An Unborn Hero

Camouflage Vitality (Rare)
Abilities to veil vitality are widely used, and hence so are skills geared towards piercing such veils. You have chosen to sidestep this game of cat and mouse entirely, possibly by being a platypus. Why try to render your vitality imperceptible when you can just stuff it into the middle of a biologically compatible, much larger pool? This sub-skill will let you hide with extreme efficiency, but with very stringent requirements on hiding place.

"So, I got a new sub-skill for stealth by hiding away inside Mum? Stringent requirements indeed... Fine for now, but hardly a stunt I'll be able to replicate after I've been born. I bet by 'biologically compatible' it basically means Mum or Dad; my vitality is a mix of their colours, while everyone else is more distinct, but it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference even if it worked on everyone."

She waited impatiently for her soul to recover enough for another excursion outdoors, idly kicking her non-existent heels. Her indoor view had changed somewhat since gaining [Sense Sound]; whereas her previous sub-skills mostly showed flat voids of colour, the womb was surprisingly noisy, with hundreds of subtle biological processes causing vibrations in her surroundings.

It was all a bit gross, so the hero tried not to think about it. She really didn't want to be aware of everything getting squeezed through the colon behind her.

"I haven't got anywhere with trying to move mana around, so perhaps I should use my downtime to design my magical girl costume? I wish I had my old notebook back; it had hundreds of ideas in. I can assume my hair, eye and skin colour will take after one of my parents, so what styles would suit them best?"

The hero settled down to think, getting so sidetracked by ideas for outfits and transformation poses that she didn't even keep track of her soul's recovery, hence missing the remainder of the grachen doctor's visit.

The reason for her inability to control mana, despite her success at earning every other skill she'd tried for, was actually fairly simple; mana couldn't be controlled in that way. Rather than manipulating mana directly, casting spells required using an activation phrase while maintaining a clear image of the desired spell effect. Most mages would chant the activation phrase as a multitasking aid, to help them keep their image clear, but simply thinking it was sufficient. That was fortunate for people like the hero, who lacked vocal cords.

What was less fortunate was that she didn't know any activation phrases.

Of course, spells had to come from somewhere. Sufficiently powerful mages—with great strength of will, a clear vision and enough time—could imprint a new idea on the world's mana and link it to a new activation phrase. The phrase could be anything; it annoyed Kellela greatly how no two inventors of common spells seemed to use the same language, or else had been born hundreds of years apart and even the 'same' language had evolved enough to be practically unrecognisable. Some weren't meaningful at all, but were just a series of noises the creator thought were cool. For example, the great [Spellforger] Jeremiah Fieldman—whose father was a big name in cruciferous farming circles—was infamous for tying his spells to short, musical bursts of flatulence.

Suffice it to say, learning them was a pain.

The hero may not have been a greatly accomplished mage, but when it came to magical girls, she certainly had the image and strength of will. As for time, magical girls were something that occupied a significant percentage of her thoughts. And what magical girl transformation sequence didn't start with shouting out a cheesy catchphrase? Great quantities of mana were required, too, but she was plumbed into a [Court Mage]. The mana may not have quite been hers, but it was compatible and present in vast amounts.

"Hmm... If I take after Mum, I'll be the pink one, but I intend to start a group, so we'll need a theme. Minerals? Closest to Mum's hair colour would be something like rose quartz, but 'rose quartz pink' sounds silly. A fruit theme would be cute, but I don't know of any fruits quite as bright pink as Mum's hair. Maybe once I get out of here and can find out what new plants grow here. A flower theme, perhaps? Calling myself something like 'Cherry Blossom Pink' would be too cliché, though. How about Lotus Pink? Yeah, that sounds pretty good, and I can match it with the petal skirt design and a white to pink colour gradient. For friendship and justice, demon slaying magical girl Lotus Pink, transform!"

ding

In the outside world, Kellela stumbled, reaching for a wall with a sharp intake of breath.

"What was that?" demanded her current watcher.

"I... have no idea. My mana... went weird?"

"Went weird? That's your official diagnosis as a [Court Mage], is it?"

"What do you want me to say? You try being the one plagued by completely inexplicable phenomena and locked up in your own home."

The guard grunted in a non-reply, but was distracted from saying anything else by the doorbell ringing.

"Were we expecting anyone else?" asked Kellela.

"Probably an irate customer of mine," said Hayedalf, poking his head out of another room.

The watcher at the front entrance opened the door, revealing someone dressed very much like the recent [Exorcist]. At least broadly. The specifics were somewhat different, with the newcomer being thinner, neater and bespectacled. He pushed up his glasses with his index finger as he peered carefully at the guard.

"Yes? Can I help you?" asked the guard.

"Actually, I have been tasked with helping you. It has been suggested that you have a..."

He stopped mid-sentence as he noticed Kellela. Not that he was looking straight at her; he was looking a couple of feet to her side. And then his eyes tracked up and down, across to the other side of Kellela and then back, where they remained stationary for a couple of seconds before finishing the sequence by darting across to the nearest wall.

"... wandering soul," he finished, as if he hadn't just taken a ten-second break.

Through unwavering effort, you have unlocked the [Magical Girl Transformation] skill.
Achievement unlocked: [Early Bloomer II].

"Huh?" thought the hero as her mind ground to a halt. She continued to stare at the notifications for a second before dismissing them and checking herself. Her senses confirmed that she was indeed still nothing more than a slightly irregular wart attached to the wall of her mother's womb. There were no skirts involved, flowery or otherwise.

... Although her inspection did reveal her surroundings were slightly lacking in mana compared to normal.

"What?"

Magical Girl Transformation (Rare)
Alteration spell created by the human. Provides a large boost to the physical and magical abilities of the target, along with conjured weapons and armour. Grants the target additional personalised innate abilities for the duration of the spell. Boost increases a small amount with the number of teammates, to a maximum of four. Boost increases a large amount when acting to defend and protect. Evil actions end the spell. Boost, maximum duration and quantity of additional abilities increases with level.

Early Bloomer II (Rare)
You have unlocked a skill of rare or better rarity prior to the age of 8. Keep up the pace and you will achieve great things. Grants a 75% experience bonus to all skills until you reach the age of 16.

"Alteration spell? Created by someone without a name? Me? Did I just create a spell? How? Right, calm down. It doesn't seem to have done anything to me. As I thought earlier, I'm a bit small for dresses. The description is... accurate, even if it's a bit dry and lacks the proper romance. So, how is a spell different from a regular skill? Just the mana cost? Wait, it drained Mum's mana! And the description says 'the target', not 'yourself'. Don't tell me I just transformed her?!"

The hero burst outside, equal parts relieved and disappointed to discover her mother unchanged. She was talking to the guard, although the hero was still unable to decipher even a single word. Looking around revealed nothing out of place, although she was just in time to witness the black wave of the doorbell.

"Oh? Some sort of priest?" guessed the hero successfully, having not seen the [Exorcist]. "Wait. Is he... looking at me?"

The metaphorical eye of the hero met the very real gaze of the visitor, causing the hero some alarm. Even though the guards seemed able to sense her somehow, they never stared straight at her. She jerked upwards, telling herself it was just coincidence.

The visitor's gaze followed her.

She dropped back down and zipped side to side, being tracked all the while. "Poo," she thought before diving through a wall. "How can he see me? Should I return home? But I've only just come out. Wait, does it even matter if he can see me? It's not like I need to stay hidden, although Mum would probably be weirded out by having a fully conscious person living in her belly."

The hero paused as she considered what she was thinking.

"Wait, the guards can sense me. And that chained up thing where Mum works looked straight at me, too, just before everyone ran away. Is it my fault Mum got into trouble? Did they think it was her that broke into that monster's prison?! And now they've got a priest that can see me. Do they think I'm an evil spirit in need of exorcising or something?!"

The fluctuating colours of the wall as viewed with [Sense Sound] suggested people on the other side were still talking. Maybe even shouting, given the intensity, but of course, the hero still had no idea what was going on.

"Why can't language be a skill?" she thought, for the thousandth time, right before the air froze.

Perhaps not literally; there was no change to the temperature, not that the hero had any way of sensing it. It simply became solid around the hero, who found herself utterly unable to move at all, nor to escape back to her nascent body. The door handle turned, sending her into a full-blown panic, but however hard she struggled, she was stuck.

She watched on helplessly as the door opened and the priest stepped through, followed by a guard, Kellela, Hayedalf and a second guard.

The priest spoke, which calmed the hero down slightly; capturing and talking implied intentions other than murder. Only slightly, though. She was still completely defenceless, at the mercy of someone she had never seen before and couldn't understand.

The priest spoke again, repeating whatever he had said the first time, then trying a few more phrases, repeating each of them in turn. As usual, the hero couldn't make out a word of it. Then Kellela shouted something, causing a guard to respond to her, and then everyone was talking all at once. The hero stared at the waves of colour rolling off all five people in the room, unable to do anything else as she fought ineffectually against whatever skill was holding her in place.

Throughout the entire thing, the priest maintained eye contact with the hero.

ding
You have spent time struggling against a soul trap, upgrading [Astral Projection] with [Uncontainable]. Level cap of [Astral Projection] increased by 10.
For learning to separate body and soul with slightly improved safety, [Astral Projection] advances to level 11.

The hero relaxed a little more as her bounds slackened almost imperceptibly, the solid air gaining a small amount of give. She'd only just left her embryo after a long period of rest. She had plenty of time. If the skill kept levelling, she could escape.

Uncontainable (Uncommon)
A captured soul is among the most valuable of materials in existence. This sub-skill will aid you in avoiding this fate by resisting effects that prevent you from returning to your body while using [Astral Projection].

And now the panic crept back up again. Not being murdered lost a lot of appeal when the alternative was being used as a material! Still, that description offered a hint; it didn't say 'movement' but rather 'returning to your body'. The hero ceased her random thrashing and made a concerted effort to move towards Kellela. It was slow, and felt like wading through tar, but she was moving.

The priest raised an eyebrow, saying one last thing which silenced the rest of the room.

"What am I? Some sort of zoo display?" complained the hero in the privacy of her own thoughts as she struggled on.

ding
For spending time struggling against a soul trap, [Astral Projection] advances to level 12.

The hero sped up. The priest developed a small frown to add to his raised eyebrow, but refrained from interfering further, permitting the hero to escape safely.

"What the hell was that all about?!" swore the hero, once again too scared to venture outside.

Spoiler

Unnamed Human
Age: -9 months
Occupation: Hero (L)
Skills:
- Soul's Eye (U) (18/60)
>> Sense Vitality (U)
>> Sense Soul (R)
>> Sense Mana (U)
>> Sense Light (C)
>> Sense Sound (C)
- Astral Projection (U) (12/30)
>> Sure Navigation (U)
>> Uncontainable (U)
- Robust (C) (8/30)
>> Hardened Soul (R)
>> Secured Mana (U)
- Stealth (C) (2/20)
>> Camouflage Vitality (R)
- Magical Girl Transformation (R) (1/10)
Achievements:
- Early Bloomer II (R)
- First Skill (C)
- Novice (C)
- Survivor of Zarklaxxos, the Arcane Infernal (R)
- I Broke The System, And All I Got Was This Lousy Achievement (E)
- Astral Explorer I (R)

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