D.I.Y spellcraft (Part 2).

A relived grin spreads across my face as I watch everyone’s jubilant reaction to our breakthrough. The rapid blinking of my notification alarm grabs my attention. I open the list, letting out a low whistle as I read through the prompts. ‘If this is how much I gain after using that little Exp boost, I need to do that more often!’

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Congratulations! You put pencil to paper and sketched a complex pattern to the best of your abilities. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Whatever it is, it’s going on the fridge! You have unlocked the following Skill:

• Sketching (Lvl 1).

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For unlocking a Skill at the Novice rank, you have been awarded 50Exp.

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Congratulations! Your Skill in Sketching has increased from Level 1 to Level 4!

+3% Sketch accuracy. (Total: 4%)

• For reaching Skill levels 2, 3, and 4, you have been awarded 90Exp.

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Congratulations! Your Skill in Mana Manipulation has increased from Level 2 to Level 5!

+3% Spell control. (Total: 5%)

• For reaching Skill levels 3, 4, and 5, you have been awarded 120Exp.

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Congratulations! Your Skill in Meditation has increased from Level 1 to Level 5!

+2% Meditation cap. (Total: 22%)

• For reaching Skill levels 2, 3, 4, and 5, you have been awarded 140Exp.

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Achievement unlocked!

Arcane Scrabble.

You swapped out one spell rune for another and managed to create a new spell without the aid of a teacher. Good job on not tearing apart the very fabric of the universe due to sheer incompetence, but a little warning next time?

Rewards:

• +2 Intelligence.
• A new spell: Minor Ice Spike.
• X1 Perk: Runic Instinct (Basic).

Description: You have gazed upon the most basic inner workings of magic, and succeeded in bending it to your will, if only on a basic level. Not only did you survive without blowing yourself to kingdom come, but the experience has left you with a seed of understanding. By studying Common, Basic runes, you can begin to guess their purpose, as well as how you would utilise them in the formation of new magic.

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Congratulations! Through the manipulation of runes, you have created a new spell!

New Water spell Learnt!

Spell name: Minor Ice Spike (Lvl 1).

Spell School: Evocation.

Range: 15+N metres.

Description: The mage channels the power of Water Magic into a spike, before firing the spike at a target. The spell costs 8N Mana to cast and deals 8N cold damage to the target, where N is the spells level. The spell can be channelled for a shorter time to cast the spell at a lower level.

Cast time: 2 seconds.

For learning a new Novice level Water spell, you have been granted Exp. As this spell was self-taught, your Exp gain has been doubled, earning you a total of 1000Exp.

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Ding!

Congratulations! You have reached Character level 5!

Your Health, Stamina, and Mana, have all increased by 10 points.

You have 5 free Attribute points to spend.

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The new spell is defiantly an upgrade after some leveling, and it is always nice to gain a level, but the new perk! I whooped out loud, pumping my fist in the air. At my family’s strange look, I explain, “I just got a new Perk for crafting that spell, it’s just what we need!” I excitedly explain the specifics, and we immediately jump back to scanning through the different runes.

Unlike before, where the vast majority of the symbols were incomprehensible, the longer I study certain runes, the clearer their meanings become. Unfortunately, this only seems to extend to 13 of the runes, the rest, we figure, must either be classed as something other than Common or Basic.

As Lisa, Ash, and I work on translating, Em and Mum look over the Quest again. Em, understandably, has spent a lot of time studying the Quest, so it's her who points us in the right direction as she says, “This hidden objective, I’ve been wondering about it. The tier before calls for a Water spell or a Life spell, so what do you think this one needs?” After a brief pause, she asks, “Do you think multi-sphere spells are a thing?”

I glance up in time to see her eyes glaze over as she reads a notification. After a few seconds pass, she returns to normal, eyes brimming with a mix of excitement and smugness. “Well, I just got an achievement for guessing a Hidden objective correctly, so I’ll take that as a yes.”

Things move steadily after that, at least for the most part. I scroll through the list of runes we have a rough translation on, considering how I would incorporate two spheres of magic. ‘Do I still need three minor runes, or should I use more?’ My mind picks away at the problem as I search. My brow creases as I run possible combinations through my head, but each feels incomplete somehow.

Deciding to walk before I run, I focus more on individual runes. I find my eyes lingering on a few different possibilities before finally settling on one in particular. ‘Surround, or encapsulate, huh? I wonder…’ Up to this point, I had been trying to combine both aspects, Life and Water, in a single formation. ‘But what if I treat it like two different spells?’

Glancing back at the rune that originally caught my attention, my mind whirs. Looking at the word ‘encapsulate’, the mental image of a pill springs to mind. An outer layer, allowing the pill to be swallowed, and the **** within, to work the changes that the patient needs. Two different functions, but both working together towards a single goal.

With the perception shift came rapid progress. Focusing on water as a delivery system, I quickly settled on three runes. The aforementioned 'surround', a rune that gave me the impression of flowing movement, and a final rune that gave the impression of pushing (or possibly carrying). The three slotted into place in my mind, and just like that, we were halfway there.

Unfortunately, the second half of the spell wasn’t quite as smooth. Over two hours later, and all we have achieved are collective headaches and a minor argument. No matter what we combinations we try, nothing feels right. The argument starts as Ash suggests incorporating the unknown runes. Overtired and stressed, Emily shoots down the suggestion, but her tone rubs Ash up the wrong way. Before the argument can grow into something more heated, Mum suggests we take another break to cool off. Everyone readily agrees, and people wander off in various directions.

After huddling together for so long, my body feels stiff, so I pace around the outskirts of camp, noting with some surprise that the sun went down whilst we had been distracted. Despite my wishes to the contrary, my mind keeps chewing on the problem. I run my fingers through my hair in exasperation, then wince as I feel how greasy my hair is after only one day without showers.

‘There’s that stream nearby. We can use the water and give that Shampoo… spell... a try. FUCK, I’M SO DUMB.’ Activating Mage Sight, I cast Mage’s Shampoo, holding the spell before activating it fully. I am met with the most complex spell formation I’ve seen so far. Layers upon layers of runes, all intersecting and interacting in 3D, with no apparent rhyme or reason regarding orientation. The wind is immediately out of my sails as I stare at the complex mess.

That’s when my eyes settle on a pair of runes floating near the centre of the mess. I focus on one, and almost lose the spell in my excitement as I get the impression of ‘impurity’. My eyes move to the other one, and a whoop in excitement as that too translates, leaving me with ‘purge’. It couldn’t be more perfect if I tried.

I run back to the centre of camp, waving my arms like a loon as I gather people’s attention. Emily sees me first, and at her raised eyebrow, I say, “I found the runes we were missing!” enthused by my excitement, Emily asks, “Where?!?” I grin sheepishly and am about to answer when Mum rushes around the side of the tent, toothbrush in hand and excited look on her face.

Em looks from me, to Mum, to the toothbrush, then back to me, before she groans in realisation. Mum looks to me, practically jumping up and down in her excitement, and asks, “You worked it out too? Do those Mage spells have what we need?” I nod, looking literally anywhere else (Mum had long since swapped into normal clothes, and a prodigious about of bouncing was happening), then add, “Two at least, but I know which other one we need.”

Flipping open the pad, I find the rune I’m looking for quickly. “Here it is, this one. ‘Gather’ or ‘collect’. Perfect! With the ‘touch’ rune, that makes a complete spell!” Drawn to the sound of exited voices, the entire family is soon sitting around the fire again, watching me with eager anticipation. Em sits at my side, watching me, nerves evident on her face. “Ready?” She takes a deep breath, then nods.

I take a deep breath of my own before my hands move through the required motions. Rather than one at a time, like I had expected, each of my hands forms half of the spell, Water in my left, Life in my right. A minute passes, then two. A bead of sweat rolls down my face, but I hardly notice, as every portion of my focus is on forming the spell. Slowly, the two halves are brought together, and I watch in awe as the Water spell seems to wrap itself around the Life spell.

Finally finished, I look up from my work and touch the trigger rune. I watch as water wraps around my outstretched hand, glowing slightly in the darkened forest and giving off a pleasant warmth. As soon as the spell has gathered fully, I reach forward, placing my palm on the bare skin of Em’s arm. She stiffens at the sensation, watching with wide eyes as the water sinks into her flesh.

The forest is still for a time, the only sounds the crackling of the fire and the panting of my laboured breathing. ‘Fuuuuuuuck, that took a lot out if me.’ Em sits in her chair, eyes closed, a small frown on her face. Tentatively, Mum asks, “Do you think it’s working, kitten?” hesitantly, Em replies, “I... think so?” anything else she was about to say is cut off as Ash gasps. I jump to my feet and am by Em’s side in an instant. I look at Ash in alarm, only for her to point and say, “Look at her arms!”

Sure enough, it appears as if steam is rising from Emily’s bare skin. The vapour starts out a pure white, but the hue quickly darkens. Em watches the steam rise from her body, face filled with wonder rather than discomfort. She looks up at me, tears in her eyes, and says, “I can feel it working! I’ve been feeling stiff ever since the first attack, but… it's as if it’s all melting away.”

Almost as soon as the phenomenon starts, it's all over. Em’s eyes glaze over for a moment as she checks her status before snapping back to reality. “It’s… it’s gone!” in an instant, my little sister is on her feet. She turns, flinging herself at me as she joyously shouts “Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!” Not expecting the sudden but affectionate ****, her momentum bowls me over, and I land on my back with Emily on top of me, her face mere centimetres from my own.

I feel a drop of moisture land on my cheek and look up to see tears of joy and relief streaming from her eyes. I wrap an arm tightly around her and use my other hand to wipe a tear from her eyes. In a soothing voice I say, “Shhhhh, everything’s ok now.” She smiles damply at me before nuzzling her head into the crook of my neck. Hearing footsteps around me, I look up into the smiling faces of my family.

The next couple of minutes are spent talking in low voices, all of us relived that this whole episode is now behind us. All the while, Em refuses to move from her position on top of me, much to everyone’s amusement. We talk of little things, planning for our future adventures. Eventually, Ash says, “Come on, let's give them some space.” Em finally moves, but only to look up at her sister in surprise. Ash simply shrugs, then winks languidly at the pair of us, before following Mum into one of the tents. Only the crackling of the fire and the quiet sound of our breathing remain.

Our eyes meet, and I am suddenly very aware that a gorgeous woman is lying on top of me. During the last break she must have changed into her nightclothes, as rather than a hard leather chestpiece, I can feel something (or two somethings) delightfully soft squished against my chest. Unbidden, my mind springs back to this morning. The memory of that delicious weight in my hand causes a stirring from down south.

I try to maintain a straight face as I say, “As much as I’m enjoying this hug, you should probably let me up now.” Her eyes dance with amusement and a hint of something else, as she says, “Nope, not until I’ve said a proper thank you.” I raise an eyebrow at her, about to ask her what the hell she’s on about, but any comment is lost in my utter shock as she closes the last few centimetres between us, and her lips press up against my own.