The next few days fell into a pattern. Everyone would eat breakfast together and then broke for their commitments. Celenia and who ever wanted to would walk to the Mage Guild. This was normally Max and Belopi but sometimes Bishop or Clammy would tag along. Meanwhile, Reep would leave for her guard training, she assured the others that it was getting easier. The last two nights Reep had stayed up after dinner and socialized.

She talked about what they had been doing and it did not sound fun to the others. Besides basic endurance and strength training, Reep branched off with the [Archers]. Hours of target practice only proved what everyone was thinking; Reep was overqualified. It is a shame to say, but Reep was strong for her level and tier. The other recruits were fresh. Low levels and nonexistent combat experience were common among Reep’s fellow soldiers.

After a quick break for lunch, it was off to hand-on-hand sparring. Reep found quickly that only one other could match her in speed and skill. The culprit was a [Lancer]. A tier two branch of [Spearman] and one of the few winter adventurer volunteers. There were a few, Reep included, that had careers outside of winter. For whatever reason, these people thought it best to defend the city with the guard instead of taking Guild contracts.

Reep talked at length with Bishop about countering spear techniques. Max thought it was nice to see her so fired up. Reep’s first meeting with the mind healer, as the guard called it, was scheduled for the next mid-week.

Clammy had been visiting with a few future seers with Bishop. As he describes an interview with a [Fortuneteller], Clammy had her death prophesied multiple times and ended up storming out of the room. Rather than answer their questions, the teller had simply tried to scam them with cheap tricks and “reading the signs”. The next interview went well, but nothing of value came from it. A [Clairvoyant] who had never been out of the city and only a few years older than Clammy proved that finding information was going to be rough.

Not much has happened with progress on Celenia’s front. Shifting was a hard skill to learn. She was still awkward around her mother, something everyone knew was perfectly fine. It would take time but they both had already made leaps of progress which made everyone happy.

Vel had disappeared at random intervals of the day, often returning just before dinner. No one questioned her but Max was sure everyone had their suspicions. When she was home, she worked with Max and Icarus in creating space spells.

Having been there for Xylem’s lessons with Max, she had a bit more knowledge than the owl. But it wasn’t that knowledge that was helpful. Rather it was her years of experience as a mage that led to many insights and breakthroughs. After the third day of testing, Max could consistently teleport past 6 meters to the location he wanted. No more did her appear in random spots in the room or get blow back by the snap of space reorienting itself.

He still hadn’t received the system spell box, which means there was a great room for improvement. As Vel had already taught, system boxes only appear when certain conditions were met. If a spell wasn’t good enough the spell wouldn’t be assisted by the system. It was redundant and a contradiction, but it insured that spells aren’t created by just anyone. The harder and rarer the spell, the more hours that needed to be invested. Spell books were the exception to the rule, however, and their prices reflected.

“But I don’t get why the system spells are the way they are. Who says that the system spell Fireball is the best way to cast a fireball?” Max asked in a fit of irritation after another failed attempt.

“What you have to remember is that the system spell box originated from somewhere. Someone created the Fireball the system uses and as more and more [Fire Mages] learn to shoot fire balls, the system corrects their small errors.” Vel answered.

“But what happens if someone makes a better Fireball?”

“Then the system amends the spell box. It rarely happens with the lower rarity spells. But as you were telling me about the inaccuracy with Teleport Object, you may be able to have that one changed.”

Max made a few notes in his journal. It was getting full at this point. He’d have to buy another one at this rate. But… If he could figure out how that [Space Mage] who made paper longer using space magi-

Focus Max! Max thought, splashing himself in the face with water.

Max had noticed he does this a lot. Down the rabbit hole was the phrase on Earth. He would attach to ideas or theories and get lost in thought or experimentation for hours, only to suddenly have a breath of introspection and refocus on the real task. Ask any [Scholar] or [Researcher] and they would agree that this is a good thing but for someone with a clear goal, it was a bad habit.

Max had decided that the issue he was facing wasn’t one of space magic. He felt confident that he was correctly wrapping himself in space folds. The accuracy of his landing position was evidence enough that he was teleporting correctly. That led him to the line of thinking about something Celenia had told him. Lady Dreamstem told her that she wasn’t imagining enough. That her spells would create and latch on to what she imagined, making them work when they shouldn’t and becoming more powerful in the process.

Vel had told Max similar things before. Instinct was what she called it, but could that be the same as imagination? Knowing how to create a spell in your head before actually doing so? Imagining the spell in its entirety before even a drop of mana was gathered? With Max’s most recent testing, that proved to be correct.

The changes were small and hardly noticeable but when Max focused on what he wanted exactly, spells started to become more efficient and impactful. He tested with simple water spells. The system’s Ice Bolt was the control while a lazy clump of frozen water was the non-imaginative. It was hard to test a non-imaginative. Max found himself firing off what he thought to be poor spells but with Vel’s confirmation, it seemed as though he was subconsciously making the bolts lower quality.

Max had to fire off spells while letting his mind trail around. He slowly would zone-out while continuously casting. As they planned, the [Arch Water Mage] Vel, watched closely the quality of ice. She confirmed, just like she thought, that as Max’s concentration failed, so would the spell. The more-imaginative aspect of the experiment was easier to test. Max simply imagines an amazing and lovely spike of ice and fired at will. The bolt was significantly more powerful than the normal system box, leading Max to the conclusion that imagination mattered.

Vel was convinced that Max’s latest experiment was a waste of time. She told him multiple times that this had already been well researched, and that Max was confirming a century old theory. Max didn’t care, however. Magic was new and amazing to him. Such a foreign concept, but somehow being familiar. He wanted to experience all of what magic has to offer.

“This is all something you will be learning in Spell Formation and Creation up at the Guild. I guess with all of your experimenting, you might be able to take the final test on the first day.” Vel chuckled.

“Oh, Domic was telling me about that. I have to make a unique spell?” Max said.

“Indeed. But, of course, there will be constraints. This makes it so people can’t copy a spell very closely to pass the class. It has to be truly unique.” Vel said picking at a nail.

“Wait what? How do you create a unique spell that is similar to someone else’s?”

“Say, for example, I have a unique spell that creates a dancing spider made of water.” A spider of water formed and started dancing on her hand. “Now, this spell is unique. I am the first one to make it, so I get to name it. I name it Dance of the Water Spider. You see me cast this spell at a tavern one night when I am a bit drunk. You go home and copy the idea but instead of a spider, it is a centipede. They are the same spell in concept, but different enough for the system.”

“This sounds like a true story…” Max whispered.

“Shut up.” Vel grumbled. “But the point is, every Fireball spell is going to be a Fireball spell unless something is special about it. I thought that you were going to get a unique spell when you make that fancy ice core sword of yours, but I guess someone beat you to it.”

“But what should I make then? A space spell?” Max asked.

Vel shrugged. “That is why it is an advanced class. Most of the people talking it don’t have rare classes. The best way is to solve a problem is to create a very specific solution. Most of the construction or builder classes do this. That’s one why they are able to level without killing things.”

“They have their own techniques and special ways to, say, forge a sword.” Max interpreted.

“Exactly. Now, do you want to pass the class with flying colors? Create a unique space spell. Do you want to stay out of the eyes of the Mage Guild? Then create a unique water spell.”

“I see…”

Max put the idea of creating custom spells out of his mind for now. He had plenty of time for that, by a limited time for the task at hand. Standing at the start of the marked ground, he pulled the space around himself. It was no different than the last few attempts. Perfectly sealed shell of warped space, a few centimeters away from his clothes and hair. He imagined exactly what he wanted, not where he wanted to go. He saw in his mind’s eye a different perspective of the room. He was facing the same far wall, but he was now about eight meters closer.

A flash of light later, Max appeared exactly like he imagined. He was in the spot he wanted, facing the direction he wanted, and he never once thought that he wanted to be in this spot. His imagination took the lead and brought him to the correct spot.

Congratulations you have learned the spell Jump (Rare):

Variable.

Teleport yourself to a location within line of sight.

Max let out a loud whoop! Waking Emi and starting Vel. But the moment of excitement ended with confusion.

“Wait what? Why is this box completely different than the Teleport Object box? I used the same technique.” Max said.

“Let me see the boxes, boy.” Vel grumbled.

Teleport Object (Rare):

Variable.

Move an object through space to a specific location.

Vel read over the spells, squinted, then reread them. She seemed to ponder a few ideas before ultimately shrugging and saying.

“Don’t know. Jump is a powerful spell though. You could travel incredible distances with that.”

“Except the mana cost is going to be huge.” Max grumbled. “Not to mention I need to be able to teleport without line of sight. Most of the villages are past the horizon or hidden in the trees.”

Vel waved him off. “Max, I have complete faith in you to figure the spell out. You’ve already show you have what it takes to be a great mage.” She gestured at Max’s journal. “And a great scholar. Not many would put in the amount of effort that you are. They would tell Domic to piss off and go about living a comfortable life.”

“…Thanks Vel.” Max whispered.

“Come ne, lets go test it.” Vel hoped up from her seat and strolled to the door. Emi scampered while pulling water from the air, creating a small bubble to lift herself onto Max’s shoulder. It amazed Max how smooth Emi’s casting was. He had tried to lift himself a few times, but never found success.

Out on the lawn, Max tested the spell a few times. From one end to the other only set him back about a fifth of mana. With Emi about a fourth. Max estimated that the island was about 65 meters in length. It was discouraging to Max to know that if he spent his entire mana pool, he would only be able to teleport a few football field lengths. He was still a long way to go for meeting his goal of returning home.

“How much mana could I get from having full wisdom gear?” Max asked. It had been a long time since Max had upgraded his gear, except for the mana regeneration robes he got for helping out at the clinic in Esmel. He also hadn’t really thought about stats and what he should be working towards.

Water magic is, at its core, balanced. It can attack and defend, but not masters at either. Fire magic would be an example of high attack potential while ground magic would be for defense. Max was at the point where his stats would change him from being deadly with short burst of magic to having weaker spells but a lot more of them. With the amount of mana necessary to teleport large distances, it was an obvious choice. He needed as much wisdom as possible.

“You could get a few thousand with expertly made items… Even more with artifacts-…” Vel’s attention suddenly snaped to Max. “What about Hxut’s Spade? You still have it right?”

Max nodded, summoning the item to his hand. He inspected it, Vel did the same.

Hxut’s Spade (Divine):

1-3 Physical damage.

A shovel made of Divine Magics. The user may teleport within a 15-meter radius.

User may relocate dirt, sand, or stone within a 15-meter radius.

User can feel pockets of encased air.

“It’s teleporting power is worse than mine. The real power of the item is being able to feel air pockets. That has a lot of value in finding places for safe foundations.” Max said. “I already thought about it.”

“Damn.” Vel cursed. “Put it away before someone sees.”

The spoon disappeared, leaving Max empty handed.

“If you are looking to maximize your mana, we can go to the auction house. They sometimes have high tier enchanted items. Those are your best bet until you make friends with some of the enchanting houses.” Vel added

“Enchanting houses?” Max asked.

“Oh sure. Generations of unique techniques has created three primary houses for enchanting. The Gillret’s, pioneers in defensive enchanting. Stamina earrings were their claim to fame. The Piwvers’s and the Resllens’s are the offensive stat enchanters. Intellect and wisdom verses strength and dexterity.”

“And you just expect me to make friends with them?” Max asked puzzled.

“No, actually. When you debut to the world, they will be lining up to become friends with you. Just wait a few years, hopefully, you will have the best gear possible.”

Max didn’t like that. It reminded him of what mayor Silverjewl said. People would be trying to buy him just to be in good standing with a Lost One. It was gross and repulsed Max. he was a person, just a person. No better than anyone else, and yet everyone seemed to be expecting him to be close to a God, it seemed.

“When’s the next auction?” Max asked after removing himself from his self-pity.

“Biweekly. My days are kind of jumbled up since our return, I’ll bet Bishop knows. He used to go to every auction, hoping that a rare journal would be sold.”

Max was about to respond, but a small owl started forming on a tree branch nearby.

“You have two visitors, Max.” The owl said.

“Me?” Max said turning to the bridge. Two vastly different looking people were walking across the bridge. The one Max recognized right way was Head Priestess Burk. She had her telltale droopy robes, pulling sticks, dust, and whatever else she accumulated during the walk over. While most of the other Priests or Priestess wore all white or black robes, Burk’s were brown and stained. Her hair was matted and unkept, making her look nothing like a Priestess should.

The man walking with her was the exact opposite. He was tall, groomed black hair, dark skin, pristine white robes, and no slouch. The man carried a books in his arms that he clutched dearly. A small shine could be made out from the neckline of his robes. He walked with reason and passion that emanated an imaginary aura of confidence and, strangely, love. As he approached, Max felt warm. His worries were melting away, for the first time in hours Max forgot about space magic or experimenting. Max and Vel met them at the end of the bridge.

“Hello.” Max said plainly. Vel said nothing.

“Hello again Max. Emi. Veline.” Head Priestess Burk said turning her head to each recipient. “This is one of the Church of Healing’s [High Priests], Manus Milvarn.”

“Hello.” Manus said. “I’ve been wanting to meet you, Max, since I was informed of your… Expertise.”

“Stop!” Vel shouted. “Say nothing more until we go inside.”

Burk and Manus nodded with Vel’s command and followed her to the house.