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\'What if- what if mind you, what GAIA meant is so basic as that the threshold to touch upon magic will be lowered. In ANW, there is only around 5% of people who lack the talent to use magic.\'

\'You\'re thinking that is why GAIA thought it would take thousands of years to be found. Since it is basically already a nonfactor?\'

\'Yes. And that is where the difference between ANW and Earth comes. There are none, or at least no truly known and accepted magically abled. We are the first, or we are the first in this cycle. It\'s confusing.\'

\'Agreed,\' Eldrian nodded while recalling that talk. \'It wasn\'t just that though.\'

\'Wasn\'t it though?\' Two countered, \'Monsters, devils, demons. They are all products of mana entering and influencing the body. The core of magic we had thought to be elemental, which is the most stable, or raw mana which is the base form...\'

\'But, what if instead it is XP.\'

\'Again XP, what do you think it is then? Is it actually raw mana?\' Eldrian asked.

\'Oh, now that is an interesting thought. We know mana doesn\'t stay in its natural raw state for long, normally changing according to the environment it is within, into elemental. But that changed mana can change again...\'

\'What if XP is raw mana absorbed...\' Two mumbled as the idea grew on him.

\'Mana, in its truest form made stable?\' Eldrian offered.

\'Maybe... We\'ve never been able to sense it, have we?\'

\'No, been focused on getting control over ether.\'

\'But we\'ve sensed raw mana before.\'

\'Yeah, it is basically just free energy. Limitless potential-\' Eldrian\'s eyes flew wide as he overstepped and struck his spear into the house\'s fence. Cutting through it as his mind spun.

\'I see! What if there are actually theories on it, just not as we are thinking!\' Eldrian paused, \'But we can\'t test it, not here.\'

\'Right... Don\'t want to risk a relapse of that time.\' Two nodded, storing the theory in their backlog of theories, the two shifted their thoughts back to the spear routine.

\'Does it also feel to you like skills are lacking?\' Two asked after a few minutes.

\'Skills such as flashy magic melee abilities? Yeah, they\'re lacking.\'

\'Why is that though?\'

\'Application. Spells are free form, while skills require the movement, combination of body and magic. Spells simply require half as much effort.\'

\'Or... What if skills don\'t require a combination.\'

\'It does, but I get you. I\'ve thought of it too.\'

\'We can test that, can\'t we?\'

\'Why not, still need to reach Tier 4 in melee.\' Eldrian replied.

\'What aspect are we going to use?\'

\'Ether, and maybe fire or wind?\' Eldrian said.

\'What about earth and water?\' Two asked, he had a few interesting ideas about them.

\'Your thinking of... I see, that is an interesting thought. Runes are almost like simplified spell- and skill modules, or rather, they are indeed a more basic version of them.\'

\'Do you think it will work?\' Two asked.

\'Maybe, what runes are you thinking of?\'

Smiling widely inside his little mental room, Two told Eldrian to join him so he could showcase his plan.

\'So we\'ve been thinking to add runes to our pathways. This will be the perfect time to see if it is possible and practical.\'

Eldrian nodded in agreement. \'What runes though?\'

\'Right, runes don\'t quite use elemental. But we don\'t have raw mana at will.\' Two commented.

\'But we do have neutral mana.\' Eldrian countered, having long ago rid his body\'s natural mana of their elements. He had brought it to a type of dangerous, extreme balance. Like a ball atop a mountain, ready to fall at any time. Containing extreme amounts of potential energy.

\'Correct, but it isn\'t usable outside, not even inside. Once we try to control it, it always takes on an element. Forcing it will just be an unnecessary strain.\'

A simple explanation and how Eldrian and Two understood it was that making use of this mana was like trying to move the ball to perform an action. To make use of its potential energy; without letting it fall from the mountain.

Such an act was simply impossible, you couldn\'t extract kinetic energy from such a ball\'s potential bank without losing height. It was the only way.

\'So we send it to the rune and let it choose the element best suited?\' Eldrian asked, it was similar in idea to how to spell modules functioned. Changing the mana to the correct element and even the correct aspect.

\'Yes! And I believe that this one-\' Indicating to the model of the rune he had thought of -form of a barrier shield- Two continued, \'This should be similar to Shield of Chelona. And I suspect it will mix water and earth.\'

\'Interesting, I see where you are coming from. But I think you are missing one; wind.\'

\'Wind? Why-\' Two nodded as he caught up. \'I see, to regulate the barrier, water to mold, earth to strengthen. Shall we try?\'

Returning to his body, Eldrian thought for a moment. There were a few ways he could envision this, the most basic was the one he chose.

Imagining the rune, he envisioned its effects covering his entire person like a bubble. To be a protective barrier blocking outside influences. After getting the image right, Eldrian sent his mana.

As predicted, it quickly took on the form of wind and water. Earth it appeared wasn\'t needed.

A soft filament barrier, similar in appearance to the one that had surrounded the city in the siege when Eldrian had just returned, appeared around him as a sphere.

\'I thought it would be more similar to the wind barrier we\'ve cast a few times before.\' Eldrian commented, it was extremely stable. Almost too stable.

\'That wasn\'t really planned, it was more us just wishing for it. Dynamic casting, if you want to classify it according to what we know.\'

\'Yeah, but this... This feels so much better. With the wind barrier, I worried that my concentration would slip and I would die. This...\' Eldrian stopped focusing on the barrier around him, picked up his spear, and started training again.

As he finished his first routine with a thrust, he burst his bubble. As the water splashed the surroundings and him, Eldrian smiled.

Turning to the sound of clapping, Eldrian looked at Solvi with a little red on his cheeks. Whether it was from embarrassment or exhaustion, Eldrian would never reveal.

"Quite ingenious. No, very ingenious. I believe this is the first Tier 4 barrier I\'ve ever seen. No, I\'ve actually never even heard of a theory for a Tier 4 barrier."

"Not sure if it is a Tier 4 barrier," Eldrian admitted as he started wiping the water off himself.

"How did you do it? It didn\'t look like your normal casting, you weren\'t hyper-focusing." Solvi naturally had a good grasp of Eldrian\'s abilities and tendencies after working with him on the cannons.

"I actually wondered if runes could be used in magic directly." Eldrian replied, "My breastplate has this ability to form a shielding barrier over me, against my skin. It\'s just Tier 4, so I wondered. Why would the restrictions be different for me and an item."

"Why? Why indeed..." Solvi placed her hand on her chin as she thought about it for a moment. Faking reflection, "The reason is simple, a rune can\'t be formed mentally."

"But I just did-"

"Which is what is confusing..." Solvi frowned this time in true reflection.

AN: A big thank you to everyone who continues to read and support the story on WN.

AN2: Please give the WN author note a look for a summary of casting methods- if you want a recap and a teaser.