Questions, Journaling, and Research

"So Loki, what was that spell you cast?" Sif asked this innocently as I was writing down in my planner with Nix.

I looked up at her with a complicated expression. I can see Ullr also looking with wrapped attention again.

I guess the transformation a ruin gives you is different for everyone so he's curious about Loki's.

"It's cryoblast." I said to which Sif got confused.

"How did you cast it like that then. Whenever I connect to nature to cast spells it never answered it like it answered you."

I looked and used my mana language to examine the mana network. I kinda remember how the network reacted when I cast a spell because I could feel it with my body but I was to focused on the goblins to analyze.

Also on another note, I took care of those goblins so fast that It hasn't even had time to settle in yet.

I then waved my hand around in front of me and saw how the ambient mana responded to me. The mana moved around my hand like usual.

Honestly, now that I think of it, casting cryoblast was much easier to cast with my own mana but as the mana left my body to cast, I could tell it wasn't enough mana to match up to its Druid equivalent. But the result of the spell was the same or even more than a druids.

… I'll have to do more tests later.

Out of curiosity though I asked, "What did you see?"

Sif then gave a cute Druid response like your the beloved of nature and nature helped you without me asking anything of it.

Translation- My aura and my body automatically linked to nature without me forcing a connection with mana's language. My aura that is based on my reinforcement forcefully made nature's mana network liable to turn into Ice or lightning mana. Then as I used my own mana to cast an aura ice spell, the nature's network picked up on it and synchronized with my casting.

Which is likely the reason why the magnitude of my mana skill is the same as the druids spell equivalent.

Thinking about this further I smiled myself out of my pensive expression.

"It's just some benefits from the ruin. I'll show you later once I've figured it out myself. For now let's just focus on training. We have a month to until the next town."

______28 days later____

This month has been interesting. Sif really got a good grasp of the bow. That just goes to show how the teachings of a master archer like Ullr would do for you.

I would document anything I see but in all honesty, besides small goblin raids and vast open tall grass plains there wasn't really a lot to see. Honestly it was very jarring. I took a few samples of this yellowish grass and tried to see how plants react to mana exposure.

Truthfully, when exposed to a lot of mana at once, most of the grass withered or slowly disitigrated. This accounts for how large amounts of raw mana interacts with humans. But sometimes, some plants would instead grow stronger.

It's was something I didn't understand and requires more research.

I compiled this all into my journal as I documented my new mana controlled abilities.

I confirmed through practice that my class is centered around two things, how synchronized I am with the environment and how much mana Im spending.

Understanding the origin of mana has never become so important until now.

I categorized how much mana each skill takes based on the ranks I can access them which basically means I have Rank 1 and 2 skills.

Rank 1 spells cost about 5 mana. With my pool of a little more than 50 mana I can cast them ten times before I'm out of juice.

Rank 2 spell cost 10 mana more or less which puts a cap of about five spells.

Honestly this new cap on my abilities is slightly annoying. As a Druid you rarely run out of mana. In fact, Druid Magic calls for more concentration to cast spell which is why most druids increase wisdom. Now I have to be very careful in long drawn out fights.

Plus, these are just my aura and chain skills Im referring to as actual spell weaving is outright draining.

Spells are easy to explain as prepackaged orders for mana that I can easily use to instantly cast spells.

They are similar to something else I studied…

Im talking about rune smithing. In essence, Loki senior came up with a system that uses his self made runic language to express orders in mana. These runes would be etched on the soul.

At this point all the Arcan caster has to do at this point is input mana to activate the rune and Viola, instant spell casting.

It's easier said than done though. Especially since I'm trying to create my own spells. Lightning strike and lightning auto cannon were so effective and trying to make lightning strike a spell has been a goal with my studies of arcana.

Therefore I practiced my understanding of spell craft and spell types first. I haven't picked a spell to learn formally and put on my soul just yet but there are several good choices.

There's spells for everything. Some that teleport you, some allow you to touch your opponent to burn them, some even allow you to heal wounds outright. I haven't read beyond rank 3 spells but the ones I saw can do all manner of effects. Learning all their mechanisms will be something that takes long since most arcane casters essentially have to guess the meaning of certain runes.

Luckily I have a leg up. I studied runesmithing before and I can cast some of these spells through my aura. By contrasting the effect, mechanism of how it affects mana, and how the runes look like, I should be able to crack the runic code with enough time and effort.

Loki's blessing also helped me out in this regard since he imparted to me an understanding of arcana a rank 2 should have at base level. Which means I won't have have to spend weeks trying to study all rank 1 spells and the basics of how to cast spells through runes. Also, Manipulating mana in intuitive ways has become easier. It's as if my mana is on autopilot for me all the time listening to simple instructions in order to accomplish complex tasks.

This must my blessing and new class benefit me.

Speaking of my blessing.

"Loki, how are you doing this?" A light voice said in awe.

The child who was looking around in wonder as multiple Loki's surrounded her was none other than Sif.

My blessing allows me to intuitively affect the minds and perceptions of those I touch with my mana. I really can't nail it down as to how it works. It's not a spell or skill. It's as if my personal mana got the trait of infecting minds with illusions on instinct.

I haven't been able to do much besides make a few copies of my self. I can't make mind shattering illusions.

The three Loki's surrounding Sif all started dancing in a circle around the bonfire.

We were sitting around on the side of the trail for the night. It was currently night and the breeze wasn't as cold as it is in the forest but there is certainly a chill in the air.

The painted night sky was shining with all its glory as the two moons were showering us in green and silver moonlight.

Sif began to clap and cheer as Nix was lost in though about something even though I am currently infecting his mind as well.

Ullr was to strong to even allow me to approach him with mana so I didn't even bother.

The carriage man was just relaxing boiling up some water for us. He's been silent the whole way and only provides us with necessities wordlessly. He clearly takes his job seriously. That and he loves his horse.

With this ambience, the Loki's keeping Sif entertained put her in a rhythm such that she started singing a song along with their dancing. It put all of us in such a good mood we forgot about the nuances of the journey and more the glory of Mother Nature.

This came at a good time too because we had a big day tomorrow so this time of relaxation from all our training feels extremely liberating.