[@Stabby] [@Zeroth]

Femus took in every detail as best he could in those final key moments before the Shock Round stabilized and activated.  The power of the strike was nothing to scoff at.  He hadn't expected it to be able to do such harm to a tree when it was based on a simple Mana Orb of the first level.  Then, he got the notification and description of the skill from the System.

[quote=System:Femus]
Skill Gain: Shock Round I (0.8 > 1.0)!
The lightning-themed version of a basic magical attack. With roughly the same power, range, and MP consumption as a Mana Orb, it has the unique property of being able to home in on a target, though it moves slowly and may dissipate after a few moments. However, as an elemental spell, these same properties render it harder to use in certain circumstances. Elementally opposed targets, for example, will be much less effected.
[/quote]

Homing caught his eye and mind.  The possibilities expanded his horizons greatly in regard to strategy.  However, the description indicated that the spell was somewhat unstable and might have some range limitations due to its chance to dissipate.  So, it was a good step in a good direction but he shouldn't trust his life to it just yet.  Most importantly, he had now confirmed that he could use a simple chant to assist memory based visualization to create new spells.

Maybe he could use this method to finalize his Shield spell.  He settled the excited beating of his tiny heart and meditated intensely, trying to deepen the draw that pulled mana to him as he did so.  Once he was again over his standard limit, Femus sought to concentrate his mana, moving it from its normal paths through his body into the skin and muscles and bones.  He sought to simply bolster their toughness.  And, while concentrating on this task, he muttered the words that came to mind.

"Mana, toughen this flesh, Shield."

Femus also used his Magic Analysis skill through his perception of his own body to study the effects and behaviors of this spell-in-the-making.  In particular, he wanted to see how the mana moved.  He wanted to understand what it was and how its parts interacted as he had come to understand the bodies of the animals that he helped butcher back home.  What interacted to produce a certain movement or change?  The more he could understand, the more progress he could make toward his goal of creating a Magic Gathering Formation.

However, at the end of these tests, he looked and listened for Nira's return.  As capable as she was to survive as a pixie in this place, there were still a lot of things that could kill her.  If her return was delayed, he might have to go looking for her... and, thinking of his own limits in battle, possibly reconsider the benefits of getting closer help from a certain wild pixie.  Though, these thoughts truly only showed that he was already starting to miss her presence.  He didn't want to be the only 'person' around for the rest of this strange life.