Arriving back at the small circular platform, Kelsey saw Abby hunched over a small plant, channeling mana into it. Kelsey could see as the plant slowly absorbed the miniscule amount of mana and began to grow into a small chair at the behest of Abby's manipulation. Abby watched it intently the entire time. I wonder what she’s seeing… plant magic is something my skills can't do.

According to Kelsey's domain, Abby wasn't even using aspected mana for her plant manipulations. It was simply regular pure, stable mana that was being absorbed by the plants. Kelsey had no clue how injecting raw mana into a plant could make it grow in a specific way, but it worked.

“Hey Abby, how's it going?” Kelsey said as she created a small wooden stool and sat next to Abby.

The woman stared at Kelsey in abject shock. “Kelsey, what in the world did you do to me? This is incredible! Do you have any idea what this single change means for the future of magic!?” she shouted excitedly.

Kelsey chuckled softly at Abby’s excitement. “Yes, I do. I didn’t want to spoil that particular advantage, but yeah, it’s probably the single most important part of the Mageblood body. The attributes and regeneration are amazing, don’t get me wrong, but the relative strength you get from the 'mage' part of the Mageblood body is unmatched.” Kelsey answered. Besides the fact that getting a True Class is easier... Not that I can tell her that.

Abby nodded her head excitedly as she continued testing her skills.

Gwen and Alana had been sparring for a couple hours by this point and were sitting in the middle of the circular platform resting and chatting. Based on Alana's expression it seemed that she hadn't quite realized all of the benefits inherent to Mageblood body.

Inside her domain, Kelsey spotted Garrett petting Bud gently as he seemingly asked him all sorts of yes or no questions. Bud was absolutely loving the attention, his vines had separated from his back and were waving around happily, mimicking his tail in excitement. I’ve been around Bud so much that he’s almost becoming cute, like a regular puppy. A really, really smart puppy.

Kelsey tapped Abby on the shoulder and then motioned for her to follow as she began walking towards Alana and Gwen.

Once all four of the women were together, Kelsey began. “So, Queen Alana, have you figured out the real secret to the Mageblood body yet?” she asked carefully.

Alana blinked a few times in clear confusion. “What do you mean? Extra attributes, and Regeneration. What else is there?” she asked.

“What kind of magic do you use?” Kelsey asked seriously.

Alana glanced at Gwen and Abby before hesitantly answering. “My primary method of combat is light magic enhanced melee combat, but I am proficient with using the light magic itself combatively.”

“Great, do you have Light Creation?” Kelsey asked as she created a small ball of light in her hand, infused with a few thousand mana.

She nodded. “I do.” she answered as she also created a small ball of light.

“How much mana did you use to make that?” Kelsey asked, a small grin on her face.

Alana looked at Kelsey curiously before answering. “One hundred… twenty… three…?” she said slowly as realization dawned on her face and she looked down at her hands. “Kelsey…”

“I know.” Kelsey interjected. “That. That is the real secret of this ritual. I'm surprised you hadn't noticed yet.”

"So that's what you meant..." Alana said under her breath, clearly referencing Kelsey's outburst from earlier.

Kelsey could tell that the woman was reeling with shock, trying to process what it meant. “Go ahead, take some time. Go off into the trees and practice alone for a bit. I'll come see you in a few minutes.” Kelsey said comfortingly.

Alana simply nodded, still staring at the small ball of light in her hand as she did what Kelsey suggested. A few seconds later, Kelsey could see The Queen rapidly dismissing and recreating the small ball of light, a look of true wonder on her face.

“She has been pretty relaxed through this whole process, I’m glad I finally found something that truly shocked her.” Kelsey said to the sisters who were still standing around her. Well, besides when reality started shattering around her, but hey, who could be expected to stay firm through that?

Gwen looked over in Alana’s direction appreciatively. “That kind of personality does make for one hell of a Queen though… If that's what it takes to shake her, I can see how she got the throne.”

Kelsey grinned. “Sure does.” she agreed. “Alright you two. We’re going to start practicing some Minor Creation general skills for the rest of the night. Abby, you don’t have to join us, but I would love for you to get some practice too now that you’re back in action.”

Gwen looked at Kelsey with mock horror. “Are you saying I don’t get a choice in the matter Ms. Kain? What if I don’t want to practice?”

Kelsey gapped at Gwen exaggeratedly. “I thought you wanted to have a badass secondary class, oh well, I can just find someone else to train with.” she said as she flipped her hair dramatically over her shoulder.

“Yeah you bet–” Gwen began before being cut off by Abby.

“Alright, alright, enough you two. Get a room…” Abby said exasperatedly. “To answer your question Kelsey, yes. I would love to do some practice. I can't tell you how excited I am to go out and do some fighting again.” she answered longingly.

Kelsey felt herself blush. She knew that if Abby hadn’t been there to stop them, they would have been on the fast track to another half hour distraction. Kelsey certainly had some pent-up emotions that she would really love to get out of her system, but it wasn't time for that right now.

Kelsey cleared her throat. “Right, let’s begin. I’ll get you two started while I check to see how Alana is doing. We have a couple hours until sundown, but if we want to extend this little training session, my cabin has a ton of extra rooms that you are welcome to stay in.”

It was then that Kesely realized that Abby didn’t technically need to go back. “Actually, Abby. You can actually live here if you want. Or, if it's alright with Gwen, you could even join us on our trip to Saldeya.” Kelsey said.

Gwen's head whipped towards Abby. "Yes! I haven't gone adventuring with you in years! Oh it would be so much fun!" Gwen said excitedly.

Abby blinked in surprise before answering. “I’ll think about it, for sure. Living out here would be wonderful, so would traveling with you two. I definitely don’t want to waste away in Neim anymore now that I’m healed.” she said happily.

“Oh, you could also go to The Trial. The rest of our party is currently there preparing for their gold advancement, and I plan on giving them Mageblood bodies in the next couple weeks. I could push that timeline up and take you there, if you’d like.” Kelsey added.

Abby nodded in thought. “I’ll let you know by the end of the night what I want to do, all three options sound great.” she said as she sat down across from Gwen, preparing for the training.

Kelsey spent the next few minutes explaining what they should be trying to do and gave them some tips she had learned during her journey to learn Minor Water Creation. Thankfully, Gwen had been there when she taught Lisa, so she was able to help Abby without much interference from Kelsey.

Despite a building headache, Kelsey decided that she needed to do some practice as well, so she decided to become more familiar with her Mythril creation.

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As she walked over to where Alana was currently practicing light magic, she created and dismissed dozens of objects and made a bunch of Mythril coins to use for trading in the future. Creating coins served two purposes. She learned a lot about her skill, and she became infinitely wealthy. It’s really a win-win.

As she arrived at the small clearing where Queen was sitting cross legged meditating, Kelsey felt a huge wave of pressure slam into her chest, nearly knocking her to the ground.

She grunted in surprise. It hadn’t hurt, but she also hadn’t been expecting it.

Activating her domain’s Magesight ability, she saw that there were waves of mana crashing out of Queen’s body in a rhythmic tempo. The mana was exiting her body and slamming into the plants, bushes, and trees surrounding her. When the mana impacted the plants, it was absorbed, the impact from the wave being lessened.

It was a different story for Kelsey though. She wasn't absorbing the mana and that caused the mana to slam into her like air cannon.

What in the world is she doing? She must be releasing tens of thousands of mana each second. How in the hell is she generating force with nothing but mana?

As Kelsey continued to watch, the waves escaping Queen’s body change from sloppy and imprecise explosions into thin walls of densely packed mana. The waves constantly improved in both density and stability every single time until the pulses were like solid objects slamming into Kelsey. The force of the pulses had gotten strong enough that Kelsey was now on hands and knees on the ground, unable to stand.

I may need to stop her, if this continues, she’ll destroy the whole forest… Kelsey thought as she prepared to scream Alana’s name.

Just as she was about to open her mouth, the pulses of mana stopped and Queen smiled to herself excitedly as she opened her eyes and saw Kelsey crawling on the ground.

Alana’s eyes opened in shock. “I’m so sorry Kelsey, I had no idea you were here.” she said as she stood up and rushed towards Kelsey who was shakily getting to her feet.

Kelsey stood up and wiped the dirt from her hands onto her new armor. “No big deal. I’m fine... What were you doing?”

“I lied a bit back with the other two. I do have Light Creation, but my real skills lay in mana manipulation.” she said as she summoned a small blade made from pure mana.

Kelsey quickly identified the small weapon.

[Mana Blade - Immortal]

A blade made of pure mana.

Can be infused with mana to repair.

Mana creation… Can I do that? ...Should I do that?

“That is incredibly impressive. I had no idea that was even possible… Can I ask why?” Kelsey asked as she studied the blade closely.

Alana smiled softly. “Efficiency. My Immortal Queen class doesn’t give me much mana regeneration, so I learned to control pure mana. It’s cheaper to create and manipulate because it's unaspected. Since getting the Mageblood body increased my mana regeneration, I don’t think I’ll need to use it nearly as often, but it's a good skill to have in a pinch." She quickly dismissed the blade and began walking back in the direction of the training platform.

She was able to put out that much mana every second without much mana regeneration? How much mana does this woman have? She is nearly level 400, so I guess it makes sense, but still. I do not want to get on her bad side…

“Before you gave me this body, It was mainly useful for blasts of mana, pushing and pulling things with brute force. I never could have created a dagger like I did just now. Plus. It doesn’t take up a class skill slot, which is a nice bonus.” Alana said as they arrived back at the training area.

“The other two are currently working on learning the Minor Water Creation general skill, and just generally practicing with their magic. Would the great and mighty Queen regent of Cardona like to pass on some words of wisdom to three young Immortals?” Kelsey asked dramatically as she sat down with the sisters.

Alana gave Kelsey a grin and rolled her eyes. “Yes, the great and mighty Queen will grace you with her presence.” she said, sitting down with the group.

The next couple of hours were spent practicing as a group. Even Kelsey learned a few dozen things about mana control from the incredibly experienced mage. By the end of the evening, all four of them had improved their magic control significantly. Kelsey had primarily focused on Mythril creation and pure mana manipulation. Kelsey still was no where near the level of being able to create an object out of mana, but she thought she could probably knock a few leaves off a tree if push came to shove. Gwen and Abby both got much closer to their goal of learning Minor Water Creation, both experiencing rapid growth thanks to their new Mageblood bodies.

The most extreme change however was with Alana. Once she had given the three Immortals some tips, she started practicing with her light magic. She very rapidly improved several times over and by the end of the night said her efficiency with her light magic was probably two or three times higher. She also mentioned that she thought she still had much to learn and had barely scratched the surface with her skills now that she was able to maintain perfect consistency.

The way Alana practiced was truly a sight to behold. She sat in the center of the stone platform, activated meditation, and used pure mana manipulation to make herself levitate. Kelsey knew from a quick attempt at replicating the feat that the control required to use nothing but mana to levitate was extraordinary. She wasn’t creating permanent objects with the mana and then simply holding herself up, she was using a constant output of mana downwards, holding herself in the air with nothing but an equal and opposite reaction.

I’ve never seen control or power output like hers. That's what hundreds of years of practice looks like... If I want to match that any time soon, I need to buckle down and practice every chance I get...

It was late into the night when the group finally called it quits for the time being. Alana had to start making her way back to Fairlight, the capital city of Cardona, and Gwen and Abby were both exhausted from fighting and practicing all day.

“Thank you, Kelsey, truly.” Alana said as she waited for all of her guards to gather into a group so Kelsey could Warp them back to Neim.

As she realized that the Queen of Cardona was going to be leaving, Kelsey had an idea. “Wait right here. I’ll be back.” she said excitedly, walking towards the nearest Mageblood tree.

She realized that the Queen would be a perfect person to give some extra Mageblood ritual stuff to. She already knew the recipe to make it, but having some on hand would surely be useful for her.

I really need to come up with a name for the stuff.

Kelsey quickly got to work siphoning as much Mageblood as she could into a large barrel that she created on her way to the tree. Once the barrel was filled with Mageblood sap, she sliced her hand open and let some of her blood flow into the barrel. She had to keep the blade inside her hand, otherwise her regeneration would heal the wound instantly. Once her blood was added, she created small glass bottles and filled them with the mixture before infusing each one with the proper amount of mana.

During this process, she decided to identify one of the small glass bottles filled with the Mageblood mixture.

[Mageblood Potion - Immortal]

Can be ingested to safely begin the Mageblood ritual.

Oh. Yeah that’s a fine name I guess. A Mageblood potion… great.

She continued filling and infusing all of the bottles until she had over 300 Mageblood potions and the barrel was empty.

Feeling accomplished, she walked back over to the group awaiting her teleportation and started handing The Queen some potions. “Here, take 30. Give them to whomever you choose. If you would be open to it, I would like you to use them primarily on people with injuries or disabilities. If you learn anything interesting, please let me know.” she finished as she handed The Queen the last potion.

The Queen smiled and nodded with the air of someone with her station. “Of course Ms. Kain. I will report my findings to you as soon as possible. You have earned at least that much.”

Kelsey smiled at Queen Alana before looking towards Garrett. “Did you and Bud have a good time?”

Garrett nodded formally. “Yes ma’am. He is an incredibly interesting creature. Like you said, he’s very friendly too. I will warn you, he’s not much of a guard animal though. I walked into your house and he didn’t even seem to wonder why I was there, he simply approached me in search of attention. Very similar to a regular canine.” he finished seriously.

God, I hate when they talk all serious and formal. I get it, you all have appearances to keep… tone it down when among friends.

Kelsey didn’t let any of her thoughts into her voice as she said, “That’s good to hear. He is indeed friendly. I’m glad you enjoyed your time.”

Stepping up next to the royal entourage, Kelsey smiled. “Are you all ready?” she asked.

They all nodded their heads, so Kelsey activated her Warp skill, setting their destination for the outskirts of Neim. “You will arrive on the southside of Neim, outside of the city. I hope to see you all again soon.”

Alana and the guards quickly said their farewells to Kelsey, Abby, and Gwen. A few seconds later, they were gone.

As they vanished, Kelsey slumped down onto the ground and rubbed her temples. From teleporting everyone to the Mageblood forest, practicing Mythril creation for several hours, and then teleporting the group back, Kelsey had used hundreds of millions of mana in the past few hours, and her head was throbbing in pain. She hadn't wanted to show weakness in front of the Queen, but she was in some serious pain.

Gwen sat down next to Kelsey and began rubbing her back. “Mana usage getting to you?” she asked gently.

“Yeah… I just need some rest. Abby, do you mind waiting till tomorrow morning to talk about what you’ve decided?” Kelsey asked as she stood up shakily.

“That's fine. It’ll give me more time to think too.” Abby answered softly, clearly trying not to worsen Kelsey's headache.

Kelsey nodded her head once. “I’ll see you up there.” she said as she activated her warp, arrived in her room, stored her armor and clothing, and collapsed into bed.