As it so happened, I did know a druid. There was no guarantee Ceira would be able to fix my staff, but all of her abilities currently ca from this side's ability to learn without points. I still didn't know if others from my world accomplished such a thing, but that didn't matter at the mont.
Since what we were doing was sort-of secret, in that interacting with myself where I was clearly Mage would put her at so risk, I ended up going to her apartnt. The part of the city was quite different, fitting typical apartnts for humans which were still the majority population, and sowhere around the average in most physical respects.
"Wow, have you… always been that tall?" Ceira said looking up at .
"No. But you did see not that long ago."
"Yeah, but I didn't stand right next to you. And in a car, everyone looks closer in height."
"Do they?" I raised an eyebrow. "Even Izzy?"
"... With her seat, her head was at least closer to the sa height. So yes. Anyway, uh, co in. It's uh… set up for filming."
Imdiately after stepping through the door, I almost kicked a plant. That led to place more awareness on my feet, and following Ceira through the tangled jungle of her apartnt, filled with dozens of overflowing pots. I passed sliding glass doors leading to a balcony, which had all sorts of plants dangling over the edge. "This is a lot," I comnted. "How do you breathe in here?"
"The plants make the air fresh!" she comnted. "As long as I'm not breathing in their pollen. Good thing I don't have allergies. You don't have any, do you?"
"A what?"
"Things that make you sick."
"My constitution is healthy," I replied.
"... Your world must have a bunch of people who really hate certain seasons."
"I think that's true here as well."
We eventually made our way to the only open space in the whole apartnt, which had a cara facing a funny colored wall. No, it was a sheet of cloth the sa size. I couldn't tell what color it was because it went from gray to a purplish pink to all sorts of other colors, shifting with the angle. "What's that?"
"A greenscreen."
"It's not green," I pointed out.
"Well, obviously. Can't exactly use one when filming plants."
"Okay."
We stood there awkwardly in the only open part of the apartnt, though I'd co to understand that many of my interactions with people were awkward. Ceira looked around, her eyes eventually settling in the kitchen, where I could just make out a sink and so buried chairs and hidden cabinets. "Uh, I guess we just sit on the floor here."
There was a single stool, but I silently agreed it would be awkward for either of us to sit on it. So we sat on the floor.
"Uh… right. Did you forget your staff? Because you said you wanted to look at it."
"Oh, yes," I nodded. A small expenditure of mana, and I popped it out of Storage. "Here it is."
"Whoa, cool. You can just pull it from nowhere? Can I learn that?"
"I… don't know," I admitted. "I think it's a mage thing, and that has little overlap with druid things."
"Oh, okay," she sighed. After I placed my staff in her outstretched hands, she began turning it over. "Wow, this thing is super twisted. Except here, I guess?"
"That's where there's a tal core."
"Cool. What sort of wood is this? I don't recognize these patterns. I'm not really an expert, but I've kind of beco closer to one recently."
"Yggdrasil wood," I said.
Her face exploded into expression. Confusion, excitent, and more. "This is Yggdrasil wood? Yggdrasil is real? How did you get it?"
"Sort of. No. A super tech individual synthesized it," I answered in sequence. Seeing that even Ceira didn't rember what order she asked questions in, I clarified. "She said it was supposed to be like what she imagined for Yggdrasil, based on samples of many woods. I don't know if there's a real one, but not in my world. Which might not be real, I guess. Does that answer your questions?"
"... How do you create a tree by mixing others? They'd have to be from the sa family to breed them," she frowned.
"I think it's super tech. Which ans it doesn't really have to work."
"That's dumb. Can it make seeds?"
"It's a stick. So no?" I tilted my head.
"Can I try sothing?" Ceira asked.
"That is the point of having you here. Druidic magic was used to warp it into its current shape, and should theoretically be able to return it."
"Oh, right. I uh, don't know how to do that."
"And I can't," I shrugged. "But you should be able to learn, like everything else. It should be in the four to five mana range."
"What's the spell called?" Ceira asked, pulling out her phone.
"Warp Wood," I said. "Though I'm uncertain why it should matter…"
"Just looking for a description. It helps. Hmm, I see." She looked between her phone and the staff, gathered mana… and nothing happened, except the mana seeping out as she tried to use it. "Dammit. That's like half an hour of recovery."
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"How accurate is that?" I asked.
"What do you an?"
"Normally it's one point per ten minutes. The ambient mana in the city has increased by at least ten percent, but that's still not much more."
"Yeah, you told most of that. Uh, should be pretty close to half an hour."
"So you recover at around fifty percent faster than normal," I frowned.
"The plants help," she said. "Even more if I focus."
"I don't understand druids," I admitted. "Though the ambient levels do feel slightly higher here, it doesn't seem like that much."
She shrugged, "It's just how it works. So, about that thing I wanted to try."
"What is it?" I asked.
"Uh, I want to see if it can grow a sprout? I have a spell to make things bloom. It can even work on dead wood. It… shouldn't hurt the staff."
"It's pretty unusable anyway," I pointed out. "If you can straighten it, I could deal with whatever else happens."
"It should only be additive, so you could sand it down," she said. Then she concentrated. Instead of gathering a set amount of mana, it seed like a continuous infusion over a duration. More than a few points. A weird protrusion began to stretch from it, and then… Ceira passed out.
She didn't have far to fall, landing gently on the floor. Without even having to consider it, I knew it was mana exhaustion. I debated trying to straighten out her position, but by the ti I ca to a conclusion her eyes were fluttering open. "Did I…? How embarrassing."
"Mana exhaustion will get anyone," I said.
"Yeah I just thought… my maximum increased slightly, and I thought I had more. But that previous attempt and it being more difficult than anticipated…" She smiled awkwardly.
"Quite understandable. It takes a while to improve your level. My growth has been greatly accelerated lately, but less than a year ago I barely had more capacity than your current state. Just keep getting levels. Though you could also try absorbing mana crystals, I don't know if that would be good for you."
"I thought those just helped you recover quickly?"
"I found a way to use them to boost my maximum beyond that from my level."
"Oh, I think… visiting the sequoias did that for as well."
"Did it hurt?" I asked.
"No?" she tilted her head. "Why would it?"
"... just wondering." Was there sothing else mages were supposed to do? Could Ceira also absorb crystals? I didn't know if she could even make them, that hadn't co up. If that was a mage thing, it might hurt her to try. So if we tried anything, it would have to be a smaller crystal.
"Well, can I hold onto this for a while?" Ceira asked. "I need to spend ti trying to learn Warp Wood, and I'd still like to see if I can make it properly sprout."
"Sure," I nodded. "It would be better if it was fixed sooner, but as it is there are no other options for repair. So I will be using a backup weapon, if I have to get into lee combat." I would also need to rember that I couldn't use the dispelling feature, either.
I also planned to explain my ideas- and the potential risks- to see if Ceira would help with my studies. Hopefully, I could learn sothing interesting.
A soft wl ca from the back room, beyond another forest down a hall.
"What was that?" I asked.
"Nothing!" Ceira said.
"It sounded like a cat. Maybe one broke into your apartnt?"
"No, everything's fine. Anyway you should go."
"... There's nothing wrong with having a cat," I said as Ceira attempted to push out the door, which was impossible for a number of reasons even if there was a clear path.
"Don't tell Midnight!" Ceira said.
"It's just a cat," I said. "Not like you have a dog in there."
"Haha. Yep. Definitely not."
-----
It was always easier for Midnight to co over to my place, because mine was… roomier. In short, I didn't have to hunch over, and the only thing Midnight had to deal with was doors, instead of constant back pain.
"So, how's it going buddy?"
"Looking into other duties with the Brigade had taught a lot," he said. "But… I'm not as effective away from you. I'm not brave enough to not go around with defensive magic, so it costs more."
"You an stupid enough." Midnight tilted his head, and I continued. "It's not brave to go around without proper defensive magic. It's stupid, and you know better. And you're right, it's more efficient when we can share spells."
"The sa with enhancents," Midnight said. "Like, Haste and stuff. It's very useful utility even if I'm not fighting, but I can't really use it on myself since I can use it to support others. I'm not that useful around HQ with our spells, and if I'm supporting anyone out in the field it might as well be you."
"Sorry to hear about the spells," I said. "Actually, if I hadn't done the familiar bond, you might have full class abilities now. So you could level and get points and even make your own choices. That might have been better."
"Nah," Midnight dismissed that quickly. "I can't imagine things would have gone better any other way. You're my good friend who saved my life. I like having this bond." Midnight's feelings were very clear, not muted in the slightest. "I probably wouldn't have access to the sa power I have now, if I were on my own. Not as much mana, and all that."
"Speaking of which," I said. "Did you ever figure out if your mana capacity improved?"
"A little bit," he said. "Less."
"That's… good?" I tilted my head. "It ans we probably shouldn't try the sa with you. Speaking of which, I'm planning to do it again."
"Why?" Midnight asked. "The first ti was four points. Then two. Then one. You're willing to go through that pain for less than a single point of mana capacity?"
"And to know how the limit works. I think it's heading towards double the size of mana crystal I can make. But I need to know for sure. And I'm not certain if I can reach it. Is it really going to be an infinite series, or will this one or the next one fill in the last slivers?"
Midnight sighed in an exaggerated fashion. "Well, I guess you have to, then. For SCIENCE."
"Magic," I said.
"You're sciencing magic," Midnight said. "And magic has rules."
"Okay. Then… let the experints begin!"
-----
Ceira sat on a stool scavenged from her kitchen through a lengthy expedition. "Alright guys," she said talking to the cara. "I'm still getting so comnts about the decreasing posts on my gaming channel, asking why that is. So I'm just going to say it again. I have magic now. So I'm not 'wasting ti on a gardening channel'. I'm using freaking magic!"
She sighed.
"Do I cut that part out? Eh, I'll leave it in." She straightened up. "As for your more constructive comnts, I'm pretty sure I can't make a wood computer, but I've been trying to encourage so plants to grow into sorts of panels?" She held up a few examples. "They're not much good yet, but that's the idea. About the aquaponics idea, I don't really have the room. And I-"
A sudden burst of barking marked a puppy chasing a cat across the fra of the cara. The puppy caught up to the cat and pounced on it, bringing them both to the ground in a heap.
"Cel! Bun! Settle down!" Ceira called towards them as they ran back the other way, this ti the cat giving chase. "Ugh. Should I leave them in? Does Midnight watch this?"
Constant editorial decisions were made, but the ones she didn't think about were the most important. Such as the small corner of the fra where a twisted length of wood could be seen. That was the sort of thing that wouldn't matter unless soone or sothing was watching for it, but there were all sorts of eyes throughout New Bay.
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