I considered myself lucky that this wraith never drew close to my campsite. I only heard the moans in the distance for a half-mark before they faded away. I did, however, still spend the next full-mark in frozen fear waiting for the horror of the night to return.

At some point, I must have drifted off. Wraiths hunted me in my dreams, but that was much better than being hunted in the waking world.

Once more on the road, I recorded my other three spells into my codex. After the many long marks I had spent learning those mana forms in the first place, the codex recordings were nothing short of astonishing. Looking at my interface, I could see that they didn’t even take up a noticeable amount of room in my codex.

Name: Kyo —-----

Class: System Initiate (6/10, 89%)

Boons:

System interface

Mana Pool

System Codex

Interface Status

Codex Recording

Interface Customization

Current status:

Mana Pool: 99/100 mana available

Codex: 99.99% available space

Environmental Conditions:

High Ambient Mana

Hostile Entities Recently Perceived

Limited Available Resources Perceived

Personal Status:

Mana resistance level: 237

Total Physical Enhancement Level: 0

I noticed that it did seem to require a small amount of mana to record information to my codex. I figured that I should have probably expected that. Even if it cost far more, I would have still been extremely happy with the boon.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

One of the greatest difficulties with learning mana forms was that they could twist and bend in directions beyond the limits of physical objects. While physical items were limited to moving in a combination of three different directions, mana wasn’t so restricted. Normally so hard to properly visualize, the codex somehow managed to relay this extra dimensional information in an understandable manner.

Even examining two mana forms at once was a simple matter. I was able to easily compare the similarities and differences between my mana sight and mana sense spells. While mostly the same, the portion dictating how the spell interacted with the user used different mana forms. I had always known this, but seeing it so plainly was remarkable.

Despite my early misgivings, I was growing very fond of this system. I still wasn't fully comfortable having something messing around inside my head, but I wasn’t about to complain about the results.

Looking at the mana forms, I recalled what I did while fighting against the leopard. Would it be possible to craft a more efficient spell to achieve the same effect?

I slowly tried weaving the mana from my pool into a new pattern. I took the mana form for mana sight and stripped away most of the spell. I was left with nothing but the component that would normally integrate with the caster’s sense of temperature.

Drawing upon my invisible force spell, I examined the component that allowed me to supply a variable amount of mana. carefully working the two components together, my spell slowly took form.

Recording the experimental mana form into my codex, I hesitated. I needed to test the spell, but that was going to require a target. Considering how the entire goal for the spell was to inflict pain, I wasn’t particularly keen on experiencing it for myself.

I eventually let the mana form fade away. I couldn’t afford to accidentally incapacitate myself in such a dangerous place as the jungle. I could think of far less embarrassing ways to find passage to the realm of shades.

Switching to practicing my invisible force spell, I continued walking along the tangled roots and creeping ferns of the undergrowth. I was getting better at aiming. The pebble would usually only veer slightly to the side of my intended target. Every so often, I would still miss horribly and the pebble would fly off into the foliage.

As I watched one of my errant pebbles clatter off a large root to the side of my path, I stopped. That impact didn’t sound quite right. I had been bouncing pebbles off of roots for a while, and that last bounce didn’t sound like stone striking wood.

Looking carefully at the supposed root, I immediately noticed that the shape wasn’t quite right. Though long and bark colored, the shape was too consistent to be a regular piece of wood.

Cautiously casting mana sight, I tried to make sense of the wash of colors. The object was strongly magical, but the mana was of a different hue than that of the plants around it. Following the colors into the underbrush with my eyes, I slowly was able to figure out what I was looking at.

The creature was some form of giant insect with dozens of legs capable of disguising itself as a plant. The thing was longer than I was tall and covered in bark-like chitin. It looked like it was using a small amount of mana to enhance its natural camouflage.

I wasn’t sure how fast the creature might be able to strike, but I had no intentions of drawing any closer to the ambush predator. Luckily the bug didn’t seem to have any intentions of making a move prematurely.

I slowly backed away. I had no reason to fight a creature that wasn’t actively threatening me. Besides, fighting a monster with unknown magical abilities was always ill-advised. The insect didn’t seem to be overly magical, but I knew my mana sight was far from infallible.

I did briefly consider testing my new spell, but decided against it. I didn’t want to antagonize the big bug. Additionally, I wasn’t sure if the spell would even work. Mana sense was designed to work for humans, so I had no idea if my derivative spell would even affect an insect. Did insects even sense heat the same way people did?

Taking a wide path around the lurking bug, I started to continue my journey.

DING!

I really hoped that I would be able to get rid of that obnoxious sound.