Daily Short: Kyo 10

It isn’t the rocks that scare me; it is the things animating them.

                                                                                         -Elder Necromancer

Placing rocks in a garden requires more than throwing pebbles in the ocean. Kyo couldn’t just throw random boulders around without the plant’s approval. Even though the park belonged to her, it wasn’t hers. It was more of a space that allowed her to exist alongside because of Plant Manipulation IV. When the concept of rocks was introduced to the plants in the garden, there was a great deal of debate.

Pollen flew like a storm, and roots shoveled dirt in equal measure. Every plant had a suggestion, but eventually, the entire thing devolved into two groups. The grasses, flowers, and shrubs wanted nothing placed on their own. It was hard enough the shorter greenery argued to keep sunlight flowing in.

On the other hand, the trees and vines wanted as many rocks as possible. It was a problem that made Kyo’s face scrunch up. Satisfying both sides would be difficult. Lucky for her, she had a wise big sister to ask advice from who had seen much more of the world.

“Crystal Rocks,” Nota said, answering the unasked question.

“Crystal?” Kyo said, tilting her head to look at the big sister’s cover.

“Crystal.” Nota said firmly before continuing, “It will let sunlight down to the smaller plants and still provide warmth to the bigger ones.”

“Oh, ok!” Kyo said, nodding. She wasn’t going to argue with the super-powerful magic book. It was probably better than all the books in all the libraries combined.

“We can go a step further,” Nota said like a devil tempting the unwary.

Kyo narrowed her eyes. She could tell when someone was being tricky. Their tone changed, and they usually moved closer to her bacon!

“One step is good. One step is safe.” Kyo replied with a solid mantra from hunting four-legged prey for a few years.

“A step further will make all the plants happier,” Nota said with a sly tone.

“One step is never enough. Let’s take all the ones we need too!” Kyo shouted as the plants around her cheered in plant fashion.

“The trick is not just to summon normal crystals. We can summon elementals instead. Crystal Rock Elementals will keep the garden healthy if you request it when summoning them. They will also serve as a secondary defense to help the garden.” Nota said primly.

Kyo was sold faster than bacon in the slums on the idea.

Shiny red rocks! Kyo thought as Nota directed her to the page to flip too. The clear, concise instructions on summoning a stone firmed her choice. The small matter of forming a three-ringed circle and pouring some liquid silver was quickly resolved. The vines carved the ring and provided the liquid silver from the alchemy lab.

Kyo chose not to investigate how vines could open drawers or bypass security runes. It was probably not a good idea to pry into the methods of her green friends. Once everything was prepared, she poured small silver amounts into the lines of the circle created. It was a laborious process that used all her milk cup-holding skills to succeed.

The actual summoning was easy. It was just pouring green mana into the circle and blinking away the light show. Once finished, a single solitary nondescript clay brick appeared. Both the brick and Kyo stared at each other for a few moments. Eventually, the ceramic floated to chest height and wobbled. Kyo got the distinct feeling it was saying something depressing.

The brick hovered over the exact center of the circle. As it drifted, the entire diagram changed into something resembling a foreign language. Kyo realized it was a language of rocks a moment after the ring flashed again.

This time a palm-sized crystal appeared. As soon as Kyo blinked, another forty-one crystals appeared. She blinked again, and the tiny crystals were now sizes varying from Talos to Kyo in a flash. Kyo gaped as the floating crystals moved to unseen commands spreading around the house with incredible speed.

Once all the floating crystals had finished moving into position, the brick wiggled. There was a strange whine that grew into silence. Kyo tilted her head, confused, as the brick settled down on her left shoulder. It was light as if a mere feather was taking up residence. She was going to shoo the creature off, but Nota stopped her.

“That is a Demon Brick. It appears to have been summoned by accident, but since it is under contract, it will work hard for you.” Nota said. It was almost as if the wise book was staring the brick down, daring it to say something.

Kyo glanced at the brick, but it was silent as a log. Shrugging, she turned to move back to the house and realized something important.

She was floating. So was Nota!