The next morning.

  Elias left the Hunters Cove early in the morning to meet Eshmere, once again he was the first up, and wasn't interested in waiting for anyone else. For the next few days, the only thing that was left to do was prepare for their inevitable hunt with the Light Lancers. Fortunately, Kass knew of them and their Illustrious leader, Maribel Saresh. She was the daughter of a Count that was neither interested in inheriting her father’s seat nor marrying. Instead, she got her inheritance, ran away, and formed her own hunting party.

  Being a talented wizard plus having thousands of gold at her disposal was enough for her to purchase the best weapons, armor and drafts money could buy. This was more than enough for her to be successful; apparently, she was one of the youngest people to take down an adult dragon. They were well sought after, particularly by nobles since Maribel and noble blood in her veins. Her act of rebellion, contrarily, increased the reputation of the House Saresh since they could brag that one of their own was skilled enough to become a four-star hunter. The scar across her eye was well known as a token from that same dragon fight. It was enough for Elias to be reasonably reassured that she was who she said she was. And someone with an impeccable reputation wouldn't want the deaths of new and talented recruits on her name.

  Elias wasn't interested in the farce of participating in more than one hunt to get into the frontier, but he would do what he had to do. Eshmere wouldn't open for a few hours so he decided to stop by Nessa’s to see if he could scrounge up a couple more eagles. He wasn't sure what to spend it on yet, but he was sure he would need coin at some point.

  Elias walked into Nessa’s shop to see the brown-haired woman sitting by the counter. The store was empty due to the sun barely being up, but Nessa seemed to be an early riser, like himself. There was a girl sitting at the table who was eight or nine years old. Elias didn't have to ask since she looked almost exactly like her mother. Though she had red hair instead of her mother’s brown.

  “Ah Elias, I was hoping to see you.” she said as he approached.

  “Used up all the water already?” He asked.

  “Got a shipment of Dalia seeds and your water would definitely help the growth rate. Same rate as last time?” She had an innocent expression. Her daughter looked up from her paperwork to watch the exchange though she remained quiet.

  “How about an extra silver, I'll make the water extra potent this time.” Elias grinned.

  “You were holding out on me?” She sounded genuinely surprised. With a chuckle she added. “I suppose turnabout is fair play. Three silver it is.”

  “Is it usually so expensive? three silver is several months wages for a peasant.”

  Nessa shrugged, “Where else am I going to find another water sorcerer, scarcity drives up cost. Besides, you don't want to know how much alchemists are willing to pay for quality herbs.”

  “I doubt you would tell me since I'd probably ask for more coin.”

  “True enough, Linda, go get the watering can, dear.”

  The young girl replied in a soft voice, “Yes momma,” then a minute later returned with a familiar watering can.

  “Thanks, deary, go back to your numbers.”

  “Ok mama,”

  Linda, with a smile, went back to drawing on a piece of parchment. Humming along without a care in the world. Elias couldn't stop himself from smiling at her carefree innocence. It reminded him of Ash when she was that age.

  “I know that smile, you’re too young for a daughter, so you must have a little sister.” Nessa deduced.

  “Right on all counts.” Elias said as he started to fill the can. He didn’t manage to hide the pain in his voice at the thought of his little sister.

  “Is she…” Nessa trailed off trying to find a delicate way to ask the question.

  “She’s fine. Just far away.” Elias said numbly. He didn't want to have this conversation, so he changed the topic.

  “What do you know of familiars?” Nessa caught that Elias didn't want to talk about it so she moved on. Kass didn't know much. Becca had a million guesses, but each one sounded more ridiculous than the last.

  “All I know is that they are mana beasts that bond to someone. Apparently, you share your sea of mana with the creature. How that bond forms or how that process works is beyond me,”

  ‘Sea of mana, that's the second time I've heard that term used. That sounds much better than mana pool, no matter how much Becca insists otherwise.’

  “Interesting,” Elias muttered as he finished draining his entire sea of mana. Nessa once again tested it with the glowing gem.

  “Wow,” she muttered. It was definitely glowing brighter than last time. She tossed him three eagles and rushed to water the various plants around her store.

  “You have quite a large sea Elias,” she said after she finished watering.

  “Thank you?” It was an odd compliment but a compliment, nonetheless. Elias shrugged and asked, “Do you know anything about the Light Lancers, we’re planning on joining them on a hunt so anything would be useful.”

  “I know the name and Maribel was the talk of the town for a while. They have never failed a hunt and from what I know pay their porters and cutters well.”

  Elias nodded along as she explained, his confidence in the success of the hunt was increasing.

  “Thank you for the information,” A group of old women walked into the store not a moment later, the bell attached to the door announcing their arrival.

  “Until next time, Nessa. Goodbye Linda.” Elias said then he turned to leave.

  “Bye bye Mister Hunter,” Linda said in a soft voice.

  “Take care of yourself Elias and be careful; even the most mundane hunt can be deadly.” Nessa sounded serious, but there was a touch of sadness beneath it. Elias nodded, accepting the advice for what it was, then left the building.

  He didn't really have a destination since Eshmere wouldn't be open for a few hours. Elias passed by non-interesting buildings, some sold food, others clothing, but nothing of real note. The town’s layout was simple enough that he would have no problems finding his way back to the main street, and from there to the Hunter’s Cove. He passed no less than two smithies and a large shop that smelled like rotten meat, butchers, fletchers, cobblers, everything was in the town. Hunters came and went, some looked as impressive as Maribel while others looked pathetic. Their poor armor and weapons made it clear that there was little chance of survival for them. Most, however, were similar to Elias and his group. Decent armor and weapons but nothing overly impressive. After nearly half an hour of walking Elias finally found something interesting.

  “Maeve's Mysteries,” He read curiously. The sign hung from a building painted a deep purple. No building he had seen so far had purple paint. The feeling of magic from inside peaked Elias’s interest. Elias with through the double door to see a busy store, surprising since it was still in the early morning. It was almost anachronistic in its design. Beneath glass displays were magical items similar to jewelry stores from his own world. There were rings, necklaces, and tools like lanterns. Weapons were also common: swords, axes, daggers, shields. Everything stank of magic. In a tall glass display near the center of the room were several staffs. They were of similar design to all the staffs he had seen at this point, tall and intricately carved wood topped with a glowing gem.

  At the base of each display was a price for every item. Elias’s eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he saw the number.

  “120 dragons.” Elias said indignantly. That was a lot of coin and that was only for the cheapest one. The staff with the bright blue gem and gold inlay was 400.

  ‘The fuck are these prices.’

  There were a few armed men standing around like statues guarding the store but at glance Elias could tell that stealing these items would not be possible. Each display case had some kind of magic.

  A mocking laugh sounded from behind him. Elias turned to see a man in gold armor, actual golden armor sneering at him.

  “If the prices offend you peasant there is the door,” he didn't even spare Elias a second glance and immediately walked away. Everything in the store cost gold. The cheapest thing was the magical lantern at12 dragons. Even that was a hefty price. Maribel promised 10 dragons for the hunt. That was enough pay for room and decent food for a year if he was frugal. It seemed being a successful hunter was an expensive hobby.

  Elias was curious about the staff, but the enormous prices halted any inquiry he would have had. A familiar woman manned the main counter. She was the woman with long ears that Becca said was probably an elf. She was in even more jewelry than before and a single glance was enough to know that every piece was enchanted. Signing, Elias turned and left the store, feeling uncomfortable around so much wealth.

  30 minutes later he walked into Eshmere’s store, it was busy as usual, so Elias waited in line.

  “Ah Elias, Eshmere awaits. Go around back. He expects you,” His mate Eshlan nodded at the same door heading to his lab. Elias didn't know why their names were so similar but wasn't interested in asking.

  “Elias my friend right on time, come help finish this. Would you like coin or sample.” Eshmere asked. The serpentine man hurriedly called him over to a large boiling flask sitting on a table. Beneath it was some kind of burner. In a small beakers, there were liquids of various colors. A bowl of molten wax, and 10 small draft bottles with corks. On small glass plates were various powders. It reminded Elias of AP chem.

  “What are you making?” Elias asked.

  “Potion of Lightning Thought. Speeds up the mind, reaction, thought. Everything looks slow, but your mind is simply too fast. Should last up to a minute, more depending on your sea. Could be superior potion.”

  “How much coin would you offer,” Elias asked.

  “A gold and half or one dose. Usually costs five for a dose. But I give it for free since you save me time spent refining mana stone and filtering impurities.”

  ‘A gold wasn't bad, but I don't really need it now. This potion, though, could be useful and I can always sell it. His seal on the bottle is proof of its authenticity. Do I really need this potion though? Sounds like something Alicia would be interested in. I would prefer a couple more mana potions.’

  “How about this, you give me another mana potion and healing poultice and we call it even.” Elias said. His long tongue snaked out and he licked his lips furiously.

  “Fine, fine, but follow my instructions,” He went into his steel closet and brought out five glowing mana potions.

  “Here is how it works. You conjure water into the flask. Fill to the line. Once done we continue.”

  Elias shrugged and did what he said. It was roughly a two-liter flask. He immediately poured out the water down a drain near the back of the room. Elias filled it three more times before he was satisfied.

  ‘Ah, I see, I'm essentially summoning distilled water, he’s cleaning it.’

  After the final cleaning Elias filled the flask a fourth time.

  “Now we begin the process. All you need do is channel mana into water. I say slow, you drop rate, I say fast, you increase rate. Drink potion if you are near empty should be enough to finish creation.”

  Elias nodded and they began. Eshmere lifted the flask and placed it on one of the burners. He flipped a switch and with a small pulse of magic a blue flame came to life.

  “Start” Eshmere commanded. And Elias began channeling mana into the water.

  “Slow, slow, there. Steady.”

  Eshmere started to add different reagents, each one having fantastical reactions to the water. Some released flashes of light, others turned the water unusual colors. Each was met with a pulse of mana.

  ‘Fast, fast, steady.’ Eshmere commanded. Then he started adding powders and changed the heat to boiling.

  “Fast, fast, fast, good steady.”

  By this point Elias was half empty. “Half,” Elias announced. Eshmere nodded and continued to add different items to the now bright orange water.

  “Take potion when near empty.” Eshmere said.

  Elias continued and when he was around 10%, he reached for a potion, popped the cork, and downed it. Immediately he felt the rush of mana as his reserves filled by almost a third. Still at this rate it would be near empty in another 10 seconds. “Slow, slow, slow, slow, slow, there steady.” Eshmere said with excitement as he turned the water to a roaring boil. The bright orange liquid slowly lost color and settled into a soft amber as the volume decreased. This continued for another few minutes and Elias was feeling close to empty again.

  Elias downed another potion and for the next two minutes the water reduced further until it was a glowing gold.

  “STOP.” Eshmere said in triumph. Then he quickly started decanting the amber liquid into seven bottles, corked them and dipped the tops in wax.

  “Superior quality. This will sell well. You have large sea Elias.” Eshmere gave him a toothy smile.

  “Since you do such fine job, take all three I more than make up for loss.” the alchemist gesture to the three remaining mana potions and Elias stuffed them into a pocket. Eshmere ran over to his metal closet, pulled out a healing poultice and handed it to Elias.

  “Eshmere, what is doping?” Elias asked.

  “You novice to not know. Sea can only hold so much mana. Mana potion forces mana into the sea. Can only release excess mana so fast. Too much mana potion builds pressure. Forces the sea to grow. Very painful process. Most only do two or three times. Gain only 5 or 3 in a hundred to the size of sea at a time. But each time you must take more potions or higher quality potions; more potions, more poison the body has to purge. Too much becomes permanent damage.”

  Elias did the math in his head, “So I would need to dope at least 8 times to double the size of my sea.”

  Eshmere nodded enthusiastically, “Yes, head good for math I see. Sea, like your height. You grow into it, and it stays that way for life. Have to force it to grow with unnatural methods,”

  “Then how does one know when they have taken enough mana potions?” Elias asked.

  Eshmere chuckled, the sound was raspy, like sandpaper rubbing against wood, “You will know, it is painful first time, for sorceress usually seven to ten basic potions while the sea is full. Gifted and mages two or three. depends.”

  “Why the difference?”

  “Sorcerers have a massive sea ten twenty times larger than normal; horrible efficiency 4 in 5 of your mana wasted for even the simplest shaping. Wizards and gifted, very efficient wizards almost 8 in 10 with proper training. Gifted near perfect most never run out of mana if they're smart.”

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  More questions popped into Elias’s head before Eshmere interrupted. “Now, go, go, go, I need to finish work come back in a few days. I have more work for you.”

  Eshmere rushed Elias out of his lab. The lizard man was a few feet shorter than him but was deceptively. Strong Elias went along and walked out the apothecary with extra drafts and more information. Elias hoped he wouldn’t regret not taking the Lighting Thought potion, but he wasn’t willing to experiment. He knew how the mana potions worked and how it felt to use more than one.

  He still felt slightly nauseous, but that was expected, at least according to Eshmere. It would pass in a few hours. Elias guessed he could down two more before the vomiting and cramping started. Elias made his way back to the Hunters Cove; after entering the tavern he found his teammates sitting at the counter, all nursing a bowl of stew. There was another bowl off to once side clearly for him.

  “What did you find out this time,” Brent asked.

  “Nothing much, saw alchemy for the first time. It’s pretty similar to chemistry. Here.” Elias handed Brent a mana potion. Not wanting him to even suggest that he owes him one. “I also learned about something called doping it can increase the size of your sea of mana.” That raised a couple eyebrows. After a short conversation about his experience with Eshmere Elias ate his food.

  “I also found an interesting store,” Elias told them about Maeve’s Mysteries. Everyone had stars in their eyes and were not even slightly perturbed by the high prices.

  “So, what's the plan for today? We still have a few hours before we meet with the light lancers," Elias asked.

  “The. Enchanters,” Becca said, brokering no arguments.

  “Enchanter’s it is” Brent said with a sigh.

  ~

  It didn't take them long to find Raina’s store. It was a two-story building with actual transparent glass windows. Which was a rather anachronistic thing to see. From outside Elias could see people inside the store perusing the items on offer. Some brought in weapons or pieces of armor and a dark-skinned woman with strange bright blue hair would examine the item. After a short conversation coins would be exchanged and another woman nearly a foot taller than Raina’s short frame would take the weapons and coin to the back.

  Elias and the rest entered through the front door. It was similar to Meave’s Mysteries with the exception of the items on offer being more practical. Though, still rather expensive, signaled by the prices attached to each item. There was everything from knives, scissors, pots pans, lanterns. There was also simple weapons like knives and swords. Though they each cost a few dragons.

  “Durability, sharpness, resistance against corrosion.” Elias mumbled as he read a sign in front of a set of skinning knives. There was nothing outwardly different from the set of enchanted knives and a mundane set except the distinct feeling of magic emanating from the three knives.

  Elias Becca and Alicia perused the items on offer on their own, while Brent waited in line. The enchantments on the didn’t feel any different from the items at Meave’s Mysteries. So, Elias assumed that this is where the pointed eared woman got her items enchanted. Behind the blue hared women were several ceramic casks similar to the ones carried by the porters. In the center of the room however there was a sword. It was in a powerfully enchanted glass case sheathed in a grey leather. While it looked mundane it cost three hundred dragons.

  Elias could understand the gold and gem encrusted items from Meave’s mysteries costing that much. But not a mundane looking short sword. Wrapped around the hilt was a tag that read, ‘Sword of Storms.’ Elias rolled his eyes at the melodramatic name. It was clearly powerful in fact it felt like there was a person standing inside the glass case based on the amount of mana he could feel. No other enchanted item felt as powerful.

  “Elias come here.” Brent asked.

  Brent reached the front of the line and was in the middle of a conversation with Rain. “The price is 15 gold. no more no less.” Raina said in exasperation.

  “15 for what?” Elias asked Becca.

  “15 dragons for a single basic enchantment and that’s if we provide our own Essence powder. 20 without.” Becca explained. Seeing Elias's confusion she continued. “The powder is extracted from the natural environment or mana beast flesh. The type of powder determines the type of enchantment she can do. If the beast is strong enough you can get entire crystals.”

  Elias raised an eyebrow and Becca scoffed, “What do you think we do when you're off on your own adventure.”

  Elias shrugged, not really caring.

  “How long does the process take?” Brent asked Raina,

  “Depends on the enchantment. Kellik said you have potential, but I’ll not bother with you until you actually prove yourself. Now, if you don't have the coin feel free to leave, you’re holding up the line,” Raina said.

  Brent looked irritated at being dismissed so easily. But Raina's blue eyes were unfazed. Elias found it amusing.

  “Fine,” Brent turned to leave in a huff, the offence clear on his face. As far as Elias knew Raina was the only enchanter in the town, so that probably meant that she could pick and choose her clientele as she wished.

  The visit to the enchanters was underwhelming, but Elias wasn't perturbed. It's not as if they could expect anyone to treat them with deference without a reputation.

  “Well, that sucked. I had so many questions,” Becca said.

  “Indeed, though it's not very surprising. No competition means that she can be as arrogant as she wished.” Alicia added.

  “We just need to build ourselves up then. Get a couple hunts under our belt and she'll be begging to enchant our equipment,” Becca said, full of motivation.

  “Elias was there something about the sword that caught your attention?” Brent asked.

  “Yeah, it was powerful. It felt like I was standing next to Alicia while she’s at full power,”

  “How much did it cost, I never bothered to look at it,” Becca asked.

  “300 dragons.” Elias said.

  “Damn,” was all Becca said.

  “Let’s just head to the Dawn Flower. Hopefully, we can sort out this hunt,” Brent announced.

  ~

  The group stopped at an eatery that served meat pies for a quick lunch. Brent at some point had divided the hard currency between the three of them. Elias had informed them that he was paid for his work with Eshmere, so Brent figured that he didn't need any coin. Still, the meat pies were filling and only 10 starlings, overpriced, but meat was expensive.

  After another hour they stood in front of the Dawn Flower. It was an elegant four-story inn, around five minutes’ walk from the Lodge. Hunters streamed in and out, every one of them decked out in impressive looking armor.

  After walking inside the entrance to a room brightly lit with enchanted lanterns Elias spotted Maribel sitting alone at a large table finishing a meal. There were some apprehensive stares at their entrance since they were clearly not high level, but for the most part no one seemed poised to stop them. The lead hunter, Maribel, noticed their entrance and signaled for them to come over. Her familiar was sitting on the floor next to her. The wolf’s eyes tracked them as they walked across the room.

  “Good to see you have decided to join us, come, bring over some chairs and we can talk.” Maribel said. She still wore her pristine armor and carried her two grimoires. The dining area was occupied so it took them time to gather a few chairs and join her at the large circular table.

  “Hello Lady Saresh, I am Brent. This is Alicia, Becca, and Elias.” Brent said, introducing everyone.

  Maribel chuckled, “Greetings. I see you have done some research. Simply call me Maribel, no honorifics necessary.”

  “Very well Maribel.” Brent sat back comfortably crossing one leg over the other, affecting a dramatic pose. Maribel raised an eyebrow.

  Elias rolled his eyes, ‘Christ, does he think he’s in a drama.’

  “So have you decided?” Maribel asked, with some humor in her voice.

  “Yes, though we do have a few questions.” Brent said.

  “Ask away,”

  “You said 10 Dragons a head. Will we get a share of the spoils,”

  “No, as I have stated, I have been commissioned, and the spoils are promised to my client. Ten gold dragons is quite exceptional pay for novice hunters.”

  “Three gifted and one hydromancer, while we are novices, I doubt you can find any hunting party with that composition,” Alicia said with a confident smirk.

  ‘What are they doing? We didn't discuss this,’ Elias thought. Becca seemed surprised as well but instead of annoyance, he saw excitement.

  “Your equipment leaves much to be desired, and I've already seen your abilities. Effective, but clearly you have had little practice. Any other hunters with more experience would jump at that amount of coin,” Again she seemed amused, not irritated in any way.

  Elias examined her armor and thought back to the items he had seen at Meave’s Mysteries. Maribel’s armor wasn’t as ostentatious, but he could feel far more power from it. 40 dragons is probably chump change to her.

  Becca bit her lips in excitement and added, “But you didn't, which means our abilities out ways our inexperience.”

  Brent continued, “We feel as if we’re being undervalued.”

  This sparked a back-and-forth negotiation of their pay that Elias wasn't interested in. He sighed and ignored their antics, instead focusing on the wolf, the familiar. The creature was so strange. Every time he met its eyes, he could feel it examining him.

  “You seem interested in Nadia,” Maribel said. It took Elias a second to realize that Maribel was talking to him.

  “She is strange,” Elias said absent mindedly. Then he thought back to what she had said earlier.

  “You said you saw our abilities, but the only ones you would have seen was mine,” Elias remembered they were just sitting around, and he was playing with a Klein bottle.

  “I can see through her eyes if I wish and communicate.”

  “You truly are novices,” Maribel mumbled. Elias couldn't hide his surprise. He got irritated glances from the rest of the team. He ignored them and stared at the ceiling, wanting the meaningless negotiation to be over.

  “The Lodge will grant access to information about the Greater Heliox; it is a challenging beast, but the light lancers have faced them before. As for the Drakolyths, they are simple beasts, decent armor can block their teeth though they attack in large groups.” Maribel said after Brent's questions about the monsters they would face.

  “What about drafts? Do you have any recommendations?” Alicia asked.

  “Healing poultices should be enough since you won't be participating in the main fight. We will be increasing in elevation, so I recommend you dress for the occasion, or drink a summer Heart,” Maribel said.

  ‘Probably some kind of decoction,’ Elias thought.

  “Sounds fair, 13 dragons each, are we agreed?” Brent said.

  “Agreed, though you will be responsible for bringing your own provisions. And helping around the camp as required.”

  After a brief discussion on what would be required of them during the journey both before and after the journey. In truth Elias wanted to ask more questions about her familiar and magic as a whole. But he didn't want it to be a distraction.

  Apparently, she often sends her family out to hunt and the wolf stumbled upon their training session. Maribel spent over half an hour looking through her familiar’s eyes, so she had a good idea what they were capable of.

  They left the inn half an hour later. Maribel would, after they finished their examination, add their names to her hunting contract as secondaries.

  “Wanna tell me why we’re bothering to ask for more coin?” Elias asked.

  “Simple, more coin means more drafts and better equipment. We need to think about the future,” Brent said as if it was obvious.

  Elias scoffed, “What future?”

  “Our future in this world, I’m sure as shit not going to be living in some squaller.”

  “We should be focusing on a way home; where we live matters little,” Elias argued.

  “Tell me Elias, do you really believe we will find anything out there. Do you really think that there is some convenient way home.” Alicia asked.

  Elias knew deep inside that there would be nothing. “We don’t know, but we can’t do nothing either.”

  “You need to ask yourself the big question Elias, what are you going to do if there isn’t a way home?” Becca sounded sorry for him.

  “We came here, there has to be a way back,”

  “And what if there isn’t? We talked about this a lot? if some god or ultra powerful person brought us here. What chance to we really have of finding a way back?” Alicia sounded exasperated.

  At this point they stopped walking and were arguing in the street.

  “No,” Elias shook his head, refusing to believe he was trapped in this world. “There has to be a way, we just have to find it.”

  “We’re gonna go back where we arrived in this world after this hunt. You need to figure out what your going to do when we find nothing. We can’t keep having this conversation.”

  ‘It’s like they’ve already given up returning to earth. Are they just deluded? Is the novelty of a new world or magic enough for them to not care about returning? Or am I the one being foolish? Am I denying reality? No….no, there has to be something, there has to be. I can’t be stuck here. What if I am stuck here?’ Elias’s thoughts spiraled.

  Elias looked into their eyes, they only served to irritate him, since he didn’t see judgment or annoyance, only pity. He turned his head and walked away leaving them behind, feeling like a coward. Hate, anger, disgust, he could deal with any of that, but the last thing the he wanted from anyone was pity.

  ‘There has to be something,’

  ~

  Three days later.

  Elias was sitting in a corner of Nessa’s store, toying with the water inside a bucket. He had picked up a few insights into his abilities. He made something of a small discovery. Once again it was by accident. Elias was trying to determine how much mana he wasted using his abilities. His ability to sense mana was common for sorcerers, he wasn't sure why, but Nessa was able to tell him that much. There was mana everywhere at all times, but a sudden large concentration caused ripples. When his classmates used their abilities, the warm wind was short and intense. However, when he used his abilities, the peak was higher, and the wave lasted even longer.

  After a while he determined that the warm wind was actually excess mana dispersing into the environment. The mana used in their abilities was actually transformed into energy. The transformation wasn't perfect, so mana was wasted. That also explains why he could feel mana from people. The body actually radiates excess mana into the environment, a small amount to be sure, but still noticeable. There was still the question of why magical items exude mana but those answers he was sure would come in time.

  So, as long as Elias used the same ability at the same intensity he could determine if his efficiency was increasing based on the amount of wasted mana. He did this by raising small orbs of water from the bucket, roughly an inch across, and freezing it. Nessa asked him to help her lift a box. After helping her, he returned to his seat. As he was sitting down, he made a small gesture, pulling for the water to come to him and just like that he had a breakthrough.

  That small gesture was somehow more efficient than simply holding out his hand. He tested it dozens of times and was able to confirm that it was indeed more efficient. A small gesture to pull the water and then a strong clenching of his fist to freeze it was more efficient than simply doing nothing. Elias guessed that it was around 5% efficient based on the reduction in waste mana. The reverse was same for boiling water. After holding his palm flat out in front of him like a mime he formed an ice shield using all the remaining water in the bucket. He grinned as he realized it was also slightly faster than before. Then it fell over and shattered on Nessa’s floor.

  “Elias, really,” she said, exasperated. He had promised not to make a mess.

  Elias grinned and said, “No problem,” he melted the shards of ice and gathered them into the bucket.

  “That is very useful,” Nessa said. Her daughter was sitting next to her but instead of doing her numbers she was staring at Elias.

  “Figured something out. Seems like movement can increase my efficiency,” Elias said.

  “Really, why would that work,”

  “Haven’t the foggiest idea, but I’ve tested it, and it is in fact more efficient. Also, slightly faster.” Elias had been bouncing ideas off of her for some time. Eshmere was busy and he didn’t really know anyone else.

  Not every gesture produced a result, there had to be some meaning behind it. Elias visited her store to create another orb of mana saturated water. After a short conversation Elias mentioned that he wanted to do some training. When she asked what kind of training she suggested he just take an empty corner of the store. He was going to refuse but then thought about the benefits. He would overhear a lot of conversation, but the free meal she offered clinched it for him.

  Elias couldn't figure out why she offered but he wasn't going to complain. The best tasting food is free food after all. Her store was rather busy during the day, everyone from cooks, hunters, suspicious people in heavy robes and even Eshmere stopped by for dried herbs, extracts, paste or fresh plants. Nessa was making some good coin. Over the course of the entire day, she had at least an entire dragon, 35 eagles and 156 starlings. Not bad for an entire day's work.

  Her daughter was incredibly quiet and only exchanged small whispers with her mother. The girl definitely had something going on psychologically, but it wasn't Elias’s place to comment on it. Most of the people in the store did a double take at Elias sitting off to one corner playing with water sorcery but that was the extent of the attention.

  The resources on magic offered by the Lodge and the single bookstore in the town were able to fill in a few questions. It cost him five silver but another session of water saturation with Nessa had net him a few more silver coins so he was willing to part with it for the sake of research.

  Most of the last few days were spent training. Elias paused his experimentation and worked on speed. Eshmere mentioned that most of his mana was wasted due to sorcerer’s abilities being inefficient. While the size of the mana pool could only be increased through doping. An individual’s efficiency or magical strength depending on who you asked could be increased. Though sorcerer’s max out around 30% efficiency, 40 or 50 if the sorcerer was truly gifted. For mages, it was around 80% and as Eshmere had stated already gifted abilities were nearly perfectly efficient.

  This is where those staffs that the wizards carried around factors in. The gem at the top of the staff acted as an attractor for mana. In order for the staff to work properly an individual would have to force their mana into the gem over a period of weeks. Slowly the gem would become attuned to their unique magical signature. The staff is made from the heartwood of a magical tree, usually from deep within the frontier. The tree’s within the frontier gather mana from their roots and distribute it through the tree.

  The heartwood was still technically alive so long as it was exposed to mana. Wizards eventually learned to use this nature to their advantage. The gem functions as the roots and the heartwood by its very nature would distribute the mana to the rest of the tree, or in this case the one that the gem was attuned to. The Uricite Gems usually formed inside large and powerful mana beasts. They passively absorbed mana and grew over the life cycle of the beast. The gems actually augmented the mana beast's ability to absorb mana from the environment.

  The heartwood would drain the gem of the mana. Then an enchantment on the wood would trick it into depositing it into the wielders' sea. The body actively rejects hostile mana, which was why Elias couldn't control the water inside of another’s body. But since the gem was attuned to the wielder’s mana; it wasn't rejected.

  All this was developed to increase a wizard's efficiency: excess mana from spells was collected by the gem and slowly reintroduced through the heartwood back into the sea. The rate of collection and reabsorption was dependent on both the skill of the enchanter and the quality of both the heartwood and gem. With good enough implements, a wizard can become nearly 100% efficient with their spells. Even sorcerers could see an increase in efficiency though less since they waste an enormous amount of mana. It was a shame the staffs were so expensive. Though considering what they were made of and the enchanting skill needed, he supposed it was justified. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to find out much about familiars though they apparently were incredibly hard to get and binding one to yourself would leave you magically crippled. The damage would take weeks to recover from, so that wasn't even worth considering at the moment for Elias.

  Elias sighed and after a quick goodbye to Nessa and Linda, he headed to the Lodge. It was the day of their examination though apparently that involved little more than checking their abilities. Elias, Becca, Brent, and Alicia stood in a courtyard behind the hunter’s Lodge. It was a around a hundred feet wide, scattered around the clearing was straw dummies, targets and a large metallic sculpture that reminded him of a bull sitting in the center. It was over 10 feet tall and scarred from many years of abuse.

  Standing at attention was a grizzled man in nondescript leather armor with a slightly receding hairline.

  “You children are the next set?” He asked, sounding perplexed.

  “Yes,” Brent said.

  “Good, now stand in the center and face your opponent.” The man said, He sounded as if he just wanted to get the examination over with. The examinations were different depending on the Lodge, though all entailed demonstrating some kind of martial or magical ability.

  Alicia looked at the large mechanical Bull standing there stock still. “So, we just attack it.” she asked.

  “Just survive,” The man said. Then took a seat near a far corner of the Lodge.

  Elias looked at the motionless bull wondering about what he meant. But they entered the clearing regardless and stood facing the bull. A few seconds later Elias felt a massive amount of mana being used behind them, clearly coming from the man.

  ‘A sorcerer,’ Elias thought, it was the only way to explain the significant difference in power when compared to his team’s own abilities. But nothing outward happened, a few seconds later the Bull came to life.

  “This is bullshit,” Becca said with a giggle, as it started dragging its front feet against the ground, preparing to charge. With a smaller pulse from behind him Elias yelled, “Dodge,” an instant later the mechanical bull charged.