Did I really not get any XP because the system was offline when the encounter ended? That’s crazy. Also, did that say “ruleset 5.5e?” When the hell did that happen? What’s different I wonder?

“Character Sheet”

Oh I have expertise built into the Wizard class at level 2 now, I wouldn’t have needed Skill Expert if I had this to begin with. I’ll take expertise in Insight since I seem to roll that pretty often. Now I have expertise in Arcana and Insight.

There’s a new feature at level 5 called Memorize Spell. Whenever I finish a Short Rest I can replace one level 1+ spell I have prepared with another level 1+ spell from the spellbook. That’s super handy! I can think of a couple times I would’ve wanted to have that.

For Paladin I unlocked spellcasting at level 1 now instead of level 2 so I can prepare 3 Paladin Spells after a long rest compared to the 2 spells I could prepare before. I have some new thing called Weapon Mastery for the Longsword and Rapier. For the longsword this unlocks a new ability to impose disadvantage on the enemies next attack roll if I hit them with the longsword. For the rapier, if I hit a creature with a rapier and deal damage to the creature I have advantage on the next attack roll against that creature before my turn ends.

Holy shit. I can only Smite once per Attack action now. That’s a huge nerf! Haste is even more of an important spell now. Oh, but smite scales up to 9th level now instead of stopping at 4th level, so that’s nice. Looks like several spells got changed, True Strike is actually an insanely good cantrip now. I think I still prefer Booming Blade or Green-Flame but that’s really good. I don’t feel like going through every single leveled spell to see if anything significant was changed, but maybe later if I’m bored.

Time unfreezes and I sit up from laying in the grass. “What are the odds my backpack didn’t get crushed when that thing fell onto the ground? If the camping bag got crushed it’s not really a big deal but there’s a decent chance I lost some stuff if it crushed my backpack. Namely the inkwell for the magical quill.”

She actually winces when I mention the possibility of the inkwell being crushed. “I’d say the odds are not in your favor.”

“Well guess I’d better go look. By the way I only have like 4 spell slots and I’m also completely drained on mana. We are truly, actually, supremely fucked if we run into another problem like that Ursa. Good news for you though, it’s a pretty decent walk to get back to a section of the forest that still has an overhead canopy.”

“Why is that good news for me?”

“It means you get to be carried again for like 100 plus feet instead of 2 feet, haha.”

I don’t stick around to see her reaction as I start to make my way over to where I ragdolled across the ground and lost the bags.

Perception.

15 + 6 = 21.

Finding them comes pretty easily, and thankfully only the camping bag was crushed. If the inkwell bursted in my backpack it would’ve ruined all of the spell scrolls as well. Oh, and the health potions would’ve been wasted. Honestly I’m not sure I can carry Luna and the Mizzium and both of the bags at the same time. Last time it was just her and it was pretty close to my limit. Walking back over to the prone alicorn I let her know the plan.

“I’m gunna bring the bags and the Mizzium over to the campsite then come back and get you, or I can take you first if you prefer.”

“Neither, you’ll use this opportunity to train your telekinesis. Carry the bags without using your hand as a crutch. From what I can tell you can project mana from any part of your body, so you don’t need to use your hand. We’ll wait here until you can pick up the bags without using your hands then we’ll move to the new camp site.”

“Luna, you’re the one that said I’m basically out of mana.”

“Basically out of mana and actually out of mana are not the same. Those bags plus the magical device are probably only 20 or 30lbs max and that much weight does not require a significant amount of mana.”

“My goddess truly is a demanding one. Alright fine, and I suppose I need to keep my presence suppressed as well?”

“You’re in luck actually. Since you are basically out of mana there is no presence to suppress. We’ll work on that once you replenish your pool.”

Wait, I don't have to use my hands? I mean I guess I just instinctively used my hands because it’s easier to aim that way, but I could’ve sworn someone told me to use my hands. Let’s give it a shot I guess?

I decide to try the camping bag first since it’s the most expendable if I fuck up. Intensely staring at the bag I picture my mana reaching out from my chest and surrounding the bag. Nothing’s happening. I’ll just imagine a hand then, since using a real hand worked last time then maybe imagining one will make this easier. Imagine a silver thread connecting the bag to me, and at the end of that thread is a hand. Grasp the bag and gently grip it. As the mental image of the hand wraps its fingers around the bag it’s enshrouded in the familiar silver light.

Repeating the process I have my backpack, the camping bag, and the Mizzium Apparatus in my grasp. Now just slowly lift them to this point, instead of thinking of a direction I focus my gaze at one point in particular. Finally pull the threads taut, so that if I walk away the items are forced to be pulled along. I just need to focus on maintaining my grasp on the items and they should follow on their own.

Next we need to pick up the spoiled princess. I perform the task exactly the same way I did last time, and after a few steps I notice her staring behind with a look of mild confusion. “What’s up?”

“How did you project your mana to the items?”

“I imagined a thread with hands on the end that flew through the air and grabbed onto all of them. Then I just moved them up above me, and pulled the threads tight so the items would follow me.”

“Interesting. It’s a rather uncommon method, but it is used by some ponies. That being said, nopony has used this method as their first method. Typically foals instinctively know that if they condense a minute amount of mana into the air and then send it to the object that the mana will spread out and enshroud the object on its own. That mana still belongs to them so they just control it and move it the same way they circulate and direct mana in their body. You don’t need a literal connection to maintain control of your mana.”

“Why didn’t you explain that before?! I’ve just been operating on the assumption that once it leaves me I can’t exert any force on it!”

“Like I said it’s an instinct, most of us do it subconsciously! I hadn’t even considered that you’d lack that trait. Besides, when it comes to magic it’s always better to let the caster themself come up with their first method and usage of the instructions. Once you prove that you understand and can implement the concept, then it’s okay to teach you the most efficient way to perform the task.”

“I guess that makes sense. Still, could’ve saved us like 45 minutes of me just sitting here fucking around with it. Since we still have a few hours before we normally go to sleep I’m going to try and finish up the rest of the spell scrolls tonight.”

It takes another 20 minutes of slowly walking west to reach an unscathed area of the forest where we still have a canopy overhead. This time I set up the tent around Luna so I don’t have to awkwardly move her inside afterwards. As soon as I get comfortable and start working on learning the spell scrolls Luna ruins it. “Are you not going to re-establish your Alarm spells?”

Instantly I throw my head back with a groan. “Thanks for reminding me, I completely forgot.”

“I didn’t think your reaction would be so visceral, is it truly so tedious?”

“It’s extremely tedious and slow. That’s not why I groaned though. I’m honestly just exhausted, Luna. That thing was like 20 times bigger than the dragon lord and I did not expect it to be so relentless. I know it needs to be done though, so I’ll get to it.”

She gives me a sympathetic look as I leave the tent. Half the Alarms I set up at the old campsite just a couple hundred feet away are still up, so that’s good at least. I’m not making the perimeter as wide as I did last time. I really do not have the energy to be out here ritual casting Alarm 16 times. I end up going with the same setup I used on the first day we camped, so it only takes 44 minutes to get everything going.

Walking back to the tent I give another look over my spell slots just to confirm I’ve got the numbers memorized correctly. I have two 1st level spell slots and two 2nd level spell slots. That’s it. Oh, I just noticed that since I got an extra expertise that I put on Insight that my passive Insight is 20 now. I don’t even need to roll for most conversations now, that’s pretty useful.

Sitting down on my bedroll I let out a sigh and lean back against my pillow, staring at the spell scrolls on the ground. Do I really want to do these right now? Since Luna doesn’t have her book she quickly takes notice of me just staring at the scrolls. “It’s been an eventful few hours, Ignis. If you need to rest then feel free to do so. You’d only be going to sleep a few hours early.”

“If you’re staying up then I’m staying up. Just give me a few minutes to contemplate my life.”

The sun rose at some point while I was learning Magic Mouth, and while I was two hours into learning Blur it finally reached the normal time for sleep. I ended up using meditation for my rest because frankly I’m not in the mood to have conversational dreams with whoever the fuck feels like barging in. The other benefit of meditation over sleep is that I only need 4 hours of meditation to feel well rested, so I have a couple extra hours to work on these scrolls before Luna wakes up. With that extra time I’m about to finish learning Blur. Once I finish with this I only have Shatter and Dimension Door left. I’ve been holding off on learning Dimension Door because it’s going to take 8 hours.

I’m two hours into learning Shatter when I hear Luna call out for me inside the tent. Getting up I go pop my head in and say hi. “How are you feeling today? Think your muscles have recovered enough to at least walk?”

She slowly rises to her hooves with a few sounds of discomfort but walks out of the tent on her own. “It’ll be at a slower pace than normal, but I should be fine to continue on today. My mana is back up to around 40% capacity which is more than enough for most spells.”

“How much did you have when you left after you drained your mana into the Moonblade?”

“Significantly less than what I have now. We won’t be defenseless if we run into another problem tonight.”

Talking about this just made me realize, “How do you tell how much you have? I didn’t realize I was low on mana last night until that massive dizzy spell and fatigue hit me.”

“I could only tell that you were close to empty because as soon as you casted that spell your presence disappeared entirely. You should be able to just instinctively know how much mana you have… can you really not tell?” While she’s speaking she teleports in our breakfast from the castle and floats over my plate.

“No? Maybe? I don’t know, can you give some description as to what it feels like?”

“You should just know. I really can’t describe it… it’s like trying to describe how you know where your limbs are when your eyes are closed. You just know where they are. I’ll talk to Tia and see if we can have some bracelet or ring made for you that gives you a visual indicator for how much mana you have. It shouldn’t be too difficult to craft. I will say though, you have enough mana that your presence has returned.”

It only takes about 5 seconds to suppress my mana this time. I’m starting to get pretty quick with it, but it still feels like I’m a ways off from being able to keep this up at all times passively. “That’d be pretty convenient to be honest. I’m glad you’re doing better today, I was worried we were going to stay here for another 24 hours.”

She adopts a playful tone as she looks like she’s in deep contemplation. “Well we are still a couple days ahead of schedule… staying here for tonight isn’t too bad of an idea. I’m glad you suggested it, Ignis!”

“Wait seriously? I mean if your body is still sore I don’t mind, but the sooner we get to the thestrals the sooner we can go back to Canterlot.”

“Yes, seriously. I am still sore but I was willing to push through it so we could keep moving, but you reminded me that we’re still ahead of schedule. Also I remembered that I’m your Princess, so if I say I don’t want to walk for hours on end because I’m sore then we aren’t doing it.”

Oh she’s in an authoritative mood? I actually really prefer it when she’s intimidating and commanding. “As you wish, my Goddess. That’s actually perfect for me, that means I can finish scribing the last of my spell scrolls tonight. Unless you had other plans?”

“Yes, you’re going to be training. You'll still have plenty of time for your scrolls, this shouldn’t take more than an hour or two.”

“What training can we even do in your state? Unless you mean magic training?”

“No, you’ll be learning a valuable skill that all knights and attendants learn at some point in their careers.”

Why did she stop looking at me, and why does she seem embarrassed? “What skill?”

“How to perform a hoof massage.”

Huh?

Author's Note

Personally I'm vibing with this slower pace of the story, but it'll probably pick up soon. It's deliberately slow because I'm trying to avoid certain things feeling "rushed" when/if they happen.

Other than that, nothing much to add, pretty simple chapter.

Thanks for reading!