[Smag’s POV]

I have two weeks of a break now, so I start to read books on runes. There are runes for all six basic mana types and five two-merged mana types. Lava, mist, mud, steam, and ice. Since you can’t make affinity mana with runes and can at best only gather them, lava and ice are currently completely unusable. Maybe ice will be useful during the winter. Autumn is now in full swing, and winter will come around in a month or two.

Steam is also not very useful, while mist runes could only be used to manipulate already existing mist, for which I will need to wait for the right weather.

Mud seems the most reliable, so I think about creating a mud ditch around our new village. I can easily create more mud with water from the river. For now, I’m just learning runes. This should help with leveling the Runes Basics skill. I hope for new interesting perks, and then I will probably reset the skill for more knowledge. Those stolen books should speed up my research by years.

For now, I’m most interested in order and chaos mana. I know the symbolic meaning of basic affinities. Fire is extreme, taking wild swings and extreme positions. Water is adaptable, adjusting to the situation. Air is fickle, easily disturbed, and unreliable. Earth is solid and unchangeable. Order is that, an order. Unchangeable routine. Not like Earth, which is simply not moving, order can be dynamic. Chaos is constant, unprovoked change. What I’m interested in is figuring out how order and chaos manifest. I use two days to inscribe runes to gather both mana types, which are actually present almost everywhere.

Using gathered mana to create order and chaos shows their properties. Order has a tendency to heal and repair, but more experiments show it’s just the way it brings order. For example, sending order mana into a goblin helps with healing, bringing order to his internal organs, and fixing an interruption that is an injury. The actual healing is very weak and works more like a buff to natural healing. Using order mana on a broken spear, I was able to mend it together.

I used order on a dulled sword, but it didn’t sharpen. I guess that’s because you need to remove some material to sharpen it, but I may be mistaken. Maybe it's because swords dull naturally. My runes are big and unwieldy. I can’t move order mana around without a portable runic device. I could maybe make it, but order is weak and I don’t think it’s worth the expenditure of my time.

Chaos mana is the opposite and brings chaos. It damages everything that is not chaotic in nature. Chaos is probably the most offensive basic mana type, but again, stationary runes are even less useful for using chaos mana.

I also found a treasure trove of information in a book on mana types, or at least I thought I was on mana types. Books here don’t have tables of content. The book is actually on magic combat, also featuring uses for most low-tier mana types and how to fight them.

Generally, each unlocked mana type does two things. It allows a mage to manipulate the mana type and what that mana represents—the element. It also allows for the production of material corresponding to the mana type. For example, unlocked fire mana allows one to manipulate and produce fire. Obviously, you can also manipulate the fire mana itself. Each mana type is very narrow, so mimicking another mana requires a lot of creativity. For example, it’s impossible to control stone with earth mana; you need stone affinity, but you can grab a stone with soil you control.

Enlightened can also change their internal ambient mana into a mana type since their souls store only ambient mana.

For actual combat, there are a few ways of attacking and defending. First, you can directly use mana and send it into the opponent’s body to damage vitality. This is pretty much the same as my Mana Orb. Elemental mana can be more damaging as it tends to create a basic element when not directly controlled.

Reading about it makes me think about it again. Elemental mana is damaging vitality mana, not vitality, since only one mana type can dominate an area. I make a quick experiment and remove all vitality mana from a mouse, but I make sure to keep vitality intact. I'm surprised the mouse is fine, just weaker. I frown. It's obvious there are a lot of things I still don't understand. I shake my head and continue to read.

To defend against mana, you create Mana Shield around yourself, which is the most useful and commonly known spell in the world. People without any affinity for magic use enchanted equipment that works the same, though most unlock basic ambient mana.

I know from Anastasia that magic talent is refined by tiering up. Even the most untalented person would be able to see mana in the 3rd tier and unlock basic mana types in the 4th tier.

The attacker either tries to break the shield with enough mana and willpower or goes for actual spells, which are more common. Mana Shield only protects against mana, not the effects of spells. It will protect from a ball of fire mana, not an actual fireball, which is actually a spell. You condense fire mana and create a rune inside that converts all fire mana into actual fire upon impact. The trigger can be something else, but runes need to be more complicated.

How to protect against actual spells is the main course of the book. There are several ways. The most basic one is to simply dodge. The next one is to interrupt. For example, a stone thrown at a basic fireball would detonate it too early.

There are a few niche ways. You can try to disassemble it if you have access to the same mana type and have a comparable Will stat as your opponent. This is tricky, though, as you can never be sure you can do it before the spell hits you. The next option is to counter it. Chaos Order is the most well-known counter, though it is described as only a basic counter. The strongest counters are usually two-versus-one situations; for example, the counter for water would be ice plus cold mana. This makes an Ice-Cold Mage effectively turn an enemy element into their own. Similarly, a Mud Mage with either water or earth counters a Water/Earth Mage without mud mana.

The most popular and usable way is to simply do what you can do and use your own magic. Someone throws a fireball. You block with soil if you are an Earth Mage, with water if Water Mage, try to deflect it with air, and so on.

There are also magic items that grant resistance, though only to specific mana types, which means six basic affinities are even less useful against the enlightened.

The last aspect of combat worth mentioning is the Area of Effect spells. These can be nasty, according to the book, but are always weaker than concentrated spells. If you cannot block or dodge, the way to handle them is usually to take the hit and try to recover as soon as possible.

Moving on from reading, my next, and probably most important, research interest is soul research. Specifically, I want to upgrade Transplant Soul. I want to make it so that Axi and Anastasia's souls will move towards me on their own, so there’s no chance I will lose them.

I know most runes needed to make it happen, but they would need to be engraved on their souls. Now, it may be possible, but I don’t even have the option to experiment with that. My Move Soul skill is far too ineffective for anything other than dragging souls around. My best bet is to create a pen out of isolating mana.

There are two ways I can do that. The first one is to just will it with Mana Manipulation. I tried, and my Will is not enough. The second option is to use runes. I can’t just slap multiple runes onto a pen, as there’s finite space. I need to find another option. I’m going to create a huge pen, more like a huge rock with a sharp, soul-mutilating edge. I also need a lot of runes slapped on each other, so I need a three-dimensional tool. It’s probably best to do so with clay, then burn it into pottery.

I go to find Axi. She is fashioning some shields, as it’s nearly impossible to fight hedgehogs without them.

“Hey, Axi.”

“What?” She barks. She seems to still be angry at me. I really don’t know why.

“Did I say something bad to you?”

“No. What do you want?”

I sigh. Women. “I need some pottery. I wanted you to help me.”

“My Dexterity reset as well. You are better for it.”

“Sure,” I say. I actually need her help after she absorbs the fire mana treasure, but I bite my tongue. I don’t know if she will be able to absorb it for sure, at least until I finish my experiment. “Will you rebuild your bloomery? I could use it.”

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“Yeah, but not now. Besides, I’m not a good smith.”

“What are you saying? You are the best smith I know!”

“You only know one smith!”

“Sure! And she is the best smith!” Some complements should help.

“I saw weapons you looted.” She says this and lowers her head.

I roll my eyes. “Those were the best weapons in the town. Like the very best, kept in a treasury. You will make such weapons in the future. Besides, they are nice, but I can’t go to their maker to sharpen them up or repair them. We need you to be our smith. Even if you are not the best, you are our smith.”

“So…” I want to continue, but…

“Sob.” She started to cry.

“Ugh… I’m sorry, I didn’t want to make you cry."

“No. Thank you.”

“Sure.” I ruffle her hair.

Coming back to work, I start digging clay. I’m going to place it in layers, creating a three-dimensional structure that should allow me to create a soul blade. I form the core, and I let it down for drying. I will need Axi to finish it anyway, so I start to work on runes in the meantime.

Two weeks pass, and I finish my experiment. The experimental rat is born. I annoy it to test its magical capabilities, and indeed, it still has control over earth mana. That control is pretty terrible, but that’s enough for me. The case is just like it was with Axi. I feed it Air Mana Treasure. I help the rat with containing mana, but its mana core forms normally. I test the rat again, and it uses air mana now. I want to force it to show me Earth mana, but with no success. It’s not a big problem. Even if it lost the Earth Mana Control skill, it’s no big deal. I just want to make sure Axi won’t explode.

“Here I go.” Soon after, Axi eats the fire mana core. It goes fine, and I don’t even need to help.

"How did it go?" Anastasia asks.

Axi experimentally moves fire mana around, creating flames. Then, she moves the soil as well.

“I got the Fire Mana Control skill and the Fire Mana Affinity trait. The rest is without change.”

Great. The rat probably just felt more conformable using the mana type it had an affinity trait for.

The next day, we go hunting together, all of us with shields.

“Axi, that’s a 2nd tier hedgehog.”

“Sure. I will kill it.” She walks slowly.

I want to say she doesn’t need to force herself, but I stop myself. “Kill it,” I say.

She comes closer to it, and the monster notices her. It starts to roll at her. She conjures up a ball of fire and tosses it at the monster, then jumps to the side as it’s about to collide with her. Anastasia pierces the hedgehog with an arrow, and it stops. Axi rushes it, and the monster shoots its spines. Axi blocks most of them with a shield, but one hits her in the leg. She isn’t stopping, though. She hits the monster with the ax, channeling fire through it.

It’s done; the hedgehog is dead. I walk over. “You have done it.”

“Yes.” She turns over and replies with a bright smile.

“Now, we just need to fix your leg,” I say, immediately pulling out the spine in her leg. She winces, and I push vitality into her. She will be fine. My monster is coming back.

I don’t rush her. As we don’t have any immediate goals, it’s fine to just relax a bit and slowly grind Experience Points and levels for the next few months. We just need to prepare a bit for the winter.

[POV of General Henry, a few months ago]

“Please report the situation, general.” I bow before the Crown Prince. The guy is already over forty and is practically the king already. The current king ceded most responsibilities to his son some time ago.

“The Kingdom of Tangid started raiding our settlements, and they are besieging Gtinak.”

“How many troops can we spare?”

“Our war with Jescar is going well, but that’s probably the point. I bet they bribed Tangids to attack us. Although Tangid is a 3rd tier kingdom, they are way smaller than either us or Jescar.”

Kingdoms are often measured by a tier, but it’s corresponding to the tier of area their capital is in. That's a poor indicator of strength. Both we and Jescar are 2nd tier kingdoms, but we also have numerous 3rd tier elites. I’m in the 4th tier just like quite a few generals and officers. Prince Daniel is only in the 3rd tier for now, but that’s because he is trying to tier up by using social and ruling skills. He could have been approaching the 5th tier otherwise.

“They don’t have enough soldiers to wage a full-blown war on us, so they will probably raid our villages and attack supply routes. Their 3rd tier soldiers have Raiding skills with perks geared towards speed and endurance for both them and their horses. It will be hard to catch them.”

The Prince nods. “What do you think we should do?”

“They still need to eat, so let’s collect additional tax from villages. If we take most of their food, raiders will need to create supply lines to feed themselves. It will make raiding villages unprofitable. We should also do additional conscription. We need an additional army anyway. We will need to transfer some elites from the fight with Jescar, but we still need a core of weaker soldiers to relieve Gtinak.

The Prince sighs. “Why do you think they agreed to attack us? Even when fighting on two fronts, we should have enough power to crush the Tangid kingdom.”

"They are probably going to sue for peace soon after they either conquer Gtinak or we relive it. They probably want to just grab some land, and we don’t have enough troops for a prolonged campaign to crush them. Simply put, they used our moment of relative weakness. Frankly, my prince, I don’t believe we can save Gtinak in time. Maybe we should just give it to them for peace."

“Impossible. We do so once, and then every single neighboring country will take us for cowards, and we will fight on multiple fronts.”

I sigh. Politics. I’m better at bashing heads. We don’t need this war, and we are probably going to lose anyway. Sure, it will be a small loss, but the fact that we will bleed for it is even worse. “Very well, your highness. I will make the necessary arrangements.

[Adam’s POV, Autumn]

Shit! Shit! Shit! I hit the wall again.

“Why?” My ten-year-old sister is crying. I want to cry, too. Both our parents are dead. The village is burning. It all started a month ago. Soldiers took most of our food, leaving us with too little to survive the winter. They took my two older brothers. We assumed everything would be alright. We will go hungry, but we will survive. That is, until the raiders arrived. I and my sister escaped to the forest, just like most children and people with low fighting skills. The rest stayed. They all died. The fuckers killed them all.

I want to fall to my knees and cry as well, but I can’t. I need to take care of my sister. She is my only remaining family now. I suppose my brothers are still alive, but I don’t know where they are. I take a shovel.

“We need to bury them.” I start to dig. Most of the survivors join me without words. We all need to bury someone. They are only cries. There are only thirty of us. I place dad and mom in the grave. Tears start to fall on their own. I grip the shovel harder and start to fill the grave with soil.

“Help me, Adam. Please.” Annie grips my hand. She was my neighbor and my childhood friend. “I’m not strong enough.”

I walk with her to another grave, this one half dug. I help. In the evening, it’s over. I’m exhausted.

“Thank you.” Annie hugs me, though she is still crying.

“It’s fine,” I answer without thinking. “It will be fine.” I correct myself.

Someone collected wood from not completely burned houses and started a fire camp. We all come close. Most houses are either burned or heavily damaged.

“What now?”

“Ms Nicole, shouldn’t you take charge? You are the oldest here.” I take a look at Ms Nicole. She is over forty years old and is an herbalist.

“What can I do?” She sighs. "I can only tell you we have food for a week at most, and that's assuming most people hid their food in their homes like I did. Raiders didn’t have time to search all possible places. After that? We can rebuild, but we will starve.”

An animated discussion starts. It’s true; it won’t be hard to rebuild. There aren’t many of us anyway, and our homes are built from clay and straw. We can also use ruins. Many houses have only had their roofs burnt.

“We can hunt!” Someone shouts, and I look up. It’s Gent.

“Boris is dead, just like his sons. Who is going to hunt? You?” Someone shouts. Boris was our hunter. 1st tier harmless monsters are commonly referred to as animals. Many of them are not completely harmless, though. A deer can still kick you, but the most important distinction is that animals usually escape from humans rather than hunt them or fight back.

“Sure. How hard could it be? I can also earn some easy Exp this way.” Gent counters.

“Yeah. We can do it.”

“I will go too!”

I’m about to volunteer as well, but Nicole interrupts.

“That would help, but won’t be enough. We are a farming village, not a hunting village. There’s simply not enough game in the forest. I know, because I often walk there looking for herbs. To find enough meat, you would need to look closer to the Great Forest.”

Everyone’s heads fall down. The Great Forest means monsters.

“Maybe we can hunt in enclaves on the other side?” Someone asks.

“These are private places belonging to nobles. They will execute you for poaching. Nobles don’t care to claim land here since we only have weak 1st tier monsters, but going away from the Great Forest is not good unless you have a place to go.” Nicole explains.

“I will go to Streamcreak, to my parents.” A girl says, I recognize her. She married a boy from our village a few months ago. He is dead now.

“Maybe they have some spare food in there? We can all check.”

“Yeah. If that fails, we can then go to the Great Forest. We can make some weapons, like spears or bows.

“I think so too. Some random goblins should be easy enough to defeat, right?”