Mana flowed through the air. Of course, it always did. It flowed through and within everything, at all times, but at this instant, in this place, it was different. It was flowing, not just blindly as the will of the world demanded, but toward something.

  It was flowing toward Ashton. Using the lesser wisp, he was expanding the natural ability to manipulate mana and syphoned the cleansed mana from the air directly into his body. Like a whirlpool, it was pulled toward Ashton. With every breath, he pulled in as much as he could.

  He made it flow through his throat into his chest. After flowing into his heart, it moved from his left arm, over the wisp, into his right, and then into his abdomen. Lastly, Ashton pushed it into the ground through his legs, where it was quickly dispersed within the asphalt.

  It was a method of meditation that Ashton had used to learn to control his mana better in Lumia. Specifically, it was meant to connect him with the world around him. This had always helped with realizing new techniques and methods of mana manipulation. It had even led to Ashton awakening some 'abilities' in the past, some that were acknowledged by the system, others that were not.

  Plus, since Ashton was using that cleansed mana from the area around him, it was essentially like flushing his body with all the gunk that was left behind in his own mana. He could practically feel the experience that he was getting for the 'aether sensitivity' skill right now.

  There were so many things teetering on the edge of reaching level 10 for Ashton that he almost felt annoyed. He really wanted it to finally get there, but that wasn't something he could force, sadly. For now, he just had to keep at it, focus on the quests, and then he would naturally level up more and more.

  Ashton just had to focus on the mana. There was a difference between the mana that was used to simply manipulate the world around you while 'using magic', and the mana that was used to 'cast spells'. Or at least, the sort of spells that Ashton was aiming for.

  While in the broadest sense, Ashton had already been doing something akin to 'spellcasting' whenever he summoned something, or at least when he formed an initial contract, the process of summoning didn't exactly count as a 'spell' being activated. At least not in the way that the Observer clearly meant it.

  While Ashton personally thought that rituals, like summoning or what Oliver had done earlier, counted as 'spells', since there was essentially no valid difference anyway, many others were more pedantic and strict about the difference.

  For them, rituals were something distinct from spells. An enchantment, though it could basically be seen as a 'weak, permanent spell' in a lot of ways, wasn't considered as such either. Maybe it was because enchanting was something done by craftsmen, and mages tended to be a bit... stuck up. They were scholars, and the mightiest of mages were often the mightiest in coin as well.

  Though it didn't seem like the Observer was the sort to think that enchanting or rituals were any lesser than spells, constellations weren't infallible, omnipotent, or omniscient. As long as they interacted with others, they fell victim to habits and culture just like any other being. So, since quests were connected to the quest-giver, only as long as the constellation considered the condition complete would it be possible to pass. But it wasn't under the Observer's control anymore; it was impossible to hide from the system. It was impossible to lie to the system.

  If the Observer didn't have an extremely clear image of what 'spells' were, rather than a vague concept, the quest would have been completed already.

  In that case, the spells that the Observer was talking about were the sort where mana was used and moulded through external magic circles formed directly of mana.

  Sometimes, one could use material, verbal, or somatic components to either form that magic circle, or use said components as an ingredient in the effect once it activated.

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  Of course, the concept of 'spells' weren't so strict that there was only one way to create one. There were numerous different schools of magic that used different techniques or patterns to create their magic circles.

  Bardic spells often took a form that represented the music they were playing to create it. Different lines and dots to represent the individual beats of each song, for example. Ashton had even seen a magic circle that directly showed the notes of the played music.

  Artisan spells were often wonderful masses of shapes and colours, called forth by strokes of a brush or the swing of a crafter's hammer.

  Most mages even added their own twists to their magic circles. Whether they created their own spells outright or just created small signatures to make the spell their own, the only times you could see two people create the same exact magic circle for the same spells were just after being taught by their teacher.

  However, in the entire time that Ashton was in Lumia, though he had seen magic circles in action, he was never allowed to learn how they were actually formed. The Summoner had expressly forbidden him from learning how to cast these sorts of spells and how to form magic circles. It was a shame; if he had been allowed to learn proper spellcasting back then... if he had been allowed to do more than crafting and creating abilities for his staff combat, then maybe Ashton could have become one of the greatest mages in Lumia.

  It might sound cocky, but that was just how confident he was in his own ability. But now, because he had spent so long using his mana while actively being forced away from anything that could be used to cast one of these spells, it was hard to force himself to push past that barrier.

  That was why, once he properly flushed his system and got into that 'flow state' where he felt more connected to mana than ever that he was aiming for, Ashton had the Backpacker give him one more of the potions that he had made earlier. This one was a shimmering silver colour, and wasn't actually a liquid. It was a gas. After pouring the original potion into the bottle and leaving it there, the density decreased considerably and turned into the final product.

  Ashton opened the small bottle and quickly held it to his mouth, inhaling the gas. He held it in his lungs as long as he could, until the mana inside of his body began to shiver. His vessel was firming up, and the cracks in his soul were being pushed shut. They weren't healing, it was more like his soul swelled up to push the two sides of each crack together for a while.

  This was a potion of 'Soul Fortification'. It was made by almost exclusively using liquids infused with the mana of different plants, rather than the plants themselves. Even so, Ashton was lucky that he got his hands on the 'all natural watercolour kit', because otherwise, he would never have had the key ingredients for this potion. He had already used most of that colour up, too, so he might be able to make one more of these if he was extremely careful.

  Generally, this potion was used to protect against attacks aiming at the soul directly, and in turn, strengthened abilities and magics with their source in the user's soul.

  The blockage created by the Summoner stopping Ashton from using spells wasn't just some simple 'code of conduct'. No, it was a clear and definitive rule that was imposed on Ashton's soul, and he was worried that the forceful removal of this rule, together with some of the others forced onto him over the years, played a role in damaging his soul to this point. By fortifying his soul and temporarily mending those wounds, it might be possible to circumvent that and push past the mental block pushing him away.

  It took a little longer for the potion to really set in and work, and Ashton didn't want to force anything before he could be sure it was safe.

  For now, he spent some time inspecting the cracks that had been pushed shut, trying to figure out exactly how stable he now was. And once he did, Ashton took full control of the mana inside of him and tried to change it.

  But he tried to change it beyond simply altering the mana's pattern. The way to use a spell was by solidifying your mana to the extent where it was visible to the naked eye. Well, to the eye of those with enough spiritual sensitivity, but the majority of people should be able to see it.

  That was the first step that Ashton had kept on trying and trying these past few days but was simply never able to do. For now, within his vessel, Ashton tried to concentrate the mana, or to find a way to fundamentally 'flip' it to that other state.

  It should be a relatively simple step, but Ashton figured that it was similar to awakening your spiritual sense. It had to click first, and if it didn't, no matter how hard you tried, it wouldn't be possible. And once it did, it might as well be as easy as breathing.

  He felt close to that moment. It was like trying to remember a common word, lying right there on the tip of your tongue.

  Again and again, Ashton tried. Again and again, Ashton failed.

  For hours on end, he focused his mana, trying to change and shift it, but he always just altered the pattern, even when it felt like he was about to finally get it.

  But there were a few things that he still didn't try yet. Ashton just had to keep on trying. He had to keep going.

  Ashton had to figure this out.