*** Kiara ***

  Her grandmother was behaving strangely today. For once, she seemed to really try to be nice. She had prepared some cookies and brought the basic scroll as promised.

  The cookies were probably poisoned, but she was looking forward to learning the basic weaves from her.

  “The easiest weaves for beginners are light and heat. The reason is that even if the weave is formed slightly incorrectly, Mana tends to escape in those forms or at least to a large part. Oftentimes, Mana also escapes without any effect, simply dissipating into the ambient Mana. Other forms of dissipation are also possible, but are rarer.” Magdalena started her lesson.

  “Beginners normally start with one center glyph and do not try to link several different weaves. There are also different subcomponents that do not affect the world itself, but might, for example, be used to collect Mana before releasing it in one concentrated blast, or delay a following component from becoming active. You will have to learn and master them later on. For now, we start with the very basics. Ah, and there are of course also the cores, or more likely shards, which are used as both more permanent reservoirs as well as parsers for different kinds of Mana. A heat rune can be used with unattuned Mana, but if led through a fire attuned shard, the efficiency of the invested Mana improves dramatically, and other glyphs might not even be usable without attuning your Mana first. But those are way too advanced topics for now. By the way, constructs, which fulfill a single function, are called glyphs or runes. Complete structures are called weaves.”

  Kiara had learned probably more about weaving from her grandmother in the last three minutes than in the past years of her life, and she burned with passion to get started, creating her own magic circles and weaves.

  “As I was saying, heat and light are your starting point.” She opened the scroll and showed her two weaves, both rather simple if compared to the ones she had seen so far. Her crib was much more complicated. The key she had seen once in her father’s hand was on an entirely other level, and she had never even seen the nothingness orbs weave.

  The scroll was filled with lines and lines of glyphs, but looked more like a reference book and not like a manual. Underneath each rune, only a few words were written. Sometimes only the name, and at other times, a little additional information was given.

  Both heat and light only stated their name, and Kiara decided she would wait for her grandmother’s lesson to explain those finer points. Not willing to take the risk of Magdalena’s good mood running out.

  “When I say those runes are more forgiving, I mean a little bit more forgiving. Crossing lines where it was not intended, letting two lines touch, can have unintended and later on sometimes catastrophic consequences. So, to begin your training, you will write both those glyphs one hundred times. Here you have a small chalkboard. I expect you to have mastered those runes by next week. Do not try to infuse Mana into those chalk lines. They are not Mana conductive, and you should not rely on alchemical products for assistance. They will only hinder your long-term growth if you rely too heavily on them.” Magdalena spoke sternly and a little bit snootily.

  Suddenly, her grandmother was back as she knew her. Kiara had to suppress a slight smile. She was not entirely happy with the homework her grandmother had given her. It felt over the top and unnecessary, but it was so much better than spending her time only with the Mana cubes.

  She decided to start drawing the glyphs as big as possible on the chalkboard and do more iterations than her grandmother demanded. She had seen her grandmother design weaves on the fly. She drew them in lightning speed, without hesitation or a single wavering line. This was her goal. No reason to settle for anything less.

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  Every small mistake she made in drawing the glyphs was instantly corrected. Kiara had to admit that each criticism her grandmother made was justified. She drew the runes over and over, until her hand ached, and yet they never turned out perfectly. It was like drawing a flawless circle freehand. Some people were able to do so, but most only drew a wobbly oval shape with the ends not quite connecting.

  The concept of Mana dissipating in the form of heat, light, and into the ambient Mana was fascinating to her. She had witnessed Mana joining the ambient Mana in the air during her potion brewing exercise with Sia. Essentially, the cut-up plants had no longer been able to contain their own Mana, and it had leaked out.

  Electricity had the same behavior; if not used, things heat up and eventually emit light. The subcomponents reminded her more of a programming language, but there were probably also parallels in electrical engineering. However, she had never dabbled in any of it, and her physics classes were too far in the past to bring up anything useful for her.

  Where her lessons with Sia had been fun and rewarding, her grandmother’s lessons so far bordered on tedious. On a more positive note, the cookies were revealed as edible, if barely so. They tasted like someone had forgotten to add sugar and had added some kind of vegetable by accident. An honestly embarrassing result for a grandmother. Grandmothers should be able to cook delicious meals, cakes, and cookies.

  In her past life, she had only ever gotten to know one of her two grandmothers, and she had been an artist in the kitchen and one of the kindest women she had ever met. She had left a lot of good memories behind and was missed dearly. In comparison, Magdalena’s cookies were – well, not much. Her mother might be a more suited challenger. But in the end, even mediocre cookies were cookies.

  By the end of the lesson, the plate was empty. Self-control in regards to sweets was never her strong suit.

  Magdalena left the scroll with her when she left in the afternoon. During breaks, she started to study the other glyphs. There were about sixty glyphs on the scroll overall. Topics ranging from sounds, cooling, movements, fire, air blasts, to electrical shocks and repulsion shields.

  It was mouth-watering. Hordes of monsters would die underneath her in a sea of fire, as she hovered over it like Iron Man, using air blasts to fly and stabilize, and while being protected by her own shimmering shield.

  Finding new motivation in her daydreams, she drew the same two glyphs of heat and light over and over again.

  *** Maya ***

  Kiara seemed to enjoy the time she spent with her grandmother and learning all about magic. However, she was deeply torn when she saw her daughter bent low over a Magic scroll like an old scholar. She was seldom leaving the house and never really playing with other kids.

  Soon she would be beginning school, and she was deeply worried that her daughter would be unable to make any friends and spend her time alone. Maybe it was time for her to take her on an adventure outside the walls and show her something of the real world beyond dusty old scrolls, or at the very least, force her daughter to leave the house more often.

  Maybe her daughter’s fascination with Magic just stemmed from a lack of witnessing the alternatives. She could get her group together for a little hunting trip. The Guild currently had an open quest for assessing the threat of Arachnids in the Titanfall mountains close to Northwind.

  Could she take her child with her onto such a potentially dangerous mission? No, definitely not! At least not as her first little adventure. Maybe they could do a short trip accompanying one of the traders to the smaller settlements surrounding Northwing?

  It would take several days, but maybe that would get Kiara out of her shell. She would have to talk with Sarok about it. He would have to take care of an angry Petro. Her son would be angry with her and rightfully so, but she could not take both of her children with her, and her husband was busy with a new construction project. He wouldn’t be able to simply take some days off.

  Maybe she could instead talk with Sia and do some easy herb collections in the surrounding forest with Petro first. Something he could brag to his friends about. Only another two years and the little rascal will get his crystal. He will probably focus on body enhancement like his old man. It had been her dream as well when she had been younger, but she made do with what she had and had found ways to work around her restrictions.

  After merging several skills into it, her skill [Nimble Hands] had become the groundwork for her current skill set, and combined with her passive [Precision] skill and her more regular weaver skills, made her a passable ranger.

  Petro tended more towards a strength-based build, like her husband. On one hand, she felt fearful at the thought of her son becoming an adventurer. On the other hand, she hoped her son would achieve his dreams.