Rise Of The Spatial Dragon

Ever been looking for something in total darkness, where you didn't even know how what you were looking for looked like. You feel your way in the darkness, frustrated by the conditions that got you where you are, by the fact that you have no idea what you are doing and how to go about doing it.

This was how Dane felt as he tried to feel his way around the forest. he knew there were hafiti birds there, and other beings, among them humans. However, try as he might, he couldn't find them. He was lost wandering around in the dark until it hit him.

He was trying to make use of senses he no longer had. All this time, he had focused on senses he had acquired when he still had a body. Now his soul was nothing more than a spirit. He had to make use of the spirit, but what senses does a spirit have?

Thinking up to this part, Dane berated himself for not seeing it earlier. The spirit could access the Spiritual realm, and he could use this realm as a setting, he could then apply his spirit to this setting and see if there were any senses to be picked up.

With great effort, Dane set out to do just that. It took considerable time to finally map his senses correctly but after quite some time, he now had a 3D image in his head of how the world looked like, but it only had a range of 4meters.

Time in the spirit world passed differently, so what seemed to Dane like many many days had only been just a few minutes. Dane didn't know this yet, so he cursed himself for being too slow that he had lost his chance to leave with the others, now he got a chance.

Dane found out that he could move around in his spiritual state, but therein lay more difficulties. He didn't know which direction to go to, where north, east, west or south was. All Dane could do now was move around aimlessly, hoping to stumble on a living being soon.

He encountered a few humans, some plants, but none of these were his targets. He needed something he could control, but not something too much of a handful. That's when he saw it. It was a small hafiti bird. It couldn't have been more than 2 years old, and for creatures that had almost half as long a lifespan as humans, that was considerably small. However, the little bird had learned to walk, fly and even eat, so it had fit into his purposes well.

Using his Spiritual sense, as he was calling this new ability, Dane marked out where each living being was. To him, living beings seemed to emit glowing light. One, however, looked like a scorching sun, whom Dane assumed was Kedan.

The little Hafiti bird was more like a dim glow. To Dane's mind, it posed no threat, just a perfect opportunity for experimentation. He willed himself to move towards the bird, reaching for it with his ethereal body, however, he only managed to go through it.

What a blonde moment! They existed in separate realms, him the spiritual, the bird in the physical, how could he hope to even make contact?

Blonde moments? We all have them, he thought as he resumed his task. He focused on the glowing spirit. It was still alive, but very much dormant. Dane didn't know what exactly he was doing, but as he released his power and activated the possession skill, he could feel some connection being established with the dormant spirit.

Dane didn't want to be forceful since he was in no particular hurry. He took his time like a lover seducing a mistress. Any wrong move and he would be undone, he could even trigger an awakening if he willed. The moment Dane thought about this, he realized the potential in it, but for now, that was not what he wanted at the moment.

While in his unrushed state, he started noticing certain things happening to him. The first and foremost was the restoration of his senses. He could now see, hear, feel and smell. Looking at a branch leaf, he willed to take a bite at it. It worked, the beak tore away the leaf, and yes, his tongue could also taste.

Next, he gained access to the body. He could feel the muscles on his wings, the report of wind speeds coming from the feathers all over his body. He was gaining more than just sensory input, he was gaining an understanding of what it meant. Like receiving a manual of how to operate the body.

Cracking up a smile, Dane spread his wings to take that leap, only ...

3 branches and several twigs were broken. Dane the bird tried to control his flight but his movements were all wrong. With a thud, the bird found itself spawn on the ground. Thankfully, there were no serious injuries, Dane's fall may have been clumsy but the bird could fly, hence its natural air buoyancy helped mitigate the fall.

The phenomena of a small hafiti bird falling from a tree attracted the humans' attention. The closest to it was Kayla, who ran to the bird to try and pick it up. Bad mistake!

The little bird was only little compared to the others. While standing straight, it was the height of a german shepherd, only it had a beak for a mouth, wings, and feathers instead of fur. Its front limbs ended in claws, but its hind legs ended as hooves. One thing though could be said to describe it more perfectly, it was so cute! Kayla couldn't resist.

However, all that cuteness quickly evaporated and was replaced by ferociousness Kayla hadn't expected to see. The beast snarled at her, letting out some very intimidating sounds. She then spread out her wings in a very confrontational manner.

At this moment, both Kayla and Dane were shocked. He wasn't doing any of this. One thing Dane was sure about was that he was fully integrated with the hafiti bird's spirit. He could feel everything as it felt, only, he wasn't in control.

A simple fact that Dane had overlooked. While there was no immediate threat or concern, the body could allow other parts of the being to have its d.e.s.i.r.e, and that was how he'd managed to gain control over the bird temporarily. Of course, his flight going so wrong had earned him some ire from the bird, which could sense that there was some intrusion but didn't know from where.

Now that Dane had exposed his hand too early, there was little trust between the bird's inner triarchy. However, absolute control at the moment belonged to the body. When a potential threat appeared, the body quickly took back control. This was its domain and it got to protect it.

Kayla, on the other hand, didn't expect such viciousness to come from something so cute. She was conflicted about whether she should just reach out, or keep her distance. Prudence won though.

"Alright, remain perfectly calm," Kedan's voice carried from across a clearing, 'Maintain eye contact. Don't let her ignore you, keep your eyes on her, if she looks away, make some movement. Let her realize that she has to pay attention to you or there will be consequences!"

As Kedan continued to give his instructions from afar while drawing closer, Kayla was following every single one of the actions that she heard from Kedan. She was in a dance with the bird, which had yet to decide whether to trust her or not.

From inside its head, Dane understood that it was trying to decide how much of a risk it was in if it tried to take flight. This was something that caught Dane by surprise, he didn't expect such a thought from what was considered a thoughtless bird.

Similarly, Kayla's movements were enticing. Nothing too engraining, but it made the animal want to keep looking. For Dane, who was an experienced trapper and hunter, he knew the routine. This dance would go on for a long time, and as long as there was that established connection, taming the bird was almost a guarantee.

Dane himself had taught Kedan plenty about taming the bird, and it suddenly struck him, he might also try. For once he'd also have feedback. Maybe even form a bond with the bird. Suddenly, Dane could feel a closer bond being formed the moment he had those thoughts.

Taking some time to think things through, Dane understood a critical error he had made in his approach. Having read about Possession, he assumed it would be easy to possess a non-sentient creature like the hafiti bird. He had let his contempt or disdain for non-sentient beings to proliferate, and be sensed by the bird. It became cautious of Dane instinctively since it could understand that his d.e.s.i.r.es were not mutually beneficial to it. He felt like an outsider, and its subconscious was trying to chase Dane out.

This was a fundamental lesson Dane picked up. He couldn't very well expect the creature to respond to him if he didn't treat it like an equal. The only time this would apply would be if there was a higher power taking control. For instance, if Dane had been in his true form with his full power, the little creature would have felt like it was receiving orders from a god, one that it couldn't dare disobey!

Yes, that old problem again, Dane thought. No matter how much he went through this, it never got old. He was referring to the fact that now he was considerably weaker than he was used to being. As a faction protector, this was a common experience. One would send his soul, not his spirit. The spirit held the true power so, at the point of reincarnating in a pod, they would have to start from scratch, recreate a need to awaken a spirit... blah blah blah. The whole process again.

Now was slightly different though, he was in the form of a spirit. Though it was starting from scratch, this was like nothing he'd ever experienced before. He could feel even his mental limitations now that he was this weak.

Did that spook Dane in any way? Hell No! This was it, the adrenaline, the rise. Every practitioner, every Super enjoyed the feeling of seeing themselves rise from level to level, and to someone like Dane who had been stuck at his bottleneck for so long, this was a chance to experience that again.

Meanwhile, Kedan had managed to cross the distance between him and the hafiti bird. This was something Dane knew would happen from the get-go, part of the taming process. Taking out a slingshot from his bag, he threw it so accurately that it locked the wings in place. The impact was so powerful it knocked the air out of the bird, causing it to stumble and fall.

Dane had seen that coming. Part of taming the bird meant rendering it totally under one's power, make it realize who was master and slave. Dane even knew that Kedan could just use his will over the poor creature, which was how he had done the first time around. However, Kedan did not want to expose this ability as it was a little bit too overpowered, which was also something Dane had been counting on.

This only left them with one choice, Kedan to tame the beast the normal way. Sorry bro, this time there's competition. Dane felt sorry that he kept stepping on his brother's toes after his big favor. He just hoped the lad would understand someday and cut him some slack. For now, he had a hafiti bird to free.