"Oww." Gwynne's moans draw me from sleep. "Couldn't you have healed me a bit more last night?"

"Nope!" Amelia answers for me in a chipper tone. "I told him I wanted you to feel it the next day."

"Mhm, what she said." I mumble before sitting up to stretch with a yawn. Catching sight of the deformed block of gold brings a sly smile to my face.

"Nice choice that." Apricot says after seeing where my eyes are directed. "And, thank you for holding back all this time. But, we are definitely going on a levelling trip until you can do the same to us."

"Speak for yourself." Amelia lets out a nervous giggle. "I swear I hurt after just watching that."

"I'm not sure I can even manage that again." I say while growing some oranges for juice. "I wasn't really in control, more like all the negative emotions I had were exorcising themselves through the act."

"Well, I still wanna try." Apricot pouts.

"Sure think Sweetie." I kiss my crazy little sex-fiend on the forehead. "So, bath or breakfast first?"

"Bath, please." Gwynne whimpers and starts to float herself over to the bathroom and its giant hot-tub.

"How can you two stand it so hot?" Amelia complains a moment later before using her magic to lower the temperature around her and Apricot to a more manageble level. "Maybe we do need that levelling trip."

"This is a bit hot for me too, but it feels nice." I say luxuriating in the bath Gwynne filled up. "I may not be as bad off as she is right now, but I'm a bit sore too."

"Mhm." Amelia grumbles while the dragon in question just floats underwater while I use magic to give her a massage. "Speaking of sore." She reaches over takes my wrist now that I have one, if not the hand that should be attached to it. "It looks like this will all healed up by tonight, unless you can just shapeshift the rest of it back?" She looks at me hopefully.

"Yeah, the mass is small enough that I can do that now." I nod and get started. "I'm gonna look a little skinny again, but nothing a few big meals won't solve."

"Your shapeshifting is that good?" Gwynne decides to join the conversation again.

"Yeah." I flex my new baby hand. "The cosmetic stuff is easy enough, but if I focus I can do things like this too. And, you probably missed it, but Elle was as female as could make her."

"Speaking of." Apricot says in an accusing manner. "You said you'd bring her back out again."

"Sorry Sweetie." My avatar slips into the tub and pulls her into a hug. "Sorrel got a wee bit distracted. Please forgive him." She bats her eyelashes at the pixie, and then starts to blush from the look of heat she gets in return.

"Is that the same spell?" Gwynne sits up and peers at Elle, who now blushes twice as hard with two people staring at her. "I can barely sense the magic anymore."

"Perk of dinging Mastery." I shrug and pull my alter-ego to safety after Apricot starts a little examination of her own. "Doesn't take as much effort to keep up either, I could probably manage without Blackthorne, but only just." I say as Elle starts to massage my growing hand for me.

"Are you really going to keep her around all the time?" Gwynne asks.

"Yeah, she makes Apricot happy." My hand now fully formed, I use it to push Elle back to her pixie. My alter-ego shooting me a look of betrayal as the examination continues in full.

"Apricot is not the only one she makes happy." Amelia says and starts helping Apricot check Elle over.

"Hey, I was missing my hand." I deliberately missinterpret her statement while making a shaking motion with my new hand. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"Snerk!" - *Ding* - "Hah!" Elle turns beet red and tries to hide herself under the water when everyone laughs at my joke.

"It's okay Pet." Amelia strokes her hair. "It's prefectly natural, and nothing to be ashamed of."

"And, was really fucking hot to watch." Apricot adds.

"You guys are strange." Gwynne shakes her head at our antics. "So-" She starts to say something only to be interrupted by her own stomach. "Heh. I was going to ask what your plans were for the day, but now I'm hoping they start with a big breakfast."

"I'm just feeling like peanut-butter oatmeal and an everything smoothie, but I can make whatever you like." I offer. "As for today... Eh, I'm calling it a free day. I'll probably do some enchanting work, maybe go chat with Rea and Coen later."

"Mmm, free day sounds good." Amelia nods in agreement with my decision. "I've been wanting to practice my Air magic, but I'll probably spend most of the day swimming, or just lazing around."

"I think I know what Apricot has planned for today." Elle says with a gasp as the pixie shrinks down and dissappears under the water.

***

"You don't mind if I pester you while you work on this stuff?" Gwynne asks as she sits down in a beach chair next to me. Apricot and Elle stayed behind, but the rest of us went down to the beach area I made by Dragon's Tail Creek. Amelia wanted to swim after all, and I can enchant anywhere.

"Not at all." I answer as I lay out my supplies. "I take it you're interested in learning more?"

"I know we are." Kacey speaks up, pulling Clara closer, they spotted us on the way over here and tagged along. "And, why didn't you tell us this all was here? Did you just heat it up, or is it enchanted?" She gestures along the sandy beach, and to all the ammenaties I added.

"There's a lot of secrets around Dragon Falls, both above and below the water." I offer the teenager an enigmatic smile. "Isn't it more fun to find a secret on your own than to be told about it. There's swimsuits in that hut there." I add as she stares out at the rippling water.

"Maybe in a bit." She shakes her head, like she's trying to clear it. "I want to learn more about Runes." Clara nods in agreement.

"As would I." Gwynne finally gets a chance to answer my question to her. "I doubt I'll take it up as a hobby. But, as you pointed out, I'm somewhat uninformed about the subject."

"Mhm. Well, this stuff may be a bit advanced, but I can give you some primers and show you the basics." I produce three tables, each with copies of the Beginers Book of Runes, and all the tools and supplies they'll need to get started. "But, enchanting is fairly simple, really. You basically just use Mana infused materials to write out a spellform in Runescript."

"Uhh... okay." Kacey goes a bit cross-eyed looking at the diagram for a simple candle Rune.

"Take that candle, there." I project the spell form in mid air, next to the diagram. "This is the spellform, and this is the Runescript. See the similarities?" I overlap the two to make it even easier to spot.

"They've got the same general shape, but the Rune has those extra bits, and is all squiggly."

"The squiggles are the Runes, they basically adjust how the mana behaves." I simplify the concept as much as I can. "As for the bits, this one lets the rune draw power from a Mana Stone. This one sets the target for the flame, and the last one turns it on and off."

"So, what are you working on?" Clara asks while flipping through the book.

"Well, like I said, this is a bit advanced." I display the diagram for the screen part of a movie player, and they all just sorta stare at it for a bit. "This is a Mana screen like the movie player uses, but I also have a few other runes that use the same thing. I'm trying to... modularize things so that people could buy the basic Mana screen, and then add stuff to it. This will lower the complexity of individual Runes and, therefore price, meaning more people will be able to afford them."

"So, swimming yeah?" Kacey gave up even trying to understand the diagram when she heard it was only a part of the whole.

"One sec." Clara tells her new friend to hold on. "I'd like to learn more about all this." She holds up the book. "Can I ask you questions later if I get stuck on something."

"Of course, you can call me anytime." I beam out a smile at her, and box up the starter kit so it will fit in her inventory. I also add another small crate full of books, and one of extra supplies. "Take this stuff too; I'm going to add full libraries and a bunch of workshops to the village once I know what everyone wants. But, this will get you started until I get that done."

"Thank you." She smiles back and puts the crates in her inventory before running off with her friend to go get changed.

"If our bed from last night is any indication." Gwynne chuckles. "You hardly need the money."

"True, but Amelia likes being a merchant." I explain. "And, I like to make my wives happy. That, and the challenge is fun too, not just the enchanting, either. I'm trying to figure out how to introduce luxury goods at a price that's both somewhat affordable, yet won't completely devalue existing Runes."

"Well, I guess everyone needs a hobby." She laughs and settle back into her chair. "So why did that vibrator start smoking?"

"You overloaded and burned out the runes by just flooding the whole thing with Mana. But, even if you had added Mana properly, it still wouldn't have gone any faster, the runes just weren't set up to work that way."

Runes are much more rigid than magic in that regard. In magic, crafting the spellform perfectly isn't as important since you can sorta will the Mana to respond properly. Knowledge, visualization, and just plain desire can all increase the chances that it will do as you want.

"Mhm. Well, would you mind making me a few more toys before you guys leave? Including one that can go faster if I push more power into it?"

"Sure, here's the catalog, just pick out what you want and I'll make it for you." I project the collection of sex toys for her to page through. "If nothing suits your taste, then you can always model exactly what you want out of water. And, before you ask, you need Amelia's permission before you can get one shaped like my dick."

***