Getting camels was actually a surprisingly easy process. Shiina had no idea how Ife could zero in on someone who was looking for help when she couldn't find North while the sun was rising. But the woman had pinned down someone who was happy to offer a few seats for some free extra guards.

  And so Shiina was sitting atop a camel, masquerading as a travel pack. The beast had an odd gait that Shiina wasn't sure she liked. And the desert was still a gritty expanse filled with way too much heat. But at least she didn't need to walk over the sand herself. And the camel considered her to be just another pack.

  Hafsa and Ife had taken to their rides instantly. Meanwhile Delilah had some trouble before she pulled the camel's head down and whispered something to it in elvish. Shiina had no idea if that was a spell or a threat, but the half elf hadn't had any problems afterwards. It was probably a trick she'd learned farming.

  Surprisingly it was Zanya who had the most trouble. Her camel had dismissed the woman instantly, and proceeded to wander around the herd as it pleased unless the woman hit it with a stick. The ophidian had mostly given up.

  "So!" Shiina's attention flicked over to where Ife was riding. "Hafsa, Shiina. I imagine neither of you have had a formal magic education."

  "Nope," Hafsa said with a smile. "I stole books, but that's it."

  Shiina shook her head. "Mali didn't really have any books on the subject. They're pretty expensive. I'm hoping to buy some eventually though!"

  Ife nodded. "Well, I can't give you a complete explanation, but a better understanding of magic will probably help you both. Right now you're both half trained, but a good foundation will tell you what your enemies and allies are capable of."

  "I can help!" Delilah moved towards the center of the group with a big smile. "Both of you probably learned from elven derived systems, so I can teach the basics."

  "Really?" Shiina beamed. "That'd be great!"

  Ife and Hafsa looked a little surprised, but the fox girl nodded after a moment. "That's true. You'd probably have a better basic understanding. And you haven't sworn to keep any secrets."

  "Not gonna complain either way," Hafsa said. "I thought it'd be better to learn magic from another magic knight, but I admit I'm fuzzy on all the details."

  "The heart of magic is all the same," Delilah replied. "You'll want to learn how to access magic in battle from Zanya. But I can teach you how to improve your actual magical skills."

  Zanya gave a nod. "Basically true. Delilah's better at theory than most traveling adventurers based on how many restrictions she knows."

  Shiina turned her full attention to Delilah, who took a deep breath before getting started. "The first thing you have to understand is that magic is the heart of everything. Every creature has some magic within them, and any intelligent creature can access some magic. The difference between 'mages' and 'non mages' is how much magic we can access at once."

  The lecture seemed rough, but earnest. Like Delilah had been looking forward to giving it for a while. Perhaps she'd tried before with other people? They'd been fairly busy since they'd met, so she'd never had a chance to talk to Shiina about it.

  "A good way to think of it is like hands," Delilah continued. "Everyone can hold something in each hand, but it takes some dexterity and skill to juggle more. Mages are those who can 'juggle.' Everyone else settles for two abilities at a time."

  Hafsa raised a hand. "Wait a second. I thought the difference between a mage with a sword and a magic knight was that magic knights can only use one element at a time. What's this stuff about two elements?"

  Delilah smiled again. "Right! There are two elements in theory, but everyone has one super important element. 'Self.' All the magic that makes you who you are, and what keeps the immaterial parts of you attached to your body. Everyone everywhere works on understanding and mastering the Self attribute, though usually indirectly. And since you need to retain control of your Self that means magic knights can only access one additional attribute. But you should always remember Self is something you can focus on and control."

  Shiina considered that. "So what happens if you 'drop' your Self attribute?"

  "That I know the answer to," Ife said. "Your soul departs your body, and leaves a meat sack open to every demon, ghost, or wandering spirit around."

  "Sentient fungi too," Zanya added, getting a look from everyone. "I'm serious. It's a problem."

  Delilah blinked a few times, then shrugged. "Anyway, don't ever try to separate from your Self attribute. It's a very bad idea."

  "Okay that explains all the stuff about 'knowing yourself' to boost your power," Hafsa said. "What's the next bit?"

  "Attributes." Delilah summoned a blob of darkness and tried to stretch it into an umbrella before giving up. "Attributes are things and concepts you understand well enough to call upon. Fire, Darkness, Light, Life. I think you know Stone, right Hafsa?"

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  The cat girl smiled. "Yeah, good eyes. Stone, Sand, and I've mostly got Metal."

  That confused Shiina a little. "Isn't sand just a lot of tiny stones? How are they different?"

  Hafsa's ears twitched. "Isn't it obvious? Sure a grain of sand is a little rock. But together they're something totally different. Sand can ebb and flow."

  "Now now," Delilah waved her hands to placate them. "Attributes are very personal. And not fixed. Each one shows your understanding of the item and how it works. As you improve you can combine or separate attributes. For example most mages learn to manipulate 'Magic' and 'Matter' at some point."

  "So my Stone, and someone else's Stone might be different?" Hafsa asked. "That seems messy."

  Delilah nodded. "At a basic level they're probably similar, but yes things get stranger as you advance. Higher level wizards in fact will create words to define their new attributes. For example Phlogiston was created to symbolize the potential of something to catch fire."

  Ife's ears snapped up. "Wait, so that's why the high priest's incantations were all a jumbled mess of made up words? It wasn't just to keep secrets?"

  Shiina looked at the mage. "Wait, you didn't know that?" It seemed weird that someone so much higher level hadn't learned those details. Maybe Delilah had a strong grasp on theory. Shiina knew mages could be vastly different in skill sets even at the same level. Since they leveled from both study and battle.

  "Half the stuff the man did was pure theatrical nonsense!" She rolled her eyes. "How was I supposed to know this part had an actual use! Especially since our language has several special words for complex magical concepts."

  "Well since he didn't tell you why he was doing that, it was also theatrics," Delilah said with a frown. "Some people are far too weird about magic."

  Hafsa laughed. "Okay. So attributes are a thing, and people like me can manipulate them. What's the catch?"

  "The catch is you can only use them in relation to your Self," Delilah said simply. "You can only control the attribute within or next to you. Which is why magic knights need to be close to their targets, or generate the attribute and throw it. You also can't enhance the attribute like full mages can."

  "That's what strictures are for, right?" Shiina said. "You and Ife use those extra words when you cast spells." It was similar to how traps chained words, so she'd paid attention.

  "Yes," Delilah replied. "Strictures, Limits, Modifiers. Those are the common terms for the additional details we use to focus spells. I prefer the elven eliatph, 'outer magic pathways.' By using them we can both target our spells, and reinforce them. The more you use, the stronger they can become, but only if the spell you're using fits the pathways you're trying to use."

  Shiina nodded. So the more specific to the situation the better it'd be! She'd have to keep an eye out for that. Especially with traps and alarms.

  "So can us second string magic users fiddle with that stuff?" Hafsa asked. "Seems weird there's a whole branch of magic we can't touch."

  Delilah hesitated. "Well you can use eliatph. But they can only reinforce your Self. So it's only good to fight off mental attacks or possession."

  Shiina scribbled down that. "That still seems super useful! I should practice it."

  "Wait!" Delilah's exclamation drew Shiina's attention back to the worried half elf. "Sorry, I should have said this earlier. But Shiina, you can't use any of those tricks."

  "What? Why not?" Shiina looked over her friends' faces. Delilah and Ife looked grim, while Zanya and Hafsa were confused. "Why can't I use magic? Is it because I'm not a humanoid?" That would be totally unfair!

  Ife took over the explanation. "Sort of. It's because mimics have two attributes that can't be changed. Everyone has Self. But Shiina you, and every other mimic, also have the Mimic attribute. It's what makes your shapeshifting so potent."

  Hafsa's ears perked up. "So you're kinda a 'magic rogue' or something. Pretty cool."

  Shiina felt weird about it. She liked the idea of having a special attribute, but not being able to access any of the magic everyone else could didn't feel good. Especially since she was painfully aware of her limits as a mimic. "Is there no way to separate the two?"

  "No, and don't try," Delilah's voice was stern. "If you want to try something you should master Mimic and learn other related attributes you can merge with it and enhance your powers. Do not try to swap your attribute focus."

  "Right right." Shiina melted a little into her 'pack' body. She hated being told there was something she couldn't do. It wasn't fair.

  But at least there was something else she could do! She turned her attention inward. Delilah had said it herself. If she could master Mimic she could move beyond those limitations. It was time to up her mimic game. Master mixing soft and hard body chunks.

  They'd have plenty of travel time to work on it after all.

  So there's four different ways of interacting with magical attributes according to Zanya. The most common is to just improve your physical abilities naturally and let your magical attributes follow. This is what fighters and other 'non magic' people use, and it's super hard. Though the rewards are pretty impressive.

  On the other end of the spectrum there's those that focus entirely on boosting their Self attribute. Using meditation, exercise, diet, or other methods they master Self. That method is known as 'cultivation,' and it's not very popular here, though in other parts of the world it's very common. The benefit is you can get a lot of levels fast and become really strong. The downside is if you don't mix it with good martial training against competent partners you won't have the skill to match your strength.

  Magic Knights focus on mixing other attributes with Self to do cool stuff like punch fire. While its possible to over focus like a Cultivator, the focus on workable techniques and physical combat tends to force a better match between combat skill and level. It helps that Fighters enjoy training with (and dueling) Magic Knights, which keeps both groups sharp.

  Lastly Mages are those that can wield multiple attributes. And while the best mages almost always end up focusing on raw power instead of combat skill, when your power is 'throw waves of liquid fire' instead of just 'punch hard' you can get away with that. Especially if your backup plan is 'rend the ground asunder' followed by 'teleport away and repeat.'