Undertale Fallen Determination: Book 1

Chapter 16: Skull Blasters

We watched as Wingding stood there, focusing his magic. He summoned six bones, collected into two groups of three each. Two of the bones were the tops of some kind of animal skull. The other four were their jaws, but they split into two halves (so two pairs of jaw halves equaling four bones). They all organized themselves into two scary-looking skeletal beast-heads.

We were in the Clearing, watching Wingding prepare for a new spell he was creating. This is what he working towards his entire life, to become a spell-smith, and he was hoping that by doing it now, he would get into a higher student position in college. There was only really one, and getting more favor from the limited teachers would seriously help him. Not the best situation, but this was the Underground. All situations were limited.

Once Wingding summoned his beast skulls, I mocked, "oh, wow. You made more bones!" I didn't fully understand how these were special.

"They... look like... demonic dog skulls," Pristina pointed out. I suppose it would have made sense that she, a skeleton would've known what kind of animal these skulls belonged to.

"Yes, they are inspired by the canine design, but they are so much more than that," Wingding replied.

"They look like a bunch of bones to me," Hapi replied.

I had to admit, that's what it looked like to me, and because of that, I didn't see the point, as it didn't seem practical.

You see, I knew how skeleton magic worked, and I knew that it took a lot of magic energy to create solid matter from magic, like a skeleton monster's bone magic, and as such it's pretty exhausting. So usually, skeletons make a bunch of bones in advance and basically keep them in a box, or if they're powerful enough, a pocket dimension of sorts, and then teleport them to their side when needed.

But as a standard, the basic femur shape is practical and functional. Making a skull didn't make sense to me, unless Wingding wanted to clamp down on something, which wasn't his style. And really, how was this a new magic spell?

"...So, I'll bite, what is it supposed to do?" I asked. "Because I don't-"

"Don't worry, Chara, let me explain," Wingding replied. "These... are skull blasters. They are supposed to channel the soul power of the caster, and well..." he chuckled.

"So, show us."

Wingding put his hands behind his back. "It's not so simple. This is a new spell. I need time to adjust to them."

"Then why are we here?" Hapi asked, sounding bored.

Wingding smiled. "Because it shouldn't take long before the first successful tests." He closed his eyes and raised his hands, focusing. We watched... and waited... as nothing happened. Wingding started to get visibly frustrated, before throwing his hands down. "It should have... argh!"

Hapi rolled her eyes, and Pristina looked down. I just stared, thinking about what went wrong.

"Hey, Wingding," I called out. "Can I ask something?"

He looked up, not saying anything.

"Magic comes from our soul, right? So we already channel soul power with our magic."

"Yes, this should be an extension of that, so-" he started.

"Just listen for a sec," I interrupted, "you're trying to channel magic through magic, not a soul."

"What do you suggest?"

"I- um..." I looked at the skull blasters. They were like animal skulls. "Skeletons are all made of bones, and they use bones for their magic. So they're extensions of yourself. So, maybe... try to not just power them with your soul power... but try to connect your soul to them."