Finn woke up early after a solid night's rest. He started off his morning with a long cultivation session. His mana had not fully replenished after last night, and his body still felt sore, and he wanted to ease into the new day. He kept going when he noticed his Cultivation level was at 98% now, almost level three. So he pushed on to midday when it finally levelled up. He was getting better and better at judging time as he cultivated.
Cultivation has reached level 3. Basic mana understanding is beginning to form.
This was new. Basic mana understanding. As Finn thought about it, he got the feeling that something was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn't find what. Further developing his Cultivation would probably give him more innate knowledge about mana. This would be a good thing, as understanding it better could help him get better and more efficient at using magic.
Even though he still lacked a real plan and strategy, he was leaning towards further developing his magic. Considering his Strenght was at the same level almost, he felt magic gave him more bang for a buck and was more practical. And it was magic; everybody everywhere had dreamed of being able to do magic at least once in their lives. Finn was no different.
He also felt that magic would be much more versatile and dynamic. The Glyphs showed that it was in their nature to be adaptable. He was almost sure that if he gained more knowledge about them, he could use them in a myriad of ways. If he managed to get proficient enough at it, he might escape all dangers that came to him. Either by defeating them head-on or evading them all together, all by using magic.
Finn was still in doubt about what would be the best choice, pushing his Arcane up to ten or levelling up his Grammerie. He went through his morning routine of stretches while pondering about this. Finn assumed that a higher level of Arcane would boost all of his magic, perhaps in more ways than one. But at the moment, the only magic he had was the elemental fire surge. It was good, but he really needed to become more magically versatile instead of a one-trick pony.
Pushing his Arcana up to ten could give him a new spell, but this was no guarantee. On the other hand, learning more about Grammerie might allow him to design his own spells. He bit his lip as he finished his routine, panting just a little. He used to end his workouts dripping with sweat and utterly exhausted. The skills had really changed his physique a lot.
Grammerie. That was the best choice for now. Finn still wasn't sure, but he made the call regardless. He focussed and brought up the menu, invested the skill point in Grammerie and bumped it up to level three. There was no popup or additional information provided, so he felt deflated at first. But it was the same when it had levelled up to level two as well.
He then focussed on the Grammerie of the spell he knew and realized that he now understood the Glyphs better. On top of that, when he thought about specific Glyphs, knowledge of new Glyphs that he never had seen before popped into his mind. This created a small pop up that told him he could now access his Glyphorium. Along with the popup, a new button appeared in his Arcane window, with the icon of a book.
After focussing on it and opening a new window, Finn saw an extensive collection of Glyphs, most of which he recognized from the elemental surge spell he had. But there were other Glyphs in there, which he knew for sure were not used in elemental surge. He spent some time going over each Glyph and reading the text that came up. Some of them came with a lot of information detailing the possible uses and meanings of the Glyph. Depending on how it was used and what the surrounding context was. Others had very little, and the 'new' Glyphs had only an introductory text. Probably because he had yet to use them and learn them, Finn thought.
Finn grabbed some paper and started to write down all the new Glyphs, and then he wrote down the single spell he had. This took some time because of the irregular nature of the glyphs and how different they were to modern writing systems. When he finished and looked over his work, the system created an interactive overlay. When he focussed on the spell or any of the Glyphs, the overlay would spring to life. Feeding him additional information straight from his Glyphorium. He got the same feeling as before. As if something was on the tip of his tongue. An idea, or understanding, ready to spring to life. But much the same as before, it never came.
Finn spent the rest of his day lost in study. Going over the many Glyphs and the elemental surge spell. Trying to form a new spell that made sense according to the rules he knew so far, then realizing after checking that what he had made was bollocks. The whole process was frustrating enough that he left for a jog more than once, but Finn forced himself back to his study. Again and again. Until the moon sat high in the dark, starlit sky.
An entire day's worth almost, filled with speculation and trial and error. Yet Finn felt proud, in front of him, on paper, was a crude version of a spell that would work. Or at least that he thought would work. According to the rules that he knew about arcane Grammerie. Now remained only one thing for him to figure out.
How the hell do you create a new spell in the system?
Finn scourged the wiki, moved his focus through every little piece of the system he had seen so far, but nothing gave him an answer on how to create a new spell. He even tried to think deeply about it, putting his entire focus on the thought of creating a new spell, but unlike before, this had no effect. With a defeated sigh, he fell down on his bed, closing his eyes. Ready to drift away into his sleep.
But a knock on his door prevented that. A few moments after the knock, his door opened, and his mother came in, smiling.
"Hey, mom, what's up?"
"Just checking in on you. We thought you would be gone for a couple more days? Weren't you going to hike and camp?"
"Yeah, I was. But the view wasn't as good as I hoped. And I remembered I had to finish one last task for college before the summer break. So I decided to come back early."
"Oh okay, well, be sure to finish it up. So you can enjoy your break to the fullest. You earned it after a year of hard study" She smirked.
Finn smiled. He knew she liked to tease him about how good these years were and how much harder it would be later on. But what he had really been up to, his mother would never believe. He had only talked to her about going camping and meeting up with his friends after his finals.
"I'll be okay, Mom. I'll show you some of my personal projects that I have been working on soon enough." Almost as soon as he had said that, he flinched. Was he really going to do that, though? Tell his parents about this system? Was he even going to be able to show it to them? What if they did not see it? Or if it did not work with them nearby? He felt the cold touch of worry around his heart, but his mom kept going.
"Oh? Well, I can't wait to see it, hon. I have another thing I wanted to ask you. We were over at Sam's parents just now, and her dad broke his foot the other day. He was supposed to pick up Sam from her college dorm, but he won't be able to. Would you mind picking her up?"
"Yeah, sure. It has been a while since I have seen her, and it will be nice to catch up." It had been a while, since the winter holidays, in fact. Almost half a year ago now. Not seeing Sam as much had been one of the hardest parts of attending Uni for Finn. They had been neighbours since they were six and had been close ever since. Their moms used to joke that they were joined at the hip. Finn missed Sam more than he ever cared to admit. And although he had often felt like checking in on her, he had ignored that need throughout the year. She didn't seem to have that need, and Finn didn't want to come over as too clingy. Their dynamic had always been a bit weird, riding that thin line between friendship and romance. Being too clingy or teasing too much could tip the scales to one side and disturb the delicate balance they had now. Finn wasn't sure about many things between them, but he knew that he did not want to risk their friendship over a possibly short-lived romance.
"You are an angel, sweeting. I will let her parents know and give Sam a call, so she knows to expect you and not her dad. I'll make a big dinner for when you get back as well. It will be nice to have dinner with you two together again; it feels like ages ago since we had one like that."
"Haha, yeah. Well, that is because she decided to go to Uni so far away." Finn felt a bit awkward; he knew that his mother picked up on his feelings for Sam to some extent, but never how much exactly.
"It is not like that can put a dent between you two; I know you two will be looking forward to two days from now. And talking the whole drive home. Thanks again, Finn. Have a nice night now."
"Goodnight, mom."
Finn was smiling now. He was both happy and deflated. The last days had made him forget about how much he had missed spending time with his family. Something he had not been able to do with his exams. He looked forward to the dinner. But he had some worries as well now. What was he going to do with his new abilities?
Finn had never kept secrets from his family, but could he really tell them about this? Would they even believe him? If he told them about it but couldn't show them, they would think he had gone mad. Maybe he could test it first, on a single person. See if they can actually see the magic. Perhaps Sam? No, the idea of Sam seeing him as some lunatic was too much. And he couldn't do anything that might be a risk to her. Realizing that brought up other feelings as well, which was a truth he was not yet ready to accept. His brother was too young, only eleven. He would just run off and scream his lungs out about it at that age.
Erik. Yes, Erik, Erik would do! Erik had been one of Finn's best friends for over six years. They were close, not only because of their friendship, which was solid, but they were the same mix of weird, geeky dumb asses. Often, no word was needed to let the other one know what they were thinking. And if Erik would not be able to see any of it, Finn could easily play it off as a stupid joke. Finn quickly sent Erik a text.
Hey man, how about we meet up sometime this week? Go for a Hike? I got some stuff to show and tell you about it!
Hey man! I won't be able to. I am away with my folks. I'll be back in about two weeks, though. How about we meet up then? I'll bring some beers.
Sounds great, see you then!
It wasn't great, not really. But Finn would have to work with it. In the meantime, he could further test out his abilities and see how far he could progress with them as well. He was sure he could keep it hidden for at least a week or two. Finn sighed and put his phone away. Rolling over in his bed and closed his eyes. Welcoming sleep, hoping it would wash away his worries for now.
He had a good rest, and when he woke up, he felt rejuvenated. Filled with energy. He had only today left, as tomorrow he would have to leave early to go and get Sam. So with that in mind, he decided to try and make a new spell today. The task was daunting, as he had no idea how to do it. Or even if it was possible. So he only gave himself half the day. If he couldn't figure it out in that time, he would spend the remainder cultivating. His morale was tanking fast, and he needed a little boost. Cultivation was still the best way to train that was reliable as well.
He started his day off with his usual stretching routine. He wondered if he still needed it, though, with the system and abilities that he had now. At the very least, it helped him order his mind in the morning, so it still had some use. After that, he spent three fruitless hours trying to get his new spell to actually become a spell. Create it somehow. He tried everything, anything that came to his mind, he would try to do if he could. But nothing worked. No popups. No new elements to focus on. Nothing. But just as he was about to give up, an idea popped up in his mind. A spark of inspiration. When he used the spell before, he had brought up the grammerie in front of his mind. He then charged it with energy before finally triggering it and 'shooting' it. What if he needed to do just that?
He tried to bring up the Grammerie in front of his mind, but each time he tried, he failed. The glyphs and Grammerie were simply too complicated for him to imagine correctly. Everything was off, and the whole picture was incomplete. He did not dare to chare this as the effects would be unpredictable. Finn assumed this meant that his Arcana, Grammerie and Cultivation skills had other benefits as well. Among them, helping Finn to correctly visualize the Grammerie of his spells.
He sighed in frustration but refused to give up so easily. If he couldn't properly visualize the spell in his mind, perhaps there was another way. He tried to see the process of a spell, and magic, from a logical approach. What if the main thing was making magic 'flow' through the Grammerie of a spell? And his mind was simply the medium through which that was possible? He got an idea. He quickly grabbed a large sheet of paper and traced the Grammerie of his homemade spell on it. Fantasy had many works where wizards performed spells from a spellbook or scroll. In these stories, it often was enough to touch the spells and channel magical energy through them. What if it would work like this too? he could only try it out.
Finn placed the traced paper on his floor and then put his hands on it. He put them down, so his palms and fingertips touched Grammerie on the paper. Finn breathed in, calmed himself and then tried to push mana into the spell. The same way he had done before with elemental surge. Only this time, he tried to push the mana out of his hands and onto the drawing. Both to his surprise and relief, he could feel the spell charging. The text on the paper started to glow, creating a slow fading of colours. Moving through all the shades of the rainbow and beyond.
Finn started to laugh hysterically. Happy, but still not really believing that it was actually working. But soon after, the worry set in. Was the Grammerie correct? Did he manage to make it entirely without flaws? What would happen if he had made a mistake? Shouldn't he have spent more time double-checking it? But there was no time for hesitation or pulling back. He knew he had checked his work plenty of times. With what he knew, it was correct. The only way to test it was using it. It took a mental run-up, but then he triggered the spell.
It went different than usual. Usual being what happened when he triggered the only other spell he knew of, so not an accurate metric by any means. Instead of triggering the spell and the effects happening immediately after, things went much slower this time. First, the glyphs increased in brightness and speed of changing colours. Then the Grammerie seemed to pull itself loose from the paper, leaving black sears. The Grammerie floated upwards, an ever-changing pandemonium of colours. It kept floating up, increasing in intensity and speed, until the spell was floating at eye level. There it simply slowed down to a halt.
For a while, nothing happened, and Finn started to realize he was holding his breath. Then the grammerie exploded in a flash of light that seemed to wash away any and all details, forcing Finn to cover his eyes and turn away.
