Ten seconds, eleven seconds...
Until the twelfth second.
The eyes of this White Seagull suddenly underwent a magical transformation. Like the large red eye, its originally round pupils turned into narrow vertical slits like a clock hand, then instantly returned to their original shape.
Flap flap—
The White Seagull flew to Aiven’s arm. After inspecting it carefully through Data Visualization and Spiritual Perception, Aiven breathed a sigh of relief.
"Succeeded!"
Its appearance hadn’t changed the slightest, but through deeper connection, Aiven confird that this White Seagull had acquired the gifted ability of "Extraordinary Sense of Direction," or more accurately, its originally strong sense of direction had been exponentially enhanced, achieving qualitative transformation.
"Thank you for your hard work!"
Gently stroking the back of the Seagull’s neck as encouragent, Aiven showed no embarrassnt for his earlier thoughts of "Since White Seagulls are the most abundant, it’s no bother if one or two fail!"
The first success paved the way for everything to proceed smoothly afterward.
One by one, sea birds of various sizes landed in front of the large red eye to et its gaze, activated their abilities and then flapped away, making way for the next.
Though based on species, size, and original talents, the ti each sea bird spent varied, as did the energy consumption of the Array.
As dawn approached, the Array’s power was down to a thin layer, and the large red eye grew very faint. At this mont, the last mber of the bird flock, which was also the most special, silently landed on the ground.
But this was no sea bird; it was an exceedingly adorable snow-white owl.
It was precisely the subject Aiven planned to transform into the "Base Station."
Based on past experiences, Aiven knew that owls were remarkably slow-witted among birds, far less clever than "geniuses" like crows and parrots.
However, in Mysticism, owls hold unique symbolic aning. In various Schools and even within the Divine Church, they are considered symbols of "Wisdom."
Thus, as a Wizard rather than a scientist, Aiven chose the owl genuinely, rather than the mysterious "crow" or the parrot, often the quintessential companion of many Pirate Captains in films.
As for the intelligence of owls in the Extraordinary World, he was unsure, but Aiven was bold enough to rely on Witchcraft over intellect... he was prepared ntally for this.
Fortunate indeed.
Owls, which naturally had no particular talent for directions, successfully gained the magical ability of Extraordinary Sense of Direction after exhausting the last of the ritual’s Array power.
Yet, it’s noteworthy that Aiven never had the desire to personally test this ability, even after the ritual’s red eye had completely dissipated.
As the caster, he knew that while such an ability was valuable, especially for a sailor enduring long journeys at sea, it could require permanently altering a small part of the soul’s essence, a sacrifice Aiven was genuinely unwilling to make.
Before fully understanding the principles of this Witchcraft, Aiven would never apply it to himself.
As the sun rose.
Aiven dismantled the outer Spiritual Barrier and Barrier Wall. A breeze swept through, scattering the material ashes and residues left from the ritual across the ground.
The smooth bluestone remained unchanged, as if nothing had happened there.
Afterwards, Aiven rested the entire day. Although his Constitution allowed him not to sleep for a week straight, this day was mainly for the birds to adjust to their new abilities.
The next night, the second phase of the ritual began anew.
To ensure stable "signal," the Base Station’s bandwidth, mory, and CPU all had to et standards.
Owls naturally possess well-developed auditory nerves, and their concave facial disks aid greatly in information collection. The main goal of the second ritual step was upgrading its mory and CPU, critical hardware.
Routine setup of Barrier Wall and Spiritual Barrier to avoid disruptions.
Unlike the first phase, Aiven began preparations as soon as dusk fell, although the ritual’s official start ti was similar to the first.
Sowhat annoyed, though this ti the only focus was the owl, drawing the rune technique, which was far more complex, took Aiven three full hours, consuming more precious materials than last ti.
But Aiven knew his designed technique rely t the ritual’s fundantal requirents; it was restricted by his current knowledge and abilities, with much redundancy and shortcomings.
Many parts managed to achieve expected results only by relying on the ultimate hack of "Knowledge insufficient, Golden Lion make up," leading to much waste of precious materials and a substantial depletion of his finances.
"If it doesn’t succeed this ti, I’m going to stew you!" Aiven threatened his owl, staring adorably with its head turned 180 degrees.
However, perfecting the knowledge system and continuously improving the ritual were tasks for the future; as long as today’s transformation reached the minimal expected goals, it would be a great success!
With the moon at its zenith, the forest’s Spiritual Energy reached its peak.
Long chants rich in natural Vitality poured from Aiven’s mouth as the owl, pitifully bound and lying on the ground, gradually cald from restless struggles, then fell into a deep sleep.
With the "Sacrifice" of what seed like a primate brain tissue placed at the Array’s four corners slowly weathering to ash, a red mist began to spread from the center, intensifying in a brief span till it nearly illuminated the entire transford forest.
Voom—
At its peak brightness, the red light suddenly collapsed inward, enveloping the owl at the center in layers of red Spiritual Light, finally forming a thick, blood-colored cocoon.
Countless blood-colored lines ford by the rune technique on the ground seed to animate, slowly creeping like vine roots. Gradually converging to gently lift the owl-turned cocoon, suspending it in air like a malford tree bearing a massive fruit.
Thump... thump... thump...
Faint heartbeats of the owl echoed from within the cocoon, sounding like drums in the deliberately silent surroundings.
"There’s nothing more I can do. Rely on your own luck!"
Everything that needed doing was done, now it was up to the owl’s own fate. Aiven didn’t waste ti waiting, sitting cross-legged as he gradually entered ditation.
While arming himself with external objects, he never forgot that inner strength was his true foundation, and enhancent ca through incrental accumulation.
The owl’s transformation took longer than Aiven expected; with days passing, the at-like cocoon swelled several folds, turning translucent.
Peering through, he could see the owl, considerably larger now, curled with eyes closed, occasionally twitching like a human restless in semi-wakefulness.
"You must succeed!"
From this mont, Aiven remained close without ditation or als, waiting to witness the owl’s rebirth!
Finally reaching the dusk of the second day.
Pop—
With the sound of a bubble bursting, Aiven’s spirit stirred.
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