Heavenly Zenith

"That first detail alone is insanely powerful. Racial abilities have only ever been granted by excessive amounts of ancestral effort over generations, or gifted by the G.o.ds. For a mortal, demiG.o.d or no, to be able to create a unique racial ability so easily... Just the fact that it"ll be our racial ability naturally would make it impossible for us to ever betray you." Layla had to steady her racing heart as she spoke the honest truth, "We elves have long memories, and we do not forget great favors, especially such a favor that cannot possibly be repaid."

"Don"t worry about it. I wholeheartedly help my allies, as is how I have always been. Now then, it"s time for you to see the magic"s abilities. I have an idea for a name, but as it is for your people, you should see the magic first." The boy smiled widely, "I"ll show you the easy method first, but it"s got two limits: it can"t be used for major things like tree-changing, and it"s meant mainly for all-purpose things, or for combat." He help up one hand and gave off a peaceful aura, while the phantasm of Demeter appeared behind him copying his motions. As his hand swayed left and right, the branches of the trees, the vines and the little plants all swayed in sync. Lifting his hand slightly like he wanted a high-five, 5 vines wrapped together before moving over and giving him a high-five, the ends of the vines taking a vague hand-like shape.

Brannon and Layla were both astounded, with the former stuttering like a fish and the latter whispering, "Wow... that"s amazing..." They then got to watch as the hand-like vines threw a good punch at the boy, who caught it in his upheld hand, all without breaking the magic.

After he released the magic, nature returned to its regular state, but the Demeter phantasm remained. "Now, this is the harder method, which requires a lot of control. It can"t be used for combat, as it is too hard to do in active combat." He held his hands in front of his chest like in prayer, but with his fingers laced as he began to sing in a strange and unclear language, one that didn"t even sound like it was meant to be spoken, but Demeter wasn"t copying him this time. Instead, she looked like a conductor as she gracefully moved her hands. The biggest tree before them began to rustle and shift as it began to swell at its base. The wood and bark seemed to flow like water as a large, 20ft tall (6m) enclosed room formed at the base, with only a basic arch of an entrance. He then spread his hands as he continued singing, to which the wood continued to flow, creating windows and stairs, along with a second floor. After that, walls for rooms began to grow from the tree walls until it became a two-bedroom two-story house. The last thing that happened was a simple bead-curtain like door formed from vines over the entryway, which magically kept the heat and cold out or in.

During this spectacle, Brannon stuttered even faster than before, his well-experienced mind having trouble comprehending what it saw. This was undoubtedly the most natural and, possibly, beautiful act of life magic he"d ever seen, and he"d once seen a Grandmaster Theurgist cast the limb regrowing spell [Cell Resurgence]. Even seeing a quadriplegic man regain all four limbs didn"t move his as much as the magic in front of him did now.

Layla"s legs gave out under her as she fell into a sitting position, just as moved as Brannon as she watched such beautiful magic. Both of them, like all elves, were intrinsically in tune with nature. While the trees and plants could not speak or convey thoughts, they gave off emotions that could be understood. The two elves felt joy, eagerness and not a single bit of negative emotions, not even pain. When it was finally over, and the Demeter phantasm dispersed, the newly formed tree-house remained in place, just as it was meant to. Seeing this, she was moved to tears. She had been present for the last person"s attempt to do such a thing, and all elves in the area felt pain from the trees. The emotions this time were enough to make them cry in happiness.

Seran understood why they were behaving like they were, so he just calmly waited until they recovered enough to speak again, "Overall, this is the magic I have created, which will become the elven racial ability. I haven"t actually given it a name yet, but I have an idea. I want your thoughts on the name."

Brannon, who finally stopped looking like a guppy, said, "Whatever you name it, I don"t think any elf would disagree with your choice. After all, the creator of a new spell or ability gets to name it."

"I understand that, but this is going to be your racial ability.That"s why I wanted to get your input first. The overall name I gave this magic is Nature Magic, a sub-cla.s.s of Life Magic."

Layla mumbled it to herself over and over, "It just rolls off the tongue... it truly does seem exactly like magic that works with nature itself, rather than using it or something like it..."

"It seemed the most fitting for it, after all. Other than myself, it will require elven blood to be used. The only other race that could manage to use it would be humans due to their insanely high adaptability. Still, it would require mentoring for years before they could really use it." Seran smiled as he stretched his limbs, "Oh, the phantasm of Demeter will always appear, though it won"t be as clear as mine."

Brannon nodded slightly, "That"s understandable, since you"re a demiG.o.d."

The boy shrugged before pointing a finger at each of their foreheads. A bolt of energy shot out of his fingertips and into their minds, imprinting Nature Magic into their minds, and into their souls in the process. He then lay down on his back and just listened to nature while the two went through what could be considered a metamorphosis.

Seran ended up dozing off for a good two or three hours before he was woken up by Brannon, who had been the first to return from the state of metamorphosis. "So, how does it feel? Have you tried it yet?"

"I have... I never thought a day would come when we elves could do such things..." The male elf held a staff that was shoulder-height to him, covered in leafy vines and flowers. "And to think that, through this magic, we can even have living items, like this staff. It was just a test I did to see if the trees would listen or agree. This little one was extremely keen on traveling the world with me. I have a feeling that it would stay a living thing, even after I die." He ran one hand over the vines of the staff, which rustled happily like a playful child.

"The singing portion of Nature Magic is even more amazing. If one is strong enough, you can even give a small amount of sentience to them. The current limit that I am aware of is to use the World Tree, Yggdrasil"s sentient consciousness as a template to make another tree sentient. Still, I don"t plan to do that. The true limits of this magic is up to your people to discover." Seran smiled widely, "You can go ahead and teach this magic to your companions. Between elves, the method that I used, the mind transference, is the fastest and best. It"s between elves and humans that it requires actual teaching. Since I believe in yours and Queen Layla"s word, I will go ahead and conquer the being in the Dreamless Savannah. After that, I"d have to ask you to get my dad to have everyone come out to the road."

After Brannon sat down next to Layla to wait for her to recover from her enlightenment of the Nature Magic, Seran headed back in the direction he"d once came from, directly into the gra.s.sy plains of a B-rank Danger Zone.