142, 1/2

“As I said yesterday, we will begin with a few preliminary tests to see where I need to start with my instruction, but almost all of that can be skipped.” Singer Kaffi said, “Let us move right along to the creation of the Rift that you have planned. Explain the tier work you have done and the goal of your final outcome.”

The privacy functions were off, but the stone amphitheater room was still exceedingly quiet. Ezekiel could hear his heartbeat. He could hear the heartbeats of Kaffi, sitting three meters away from him, on the same stone ledge as himself. He could even hear the heartbeats of his people, Julia, Paul, and Tiffany, sitting on the other side of the room. They were nervous in their own unique ways.

Kaffi was not nervous at all, which was normal, he supposed, for an Enforcer for a High Clan. If Ezekiel were to be even more exact about what he was seeing there, he would say that Kaffi was relaxed. As though it was finally testing day after preparing for so long. Which made sense. His own presence here was sort of like a test, and at least it was an event that Kaffi had said that the entirety of the Highlands had prepared for.

Ezekiel wondered, briefly, how nervous or excited the High Clans had been when they had found out that he was creating magic on the other side of the world by singing at the manasphere? A question for the future, for sure.

Ezekiel answered, “[Force Wave] and [Force Bomb] combined into [Prime Area] for tier 2, which I already have, then shifted to Firelight for tier 3 which I also already have, in [Firelight Shift]. The next step is to take [Firelight Shift] and a Rift-understanding of [Force Wall] to make a tier 4 spell. Alternatively, I could ignore my [Firelight Shift] spell and remake the Rift at tier 3, putting [Force Wall], Mana Altering to Firelight, [Prime Area], and the working for a Rift into one step.”

Kaffi asked, “Do you have a successful Rift version of a [Force Wall]?”

“No.”

“Explain your understanding of a Rift.”

“… Okay. Well.” Ezekiel considered, then he said, “Rifts are sort of like Shifts, but not… Shifts can only affect what happens inside of their own designated area, with minimal affect outside of the area, but a Rift’s effects linger as a buff or debuff well after someone has stepped out of its area of effect, only vanishing after the ‘cloying’-Shift has been used up. But a Rift is not a true buff or debuff, though, since it isn’t actually shifting a person’s aura into something else; it’s just stacking power onto the top of the aura.” He said, “A different way to work a shift is into a direction of personal control, instead of random empowerment. This other direction is known as a Domain.”

Kaffi paused, then said, “Though Rift, Shift, and Domain exist on the same axis, this is not how I would explain that axis at all. You have listed the breakdowns between each field of magic related to Rift work like some warband general fresh from the academy, listing out all the enemy’s forces before you attack, and before you have any experience in the field.

“There is an easier way to think of Rifts, and it is this: A Rift is the imposition of a resonance in the manasphere which causes the magics of everyone nearby to heighten due to harmonic sympathy. A side-effect of this magic is that spells which are harmonically opposed to the Rift are lessened. This resonance lingers on the people it touches, as opposed to Shifts, which have that resonance contained into a specific area.”

“Huh.” Ezekiel said, “That’s a more elegant philosophy, for sure.”

“Do you still want to make your Rift today? I can show you a few examples of Rifts if you wish.”

“Yes, and yes.” Ezekiel gestured to the large space in the middle of the room. “I’d like to see some Rift examples. The adjustments I need to make to my own Rift experiment will be minimal, I think.”

Kaffi gestured to the center of the room. A pulse of light appeared, like a crack in Reality, rapidly becoming a ball of ethereal water that cascaded blue glows into the rest of the room and kicked up a shimmering ripple on the edges of everyone exposed; outlining them in white-blue glows. The epicenter of the spell reminded Ezekiel of his own [Cascade Imaging] spell, but as seen from underwater.

Ezekiel felt like he was at the bottom of a pool, in a good way.

With a second gesture, Kaffi handed him a blue box.

Kaffi said, “This [Waterglow Rift] is the spell I would teach healers or those looking to become healers. But this one—” She canceled the previous spell and cast another into the air.

The glowing water turned darker, but not shadowed. The various lingering glows of the previous spell vanished completely as the new spell settled in, giving the impression of the deep ocean. Ezekiel was still at the bottom of a pool, but he imagined turning around to make sure that the bottom was still there, and instead, he just found endless ocean depths. It was unsettling, for sure.

Kaffi handed out a different blue box.

 

Kaffi said, “This is what I would teach someone looking to start and farm a Water Essence dungeon. But for us Singers, this is not enough. I know that we did not agree to go down this route, but I feel I should show you what we Singers can actually do with our chanting, and aura control.

“One of our main advantages as Singers is that we can mold the magics we already have into something slightly different, without creating new magics. This is a benefit because with our techniques, we won’t trigger the ten, hundred, or thousand day penalties for making a magic wrong.

“It is like using Mana Altering to make a new spell, but until you actually commit, you won’t make the spell. We have taken this phenomenon a step further, to apply this trick to all magic, which enables us to experiment a lot more than a normal mage.” She said, “Observe. Tell me what you feel after this slight shift in this magic.”

She pointed to the watery orb in the center of the room, dismissing it in preparation for the next to come. The air around her body flexed as she cast. Ezekiel wasn’t quite sure what she had done with her aura, but it was something.

The resulting cascading blue orb was different than the [Water Rift] from before. That feeling of being in the open ocean vanished. Instead, it now felt as though he sat on a boat in the open ocean, listening to the waves lap gently, Restfully.

He was at Rest.

He hummed, thinking.

She was either lying, or telling the truth, and since Kaffi was obviously trying to pull him deeper into the Highlands, to get him to consider staying, she was likely telling the truth.

The next concern was this: They were supposed to do aura work, and maybe talk a bit about his Rift concern, but here she was, showing him how to chant to change his already available spellwork into something adjacent to what it already was.

He was interested, for sure. No problems there.

… So he let it happen.

He said, “You made your [Water Rift] Restful.”

“Yes.” Kaffi said, “It is the same spell as before, but I have aura controlled the casting of the spell in order to shift it slightly away from the deep, watery depth it was, into something more calm and applicable to everyone. This is both a nuanced version of what is possible, and an application of the skills I have been working on my entire life. A much easier way to see this application of chanting control is to witness a spell like this in action.” She handed him a blue box.

She dismissed the watery Rift in the middle of the room and cast her new spell. White flows burst from a point, expanding into the entire amphitheater space. White wisps, like something less than fog, touched upon every person, clinging to them.

Kaffi said, “This is the base spell. I have designated that Odin there as an ally, but the other as an enemy.”

She spoke of the two extra Odins in the room, still fluttering about, as opposed to the one on his shoulder which just watched. One of the Odin flew faster than normal, with the wind always at his back, but the ‘enemy’ Odin was hindered, with the wind always pushing away from the direction he tried to fly. Odin played with Odin, like a quick bird tumbling around another bird that had an invisible weight attached to his wings. Odin seemed to be enjoying the novel experience. But…

Ezekiel said, “I’m not sure I appreciate one of my Odins being labeled as an enemy for your display.”

Kaffi smirked. “I don’t have many non-damaging spells with which to demonstrate the power of aura control and Singer techniques.” She lifted her hand again, and said, “And this is the same spell but altered wholly toward the speed of allies.” She cast again, flickering her control. Wind filled the room.

The ‘ally’ Odin began joyfully whipping around the amphitheater, buoyed by a fierce wind at his back, while the other Odin struggled to catch up. The invisible weight was gone, though; that much was easy to see.

Ezekiel said, “You’ve adjusted the strength of the buff, moving almost all of it toward the support of allies.”

“Correct.” Kaffi said, “With our Singer techniques and a proper aura control, you can adjust where the division of power lies within all of your spellwork that contains divisions of power.”

“Ah.” Ezekiel said, “I see how this would be useful for Rift work.”

Practically all Rift work had a division between buffing and debuffing.

“Exactly.” Kaffi said, “Rifts are intrinsically buff and debuff spells, which means that to know all of our Singer techniques is to be able to work your Rift magic much better. You can have double powered Water magics instead of empowered Water and depowered Fire, or you can shift that same Rift toward drastically hindering all Fire magic.

“You can also use this technique to get around some of the limitations of combining magic.

“Say you wish to have your [Fireball] do even more of its magic damage over time, instead of upfront. Or you want the large damage-over-time [Fireball] you’ve made to release all that power at once. Normally, you would either need to make multiple spells to do this, and in some cases, like [Fireball], you cannot use the same combination you already have so you would need to break the [Fireball] you have and start again, or use some esoteric, less-useful combination. But using our aura control techniques, you can use the same spell you already have and shift it as necessary in the moment, as battle dictates. No need to use a less-optimal spell in combat because the spell you want to use won’t fit the situation. No need to attempt to make a new spell in the middle of combat and put yourself at risk for a worthless spell—” She cut herself off.

Ezekiel watched as Kaffi realized that she was pushing too hard.

Kaffi breathed. She said, “I feel I am trying to sell you on the Highlands more and more, and have gone off on a slight tangent. Apologies. It vexes me that you are not willing to consider staying, permanently. But…” She blinked away her concern, then said, “Anyway. All that we teach is connected. All magic is connected. To know some unimportant facet of magic today is to understand next year’s issue. Thus, this exploration of Rift magic has taken me down a path you did not ask to go…

“Anyway. Would you like to try making your Rift now?”

Ezekiel said, “Yes. Do you have any pointers you wish to share?”

“If you have not made a Rift out of the base [Force Wall] then I suggest you do that today. The spell you’re looking for is something like this one.” Kaffi handed him a box.

Ezekiel read the description, then he checked the Script for [Force Rift], just to be sure. He found nothing. This wasn’t one of those you could just spend a point and get.

“How would you make this one?” Kaffi asked.

He said, “Altering.”

“Most would guess Shaping.”

“I would have too, before I learned some tricks from a certain Archmage a while ago. Shaping changes the shape. The point of a Rift is, like you have said, to create a resonant reaction in the manasphere and touch the auras of all nearby. Altering is how you buff and debuff. Shaping does nothing for that.”

And that was a tip from Archmage Syllea, who knew all about buffs and Mana Altering; a field in which Ezekiel had barely touched, besides to understand some of the ideas behind it all. It seemed that he would be using much of that knowledge today, and it was about darn time!

Kaffi nodded. She watched and waited.

Ezekiel held out a hand and channeled mana through his [Force Wall]. An immaterial, magenta demarcation of solidity took hold in the protrusion of mana pouring from his palm. Instantly, he was annoyed. He could hear the perfect pitch of [Force Wall] and what it wanted to do, but his current Mana Altering for simple magenta coloring was tainting the vision of his magic. It added a… purple note to his spellwork; he wasn’t quite sure how to describe it other than by color.

He shook his hand out, dispersing sounds and feelings into so much broken, glittering mana.

Kaffi picked up on his thoughts, through his actions, saying, “That’s going to be a problem for delicate spell creation. Your rings, [Personal Ward], and every active spell on your person is also going to be a problem when learning aura control. Especially your [Greater Lightwalk], as that is using your aura, and you can’t be using your aura when learning aura control.

“We could always turn the privacy functions back on for this spell creation part, but for the aura control part, you would have to be a lot more trusting than you are, and I’m not going to ask you to do that. The most I am going to do is inform you now of what will hold you back.” She considered, then added, “I might inform you a few more times, in the future, if it looks like we’re not gaining any ground.”

Ezekiel considered for a moment. Then he had an Odin flit to the door and turn the privacy on.

The world beyond the amphitheater disappeared to Erick’s mana sense. He breathed, as his nearby Ophiel fluttered into their many-eyed forms. Then he stood up, shook his arms out, and held a hand up. He channeled mana through [Force Wall], producing a white flare; a solid spot in Reality. It was prevention and fortification; a demarcation between here and there and the power to keep separate.

Altering that idea was rather simple.

In his other hand, he Altered mana for openness. Instead of a demarcation, there was a door. Instead of here and there, he had flow from one to the other. An exchange. A breakdown of barriers, but not just that. A cascade of breakdowns that started in one location, but spread throughout, touching upon all the lives therein, empowering the possibility of Force to higher, purer magnitude.

He broke a Wall, and let loose a Rift.

He cast.

A white glow took hold of the center of the amphitheater, sending out flowing glows of magic, singing a soundless song of Force into the world.

A blue box appeared.

Kaffi’s eyes were wide as she took in the spell hovering before her. Erick handed her the blue box, and she began to smile as she read. She laughed, twice, then quieted to a small grin. Upon dismissing the box, she said, “If you weren’t such a well-documented Planar then even I would suspect you a secret, long-lost member of the High Clans. Especially after that display.”

Erick smiled at the compliment, then said, “What I don’t understand, though, is the wording between Shifts and Rifts. They read so similar, and yet they’re different.” He dismissed the [Major Force Rift] and handed her another box. “I got the ‘plus exposure’ on [Major Force Rift], so that’s different, but. Well. You see?”

Kaffi read the second spell then she dismissed it, turning professional as she said, “The answer as to why many magics read similar or improperly indicative of what they are, is a difficult question to answer. The shallow answer is this: Shift, Rifts, and Domains exist on an axis that is muddled. The deeper answer necessitates a bit of philosophy.

“Here is a truth: Magic, the binding of mana into myriad forms, is more multitudinous than what we living beings are ever capable of truly, fully grasping. So we divide the indivisible into Elements, with simple names like ‘Fire’ or ‘Air’.

“But magic does happen, and we can divide it however we please.

“And yet, here is another truth: Magic should not come easy. Not anymore. Wizards ruined an entire universe when they had easy access to unlimited spellwork and the whispers of Darkness in their ears.

“And if the story ended there, if we lived in a world without mana, then that would be a different world than the one we have.

“But in this world full of mana, the Darkness is an endless threat. Rozeta knows that we still need mages and archmages in the world, and so we have the Script. That is why she hands out tiny Truths in exchange for levels we gain from victory over the Darkness. This is why she hides the True nature of magic in the basic wording of smaller spells, but the larger, better, Truer magics are either so minutely worded that you would never understand anything from them, or they’re just not in the Script at all. Mana sense. Aura control. Manual spell casting. Enchanting! Gods above, enchanting. Darker and brighter magics of which there are no names, only Truth and Possibility. These are not covered by the Script, at all.

“No one gets free answers anymore.

“So when you see that Rifts and Shifts have similar wordings, what you are seeing is a base representation; the first page of two novels that are the same on their surface, but different in their depths. It is in the using and the understanding of these spells that one comes to understand more of mana itself, and what we have wrought out of it. It is through personal trial and tribulation we learn personal Truths, so that we can reach the heights of magic and power that are necessary to keep this world safe from those who would see it harmed.

“Because ‘those who would see it harmed’ are all too often the people who live here, twisted by the Darkness, just as he has twisted other life into monsters.

“So, to put it less charitably, and simply, most people shouldn’t have access to most magic. And those who can’t understand it? Even less. Thus the obfuscation.”

Ezekiel hummed once, as he considered Kaffi’s words. Then he said, “I can see that perspective.”

Kaffi acknowledged, “Not everyone thinks the same, this is true. Very few people can combine a Force Rift like you just did, either, so whatever your perspective is, it works. Will you be making the next Rift, now?”

“I believe I will.”

Ezekiel channeled [Firelight Shift] through one hand, producing a flickering handful of bright white flames. It sounded like a bright summer’s day. A time spent by a bonfire, celebrating something transient and important, while also sounding like pure radiant power.

Huh.

There seemed to be an option, here. He could shift the spell toward a bright, bonfire day. Or, he could go for radiant power.

… There was a third option, which he should have already considered. He could just Mana Alter for Firelight, instead of using the [Firelight Shift] spell he already had.

There were a lot of ways to go about this. The only real reason to include a [Prime Area] derivative spell would be to heighten his own spellwork, and not the spellwork of others; to give only him a benefit and everyone else the disadvantage.

Did it work that way?

He asked Kaffi, “Normal Rifts are universally empowering or depowering depending on what spellwork you choose to use. Am I to understand that to include [Prime Area] derivatives would restrict the buffing to myself, and debuffing to others?”

“Ah?” Kaff said, “Yes. Apologies. I thought you knew. Rifts which include a Shift in the working do exactly as you say. Otherwise, you can buff and debuff everyone the same, for cheaper. Rifts are universally affecting spells. Shifts are about control. Domains are about utmost control.” She added, “But a larger Truth is that the spectrum between Rift and Shift and Domain is not just a single line.”

Ezekiel nodded, then turned his attention back to his spellwork. He checked another spell he had.

He decided to make two Rifts. The first was with [Firelight Shift]’s bonfire day, stretched out into an overflowing warmth that touched all, and yet empowered only him.

A thought clicked.

The joy of the day vanished from Ezekiel’s mind, for it wasn’t just hot outside, it was oppressive. It was forest fires starting without warning. Lakes drying. Mud cracking. Frogs baking in the light of day. The sun brought down to Veird. Ezekiel smiled, as another thought occurred.

A [Gate] that reached the sun would do the same.

But wasn’t the ‘Sun’ element part Air? Yes, it was.

He cast.

The manasphere ripped open the center of the room. Pure sunlight poured into the space; a heat and brightness that burned away as much as it blinded. Ezekiel stared at the brilliance before him for a mome—

The sun vanished as a Void Song tore it apart like waves crashing against a sunlit shore, drowning out that small part of the world. In seconds, tides of nothing surged over the sun, drowning it out.

… Huh.

Ezekiel turned to Kaffi like a man coming out of a daze.

And then he saw the ground. Stone smoked. Kaffi’s dress was singed on the edges. Odin fluttered on his shoulder, shedding burned feathers that turned into motes of magenta mana, drifting away on the Void Song in the air.

Here and there, smoke filled the room, hovering on steaming air. It was pretty darn hot in here.

Across the room, Paul, Julia, and Tiffany, were each standing, looking like they were defending themselves from a nonexistent enemy. Kaffi flicked a hand and thick air tore through the space. Paul, Julia, and Tiffany, each did the same, coughing briefly while [Cleanse]s turned smoke back into breathable air. The air conditioning [Ward]s in the room came back, plunging the space into cooler temperatures.

A stone bench on the other side of the room fractured under the rapid temperature change. A bit of rubble fell off of the ledge, crashing down into the silence of the amphitheater.

… Ezekiel had an Odin flutter over there and [Mend] it back together.

Ezekiel said, “Whoops! Sorry about that. Sometimes it gets away from me, Kaffi.”

Kaffi sighed at him while a blue box appeared.

“… Were you trying to make a damaging Rift?” Kaffi asked.

“Uh…” Ezekiel considered. “Not at first. But the ideas and sounds came together rather well and then I went for it. The only unexpected thing there was exactly how much damage it does.” And the size and the duration and the multiplier from ‘each opposed active magic’. He gestured out to the empty air of the amphitheater, and said, “This next one won’t be damaging, I think.”

He cast again, this time using [Light Shift].

The air tore.

Pure Light came through, to fill the world with glory.

He dismissed his new [Major Pure Light Rift] and threw out a good dozen [Healing Word]s to each person as fast as he could think to heal. It wasn’t true healing magic like [Greater Treat Wounds] was true healing magic, but it would restore Health quick enough.

“That one was better, right!” Ezekiel asked, smiling.

Kaffi blinked to clear her eyes.

Ezekiel said, “Thank you for your assistance.”

Kaffi breathed deep, and with professional mien, asked, “Could I see both of these new spells?”

“Sure.” Ezekiel didn’t hesitate because he had already decided that if she asked to see them, he would show her. Later, he’d get the opinions of his own people. He handed her the spells, asking, “What do you think?”

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Kaffi frowned, but as she read the spells, her frown vanished, replaced by respect. She said, “It is as I suspected; Super Long Range, and no listed spell size on either. These Rifts will have diminishing effects depending on how far you’re from them, but you could put them high in the sky and no one would be able to reach them to [Dispel] them, and you’d still gain their benefits.” She bowed in her seat, saying, “It is humbling to be in the presence of a true archmage. Thank you for this demonstration.” She rose, adding, “Shall we turn the privacy off, and begin to work on your aura control, Ezekiel?”

Ezekiel said, “Yes. Also… Sorry about the burning. That was… unintentional.”

Kaffi smirked, slightly, saying, “This happens a lot when dealing with competent casters like yourself. Hence, the Void Song, to disrupt any damaging spellwork before it has a chance to actually harm.”

Ezekiel nodded.

With a bit of telekinetic control, Kaffi reached over and opened the room, dispelling the privacy. Ezekiel glanced outward with his mana sense, and saw nothing untoward. There had been no trap; there had been no subterfuge. Yggdrasil’s [Scry] eye reappeared, and Ezekiel felt better about his time with Kaffi, even if they hadn’t even had a full session yet.

Kaffi began, “Aura control is the skill by which mages are able to manually cast spellwork, but everyone’s aura starts off small, in the same way that low levels of Light Essence gives you a low level Elemental Body skill.

“We can skip the small stuff for now, like [Light] or [Light Step], for while they are useful, there is no equivalent aura control skill. The only time you actually get any aura control is when you’re at the [Lightwalk] or [Greater Lightwalk] stage.

“Knowing this, you can likely guess why not many people have skill at controlling their aura.

“Anyway, with [Lightwalk], you are unable to manually cast most spells, for you need a large enough aura to actually manifest the movement of mana in the space in which your spell will then take place. One can cast [Force Bolt] with a [Lightwalk], or any of the other spells which originate from your person.

“But manually casting a [Force Wall] is different. You need range to be able to cast that spell ten meters away from yourself, and [Lightwalk] simply doesn’t have the range. [Greater Lightwalk] has the range.

“To gain control of the aura, first you must unlock or understand your aura, and then you must grow it to a suitable size for magic work.”

Ezekiel knew most of what Kaffi was saying, but every time he had tried to learn to control his aura he had never had the theory behind the skill presented in quite this way. He knew that the Headmaster didn’t teach proper magic in Arcanaeum, or about the Remake Quests and stuff like that, but he would have liked to have heard at least some of what Kaffi was saying in a traditional classroom setting.

Maybe other people got that teaching? Ezekiel never saw a single hint of it, though. But, he was only there for two months.

Eh. If he had been there for ten years, would he have learned all of what he had learned in this past year, alone? Maybe he would have. Maybe not.

Likely not. You don’t meet other archmages in classrooms at college, after all.

Kaffi’s lesson was definitely higher-level than the aura control lessons he had already known, for sure.

Kaffi continued, “To say it another way: Learning proper aura control is first about finding your aura and then expanding your aura. You must discover a limb you didn’t know you had, and then you must lift heavy weights to grow those ethereal muscles. Have you discovered your aura, yet?”

Ezekiel wasn’t exactly sure what she was asking, so he said, “I have used Aurify. I have used [Greater Lightwalk]. I have experience with controlling what I think is my aura, but, when I don’t use a spell I already have, I do not have any ability to move the mana around me, which is what I think I should be able to do if I had aura control.

“I have a fantastic mana sense, and all of the Sight spells, so I feel I would know if I was screwing up somewhere. I’m not sure what the problem is.” He added, “There’s not even an [Aura Sight] spell to help out, either. I have no idea why not.”

“There is no [Aura Sight] for there are no easy answers in magic.” Kaffi continued right along, saying, “Your problems with aura control are normal problems that every mage experiences, the world over; you are just in a better position than most to see your problem than most.” She made a small joke, “Even if you can’t see it.”

Ezekiel allowed himself a smile; it was a good pun.

Kaffi nodded. “Aurify is fantastic. But it is a crutch. Also, your [Personal Ward] directly interferes with your ability to see and feel your aura, and almost all mages end up in the practice of casting a [Personal Ward] at the start of every day, thus locking in their weakness and hampering their ability to ever overcome that weakness. Your magical items have a lesser, but just as injurious effect against learning to control your aura.”

“… Why is that, though?”

Kaffi said, “A [Personal Ward] is exactly the same as sealing yourself in a barrier. This barrier is an impediment to aura control for the aura is a naturally wispy thing that sits atop your soul, usually doing nothing. Maybe I should explain:

“The soul is the base of a person. The bedrock. But it is not a person.

“And then we have a trio of expressions of the soul, which come together to form a person. The first expression of the soul is the body, which allows the soul to control the physical. The second is the mind, which allows a person to understand themselves. The third is the aura, which exists in the mana and allows a person to control the mana around them.”

Not the usual mind-body-soul triumvirate that Ezekiel knew of, but it was interesting to hear of a different philosophy.

Kaffi continued, “By already controlling the magic around you, you are shackling your aura down to its barest self.

“You overcome this limitation every time you use Aurify, for the Script is a great boon and allows you to skip a large step toward learning proper aura control.” Kaffi said, “Now, I know you cannot do this around me or around anyone but your most trusted people, but the best way to learn aura control is to divest yourself of absolutely every magical protection you have and then sit out somewhere, preferably with as few clothes as possible, trying to feel the mana. Bugs, wind, sensory experiences of any kind can disrupt your ability to control your aura.”

Ezekiel frowned.

Kaffi said, “So unless you manage an unusual breakthrough while I am helping you to feel out your aura, I suspect you will have to do that naked search on your own. I will teach you all the best techniques for feeling the mana, though. One of those techniques is to use Aurify to make a decimeter-or-less radius aura spell, and then you switch the spell on and off, seeing if you can understand the aura by watching it in the spaces between the transformation from active spell to inactive rest. This is the primary technique that I will be assisting you with today. I have more than a few methods to help with this.

“The next method is to take a piece of Essence armor and wear it, absorbing it, to see where the essence becomes part of your aura. This is wildly expensive, and a great waste of resources, but it does work. You can even make tiny rings of Water Essence, for example, and even though you cannot gain [Water Body] through constant absorption of the same piece of ‘armor’, you might be able to get a feel for your aura in this manner.” Kaffi said, “A different application of this same method is to gain a water slime Familiar Form and eat the Essence that way. You would need to have a good mana sense to make up for the lack of senses of a slime, but you have that, and in this method, you could even eat enough Water Essence to gain [Water Body]. Either way, this method runs out of usability once you gain all six main Elemental Bodies.”

Across the amphitheater, Julia near-silently cursed. Tiffany grinned.

Kaffi continued, “A third method is to ask the gods for help. Most people can’t make use of this option, but it is a possibility. Aloethag, the orcol goddess of Beauty and Brutality, helps many learn how to control their aura, and all she asks for is millions of health in monsters reaped for her honor.”

Tiffany near-silently cursed. Julia had the good sense to remain completely silent.

Kaffi said, “A fourth method is to naturally awaken in the heat of the battle, when all your defenses are down and you’re about to die and you need more Script Seconds than you have. This is a terrible method. I only mention it for completeness.”