All in all, this isn't half bad. Take what I was doing just the other day, holing myself up in my room, creating mana crystals, and doing little else but eating and sleeping. This is pretty much the exact same thing, I'm holed up in a room, this time more literally, I'm eating decent food "they gave me stew, score!", and I'm making mana crystals. The only difference now is that I'm also practicing fire magic on the side. Oh, and there's that lack of freedom thing, but some would say freedom is an illusion, that nothing really matters or something like that. I've never really bought into all that, but I can certainly see the merits of the argument, especially now.

I'm making decent progress with fire magic, but I honestly don't have much hope of getting out soon. I guess I'll have to bide my time until I can overpower this damn iron door. But my plan is flimsy at best. I mean, they could have more than one door, and I don't even know what's behind this one. For all I know I'm going to need to knock down dozens of doors. I need to think of a way to get this done in one go. It's not like they would let me live after I try to escape. Or they could torture me of course, but lets hope it doesn't come to that.

Even If I get my fire magic and mana manipulation mastered, there is still the issue of my tiny mana pool. Sure it's increased by a huge amount since I started, but I'd feel more comfortable with mana to spare. It seems in every game with combat magic, mana is just so sparce. Have you ever tried playing as a pure mage? That sucks dick most times, sure it's powerful once you get to a certain point, however early on it's nearly impossible. Enchantments are where it's at, but I don't know how to make those yet, DAMMIT!

After making mana crystals and playing with fire magic for a few hours, a note comes in through the slot in the door. Wrapped up in the note is an ink and quill. It reads, Dear prisoner, we are impressed with your output, write down a few amenities and we'll be happy to provide them for you. I quess my mana crystals really must be worth alot if they are willing to provide me with some luxuries. I quickly write down a few basic things and slide the note through the hole, though I keep the ink and quill. I asked for a few things that wouldn't seem too out of the ordinary. A change of clothes, soap, blankets, pillows, and of course a bit of needle and thread. Hmm, maybe I could get used to this.

Mana crystals can be compressed, and that mana can be used to power enchantments or spells. Leakage is the problem. From what I've read, using a mana crystal to power a spell isn't cost effective due to the leakage. Apparently internal and external mana is very different when it comes to manipulating it. I'll give it a go tomorrow, today I'll make sure to stop practice on my fire magic so I can make a few mana crystals and stash them for practicing external manipulation. If everything works out well, I think I may have figured out a way to game the system.