I feel like I’ve slept much better and easier lately, I wonder if that’s because of the exercise I’ve gotten? Whichever is the case, I eat breakfast as usual, then put on my rain poncho and leave for some shopping.

I will make sure to keep any receipts for bookkeeping. I had planned to start properly thinking about my economy when I moved out, but I’ve never really gotten around to it. But now, the fact that the military would want a fairly detailed report of spending for any project I get funds for is that little kick to get me started. I’ll keep receipt for my own sake as well, of course.

Before I buy anything, though, I stop by the ‘Reptile Park’, a small place that has lizards, snakes and a crocodile, as well as frogs and arachnids. It’s a while since I’ve been there, but this time it’s to get some new Aspects. At least, that’s the excuse that makes me willing to spend money on it.

I got the Aspect of Lizard, Serpent, Frog, Spider and Scorpion. I got the highest affinity with Serpent and Spider, after I got to hold a couple of each type. I can understand why we have some primal fear of these creatures, but I also think people grossly exaggerate how scary and/or dangerous they are. I mean, some are adorable, or at the very least more than those freakin’ purse-dogs.

Then I head to the hardware store. I ask some questions about woodworking, and buy a few things I might need. Huh, good salesman. After that is some groceries and a gardening store, last because I’m gonna buy something kinda heavy.

Back home I put away the groceries and plant the flowers that look like they are still alive in a planter on the balcony. The rain has let up, but the sky is still gray, so I set to work on a piece of wood on the relatively sheltered balcony.

Among the things I’m making here, one will hopefully become the replacement for my wand, but it’s a long(er) term project as I want it to be as good as I can make it. I cut it to the rough size and shape of a modern shotgun, then apply some wood finish and set it to dry on some paper and in a dry corner.

Huh, [Wood Carving] not only levelled up, but changed into [Woodworking]. So far it seems that abilities change name as I learn more about them. Or maybe it’s from learning to do more with them? Would it be more accurate to say the abilities mutate? Hmm…

While I’m crafting, I also more or less slap together a shield from the remaining chitin. My earlier experiment to see if I could straighten the curved pieces has been somewhat successful. I also check my armor, which is holding up surprisingly good. After attuning to the Aspect of Decay it seems I need to make sure to maintain it if I want it to stay like that, though.

Following my mental list of ‘short-term things to do’, I strip naked in the bathroom to experiment with Aspect transformations. Specifically, I want to prepare for my newest Aspects. Aside from just knowing the ability better, I would like to be able to have more control, preferably being able to do only partial transformations.

After all, while the wolfkin form look sorta like a very hairy human (squint harder) and is pretty common in mainstream media and folklore, I suspect whatever form I’ll end up with from the Aspects of Lizard, Serpent or especially Spider would cause people some… unease.

There’s also the fact that transformations not only change my senses, but instincts and urges too. For example, I know more than I should about dogs in the neighbourhood(and city in general), and I should really avoid that form around any bitches in heat. Even with my human consciousness, if it can be called that in other forms.

I might’ve gotten a little bit carried away, but I learned quite a bit from that, including the partial transformation I wanted and finer control of the actual transformation. Also, I can fully turn into a wolf. A very big wolf, as there seems to be some conservation of mass going on.

I can do minor transformations like just ears or a tail, too, and to some degree change how my forms look, both transformed and as human. I had to stop playing around, as my increasingly noisy stomach demands my attention. I quickly applied another layer of finish on the gunstaff-to-be, then made some dinner.

Hunger abated I stretch a bit, then grab some paper and and pencil case. I draw various kinds of magical symbols you can find in films and such, ranging from FMA’s basic transmutation circle to a bunch of connected symbols to a chant written down.

Purpose of experiment: Try to find the limits of how much freedom you have when making symbols for magic.

Method: Try to cast the same magic, drawn with the same intentions, but using different symbols.

Spell used: Orb of light, a small nonmaterial orb that gives off light.

Conclusion: You have a lot of freedom, but the spell seems to work better with symbols that would be broadly or universally understood in the intended way. Interestingly, writing works very well, both when writing in plain, descriptive english and when writing a chant.

Obviously, I make sure to write down the results for each symbol as well as the symbols(or words) themselves, in what will be my ‘Experiment journal’. I bought a couple notebooks and also a pocket-sized book with a nice, plain design I’ll use as a spellbook.

Since the {Orb of Light} could be pretty useful, I write it down in the spellbook. I first write ‘DESCRIPTION’ in large letters at the top of the first page, then mark the next four pages as ‘Index’. It’s not enumerated, so I mark the pages myself, starting at one for the description.

As for the spell, I write the name at the top of the page, then a short description of what it should do. Then I draw the spell-diagram, as I call it, a symbolic representation of the logic and flow of magic in the spell. Below that I write the chant I found to work the best, after trying out a few(vocally):

‘From the Ether draw power, form a sphere and illuminate my path, Orb of Light!’

Chuuni? What’s that? *Cough* Anyway, the spell-diagram is essentially the same as the chant: Draw mana from the air, form it into a sphere and the sphere should give off light. It’s drawn symbolically, of course, and each symbol is notated by a single word.

Most people should be able to read and at least somewhat understand it, though as with electronic circuit diagrams, what it does or how would not be immediately obvious. Also, I just made this thing up, so I will likely make changes over time, and it’s hardly universal. Works for me, though.

I did the same experiment, though with less alternatives, for {Mana Spike}, which at this point is the spell I’ve used the most. The result were very interesting. For one I found that the spell was easier to cast with chanting.

I also found that the mana in the air can be manipulated. It’s different from the mana in my body, and trying to forcibly absorb it or use it for internal spells makes me queasy. I’ve decided to call this ‘free’ mana and spells using it ‘Etheric’

By making spells take in and use mana from the air, they can last longer and/or thus have a longer range, as they can use more mana than just what I first put into them. Obviously, it also means I don’t need to supply as much mana.

The downside is that it makes spell more complicated; I doubt I can cast {Etheric Mana Spike} with the same speed I can cast the normal version, though I might get faster at using etheric mana over time. That said, the normal variant has good enough range unless I meet a monster can attack beyond ten to fifteen meters.

A quick test also tells me I can I can slowly integrate etheric mana through [Mana Absorption]. I wonder if I can improve [Meditation] that way. How does it work, anyway? The description is kinda fuzzy and only told me that ‘A clear mind improves the body’s natural mana generation.’

Back to my spellbook, I inlaid a copper wire along the spine and connected it to a small mana stone. I can make them by imbuing boring old stones, but the ones that I got from monsters are stronger, so I used one of those. Should I differentiate between ‘natural’ and artificial ones? And where does mana crystals enter the equation here?

Point is, I can now very easily cast {Orb of Light} and {Mana Spike} etheric or otherwise, assuming I’ve charged the mana-stone of the spellbook and have it at hand. Or in hand, rather. I’ve bound the book to myself of course, and I have a few ideas on how to make the book itself magical, but that’ll take time and research.

~Siiiinging in the rain~

Or humming, actually. In my Wave Lord form, and holding a slightly damp piece of paper. What’s the paper, one might ask? Well, I have unequipped [Proto-mage], and thus [Mana Manipulation]. First, to find out how that would affect my [Aspectian] transformations, and secondly:

“Scroll of Flare: Activate!”

The piece of paper flashes and makes a fizzling sound as the imbued mana is used up by the spell, launching a red-glowing orb into the air. A second later the orb starts fading, lacking the mana to continue manipulating the nearby Ether.

That was anticlimactic… But at least I know it works now: I can make magic scrolls. Or magic pieces of paper, but that sounds stupid. I study the burnt-out ‘scroll’. It is scorched in a couple spots, mostly on channels drawn between the spell’s symbols.

I have [Mana Perception] equipped, so I can see that the scroll no longer holds any mana, but without manipulation I can’t refuel it. It’s so soggy it almost falls apart, too. Still, I want to know if the burnt-out channels would stop it from being used again. Wooden boards with spells on might be good for non-casters or quick casting.

After making the not-quite scroll, [Symbol Carving] was renamed -mutated- into [Inscription]. It seems to be about properly making symbols and, well, inscriptions. It needs other abilities to fill the symbols with power and to actually carve them. Or, that’s what it seems like right now, at least.

I can’t change my ability loadout just yet, so I’ll just play around in in this form for a while. I’ve long said that the body is a puppet of the mind, but the mind is a slave to the body. Mostly because that sounds like an idiom or quote of someone wise, but there is truth to it.

If I need to explain, I’d say that while the body, barring injuries, disease or other bad stuff, is controlled by the mind, the mind is heavily influenced by the body, though hormones and whatnot. And it cannot function without its master, for a mind with no sensory input, and more immediately important, nourishment, is a dying mind.

…got sidetracked again. What I mean is that I feel real good, better than I have in quite some time, undulating under the falling rain. I lift my torso up, slowly rotating, then lower it, spinning faster as I do so, before coming to a stop. Feels like I just did the idle animation of a water elemental in an RPG.

In this form, as with the Mist Djinn form, my body just sorta stops around my waist, in this case continuing on as a mass of water I can, at least somewhat, control. I notice, to instinctual dismay, that the rain has stopped, and turn back to my human form.

I briefly wonder where my pants and such go when I enter the more inhuman forms, considering the Wolfkin form does nothing to them (aside from making shoes useless). I quickly throw away the thought, as I’ve done several other times. It’s magic, better not think too hard about it.

I change my abilities and classes back as I walk inside. It’s pretty late, so I just apply another layer of wood finish, then sit down by the computer for a little while.