Alistair found some armor that looked good for a starting point. He tried imagining what he would look like wearing them. Is there a way you can show me what I would look like wearing these? Alistair asked Myst, hoping he could provide some type of overlay.
[Sure, just try thinking about it, and ill try to interpret what you’d like to see.] Myst said.
Just then, a window of sorts appeared in the center of his vision, it was him standing there in his birthday suit like he was now in the room, thankfully with a hazy bubble around the groin section, like a typical censor on Earth. He had dirt on his hands and feet, a small bit on his face as well as his chest. Probably from working on the rungs. Alistair thought, looking down at his own body.
[Why did you want me to blur that part out?] Myst asked. [Are you embarrassed about what you have there?]
No, I just don’t want to see it. I know there is nothing wrong with it, I just prefer not to have that thing in my face is all, even if it is mine. Alistair replied.
[Ahh, Okay.] Myst said back.
So how does this work? Can you automatically render what I want onto this avatar? Alistair asked, Or do I have to imagine these clothes on me as well?
[Now you are getting it. You have to imagine you wearing them, try and focus on all of the details that the armor has for the most accurate image.] Myst said, starting to feel a sense of pride at how quickly Alistair seemed to be getting it.
Right… Alistair said as he looked at the armor and took it all in. The armor he was looking at was mostly dark, with red accents. it felt like hard leather, but it was surprisingly flexible as well. He used Identity on it.
Leather Jerkin (Uncommon)
This Armor was made by a skilled leather worker from the hide of a young dark Wyrm. The leather has been infused with the mana of the creature it came from over its young lifetime, instilling properties of the dark mana type. This armor takes in light to warm the wearer.
Alistair felt the armor as he read its description, realizing that it in fact was slightly warmer to the touch, though only slightly above the room temperature it seemed. He looked over the shoulders, that had red trim where the stitching was done. It wasn’t comparable to the design of the furniture, not even close, but there was a symmetry to the trim that showed the obvious skill of the leather worker. Finally, he held it out, taking in the size of the jerkin, and after finally getting the entire image in his head, attempted to imagine his avatar wearing it.
Slowly the image blinked, and distorted, but it seemed like it wasn’t working.
[Try imagining the avatar putting it on.] Myst said.
And so Alistair did just that, imagining his avatar slinging it over his shoulders and buckling the left shoulder, fastening the jerkin on his avatar. It was weird watching himself dress and move when he didn’t. It was not at all like looking into a mirror, but more like watching a recording of yourself, but willing it to move how you want.
[There you go, it's easier to think of the avatar as a mirror of yourself. It's not like you can magically dress yourself…] Myst said, [yet anyway.] He finished.
Alistair was busy looking at his avatar, now wearing the jerkin he was looking at, it looked good, but it was definitely a bit too long on the torso, and a touch too broad on the shoulders. Alistair noted the small alteration he would need to make this jerkin fit better in his head. Okay, I think I have got what I need to make this fit better. Let's try teaching me to how to shape.
[How about we start with something you wouldn’t mind practicing on first, shaping is not an easy skill to learn after all and messing up on the armor you want would mean more mana expenditure fixing it before actually shaping it.] Myst said.
Good idea. Alistair said, glancing at the other armor in the room. He saw one he did not like the look of and walked over to it. It was a lime-green with yellow trim and designs. It reminded him of something a supporting Power Ranger would wear back on Earth on television. It looked very jarring, the color scheme being overzealous and almost obnoxious to look at. He identified it.
Leather Jerkin (Uncommon)
This leather jerkin was personally commissioned by a noble from the house of Velspar. The color scheme matches those of the family crest.
The wearer of this jerkin must be a very proud and noteworthy person, if they aren’t, they will be.
Yowzer, Alistair thought. This one will make a great practice one.
[I would have to agree.] Myst said. [Okay, so remember what I told you about shaping, you must get the image of what you want in your head, then touch the item.] Myst began, [and infuse magic into it all the while maintaining a steady consistent stream or at the least constant relative to the change you are wanting to be done on it.] Myst finished.
Okay… Alistair said, sounding very unsure.
[Let’s just try to smooth the leather.] Myst suggested. [Do you see how the leather was made with those scale design impressions?] Myst asked.
Yeah, Alistair answered, feeling the shape and texture of the scales that were pressed in.
[Try and raise the depressions made by the leather worker that pressed them in.] Myst said.
Alistair imagined with his mind’s eye the depressed lines raising, but nothing happened. He remembered Myst saying to infuse mana into the armor while he did that and so he tried.
Slowly the scales all started to move, not one or two, but all of the scales. They were all connected and moving with each other almost resembling coordination like a wave, going up and down in sequence. Alistair was watching them move when suddenly they stopped, and very briefly disappeared, making the jerking smooth all over. After that moment, however, the lines came back but they were no longer depressions, the scales began to fall away from the armor. In an instant later, all that lay where the armor was, was a pile of small bits of leather scales. Alistair looked at the pile, shocked at what he had done, feeling a wave of exhaustion run through him. his arm ached and felt very heavy. He leaned and braced the table the now ruined armor was on and started breathing heavily like he had just got done sprinting. His legs felt weak and were starting to shake.
[Take a seat, before you fall over again.] Myst said.
Alistair heard Myst and sat down on the chair he was standing next to. Why did he sound off? Alistair thought. Myst sounded distant, and almost shocked if he had to put a word on it.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Alistair glanced down at his Mana bar and realized he had used a bit over half of his current mana.
Mana: 127/300
He also noticed his Stamina bar was not full anymore.
Stamina: 67/90
[Okay, there is a lot of what just happened there, and we need to break it all down before we proceed.] Myst said, still sounding… distant?
Yeah, I feel exhausted, my right arm and legs more so than anything else. Alistair replied.
[Yeah, that would be because you used more mana than your mana channels normally can handle. Now that I look at them, they seem to be retracting, as if they expanded and are now settling down.] Myst said, [Look at your arm and I will show you what I mean.]
Alistair laid his arm flat on the table, realizing that the avatar of himself was no longer there, instead his arm looked to be highlighted in a way and looked a bit blueish, he then saw red lines twirling randomly down his arms in a way that resembled veins he had in a vascular diagram one would commonly see in various science classes or other on Earth. He focused on the red lines and could see them pulsing, up and down, but more noticeably they were looking to be shrinking down. The color was changing from red to orange as they did, and finally, some bits were showing signs of turning green.
[You see, these are your mana channels. They connect to your mana core in your center. They are what you use to manipulate your mana, allowing both the amount and direction you intend.] Myst explained, continuing on to say, [There are limits however, As you can see, the channels can be strained when too much mana is pushed out of them in a short period of time.] Myst finished.
I see, Alistair said, taking it all in. Kind of like water in a pipe. Too much would cause pressure, and too much pressure could rupture the pipe. Alistair said, trying to make sense of it.
[Yes, however, this is where mana and pipes differentiate. Mana channels can dilate, or stretch if that helps you, to allow short bursts of mana output.] Myst said, [That comes at a cost, however.] Myst said as Alistair slowly watched more of his mana channels starting to turn green. [As you can see the mana channels become strained and weakened after such an occurrence and needs time to, not necessarily heal, but return to their normal state.] Myst said. [During this state of constricting back, when using mana, your mana output will be very hard to control.] Myst finished.
Alistair first thought about a bagpipe player playing the bagpipe, he imagined the bagpipe player unsteadily squeezing the bag and hearing the unsteadiness of the sounds of the bagpipe player. Then Alistair thought back to when he was a child and saw a clown at a birthday party where he would stretch the balloons first before blowing them up. He remembered asking himself why they did that until he later found that the balloons were much harder to start blowing if you did not do that. Something about the initial resistance of the rubber being lessened in which it would expand easier afterward. Okay, so my Mana channels are like rubber? Alistair asked. His mind raced over analogies trying to make sense of this seemingly important condition.
[I don’t know what rubber is so I can't know for sure, but let's just say that they expand and contract according to the amount of mana you use in a particular instant.] Myst said, [If they expand for too big, and for too long, your stamina starts to deplete, and if your stamina depletes, your health starts to take the cost instead.] Myst continued. [There have been many instances where people have died because they were not careful and thought they could keep channeling like that.] Myst finished.
That is great to know, Alistair thought. Can I get you to set an alarm of some sort? If this happens again I would want you to somehow alert me to stop after a certain point. Alistair asked.
[Certainly, I'll set it to where your vision will flash red, and an audible sound will go off, like this…] Myst said, finishing with an obnoxiously loud, high-pitched, and annoying Myst shouting, [Stop Stupid!]
Clenching his fists at the sudden loud noise, “Yes, that will do!” he audibly shouted back. His head was hurting already and with the sound, it reminded him of a hangover of some sort.
[Second thing that happened is that you learned a new skill, one I was not expecting and honestly haven’t heard of before.] Myst said. [Here, ill let you read it.]
Congratulations, you have learned Disintegrate.
Disintegrate (Advanced) (Active) (Touch) Level: N/A
Through the combination of channeling mana and clearly envisioning the removal of something, it will be removed. This skill does not level, instead relies on the person's imagination and the mana reserves needed to remove or separate the desired amount of matter, with respect to the durability of the matter.
Wanna see a magic trick? Now you see it… Now you don’t.
Wow, Alistair thought. So you never heard of this skill? Alistair asked.
[No I haven’t, which in and of itself is incredible. To have made a spell, I have never heard of on your first day is simply… nearly impossible.] Myst said, [Unless it’s either based on you coming from another world and your influence on this new world in relation to that fact, or it is Mother’s way of helping you.] Myst continued, [either one of which both, scares me and fascinates me.] He said. [Just… what goes on in that little head of yours…]
Alistair barely heard that last part, but decided to let the “little” comment go. I thought about raising the depressions the leatherworker had worked in to make the scale design. While I started infusing my mana, which by the way I still don’t understand fully, I imagined the depressions disappearing. When I saw the scales moving, they looked to be coordinated, almost as if they were waving, some moved more excitedly and others slowly, like they didn’t want to. Then the leather was all smooth, and I thought about the scales disappearing. Alistair said trying to carefully recall what he was thinking about during the whole process, the rest, is what happened after. He finished, just before adding. I don’t know why the armor turned into scales. Why did I learn a skill called “Disintegrate” when the armor didn’t disintegrate, they turned into scales...
[I think I know why…] Myst said. [Think back during the shaping process you were attempting. You said you saw the depressions smooth out and disappear.] Myst said, obviously waiting for Alistair to have an eureka moment. When that moment never came and it seemed like the awkward silence was just going to continue on forever, he added, [You weren’t thinking about the depressions disappearing… Not the Armor.] Myst said.
But the depressions did disappear, I don’t understand. Alistair said trying to see the point Myst was trying to make.
[Focus on the lines of the scales, then what were to happen if you left everything else the same, but removed the matter the depressions made up. Just the lines themselves…] Myst said, letting the silence hang there.
Oh, Alistair thought, "OHHHHH!” He said aloud literally facepalming himself, finally getting what had happened. I somehow succeeded in smoothing out the depressions, and after I was done… I thought about the depressions disappearing, so they did?... Alistair finished raising a question with the last bit to Myst.
[Yes, since you were done shaping you should have stopped channeling your mana, but you got distracted and were still channeling your mana into the jerkin when you imagined the lines disappearing. So they did, and in turn, you learned an advanced skill.] Myst said growing more excited towards the end. [Which leads us to the last thing that happened…]
Congratulations, you have learned Shaping.
Shaping (Advanced) (Active) (Touch) Level: N/A
Through the combination of channeling mana and clearly envisioning the shaping of the material, it will shape into what you will it to. This skill does not level, instead relies on the person's imagination and the mana reserves needed to shape the desired amount of matter, with respect to the durability of the shaped matter.
[Congrats!] Myst said, [I never doubted you could learn it.] Myst said, Alistair felt a bit uneasy as if he weren’t entirely being honest. [Maybe not as quickly as you did…] Myst admitted, the feeling of uneasiness fading away as he did.
This lying thing is weird, Alistair thought. It’s like knowing the truth about something and hearing someone you trust lie to your face about it.
[I don’t know what you mean, but I believe we feel the same thing when we aren’t one hundred percent honest with each other.] Myst said. [Let’s try a few others, after your mana regenerates fully, of course, before moving onto that dark armor we both like, just to be on the safe side.]
Alistair glanced at his Mana bar and noticed it was now nearly full, also realizing his Stamina bar was at max again.
Mana: 273/300
Stamina: 90/90
[That still amazes me that you regenerate so much so quickly.] Myst said.
I’ll take your word for it. Alistair said, not having any experience as a reference. He looked back at his arm, the blueish overlay fading from view as he noticed all of his mana channels were a bright green again.