encased in his reploid armor, and even Master Chen was permanently affected by his simple mastery of the martial arts. His body was left ridged from years of training, leaving his muscles unable to ever fully relax. All of the masters were forever changed from their Mastery of their own, which begged the question, what was I going to gain or lose when I Mastered all of their arts. However, even as this thought entered my mind, I forced myself to save any further contemplation for a later date. I needed to better understand the extent of my immortal powers before I would fully Master anything.
"So what are some of the other physical differences of immortals, particularly Arch Angels?" I asked.
"Well that depends on the immortal." she began, and I nodded, letting her know that I understood, but still wanted something that resembled more of an answer and she continued. "But in general they're taller than they were in mortal form. Their eyesight and hearing are enhanced. They have increased bone and muscle density and increased tensile strength in their skin. Sometimes their faces change slightly to reflect how they see themselves. However all immortals, no matter how much or little they alter themselves, have slower blood flow even in their mortal form. I'm sure you've picked up on that from personal experience." she said with a wicked smile as she reached for my face. It wasn't unusual for her to touch me and again I tried my best to ignore it. Then I noticed that her fingernails came to a point and were razor sharp.
I instinctively put up a haven barrier that her finger hit about an inch before my face. She pulled her hand back, her smile faded and she was obviously disappointed. Now I was the one smiling. "That was very unwise. I could've had a protective ward in place or even something more offensive." I said. I was bluffing, but it didn't make the statement any less true. The risk of activating a protective spell was one of the reasons that I never touched her That, and the fact that her skin was cold and reminded me of death. I'm sure, at least I think that some of the times that she would pointlessly move aggressively is because she wanted my reflexes to kick in and activate one of her defensive spells. Out of all of the Masters, master Sam was the one that I was most afraid to attack. I could only begin to imagine the havoc that her spells could cause.
She took a few steps back. "A fair point." she began. "Claws are commonly seen on Imps and Damons, although other immortals use them as well. They're like daggers and can be changed in size as well. The add a certain level of lethality to hand to hand combat. So let's see your immortality." she said giving me even more space.
I took a moment to think about what that actually meant to me. I imagined myself taller, my eyes and ears sharper, my body stronger, and with wings that were covered in spotless white feathers. I held out my hand and focused a bright orb of densely concentrated shockhaven energy about a foot or so wide. The orb was solid white and shown so brightly that Master Sam took another few steps back and shielded her eyes from the light.
With a voice of commanding certainty I spoke to the orb of energy. "Ascend to my immortal form!" I ordered. As I spoke I pushed the orb into my chest. My whole body began to shine with the same light as the orb as the changes took place. I arched my back as my wings took shape. From where I pushed the orb into my chest I felt a crawling sensation slowly pressing outward as shockhaven built more cells and arranged them as it worked its way out along my limbs and up my neck. My eyes whited out and my ears started tingling as the changes were almost complete.
"Well now," Master Sam said, taking a step closer and examining me. "You look truly amazing."
I could tell that I was taller as I stretched my arms and wings. I had to be at least as tall as Master Sam who was easily five foot ten. It was when I began to look at her that I started to realize the other changes that had taken place besides my height My vision was sharper, I could see colors clearer and everything was crisp. I could even see the small particles of dust that floated in the air. I'd always known they were there and could feel them in my haven awareness, but to actually see them was something else entirely. Master Sam was still scanning me over silently and I began to wonder what other changes had happened. I reached up to touch my face with hands that felt slightly bigger. They weren't so much bigger that they were awkward, but they like the rest of my body were larger. My mouth was the same and so was my nose, at least they felt the same. My ears were taller by a half inch and they came to a soft point.
Eventually I gave up trying to map out my face with my hands. "Master Sam." I began, and was thrown off by how loud and low my voice sounded. My ears were just a little more sensitive, like my eyes, and I knew that I could get use to both given the time.
"Yes Eathen." she said, and I was surprised that she wasn't chiding me for not simply calling her Sam.
"You wouldn't happen to have a hand mirror that I could use, would you?" I asked. The only mirror that I had in my quarters was mounted to the wall in my bathroom. Master Sam was vain enough about her beauty that it
wasn't a question of if she had a mirror, but witch mirror to summon.
"Now Eathen, you know that I do." she said, producing a plane but large hand mirror. It was old and clasped in silver. The silver work wasn't handmade, but it was still far nicer and more valuable then the cheap plastic consumer products of today.
I took the mirror gently in my hand that still felt just a bit too big, and began to look at my face. I no longer looked like the small preteen boy that I was, but instead I looked like a young man just short of twenty. Still though, I looked like me just older and I was okay with that. "Thank you Sam." I said, handing her back the mirror. She took it and sent it off to where ever it was that she kept such things and waved away my thanks as well.
"It was nothing..." she began, before I held up my hand for her to stop.
"It was a thank you for all of this." I said motioning to all of my body. "Without your guidance I would still be trying to grow wings one cell at a time. This is far more than nothing, you have shown me my immortal form. Thank you Sam." I said.
"I'm glad that you're pleased with your progress and your immortal form" she said, measuring me up again. "You might want to get to the armory to see if they can't get you a new set of armor that fits that immortal body, but make sure that you keep the armor that you have now. This change is anything but permanent. Personally I feel that we've made wonderful progress today and I don't have anything that we need to work on right away. So run along to the armory and get some new toys." she said. Even though her tone was mocking, I took her words for what they were worth. It would be nice to get some new armor and recommend a few design alterations that I had in mind.
With nothing more than a respectful bow I left her chambers. I tucked my wings in close as I walked through her door and kept them tucked in as I walked through the halls. I could've reverted back to my normal form, but I was really enjoying the rush that came with that form. I had so many different thoughts running through my head that I honestly don't even remember the walk.