Al made his way to his room, with the vampire trailing behind like a lost puppy. He was unfazed by the vampire's decision to follow him. They entered a room, typical of a moderately priced inn, two beds at the side, a wooden table and a chest.

"If you need sleep, go for it." Al offered, not really expecting him to comply.

The Nosferatu was technically dead, at least bodily. So it stood to reason that he wouldn't require such things. But against Al's expectations, the undead creature of the night laid down on the floor and went completely still.

If you were unaware, you would immediately assume that someone had just passed away and was sprawled out on the floor. "So dying is how he sleeps?" Al wondered aloud. "Neat." He added.

Forgetting that he had a dead body that luckily didn't smell, laying a few feet away. He hopped on his bed, leaned back against the wall and finally had the time think without interruption. The carriage ride north was eventful, but he spent most of his time studying the vampire.

He was really neglecting his own magic, which had been on the fritz for a while. He pulled back his sleeve and examined his runes to confirm they were still in good condition. "So, why are my spells so volatile?" He mused aloud.

Thinking it over, it had to be the shift to a new world. Initially, he had believed the magic would be the same everywhere. That was a foolish thought and something he would have to reconsider. Mateshian magic was feeble compared to the premium stuff this world has.

"These runes are likely not correctly configured to the rune system they use here or..." He trailed off as another thought occurred. "I felt a massive influx of mana when I was using them. What if the mana density is overriding the limiters and drenching the spells in so much mana they overexert?"

He earnestly began the experimentation that was needed. With a thought, he activated a minor protection rune, something simple he had branded a long time ago. The spell merely disrupted other spells that attempted to penetrate the barrier it formed. But it didn't have the juice to stop anything major.

The spell activated with a soft thrum of power roiling from within and extending outwards. The barrier shimmered into being, layering itself around his body. He could feel it, like a soft breeze caressing his entire body, granting a feeling of safety.

Titling his head, he noted the sensation was slightly different. Beforehand, it would raise and then stabilise. This time, the barrier came into being and was still rising in power. Glancing at the still glowing rune, he withdrew his glasses from his soul storage and inspected the mana flow.

The moment the spectacles descended over his eyes, the truth became obvious. A massive vortex of power surrounded the rune, causing the mana to be sucked in at a prodigious rate. Eventually the spell would break from the strain, but before then, he would be pretty much invincible to spells.

Quickly he deactivated the rune, and the mana slowly dissipated. Leaning back against the wall, he pondered his next move. "I see where I went wrong. I was too used to the lack of mana on Matesh. That place required you to scrounge up every fragment of power available." He recalled the days of painstaking preparation.

His time in that world had enabled him to become skilled at preparing spells that could suck in every bit of power and use it effectively. With enough preparation, he could develop a spell for nearly everything. Of course, he had never expected a world so drenched in mana that his spells would become overloaded.

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"The solution to this is to create new runes or just learn how they use magic here." He muttered, not really wanting to do either..

They required time and study and while he wasn't on any sort of time crunch, there was something he was very wary of. What if there is time dilation between universes? I could spend a year working on magic and then arrive on Matesh with centuries gone by. It was something he dreaded. He didn't have a lick of evidence to support it and he had encountered multiverse travellers who said otherwise.

Unfortunately, said travellers were untrustworthy demons, more than likely to give false information just for a laugh. He shook his head, recalling several demons he had encountered, only one of them he actually liked.

There are demons in this world. Maybe they had a portal? He considered the idea and then discarded it. The concept of travelling between universes through the Infernum was an idea he did not want to test.

There were several issues with it, such as the trustworthiness of demons and the possibility of his soul burning up the moment he entered. If he was a demon or developed a spell to survive literal hell, maybe he could hitch a ride. But for now, the only option was to hitchhike and plunder magic.

With his own magic on the fritz, he inspected his other runes and easily determined they too would have issues with mana density. A few would function relatively well, such as the telekinesis and healing spell.

Might as well focus on the spirit magic I gained, even if it most likely has strings attached. He considered developing new magic, but as before, it would take too much time. Then again, developing new runes could work, but experimentation would take a while.

Getting off his bed, he sat down next to the corpse and tried for a lotus position. He was modestly successful. His body didn't bend well. He was a wizard, not a monk. But he had meditated before, and it provided some inspiration in the past.

Closing his eyes, he struggled to relax, but eventually did so once his bones stopped protesting. Getting into the zone, he focused on the concept of air. Trying out every idea imaginable from all those fantasy books about air benders, wind mages and elemental magic.

Imagining himself as the air, he conjured wind-like imagery in his mind, soaring over the world, free from physical form. He even tried to connect with air around him, and funnily enough, that worked. He could feel the air, the oxygen swirling around him like he was in the centre of a storm. It was nothing as simple as the element on the periodic table. These were spirits.

At first, gibberish filled his ear as they whispered, but slowly, he could discern words. At first, the words sounded like gibberish as they whispered, but gradually, he could distinguish a few words. They sounded like fragments of conversations, many voices intertwined together to create a cacophony of voices.

If this is what I think it is, then Ventus is a dangerous entity. He thought as a shiver went up his spine. The idea of billions and perhaps even trillions of wind spirits scattered across the world in a massive spy network would keep the spirit lord well in the know..

It was unlikely he could hear everything spoke on the entire planet, but he would have an effective spy network. Al wondered if he could tap into this and perhaps keep tabs on everyone, but that would likely blow out his eardrums.

Instead, he focused on more mundane uses of his new powers. He came up with various applications for wind magic. It was air based spirit magic, but he preferred to use familiar terms. I wonder if I could suck out the oxygen from people's lungs, or even rupture them. He considered more and more sadistic uses of his newly gained powers.

Experimenting with channeling the air spirits around him proved fruitful, but draining. He could draw several little buggers into his palm, but they were slippery and hard to contain. But once he got the little motes of elemental fury to stand still for one second, he learned quite a bit.

They weren't oxygen, at least from his limited scientific background. The mana that was mimicking the features of oxygen had elemental alignment. Or to be more precise, they were producing oxygen or something equivalents. Basically, they were magical floating trees, spreading the love to us breathers. He chuckled before delving further into the study.

Hours later, he learned much, especially that he was obsessive and needed to go to sleep. Which he did, with a few attempts to stay awake and failed miserably. Sleep took him, and he finally let the bastard tear him away from his studies.