While working on new boots, Scias remembered the embarrassing moment at the pond and started to lightheartedly laugh.
Now, he found the situation funny.
With new boots, leather clothes, rather armor, and renewed vigor, Scias returned to his magical practice.
"Back to basics," he muttered, settling into his stance.
After days of practice, creating basic earth projectile became almost intuitive.
Mana gathered in his palm, condensing into a rough sphere of compacted dirt and stone. Yet something still troubled him about the technique.
Unlike the bear whose earth attacks maintained their solid form even after impact, Scias's projectiles always crumbled to dust moments after striking their target—or worse, dissolved mid-flight when his concentration wavered.
"What am I missing?"
He formed another projectile, studying it carefully as it hovered above his palm. The rough sphere maintained its shape only as long as he actively focused on it. The moment his attention shifted, it disintegrated.
Scias hurled the projectile at a tree trunk. It struck with a satisfying thud, leaving a small indent before collapsing into a pile of loose dirt.
"Better than yesterday," he acknowledged, "but far from perfect."
He recalled the bear's attacks—solid projectiles that smashed with devastating force yet maintained their form even after the creature turned its attention elsewhere.
His own creations seemed fundamentally unstable by comparison.
As he practiced through the morning, Scias tested different approaches.
He tried varying the density, making projectiles more compact.
He attempted changing the shape, crafting pointed projectiles rather than simple spheres, hoping the altered form might prove more stable.
"The pointed design is more devastating," he noted after sending a pointed projectile into a distant trunk. "But it still falls apart after impact."
As the day progressed, sweat dampened his brow from both physical exertion and concentrated mental effort.
Each projectile drained his mana more than the last as fatigue set in, yet the problem remained.
Frustrated, Scias sat beneath a broad-leaved tree and took a long drink from his water skin.
He closed his eyes, reviewing everything he observed about the bear's magic.
The creature shaped earth with apparent ease, but there must have been something else—some technique or principle he was missing.
"Wait," he said suddenly, straightening. "What if the bear wasn't just turning mana into earth?"
A new possibility dawned on him. Perhaps his approach was fundamentally flawed.
He was converting all his allocated mana into physical matter, leaving nothing behind to maintain the structure.
Once the physical form was created and launched, there was no magical energy remaining within it to preserve its integrity.
'The projectile itself is devoid of mana,' he realized. 'That must be it.'
Scias returned to his usual spot, eager to test his theory.
This time, he approached the spell differently. Rather than converting all his mana into earth, he deliberately retained a portion within the forming projectile—like mortar between bricks.
The sensation was distinctly different. Instead of merely shaping external energy, he was creating something infused with his power.
"Let's see if this works."
He launched the projectile toward his target. Even after losing focus, the stone remained solid.
"That's it," he exclaimed, staring at the small crater where his projectile embedded itself in the tree trunk.
Even from a distance, he could see it didn't crumble to dust but remained whole.
Approaching the tree, Scias carefully extracted the earth sphere. It was cooler than the surrounding air and surprisingly durable.
"So that's the secret," he said, turning the sphere in his hand. "Mana acts as some sort of bond. Without it, the transformation is temporary."
This discovery opened up new possibilities.
'Could it be that everything in this world contains mana?' Scias thought. It would explain why projectiles created from his mana lost its shape and why projectiles moulded from existing soil remained sturdy.
Over the next several days, Scias conducted further experiments.
He created projectiles with varying amounts of mana infusion.
Those with minimal mana remained unstable after releasing control.
Others, with greater infusions, showed no signs of degradation.
Finally, Scias found just the right amount of mana for the amount of earth used.
Any less and the projectile doesn't maintain its shape. Any more and it produces no additional effect.
Scias began testing the durability of his projectiles.
'Compression is key,' he thought.
By compressing the earth more tightly while forming it, he could create projectiles that, while still not as hard as proper stone, could impact with significant force without shattering.
As the sun began to set, casting long shadows across his training ground, Scias sat cross-legged with a row of successful projectiles arranged before him—varying in size, shape, and composition.
Some were rough spheres, others carefully crafted pointed projectiles, a few experimental cubes and pyramids.
The progression of his understanding felt almost like a physical thing—a path unfolding before him.
First, the force spell taught him to project energy. Then the earth magic revealed how to transform that energy into matter.
Now he understood how to create spells that wouldn't disintegrate on their own.
What might come next? If earth could be used this way, could water? Air? Fire? Metal? Or wood?
Each element would likely present unique challenges—water might resist holding shape, while fire might consume its mana too quickly to maintain.
As darkness fell, Scias gathered his remaining projectiles and returned to his cave.
He placed them in a neat row along a natural shelf in the rock wall—trophies of today's breakthrough.
"Each day brings new understanding," he said to himself as he prepared for sleep. "And each understanding reveals how much more there is to learn."
Tomorrow would bring new observations.
Perhaps he would try creating larger structures, or attempt to manipulate air.
The possibilities seemed endless, limited only by his imagination and the mysterious rules that governed this world.
For now, though, Scias was content with today's progress. One more piece of the puzzle fell into place.
* * *
The two moons hung low in the sky as Scias carefully folded the bark map he created over countless expeditions.
Half a year had passed since comming to this world—or so he estimated. Without the familiar astronomical patterns of Eswua, tracking time remained imprecise at best.
The days seemed to stretch longer here, the nights more intense in their darkness, leaving him uncertain if a 'year' meant the same in this world as it had in his own.
"Time is the one thing I can't seem to master," he muttered, tucking the map into his leather pouch.
His cave transformed from a simple shelter into something resembling a proper home.
Scias glanced at the small orb of light that hovered near the cave ceiling, pulsing with a gentle white radiance that illuminated every corner.
Creating persistent light was a breakthrough that changed everything. No more struggling with torches or retiring at sundown.
His progress with magic exceeded all his expectations.
After mastering earth magic, air came next. It was the most subtle of all, requiring the lightest touch. Fire proved volatile but immensely useful, while water was challenging in its fluidity yet responsive to his will
More impressive were the combinations he developed. Heating water to create steam. Cooling air to form frost.
Manipulating temperature itself opened new possibilities to his understanding of magic.
While he was practicing earth magic, the created earth was slowly piling up and it was starting to take a lot of unnecessery space.
Thus, he began thinking. If he can turn mana into earth, why not turn earth back in mana?
He was able to make his force spell dissipate, so why not do something similar with earth?
And eventually, he succeeded. Although the mana from conversion didn't return to him but rather disperse, he was able to achieve his goal.
He also tried to turn natural objects into mana. He struggled to do this, feeling tremendous resistance. In the end, he failed.
But perhaps his most valuable discovery was the technique to recover stamina—channeling energy to parts of his body where fatigue started to show. This caused a rapid recovery.
Doing this to his whole body every now and then he could be physicaly active for as long as necessery. That is, until he would run out of mana or until lack of sleep would kick in.
It seemed that magic couldn't help with sleep deprivation.
The time spent on magical training yielded another result—increased mana capacity to atleast double its initial size.
Scias pulled on his leather boots and picked up his spear. The weapon featured a blade-like stone tip.
Though learning magic was fulfilling and exciting, the lack of human interaction was beginning to drive him crazy. That is something he never expected.
Scias was always more of a loner. Perhaps, it was because circumstances drove him to that lifestyle.
But now that he freed himself from those constraints, his mindset began to change. With it, he started to miss other people.
"Today I finally cross the boundary," he announced to the empty cave, imagining leaving this place.
His explorations mapped the surrounding region with meticulous detail.
To the north, east, and west lay mountain ranges with treacherous, nearly vertical slopes that promised death to anyone foolish enough to attempt scaling them without proper equipment. Multiple expeditions confirmed the impassable nature of these natural barriers.
Only the deep southern forest remained unexplored—the domain of magical creatures he glimpsed but carefully avoided.
Until now.
'I've delayed long enough,' he thought, gathering the last of his supplies. 'This region has taught me all it can.'
Outside, the forest welcomed him with the familiar symphony of morning sounds. Birds chirped from trees and small creatures rustled through underbrush.
He headed south, following the creek that sustained him these many months.
The water burbled peacefully beside him, its sound a constant companion until it widened into the familiar pond where he once saw a white stag.
No such majestic creature greeted him today—just quiet ripple of water disturbed by occasional fish.
Beyond the pond, the terrain began to change. Trees grew taller, their trunks wider.
"The boundary," Scias murmured, pausing at an invisible line he didn't cross ever since that one time.
Nothing physically marked the transition, yet every instinct warned him he was entering different territory.
The air felt heavier, rich with unfamiliar scents. Sounds seemed to carry differently, echoing strangely among the massive trees.
Scias extended his senses, feeling for mana in the environment—a technique he was still developing after realizing everything in this world contained magical energy.
'Still far from mastering it,' he thought as he could faintly sense mana only in his immediate vicinity.
The forest beyond pulsed with power, significantly stronger than his familiar territory.
'Higher mana concentration,' he noted mentally.
'Explains the larger flora... and likely fauna as well.'
With a deep breath, Scias began to move.
The change was subtle yet unmistakable.
He traveled cautiously, maintaining awareness of his surroundings while marking his path with small notches on trees.
Getting lost would be dangerously easy.
Last time he followed a wide river. However, this time he went in different direction.
An hour of slow and carefull walk and Scias discovered first clear evidence of magical creatures.
Massive claw marks were on a trunk of big tree, stretching higher than he could reach. Nearby, a dent in ground suggested a large body rested there recently.
He crouched, examining the faint impressions.
"Bigger than the feline-creature I saw before. Much bigger."
Something rustled in the underbrush ahead.
Scias froze, spear ready and mana prepared to cast a spell at moment's notice.
A while later some creature emerged.
It resembled a rabbit, but stood as tall as his knee.
Most striking was the blue color of its fur. Besides the odd color, its front pawes featured sharp claws.
The rabbit-creature regarded Scias with obvious hostility.
The rabbit-creature's ears flattened against its head, whiskers twitching as it assessed the intruder.
Scias tightened his grip on the spear, muscles tensing as he prepared for the inevitable.
Without warning, the creature leapt—not toward him but sideways, bouncing off a tree trunk with unnatural agility.
Water formed around its front paws, forming sharp, glistening blades that extended beyond its natural claws.
Scias rolled aside as the rabbit slashed through the space where he just stood.
The creature pivoted instantly, its hind legs launching it in a blue blur.
Scias thrust his spear forward defensively, but the rabbit twisted mid-air, slicing the weapon's shaft with its water blades. The wooden spear snapped with a sharp crack, leaving Scias holding a useless stub.
'Too fast!' he thought, discarding the broken weapon.
Although Scias spent the last six months learning magic, his instinct was to use the weapon in his hands. Not magic. He has no experience using magic in combat. That is about to change now.
The rabbit landed and immediately sprang again, water blades slashing toward his face.
Mana surged through Scias's body as he slammed his palm against the ground, forcing earth upward in a protective wall.
The creature smashed into it, water blades carving grooves in the hardened soil.
Scias backed away, breathing heavily.
The rabbit circled around his wall, finding an opening. Then it launched itself with frightening speed.
Making the rabbit move around the wall gave Scias time to prepare himself for next attack.
Scias's first thought was using fire to attack for its destructive power.
However, he thought using fire in forest is not very wise to do and thus, he quickly disregarded this idea.
The next best thing he thought of was using wind blades—a technique he was training for weeks.
His fingers traced an arc through the air as he shaped mana into thin, pressurized blades of wind.
The air shimmered as invisible edges sliced toward the creature.
The first wind blade missed as the rabbit twisted unnaturally, but the second ccut it across its rear, drawing a spray of crimson across blue fur.
The wounded creature screeched—a sound too high-pitched for comfort—and attacked with more fervor.
Water formed not just around its claws now but expanded into a surging wave. Scias already moved to the other side of his earth wall which was his only means of defence.
The earth wall was weakened by previous attack and now crumbled under the assault.
Water splashed through the breach, striking Scias across the chest and sending him stumbling backward.
He felt sharp pain where the pressurized liquid cut through his leather armor, leaving shallow gashes across his ribs.
"Enough of this," Scias growled, switching from defense to offense.
As the rabbit gathered itself for another attack, Scias unleashed a barrage of wind blades in quick succession.
The creature dodged the first three with uncanny reflexes, but the fourth and fifth found their target, slicing deeply into its body.
The rabbit collapsed.
Scias approached cautiously, wind blades still hovering ready at his fingertips. The creature's eyes stared at him before dulling to emptiness.
Scias pressed a hand against his wounded chest, feeling blood running down his chest.