Chapter 224

I scratched out the component I had been testing for the improved 'detect hostiles' ritual circle. Since I couldn't figure out a way to test the hostile part of the ritual circle, I was testing a few variations that would give me a more general detect person effect on top of the detect hostiles part. It was a much more complex ritual circle but hopefully more useful. Unfortunately, I had a large number of different components to test and figure out the best options. This last one was a much more general detect life component but it was too busy to be useful. While I could mentally distinguish between the people in this guest house and the worms, flies, birds, cats, etc. running around, detecting everything that lived was too much of a nuisance. It was hard to judge what to worry about at a glance. Making the circle restricted to humanoids had its own problems though. It would be useful in this specific situation and probably others, but most of the time I'm more worried about monsters than people.

"I wonder if there's a way to restrict this component based on weight or size..." I said tapping the table.

"Let me see?" Morrigan asked.

I opened the ritual component book to one of the pages I had bookmarked and handed it over for her to look at. She took the book and squinted at the description while biting her knuckle. After a moment of contemplation, she shook her head. "No, I don't think that would work. Or, well, it could but it would make the circle significantly more complex and it might take too long for you to cast even using [Light Scribing], let alone someone trying to freehand it."

"Yeah, I think so too," I said with a sigh.

Morrigan and I were working on creating more ritual circles, this time more focused on the raid on the slaver's guild we were planning. It was our second free day and only two days before the upcoming riot happened. A ritual spell that could direct us around hostiles while finding groups of slaves would make the job considerably easier. It was easier said than done though. I didn't have a clear image in my mind of what we were trying to do, I was just trying to figure out a solution with the tools I had. A lot of it rested on combining pieces with this component that was supposed to detect hostiles. The description for this component was so vague that I wasn't sure if I was incorporating it properly. At the same time, there wasn't anything else that was similar in function and the ability to detect hostiles would be tremendously helpful.

"What about tremor sense? You could combine the hostile component with the ability to see moving objects," Morrigan suggested while handing the book back to me.

I scratched the base of my horn. "I had the same thought but tremor sense doesn't work well at long distances through stone. I already tested a variant of it."

"Ah, yeah, that would be a problem considering most cheap construction is made of stone. If not the entire building, then at least the foundations."

I closed the book and set it aside before rubbing my face with my hands. "I need a break. Let's go see what Bella is doing."

"Sure," Morrigan said before putting down her notebook.

I locked my precious book back into my chest and left the room I had been staying in. I felt a bit stiff, having spent a lot of time working on new ritual circles. I hadn't slept last night, something that was pretty rare for me. Despite not actually needing any sleep it was a bit difficult to break the habit. I had spent my entire previous life sleeping every night, I presume, and just not sleeping didn't feel right normally. Cuddling with my lovers at night was also kind of a bonding ritual, even if most of them didn't need sleep either.

Looking around the common room of the guest house we were in, I didn't see Bella around. Silva, Torien, and Cecilia were playing a card game together, it was nice to see Silva and Torien spending some time together again even if it was just cards. Silva noticed me looking around and spoke up, "If you're looking for Bella, she's out in the courtyard with Neali."

"Neali? Why?" I asked.

"The elf had seen Bella reading a book about nature magic and Neali took Bella into the courtyard to practice or something. That was a bell or two ago now," Silva said with a shrug.

"You wanna go see what they're doing in the courtyard?" I asked Morrigan.

She smiled. "Sure, let's go see what they're up to."

As we walked through the courtyard and past the fancy decorative fountain in the center, we noticed Bella and Neali sitting with crossed legs in the grass. They were sitting under the shade of some of the large trees that surrounded the perimeter of the embassy compound, quietly talking. Lying in the grass on top of a folded piece of cloth was the nature magic book that I had bought for her a long time ago in Traehall.

Neali noticed us approaching and tapped Bella on the shoulder before gesturing with her head toward me. When Bella saw me approaching she looked surprised. "Lilith, did you need me for something?"

"Ah, no. I just wanted to see what you were up to. I hit a wall in what I was working on, so I decided to take a break," I said with a sigh. "Can I sit with you two?"

Neali gave me a warm smile. "I would not mind more company."

Morrigan and I sat in the grass across from Bella and Neali, I looked over at Bella curiously. "What are you doing out here?"

Bella scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "Lately my skill growth in nature magic has stopped improving and Neali offered me some help. She's been showing me more advanced nature magic and was trying to teach me some new tricks with it. I've kind of reached the limit of what I can learn from this book..." she said somewhat sadly.

"I believe you've done very well developing your magic with only this introductory book," Neali said soothingly. "You should be proud of your accomplishment."

Bella smiled and looked down at the book. "I am proud of myself. I never thought I'd be able to do so much before I met Lilith... I'm just disappointed that I haven't been progressing much lately."

"What level is your nature magic at?" I asked curiously.

Neali's eyebrows rose and Morrigan chuckled at my bluntness. Bella just shook her head and smiled. "Your brazenness to ask about other's skill levels is still funny. My nature magic is level twenty."

I almost choked. "Bella, that's higher than most of my skills. Only my swordsmanship is higher than level twenty."

Neali's turned to me in surprise. "Perhaps... I should not be present for this conversation?..."

Morrigan shook her head. "Bella is more specialized than you are, you're developing a lot of different skills at once. What level is your light magic at?"

"Eleven," I answered.

Morrigan nodded, "And you have a manipulation for that aspect too, you're also developing your ritual magic. If anything, you're spread a bit thin, but versatility is also very helpful. The magic you've developed is basically versatility incarnate."

"[Light Scribing]?" I asked.

She nodded. "Yes." Morrigan turned to Bella. "At the same time, level twenty is quite good for the time you've been working at it. You hadn't been adventuring long when we first met. I also think you're underestimating yourself."

Bella's ears perked up. "Really? I had been trying to keep it matched to my level but it started falling further and further behind..."

Morrigan laughed. "Bella, with the kinds of things we've been doing, even keeping your nature magic at half your level would be impressive. Our growth has been very quick. None of my skills are matched with my level either. We conquered a dungeon, fought off a dungeon break, cleared out the Goldenhearth Castle, and barely survived against that hellhound. Skills take time to develop, they don't work the same way as general levels do, those take from the experience you get from killing monsters or absorbing mana in other ways. Skills usually level faster than general levels for non-combatants, but we're adventurers, at the pace we've been going, we haven't had enough time to develop our skills."

"How big of a problem is that?" I asked concerned.

"Well... it would have been ideal if we spent time working on mastering our skills but we haven't really been able to. And getting a better breadth of knowledge is also very useful. Internal mana manipulation isn't a skill I already had, but I still took the opportunity to learn it and work on it when Theo was teaching us. If I ignored his guidance to focus on the skills I already had, I wouldn't have been able to expand my repertoire of magic that I can use now. Learning to wild cast an armor skill will be exceptionally beneficial to all of us."

"So twenty for my level isn't bad then?" Bella asked, sounding relieved.

Morrigan smiled. "Of course not. It only shows how dedicated you've been to getting stronger."

She nodded, picked up her book, and carefully flipped through it. "This was something Lilith bought for me early on. Books are expensive and somewhat rare but she still bought this for me so that I could get stronger. I've nearly memorized the entire thing now and I can cast all of the spells in it consistently. Now that I've gotten to this point, I don't know how to get better anymore."

Neali patted Bella on the leg. "I think you're looking at this the wrong way. Books are excellent resources and they can be very helpful when learning magic. But to truly understand something you need to experiment with it yourself. Push the boundaries of what you know and find out where your limitations are. As I told you earlier, nature magic is fluid, vibrant, and intuitive. Books can help you learn the basics, the structure, but you need to explore and commune with nature to truly understand it."

The young elf woman turned to me. "Before you came I was about to teach Bella some meditation techniques. I believe it would be beneficial for her growth as a nature mage and healer, but these techniques are helpful for anyone who uses magic because it can help your body restore your mana more quickly if you become skilled in it."

"Meditation huh? I suppose it might be fun to try out, and if it helps restore mana it might be useful to know. How about you Morrigan?" I asked.

Morrigan had a sad smile on her face. "Ah, unfortunately, I think I'll have to pass. I learned some of these techniques when I was younger, but because I have almost no mana pool they aren't useful for me."

Neali tilted her head in confusion. "I'm confused, I had thought that you were this group's primary mage. How do you have such a small mana pool?"

"I'm a wild mage. I only use wild magic to compensate for my small mana pool," she replied. Morrigan glanced at me and a smile came back to her face. "But I have a better understanding of magic than a lot of people because of that. While it is not ideal, I believe I more than make up for it with superior endurance when compared to a typical mage."

Neali bowed slightly. "I believe what I said was rude, I apologize."

Morrigan waved it off. "Don't worry about it. This is something I've worked around my entire life. I'm just glad I've been able to be as successful as I have been with a... friend who sees value in what I have to offer. But I'll leave the three of you to it."

Before Morrigan got up Neali shook her head. "I feel that I still have a meditation technique that would be of value to you. Perhaps I should instruct the three of you in that one first, so that you may continue while I teach Lilith and Belladonna the other techniques. I promise it will not be a waste of your time."

Morrigan looked at me, then looked at Bella before sighing. "Alright. At the very least it will be good to relax and spend more time with my friends."

Neali smiled. "I'm glad. First, please find a comfortable position."

The four of us spent the next several bells learning Neali's mediation techniques. At first I was just participating on a whim but the more I learned about the unique way meditation interacted with the magic of this world, I was intrigued to learn more.