When Jeb started working the Manathread into Manaweave, he was unsure what to expect. He knew that there had to be a reason that the Weaver had taught him to weave using the strange flower scented thread, but he still had no idea what it was. Maybe it feels similar when worked? Jeb thought to himself.
It certainly felt similar to make Manaweave. Whether that was simply because Weaving always felt the same, he could not say for certain. In just a few short hours, Jeb had turned all of his Manathread into Manaweave. The Weaver helped him cut the long sheet of fabric into the individual sheets of Manaweave that he recognized. Even given that he had lost a quarter of his Manathread to the Weaver, Jeb felt like he should have ended up with more Manaweave.
The Weaver must have seen that something was bothering Jeb, because he came over “Is something wrong?” he asked.
Jeb debated how to answer. After playing a few responses through his head, he settled on, “I was just surprised at how little Manaweave I ended up making.”
The Weaver stared at him as though waiting for Jeb to continue. Jeb realized that he hadn’t given the Weaver any reason for his belief.
“I grew some Managrass before I came to the Academy,” Jeb explained. “When my uncle wove it into Manaweave, he made ten sheets per plot of Managrass that I grew. Even with more than two plots of growth, though, I only made ten sheets.”
The Weaver nodded, understanding clear in his eyes. “Your uncle, do you know what his Class was?” he asked.
Jeb shrugged. “I know that it was something related to Weaving, but I’m not sure exactly what.”
“Are you truly surprised that a Weaver would be able to Weave more effectively than someone without the Skill, let alone the Class?”
Jeb frowned. “I guess a little? Where would you be able to make extra Manaweave? It isn’t like any of my thread disappeared.”
“Why would anyone take a Class if there were not benefits?” the Weaver turned the question on Jeb. “I’m sure that someone had to tell you about the benefits of Classes at some point.”
Jeb nodded. “I realize I just never asked what, specifically, the benefits were to most Classes. I understand, at least a little, how Farming Classes can make the fields grow more, but how does that work with Weaving?”
“Why would Farming Classes be able to produce more?”
Jeb opened his mouth to respond before realizing that he did not have a good answer to the question. He closed his mouth, considering.
The Weaver nodded his head. “Don’t ask me how, because I don’t know, but the System increases the amount of fabric that I can produce from a given amount of thread. Assuming that you are estimating how much Managrass you brought to your uncle correctly, I must admit that I’m impressed. He must have an incredibly specialized set of Skills around maximizing the fabric he can produce. I would struggle to make five sheets of Manaweave with the amount of thread you provided, let alone ten.”
“What are you planning to do with the Manathread I gave you?” Jeb asked.
The Weaver shrugged. “Manathread, as you might expect, is excellent at conducting Mana. A number of Enchanters prize it for that reason, especially those who work in cloth. I tend to use it for effects such as this, though,” he gestured to one of the hanging pieces of fabric.
Jeb noticed the way that it seemed to alternating glow and cloak itself in shadows. “What is that?” he asked, entranced by the way that it seemed to respond to changes in the light in the room on a delay.
The Weaver smiled. “That fabric is one of my specialties. It requires a small amount of Manathread, which has made it difficult to produce of late. On that note, if you ever come into more Managrass, I would be happy to exchange it for more lessons or something else you desire.”
“Um,” Jeb replied, searching for an exit, “thank you. I will keep that in mind.” Something in the Weaver’s expression had changed, and Jeb suddenly felt an urge to get as far away as he could.
The door to the Workshop appeared as he had the thought, and Jeb quickly went to it, calling behind him, “thank you for the lesson!” Even though he hadn’t gotten a Skill out of it, he had made Manaweave, which was his real goal. As soon as the door to the Weaving Workshop closed behind him, the feeling that he needed to hurry away vanished. That’s strange, Jeb thought to himself. I hope that the Weaver doesn’t think I’m rude.
Now that he had the space to think about it, he couldn’t point to anything that the Weaver had done that made him uncomfortable. The space just suddenly felt less like a Workshop covered in fabric and more like a spider’s web that had nearly trapped him. As that thought went through his head, Jeb chuckled at himself. Just because he’s a Weaver doesn’t mean he’s a spider.
Exactly why he had felt like the Weaver had been a spider, Jeb didn’t investigate. He was too focused on showing his new Manaweave to his friends. As he rushed to the cafeteria, though, Jeb remembered that Declan and Catherine would not be back until the start of the term, whenever that was.
The half real halls of the Academy suddenly felt much colder, and Jeb changed courses. After walking for what felt like far longer than normal, Jeb once more found himself outside of Dean Aquam’s office.
“Come in!” he called as Jeb knocked on the door. Jeb entered, feeling once more disoriented.
“Jeb, are you alright?” the Dean asked, seeming concerned.
“I’m not sure,” Jeb replied honestly. “I feel kind of out of place, if that makes sense.”
The Dean nodded in understanding. “Well, what have you done since the last time that you left my office?”
Jeb responded quickly. “I went to sleep, then I went to the Weaver and made Manaweave.” He held up the sheets, and the Dean nodded.
“Good job,” he said. “Have you taken any time to process the large changes to your Statistics?”
Jeb shook his head. “Why would I do that?” he asked in genuine confusion.
The Dean put his head in his hands. Jeb heard him mutter something before “preserve me from the young.” Lifting his head again, Dean Aquam took a deep breath, let it out, and then spoke. “It is customary to take at least twelve hours to sit and focus on the changes to your body, mind, and soul at the end of the term. Has no one told you this?”
Jeb shook his head again.
“I would advise you to go try that now. If you still feel out of place tomorrow, we can discuss other reasons.”
“Thank you,” Jeb said hesitantly. He left the Dean’s office, only slightly surprised to feel the walls pressing in on him as he walked back to the Dormitory. Once there, he quickly hurried to his room and sat on the floor. Taking a deep breath, Jeb focused on himself.
Thankfully, some of his Statistics remained unchanged. The way that most of his Physical Statistics connected his soul and body had not changed from before the term ended. That was the tether Jeb used, diving into the changes.
The change to his Presence felt like a deep ache as soon as he looked at it. Jeb had tried to ignore the difference in how the world felt to him since it had grown so much. As he took the time to focus on how he was feeling, though, that coping method showed itself ineffective. He slowly came to terms with the new balance between spirit and body, idly noting the hours passing by.
By the time that sixth bell tolled again, Jeb almost felt back to normal. Or, rather, Jeb almost felt back to his new normal. The intense change in his Statistics was something that he knew he would need to spend more time getting used to, for all that he was more comfortable with it.
Now that he was able to look at the way his emotions had caused him to react the day before with a more objective gaze, Jeb was even more confused. He still missed his friends, for all that it was no longer a heavy weight on his spirit. The walls of the Academy, even though they were still strange to him, no longer felt like they were actively hostile. His interaction with the Weaver, though, still felt strange.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Jeb still felt uncomfortable when he focused too hard on the last moments of his encounter with the Weaver, but he could not point to anything in particular. Shrugging it off, he went to the cafeteria, waving at the Dean as he grabbed a tray.
“Are you feeling better?” the Dean asked.
“I am, thank you,” Jeb said.
The two ate their breakfast in contented silence. When the Dean left, Jeb considered how he wanted to spend his day. Weaving Firegrass or working to make Airgrass seemed like reasonable options. Growing some Managrass to trade to the Weaver also seemed like a plausible choice, for all that Jeb was not sure what he could need from the Weaver.
None of those sounded appealing, though, so Jeb went to the Library, hoping that he might find inspiration there. The auditors were clearly gone, because Kaitlyn waved before turning into the Stacks. Jeb assumed she was busy and so did not follow her. Instead, he began walking into the Stacks, trusting them to lead him to his desk.
When he had made it to his desk, he saw Margaret sitting there with someone Jeb had never met before.
“Good morning, Jeb,” Margaret said, standing to greet him.
“Good morning, Margaret,” Jeb replied. He waited, hoping that Margaret would explain who the stranger was and what the two of them were doing at his desk. As the seconds stretched on, a small voice in his head began reminding him that Margaret could very well believe that she had no obligation to explain either of their presences. After all, they were in the Stacks, which was explicitly her domain. The two continued to stare at each other.
“I don’t know if we’ve met,” Jeb finally said, addressing the stranger.
Margaret beamed. “You have not!” she exclaimed. “This is Philp. He is studying to be a Librarian, and I have been assigned as his mentor.”
“Nice to meet you, Philp,” Jeb said, waving to the young man.
“It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Philp said stiffly. “I hope to be able to assist Stacks Librarian Margaret in her duties, which I have come to understand often interface with you.”
“How did learning to weave go?” Margaret asked, seeming to ignore Philp.
Jeb wagged his hands. “I made Manaweave, but not as much as I had expected to. I also felt weirdly uncomfortable just before leaving, and I’m not sure why.”
Margaret cocked her head, and Philp leaned in, ducking. Jeb understood why when a book came flying where his head had been, landing in her outstretched hand.
“Ah.” She closed the book. “That is an understandable reaction. I can guarantee that the Weaver will not harm you, though that is as much as I can tell you.”
For a second, Jeb hoped that was a hint that she would leave the book for him to read. Instead, she tossed the book behind her, where it faded into the Stacks.
“How can we help you today?” she asked.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Humdrum Human Age: 16 Class: Wizard Level: 3 Experience: 1092/204
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Total Statistic Load: 642 ->842 Physical Load: 228 ->278 Strength: 52 Dexterity: 53 Endurance: 54 Vitality: 55 Presence: 14 ->64
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Mental Load: 414 ->564 Intelligence: 88 ->118 Willpower: 89 ->119 Magic Affinity: 89 ->119 Mana Depth: 74 ->104 Charisma: 74 ->104
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Mana: 1775 ->1975
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Glyph Attunement: 31 Least Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Earth (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Earth - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Lesser Shape Earth (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Shape Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Shape Water - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Lesser Shape Water (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Hold Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Conjure Water - Efficient (Modified) Tier 3 Spell Least Destroy Water (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Air (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Move Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Hold Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Destroy Fire (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Least Create Mud (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Earth Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Water Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Water Mana - Efficient (Modified) Tier 2 Spell Attune Air Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Fire Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Attune Sand Mana (Modified) Tier 0 Spell Least Create Sand (Modified) Tier 1 Spell Attune Sand Mana - Efficient (Modified) Tier 2 Spell
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Bard Songs Known: 1 Lute Enforcement
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Skills: Meditation Gift of Gab Identify Soil Savvy Animal Handling Fertilizing Musician Pollination Brewing Distilling Smithing Wood Identification Woodworking Soil Improvement Glassblowing Magic
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Achievements: Focused Meditator Student of Magic Glyph Specializer
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Quests: Major: Slay the Dragon of the West (Progressive)