Hugo was seriously considering mithril. He needed to pick an element for his formations domain, and the exotic element was calling his name.

At first mithril seemed like an unrealistic choice. It had a very high mana cost to create, and its low density made it bad for creating swords and weapons that needed weight. The main reason it was used was that it held runic enchantments very well. Well, that and it was incredibly strong. The book mentioned that enchanted bracers were the most common use for the element. But then he noticed that it was described as the same color as aluminum. He wondered if that also meant that it was as chemically reactive as aluminum.

Like a man on a mission, Hugo got back up and found a more specialized book, one focusing on the heavy formation elements. The section on mithril was short and boring, listing the thicknesses of armor that would hold enchantments best. But he did also see the formulas for the elements that it would alloy with, copper, titanium, iron, and nickel. The notes said that the alloys made stronger and better armor, but at a reduced enchantment capacity. This was great though, it meant that mithril was useful in a variety of applications. This would allow him to be flexible. The list of alloys was very similar to aluminum as well, it would probably behave very similar to what he was used to.

Hugo nodded to himself. It was a forgone conclusion, mithril was just the best choice for him. His mind made up, he pulled up his Acomarian screen and made his selection. Mithril slotted into place on his stat screen. He double checked that his mana was full before he started experimenting.

Cristian Fieraru [Barrier Domain]

Strength 14

Dexterity 20

Resilience 8

Regeneration 12

Intelligence 10

Wisdom 9

Charisma 11

Perception 11

Rank 2

67/300 Points

Health 11/11

Mana 68/68

Skills: Mana Dart 2, Mana Sight, Fabricate, Solidify 1

Frequencies: 400-700

Elements: Mithril

It really was ridiculous that he had sixty-eight points of mana at rank two. It made no sense. But he wasn’t going to throw away a free pie. He was just going to enjoy the chance to practice with a fantastic new element.

He started out small. He wanted to make the practice knife that he had first learned in formations class. This was the first time he was going to fabricate something with this body. He mentally reviewed all of the equations needed to construct the knife and slowly fed mana into the construct.

The first thing he noticed about the process was that it was much slower than he was used to. Perhaps he just needed more practice with this body to get used to fabricating again. He kept at it though, continuing to slowly push mana into the mental construct while keeping the mathematical formulas sharp in his mind. As he got to the pommel, he got a slight headache, but he powered through it and completed the knife.

Luckily it didn’t explode like most people’s first attempt at creating something. Doubly lucky since he didn’t even have a life mage nearby. He looked around. The fact that he was in the middle of a library had escaped him. He could have gotten in so much trouble if he had gotten blood all over the books. He resolved to think ahead next time.

The finished knife was exactly what he wanted though, he was proud of the creation. It was a small punch dagger, and he had even remembered the adjustments needed to make the knife sharp.

The descriptions were right though, this looked a lot like aluminum. It was silver-gray and very light. It was a shade darker than pure aluminum, but he wasn’t sure if anyone that hadn’t picked that element as their own would even be able to tell the difference.

He pocketed the knife and walked out of the library. Impatient to practice more, he walked behind a nearby tree and checked his mana to see how much he had left. Eyes wide, he realized he may have made a mistake with his element choice.

Two mana.

After making a small knife, he was only left with two points of mana. It had taken him sixty-six points to make a mithril knife. How was he supposed to make a breastplate of mithril when a knife wiped him out? He had been planning on going monster hunting with a mithril crossbow, but there is no way he could make one at this rate. It would cost hundreds of mana. He took the knife back out of his pocket and stared at it.

What was he going to do? He idly stabbed the knife into the grass beneath him as he thought. As he ranked up, his mana pool would grow, but the difference between sixty-eight and seventy was negligible.

A thought occurred to him. His barrier domain allowed him to recycle the mana from his barriers. Could he do the same with the knife? He would love to have that mana back. With a mental effort, he focused on absorbing the mana.

It didn’t work.

He stabbed down in frustration. The knife stopped suddenly, he had hit a rock buried under the grass. With a growl he pulled the knife back up to inspect the damage. He had spent his whole mana pool on this dumb thing and now the tip was probably bent.

It wasn’t.

The knife was just as sharp as when he made it, without a bend or nick in sight. Was this a fluke? He hurried over to the stone walkway and stabbed it a few times with the knife. He ignored the few strange looks he was getting from passers-by. Stone chips flew up, but an inspection showed that the knife was still intact. The tip wasn’t even bent.

Hugo smiled. Mithril was tough. Much tougher than he had expected. This opened up a world of possibilities.

Arrows of mithril would penetrate even thick monster hides. A mithril chainmail hauberk would resist most stabs. He would have to wait until he ranked up a lot if he wanted to make a solid breastplate, but he could make mithril inserts to strengthen leather armor. And that was just monster killing stuff, he bet mithril was a great element for hundreds of practical applications.

Mana carts probably used mithril for their moving parts. He had a vague recollection of mithril being used in some rune work. He thought for a second about other applications and then remembered jewelry. Platinum was the typical element for making mana stone jewelry, but he bet that mithril would be just as good.

He could kill his own monster to get a mana stone, then use his own mithril to make a ring out of it. He could make some serious money that way. This was going to be great.

He couldn’t wait to try his ideas out. But of course, he didn’t have enough mana to try out anything right now. He stabbed the knife into the ground again.

...

The next day, Oskar plopped down next to Hugo at lunch and said “How are things going with barrier domain class?”

“Pretty good, Sage Parem is a great teacher. I can already do several different kinds of barriers,” Hugo said.

“Ug. I wish I had chosen the barrier domain. Formation domain is hard. Creating something permanent out of mana is harder than you would think. I blew up my hands today. Everyone did, actually. Our sage is a jerk. He intentionally didn’t tell us how to avoid that. And after my hands got healed, Sage Rasmus had me do a lot of math as homework.”

Hugo smiled. He knew exactly how hard that homework was and didn’t envy his roommate at all. He gloated, “My only homework is creating and dispelling a few barriers.” He made a small barrier in front of himself to show off.

Oskar smacked the shield, but failed to crack it. Hugo laughed and recycled the mana in the shield. He was getting better at that.

“Whatever. Just don’t work too hard on your ‘homework’,” Oskar said, “You gotta keep up your energy for the party.”

“Party?”

“Oh, did no one tell you yet? They are having a party tonight in the big tower around the thirteenth bell. Top floor. You should go. It’s a great place to meet people.”

Hugo suppressed a shudder. Last time he had been at a party in that tower, he had gotten black out drunk and made a fool of himself. He certainly didn’t want to go. However, he had just promised himself that he would be more social in this life. He needed to go to parties to make more friends and business connections. He needed to play the political game. Plus, he would like to make actual friends. He was fine with Oskar being his roommate, but he would never truly be friends with him. Not after what he did last lifetime.

With as much enthusiasm as Hugo could muster, he said, “Sure! That sounds great. I will be there.”

Now that he was committed, Hugo wanted a distraction so he wouldn’t have to dwell on the fact that he was going into a stressful social situation. He didn’t get that distraction. His afternoon class with the barrier teacher, Sage Parem, was canceled. Apparently the teacher had been called away to deal with an emergency. Something to do with the academy’s magical wards.

So instead, Hugo spent most of the day worrying about the party that night. With the benefit of hindsight, he knew just how important these parties were. Connections made here would shape future business deals for years to come. He needed to make a good first impression and find some nobles that weren't jerks.

Trying to distract himself, Hugo practiced creating personal shields. He knew the skill would come in handy when they went culling later in the year. Obsessive practice brought down the time he needed to create a shield. But it didn’t stop him from worrying. By the time the party rolled around, Hugo was emotionally exhausted.

Strangely, all that worrying had been helpful. When he arrived at the party, he didn’t have the energy left to stress about it. He was fatalistic about the party now, whoever would like him would like him. He was just going to be himself. He introduced himself to several new people, making a good impression because he didn’t feel like being nervous.

He did make sure to moderate his drinking though, taking only small sips of the high proof beverages at the party. He didn’t want a repeat of the last time he was here.

Later in the night, he saw someone else who didn’t moderate their drinking. It was a first year, a boy Hugo didn’t recognize. He was drunk and talking too loud to a bunch of upperclassmen. A closer look revealed noble crests on their uniforms. They were herding the drunk boy closer and closer to one of the tower windows.

Hugo knew how this would end. He had been humiliated and pushed out a window last time around. The fact that they caught him on a barrier only served to increase the humiliation. The same thing was going to happen to this young man.

One of Hugo’s favorite character traits was his practicality. He knew that interfering would only end badly for everyone. So he looked to the other end of the room and started looking for a new group to introduce himself to. The drunk first year wasn’t going to be seriously hurt, so he had no obligation to help.

Unfortunately his feet didn’t hear about his practical plans and he found himself between the drunk boy and the window. His feet had betrayed him.