It's one thing to carve details into stubborn material by pure physical force, it's another thing altogether to use aether to carve details onto a magic item. They're both tiring, but in their own special ways.
Mundane carvings will tire out your arms and you'll probably get frustrated because of how much force you need to control. However, you can take a break and go back to it later. I can't seem to stop while I'm carving with magic and it's hurting my head more than my body.
It doesn't hurt in the same way a headache hurts, no pounding or soreness it's...stranger than that. It's like my blood is constantly overflowing into my head, but is draining down into my hands just as fast. I can feel my stomach lighting itself on fire, then having they fire move up to my forehead, down my shoulders and arms and into the needle in my hand. It also didn't help that the needle was humming the whole time. Good hearing is useful most of the time, it sucks to have it in this instance.
On top of the weird physical stuff, the runes themselves seem to take forever to write despite their relatively simple-looking designs. Etching out each line, circle and curve felt like drawing a stick in freshly wet mud, slow and unpleasant. Regardless, it felt like I could only grit my teeth and keep writing.
It's a little hard to describe what it's...like to...draw runes... because my head can barely keep a thought... straight...right now. I need to somehow hurry up.
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As I drew the last rune onto my staff I felt the draining feeling come to an end while this wave of dizziness and nausea come over me. I dropped the needle and I almost fell on top of my staff and belt, but Voxea caught me and the needle before I did. My body had this strange sense of "emptiness" I could only assume was the lack of aether in my body.
"Don't worry", she said while holding me steady, "The first time writing a rune is always the hardest. Take a few minutes to breath and replenish your aether channels. You'll find it much easier to write those runes again onto your belt than onto your staff".
I dazedly nodded at Voxea's words as I took deeper and deeper breaths to try and steady it. As I breathed, I could feel the "emptiness" that was afflicting my body seem to fill itself slowly. Slowly but surely, the pain was starting to subside and the "emptiness" had become "fullness".
After my breathing had stabilized, I noticed that my face and hands felt much colder than before. I looked at my hands and noticed that they were covered and sweat, checking my forehead revealed the same thing. "Magic is surprisingly intense", I commented to Voxea.
She smirked at my comment and said, "Alright your aether reserves should be replenished by now, try writing the runes into your belt now". In-between her fingers, she presented that needle of ice once again.
I stared at the needle, wondering if the pain was actually worth it, but decided I might as well finish what I had started. I took the needle into my hand began channeling aether into it again, but this time it felt...easier. Ice needle in hand, I began to carve the runes into my belt and noticed a remarkable difference.
The draining feeling from before was still there, but it felt much lighter this time. It was like my body knew how much aether it actually needed to write out the runes and controlled the amount I released as opposed to just...letting it flow recklessly. The etching even felt easier to do, the ice needle flowing much easier than before. It didn't feel like I was drawing through mud anymore, more like I was drawing in dry lake sand. I couldn't help but wonder if it felt easier because I was more familiar with runes or was it because the belt itself wasn't magical. Either way, working with runes are weird.