Jeb thought about the question. “Honestly, I’m not sure,” he finally responded. “I didn’t know what else to do today, and I hoped you might have an idea.”
Margaret’s expression did not change, remaining bright and cheery. “Is there a reason that you do not wish to continue your work with Managrass?” she asked, tone calm.
Jeb shrugged. “Not in particular, no.”
“Then, if you would take the suggestion, I would recommend that you continue to grow Managrass. I am certain that you will find a supply of Manaweave useful in your upcoming term, if nothing else.”
Jeb nodded and made his way back out of the Stacks. As he made his way to the plot of land he had been working, he was hit with a wave of Magic. Jeb took a half step back, ready to run from whatever was giving off so much energy.
When he saw that it was the field, he remembered that he had left the stakes with their Magic aligning Enchantment in the ground without coming to visit over the past few days. I don’t think that there’s any chance I have time to water the Managrass before it grows up, Jeb thought to himself. His mind quickly raced as he tried to think of solutions.
When he thought about trying to infuse the Managrass seeds themselves with Magic, he initially dismissed the idea, walking over to the shed with the seeds. As he grasped the door handle, though, he paused. Why couldn’t he try that?
Hopefully Margaret doesn’t mind me stopping by again, Jeb thought, willing himself back into the Stacks. The Academy dropped him somewhere he had never been in the Stacks. Jeb looked around without concern. Margaret was walking away from him, Philip following close behind.
Jeb had learned better than speaking loudly in the Stacks, so he hurried after the two. Without masking his footfalls, they were the loudest sound in the silent hall. Margaret turned before he drew too near. Philip turned just after her, seeming confused.
“Welcome back, Jeb,” she said. “What can the Library help you with now?”
“Is there a reason that I should Attune the water I’m using while growing the Managrass instead of just Attuning the seeds themselves?” he asked.
“That question feels rhetorical,” Margaret replied. “Should I assume that you are asking whether it would be possible to forcibly Attune the Managrass seeds?”
Jeb nodded.
“Hold your hands out,” Margaret said, turning to leave. Jeb did, and a book fell into them. It was open to a page describing how to modify the Enchantment he had already made to work with solids. It seemed like an easy enough change, so Jeb brought the book to the forge and quickly made the new piece of the Enchantment.
As the Enchantment cooled, Jeb realized that he also needed to make the new Enchantment for Attuning the inside of the chamber to Air. While I’m here, he thought, I might as well also make the Enchantment for Earth. Regardless of when it happened, Jeb had no doubts in his mind that he was going to end up making Earthweave as well.
The Enchantments all ended up being ready to take at the same time. Even though he had started the Elemental Attuning portions while the solid phase was cooling, they were so much smaller that they came to equilibrium by the time Jeb had attached the solid phase Enchantment to the pail.
Back at his farm, Jeb grimaced and tossed a handful of Managrass seed into the bucket. A small voice in his head yelled that he was wasting them and that whatever happened inside of the bucket would be nothing but harmful. Jeb ignored it. At worst, he had wasted a few of the functionally infinite seeds that he owned. At best, he had figured out a much more efficient way to Attune plants.
When the Enchantment had finished working, Jeb opened the bucket. For just a moment, he was shocked that the seeds had not sublimated away. They screamed to him of Air, wild and uncontrolled. The feeling faded slightly as ambient air replaced the fully Attuned Air in the container. That just gave Jeb the chance to notice that the Managrass had started to sprout.
“That does make some amount of sense,” Jeb said to himself, “If I know that Managrass grows faster when exposed to Mana, I suppose it should not be a surprise that it will sprout when suffused with Mana.” The fact that they had sprouted did add a certain flair of urgency to his work, though. Jeb quickly ran down the plot, tossing the small Managrass sprouts near where he hoped they would grow. They seemed to send out roots almost as they fell, growing in the soil as though they had been planted there from the beginning.
Jeb breathed a sigh of relief as the plants grew without any obvious issues. After taking a moment to clean out the bucket and fill it with water, he walked back to the field. It was, unsurprisingly, filled with the sight of fully grown Managrass.
What was slightly surprising to Jeb was just how Air Attuned they clearly were. Each stalk blew back and forth as though caught in a gentle wind. Only the fact that no two stalks moved identically made him realize that it was not a function of some small breeze that he could not feel. As Jeb got closer, he amended that thought. There was a small breeze in the field. Each stalk was giving off wind as it moved.
Jeb checked his Quest Log, completely unsurprised to see that he had completed a Quest.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Pollinate Fourth Tier “Create a New Magical Plant”A Wizard is not bound by the tools they are given. Instead, they create the tools they need. You have created the Magical Plant ‘White Airgrass’ Rewards: 77 EXP, 4 Intelligence, 4 Willpower, 20 Mana
Only as he received the Reward did Jeb think about the fact that he had not gotten any reward for learning the new Enchantments. Then again, Jeb thought to himself, it’s possible that they all count as a single Enchantment, especially since it’s all modular. It wasn’t as though he was hurting for any Statistics after receiving his end of term rewards.
Jeb harvested the Airgrass, carefully separating the seeds from the fibers and the fibers from the rest of the plant. He plowed the rest of the plant back into the field, only realizing the issue with that when he had finished. Even though there was an Enchantment to make everything Magically Attuned to the soil as a whole, it took time. The plant material was more heavily Attuned to Air than the Watergrass or Firegrass had been when he first made it.
On impulse, he tried growing a plot of plain Managrass. It came out as Airgrass. This is good to learn, Jeb thought to himself. It was also incredibly frustrating.
Jeb took the Managrass fibers home and waited for the next day to begin making Earthgrass. He briefly debated trying to Attune the seeds before he left so that he would have one fewer tasks to do the next day. The fact that the Managrass was sprouting in the bucket kept him from following through.
The next day, Jeb ate a relaxed breakfast, idly noting that the Dean never came in. After a leisurely walk, he found himself in front of the field. It still screamed of Air Mana, and Jeb sighed.
It ended up taking four days for the Mana signature of the soil to return to what it was supposed to be. When it did, Jeb jumped with joy, swapped out the Elemental Attuner and began to work on growing Earthgrass. The bucket of Managrass seeds Attuned to Earth was somehow the strangest of the four Elements he’d worked with.
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It took Jeb a moment to figure out why. After all, the feeling of Earth was not that different from the signature that the Managrass had before he Attuned it. As he followed that thought, Jeb realized that was the issue. The Managrass just felt ever so slightly wrong, as though the world was marginally askew. The other Elements had been such a drastic change to the feeling that it was clear there was a Magical Effect.
Relieved that he now understood what was wrong, he tossed the sprouted seeds into the field. They quickly grew, and Jeb once more accepted the rewards for the Quest.
Congratulations! You have completed the Minor Quest Pollinate Fourth Tier “Create a New Magical Plant”A Wizard is not bound by the tools they are given. Instead, they create the tools they need. You have created the Magical Plant ‘White Earthgrass’ Rewards: 77 EXP, 4 Intelligence, 4 Willpower, 20 Mana
Jeb gathered up all of the fibers once again. This time, he debated whether it was worth it to plow the rest of the plant back into the soil. They were rich in Mana and nutrients that the Managrass would need to grow, but it would also mean that he could not use the field before the term began again. Then again, another voice in Jeb’s head chimed in, there is always the chance that Earth Mana will Attune away faster. After all, it is already close to the feeling of Soil. Jeb shrugged and listened to the small voice. It wasn’t as though he really had a pressing need for Managrass.
To his relief, the field did not end up needing the same four days to Attune back to normal. Jeb was able to grow another few batches of Managrass before the term began.
Jeb’s Status Sheet at End of Chapter:
Jeb Humdrum Human Age: 16 Class: Wizard Level: 3 Experience: 1246/204
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Total Statistic Load: 842 ->858 Physical Load: 278 Strength: 52 Dexterity: 53 Endurance: 54 Vitality: 55 Presence: 64
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Mental Load: 564 ->580 Intelligence: 118 ->126 Willpower: 119 ->127 Magic Affinity: 119 Mana Depth: 104 Charisma: 104
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Mana: 1975 ->2015
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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)