“And how about that one at the bottom of the page?” I nodded in that direction. Three small spears were crossed, pointing up.
“That symbol is known as a multiplier for projectile spells. This one is actually common to some of the other elements as well. It splits up the projectile and multiplies it, casting several smaller versions.”
I grinned. “I want to try that one.”
Amelia smiled and shifted from where she sat, holding the book in her lap to face me. “How did you make the tattoo last time?”
“I drew the shape of the rune into my skin, then applied the Beast Core fluid. As I said, my memory of the process is a little hazy.”
“Did you just use a regular knife?”
“I did then,” I replied, “but this time, I’ll use this dagger, since you seem to think that it’s an ancient Ink Mage tattooing device.”
“It certainly seems like it might be. Let’s give it a try.”
I held up the beautifully made dagger and looked closely at the tip. It would make sense to clean the end of it before cutting into my skin with it, and I figured the fire Core fluid wouldn’t be damaged by a flame, so I concentrated my mana into a small, focused blue flame and swept it across the tip of the blade a couple times.
Then, I gripped the dagger part way down the blade, so only the tip was sticking out. That allowed me to control the point as if I were using a pen. I laid my left arm down against my left knee to hold it steady, holding the Core in my left hand like an inkwell.
“Where should I start the rune? Above or below the other ones?” I asked.
Amelia paused. She pressed her fingers to her temples, obviously thinking. “I’m not quite sure how this works. There are no instructions for Ink Mages. I don’t even know how to make sure that your Mana will recognize the different parts of the tattoo.”
So, there were no instructions. I knew there wouldn’t be, but how was I supposed to work it out then?
“When I cast the fireball, I felt like I was in control,” I mused. “I pushed my Mana into each part of the tattoo.”
“I see,” Amelia said. “Maybe the placement doesn’t matter then.”
“I would assume it still helps to make sure one symbol is close to the other, otherwise I will have to push the Mana around a long way.”
“Yes, that would make sense. Try putting the new rune just a little behind the other one then.” Amelia leaned in to watch as I raised the dagger point above my skin.
I positioned it just half an inch behind the base of my original tattoo, further away from my hand. I pressed the dagger’s point against my skin, pushing it inward. I pushed just a little harder, and the point broke the skin. A drop of blood welled up, then dripped down my arm. Where the tip of the dagger had broken the skin, the orange fluid sat in a bright little dot.
Amelia drew in a sharp breath. “You’re bleeding.”
I chuckled as I began to repeat the process, neatly puncturing the skin again and again, building up a colored line forming the side of one of the spears. “That’s the idea,” I said. “See how this dagger leaves a little dot of color every time I do it?”
“The color is very bright, isn’t it? And see how it spreads under the skin?”
“It’s like the Core fluid was made to be tattoo ink,” I said with a nod.
We both lapsed into silence as I continued the slow, careful process of pricking the design into my skin. A sense of closeness surrounded us, and everything seemed very quiet.
After a little while, she said, “You seem to be very calm. Doesn’t it hurt?”
“A little,” I replied, doing my best to concentrate. “Not as much as getting my ass frozen by a wild boar.”
Amelia laughed. “No, I suppose it’s not so bad after everything you’ve been through today.”
I continued to work on the design. I formed the shaft of a spear, then a teardrop-like shape for the spearhead. Then, I drew a spear crossing the first one at an angle. I finished with a third spear, crossing the first two. I had to refill the hollow tip of the dagger several times during this process, and each time the fluid flowed up into the tip as if the dagger had been made for the purpose. The more I thought about it, the more I thought that was almost certainly the case.
The three spears were outlined in blood on the slightly angry red skin, and the orange Beast Core ink was glowing through the fine upper layer of my skin. Eventually, I put in the last few dots, finishing the final detail of the design.
As soon as I did so, I felt my Mana being pulled from my pool. Swift as flowing water, my Mana rushed to the spot in my arm where I’d drawn the spears, and the whole design suddenly glowed and flashed with a bright light, like a burst of flame. A pleasant sensation of heat rushed over me.
“Look!” cried Amelia. “The wounds are healing!”
She was right. To my amazement, the livid, inflamed skin over the tattoo was knitting itself together before my very eyes. After a moment, the glow of the tattoo subsided, and when I wiped the remaining blood from my arm, I marveled at the whole, undamaged flesh that was revealed. The many punctures from the dagger were completely healed.
“Is this an Ink Mage power as well, then?” I wondered out loud.
“I guess it must be, at least when you are giving tattoos.”
I held up the newly formed tattoo and admired it.
“It looks amazing,” said Amelia, and it felt great to hear the admiration in her voice. I had to agree; it looked really cool.
