“I’m not one for words or theory so you’ll just be getting' a jist of things from me.” stated Myr rather bluntly, not that he’d been expecting any different. He’d understood at least that much about her nature by then. 

“Magic needs mana to be worth a damn. And mana comes from our mana channels. You saw ‘em during your awakenin’, didn’t you. Long rivers of the stuff with no end or beginning wormin’ its way all throughout your body? That’s where our mana comes from. From the channels. ‘Course, it ain’t of much use as it is. Neutral mana is what we call it: the unnatured mana we naturally produce. Our nexii do the work of turnin’ that lazy no-good mana into somethin’ coloured by nature and element. Somethin’ useful.” 

“Now, makin’ a nexus is simple enough. All you gotta do is decide where you want to stick it and then carve a lake there.” 

“A lake?” he questioned. 

“If our mana channels are rivers, then where’ll all that mana go to rest? A lake is how I see it.” she answered dryly. 

Ash laughed abashedly and nodded. “So that’s all it takes? Just carve a lake? Sounds easy, I guess.” 

Myr gave him an unimpressed look and snorted. “I said it was simple, kid, not easy. To carve anythin’ at all, you’ll firstly need to be able to direct your mana to erode the astral walls that separate your channels from each other. That stuff ain’t easy to break through, especially if your mana-control is lackin’. An’ besides, carvin’ the lake is only the first part. The forgin’ comes next, where you grasp all the mana floodin’ into that lake and condense it real tight into an orb. Once that orb is stable, that’s when your nexus is made. It’s no easy task.” 

“‘Course for the great genius himself, it shouldn’t be any more difficult than a walk in the grassland.” She paused and after a moment grinned wickedly as she eyed him. “The again, you did nearly go kissin’ death last time you went on a stroll in the grass.” 

Ash shuddered at the memory and shot the abrasive woman a heated glare that she laughed off with ease. With her giggles echoing in the background, Ash sucked in a deep breath and steadied himself. “Alright, how do I re-enter my inner self or whatever it was? Meditation?” 

“The planes-walker knows about meditation?” His withering look only served to stoke her amusement. “Yeah, meditation works well enough usually. But hold on there, bucko. Gotta decide where you wanna carve that lake before anythin’ else.” 

“Does it matter?” 

“Matters the most. Where you put it decides the nature of your nexus.” 

“The nature?” 

“Aye. Supposin’ for example that you carve that lake an’ forge your mana into a proper nexus in your hand, that nexus will then be innately offensively natured. That is, it’ll only be inclined towards offensive spells. No healin’. No defence. No utility. Just plain old damage. Plus, there’s also an attribute boost to whatever attribute is associated with that region.” 

Now that was interesting, he thought as he digested the woman’s words. “So, every part of the body has a nature associated with it?” 

“Aye. There’s seven of ‘em. Hands, like I’ve already said, for boostin’ your might and access to offensively natured spells. Head for perception boostin’ and access to spells for percievin’ and gatherin’ knowledge and what not. Mouth for charm boostin’ and access to those kinds of prancy spells. Spine for constitution and – uh – you get the jist of it. Navel for mystique. Feet for agility. Heart for regeneration.” 

“Forge a nexus in your spine and you can cast defensively natured spells. Forge one in your feet and you can cast spells that make you all quick an’ clear away obstacles in your path and such. Understood?” 

Somewhat, even if he’d have preferred a much less rough and tumble version of the lesson. Still, he would deal with the crude hand he was dealt. “So, to summarize, forging a nexus in any of these regions passively grants me a boost to whatever attribute they represent, as well access to a certain nature of spells?” 

“Yep.” 

“Alright, I guess I got it then. Well, mostly. What does forging a mystique nexus grant me?” he asked after a moment spent mulling over all that Myr had told him. 

“Access to odd spells, I suppose. The kind of stuff that don’t belong in any other category. Also, a small boost to your mana pool and efficiency.” 

That didn’t sound particularly appealing to him. He poked her for further clarification regarding each of the regions and their precise natures and alignments until she finally got annoyed enough to start teasing him rather than outright answering. 

Ash gave up then, but he’d learnt more than enough to proceed as he wanted. He gazed at his hands and wondered whether he should go for a nexus there. The ability to protect himself was top on his to-do list and though he’d heard it said that the best offence was often a good defence, he’d like to see any defence that could match an explosion to the face. 

That said, Ash didn’t want to particularly rush into any choice and so he sunk deep into thought, his brow creased as he ran through the paths that loomed before him. It was nearly twenty minutes later when he finally drew his attention back to his surroundings and found Myr missing. He glanced around and saw neither hide nor hair of the large woman. 

“Myr?” he called out. 

“Yeah?” came a faint voice from beyond the strips of cloth that he’d seen her dump the beast corpses into. A moment later and she came clambering out with her hands stained in blood. 

Ash cringed away. “What happened?” 

“Mhm? Oh, this? Just skinnin’ the meat and getting' the goods ready for transport.” she said casually. “You done with your thinkin’?” 

Transport? To where? 

“Yeah.” he answered, hesitantly. It was a mostly honest answer. In truth, he hadn’t settled on an answer that he was a hundred percent sure about after considering all his options, but he was satisfied enough with his choice. It just felt right more so than anything else. Any more time spent deliberating would simply be time wasted and Ash was impatient enough to get started as it was. 

“I’ll go with the hands nexus.” 

Myr raised an eyebrow and let loose a low whistle. “Brave one aren’t ‘cha? Figured that someone in your position would prioritize safety over much else. A spinal or heart nexus would have helped you there, but no. You wanna go in fast an’ hard, mhm?” 

He didn’t like how she emphasized those last few words, but yes, she’d gotten the basic idea behind his choice. Destroy or disable any enemy before they could so much as blink and he didn’t need an ample defence. He’d have preferred a foot nexus to augment his speed to that effect but he supposed that he couldn’t have them all. 

… or could he? 

He asked Myr about it. “Mhm, you’ll be able to forge another nexus once you hit the second tier, an’ then again for every tier after. Not gonna be easy though. Gets harder with each tier you pass until you finally reach a point where it’s a slog through muddy water an’ your astral walls are denser than steel. An’ there’s also the thing about opposites.” 

“Opposites?” 

“Yep. Most things got their opposite in this world and your nexii ain’t no exception. Or your elements for that matter, though that only matters once we start teachin’ you spells. However, you best keep this in mind goin’ forward. If you’re particularly attracted to the offensive nature of a might nexus then you’ll have a right easy time forgin’ one, but you’ll find forgin’ a regeneration nexus later all the harder if you want to. Same applies to constitution versus agility an’ perception versus charm. Only the mystique nexus stands alone in that sense, without any affinities or lack thereof to it.” 

“Opposin’ natures don’t take too kindly to each other in the same body. ‘Course, you can still stubbornly plow through an’ make it work, and if you got the time, resources and talent to do that then by all means, go for it. But it’s the way of the sane to not try and stick too many opposin’ things in themselves.” 

So, he was somewhat limited in his choice of future nexii depending on his choice as it stood? Did he value offensive ability more than the regenerative skills that a heart nexus would grant him? It took him a moment to answer, but it remained a firm yes. He wasn’t one to deny his nature, and he really didn’t want to continue living in fear cowering in a damn hole in the ground. That wasn’t his way. 

He could stand to avoid a fight if he had to, but he wouldn’t let that dictate the path he walked. 

It was a might nexus all the way. 

“Get meditatin’ then. The process itself’ll come naturally to you. You’ll be clumsy an’ slow at the start but you’ll get the hand of it eventually.” 

“So, I just meditate and it’ll just... happen?” 

“Mhm. All this stuff is ingrained in all livin’ beings. Even you outta have it, Ash Pale from another world. Let the flow guide you.” 

Ash didn’t need to be told twice. He seated himself in a cross-legged, mediative posture as comfortably as he could and worked to shut out every distraction around him. Especially the big, muscled one who kept making jokes at his expense. He didn’t think it would work very easily, or as he feared, at all. 

He wasn’t one for meditation or anything of the like. It had never helped him before despite his many attempts, but he was hoping that his own excitement and the magical nature of what he was doing would help ease his way through his latest attempt. 

And he was right. 

Ash felt himself sink into the depths of his inner self like a man submerging himself in a warm, inviting bath after a long day at work, and opened his eyes to the beautiful glow of his mana calmly flowing through his channels. He simply watched it flow for a moment, caught in the peace and familiarity it inspired in him, before he finally snapped out of his daze and focused onto the task at hand. 

His attention shifted towards the channels that snaked through his right hand and he stretched his intent towards it. A small effort of will saw an entire stream detach from the flow, the liquid mana surging upwards like a waterfall in reverse. The torrential stream danced around him before it gently returned to its usual flow, not a drop of mana left out of place in its wake. Ash grinned. 

His control was as perfect as it could be. That left the carving to be done. 

He again grasped at a smaller current of mana and directed it towards a point where he saw that the walls were thinnest. It sat near the base of his palms and all around it snaked thin tendril-like channels close to each other. It was a perfect location. With another thought, he directed the mana to start carving at the astral walls like water out of a power-hose. The mana gushed forward like a knife and slammed against the walls of midnight black with the force of a sledgehammer. 

The impact left a dent, but little more. Ash frowned. It was harder going than he’d hoped it would be. 

He’d expected the material to feel brittle like obsidian or quartz, but it was more akin to a ductile metal in the way it bent, even if it was slight, to absorb the abuse he was hurling at it. It proved frustrating and Ash could see why Myr had said that it wouldn’t be easy, but it was far from enough to leave him discouraged. He focused his all towards the effort and through the irrelevant passage of time in his inner self, he started to see some real results. 

Cracks webbed out from the point of his constant barrage and chips and fragments of the wall had already started to fall from it. Ash grinned at the sight of progress and redoubled his efforts. 

Eventually, he managed to punch a fist-sized hole through the three-foot thick wall and finally connect two of the channels. Well, he supposed that connect was too strong a word. The walls of his channels were nearly ten feet tall and all he’d managed was a hole. But it was enough. It was a start. 

And though he’d started to feel tired, Ash rallied using his achievement as a launching pad to enthuse himself back onto the grind. It was what felt like hours or even days later when he finally managed to break apart an entire section of the wall in its entirety and allowed himself a moment’s rest. 

Ash smiled wearily. Carving that lake looked like it would be a lot more time than he’d hoped it would take, but it would happen soon enough nonetheless. And with that hopeful thought buoying his spirts, Ash left his inner self to return to the inner world. The burrow was empty. He called out but heard nothing in response. Had Myr left for elsewhere? 

Was there even somewhere else she could go in the forest? Probably hunting, he presumed. 

A glance revealed that the strips of leather that served as the door in and out of the burrow had been sealed with a hefty pillar of earth in its way. He gulped. Had she meant to seal him in? Or keep other things from wandering in? 

He hoped that it was the latter, but couldn’t muster the energy to care all too much. He was exhausted. 

His spiritual activities really seemed to have drained him of all strength. He wearily rose and sought a place where he could comfortably rest for a while. His eyes naturally deviated towards the plush, leather-clad cot that laid at one corner of the burrow. Myr’s bed. 

And more importantly, the wooden plate with strips of cooked meat resting by it. 

Had that been left out for him? 

He swallowed the upwelling of saliva that flooded his mouth. Surely, it must have. She was a mage herself and likely knew the toll that his activities would have taken from him. It must be. 

What a lovable, considerate woman. He took back all his past grumbling about her as he ran towards the food and wolfed it down. It was thick and chewy; lathered in oil and some strange earthy flavour he couldn’t quite recognize. It lacked in the saltiness and spiciness he was used to, but it was good, filling food nonetheless, and Ash left not a scrap to waste. 

And after he’d all but licked the plate clean, he climbed into the inviting comfort of Myr’s bed too tired to care about what she would think on her return and allowed himself to drift off to sleep.