The next healing spell on the list was just called Heal. Second most costly, it seemed to be used for fairly major injuries, things that were closer to killing someone. There were also references to Greater Heal, supposedly used to save people afflicted with massive injuries, it was a life saver. Unfortunately, he didn’t have this spell, not that it was needed at this point. Even Heal seemed a bit overkill for the damage he had sustained.

There was also Light Heal, which he had received, but he was still a bit leary of the direct healing spells. Once more the knowledge he had been given was coming in handy as it explained that having direct healing spells used on a person could be mentally difficult as well as physically draining. The healing he had undergone from Crossroads had been weird as hell, but at least it had gone slow enough it wasn’t a massive strain on his body.

As far as healing over time spells, there were two. Rejuvenation and Regeneration. The major differences seemed to be based around time versus discomfort. Regeneration lasted a very long time, but was also commensurately slow to keep the mental trauma and physical strain to a minimum. Rejuvenation was somewhere between Regeneration and Light Heal. Definitely not instant, but under a minute to heal up lighter injuries. Still tiring to have cast on you, but well balanced between surviving current injuries and surviving the rest of the fight. Neither spell was strong enough to take someone from nearly dead to full health and fighting condition in a couple minutes, but, depending on conditions, could likely do it within two days. You could be up and fighting in one, but you wouldn’t be at your best. Even better, the two spells could be cast on one person at the same time. For now, rejuvenation seemed like the best choice for Dix.

With a bit of struggle Dix managed to get the spear passed to his other hand. Once he figured out the “valves in the hand” thing he would be more than happy to cast with both hands, but for now, it was a better decision to use the already wrecked hand for more spell casting. He decided on a little bit of change this time in how he tried to cast his spells. Obviously his previous attempt went a little sideways. This time he tried to make the rune outside of his body, after all, who needs open valves when the inside of your body is completely exposed?

The rune was harder to hold this time. It wavered, and struggled against his mind as he tried to form it. Once more he was using a tentacle of mana, although this time it came from his torn apart hand. Parts of the rune were fading away even as he drew it, forcing him to have to draw it over and over. He was constantly trying to speed up and get the whole thing drawn before it collapsed, but the faster he went the more mistakes he made. Eventually he had to stop from the headache he was developing. For a moment he simply rested his eyes, not even thinking about what he was doing.

When he opened them a few seconds later he was stunned to see that his rune was in exactly the same condition it had been when he stopped to rest. He only needed a moment to understand what had caused it. The tentacle of mana he had been using to draw the run was also the supply of mana, or at least the conduit of it. The rune would need more than one conduit of mana to supply it with power, even just during the creation process. Smiling, he watched as a dozen more tendrils of mana wriggled up out of his ruptured hand until they were near to areas that the rune would be assembled in. Getting back to work, he gazed on in curious glee as the tendrils attached to his rune as he drew it above his palm. When it was finished, the tendrils suddenly expanded in size as large amounts of mana were pumped through them into the rune. Abruptly, the mana feed stopped, and the tendrils mostly withdrew, leaving a glowing rune hovering above his hand.

Dix just stared at the rune. He wasn’t actually sure how to use it at this point, but that wasn’t why he was staring. Other than women, it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Part of it was that he had made it, so he knew just how hard and complicated it was to do. Another part was that it was his first time really seeing magic in this form. Sure, fireballs and lightning bolts were beautiful in their own way, but this was a construct that could make things like that. It was also mostly gold, with a bit of green traveling along the runic paths, twisting and turning through the maze of interconnection between the shapes. Finally, the simple feel of the construct in his hand was amazing. It felt like a living creature, or more precisely a living piece of himself. There was a connection between himself and the rune, through the mana, that let him extend his senses into it. Particularly a new sense he hadn’t had before. He could actually feel the mana of the rune, sensing how it flowed through the construct.

Dix was so caught up in studying his new toy that he had forgotten why he had it in the first place. When Chance laid her hand on his shoulder, he jumped, having completely lost track of the rest of the room, or maybe it was just her strange presence acting up. His loss of concentration resulted in the mana tendrils losing connection to the rune, but instead of fading out as it starved of mana, it simply fell into his hand where it suddenly erupted into a flash of light. Dix briefly turned his head away and shut his eyes. He turned back when he began feeling a tingling wave of relief spreading over himself. It was mostly centered on his injured hand, but a lesser sensation was also spreading through his muscles. His hand was being rebuilt by layers, starting at the bones and working its way up, and in from the outer edges of the wound. Awestruck, he simply watched as he was healed back to normal by his own power.

He looked down at Chance, who had also been watching his hand healing up. She still had tears on her face, but some effort had been made to at least clear them from her eyes. The look of loss and shock that she had had on her face was gone, instead showing relief and fatigue. Dix knew that going through emotionally trying moments could be exhausting, and endeavored to find a way to help her rest for a time. But answers first. “So, that drink packed a bit more kick than I think you intended it too.”

Chance’s relief and fatigue dropped off her face, quickly replaced by shock, a brief moment of anger, then finally mirth. She snorted, and quickly hid her blushing face in her hands again, trying to hide her relieved laughter. A task she was completely unsuccessful at. Not that Dix was any better. Relief at him having survived the ordeal, followed by a stupid joke saw them both on the floor laughing for some time.

They both eventually calmed down, but had to avoid each other’s gaze as it sent them both back into hysterical laughter. By mutual consent they meandered back to the bar, where Chance poured normal drinks for them both. Handing one to Dix she said, “Just scotch this time, no fancy mystic alchemy.” He took it with a simple nod of gratitude, and then started sipping. Chance sat nearby with her own drink, both lost in their thoughts for a time, as they finished their drinks. Instead of thinking any more over what just happened, Dix started going through the rest of the spell knowledge he had been given.

The spells of the attack category were easy to understand, even though it had the most spells in it. While the background material on spells he had been given mentioned a number of different elements, there were only seven used by the spells he had. Each element had a single target spell and an area of effect. Fire had a bolt and a flamethrower, while lighting had almost exactly the same type of spells, although its area spell was called discharge. Ice and earth were also strikingly similar, both launching either a single spike, or a wave of them that rose up from the ground.

Wind and water both launched what was called a bolt for the single target spell, but Dix would categorize it more as a bullet. Similar to rubber bullets used by riot police on Earth, neither was particularly lethal, although they could kill normal people if they struck right. For the most part they were described to be used more as a stunning or knockback attack. The area attacks, on the other hand, were decidedly lethal. Wind blade was a meter wide mostly invisible blade that cut through most things made of flesh. It might not always get through bone, but having the flesh flayed from your bones would slow down anyone. Water slicer was similar, but it was a very thin, extremely high pressure blast of water. This one would cut through bone, and everything else, it just took a little time. Aim it at a single spot and it would bore a hole straight through.

Force was the odd man out, in that it was just that, kinetic force. The bolt spell could maybe break a bone of a weaker monster, but really wasn’t all that strong. Force pulse was the only area effect spell that was a full 360 degree blast. It didn’t hit hard, but it was a nice little knockback for when things were getting crowded. The last of the attack specific spells was Multi Bolt, launching three single target spells of completely random elements. Dix was really confused how they got that to work without some sort of machine logic in the spell itself to do the random selection, but there were some intriguing possibilities for the spell.

Support had what looked to be some of the spells he thought he would enjoy the most. Healing and attack were important, but support spells had the ability to change how a person would fight entirely. The first three spells in support that he saw were Might, Speed, and Toughness. All were buff type spells, designed to put a long term magical effect on someone that increased their strength, speed, toughness, or all of the above. They were strong enough to turn a physically weak mage into a reasonably capable melee fighter. They would still need training and gear, but their stats would support the ability to fight in close range.

And support spells also included the spell that saved his life, and would complete the mage to warrior change. Conjure Weapon. Dix could see himself using this spell a lot. Grab a couple of basic weapons that are good in every situation, and then take Conjure Weapon to make up the difference. It was also fairly fast casting, so he could prevent ever being unarmed again. Conjured weapons might not have enchantments, buffs, or special effects, but they were still more than capable of taking a life. Briefly he wondered if there were a Conjure Armor spell, before realizing that it would be significantly less useful than a weapon. Armor was something you could probably wear just about everywhere without causing trouble. Sometimes you had to leave weapons behind, or turn them over. With the ability to make any kind of weapon he could imagine, there were really quite a few different options that he could make. It would even allow for the creation of throwing weapons.

Next up was a series of four spells that could be exceedingly useful. Dix definitely wanted to tinker with them, but they were still regarded as weak and useless in the opinion of whoever supplied the knowledge he was given. They were summoning spells of four different elements: earth, fire, wind, water. He was amused that these were the elements chosen, but confused as to why they were regarded as useless. According to the spell information each spell would summon a small elemental whose form would be chosen by the caster, and this was apparently their weakness, as most people couldn’t envision a useful form for combat that was similar enough to how the elemental normally appeared to make their instincts useful in a fight. Apparently, elementals were just summoned life forms from another plane of existence. The lowest version of the spells, the one he had, only brought over things that were the equivalent of a squirrel, but there was no way to tell what kind of body they originally had, or if they even had one.

Dix was looking at the spells in a different manner though. He wouldn’t mind extra combatants that would help him fight for nothing but some of his mana, but he mostly wanted to see how well they worked as spies, scouts, and treasure hunters. If he could get them to form into small animals that they could use to hide from others, they had a very good chance of working out how he wanted. The other option, or course, was to see if there was any way to communicate with the elementals. With a way to communicate, then it would be possible to summon an elemental already familiar with the form he wished them to use, or even bring them over exactly as they normally look.

The final group of spells was yet another thing that Dix found fascinating. Shielding spells. There were two different basic types, both based around the two spells he had been given. First was Mana Shield. Mana Shield was less a shield, and more an armor. It covered the caster from head to toe in an invisible shield that would take the damage from a blow instead of the person. The down side to it was that it used mana every time it was struck. These shields, until they were improved beyond the basic level, would expend the same amount of mana each time something hit them. There was no way for the shield to differentiate between a boulder falling on it, or a pebble. Of course there were problems on both sides of this situation. The pebble wouldn’t break the shield, just cost mana. Get hit with enough pebbles and you will run out of mana, dropping the shield. But a boulder, if it’s big enough, can actually crack the shield. The feedback from the cracking will cancel the spell, leaving the caster vulnerable until they can recast the shield. Something too big or too strong would shatter the shield in a single blow. A shattered shield offers no defense at all, usually resulting in the death of the caster.

The second shielding type spell was actually just called Shield. After studying its effects for a short time, Dix was confused why it wasn’t called Conjure Shield. The spell worked remarkably similar to the Conjure Weapon spell, bringing forth a shield of whatever style and design the caster could envision. The Shield would appear attached to whichever arm cast the spell. After that, it was just a shield like any other. Created and sustained by mana, but otherwise completely mundane. The only odd thing about the spell at all was that the size of the shield, or what it appeared to be made of, made no difference at all to what it could block. A giant tower shield that covered the whole body of the caster would block exactly the same amount of damage as a wicker bracer before breaking. Admittedly, one was much easier to block an attack with, but both could be used as a shield of different types.

Having gone through all of the spells that had been imparted to him, Dix actually had a pretty good idea which ones he would like to have if he had to make a choice. The deciding factor would be how many could he have. Most of his decisions were less about how much damage and destruction the spells could do, affect, or fix, and more about their utility. In regards to the summons, he had already decided that he would take them in the order of Air, Earth, Water, then Fire. As he was planning to use them more for tasks like scouting, and less as attackers, then Air was the most useful. It was almost invisible, and could use the surrounding air to listen or feel for enemies. All of the elementals could do the same thing through their own elements, but how often was someone in an environment made of fire. The air elemental could also help him breath underwater, which the water elemental couldn’t for some reason. Finally, while it wasn’t the most damaging, or terrifying of the elementals to see, it was an excellent burst assassin style attacker, able to take out a single target quite quickly before it faded away again to recharge.

His other decisions were all made in similar ways. It wasn’t about being the strongest, it was about them being the most useful to him in all situations. Studying the spells again he came to a realization, it wasn’t just the spells that he was doing this with. He had done the same thing with his weapon selections earlier with Roanoak. He had left the great swords and battle axes behind, despite their huge ability to do damage. Instead he had taken the spear, capable of so many more styles of attack. A weapon that redefined versatile. Same thing with the ranged weapons. He liked the arbalest, but if it came down to taking just a single long range weapon he would take the longbow.

And he had done it again with the spells. If he kept doing things like this when he got to Mantra he would most likely end up super versatile, and unable to kill a damn thing. Maybe he could get some information from someone before he went down.