It was dangerous in both exposing me as a ‘heretic’, as well dangerous in that it could kill me. And although simply reading what was said in the grimoire was obviously not dangerous, I carefully turned the pages of it, treating it as though it were.
I found myself looking at the last chapter of The Thauma; it had some concluding words by the Demon Lord, trying to explain the benefits of learning magic and how knowing such spells would be helpful for all species’. Clearly, his words were not very compelling.
I ignored all that, and slowly read through the important bits— the ones which dealt with going beyond with one’s spellcasting. My understanding of what was being said was nebulous at best, but if I were reading it correctly, spells were often derivative of one another. A spell could very rarely be made from nothing, and typically had to be built off the understanding of something else.
One way which this was exemplified was in how I learned Magic Bolt: I was in the middle of what I now realize was a panic attack, and was afraid of the incoming Abominations that I somehow emulated the feeling of firing a pistol and manifested it as a spell instead.
And while I might not have used a wide variety of mana tools, there was something I had done once or twice that seemed like it would be pretty effective in a fight. It was a tactic I had just used again recently, after nearly losing my life after doing it the first time— destabilizing a mana crystal.
It was dangerous. Probably would take a while to learn for me to do it safely. But it had to have worked. I knew it had to.
Magic was simply the manipulation of mana in the world around you, whereas using mana tools was pushing and pulling the mana inside of a mana crystal. If the solid form of pure mana could somehow achieve such raw destructive power by itself, would it not make sense for the mana in around me to be able to do so too?
I pulled out the Lesser mana crystal I had bought and held it in the palm of my hands. I inspected it for a second before shaking my head. Nope, I thought. Too dangerous.
I needed something that was weaker. A small Inferior mana crystal. I wanted to experiment with the feeling of pushing the mana in it to the brink of exploding, but not exactly just there yet.
I got up and pocketed my mana crystal and headed out of my room; I made sure to keep all my belongings safely hidden of course. I kept only the important things with me.
I once again went down the gangplank of the ship and trudged through the soft sand floor of the beach. I walked past all the festivities— people were drinking and socializing, enjoying each other's company— I paused as I saw Braz already passed out at the bench of a table. How long have I been reading?
I thought I was in my room for no more than an hour, but it seemed that I might’ve lost track of time. I shook my head, and continued searching for Gennady. He had to have at least one or two Inferior mana crystals he could spare me.
I could have broken off a small shard from my Inferior mana crystal, but I did not want to damage it.
I found Gennady drunk, and laughing with a group of pirates.
"Ah, Melas!" he cheerfully greeted me. "Glad you’re here, lass. Want a drink?"
"No thanks," I politely turned him down. "I was just wondering if you have any spare Inferior mana crystals I could borrow?"
"Inferior mana crystals?" He furrowed his brows. "Now why would you want those? Aren’t ya past the point of making simple everyday tools?"
"I am," I said. "But I need those for… something else."
"Well if you do insist, you can just go grab some from my bike. There’s a few in the compartments on the side." He waved a hand in the direction of the ship.
I nodded my head and was about to turn around before I paused. "Your bike?"
"Ye, lass. Just make sure not to touch the things in me bag."
Gennady didn’t seem to realize it, and I hesitated for a moment. I pursed my lips for a moment, considering where to say it.
"What’s wrong?" The Dwarf cocked his head. He still seemed rather jovial, and I did not want to ruin his mood. However, I had no choice: I had to tell him.
"Gennady," I started, ignoring the stares from the pirates seated around him, "about your bike…"
He took a swig of ale, and slammed the cup down. He wiped some of the foam off his beard as he frowned. "Out with it, lass? What’s wrong?"
I sighed. "Your bike is gone."
"What?"
There was a look of bewilderment— as if what I just told him made no sense. And perhaps it didn’t. Even if he was sober, he might not have understood immediately. However, I realized the problem in our rushed departure due to our flight.
"We left it," I said, not meeting his eyes. "Back at Lisa and Jack’s ship. We didn’t bring it with us when we left their ship."
Gennady’s eyes widened as it finally settled in.
"M-my bike…" he trailed off.
"I’m sorry." I meekly met his gaze, but he turned away.
I thought the Dwarf would be mad. I thought he would
