Practicing the Second Circle - Wayfinding Dev

[14:56] Turning from the door to her study, the selkie quickly locks it, then moves over next to her desk- then drops down on the cushion cross-legged.

Reaching over into the bag at her side, she withdraws four pages of notes on the Territory circle- and a large silver tome, with a green crystal on the front.

Placing the items on the mostly clear desk in-front of her, she looks to the pile of books from when she had been helping Taiga with runeweaving- she really ought to check and see how he's doing with that.

Thoughts for another time, though.

She takes up Elisheva's tome- it really was wonderful of her to gift a new one- and opens it to the chapter on 'Territory'.

It doesn't take her long to get through the first few pages- her ability to digest text involving the runes and methods of Wayfinding has massively improved since she first began her pursuit of the art.

Moving the tome back to the table, she turns to the notes Magdalen prepared for her- a breakdown of the Territory circle itself, in detail, and examples of useful supporting runes- like, the range limiter. So she doesn't cause herself to pass out by trying to look at Huangzhou, or Obsidia. The demi-angel artificer warned her about that- draining mana far too quickly.

The selkie reads through each and every page- at least half a dozen times each, front and back- it's a grueling, brutal process of memorization- but it is certainly effective.

Territory's radial glyph is much the same as Netherworld's- except, there's a small addition to actually connect the second circle to the first- likely so that it can actually work.

The second circle's supporting weave is, of course, entirely different- runes for determining where the caster is visualizing, the earlier mentioned range limiter...this is what most of Magdalen's notes appear to be, too.

So that probably means that Territory's parameters are...

...very similar to Netherworld's, too. Alright.

Now is when the selkie attempts to put what she just read over many times into practice- especially the supporting weave. That's going to be the most difficult part, since it's the furthest from the first circle's.

Arranging the four leafs of paper out in-front of her, holy light coalesces around her right hand- she raises it up, into the air, and the light flows to the tip of her pointer- and she begins her first attempt at actually tracing out the Territory circle in the air.

First, as always- the first tier, the radial glyph. Luckily, this one comes easily- she's versed with Netherworld's radial glyph, and, although it takes a few tries to get it to look...mostly right, she manages it. It only takes like- ten minutes! Wow. Hopefully the supporting weave is like that!

She is already aware it is not going to be like that- flicking her wrist, she dismisses the various half-drawn and completed radial glyphs- re-adjusts herself in her seat...

...and then starts to work on the supporting weave for the second circle.

It takes her twice as long as the radial glyph to get even half done with the second tier- mostly because she had to re-read the notes she had several times over, to double-triple-quadruple make sure she was tracing the tier correctly.

She leans back for a moment, and examines it- okay, alright. It...far from perfect, some of the runes there are too close together...but it's a step in the right direction. Taking several more moments to breath- she proceeds to lean back in, hand raises to attempt to complete the tier.

Although this still takes her a severe amount of time as compared to Territory's first tier, she manages to complete the second half of the supporting weave in an additional half-hour- so. That's nearly an hour for her first attempt at the supporting weave- that can only lessen with more practice.

Speaking of more practice...she flicks her wrist, dismissing the glowing white band of runes in the air- and then begins slowly, cautiously, and carefully making it once again.

Her left pointer finger is being used to keep her place in the notes in-front of her, as she traces it- gradually speeding up as she goes along.

By the time she's half done with this attempt- it's only taken her fifteen minutes to get this far! That's a few minutes saved, and it actually looks smoother, more refined.

Immediate improvement is nice, but now she has to finish the tier with similar results- or it's uneven improvement, and not entirely reliable, or good.

Luckily for the selkie- or perhaps, not luck, but practice, and review- they seem to have, just as before, immediately paid off- cutting ten minutes from the second half of the supporting weave!

Which means it only took her thirty-five minutes, instead of fifty! Progress. Overall, it's certainly much smoother, straighter than her first attempt- but it isn't good enough to move on yet. A flick of her wrist, and the white writing in the air dissipates, its flow of mana being cut off.

Then a thought hits her. She's been pausing a lot to double-check her notes. Maybe that's actually a bad thing? Like- she's calling her memory into question, which she won't be able to do if she's to ever really create the six circles with confidence. And she pausing her tracing while she does so- wouldn't that also impact the flow of her runeweaving?

It takes her about a minute to weigh the benefits and detriments of referring to her notes while she's still just practicing it...but, with a resolute nod, she collects the notes in-front of her...

...then sets them off to the side, next to Elisheva's tome. She can review them all later, if she still can't reliably do this.

Holy light is gathered once more about her fingertip- and she begins to trace Territory's supporting weave once more.

Now that she's left without her notes, everything seems to...actually move faster, with longer, more confident strokes of her finger, and smoother lines- she can't stop her movement to refer to the pages of information, after all.

Minutes pass- and, in record time for the selkie, the supporting weave is finished- she's not actually quite sure how long that attempt took, but- it can't have been more than ten minutes, total. And more important than that-

-the band of runes looks delightful. Looks like constantly re-checking her notes was a detriment.

Then again, it isn't as if that's the last portion of Territory- she still has to trace out its third tier, its parameters.

...but. That, much like the radial glyph, is very, very similar to Netherworld's own- and without, as previously mentioned, her notes, to call herself into question- the first attempt at the third tier takes barely any time at all, compared to the second tier.

So, that's a nice something- now it's time to actually try drawing all three together, in order- and then, maybe, if they look good enough- attempting to activate them.

First tier- the radial glyph. Short strokes- but quick ones, rapidly bring it into being.

Second tier- supporting weave. Long, slow, cautious strokes- but each one is made with confidence, and certainty that it's correct.

Final tier- the third- parameters. She returns to making rapid strokes now- enwrapping the supporting weave and quickly finishing the Territory circle.

The selkie leans back to examine it- and also rest her arm for a moment. Weaving with it for the hours on end she has been has gotten it to ache slightly, but- she's going to need to be able to do that anyways, eventually.

With a nod, a broad smile crosses her face. The circle looks good- it looks like it should work, too.

And then she dismisses it with a flick of her wrist- to actually activate it, and actually have it work...she needs a Netherworld circle, too- and Magdalen advised doing them in order- first to last.

So, she does that! Although, it's more like- first to second right now.

Netherworld's radial glyph is traced through the air- following it the supporting weave. And then, the parameters. Just as the final tier is completed, mana gets channeled into the circle, and the white light it's composed of flashes a vibrant green!

Moving on to Territory now-

The radial glyph is traced rapidly.

Then the supporting weave follows- slower than the radial, but still- she's completed this circle correct once now. She can do it again.

And then finished with its parameters.

A slow breath is taken as she looks at the completed but not yet activated Territory circle- she glances between the green of Netherworld, and its whiteness- and then she channels mana into it, attempting to activate it- and as she does so, she thinks very, very hard about wanting to see the dining room in her house, just outside the room she's in now.

A moment passes...and then...

The circle flashes to life, with the same vibrant green, and the selkie can see the other side of the door- and even though it's hazy, and she can't make out details...it's definitely there. And it definitely worked.

She successfully activated the second circle of Wayfinding.

Staring into it for at least half a minute, she eventually manages to pull herself from her reverie- and dismisses the pair of circles. She was actually...kind of worried it wasn't going to work. But it did- now she just has to practice it. A lot more. With gradually further distances.

...she should also probably speak to Magdalen, and let her know that she's gotten Territory to work. After practicing it more.

And starting to work on Travel, that too. So she's prepared just in-case Magdalen asks her to attempt it.

But those are all things for later. For now- she rests back against the desk behind her a moment, streeetches her arms up into the air- then pushes herself to her feet.

After a few seconds, she collects Elisheva's tome and Magdalen's notes, putting each back into the bag at her side- and exits her study.

That was definitely a productive study session- hopefully her next class with the demi-angel artificer is even moreso.
(Kairi)
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