Lesson

''I hope you learned your lesson Caspian, do not play with magic!''. She's been at it for the last 5 minutes, well, I deserved it.

After she stops pacing around the room she sits back down on the chair, I did not move, not because I did not want to but because I had to nurse the injury she caused, I am lucky she did not smack me on the head, I would have most certainly gotten a concussion at the very least.

''Of course, madam, do not worry, the magic was but a small trick, totally inoffensive''. Her face scrunched up again. I have to say, while I do feel bad for my actions I feel like doing it caused the mood to return to normal. Due to her talking about the death of her friend's things got a bit depressing.

''As is said don't do it again. Now, make another one and show it to me!'' What? Didn't you just say not to do it again?.

Seeing my confused expression she continues.''I meant do not do magic without any warning, it is dangerous, do not tarry now, make another bird!''. This is the closest to a mothers nagging ill ever get I guess.

I comply and just 'burp' out another bird, this time much bigger than the little sparrow I made before. The newly created purple flyer jumps on the table and just stays there waiting.

The madam stretches her oversized hand over to the bird, I can't help but add. ''Do be careful madam, it is very fragile''. Without reacting to my words she 'lightly' grabs the bird. I can instantly feel the feedback from her actions, a little voice in the back of my head tells me that the bird is heavily damaged and unable to fly, repairs are impossible and dismissal and recreation are recommended.

Good old magic instruction manual. It is probably just my mind interpreting what my mana is telling me in the form of spoken instructions, still fancy tho.

After several seconds of the madam fiddling with the bird she finally does something to destroy it, namely, try to pluck out the feathers. I have to reiterate this again, this bird is not a living organism, it is not formed of distinct parts, every single part from the feathers to the claws might as well be considered the brain. In other words, the madam just pulled apart its brain so the construct fell apart.

Looking up at me she says. ''These are fun but you need to work on their durability'' I feel the need to say that it is not a toy but I know better and shut up.

''You are right madam, I just learned how to use magic recently so my creations are very unstable''. With an appraising look, she says. ''You are not the first conjurer I met Caspian, even so, you are the only one capable of creating flying creatures, most other conjurers create animals such as wolves or horses, those creations are also very solid, as If real, while yours are light and fragile''.

Mine are light and fragile?

As if a lightbulb just turned on in my head I realize. If her words are right then mana has density, if that is so then the density of my mana is extremely low, she said that other conjurers create things as if a real copy of the original, both in weight and durability, but even so they cannot create birds, probably due to the high density of their mana that does not allow the bird to fly.

I will have to look into this more, not now but later, a magically inept giant may not be the best magic advisor there is.

''Thank you for your praise madam, but can we return to the subject at hand, what is the trap you used to catch the Vulnogs?'' It better be something good.

''The trap? I can tell you but you won't be able to use it, as is said before you need someone to lure the Vulnogs into the trap, you are not nearly fast enough to do it''. I know.

''I understand, but as we got this far the curiosity is killing me, if you could explain how you caught them it will serve as future reference''. Come on tell me, what ingenious trap did you use, this is another world they surely made use of some innovative way to trap the monsters.

''Fine, this is how the monster hunter told us to do it. The creatures have a great weakness that we can exploit by the use of a certain method''. I nod, good, weaknesses are great.

''The way to capture them is by exposing them to something they were never meant to experience''. Makes sense, not tell me what it is.

''For us more advanced races it would be no problem but for mere beasts, it is a death sentence!'' Is she doing this on purpose?

''In order to create this trap, you need workers and tools, not many, but enough to complete it before the sun sets. The main component of the trap is a great hole in the ground, but before making the hole you need to prepare several other materials''.

A pitfall, the ingenious trap is a pitfall, maybe I was giving the residents of this world too much credit.

While disappointing was setting in she continues. ''The materials you need to prepare are a special herb than once mixed with oils turns into a water-resistant paste and a special cover made of wood bark.'' I take it back, you deserve all the credit you want, now continue.

''The trap works like this, once the hole has been dug, you need to cover its insides with the paste then fill it halfway with water. The paste will assure that the water remains inside the trap for at least several days after that is stops working. The bark is used in order to not alarm the creatures, if you used piles of leaves or small sticks it will be very suspicious even for the beasts''.

I interrupt her to express my doubts. ''I don't understand madam, how will this do anything? It is just a hole filled with water, the creatures will just swim to the wall and climb up the sides?''.

With a smug look on her face, she tells me. ''You are wrong Caspian. Water is their biggest threat due to one simple reason''. As she speaks she gets up and heads over to the corner, crouches down, and picks up a white rug, about my size or taller.

She then places the rug down on the table between us and sits back down. ''This, Caspian, is the fur of a young Vulnog'' Wait, young? This thing is as tall as I am!.

''Touch it and tell me how it feels'' I do as told and I must say it is very nice, the hair is a bit coarse but fluffy and thick, it would certainly feel nice to walk barefoot on these things.

With clear confusion, I answer ''It is a great piece of fur madam, but I still do not understand how this will stop the Vulnogs from escaping the hole''.

She sighs. ''Caspian, this fur absorbs water very well, it also gets extremely heavy. The Vulnogs can not get out of the hole due to their heavy wet fur.'' I am not convinced.

''I do not believe you, madam, even a wet dog is still a dog, not to mention these things several times stronger than the strongest dog. How would a steep wall and wet fur stop them from getting out and ripping your head off?''

She crosses her arms and leans back against the chair, our size difference makes it so that I also need to lean back on the chair in order to see her face.

''Maybe I did not explain myself properly Caspian. This trap works due to several reasons, first, the Vulnogs are innately heavy, they are also forest dwellers, they are not able to swim. So in order for this trap to work, the water level must be higher than their size while sitting up, so about my height or so''. That is one deep hole.

''Second reason why this works is their legs, while long and strong they are made for walking on snow, so they do not have large claws that can allow them to grab on the wall, even if they could get a grip, their body weight combined with all the water that drags them down makes it impossible for them to climb back up''.

Well, when you put it that way. Each part on its own does not make much sense, but when you put it all together it may just work, hell it probably does, she did it before.

You can't blame me, suspicion is part of human nature.

I may have also associated the Vulnogs to dogs a bit too much, they are clearly not the same creature even if somewhat similar in appearance.

''I understand now, forgive me for doubting you, madam''. With a victorious smile on her face she unfolds her arms and returns to a normal sitting position.

''I am glad you understand Caspian. Now that I told you everything I know, you can go, I am actually busy you see''.

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Heading down the stairs I can see Vun waiting for me downstairs. We got some planning to do so we better get going.

I made sure to ask about the herb needed for the trap and where to get it, this got me another warning.

She is a nice lady, most certainly at least as old as my great grandmother even if she looks quite young, I will make sure to eventually return this favor.