20th of Fall, 512AV
There were few things worse than boredom.
There were fewer things worse than boredom whilst something that needed to be done couldn't be done. Dozens upon dozens of pigeon corpses, and nowhere to animate them... "Petching rain."
However, it wasn't all bad. It meant he had time to satisfy his curiosity on a certain subject. First things first, he needed a test subject. A half chime's searching got him one; a little raccoon searching through a pile of garbage. A bit of Djed-infused whistling got its curiosity, and then... Well, what he was planning worked better in the open.
Staring at the raccoon, he focused on a phrase and, isolating it from the rest of his soul, severed it and shot it out through his eyes at the animal. If the raccoon was a human, it would think "I should step forward." Raccoons couldn't speak Common, however, so all it did was bristle, confused about the strange noises entering its head. That was a no, then.
Shifting his focus to his aura, Ignotus slit it open and forced a feeling of calm out of it; a feeling that immediately latched on to the nearest soul, the raccoon. It relaxed a little. A little.
Curious that he should have this power over animals. Curious that a feral raccoon should feel completely at ease with a shambling corpse. There was certainly power in the way one could alter another being's thoughts and feelings to make the illogical logical. To make black white.
Then why didn't he feel any of it?
While exercising it, certainly, but otherwise? None at all. Ignotus wasn't sure why, but he could never seem to come to terms with his own abilities. While he was using Hypnotism, or casting with Reimancy, or breathing life into lifeless things with Animation, he felt like he was atop a mountain- like he could conquer the mountain. Conquer the world. But it was only a temporary high. Once the magic was done, he was exactly where he was before. He still felt like a small, dirt-poor Zeltivan boy who couldn't even haul in a net full of fish, let alone amount to anything.
Ignotus pushed the thought out of his mind. The raccoon was starting to act up again. Reaching backwards into his mind, he dragged up an image he knew would frighten. An old favorite. A lunging Balicani. Slicing the image from the rest of his soul, he shot it into the raccoon with a whistle, and the animal scampered off in fright. A faint smirk played on Ignotus' lips. Why was he thinking so much about this things? How could he not amount to something, when he could bring an animal to its knees? And then when he could bring a man as well? He had an eternity to master his art, after all.
Everything was going to be just fine. Even if his little experiment failed, the grander one was still a resounding success.
