Oren drunkenly wandered the streets of Grumgrod, ale bottle at hand. The passersby who saw the intoxicated dwarf wobbling aimlessly with an alcoholic stench were encouraged to move away from him as much as possible. As he strolled along, he came across Dingo by happenstance, drinking and snacking leisurely at a food stall by himself. Oren felt a sense discontent welling up inside him and so decided to confront the white-furred furrofaun about it.

"Hey, Dingo," Oren said, shoving Dingo in the shoulder.

"Oi, Oren! How's it going, mate?" Dingo greeted with his usual carefree grin.

"What's the big idea with you sending Jack to see Tobin, huh?" Oren growled with a hiccup, his face flushed and his speech slurred.

"Oh, that? Well, our new recruit needs a brush-up on his literacy skills and your son is the best teacher for it. I don't see what the problem here is, mate."

Oren spat at the ground. "Bah! This has nothing to do with him finding the best teacher! He could have gone to any teacher in this city, but you chose to send him to Tobin instead. I know what you're up to, Dingo Hwyte. You're just trying to vex me, aren't ya? Trying to ruffle me beard. I just knew it!"

Dingo took a sip from his cup. "Maybe I was, maybe I wasn't. Who can truly know?"

Oren snorted as he wobbled, barely able to stand. "Well, I don't like it! You should've asked me about it before you send Jack to see my boy, but instead you did it without paying me any regard. You didn't even ask for my permission!"

"What's the need for it? Tobin is his own man now. He doesn't need permission from you---or anyone else, for that matter---on who he teaches."

"Well, it doesn't matter! I forbid it, I tell you! Forbid it!"

"C'mon, Oren. Be reasonable."

"Reasonable?! Hah!" Oren cackled. "This is me being reasonable! If I'm not reasonable, I would have skinned you alive, ya mutt."

"Oren, mate, calm yourself. You're drunk. Yemi's definitely not gonna like it when she sees you like this," Dingo said gently, placing a steady hand on Oren's shoulder. "And isn't it about time you let go of your issues with Tobin? Can't you two just put aside your differences and get along already, like a normal father-and-son would?"

Oren brushed off Dingo's hand. "Bah! I don't need you to meddle in my family's business! I'll get along with my own son whenever I damn well pleases!"

With that, Oren trudged away, definitely more drunk and less happy than before. Dingo watched the dwarf wandered away and lightly shook his head with a sigh. But just as he was about to be finished with his snacks and drink, he caught sight of something at the corner of his eye. A spider had landed right on his shoulder. It was a tiny spider of the fairly common kind, barely noticeable unless you look real close.

Normally, people would freak out when they saw a critter like that landing anywhere near their vicinity. Not Dingo though. He remained ever so calm and collected in the presence of the spider. Gently, he guided his hand under the spider, allowing it to crawl on the back of his hand so he could meet the tiny creature eye-to-eye.

"Well, hello there, little fella. You lost?" Dingo said tenderly before guiding the spider down onto the ground, ever so gently as so to not harm the spider. "Off you go now."

As Dingo departed, the spider crawled away, nimbly crossing the streets and evading the footsteps of unaware pedestrians. Once it had crossed the street, the spider crawled up a building until it reached the inside of a window, approaching up the hand of a person lurking in the shadows. As the spider crawled up the fingers of this mysterious person, it spun its web and dangled at the tip of the person's fingers ever so delicately, similar to that of a pendulum. As the mysterious person stepped out of the shadows, she revealed her lean figure, ash-gray skin, dark-violet hair, and vicious red eyes.

This mysterious person was none other than Kizana, the assassin tasked by Aldinar Faewynn to kill Dingo Hwyte.

The spider then revealed its true nature---converting to its violet ethereal form---before disappearing in whiff of aura on the assassin's command. That spider was actually Kizana's summon the entire time, disguised as a regular common spider to spy on Dingo and his associates for the past several days. When a mage had reached a high enough skill level with their summoning magic, they were able to establish a mental link with their summons and share sensory information. Therefore, whatever the spider sees and hears, Kizana sees and hears. This was one of the more useful applications of summoning magic, more so than simply using the summons as mere cannon fodder during combat. Small-creature summons such as spiders were agile and inconspicuous, making them ideal for reconnaissance and intel-gathering.

When it came to assassinations, Kizana had always been the careful and cautious kind; that was the reason she'd had such a high success rate in missions thus far. She would spend weeks or even months scoping out every bit of information she could on her target: their strengths, their weaknesses, their habits and mannerisms, their friends and family, their associates and foes, what they eat and drink, where they sleep, who they fuck---every detail was necessary in order to carry out the perfect assassination. Kizana may have found Dingo Hwyte, but she was nowhere near ready to make her move into killing him just yet. She will continue to gather more information, enough to meticulously craft the perfect plan of attack---only then will she execute her mission without fail.

Kizana's heart lit aflame with rage as she thought of that scoundrel Dingo Hwyte. That lowly furrofaun dare have the audacity to make a fool out of the great admiral Aldinar Faewynn. He and the Crimson Flame have been a thorn to the admiral's side for too long, but they will not be any longer. Kizana will make sure of it. They will get their comeuppance eventually; Kizana just have to be smart and patient about it. No mistakes shall be made in this mission. Just like when a spider cast its web to ensnare its prey, so too will Kizana catch Dingo Hwyte in her carefully-laid trap.

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

Back at the Crimson Flame training ground, Jack was training in staff combat with Musashi while others were away on missions and errands. At first, the two were using regular wooden quarterstaves, but those can be modified with construct magic to transform them into various kinds of weapons with mana-constructed extensions attached to them. For example, Musashi could make its quarterstaff longer by extending its tips with added yellowish ethereal length, making it as long as a bo staff.

"Remember that---when it comes to construct magic---in addition to fully formed weapons, you can also create construct hybrids or 'half-forms', where part of your regular non-constructed weapon is attached with constructed extensions or attachments, thus changing its form and adding to its versatility," Musashi said as it gracefully swung its hybridized construct bo staff. It then morphed the staff once more so that there's a yellow ethereal spear point extending out of one of the tips, turning it into a spear. Then, as it twirled the weapon, it morphed it again, changing the spear point into a blade----transforming the entire weapon into more of a glaive. Then, with another twirl, it morphed the weapon yet again, turning the blade tip into a heavy spiked mace, delivering a large impact as it slammed onto the ground. Each transformation of the weapon was so seamless that it felt like some sort of magic show. As in real fantasy magic, not that 'pulling a rabbit out of a hat' bullshit. Not that there's anything wrong with that type of magic; it's just that this type of magic was way cooler.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"What's the point of creating hybrids when I can create fully formed weapons?" Jack asked.

"It's for conserving mana, mostly," Musashi answered. "Full-form constructs require more mana than half-form constructs. How much mana a construct consumes over time is dependent largely on the mass of the construct itself. Plus, there are certain spells that can negate your mana-generation for a brief period of time. If you are using a full-form weapon construct and is targeted with that kind of spell, your weapon will immediately disintegrate, leaving you wide-open for an attack. With a half-form weapon, even if you cannot use magic, at least you still have a weapon in your hand in its original state, leaving you partially defended at the very least."

"I see," Jack nodded, twirling his own quarterstaff in his hand.

"Of course, there are advantages to full-form constructs over half-form constructs, such as when you have absolutely no weapons at hand and is in desperate need for one, even if you have to expend the extra mana to create one. It all depends on the situation." Musashi twirled its quarterstaff once more, changing it back into its original form without the construct extensions. "Now that you have a good grasp at the fundamentals of construct magic, you will now learn how to utilize half-form weapons." The experienced mycoflor fighter readied itself into a fighting stance before gesturing to Jack, welcoming him to attack. "Now, come. Show me what you have learned, sporeling."

Jack steadied himself into his own fighting stance before activating a glyph, extending his own staff with extra length formed as light-blue constructs at its tips. With that he charged towards Musashi.

They exchanged blows with their respective staves, Jack, still being the novice that he was, swung powerful but wide blows that were easily telegraphed while Musashi, the martial arts expert, defended and evaded the attacks with the utmost skill and grace. As they sparred, the mycoflor gave Jack some pointers.

"Don't try to do overly powerful blows. It makes your moves predictable. Mix up your attacks a little," Musashi said, parrying Jack's attacks with ease. "Also, tighten your stance a bit. When you are not attacking, your should be defending or evading. Either be in constant guard or in constant motion. Never leave yourself vulnerable." After a couple more exchanges, Musashi transformed its staff into having a hook at the end, which it used to hook Jack's leg in order to trip him, taking him completely by surprise. Jack landed butt-first onto the ground in a thump. "And remember, in a world with constructed weaponry, the weapons can change and adapt into many forms. In order to prevail in a fight, you must change and adapt to it as well."

Musashi offered Jack a hand to pull him up from the ground.

Change and adapt, Jack thought to himself, mulling over those words in his head. Musashi was right. If he was to have any chance at surviving in this world, he has to change and adapt. That means using everything in his arsenal...and thinking outside the box.

That was when Jack thought of an idea.

"Hey, how about we make a bet?" Jack suggested. "If I can disarm your weapon in the next round, you treat me to a round of drinks."

"Oh, you are that confident, are you?" Musashi commented curiously. "I wouldn't think someone of your skill level would make such a bold bet."

"What? You scared?"

"No, not at all," Musashi twirled its staff before easing itself into a fighting stance again. "Come, student."

Jack steadied himself before rushing towards Musashi once more. However, this time, instead of using his staff, he equipped himself with a bronze wood axe through materialization, previously crafted using leftover bronze from Oren's shop. With that, he hacked at the staff, decreasing its hit points with every hit.

[Half-form Wooden Quarterstaff: 55/75]

[Half-form Wooden Quarterstaff: 35/75]

[Half-form Wooden Quarterstaff: 15/75]

It only took a few hits for Musashi's staff to be completely dematerialized, disintegrating into particles of blue light which were then absorbed into Jack.

"Hah! Didn't see that coming, did you? You have lost," Jack said, leisurely swinging his bronze wood axe around.

Musashi's face was normally a passive one, but Jack could see a hint of annoyance showing on it. "You have cheated," it said.

"Nuh-uh. Calling it cheating would imply that there are previously established rules that prohibited what I just did. You never said I couldn't use my axe. Plus, I believe the definition of 'disarming' means that you have removed your opponent's weapon from their hand, which this technically counts. Therefore, I win. Like you said, I need to change and adapt. And that is exactly what I did."

Musashi's face gradually changed from that of mild annoyance to that of an impressed smile. "That is true. You did change and adapt." It then bowed to Jack with a sense of respect. "I admit defeat."

"Does that mean I still get my round of free drinks?" Jack asked with a smug smile.

"I am a person of my word," Musashi replied.

"Yes! Haha!" Jack cheered as he leapt with a fist thrusting in the air.

"Although, it is a shame that we have one less quarterstaff now. I'd prefer not to have our equipment be haphazardly destroyed if possible."

"Oh, no worries. I'll just use my magic to craft another one. Easy-peasy."

Once Jack opened up his menu, however, he noticed something new and unfamiliar in his inventory; specially, something that was represented by an icon of a chunk of rainbow-colored rock. He hovered his finger over it and noticed that it was labeled as 'manacite'.

"Huh, that's weird," Jack said as he materialized that chunk of manacite from his inventory into his hand. "How did this get in here?"

Musashi looked at the manacite in Jack's hand with equal curiosity. "That is manacite, mana in its raw physical form."

"Yeah, I know. Yemi had explained it to me when she taught me enchanting. The real question is what is it doing here, in my inventory."

"Is it possible for your type of special magic to simply create manacite?"

"No, I don't think so. From what I can tell, my kind of magic has a set of limitations. One of it is that it does not simply create things, only storing things that I have put into it or have broken down."

"In that case, have you perhaps collected it within you during one of Yemi's classes?"

"Nah. I never recall putting any manacite in my inventory. I would have remembered if I did. I wonder where it could have come from."

"That is quite strange," Musashi said. "Although, manacite exist in many forms. Some in its rawest, most natural form---either in caves or in manacite storms. Others in its artificial form, like in constructed weaponry and armor-"

"Wait, did you just say 'constructed weaponry'?" Jack asked bewilderedly. "As in the half-form staff that I just dematerialized? That is made out of mana too?"

"Why, yes. Of course. Constructs are simply our own mana being shaped into a physical form, possessing similar physical properties as regular objects such as weapons."

"Then, maybe, when I dematerialized your half-form quarterstaff, I have also dematerialized the parts of it that were composed of mana constructs. And converted it back into manacite."

"That is quite possible, yes."

"Hah, sweet! That's a nice tidbit to know. Another thing I've learned about my power." Jack then stored his items back into his inventory. "Alright then, shall we go get my round of free drinks?"

"You still owe me a destroyed quarterstaff."

"Oh, yeah, Sorry about that."