ice is my body and mana is my blood [cr/s]

[Aegon]

"All right, so listen here. You fill this place up to the brim with these ice crystals, right? You get paid. Good. You got that?"

"Quite frankly, I see your words as little more than a frivolity. I shall get to it immediately, if you would allow. Oh, and do remember to unlock the door after a few knocks. I wouldn't want to freeze within here, after all."

"Gotcha. Might keep you in here until you lose that cheek of yours -- and I don't mean yer arse. Get to it then, lad!"

And the thick metal door was shut on Aegon's presence, who had been keeping a fairly certain smirk on his face the whole while. The air in here was stagnant -- unsurprising, considering the fact that it was coated in thick animal skin and insulated. Even the door was made of thick metal, which reminded him of an older video game, one which contained numbered vaults.

Though the situation in front of him was not nearly as expansive as those. It was a room, simply put, both without windows and without lights. In all honesty, he could compare it to a lunatic's storage room, the correct term slipping through his head at the moment, and he wouldn't be too far off.

But -- then there was light. Channeled into his arm, there was a certain faintness of blue shimmering ahead of him. It was energy -- mana, to be exact. He had got a grasp of this quickly enough. He found that alchemy had become a truly feasible crafting skill for him, considering that it consisted mostly of mental control and keeping one's head wrapped around technology that was superbly beyond most human understanding.

Not that he was technically human, anymore. That sort of stuff was for the old world, which he had long since put past him. He was Aegon now, no more Baldr, no more jokes about albinism or his hair going out -- just Aegon. That was the name he was going to make for himself now. It wasn't going to exactly start here, but this was another stepping stone.

Now, all he had to do was begin this for real. His eyes had adjusted to the incredibly faint blue light ahead of him, within his palm. He watched as his MP meter slowly adjusted to compensate for what he was creating in his hand. It was a crystal.

---

note: 400 * 1.25 = 500

[Aegon]

His first attempt was a success -- as he had expected. Within his palm was a shimmer blue crystal of a very cold variety. It was a chunk the size of his head, surprisingly heavy on his arm. He dropped it to the floor, but noticed that a little something extra had stuck itself into his glove. This -- ah, it was a standard mana fragment. It wasn't going to be exactly useful, but it was a byproduct of any alchemist's work, from what Aegon understood.

Having done it just once, he knew the process quite easily. Things were made easier with light in the room, but he closed his eyes to better focus. Not that he particularly needed the faux mental bonus that it would give to him if he did. He knew how to control himself -- at least, he believed he did.

He opened a single eye as he sat upon the crystal he had made -- somewhat enjoying the cool, chilly sensation on his rump -- looking at his palm. Within his hand, another glow. Within his hand, another crystal was beginning to form. Under it was a slowly enlarging mana fragment. How many would he be making now? He said to cover this place from the ground up, and thus far Aegon surmised he wouldn't have any trouble, but his MP reserves were falling apart. He gauged that he would only have two, maybe three more bursts before he would have to call it quits. In that case -- change the shape.

It was a simple matter -- a play on words, if you will. He, instead of trying to create a perfect prism, kneeled on the ground, and stuck the crystal onto it. Then, working the mana within him, he went on to focus on a flat, flat shape, almost as flat as a two dimensional plane. Like if he were writing a bad, self-insert original character on fan-fiction dot net, he made it as flat as he could. Without any problems, the image within his head was pristine. But nature -- ah, it was not so friendly.

Or rather, it would be fairer to say that reality wasn't so friendly.

Aegon opened both his eyes at this point, having noted that his MP reserves had hit the halfway point now. He was surprised that, as a Half-Alv, his MP had gone down so fast, but then again, he couldn't blame it. He wasn't exactly a high level, and what he was attempting wasn't exactly the most resource-friendly kind of creation.

The ground was covered in tiny little crystal fragments, all of which reminded him of snow.

---

note: 435 * 1.25 = 543.75

[Aegon]

It could have been considered a failure, but for what he was attempting, it was an entertaining success. He didn't intend to truly cover the ground in a thick layer of ice -- such a thing was far beyond him, but his attempt to manifest something that was this spread out was quite feasible. Too bad it likely didn't have any combat value, but that was a-okay with him. He could find a way.

Taking off his cloak, Aegon began to dust the ground together, until he had made a pile of the snow-like mana ice crystal. He also tucked another mana fragment into his pocket, saving it for later. After it had been successfully clumped together, he pressed the mana together with his hands, and then went on to attempt to smush it together until it was a crystal again. No dice. Oh well. It looked shiny enough to pass -- perhaps even for something worth more than it actually was.

This time, Aegon didn't try anything crazily amazing -- he just made another crystal. Channeling the mana into his hand, he watched with minor disappointment as his MP rapidly depleted. He expected that it wouldn't take long to regenerate, but that was time he didn't have. He supposed that this would be the last one he would -- or rather, could -- make.

And indeed -- that's how it all turned out to be. With a thick clunk, the mass of ice crystal fell onto the ground, slamming into it and crashing into a bunch of little pieces. Aegon himself didn't have the strength to hold it up -- his head began to throb as psyche punished him for his folly.

Having heard a noise come from within the room, the owner of the establishment thrust open the door, and looked down at the poor sod. He picked Aegon up off the ground with a sigh. Aegon, realizing this, shook the man off with fervor, and stared at him for a moment before leaving the room, a third mana fragment clumped inside his clenched fist.

Once more, the owner sighed, saying -- "Well, I didn't really expect much outta ya in the first place. Did good for yer first time, tho."

Aegon didn't hear a thing he said.

---

note: 372 * 1.25 = 465