[NR] Chapter 265 - Not Feng Shui (Patreon)

After a little more back and forth with Gregor, Jason heads back to his room to read the book, Insights into the TriPower Crafting Methods. Not just the section on Energy though, but rather he plans to skim over the first two parts as well. If only to get a feel for how the author likes to write down his knowledge.

Though right from the introduction, things get interesting. “To any who may be silly enough to read this book. Know well that I don’t actually bother with using any of the Powers. I’m more writing this because my son wants to make stuff, so I wanted to help him figure out which way to go.”

As Jason continues to read, some of his past thoughts are proven to be true. Mana and Qi are opposite forces. One external, the other internal and once put into an item, active and passive. If you want a necklace that shoots fireballs, it is going to be powered with Mana. On the other hand, a necklace that gives you fire resistance is more likely using Qi. Of course, with some work the same effect technically can be done with both, it just takes a lot more skill and power.

Fire resistance is actually given as an example of this. With Qi, the person wearing the item just is resistant to fire. Not only that, but it will make them more able to handle hotter temperatures. That second one alone makes the Qi version more popular, as while it doesn’t actually cool the body down, the person will still feel like things are at a decent temp. The only downside is that Qi will be constantly used, even if it isn’t needed.

Mana based fire resistance on the other hand is more active. It will only trigger when needed and so you can wear the enchanted item and it will not run out of power. Of course, this also means that it won’t make hot weather any more comfortable. This difference means that while both versions of fire resistance are used, they have their own niche. The Qi based resistance for keeping people healthy, and Mana is for keeping items safe from burning. After all, a library doesn’t care if a book is a little warmer, they only care if the heat would damage it.

Besides confirming his conjectures, though, this also jogged another memory for him. Specifically that he still hasn’t gotten a better alarm system. At the moment, Jason still only has his bells on a string. Though he brushes that off for the moment. After all, he might be able to figure out his own thing with the help of the third section of the book.

With that in mind, Jason flips to the last portion of the book. To his disappointment, though, this section also confirms what he had thought of before. The easiest thing to use Energy for is mega-projects like shielding large areas of land. To use Energy for a sustained effect, it needs a constant flow of Energy and besides Energy users, you only get that from fonts of Energy.

One interesting bit of info gained from the sections introduction is how there is still Energy around for people to use in the first place. Those fonts of Energy are what constantly pump more of the stuff into the atmosphere. The book claims no one knows how, but apparently deep underground there are massive aquifer like areas that are saturated with Energy. Through some process, Mana and Qi sink into the earth and are reduced back to the stuff.

Next up is an overview of the easiest form of using Energy. It doesn’t even directly handle the Energy and honestly sounds more like Feng Shui. Not a copy, mind you, rather it is just similar because it is all about placing buildings and such so that the Energy from a font will flow in a beneficial way.

Not a bad subject, but the author definitely liked the subject because it goes on much longer than needed. If anything, Jason will be able to set up any future base to take advantage of any nearby font. Though most important from his point of view is that he will be able to choose the best place to cultivate when out in the wilds.

After the Feng Shui chapters comes more active methods of harnessing an Energy font. A short section as there are only three examples because that is all the author knew of. The first is more of a myth, but the rumors were from second-hand accounts so close enough for the author to include it. A massive scrying shield, raised across an entire island kingdom. Apparently the island was situated upon one of the bigger known Energy fonts and they had turned a large portion of the outpouring Energy to power the shield.

The second formation in the book is on a much smaller scale, meant to be used on any conveniently placed smaller font. What it does is inline with Jason’s interests. Over a relatively small area, that of a few farms, it will increase the growth and yield of any plants within designated areas. Though there is a note about how it can be set to grow everything in the area. It is just that the effect will be reduced and everything will grow faster. At first that second bit doesn’t sound too bad. But you soon grow sour on it as mold and fungi burst up in every dark corner and buildings crumble as seeds take root in them.

Good thing it is stupid simple to set the areas you want the growth effect in. Just three or more wooden stakes carved with matching symbols and the growth effect will be constrained to the space within the area marked by them. This includes the height of the stakes as well, creating a box shaped area when you use four stakes. Of course even with this not all things are perfect. Everything still grows within the marked area, so farmers will have to be quite diligent in their weeding.