I woke up to the same familiar site of Saul meditating against a wall, and for a moment forgot that he was actually the book laying next to me on the bed. The avatar he chose was just so lifelike, despite never making an actual sound. It didn't help that he was able to interact with the world to some extent due to his mage hand trick. Though those could only go so far from his main body, his avatar was able to move around the entire room without any trouble. I was glad for the company regardless of in inhuman nature. I don't know what I would do if there wasn't at least one person in this dungeon with me.
I started practicing with my breathing technique. It was becoming easier to do with practice. Each time I did it the mana seemed to attune just a brief second faster. A millisecond perhaps. I mentally juggled the bubbles around the room. They took a minute or two each to pop. Today would be the day that Saul would teach me the next step. How to turn these floating magic phenomena into working spells that I could use for combat, both offense and defense.
It was such a weird form of magic to witness. I was used to the many forms of magic depicted in my world. Spells that had to be rattled off, or simply controlling the mana with depictions. Saul said that those types of mana exist because their guardian is dispositioned to them. The one here in the dungeon also had this kind of disposition but there was something else affecting the mana. These bubbles, this technique would be available everywhere regardless of the disposition of the local guardian as it relied on the basic principles of aetheria and mana to function.
* Good morning* Saul eventually said, his avatar moving from its spot against the wall. He moved across the floor until he was sitting next to me on the bed. There was no depression where he sat, I could tell and it bothered me a little. However I did my best not to be rude and point it out. * I see you have been practicing. This is good. Ready to learn how to weaponize these little bubbles?*
" Yeah, I am ready. What do I do now?" I said.
* Bring one of them over here and put it in front of you. * He instructed while pointing at the exact locations I was to bring the sphere. When it was in place he continued. * alright, now to weaponize the mana we have to give it a shape and an aspect. The shape will usually be something obvious, but not always. In this case pick a simple ranged weapon. *
"Umm, ok. So like a dart?"
*yeah, exactly like a dart. Picture it in your mind. Concentrate on it, then slide that image toward the bubbles. *
I imagined a dart. Like a lawn dart. One of those large winged plastic monstrosities with the four inch spike that you would toss in hopes that it would stick into the ground and not into some body. I pushed the thought into the bubble in front of me. Which took quite a bit of mental force to accomplish. It was resisting me, I think because it wanted to be in bubble shape. As soon aa the image fully transferred though i found the bubble morphing into almost the shape that i imagined. It was as if the dart was trapped in some kind of loose plastic bag.
" is this what is supposed to be happening?"
* Yes, and No. This is acceptable for now, however as you progress the form will become more defined. Also when you get a mana circuit youll have even greater control as the aether will also be attuned to you.
Now that its been shaped though, youll need to apply force to it, so that it will rocket through the air and do something.
To do that, think of a propulsion system. Then pass that to the mana. It will do its best to replicate it onto the object youve created.
Then you need to stab the bubble with your spear. This will place some aether in the bubble for the propulsion to use as fuel. Then think Activate or imagine it going off and the dart will fly out.*
It seemed simple enough. I picked a bottle rocket for my method of propulsion. I remembered plenty of hooligans using thlse for bottle rocket wars in my homeworld. I pased the bottle rocket design over to the dart and watched as it was modified further. The whole thought was a rocket propelled lawn dart. I was certain that it would do some damage. I stabbed the spear into the dart priming it and then looked at the wall. I could feel the ezplosibe protential in the malformed bubble, ready to be released. I thought activate, which didnt work. So i thought fire!
With a gleeful squeel the arcane object sped out from in front of me, spraying aether that rapidly evaporated as it flew through the air. The force of the rocket imbeded the full four inches of the dart completely in the wall.
I could tell a few things from the experience. The dart was able to do damage to a stone wall. The dart could be controlled in flight by manipulating the wings. Also this attack spell was more versatile than it appeared.
It was interesting.
* alright we will practice with this in a minute. But first let me teach you a defensive magic. It will take some practice too.
So right now you have another defense thats been wprked into your vestments. As long as you charge them with aether not only will they keel clean and repair themselves. The fibers are technically stronger then steel anyway. So its similar to wearing iron armor.
Additionally, you can take the bubble and flatten them out and affix them to focal points on the armor. Creating hard plates. *
" I actually have a better idea. I think. " I said looking at one of the bubbles. In my home world their was a spell and energy ability that I really wanted to try.
I took a large amount of Aether out and began blowing a bubble that spanned between my two hands. More and more breath I poured into it. Mentally I made the mana inside keep the bubble even, prolonging its lifespan until it was as large as me. Then I willed the mana to the side and attempted to slide inside the bubble. Since the Aether emulated soapy water, I used that property to draw more Aether from my staff, and the mana to expand and move the liquid.
It was more involved than I initially thought and took me the better part of 30 minutes. I did it, I was completely surrounded by mana.
I transferred to the mana the concepts of dense and compaction and the bubble shrank until it looked like I was in a vacuum sealed package. It was a good idea, but it was startling. The aether nearly slapped into my face, and probably would have if it wasnt separated from me by the condensed and pressurized mana. I guided overa few bubbles and slammed them into the condensed barriar. I perforated these on a minute scale and had the mana churn like one of those blowing fans. It pumped air from the outside into my bubble suit. I looked like I was wearing a gas mask. Keeping everything running was going to be draining though. I was running the spell by mentally concentraring on it, and if i started to waver it would probably pop. Thats when i felt something new. My robes had some kind of energy emanate off of them that latched onto the spell and suddenly i wasnt thinking of it at all. It then winked out of existence. Or so my eyes would have me believe. I could still feel the presurized air and the gental and rythmic swish of air flowing in through the mask.
*oh, it seems that your robes have recognized that design as a personal defense ward. Thats incredibly lucky. Its also mounted and cloaked it. Which means your staff will power it now and your robes will preserve it if it somehow gets damaged. *.
"Will I be able to change it later?" I said not sure if it was actually a good spell.
*not without some training. So I hope it works. When you get skilled enough to clear the mana out of enchanting lines then you can change it without it exploding on you. *
"Crap" I both thought and said out loud. " I just had to open my mouth. "
He laughed at me. The fucker laughed, at me. I flipped him off. He moved his hand over and thumped the barriar I made. It stopped his finger.
* you should be excited. We are gonna see what this spell you made all by yourself does soon. *
"Yeah.... excited. "
* alright grumpy, anyway better make use of the safe time that you have left and get some more training in. *