Mash glanced at the others, and he could tell that they had some questions. His friends seemed especially curious, but Mash waved them away. They seemed to warily accept the motion. He spoke softly, but loud enough that they could still hear.

“I’ll tell you guys when I’m done.”

He was in the zone. His mind was solely focused on his magic, and he didn’t want to interrupt the flow. Afterall, he still needed to figure out how to utilize his other affinities. The best part was, he already had an idea of how to do it. His eyes bore into the tree. The tree had been a part of him, and he still remembered how it had formed. It was layered, over a dozen times too. That had given him an idea about how to utilize his other affinities. He tried to think of all of his affinities but knew that there were too many for his plan. Instead, he needed to know which of his affinities could mix.

[I have a list.]

Priscilla did in fact have a list. An image stuck itself to Mash’s mind. He could practically see a literal list in his eyes. His affinities were sorted with how they combined, and Mash saw that wood surprisingly worked with most. It could combine with both lightning and fire, although not at the same time. Other things that made more sense like water were there too. There was some weird stuff like demonic magic, although Priscilla suggested that those needed to be tested. She had an idea for most elements, but the things he had received from otherworldly monsters were something that needed to be studied more.

Mash knew that he would need to test every single combination before trying his plan out. That wouldn’t even guarantee success. It was just the minimum requirement to know how could mix his affinities. Thus, the excruciating hour and a half of testing had begun. Priscilla had kept adding to the list as he worked, and it had taken a while. It was also a huge drain on his energy. He had to keep his dragon form up the whole time which forced him to recover three times during the tests. At least it was over now. All of the affinities that could be mixed with wood had been. Many conflicts had arisen in the process, but he had managed it for his most important ones.

One interesting discovery he had in his testing was learning that his life affinity could work with any other affinity. Death apparently acted similarly. That was something Priscilla hadn’t even known. It was only an assumption based on their tests. It was good enough though. That discovery had only bolstered his confidence. He explained his plan to Priscilla, and she hadn’t immediately rejected it. That was practically encouragement when it came from her. Despite, the long trials he was still excited. If this worked, it would make his wooden creations thousand times more versatile.

However, he knew that these tests would be even more destructive than the previous. His previous tests had only been with two or three affinities at most. This would be with most of them. At least all of the ones that could mix with wood in any combination. Their experimentation revealed that demonic magic was not compatible with wood in any form. If his plan worked out, then he probably wouldn’t be using the demon magic anymore. Anti-magic didn’t mix either, though he expected that.

Mash remembered the way his wood had grown in layers. That was what he was hoping to use. He would make multiple layers within the wood. Each layer would be made of a different combination of magic. The center would be the same as before, but the next layer would be fire and wood. The wood began to grow from his hand as it did before. The colors of the wood shifted as the layers formed. The center was tinged with a dark blue, and the next layer was ever so slightly orange. Although he didn’t really get a good look at it. The wood and magic in his hand erupted, and as he expected, it was several times stronger than before.

The explosion was bright, and Mash felt like he had been hit by a giant hammer. His arm swung toward his body, and he actually punched his own chest. It hurt, but that wasn’t the worst of it. The force of the explosion carried him off his feet completely. He shot across the arena skidding and rolling across the ground until his back hit a wall. Mash grunted in pain. The explosion and even the crash hadn’t hurt all that much, but his own fist had. It seemed like he could damage himself, even in his dragon form.

He raised his eyes to the sight of the explosion. It had been so loud that his ears were ringing a little. From what he could see, it had caused the others’ ears to ring too. Everyone was staring at it, and the northerner had even covered his ears. Pieces of fragmented wood were scattered all over the ground. They completely covered the crater and the surrounding area. Yeah, there was a crater that was almost ten feet wide there too. The piece of wood had barely been bigger than his arm, but the explosion was significantly larger. In his mind, the devastation only reaffirmed his desire to figure it out.

Although he paused as his head throbbed a little. Mash was surprised as he recognized the feeling. It was a headache. When had he last had a real headache? How did even get one? He had a lot of items and abilities that should prevent something so mundane.

[It is all of the testing. Even if you are talented, your mind is still susceptible to fatigue. You should be able to recover with your skill.]

Fatigue was something he could deal with. The cause still felt mundane, but he listened to Priscilla’s suggestion and sat down. He meditated for a little longer than he needed. His skill seemed to work slowly on the headache.

[Does casting magic normally involve your mind?]

Mash’s question felt dumb as he asked, but he was able to send the intention behind the question to Priscilla as well. She didn’t immediately reply, and when she did it was more than he expected.

[It depends on the person and the magic. Normally, when you would use a skill, the system seems to handle all of the mental tax. However, what you are doing now is performing all of your magic without relying on any skills. Talent alone cannot allow you to ignore the drain on your mind.]

Mash nodded. It was just another reason to try and make this into a skill, or just leave the task to Priscilla. No, he didn’t want to do that. He spent a few minutes recovering and then walked back toward where the explosion had happened. Mash bent down and picked up some of the fragments of wood. They felt warm in his hands, each was almost as hot as a fire. It felt like it should have worked. The two pieces of wood could touch together easily enough. So, what was the problem earlier? He thought about it for a while but didn’t really understand what the problem was. It felt like it should’ve worked. He had been growing a frown, and it deepened as his experimentation only resulted in explosions.

He had tried several different combinations of affinities, but each attempt failed regardless of what he tried. The wood just didn’t want to grow together. He needed to connect them somehow. Link them together with something. He thought about it and the realization smacked him directly in the face. Every layer of wood had two affinities that could connect. Both life and wood could be linked between the layers. What if he tried making intermediary layers of pure wood and life magic? He didn’t test immediately but then he checked with Priscilla first.

[It might work. This idea of yours is not something I would’ve tried, but I believe it has a chance to work.]

He could visualize what he wanted. The layers would fuse at their edges and combine with the next layer. This was a much more complex design, and it was complex. It was like trying to sow, but with ten needles at once. He somehow knew that if it didn’t work, he would get a horrible headache from the attempt alone. Maybe he should recover before trying? No, he felt like the design would fade from his mind if he took a break. He would push through.

Mash held his hand in front of him. The dirt beneath him was not covered in shards of wood. He moved regularly and many craters were covered in the ground around him. There was a lot. How much time had passed? How many times had he failed? He didn’t know, and he didn’t care. The difficulty of the task didn’t deter him. His failures didn’t hang on him. All of it encouraged him. He felt like he was closer than ever and couldn’t help but smile before his next test.

The smile didn’t go away as the first part of the wood grew from his hand. He didn’t slow down and immediately started on the next layer. This time he fused the wood together. His wood and life affinity blended the two layers together, and they didn’t explode. It was a moment of inspiration, a surge of confidence that urged him onward. The next layer began, and he repeated the process. It was a magical moment, and he soon found himself falling into a rhythm. The process became easier, and the wood took the shape in his mind. It grew rapidly, and he grinned as its branches started to sprout. He didn’t intend for that but didn’t really care. The wood began to shape itself into a draconic maw, and the branches and leaves were just scattered randomly along its surface. It was probably a byproduct of the life magic that was woven into the entire tree.

The draconic form was less realistic than before. The color of the wood had changed slightly. It was brighter than before. Now the scale-like shape of the bark was basically completely gone. It was still fractured as if there should be scales, but there was no pattern to the size or shape. The bark looked like it had broken like glass. It was far more like normal wood. He could control the wood like before, and it moved as he made it open and close its mouth. Even the sharpest sections of wood didn’t look like they could tear through bone, although were certainly shaped like teeth. Although there was another noticeable improvement to his sculpture.

It was alive. It idled and swayed like a real living creature. A monster rather than a simple creation. Connected to the creation as he was, Mash could feel its inside moving. The wood was shaped into muscles and moved as if it were truly alive. He thought that it might actually breathe if it could. He still felt that inspiration and didn’t hesitate to feed it. Priscilla helped as she read his intentions She guided his magic, the affinities, the life. The draconic shape changed. It had been a simple mouth, but it quickly changed to the entire head. The wooden sculpture kept growing from him. A body quickly accompanied the head, and before long a wooden dragon, a small one, stood on the ground before him. The moment of inspiration passed as the creature opened its mouth and roared. At that same moment, Mash felt a familiar rush of energy.