I can't help but chuckle as I return to the castle and head for Lin's tower. The first thing I see when I enter is Mulan sitting with a dozen doll sized figures made of fire. They are floating in front of her and dancing around as she smiles.

It is probably a way to practice fine control, but it also looks like she is having fun. Lin is sitting in a comfy looking chair with a book in her hands, not paying attention to anything else. Seeing a perfect opportunity, I sneak over and give her a surprise kiss.

Lin says "Ah! Ash, what are you doing?!"

"Sorry, you just looked so cute that I couldn't resist."

Lin pouts and says "What do you want?"

"I came to borrow some books."

Lin says "Oh. What books?"

"Those ones you mentioned about spell armor and any you have on detection type spells."

Lin says "Jarvis!"

Jarvis says "Yes, Lady Lin, I will get them."

Lin says "Thank you, Jarvis. He currently knows the library better than I do, but I am catching up, slowly. Are you going to read in here?"

"No, I was planning to read in the main room and keep the other kids company."

Mulan says "I will come with you. I have a pretty good handle on my power now. Besides, I want to show off a little."

Lin says "That's fine. As long as you practice a little more you shouldn't need any more help."

"Going to join us?"

Lin says "I may as well. It won't be long before it is time for dinner anyway."

Jarvis carries two decent sized stacks of books over and hands them to me. Then we all head into the main room where Mushu, Nala, and Albion are playing. When they spot us, they come running over for some attention until they get bored.

Then they go back to playing and Mulan joins them, but she creates a new game. She creates a bunch of fire figures for the other three to chase around. Mushu is the most excited, but that's because when he catches a figure, he eats it.

Now that the kids are distracted, I pick up one of the books and start reading. I decided to read about detection magic since that is slightly more important right now. Armor isn't as important since I can basically go without it and just trust my healing.

Normally, the pain involved would be a factor, but since I barely feel pain it isn't important. Lin is also reading, but we both look up occasionally to watch the kids. Mostly, it is when we are turning pages, which is fairly frequently since we are both fast readers.

Stolen novel; please report.

Unfortunately, the first book is a disappointment and I hand it to Jarvis when I finish it. Before I start the next book, I call the kids over and we all have dinner together. After eating, the kids go back to their game and I pick up the next book.

Mushu is the first one to quit playing the game and go into the nest to sleep. That might have something to do with him eating over twenty of the flame figures. After Mushu quits, Mulan stops using her powers and plays with the other two normally.

Shortly after I move on to the third book, the three of them join Mushu and go to sleep. The second book was just as disappointing as the first one and I am wondering if I will find anything useful. Since we are not feeling tired, both Lin and I just keep reading our books.

I doubt that Lin will quit while she can still keep her eyes open unless I make her. Since I am busy reading my own book, I don't even think about being tired. The only reason I have problems is that parts of the book are extremely boring.

The third book ends up being handed to Jarvis as well, it didn't have anything useful. It isn't until I get close to the end of the fourth book that I finally find something useful. The spell I find is complete crap, but luckily they included the research behind it.

The research and theory are absolutely brilliant and the mage who wrote them is a genius. It is all about mana fluctuations, vibrations caused whenever mana interacts with things. Normally, they are too small to be detectable, but this theory is about how to do so.

Even if something isn't alive, or is absorbing the mana, it will still create fluctuations. Despite thinking about it for a while, I can't come up with a way to block mana fluctuations. That should mean that a spell based on detecting them should be impossible to hide from.

The spell he made from this theory should work, but it could only scan a tiny area. It works within a few feet at most, that is why I think it is a crap spell, I can do much better. Before getting to work on it, I read through the last book so that I don't miss anything.

Then I head down to my workshop to start experimenting with the theory. It doesn't take me long to figure out a better spell, but the area still isn't enough. Eventually, I figure out a way to make it work over a large area, but there is a downside.

Basically, I have to send out a wave to do the detecting, but it makes a lot of noise. Not real noise, magical noise, meaning that anytime I use it, I will be giving away my location. However, if I am in a situation where I need to hide, I can just use normal mana scanning.

The only other problem with the new spell is that it requires more mana than scanning. However, since nothing should be able to hide from it, that is a fair trade. For the most part, I will use scanning regularly and only use detect when I need to.

Between the two spells, I should be able to handle any situation that comes up. So, with that settled, I pick one of the other books and start reading. Figuring out an armor spell that satisfies me isn't going to be as easy.

I want something at least close to the fire god's spell, even if I have to use divine power. The only thing I am not willing to do is mix the two powers, since I promised not to. Come to think of it, I wonder which kind of power the dragon uses, or is it something else?

Lin says "I finished my book. I'm going to bed, are you joining me?"

"Of course I am. Before that, do you know if dragons use mana or something else?"

Lin says "How am I supposed to know? Aren't you the one with a dragon friend? Ask him!"

"That's true. I will have to ask him the next time I visit him. I have plenty of questions for him anyway. Alright, let's go to bed."

Lin just smiles as she turns and heads back upstairs, but her clothes change as she does. As soon as I see that, a grin appears on my face and I go running after her. I wasn't actually planning on sleeping, but Lin manages to wear me out and I end up falling asleep.