Bookbound Bunny

B2 - Chapter 71 - WAND

If not for Arakil projecting his voice straight into her mind, Lily would have thought she misheard him, and considering her exceptional hearing as a Lagia, that was certainly saying something.

"I can draw glyphs in the air?" Lily repeated in question.

[Of course. Did you think you were limited to ink and chalk? You already knew about enchanting through weaving and forging, so why not the very air itself?]

Arakil was practically chuckling to himself, as if this were the most natural answer imaginable. Lily, of course, believed him, as Arakil had never lied to her before, unless you count him omitting tiny things for her own safety. Yet, even so, she found it too good to be true.

"But how would that even work?"

[Well, that is where that wand comes into play. Without such a convenient teaching aid, it could take decades for the average apprentice to understand how to produce such a qualitative change in their Mana.]

"Decades!?" Lily cried out in shock.

[Well, that's for the average apprentice and master. However, you are far from the average student, and with my teaching, I was prepared to take a few years when we approached the subject. Fortunately, we've come across this tool, which at a minimum should halve the time required!]

"Halve!?" Lily couldn't believe what she had just heard; it even entirely extinguished the joy she had felt from receiving a genuine compliment from Arakil.

[Yes. You'll understand when you use the wand, although we might need to improve your magesight at the same time. When using the wand, you will need to study how your Mana changes as it flows through the base to the tip, and will need to learn how to slowly replicate that with your own Mana.]

Lily didn't know how to respond. This was a lot of information, and she still hadn't come down from the shock of learning how good this wand was, nor the fact that she could draw glyphs in the air!

[Since you have a Mana Core rather than traditional Mana, you have a slight advantage in this regard. It is also a very good thing we chose such a neutral alignment for your Core; if you had chosen Fire instead of Astral, we would have had a rougher time. I almost want to laugh; if I believed in luck, I would swear that you're reaping the dividends of my misfortune.]

"I've really never felt lucky," Lily admitted. "But, meeting you has changed that. It's been the biggest turning point of my entire life."

[I guess you can thank the lawyers for that.]

Arakil actually started to laugh, much to Lily's surprise. A small part of her wanted to ask him to explain the joke, but she had far more pressing desires.

"How does the wand work? Can I draw with it already?" Lily asked excitedly, almost tripping over her own words.

[Yes, you should be able to use it already. Although considering our current circumstances, you will be limited to half of its functions.]

Lily glanced at the wand, tilting her head curiously. "What do you mean?"

[Well, the biggest strength of glyphs created this way is that you can use the Mana of the world to fuel them. Back in my day, I could summon forth giant magical arrays at the snap of my fingers and only needed to pay a fraction of the cost!]

Lily gasped, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she imagined just such an event.

[But... With the current ambient Mana being so low, at best, you could light a candle if you wanted an instant spell. If left alone, the glyph would slowly try to gather enough Mana to complete it, which, depending on the spell, could take days if not years! And that's not even taking into account the chance of magical degradation just blowing the whole thing up.]

Lily's ears drooped. "Oh..." she muttered. She had gotten totally lost in the fantasy that she almost forgot about that rather pertinent issue.

[Don't be so glum. You can just supply the Mana yourself, hence why I said half of the wand's functions! You won't have the convenience of a free meal, but you will still have the flexibility that glyphs can provide. In your test, did you not wish you had prepared different talismans?]

Lily bobbed her head in agreement. "If I had lightning, I could have defeated that Brassbound easily. If I had ice, I could have made my own bridge."

[Exactly! This situation also doesn't invalidate your agreement with Sylwel, as we will still want better glyph ink for more serious matters or contingencies. If I had to describe a suitable strategy tailored for you, you would primarily use your Astral magic as your backbone, talismans for emergencies, and custom glyphs for flexibility.]

Lily loved Arakil's proposed plan for her. While she could use other spells, she honestly didn't really like casting them unless it was for convenience, the chore magic being a prime example.

Lily had originally chosen to keep her neutral magical affinities a secret, hoping to not draw too much attention to herself. Yet now it had slowly grown into reality as she had almost forgotten about them.

However, Lily adored glyphs; they were her first taste of real magic, and she was hooked. If she had the choice, she would rather draw a glyph than learn a new incantation, even if it was somewhat wasteful of ink.

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However, with this wand, I don't need to worry about ink or anything else. I can draw as many glyphs as I want! I guess it's a good thing that Arakil hasn't been teaching me incantations recently...

At that thought, Lily paused. When did she last learn a spell outside of Astral magic? The more she tried to remember, the more she struggled to find a point. She even began to wonder if Arakil sensed her preferences, and that was why the magical lessons started to change their focus. At the time, Lily had thought Arakil was just determined to hone her Astral magic and glyphs, but now she wasn't sure.

And he did just say that he always planned to teach me how to create glyphs in the air eventually, but this wand has provided an unexpected opportunity. How long ago did Arakil plan this?

Lily was curious but decided not to ask. The thought alone that Arakil was tailoring her lessons so much according to her preferences was enough to warm her heart. Plus, she had other things she desperately wanted to know.

"Can we start now?" Lily asked, filled with hope and enthusiasm.

[Of course. The sooner we start, the better. We will ignore adapting your Mana for now and instead focus on your technique, as that is far more useful right now.]

Lily once again bobbed her head in agreement, her ears flopping wildly.

[Unlike before, you need to use your Mana a little differently. Fortunately, you've already had plenty of experience in this regard. You need to channel your Mana as if you were imbuing; the only catch is that you must start at the base of the wand and have it flow through entirely until it reaches the tip. Once you've successfully accomplished that, you should be able to start drawing.]

"What happens if I don't do that?" Lily asked curiously. "It seemed to activate when I just channeled Mana into it last time."

[Without the qualitative change to the Mana, it would just be some trails of light in the air, even if you channeled it from the base to the tip. The reason for the imbuing process is to overcome the lack of ambient Mana.]

"I think I get it. Does that mean if there was ambient Mana, just channeling would work?"

[Good question! Unfortunately, it is not that simple. The actual process is similar to when you gather to refine your Mana Core. The only difference being you are targeting the wand instead of your Core.]

"I would never have guessed that," Lily admitted.

[I would have been quite surprised if you did. Anyway, the final result is that it becomes "magnetic" and draws in ambient Mana automatically, which is how the airborne glyph would fuel itself.]

"That sounds amazing."

[You can certainly practice it, just be mindful that I wasn't joking when I said you'd be able to light a candle with it. Although Regarth does have a slightly higher concentration than normal... Perhaps we will both be surprised?]

Lily almost sighed. Now she'd basically given herself double the work, as no doubt Arakil would tell her to master both now that she'd brought it up. Still, while she was intimidated by thinking of her future workload, she had to admit that she probably would have asked to learn it anyway. She did, after all, love glyphs and wanted to know everything about them.

With no more questions, Lily finally attempted to use the wand. She was going with the imbuing approach, as not only was he more confident in that, but she wanted something more substantial than a tiny candle flame.

Lily made sure to direct her Mana towards the base of the wand, and to her relief, it seemed to almost drink it in. Her surprise quickly waned, though, as she realized that it was most likely designed to do just that.

[I suggest using your magesight so you can watch it flow. Although you might not be able to detect the qualitative changes yet.]

Lily immediately followed his instruction and was suddenly extremely grateful for Arakil forcing her to learn how to do both at once. This had been far harder than maintaining two spells at once, and Lily had tried to argue that she didn't need magesight and magic at the same time. Now she realized that even then, Arakil was laying her foundation.

Lily watched eagerly as her Mana traveled up the wand. It was a bit of a slow process, but she was intentionally taking it slow for this first try, and she could even feel the wand pulling the Mana, as if trying to guide it to the tip. This was a welcome surprise to her, as she had wrongly assumed the process would be more difficult.

Regrettably, as much as she stared at the Mana, it looked the same to her. She had no idea what this "qualitative change" was supposed to be, as it looked and felt the same to her. Eventually, it reached the tip, and it shone brightly just like it had when she first channeled into it.

[Do you notice any difference?]

"No..." Lily sighed.

[Don't worry, we will work on that eventually. For now, why don't you try drawing a glyph?]

"Is there anything I need to worry about?" Lily asked. "Are there limits, or can it really be anything?"

[I'd love to say the limit is your imagination, but in reality, it's your Mana pool. Still, you shouldn't have any issues in that regard, as we've not covered any of that caliber yet. If you're looking for first-time advice, I'd suggest keeping it simple for now until you familiarize yourself with drawing in the air.]

Lily nodded and, after taking a small breath, began trying to draw a circle. To her relief and surprise, as the wand moved, it left behind a pearlescent trail floating in the air, and she soon completed the circle.

As Lily scrutinized her work, she suddenly frowned. Something looked wrong, but she wasn't sure what was giving her the off feeling.

[I take it you've noticed something?]

"It feels wrong..." Lily answered, still not sure why.

[Halt the flow of Mana without releasing it to "lift up your pen," and then I suggest walking around your drawing.]

Lily halted her Mana flow, causing the tip to slightly dim. She was immediately fascinated by the apparent ease with which this wand functioned.

"That's convenient! I probably should have asked how to pause the drawing before I started," Lily giggled.

[Trust me, we haven't even touched the surface of the features. I fear once you've learnt more, you might not want to go back to paper and ink.]

Lily giggled again. "I'll have to take your word for it."

Then she walked around the circle, and after only a few steps, she immediately discovered what was causing her discomfort. The circle she had drawn when viewed from the front was good, but from an angle, the drawing was a mess!

What should have been a flat line squiggled as the line went either deeper or shallower. Lily quickly realized that without having a desk to press on, her hand would waver, and this was the result.

"This is horrible," Lily groaned.

Arakil started chuckling

[It's not that bad for a first try.]

Lily shook her head; she couldn't believe how terrible this was, and she desperately wanted to throw this mess straight into the bin. Only... she couldn't; it was floating in the air with a magical light, as if mocking her.

[Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to work on this. For now, why not finish your first airborne glyph?]

Lily sighed before nodding and returning to her spot. While she desperately wanted to start over, Arakil had told her to continue.

Will this even work?

Lily shuddered at that thought. If the glyph failed, she would die of embarrassment!