Lily.
----
"So are there any other Rank 2 spells?" asked Mint.
Lily shrugged, "None that I know of. I wouldn't be surprised if the book has extras in it, but I realised that while you can skim it… new pages open up once you cast a spell perfectly with the book nearby. So I might just be missing things. There was a lot of information about how to build your own spells at a given Rank… but honestly? I'm not as good at it as the original writer so I haven't spent too much time trying to make my own,"
"I suppose that makes sense. Is that something you're going to try doing in the future though?" asked Mint.
"Probably?" said Lily with an uncertain look. "I… I want to certainly, and the fact I'm already basically immortal because of Kat means I have the time… it's just hard to explain how outclassed I currently feel. Wait, no it's not. It's like looking at Thyme and then trying to comprehend being that successful in space magic, my final affinity,"
"Oh? You have three affinities? That's amazing!" said Mint.
Lily gave a weak smile, "Amazing yes… but mostly cheating. I'm not sure how many I had originally, but when I was given this new body I was assigned three affinities along the way. I'm pretty sure it was ruinously expensive but we got it in exchange for a favour Kat did so… yeah,"
Mint looked towards Kat who nodded at the unspoken question. "That's nothing to be ashamed of, clearly that favour was important," said Mint.
Lily shrugged, "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn't… but now I have questions about shadow magic, if you don't mind. Then I'll show off my shadow spells!"
"Sure, I'll do my best," responded Mint.
"Right well… the big question is should my shadow be sucking in a bunch of extra mana from me and the world?" asked Lily.
"Um… I think so?" said Mint somewhat unsure. "I don't know if it should be taking in mana from the world… but I know one of the main techniques that shadow mages use is to empower their shadow to act on its own. It's not even a spell, it's just a unique property of the magic. Though, a warning. Your affinity for shadow magic will crash massively if you separate your shadow from your body. It's also worth mentioning that it is still your shadow even when separated,"
"What does that mean exactly?" asked Lily confused. "Of course it's still my shadow,"
Mint shook her head, "Um… not quite like that… so… hmm… ok once your shadow becomes… 'real enough' I suppose… both yourself and it will take damage as reflections of each other. Some things work better against your body, and others against your shadow, but if the damage sticks to the target, it will effect both 'bodies' for lack of a better word. Like… if you… it's a bit gruesome to imagine but if you had your real arm chopped off your shadow would also loose its arm…
"Or if your shadow was blasted with concentrated light magic and had a whole punched in its shoulder, then suddenly you'd gain a massive hole in your own shoulder, though it might be cauterised? Though in that same token, if someone tries to cut your shadow with a completely ordinary metal sword, it'll go straight through and not cause any damage, while blasting light magic at you would probably still burn," explained Mint.
"Huh… so… is using my shadow for stuff like that actually a good idea?" asked Lily with a frown.
"Yes!" said Mint with a heavy nod. "It's best if you just make your shadow… semi-real. Keep it attached to your body and only have certain parts of it able to interact with the world. It's much, much sturdier that way. Oh, and as a shadow mage it's possible for you to separate people from their shadows and attack the shadow if the person escapes… but it's hard to 'keep' other shadows around. You have to constantly waste mana for it.
"If you're a lot stronger or have like… a special enchanted cell for shadows it might be worth it, but generally it's more trouble then it's worth… though it does work on objects as well to a lesser extent. Still expensive mana wise, but if it's not enchanted properly it can get you around some things,"
"That feels like somewhat niche knowledge… how do you know?" asked Lily.
"Oh that part was actually covered in our beginner enchanting lessons, not on shadow magic. The lesson was 'niche bypasses and how many you should plan around' and it was a bit annoying to have a class on because the answer is 'as many as you can really' but it's a waste of both space on the object, and potentially your better materials to defend against all the little tricks. It's part of why most people don't protect against them all," explained Mint.
"Ah… that seems annoying, but it makes sense," said Lily. "For now, all I can make my shadow do is this," Lily made her shadow wave at Mint, and blow a kiss towards Kat. Kat was extra surprised when a little shadow love heart floated up from the ground and hit her on the cheek.
"Wait what?" said Mint surprised.
"Yeah I was practicing that last part for a while, but it's worth it," said Lily with a grin.
"No, no, no, you don't understand. You've only had this ability for a couple of weeks right?" asked Mint.
"Eh… sure," agreed Lily. Mostly. *If you just mean shadow magic 'a couple of weeks' is probably being overly generous.*
Mint frowned down at Lily's shadow, "That's really advanced stuff for such a short amount of time… people spend years pumping mana into their shadow before they can move it at all… I… I don't really know what this means?"
"Wait really? It wasn't too hard to do, especially not once we entered a more mana-rich dimension then my home," said Lily.
"I'm all but certain. Now, granted, part of the delay could just be that most wizards start when they're younger and with less mana… so perhaps that is offsetting things… but that still seems wrong to me. It's just… very fast," said Mint as she gave Lily's shadow a sideways glare. "Your shadow isn't possessed right?"
"Um… I'm going to hope no?" said Lily as she looked back at her shadow and made it shrug. Mint glared at the action. *Could it be because this body was put together by a Living Shadow? Would that explain things?*
[I'm not sure. It might be what's causing your shadow to develop quickly, it has a template to work from… it could also be because you're already Rank 2. Maybe that makes a difference?]
*We'll have to tell Nira about this and see what she says. This counts as an odd medical issue right?*
[I think so?]
"Right well… that's something I'll have to ask someone else about," said Lily out loud for Mint's benefit. "Then I guess… I'll just show off these spells. The first is shadow dart," Lily set off the spell, three shadow darts in a triangle. "Now, the problem with this… is it's just three darts. Always three darts. It costs too much for the basic amount of damage it does, and the bolts are soo slow.
"It really helped drive home just how good my paper spells are. Now the next, is shadow cloak," Lily moved over towards a rock and cast the spell. The shadows under her feet seemed to rise up and wrap around Lily as she crouched down. It was still rather obvious that something was wrong, and Kat's night vision was good enough to still see Lily. "Problem with this spell is that it's not even that great for hiding. I'm not sinking into the shadows, I'm just forcing them to wrap around me a bit. Obfuscating me slightly.
"What's even worse though… is it's just this patch of shadows. If I get too far away the shadows will snap back sort of like a rubber band which is very noticeable. Horrible for stealth. Then there's shadow ball," Lily cast the spell and a ball of shadow about the size of her head was summoned. Then it sat there for a bit, before firing off.
"This one is bad because it's so slow. Not only does it take a few seconds to leave my hand, it doesn't travel quickly. Both problems are part of the spell's inherent makeup. Honestly, the only spell in that box that's useful is the 'shadow pocket' spell, but I can't use it yet because I need more mana in my shadow,"
"Ah… so not the best gift?" said Kat with a wince.
Lily shrugged, "I don't know Kat. It was probably necessary so that I could start building my own spells, but I'm nowhere near that level. Probably best to ask Thyme for some shadow spells, if we can,"
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