Ray

But in the end, Ray decided to at least read through the material, it would do little harm to do so, but he might find something that he could do. Ray flipped through the pages, noting potions might have low mana requirements.

The Cough’s cure, Clotting blood and Hairpocalypse stood out. The first was the cure for the common cold, and seemed like something Ray could prepare now if he had some more mana. The recipe was simple, just add Herbgreen and Sawroot to a solution of pure water tinged with neutral mana.

The second, the potion for clotting blood, was more complex, but still something Ray might be able to do with a little more confidence. Hairpocalypse was a prank by a College student that made hair grow at fast speeds.

Ray sighed as he put the book down, looking for another one. In the end, he found a book on Herb history, one of his subjects, and decided to learn it. The book was not the most interesting read, in fact, it was one of the worst reads Ray had read in his life. And he had read a treatise on the terms of mana.

But at least it was unlikely that Ray would have to do it again. Perhaps it was because of his Fae heritage, but Ray had always had great memory. Not photographic like his mothers, but still good enough that he would just need to read the book a few more times before the exam to remember it.

“Sir, I did not disturb you as you seemed so engrossed in reading, but College was over a while ago. The last bus will be leaving soon.” the boy that had greeted Ray said. Ray hurriedly thanked him and rushed to the landing pad. The last bus was indeed still there.

Ray got on it, painting for breath as he took a seat in the otherwise empty bus. The bus, contrary to expectations, did not leave at once. A few minutes later, the boy that had warned Ray got on and gestured for the driver to start the bus.

“Did you tell the bus driver your location, sir? The bus usually only stops in the Merchant's district, not anywhere else.” the boy said. Ray opened his mouth to tell the driver to go to the commoners district, but held himself. Perhaps it would be best if the boy did not know where he lived?

“Oh, no need for that. I will just make my way from the Merchant’s district.” Ray said. “Thank you for all your help, I would have missed the bus without it.”

“Just my duty sir, besides you could have just called someone from the College office if you did miss it.” the boy replied. Ray knew that he presumed that he was a noble, but he did not correct him. Aunty Ariana would come if he asked anyway, so he wasn’t completely wrong.

“Eritrae.” Ray said, holding out his hand.

“Marcus” the boy replied, shaking the hand.

“A pleasure to meet you, Marcus. Have you been here long?” Ray asked.

“Not long, ugh Eritrae, just a year. The College offers jobs to those that might need them to pay for classes. The library job gives money and allows me access to the library, so…” Marcus.

“Just call me Ray. And the job sounds like an excellent opportunity.” Ray said.

“Yes, it is. I noticed that you were reading throughout the day. Did you not take any classes yet? The freshmen usually take classes during the first day.” Marcus said.

“Yes, I did not feel the need to. I’ll see if I have any that interest me later.” Ray said, hoping that he did not already know that he was a paid student.

“Oh yes, Mr. Larvittus barely teaches anyway. And Herb history isn’t the most interesting subject, too.” Marcus said.

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“A most boring one,, actually. I just did it, so I wouldn’t have to do it before the exam again. Now I can focus on more interesting things without having to ever think about how Count Rofuss planted seven branches of Cornithius in his Winter mansion to see if they would grow.” Ray said, laughing.

“Did they ever actually find out why only three branches grew?” Marcus said, giggling along with him.

“The book doesn’t mention it, but I am pretty sure it has something to do with how he planted it. Cornithius is a very stingy plant, it won’t let any plants grow around it and will actively steal resources. The three Cornithuis’ that grew just won the fight.” Ray said, quoting from his memory of studying herbs in the Mage program.

“Oh, I did not know that.” Marcus said, looking surprised for some reason. The rest of the ride to the Merchant's district was spent talking with Marcus, something Ray found he thoroughly enjoyed.

In the end, they said goodbye at their stops, Ray making sure to head in the direction of the Noble’s district before heading towards the Commoner’s district. Perhaps he finally had a friend. The walk to the house passed by quickly, Ray humming a happy tune as he did so. But all the happiness vanished when he arrived back home to find the door locked.

And that moment, Ray remembered something, Ma must have been waiting for him in the Merchant’s district… Ray rushed towards the Merchant’s district at full speed, hoping that he would get there before Ma realized something was wrong.

But judging from Ma’s angry face when he got there, he was too late.

“I can explain!” Ray said, preempting any scolding.

“I am listening.” Ma stated.

‘“ I, um, made a friend and didn’t want him to know I was from the Commoner’s district and can I please do the same tomorrow and every day after. And I know that if he is my friend he would not care about me being in the commoners district, but I don’t want to risk it.” Ray spat out in a single breath, acting like a child to hopefully get his way.

Ma stared at him for a second, taking a deep breath in as she said, “Ray, first, it is good that you made a friend, and you can come from the merchants district if you want, I know that you already remembered the way, but next time, do remember to tell your mother, so she doesn’t get worried that something happened to you. “

“Now come on, we need to be getting home. I have an appointment with the builders to get some quotes, and I want to do some homework on the way, so I don’t end up getting scammed.”

“I just forgot…” Ray said, guiltily, as Ma began to walk. Ray followed after her, wondering if it was too early to ask if he could maybe go home alone and not tag along.

----------------------------------------

Ray

Ma did not let him go alone, instead she had him tag along the entire time as she negotiated prices for materials. Ray found it horribly boring. But it did give him time to think. Though neutral Qi was something only available to people at Tier 3, his power had shown the ability to turn into other things. In a way, yellow glitter was Fire element mana.

The question now was, did this extend to other forms of mana too? Ray looked around for something to experiment on, finding a dried up plant in the corner of the otherwise utilitarian shop.

Now, if yellow glitter was fire, then what would water be? Blue? Ray did not see the harm in trying. Drawing on his mana, he summoned some blue glitter, watching the conversion rate.

The pellets of glitter were uniform, as one would expect of magic. And nine of them were formed from each point of mana. Now to see if they converted to water. Ray sprinkled the glitter above the plant, watching as it turned into droplets of water.

Though he could not note how much water was formed, it was not a very sizable amount. Now, could he do wood mana? Ray was pretty sure that green was wood mana’s color. But this was too public a location to do that. Ray went over to Ma to try and get her to let him go home again.

“Ok, fine, but don’t mess anything up.” Ma said, handing him the keys while shaking her head in frustration. Ray smiled sheepishly and went home. The first step of the plan was to get a potted plant, so he could experiment. The house didn’t have one, but it did have a couple of weeds that could work. Ray took the weeds into a bowl and sat on his bed ready to experiment.

To begin with, Ray conjured nine more pellets of glitter and sprinkled them on the plant. The plant did not change much, but Ray was sure that it was a bit greener than before. Or was it just his eyes mistaking him? The only way to be sure was to observe them properly using his mana perception and use more mana too.

Ray conjured fifty-four pellets, leaving him with just five mana left. The green glitter circled the plant in Ray’s perception, and as he looked, turned into some kind of shimmering energy that was absorbed by the plant. And this time, the difference was visible, the yellow coloring of the plant faded to a yellowish green, clearly healthier.

Ray smiled, a success. Now to see if he could get some neutral mana in here.