Before, when I had used the dream study, I had revisited my memories. This time, I encountered a very different way the dream study could be used.

I was in a black void filled with countless colorful little clouds of information drifting about. Some were evidently visual information, displaying hazy images each time I glanced at them. Others produced sound, or other sensations as they passed by. Others were harder to discern, such as those that contained simple impressions and notions. Others were strange enough that I couldn’t make even a remotely accurate guess as to what they contained.

The ones that caught my attention were few and far between. These contained the multidimensional patterns of mana forms. Trying to focus on these patches of information was like trying to hold sand. I could only hold them for a moment before they would slowly slip from my grasp.

I floated along in this vast expanse of information for most of the dream, vainly struggling to catch the mana forms I needed. I refused to simply give up when I was so close to the tools I needed to survive.

All of a sudden, the colorful clouds of information stopped fleeing from me. Each of the bits of knowledge about mana forms slowly started to gather together. Grabbing one, I immediately knew that it was related to heat transference. Another involved distorting light as a third related to controlling the direction mana flowed.

I didn’t have much time to marvel over the gathered knowledge because I soon awakened. The moment the dream faded, I clutched my head in pain. It felt like burning hot stone had slammed into the base of my skull.

I groaned, wondering why I had such a painful headache. The stone table was far from the most comfortable of beds, but I had slept on worse without issues. When I had used dream study before, it had left me tired, but not in pain. Before I could figure out the source of my agony, I noticed a flashing purple symbol at the edge of my vision.

It was way too soon for my next boon, wasn’t it?

Name: Kyo —-----

New boon available

Class: Novice Mage

(1/10, 100%)

Mana Pool: 54/100

Codex: 72.47%

Boons:

System Initiate: 10

Novice Mage: 1

Environmental Conditions: Mortal peril detected: Boon integration speed greatly increased.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Limit mana use to mitigate mana poisoning.

MR:242

TPEL:10

Mana poisoning from integrating boons too quickly? I had wondered why it took so long for things to integrate when the system could just speed them up. Considering the pain in the bottom of my head, I judged the limited speed to be entirely reasonable.

If my boon had finished integrating while I was dreaming, that explained why things had become so much easier towards the end. I considered trying it out, but the searing pain discouraged me.

Instead, I pulled up my available boons.

Physical enhancement: improved concentration

Strengthens the user’s mental concentration. Physical enhancement level: 5

Physical enhancement: improved mana perception

Strengthens the user’s ability to perceive mana. Physical enhancement level: 5

Physical enhancement: improved mana control

Strengthens the user’s ability to influence mana. Physical enhancement level: 5

Codex: Mana form implementation

Enables the system to automatically craft simple mana forms when prompted by the user.

I read over the two new abilities. I didn’t particularly like the sound of the first one. When needed, I could usually focus well enough to get by. Besides, how the system would enhance my focus was an unnerving prospect. Would it magically alter the way my brain worked? Would that change how I would think or behave? I didn’t like the thought of it at all.

The other boon was much more interesting to me. I already knew that the system was able to weave new mana forms. That was the only way that it could possibly keep improving itself like it had been with each boon. Being able to harness some of that ability for my own uses was certainly appealing. The biggest problem was that I didn't know what the limit would be. How complex could a mana form be before it was no longer considered simple by the system?

The other two boons were just as appealing as they had been when they were first offered. Both would greatly increase my proficiency with magic. The magic perception would make learning new mana forms and crafting new spells far easier. With the improved control, I could make such new spells far more complex and powerful.

I still had plenty of new magic to work my way through, so I selected the improved mana control.

Unlike the other times I had selected boons, I immediately felt a tingling all over my body. The mana was flowing through me fast enough that I could feel it forming into the new enhancement. Slightly worrying, the feeling was particularly strong in my head. I didn’t have the perception to tell exactly what was happening, but I got the feeling it would take at least a few marks to finish.

Fortunately, my enhanced regeneration was slowly reducing the severity of the pain in my head. I took a sip from my water skin. Noticing just how little water I had left, I was once more reminded of how poor my chances of survival were. I had no way of refilling it and I wouldn't last long once it ran dry. It wasn’t as though I could simply make water appear out of thin air with magic.

At that thought, a mana form worked its way into my mind. It was more complex than any spell that I had ever cast, but I somehow knew what each component was meant to do. Most of the components were replications of two mana forms. One would analyze tiny substances in the air. Upon finding a substance that matched with a specific compound, it would activate the other mana form to move it with invisible force.

The end goal for the spell was to gather all of the water in an area into a much smaller space. Apparently I could, indeed, make water appear out of thin air with magic.

I wasn’t sure how many tries it would take to successfully cast this new spell, but I was going to master it.

My life depended on it after all.