Fall, age 7.

``When you're imprinting a magic, you have to remember the feeling you have when you channel it. You have to feel the motion of the mana, along with the transformation it makes in order to become the magic you're casting. Then simply draw a line from the vortex to the image like you always do.'' [Alfred]

``You tell me that over and over again Alfred, but I just cannot seem to get it right. I do not have a clear mental image of it working that I can connect the vortex to, so it just does not seem to work. I mean I get the magic, it is the most basic wind magic after all.'' [Nathan]

``Don't worry Nathan, the fact that you can even do it chantless at your age is astonishing you know? I am sure you will get this. Just keep trying.'' [Alfred]

No shortcuts huh..

I'm currently trying to imprint a crystal with the air magic ``Wind'' which my mother showed me a month ago. It's exceedingly simple to use, but with my pathetic aura it's less of a wind and more like a tiny USB fan. Truly useless, except for hot days.

Alright then, time to try again.

I just can't really remember it that well, and magic still seems.. Wrong.. I can't really wrap my head around it when I'm not using it.

Hmm.. Maybe if I try casting it at the same time? Worth a shot.''

I channel my aura and try casting the magic while I imagine how i want to imbue the crystal.

Shit, this is hard. It's like rubbing your head and patting your stomach, both are easy but doing it at the same time makes you focus on one of them and screw up the other at weird times. But it does give me the exact feeling for reference.

Easy now, just relax. I should really start juggling in my spare time, might help me in situations like this.

Okay, slow breaths now. There, that should do it.. Yes! It accepted my design.

And here's the pattern, alright, it's not all the complicated, I should be able to finish this in no time. Time to get to work.

I got a lot faster at imprinting, it used to take more than an hour to make a simple design, but now it only takes about half an hour. I still have a ways to go though, Alfred can make simple designs like this in a few minutes.

Aaand, done.

``Alfred, it is finished.'' [Nathan]

``Oh? I thought you were havin- Say, did you channel your aura and cast the spell while imprinting? I didn't tell you how to do that.'' [Alfred]

``Oh, yeah, I figured it would make it easier to get the image right.'' [Nathan]

``Well it does, but most don't bother because it makes it a lot harder to focus you know.. Once you know the image you use by heart, it's purely an inconvenience. But how did you know to do it?'' [Alfred]

``I just thought it would make it easier. I had problems remembering exactly how the magic felt, so I figured it would be easier to have a live reference.'' [Nathan]

``Heh, so it was just a gut feeling. You have really good instincts, but don't forget to be studious, or you will arrive at a bottleneck you can't overcome.'' [Alfred]

``I will be sure to remember that. Now let's see if this thing actually works.'' [Nathan]

I power up the crystal and release the mana.

And it blows wind directly into my face, blowing my hair up violently and giving me quite a shock.

``Ha ha ha. Oh did I forget to tell you that you can't tell which way it blows if you don't remember to specify it?'' [Alfred]

He heartily laugh with a huge grin on his face.

And I am not amused.

``Yes, you did..'' [Nathan]

``My master did the exact same to me. I mean, you just got wind in your eyes, and not sand. Well, it dissipates by itself, so no harm done.'' [Alfred]

Sigh.

``Well how do I make it directional then?'' [Nathan]

``You have change it's shape. After that, just imagine where you want the magic to come out, it's not at all complicated. You can't set a direction if the crystal is a perfect sphere, so most people just cut off a part of it. Also, if you make it symmetrical you don't know which way is which, so be careful with that.'' [Alfred]

``Got it. I'll try it again then.'' [Nathan]

Alfred hands me another crystal and I sit down to try again. I make the crystal in a shape like an oblong diamond shape and make the magic come out at the point.

And I connect several mana lines from the vortex to the magic this time. I want to see if this means increased power or not. Five should do it.

Getting the image down without my aura is hard, but now that I did it once It's not at all impossible. After a few tries, it accepts my image and shows me the pattern.

And half an hour later I'm done.

``Alfred, I am done, let us test it out.'' [Nathan]

``Hm? Yeah, looks good, I like the shape you made it into.'' [Alfred]

``I also added a few more manalines to try and make it more powerful.'' [Nathan]

``That should work, but when you add more manalines there's a diminished return. Most people don't really use it because it makes it less efficient, most just add more crystals if they need more power, because you can use inscription to link them together.'' [Alfred]

``Inscription?'' [Nathan]

``Oh I haven't told you? Look here.'' [Alfred]

He walks over to the nearest stand and picks up a magic tool. It's a wand with a small crystal at the top and a leather handle.

``You see these dull golden lines that almost blend in with the wood? These are inscribed mana lines, they connect you to the crystal without you needing to touch it. The upside is that they can conduct mana quite efficiently, and linking it to two crystals is a lot better than using two mana lines inside the crystal. The downside is that they conduct mana slowly. Mostly, it's not really a problem though, you can always add more lines if you need a faster charge.'' [Alfred]

``Got it. I am still gonna try it out though.'' [Nathan]

I charge up the crystal and brace myself. The wind is a lot stronger, about three times stronger, which really is a lot less efficient than I had hoped.

To top it off, it only lasts a fifth of the time it did the previous time.

Guess conservation of energy doesn't apply to mana, and if it does the crystal has some kind of leak.

``See, it's way too wasteful. Every time you add a line, the next one is only two thirds as effective. But the consumption doesn't diminish, so it's basically useless. Most of those that use these tools have low mana capacity, so you want to make them as efficient as possible.'' [Alfred]

``I am not so sure.. Even if it did not last long, it had quite a kick. Sometimes burst is more important than efficiency, and if you do not want it to last long, that part is not an issue either.'' [Nathan]

``Even then, it is almost always better to add more crystals.'' [Alfred]

``Can you not do both? Use several crystals, each with a few lines? You could increase power without sacrificing efficiency too much, and you could make it more intense as opposed to longer lasting.'' [Nathan]

``You can, but what would be the point of making it last shorter? With the magic you imbued this with, for instance, it would not be enough to make you fly because it lasts such a short time.'' [Alfred]

``... You are right.. It would not be enough to make me fly..'' [Nathan]

I look at the crystal in my hand, that almost made me stagger.

``But it might just send me flying..'' [Nathan]

``What are you thinking?'' [Alfred]

``What if I made a few of these and attached them to a set of boots, each with a few inscription lines connecting them?'' [Nathan]

``Boots? What would be the point? If you want to make a flying tool it would be much better to make a set of wings, though there's few who would buy it.''

``Oh I would not sell it. I would use it myself. A set of boots that can lift me into the air on a moments notice, I can see several uses for that.'' [Nathan]

``.. You're right, that could be quite useful, for instance with the martial arts that your mother is teaching you. I have seen her use it, instant movement is a large part of it.'' [Alfred]

``Can you help me make them? The boots?'' [Nathan]

Alfred puts on a gentle smile and nods with satisfaction.

``Absolutely. Lets get started right away.'' [Alfred]