Chapter 286: Haircut

As he passed them, Eldrian realized that just seeing their mana wasn't enough, so he also used Observe to make sense, and quantify, what he saw. Luckily the guards were only Tier 4 and didn't have as strong senses as Old Sword or Eldrian would quickly have landed in trouble. 

There was no rule for using Observe on others, but it would certainly make the guards dislike him. They might even opt to beat him up, if not for the fact that they must stay at their posts.

The guards' mana was similar to the others Eldrian had looked at, however, they had two mana pools. Those in the fields had been a mix of demi-humans, humans, and centaurs. They all had a single mana pool at their diaphragm, for the centaurs this was on their human half.

These guards also had that mana pool, but along with that, they had one in their horse half. This one seemingly right where a horse's heart should be located. The two pools weren't at all connected, they seemed to exist outside of each other. 

In fact, with these two guards Eldrian realized that the two mana pools weren't the same size, nor did they have the same intensity. One guard's horse half had a larger, faster spinning, pool of mana than his human half. The other's was more equal, with both being almost the same in size and intensity. 

Eldrian found this fascinating, but he had no idea what this meant. Nor how it worked. As such he quickly let the questions pilling up in his mind die down. Never having stopped walking, and soon he took a right to head back to the town. The day having already more than half passed. 

For the rest of the afternoon Eldrian took it slightly easier, he continued to practice Mana Examination. Though he would take a break of five to ten minutes after each cast, continuing to read through all the books he had been given during those breaks. 

Finally, night arrived and Eldrian headed to the inn where he met Vivian again. Recounting his experience, without mentioning the system and especially the announcement, Eldrian still left Vivian without words. 

Staring at him with wide eyes, her fork falling from her hands onto her plate. She looked at him in disbelief, even using Observe to confirm what he had said. Upon seeing the title, she couldn't not believe it, however, it took her some time to recover. 

"H-h-how? W-when? What?" These were the first things she managed to say, leaving Eldrian confused.

He didn't quite get why she was so shocked, while it had been hard, he felt that most anyone should be capable of doing what he had done. 

"I just slightly changed the spell, what's so confusing?" Eldrian asked.

Taking a deep breath and letting it out with a slow sigh, Vivian looked at Eldrian again. Realizing that his talent was truly just insane.

Not only did he show massive growth when they sparred, so much that he could even win some if she didn't use skills. He seemed to have a much greater talent for magic than her, or anyone she knew.

"No, it is insane! Not only did you modify Magic Inspection. You also learned a Tier 2 winds spell, which is the hardest element to learn! Yet you also learned a Tier 1 earth spell while at it too!" Vivian couldn't believe what she was saying, this kind of learning speed was completely unheard. 

"What do you mean wind is the hardest, Frost Needle and Volida were far harder to learn." Eldrian countered, not accepting that what he had accomplished was strange. He also didn't think that wind was at all hard to learn. 

"What are you talking about? The spell modules for wind spells are far more complex." Vivian countered, their meal long forgotten.

"But that isn't the hard part in learning spells." Eldrian quickly countered, only to realize that he hadn't really explained to Vivian how he cast spells. He also realized why those two had been harder; they were hybrid spells. The need to find the mana composition made them harder for him, and him only. 

Eldrian took a few minutes to quickly explain this to Vivian, which left her even more without words. Simply because she realized that if not for this limitation then Eldrian would likely be able to learn spells in minutes, an hour at most. 

Adding onto this she recalled how he was also capable of controlling his spells, she now started understanding how. However, this made him even more of a freak; which she didn't dislike. In fact, she quite liked the fact that Eldrian was so capable. 

"What did you want to ask me?" Vivian asked, trying to change the subject. She didn't want to receive any more surprises.

Hearing her question Eldrian smiled and took his hair in hand. It was now so long that it nearly past his shoulder, "Do you know where I can cut my hair?"

Her aim in changing the subject backfiring, Vivian was left again without words. Staring at Eldrian and his near-white silver hair, she couldn't help but to start giggling. This in turn left Eldrian again not understanding what was going on.

"I'll... I'll cut it for you." Vivian said between giggles, calming down and turning serious, "How short do you want it?"

"About this long," Eldrian replied, indicating a length of around three to five centimeters(1"-2") with his fingers. He had thought about this a bunch.

So far his hair hadn't bothered him much, however, he had realized it could be troublesome during a fight. Sure he could decide to tie it, but cutting it short was much easier. It also wouldn't come loose in this case. 

"Are you sure?" Vivian quite like Eldrian's hair as it was. Cutting it so short, she didn't know how it would look. However, Eldrian quickly nodded to confirm, "Alright, let's do it now." 

Hearing this Eldrian nodded, both ignoring the rest of their meal and heading out directly. They quickly found a tree to sit under. With the sun going down, Eldrian cast Fos and let it hover just over his head. Giving Vivian one of the daggers he had in his inventory. 

Only as she started cutting did he realize how bad this could turn out. He was certain that if he tried to cut his hair with a dagger he would completely butcher it. Looking at the first pile of hair lying next to him Eldrian knew it was too late to stop. Deciding to hope for the best, slightly irked at himself, Eldrian tried to stay still. 

Vivian took her time, making sure to not mess up. As such Eldrian had to sit still for quite some time with her hovering over him. She often moved extremely close to get a good angle.

Leaving Eldrian swallowing as he took in her feminine smell, along with the close-up view he got. With her often even leaning against him, the feeling causing Eldrian's thoughts to run wild. 

Soon it started feeling like torture, Eldrian had to constantly think of the spells he had learned just to keep his mind from venturing where it must not. He even went so far as to cast Magic Inspection and Mana Examination repeatedly to keep his mind occupied. Dual casting it with Fos without a care.

This worked extremely well, until Vivian brushed against him again and he lost all his focus. 

Half an hour later, his back soaked from the constant casting, Vivian finally finished. Eldrian having even racked up Magic Fatigue during this short time. He had not gained it throughout the entire day of practice!

"It actually looks good," Vivian said as she moved back and took a better look, admiring her work. 

"Really?" Eldrian asked, not even realizing how bad his choice of words and tone was. Pulling out another dagger, Eldrian used it to try and see. After a few adjustments, moving Fos to give optimal lighting, he got a good look.

"Oh it does look good," Eldrian mumbled, Vivian had cut it just long enough for his hair to still be wavy. It was naturally lying to the side, almost looking like a comb-over, however, his hair wasn't quite as long as was typical for a comb-over.

His sides were slightly shorter than the top, but also not as short as typical of that hairstyle. Eldrian actually felt this was due to the limits of the blade, more than Vivian stopping because she wanted. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Vivian pouted, softly punching Eldrian's shoulder. Though her soft punch left him nearly stumbling back. Especially with him unsteady, trying to get a look with the dagger. 

"Sorry! It isn't that I didn't believe in you, but I just realized how badly I'd butcher my hair if I used a dagger."

"What do you mean, what else would you use?" Vivian asked, knowing that there were tools specially made for cutting hair. However she normally just used her sword to trim her hair when it became too long. As such, she did not know much about it.

She did recall that her mother had used scissors when she was younger, however, she had always felt it took too long with them. 

"Ah..." Eldrian paused as he realized that he had no idea if this world had scissors. He could try to explain them to Vivian, but he certainly couldn't explain electric clippers.

After a while, he decided to just give in and praise her talent. Leaving her slightly blushing, not having expected the sudden praise.