The time I spent messing around with the energy inside the various bones we had ’borrowed’ from that Fiend matched the amount of time it took for Anput to forge that short sword, and by then I had figured out that I could actually amplify my spells by focusing on them.
And as odd as it sounded, that wasn’t because I was able to fine tune them to a better degree, nor was it because I was putting in more mana; it was the same amount of mana, same amount of fine tuning, but there was a difference when I just off handedly cast the spell like normal and when I willed the spell to be better.
It was just a feeling I had whenever I actually began to cast my magic, and it was a foreign one that required me to concentrate rather hard on what I was doing and how I wanted it to work, so I very much was a bull in a china shop with this new ’power’ I had been told about. Perhaps I was using it entirely incorrectly, which was most definitely the case, but either way it didn’t really matter since it was at least a step in the right direction for getting stronger, and the most important thing was that Anput had figured out a way to bend the power inside of the Fiend’s bones to her will, resulting in a beautiful blade that proved we were going to have a leap in gear quality soon.
Maybe she had been leaning too far into the entire bone as a material for the general shape of the weapon though since it was jagged and rather ’crude’ in appearance, with a single edge that was curved and toothed in a way as the waves of her forging created a unique piece of art. Art that could kill considering how keen the edge was and how it still radiated a certain amount of mana within itself, but art nonetheless since the crystalline bone had taken to the silvery metal well, giving it a bluish sheen atop a pure silver base.
That iridescent energy made itself known by also giving the entire thing a oily coat that reflected light and acted as a buffer between the alloy and the world, keeping itself protected and making it easier to take care of after a battle.
With a length that was a little over my forearm and hand, it was a smidgen longer than a dagger but still rather short for a sword, though that became a readily welcome feature when Anput turned and presented the blade to me specifically, my mate smirking as she said "Since you went ahead and broke my last work, I need to get you a quality backup weapon, and this... well, this will do wonderfully, won’t it?"
"It will indeed, especially if I return to wielding two blades at once, or if I ever decide to get around to figuring out how to create new limbs from mana... Do we have any good leather to work with, or are we going to be purchasing that as well?"
Placing the short sword on the table, Anput kept that smirk as she ran her hand over the blade until she was caressing its hilt, the Jackalkin nodding idly as she answered in a thoughtful tone, her eyes never leaving her creation.
"I have a surplus of materials under my name, sort of as a preparation for things I was interested in doing. Whether or not Mom kept them for me is a different story, since some of them were more... investment in nature rather than material. Either way, worm hide should do well, and they are killed by the dozens daily."
I grimaced slightly at the reminder of those hideous monsters that prowled the sands, but Anput didn’t seem to mind at all as she grabbed another set of bones, piecing together a combination of one tibia and a few other smaller bones before placing them with a larger ingot, preparing for the next alloy."Well, I’m going to go get some alchemical ingredients then; I have a vague idea of what I need if I want to treat this alloy and experiment with infusing it with some additional power... Kat, since it’ll be yours, do you want it to be a Water or Wind infused blade?"
"Wind materials will be easier for you to find, right? Let’s do that; I have a few ideas of my own for frost like enchantments."
Leone nodded and left the room, likely heading to go find the Sultana or Lady Kio to get the things she needed for this, leaving me alone with Anput once more and allowing me to ask my mate a few things.
"What was it like, controlling and influencing this energy? Did you notice it or was it subconscious?"
"It was something I had to work at myself, like how I need to work on the metal. To communicate with it, shape it, to soothe it and make it mine. I wouldn’t say it’s a sentient thing, nor would I even say that Cali was completely right in how she communicated it to us, at least not for these bones. It’s a force that has some semblance of control over itself for self preservation, and I offered it a way to remain itself."
Glancing at me - and then at the blade on the table - Anput added "It isn’t really a difficult thing to control, but I think that’s because this is a lingering byproduct of the being we killed. A power so deeply embedded into these bones that it doesn’t really know the structure it used to be apart of is gone. For your Lust Mana though..."
She shrugged at that, trailing off and letting me fill in the blanks as she placed the two materials into the forge together, beginning their heating and preparing them for the alloying process.
"Since it is a part of me and it has a function that I need to give it, this is going to be a different case entirely... That makes sense, I guess. Especially since it does actually seem to ’come alive’ whenever I use it on someone else."
"My extremely generic guess is that yes, your Lust Mana does actually become changed as soon as you use it on someone else. It seems to be some kind of vessel that you control, and when you use it on someone else, that vessel becomes filled."
"And it’s filled with the desires of someone else, so it’s no longer really MY mana, instead becoming just Lust Mana that I need to rein in... That does make a lot of sense though, and we both know that sometimes the most generic thing is the right one. If that’s the case though..."
I fell quiet and went over the possibilities in my head, reviewing them as much as I could as I wove together a tapestry of ideas that was centered around one primary line of reasoning; my Lust Mana was capable of changing, especially whenever I used it to absorb the desires of someone else.
Using it in its raw state seemed to be pretty easy; just boost someones lust and begin weaving together the use of that mana alongside my own skills to get the thing I wanted, but that was only because nothing was being siphoned into the Lust Mana.
When I used it on the Fiend to sap away its desires, those desires actually ’materialized’ somewhat inside my mana and reacted in a way that I wasn’t prepared for, so maybe that was where I needed to look more closely..?
By the time that Leone had returned with a bundle of herbs and some leather to begin wrapping the hilt in, I was already beginning to weave together a more complete idea in my mind as I realized what the next test I needed to do was; I needed to perform that same spell again on someone else and study the mana itself afterwards, and then I could have a better idea on what I could do with this power of mine.
After however long since I got it, anyways, but better late then never, especially since it was being joined with a myriad of other ideas I needed to balance out in my goal to get stronger... One of those was enchanting, and as Leone got the baths together for the blade and started treating the leather to strengthen it, I got back to work inside of my notepad as I drew up a few different spells I wanted to place on the blade.
It made me a bit more excited then I had anticipated since this would be the first item I was
Going to be able to potentially enchant with a few different spells, and it was that diversity on the blade that would make it an invaluable tool in my kit going forwards, so I made sure to spend my time wisely.
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