Rain woke before his alarm and experienced some momentary disorientation. He was curled up against a rock and quite damp from the morning dew. The sun was just coming up. He shivered. The fire had gone out in the night and being without a blanket had left him with a pretty severe chill.

He rose, rubbing his arms and looking around. Carten was still on watch but the others were all asleep in their bedrolls. Does the man even sleep? Rain wondered, his thoughts sluggish. He moved about quietly, searching for more firewood to restart the fire. There weren't many trees around, but there was plenty of scrub brush and it was fairly dry, even with the dew. As he searched, he realized that not all of the chill was coming from the cool air.

Yes! It worked! My aura is still active!

Rain had been practicing with his auras for the whole day yesterday, using winter to keep his regeneration boosted between bouts of purification. He was getting a bit annoyed at how low the boost was and how slowly the skill was gaining experience. Trying to shove more mana into it did nothing, the barrier in his mind resisting all attempts to force it wider, only allowing a set flow of mana and that was it.

Amplify and extend were sort of like side channels that he could open or close, adding to the mana consumed by the skill, but not directly. He'd also tried reducing the flow, trying to reduce the mana consumption of purify down to something he could maintain all day. He'd had no luck with that either; the skill consumed mana at a fixed rate. Trying to use less than that would cut off the flow completely, the barrier re-sealing itself and stopping his mana from flowing out into the world.

Rain had gotten pretty annoyed at this, asking the other mages if there was any way to control the mana output of a spell. Neither Jamus nor Mahria had an answer that satisfied him. Jamus had explained that spells worked with a sort of threshold. You pressed mana against the barrier until the threshold was reached, then it would burst out into the effect you wanted, after which the barrier would close. Channeled spells such as Rain's auras were rare, at least at their level. Neither Jamus nor Mahria had any. He hadn't bothered asking Lavarro or Carten for different reasons in each person’s case.

There has to be more to it, winter feels so natural compared to the others. Rain tried varying the output of winter as he shoved some twigs into the fire, trying to get them to catch on the coals. He almost felt as if it was working, but the drain of the aura was so slow he couldn't tell if it was having any effect.

Why is winter different? I was even able to keep it on overnight. It feels less like a spell, and more like, well, just part of me. Maybe I've just been using it long enough? Skills get experience when you use them, but that is just numbers. Can you get better at a skill with practicing it, independent of what the system says? It makes sense, hard to see with an aura, but Mahria's aim is an obvious sign that skills and spells don't take care of everything.

Rain got the fire to catch at last and slowly started feeding in larger branches as the flames rekindled. He activated his purification aura and sat near the fire to dry out from the damp, watching as the ash in the fire pit dissolved under the assault of his aura. Even the smoke from the fire was attenuated. He focused on the feeling of purify, trying to feel the flow of the mana and understand how it was working.

He ran out of mana before managing to glean anything further about the skill, switching back to winter automatically. He stared at the flames, thinking about magic and skills until his alarm went off, the others seeming to jerk awake at the same time. Carten stood and walked to the cart. He tossed his shields in, then clambered up after them. He pulled a blanket from his pack and wrapped himself up in it, not even removing his armor.

I guess he does sleep. Walking for me today, then. Damn, he is frickin’ ‘uge! He practically fills that wagon. Rain pulled up his training overview as the others started to rise and move about the camp.

Training Overview

General Experience Earned

Stamina Use: 55

Mana Use: 1039

Skill Experience Earned

Extend Aura: 99 [Rank Up]

Purify: 825 [Rank Up]

Winter: 16

Amplify Aura: 99 [Rank Up]

Intrinsic Clarity: 1039 [Rank Up] [Rank Up]