Interlude - Ferro

In the months since his encounter with the mysterious Oracle, Ferro had read the book she'd given him from cover to cover a dozen times.

And every time, he felt as if something small were clicking into place. Some little thing that was getting him closer and closer to being able to consider himself a mage.

"Water is in the air. It is carried by, not transubstantiated from, the gases that we breathe. In order to generate true water that doesn't just disappear with mana, it's important to be able to assess local conditions - available water sources, wind speed, sunlight - the equation for which is..."

"You sure do love that book," a jackalkin harem boy named Hifta noted with his vaporous voice. In truth, both he and Ferro were fully grown men, but it wasn't like Ferro got to decide what the members of a harem were called. Hifta sidled next to Ferro, running a hand along Ferro's arm as he gently pressed down.