There were only 2 days left of the week that Markus had set for them to stay in Northwind.

Today Johan planned to visit Clara to explain his findings, as well as get her help to learn imbuement and ask questions about Constructs.

When he walked into the store from his room he found that Anne was talking to David, as well as taking some notes.

"So, if I use hyperion clover instead it acts as a paralytic?"

"Yeah, it is quite useful when you are out numbered, and, though it doesn't work too well on creatures like trolls and those with greater regenerative abilities, it also works pretty well on monsters too."

It would seem that Anne was learning about poisons that could be helpful. Johan had heard that she had taken up a slight obsession with herbology, perhaps that was why? Either way, it didn't matter too much to Johan, so long as Anne was safe.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt, I'm going to go to Clare's. I'll be back later, I just wanted to make sure someone knew where I went."

"Oh. Alright then. See ya later kiddo." David waved him off before going back to talking with Anne, who waved goodbye as well.

Johan left David's store and walked the 10 or so minutes to Clara's, pausing only a couple of times to make sure he saw the right landmarks.

Arriving at the small workshop, he knocked on the door. Just a few moments later, Clara opened the door, a bit groggily.

"Oh... It's you. Hey, what do you need Johan?" She rubbed the sleepiness from her eyes. Her brown hair was tangled a bit, and her clothes were also a bit messy, he could also see some spots where she had dry drool on her face. It was both a bit cute, but also a bit gross from Johans perspective. It seemed he had woken her.

"I have some stuff to talk with you about. I found out what that feeling was from earlier in the week." Johan responded.

"Alright, come on in... I'm going to get changed though, so look away if you want." She turned around with a quick wink, letting him close the door behind himself.

"So you sleep here sometimes?" Johan asked, looking pointedly away from Clara

"Well, not sometimes, but most of the time, yeah. It's cheaper than renting out a room, and it's not like there is no space to do so, I only really use the tables anyways."

"Ah... That's true I suppose. I never even thought about that. The only other workshop I've seen was a mechanics workshop, so a lot of stuff was everywhere in there."

"Yep. That's one of the best things about Alchemy, most of the stuff you need to keep in stock is pretty easy to keep in smaller areas, and it's also relatively easy to keep organized once you get used to it. Though I struggle a bit with that myself. I'm fully dressed now."

Johan turned, seeing Clara in her black shirt and slacks once more.

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"Alright, so I'll start with what I found out about what was going on before. I recently obtained a book about summoning magic which also talks somewhat in depth about spatial mana, what it does, and how it feels to interact with. I found that the sense of dread I felt the other day is a side effect of spatial mana being present.

I also learned that one of the best ways to more easily obtain spatial mana is apparently by imbuing things, as it causes holes to appear in space due to the sudden removal of mana from the atmosphere." Johan explained, seeing her eyes widen a bit after a certain point, and then watching Clara fall into a contemplative state.

"Hmm... Could I see this book?" She asked.

"Yeah, give me a moment." Johan reached into his bag and pulled out the thin book. "You do have to put just a smidge of mana into the book to read it though, just be aware of that." Johan informed her as he handed it to her.

Clara read it for a few minutes, then she simply closed it and handed it back to Johan. "That is quite the interesting book you found. I think I'll try to start collecting spatial mana soon with the method they describe there. Thank you for informing me about that, that seems very useful."

"That's good, because I also have another question for you."

"Alright, seems fair, what is it?"

"Would you help me with figuring out how to form my first construct?"

"What do you mean? It's not even been a year since you became a mage, right? There shouldn't be any way for you to already be ready for your first construct." Clara said, a bit confused.

"Well, I'm not sure, but my chest is feeling stuffy, and my blood is beginning to become oversaturated. It's the same feeling I had when I formed my mana heart, I thought that was supposed to be a sign that a mage is ready to advance, the book I have even describes it as such."

"Wait, wait. Hold up. You formed your mana heart through the heart stop method? Is your teacher *insane*? That was discontinued decades ago because of how many people died to it. Also, you say that your heart is stuffy? How in the hell have you managed to gather that much mana? Do you only meditate or something?"

"What are you talking about? I don't even know how to meditate, I gather mana every time my heart beats due to the method I used to create my mana heart. Is that not normal?" It was Johans turn to be confused.

"Holy crap... I get why it took so long for that method to become banned now, with that type of benefit. Anyways, if your heart is feeling full of mana it is time for you to advance, in fact it's probably a bit past time to advance. Do you have an idea of your Construct yet?"

"I was thinking a shield of some sort. To symbolize that I will protect my loved ones. Seems right to me."

"Ugh. I can't believe that you really weren't taught much about this stuff. You want something that is about only you, not something about what you will do for others. If you do that, you may as well use circles. After all, it will tie you into service. For example, my Construct is a bottle, symbolizing my love for alchemy. My teacher had his constructs as a log, to symbolize his roots as a lumber jack. Something like that is usually good to use."

"I don't think there is anything like that for me though. I don't have anything like that, or at least, not any that stick out to me."

"Really? What's something you enjoy doing?" Clara asked

"Well, I like to learn. But, how do I symbolize that?"

"Huh. Learning, eh?" Clara rubbed her chin, "How about a book?"

"I don't know... That doesn't seem quite right to me. Perhaps a brain?" Johan suggested.

"A brain? Does that symbolize learning?"

"It can... But maybe not?" Johan stood, arms folded, and looked up. "Oh! Aren't some birds related to knowledge?"

"Yeah! That's right!" Clara snapped her fingers. "I believe that the god of knowledge has a bird that marks the aspect of pursuit of knowledge. I don't remember what bird it is though. There is a temple in town though. You should go check it out and come back. I'll do some work while you are away, I still have a job after all. You should be fine for a bit longer too."

"Alright, I'll go ask about it. I hope the priests don't mind." Johan sighed a bit.

"They shouldn't. The god of Knowledge, Knuth, supposedly supports the pursuit of any form of knowledge, regardless of how it's obtained. He's a true neutral god after all."

"Alright. Well, I'll be back later then. Bye." Johan quickly took his leave.