My Servant System - #817 - 817 Chapter 816: Downtime (1)
“Alright, well I’ll get some teams drawn up; Mary, stay with me and give me an idea on the strengths and weaknesses of your people. I’ll call the rest of you back over in an hour or so. Until then, go do whatever. Just remain nearby and otherwise ready to work at a moments notice, so no mysterious disappearances! Got that?”
Satanya glared at Jahi and I as she said that, with Jahi lifted her head from my shoulder to smirk as she said “Sure, sure…” while I just shrugged, not giving the red skinned woman a definitive answer.
Snorting, she just decided to ignore us and get to work, looking down at the maps before grabbing a new piece of paper and jotting some things down, talking to Mary in a quiet voice.
“So what are we going to do?”
Looking at Jahi, I reached up to pat her cheek as I said “I’m going to be meditating for a bit, figure out how to tap into that new mana some. So… I’m going to need quiet and peace.”
Pouting, Jahi just looked over at Anput and Leone next, before her pout deepened as I added “And try not to be a disturbance, Jahi. Surely you can find a corner to train in, or perhaps there’s a library in the city somewhere? Just… don’t be a nuisance.”
“I would NEVER be a nuisance! Hmph… Fine! I’ll take a walk around the city, get an idea on just what state it is in. Leone, want to come with?”
Releasing me, Jahi looked towards Leone and smiled as she nodded, before turning to me and smirking as she said “See? Not a nuisance!”
I just rolled my eyes at her as I watched her saunter off with Leone beside her, the Vampire stopping to get her notebook as the two made their way out into the city to take a better look around and take notes as well; what needed to be patched, what needed to be evaluated further, and what should just be torn down to make way for something new.
All of that was what was going to be on their minds, and I was confident that they would get some valuable work done before or after Jahi has her fun… I could tell even without the bond that she was going to find somewhere suitable to pounce on the Vampire, who walked beside her anticipating said pounce.
“Well, I think I’ll bring in some of the metals and set up a forge nearby. Just make some basic weapons and tools for them to use, I guess. Good practice for myself. Though… Do you think you could create a sound barrier around me so I don’t disturb everyone?”
My mate stood beside me as she looked around for a good area to create her forge, and I nodded as I pointed towards a far corner that wasn’t being used currently, saying “We can work over there. How much are you planning on making? A lot, or just a little?”
“Probably… Well, there isn’t that many fighters, so about six swords and spears, whilst the tools would need to be in more abundance; a dozen pickaxes, axes, hammers, hoes, then some carpentry things like nails, screws, bolts, hinges, locks… Honestly, I have a lot to make, but they shouldn’t take that long to produce.”
“Alright. Well, let’s get your materials. Leraie! Help us move this stuff inside real quick!”
Calling out to the Demoness lingering around the edge of the hall with a few of her comrades, I gestured for her to come with Anput and I as we went out to the carriage, the Demoness nodding and following us before helping us bring the materials Anput wanted into the hall, much to the curiosity of the humans inside.
Moving it over to the corner we had designated moments earlier, I started to sort through the metals and various tools whilst Anput used her Earth Magic to construct a furnace, then used her Metal Magic to construct a reliable anvil and the remaining tools she needed for forging.
When that was all done, the Jackalkin first engraved a Fire Ritual Circle into the bottom of the furnace and ignited it, after which she shoveled some of the coal she brought into the furnace to fuel the flames even more, allowing her to focus on her forging instead of keeping the flames going.
After that, she picked up an ingot and got to work, placing it into the flames and organizing her workspace whilst I placed a barrier of wind around her to keep the sound from leaking out, drawing even more attention to this corner as the humans muttered to one another curiously.
We both ignored them, and I took a seat just outside of the dome and pulled out one of my notebooks, beginning to go over what I knew about my incredibly brief ability to utilize Lust Mana and try to figure out a way to regain that ability, even if it was in a limited capacity.
To start, I took a moment to recall the talk between Cali and I, going over the words she spoke and the potential clues laced within each one, jotting down the obvious and working my way into the nuance.
What was immediately crystal clear was that where my Ice Magic was entirely logic driven and based in cold, hard equations, interactions and reactions, truths and falsities, the realm of Lust Magic was entirely driven by emotions and desire.
There was no runes to give shape to this type of mana, no sequences or combinations to take the raw product and create something new; with it, you took the mana directly and molded it to your will, something that seemed so foreign to me now that I had been so engrossed and accustomed to the current system of magic I found myself in.
Rune Magic and Incantations were both similar branches of magic in the sense that they took the mana and funneled it into a vessel – runes and words respectively – to give them shape and purpose.
The runes for a healing spell, the words ‘heal’, ‘cure’, ‘mend’ and more both gave meaning to the mana, and that meaning was set in stone; no matter what, those spells would heal someone, though the strength of the spell depended on the mana.
I couldn’t recall ever once seeing Cali truly utilize any runes in her displays, instead just waving her hand and willing her mana to do something that she herself desired; that was the initial clue I had been given, and it was there that I had to start as I began to write whatever came to mind in my notebook.