"Oh, okay." That was good. And interesting. They were sure Odile would love to-
They mulled over Hornet's explanation, and after a few seconds came to a realization. "Wait. Hold on. Does that mean you just collected soul from me?" If it was gained through combat- Wait. Different question. "Did I collect it from you???" Or did it have to be intentional?
She was the only weaver left? The infection . . . had really done a number on the kingdom, hadn't it? They hoped some people had been able to escape to other parts of the world.
Useful to know how much spellcasting ability she had left, though.
Loop made a face. "Hold on, their kingdom was dying and they fled instead of trying to do anything to help it? Wasn't that their job? And they just dumped everything on you instead?" Sure, she said they'd had a plan, futile as it was, but after that . . . "What . . . is this infection, anyway?" If even gods couldn't stop it . . .
. . . Their opinions on deities in general were tanking very quickly, though. They already had a low opinion of the Change God despite Mira's love for them, they had plenty of gripes about the Universe itself, and now these gods Hornet was mentioning . . .
"Oh, good, because I've never taught someone and would have no idea where to start." Learning the very very basics of how to use Craft was the sort of thing that was taught by parents and teachers, and they couldn't remember actually learning it themself to copy those teachings from. All the Craft they'd learned that they hadn't already known, they'd taught themself by observing others.
Hmmm, how to explain it . . . ? "Craft is . . . more or less crafting the world around you to your desires. It takes energy to use, so you usually have to wait a bit before you can use the exact same spell again. It's not usually that noticeable of a drain . . . unless you do a lot at once without resting, and then it can make you sick.
"There's a lot of different types, but the three main ones are Rock, Paper, and Scissors. Rock Craft focuses on protection and hard hitting, Paper Craft focuses on creation and modification, and Scissors Craft focuses on piercing and separation. Their fancier names are Protecting Craft, Creative Craft, and Piercing Craft, but no one uses those names unless they're being, like, formal. You won't usually hear them called that in day-to-day conversation.
"Mostly, they're used for things like, say . . . using Rock Craft to strengthen a rope, or Creative Craft to animate a drawing so it looks like it's moving, or Scissors Craft to chop a piece of wood without much effort. But as you've seen from me, it can be used in combat, too.
"In combat, Craft Typing is essential. Your Craft Type is the type of Craft that comes most easily to you. You can learn spells of that type with ease, and learning spells of other types requires much more study. For example, I'm . . ."
They faltered. They'd noticed, since escaping the loops, the way scissors attacks had felt more powerful, how rock attacks hadn't been hitting them as hard. Both feeling closer to the damage scissors attacks did to them. The way that, when spooked, their hand naturally formed into crossed fingers, instead of a scissors sign. How they'd accidentally used Wish Craft without a single ritual, just with their hand automatically shifting into that fifth hand shape.
They thought about their body, fizzing with Wish Craft.
They cleared their throat, and said anyway, "I'm Scissors Type."
Not like Wish Type had ever been heard of before, anyway.
