With how easily Ice Magic came once I stopped being stubborn, it was quickly becoming my new favorite magic to play with. I started by freezing the pond I had made. It put a minor dampener on trying to create my little ecosystem, but it allowed for the next experiment.

  I created a new wooden doll to pilot and crafted a quick set of ice skates that I just molded into the feet. It’s been forever since I last went skating, so I was a little clumsy. I thankfully didn’t feel pain when my puppet fell on its butt, though.

  After a few hours of skating in the dark, I was quickly becoming a skating professional. As the sun rose over the horizon, I was starting to perform jumps and twists and all sorts of acrobatic feats that I never would have been able to do in my past life. It even earned me a notification.

  Through acrobatic acts of beauty, you have learned the skill [Dancing (C)].

  I continued goofing around for a while, enjoying the feeling of gliding on the ice. When the sun was at its peak, I decided to try to figure out the battle potential of this new magic of mine.

  I started by creating various weapons of ice. I started the casting by creating the weapon out of water and removing the heat from them, freezing them into shape. I made swords, spears, and axes, but my favorite was making a javelin. Unfortunately, it wasn’t like I really had a body to use them with.

  What I could do really well, though, was create small darts of ice and fling them at my target.

  The target I made was the standard circle with shrinking rings inside. I made the rings by alternating the ridges of the bark on it, which turned out better than I expected. When it was done, I disconnected from it. That would prevent me from feeling the pain of injuring myself, like I foolishly did with the gun experiment.

  Once I had my target set up, I started testing my new dart weapons out on it. I was able to fire them off surprisingly fast, but the piercing effect of the darts was rather lacking. I can’t be sure, but I think it’s due to my Iron Bark skill. But if I can’t pierce Iron Bark, then what hope would I have of piercing armor?

  I gathered the pieces of the broken darts on the ground and molded them into a large ball. I added some spikes to the ball for potential added damage, then hurled the whole thing at the target. All in all, it was about two feet in diameter, and it was decently heavy. The target didn’t stand a chance. Especially since I didn’t make it all that thick. The second target I made was much thicker and took three hits from my impromptu mace to smash apart.

  Now that I knew a bit more about the combat limitations on this new skill of mine, I felt more comfortable playing around with it some more. I melted down the ice chunks and used that to create various ice sculptures. I made various scenes and miniature buildings with it: the Grinch prowling around, Santa Claus with his sack of toys, the Eiffel Tower, and Big Ben. The only limitation was that I couldn’t create floating scenes that remained floating without my direct magical input, so no giant apes on any towers smacking down planes that flew around him. Although, maybe if I added some Enchanting to the mix? Nope. I wouldn’t even know where to start with that. Maybe further down the line, I’ll get a skill that involves floating things, and I can apply it there.

  I brought my mind back to my main body when I was done experimenting. I wanted to show Honey the fruits of my labor, and I did so by decorating my canopy with sculpted snowflakes. I spread them all through my body. I wanted to decorate before I got her attention, then show her the result, but apparently, it had some side effects that I hadn’t thought about, as she contacted me first.

  “Tree God! Winter has come! Hive not ready! Wind is cold! Need help preparing hive and Tree God’s garden!”

  Apparently, my work with Ice Magic had caused enough of a change in the ambient temperature that Honey and her hive had felt the difference. She was panicking for a few minutes before I was able to calm her down.

  “It’s okay, Honey! It was just me! Winter isn’t here yet! I learned a new type of magic, and I was trying to decorate and show you. I didn’t think it would be a big deal, but I see I was wrong. I’m sorry!”

  I explained to her what I was doing and why the temperature was dropping. When she realized her hive was still safe, she began calming her hive; they had started dancing into a frenzy. It took me removing all the decorations and using some Fire Magic to warm the place up to get them to finally relax again.

  “Note to self. Don’t cause major shifts in temperature without warning my bees first.”

  I tried showing the now calmer bees the ice sculptures I was able to make, and they were all excited about the cool scenes I was able to make. They especially loved the bee statue I made in the likeness of Honey. That being said, they still avoided getting too close to the ice. Apparently, bees don’t like the cold. Who knew?

  With the misunderstanding fully resolved, I removed the ice and returned the clearing to how it was before my decorating attempts. I was curious as to why the bees were so scared of the prospect of winter, but figured it was just a bee thing.

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  I stayed a while and talked with Honey about possibilities of how to mix Earth Magic and Water Magic, but she didn’t have a clue as to what to do. Her only experience with magic was what I had shown her, and her workers only knew of the magical winds and shifting earth that helped them out on occasion. In the end, I decided to try experimenting more with the golems, as she had also suggested I do.

  I went back to my clearing and made a few acorn-cores for potential golems/dryads. I kept them strictly to physical skills, like Body Manipulation and Unarmed Combat. These were going to be strictly combat-orientated beings, so I gave them personalities reflecting that. Of course, I also made them loyal to me and protective of the hives, as well.

  Speaking of the hive, I think it’s time I tried creating non-humanoid golems. So far, they have all taken the shape of humans, with a nature twist. But what would happen if I made one with a canine body, or a feline form?

  I started with a canine first. I created the general shape of the wolves that frequented my territory, then bulked it up some. Since I wasn’t adding a pack mentality to these golems, they would need to stand on their own. I added spikes to its torso so that anything trying to grapple it would be harmed in the process, then I added fierce fangs and claws as well. Between the spikes would be a layer of leaves to help them passively regenerate energy. In the end, it ended up looking like a mix of a porcupine, a wolf, and a striped tiger.

  I opened the chest cavity of my creation and gently placed the core inside. Then I closed it up and waited. After a few moments, the creature started to stir.

  At first, I felt that it was focusing on getting familiar with its body. I saw some subtle changes in the joints that would allow for easier movement. I also saw it segment parts of its body, though the segments remained whole through the use of plenty of fibrous roots/vines. I saw that it was using a lot of its energy already in adjusting its body to its preferred form, so I gently reconnected to it and gave it access to all the energy it would need. It didn’t need too much more after that, and then I refilled its reserves before I made my initial mental contact with the creature.

  “I see you’ve made plenty of adjustments. How do you like your body?”

  “Yes, master. The form I was given was… suitable, but not optimal. The changes I made were guided by my Unarmed Combat skill. This new form will allow me to be a much better fighter. I thank you for allowing- nay. I thank you for subsidizing my alterations. I will be sure to repay this debt with my life.”

  Interesting. I hadn’t thought of my skills as guides before. I’ll have to think about that more later.

  “You are very welcome, my newest familiar. If you ever need to recharge, you are welcome to relax at the clearing with my main body.” I sent him a mental map of where it was. “There are guards there that will protect you if you are ever in need of a space to recover.”

  The golem gave its thanks and asked where it might find enemies to hunt. Since the others I had made were protecting the border of my territory near the road, I want this one to head north. There were still plenty of orc sightings there. I asked that it avoid hunting the wolves, given their less-than-hostile attitude towards non-monsters.

  Off it went, and off I went to experiment with the non-humanoid golems.

  I created other animal-based golems as well. I created a rhino golem, a lion golem with a mane of vines, a porcupine golem that could shoot “quills” made of wood using the Marksmanship skill and fueled by Body Manipulation to regrow them, and finally a failed bird golem. I didn’t have a way to make things fly yet, so flyers would have to wait for a later date.

  The last golem that I wanted to make was that of a reindeer. I started with the basic deer form, added some antlers, then got to the more fantastical bits. I wrapped a series of vines around its entire body. Each leg received a vine, the antlers got their own vines, and the torso was wrapped in a multitude of them; otherwise, it would have been encompassed in an extremely long and potentially cumbersome one. Having it broken down the way it currently is would allow for more flexibility.

  Then each vine bloomed to be covered in leaves. The leaves were necessary for the Photosynthesis skill I planned on bestowing upon it, as well as giving it color beyond the rather bland gray of the bark that all my creations had. While the gray would have served well as camouflage amongst the rest of my forest, the green worked just fine, given the multitude of vines that I had dangling throughout the land.

  The second skill that I planned to add was the Body Manipulation skill. So far, every golem I created has altered its body in some way that it felt would help it serve its combat purpose. It was enough that I was honestly beginning to question how good I was at creating bodies. But whatever helps them helps me, so I gave it to this one as well. Not that I exactly planned on having this one be a combat golem. I had other ideas for it.

  I debated whether I should give it the Vine Control skill, given how many vines it had on its body, but this was also an experiment to see how well a golem could control the vines without that particular skill. That, and the golem was actually going to be a named one, making it into a dryad. My first non-human dryad.

  Finished with the body, I crafted the acorn core. For its personality, I gave it the basic loyalty to me and protectiveness of my bees. I went a step further, though, and added a desire to help protect any other non-monsters it came in contact with while in the bounds of my territory. I made sure to clarify non-monsters, as the wolf pack that frequented my land made me realize something, as well as the existence of my dryads.

  Just because a creature wasn’t human, does not mean it’s a monster.

  I finalized the acorn core and inserted it into the deer’s body. It took a few minutes to make its physical alterations, aided by nutrients from me. When it was done, it stood and looked to the road it was destined to guard. I connected to its mind, and we did the usual greeting. With the pleasantries over, I gave it its mission.

  “I dub you, Rudolph. Guardian of the road, Protector of the innocents that seek to travel my land. Go, and perform your duty.”

  I had to admit, I felt all official giving the creature its name and purpose, like a king anointing a knight.

  The deer bowed its head and trotted off, appearing to be reading its new status page.

  Discord Here!