When Tinle returned, he came with two more crystals and a book. He took the crystal she had used and then examined it. "I see. You've made the end of the resonance thread too thick."
"You can see that?" Nova asked, surprised.
"Yes, now that it's in the crystal I can view it and since you didn't add a shell, it's fairly easy to see. Something you should make a habit of making going forward."
"Sorry," Nova said even though she was still grinning.
Tinle shook his head but looked amused. "Now, shall we get to work?"
He took the book and laid it on the nearby desk. The book had two crystals, an orange and a white one. She recognized it as a knowledge book and ward. She looked curiously at the white crystal.
"I've been curious why the ward crystals are white. There were no white colors listed in the mana attunements," Nova said.
"That is an unusual one. Wards are made of a mixture of unattuned magic and wind mana. How a ward works is the unattuned mana recognizes the mana signature of the people installed into it and anyone it doesn't match is repelled back. Though it is technically wind magic, the unattuned mana signature overwhelms it, making the crystal white."
Nova listened carefully. She was learning there was so much she didn't understand about mana that some people just knew or understood naturally. She really was looking forward to getting her pass to the Academy library.
Tinle reached out and pressed his hand to the book and the warding crystal flickered before the orange knowledge crystal lit up. The book opened and Tinle gestured for her to come over.
"This is a collection of weavings." He gestured to several images with instructions. "These, I want you to practice. Next to each weaving is a number. That number tells you how big a crystal must be in order to hold the weaving. A weaving with a power of 3 will need a crystal that can hold 3 or higher." He turned to the crystals he had brought with him. "These are a 1, 2, and 3. "
He pointed to each crystal in turn and she was surprised to see the 3 was smaller in size than the 2. "It's not based on the size of the crystal?"
"The outside of the crystal matters," Tinle said. "But it is the mana inside that is the most important. Mana crystals have unattuned mana inside them. That mana helps to allow the crystal to accept outside mana, reflecting the attunement that it is given. But if there is too much mana inside it, then the mana you add will not fit and will cause the crystal to burst. If there is too little then it will not be enough unattuned mana to help merge your mana. This causes the mana crystal to grow unstable and explode."
"There are a lot of ways to destroy a mana crystal. Like I told you before, crystal crafting is not as easy as you think. I will eventually teach you how to be able to identify crystal power levels but that lesson is an expensive one and I would rather we have gathered more funds before doing so."
Nova nodded. She could understand that. It did give her a lot to think about. She promised herself to buy some sort of notebook or the like in the future.
"Now, you can practice anything on these four pages, nothing beyond that. Don't close the book. As soon as you do the ward will be reactivated. Your task is not only to memorize the symbols but insert them into the crystal with a shell around them. I want them to operate properly." He handed the book to her.
"Take care of the book and remember to use the warding pots. Though I hope it won't come to that. I'll be back at the end of the day to have you demonstrate." Then without another word Tinle was off and she was left with the three crystals and the book of weavings.
For the rest of the day, Nova practiced the weavings on the four pages. The weavings were simple. One was the torch fire weaving. Surprisingly, it was a level 3 power weaving because it involved trying to contain the heat and amplify the light. There was of course the fan one that was a level 2. Most of the weavings were very basic types and somewhat flawed. More refined features tended to involve more complicated weavings and more power.
Of course, she looked ahead but since the power levels of the weavings were higher than the crystal she had, it meant she couldn't do much with them. Some of the pages wouldn't even turn once she reached a certain point.
In an act of rebellion, she tried memorizing two of them. One was a power level 6 weaving that involved water purification. It actually involved a combination of fire and water. It seemed that most of the weavings that were six and up used a mixture of mana attunements, meaning either someone had to have multiple attunements or several crystal crafters had to come together to make the item. Of course, it wasn't always a combination of attunements but instead a more powerful weaving.
The other she tried to memorize was a level eight wind weaving. Though it was not a combination weaving, it had the ability to keep a blade sharp. It was much more complicated since the blade's measurements had to be added. It seemed to add a thin layer of wind on the edge of the blade that helped to cut through things. The drawback of the skill is that after a while the mana in the crystal would run out but it could last for a year of regular use before the crystal had to be replaced.
It was one of the things she found interesting. Mana crystals didn't last forever. The book didn't explain why the crystals had time limits but it was something she decided she would have to read up on.
Any weaving past power level 10 was cut off from Nova. The pages simply wouldn't turn beyond a point. She didn't try too hard. She had no desire to damage the book or find herself kicked from being Tinle's apprentice.
In the end, she went back to memorizing the symbols on the page. By the end of the day, she had practiced all of the symbols. There were sixteen in all. Of those sixteen she thought she had seven she could do with confidence. The other nine were iffy.
When Tinle returned he nodded at her. "Show me."
Nova swallowed and then she began to weave, putting a weaving in each crystal before handing them to Tinle. Tinle took the crystals, examined them, nodded, and then had her do it with the others. Once she was done, Tinle looked thoughtful.
He then handed her the level 2 crystal. "I want you to practice the breeze weaving and any of the other power 2 weavings that you can remember. The breeze weaving is the one I want you to focus on in particular because I want it perfected by the time you come back for practice."
Nova swallowed and nodded. She wondered if he was disappointed, she hadn't managed to do all 16 with ease. Still, she felt it was asking a lot to memorize all 16 weavings when she only just learned to weave. Still, she didn't say anything and simply gathered the crystal to go.
"Nova, you did an excellent job today," Tinle said. "No apprentice I have ever had has been able to catch on to weaving magic so quickly."
Nova brightened at his words. "Thank you."
"That doesn't mean you should slack," Tinle said firmly. "Because I know your potential, I will expect even greater things from you."
No pressure.
"I won't disappoint you," Nova said.
"I believe you won't," Tinle said with a hint of a smile. "May fortune smile upon you, Apprentice."
"May fortune smile upon you,..." She wasn't sure if there was a specific way to address the person you apprentice under.
Tinle seemed to notice her fumbling and took mercy on her. "Master Tinle."
"Master Tinle," Nova said. It was a weird thing to say but she didn't refute it. Instead, she gave a short wave and headed off.
She considered stopping at a shop to look for a notebook or a blank book but she remembered how much one used academy book had cost and she knew she wouldn't be able to afford it. She would have to wait until she saved money but it did bring up an issue of how she was going to keep track of all the information Tinle was telling her.
"Next stat points will be in intelligence," she whispered to herself.
She decided to head back to the Caverns. Helena would be working until their morning practice and she knew Mathius was in the ruins with Oren, using that cool ability of his to map the surrounding areas to see if there were any additional structure's memories. It was a fascinating skill.
So, for now, Nova had a little free time to relax and she was taking it. She hurried home as if afraid something would crop up to steal away her moment of peace. Luck was on her side and she soon found herself safely tucked away in her room. She was a little surprised to not see Trixie but once again the demon had vanished.
She felt like her clinginess had taken a turn after the incident with Korn. She still popped up to throw off-handed comments and urge Nova to entertain her but it wasn't nearly as bad as before. It was both a relief and worrying.
Nova sighed and flopped down on the bed. She only rested on it for a few minutes before she was grabbing one of the books Mortimer gave her. She instinctively went to the mana books and then stopped. She had been so focused on mana she hadn't read the artifact book.
She picked it up and started reading. The first chapter was an introduction that she skimmed before moving on to the theory behind artifacts. It didn't take long for her to realize that it was mostly historical facts and theories with nothing actually applicable inside. She ended up setting it aside and promising to read more later.
Wiggling on her bed, she realized she wanted something to keep her busy, despite wanting to relax just mere moments ago.
Wait, I haven't checked my latest skills.
She pulled up her screen.
---
[Name:] Nova Davis
[Level:] 1 (repairing)
[Str:] 7
[Int:] 7
[Agi:] 10
[Sta:] 7
[Will:] 20
[Mana Agility:] 4
[Mana Pool:] 450 (-50)
[DXP:] 5 [SP:] 0
[Unique Class:] Soul Traveler (repairing)
-Weaving
[Secondary Class:] Artifactor (repairing)
-Mana Sense [Evolved]
-Mana Transfer
-Artifact Detection
-Mana Shift (repairing)
[Status:]
Summoner's Deal - Stage 1 Quest
Demon Bond - Trixie
---
Everything was pretty much the same except for the two new skills she had. She looked sadly at the zero next to her SP and was tempted to convert her DXP so she could get another SP but decided against it. Instead, she called up her strength stat.
[Strength Stat]
The user's strength potential.
Alignment: 6/7
She grinned to see the alignment had moved up though when she thought about it, she didn't feel any stronger than usual. She felt fitter but she thought it was natural to feel that way when you spent every evening sparring. Though that was an interesting thought. She did seem to be progressing faster than she expected. Yes, she trained a lot but was her progress faster than it should be?
She wasn't exactly sure but she thought it might be the case.
Closing out the window, she turned her attention to the new items. Mana Shift was interesting and she planned to pull it up but her attention was drawn to Weaving. It didn't have 'repairing' next to it like her skills initially did.
She focused on it. A screen popped up but it was different from her screens before. It was still in a blue box but the wording was in a beautiful cursive.
[ You have begun your journey into the world of the weaver. The journey is not easy but it is one that only a few are given the opportunity to take. Artifactor, Soul Traveler, Nova Davis, are you ready to begin? ]
Nova blinked as she stared at the message. It felt unreal and she had been dealing with quite a few things that made her question her reality. She frowned and closed the window. Or she attempted to but the window stayed where it was. Not only that but new words appear.
[ Yes or No? ]
Nova swallowed. She looked at the words, unsure what to do. She was tempted to say no but if she did would that mean she would be locking herself out of whatever this was forever? But if she said yes what would happen? Will she be transported to some new place on Gailus or even a new world?
[ I promise you, Nova Davis, your body will not be shifted away from where you stand. ]
You can hear me? Who are you? What exactly is this journey?
There was no answer but the yes and no grew brighter. Nova sighed.
Fine! Yes!
No sooner had she thought the words, she found herself in a black room. Except it wasn't a room, it was an empty space with no walls, no anything. Yet, somehow it felt familiar. It wasn't so dark she couldn't see and when she looked around, despite the endless space she didn't feel afraid.
"Nova Davis," a soft voice said. Nova turned and she came face-to-face with a tall woman dressed in beautiful robes that shimmered like layers of moonlight. Her skin was golden like muted sunlight and her hair was a garden of branches and flowers, with rivers flowing through it.
"Welcome to the Room of the Weaver."
