But he finished that, and after he was done, he meticulously went over every single flow to make sure it was all where it was supposed to be. Once he was utterly convinced he had it all right, all he had to do was fully activate the binding weave he had placed in it before he started. The binding weave clamped down on the weaving he'd done, searched through it, then it snapped down his weaving on its own and released all the magic of the belt in one simultaneous act, causing the magic of the belt to flare into life.

It had been alot of work, but it was done.

He held the belt up as Jesmind lounged nearby, reading a book he had Conjured for her before starting his work, sighing in relief. He was tired. He could stay up for days if he had to, but this was two straight days of no sleep and exhausting work. For a moment he wondered how Jenna survived when she made the Cat's Claws. It looked rather normal, and what was more important, he could feel the weave of non-detection hard at work, hiding the magic of the belt by making it have the same feel and sense as a tiny capillary strand, the smallest and weakest of all the strand structures. If anyone ever felt anything at all. Only a strong Sorcerer or magic-user would even notice anything unusual about the belt, and those who did would mistake it as nothing more than background magic, nothing they'd think was coming from the belt itself.

Standing up, stretching, he decided to test his new creation. He put it on and stepped up to the nearest pit of water, one that was bubbling rather angrily, and willed the water-walking aspect of the belt to activate. He felt a strange surge, and a weird tingling in his feet that quickly stopped, and that was a good sign.

"Tarrin! You're done?" Jesmind called from where she was laying on her side, still unclothed.

With a short hop, Tarrin jumped out over the pool of bubbling water. His feet struck its surface, and they did not sink. It was something like trying to stand during an earthquake, for his weight did not in any way impact or change the surface of the water, a surface that was boiling and shifting beneath his feet. Jesmind laughed as he threw his arms out and quickly stepped to the edge, forced to use his arms to keep himself from falling over. He made it to the edge, turned and knelt down, then pushed his hand against the water. It too struck the surface and then stopped, and what was curious to him, no amount of strength he tried to exert against the water would change its surface in any way. It was like the water was impenetrable stone. The surface was boiling, and that meant it was hot enough to burn an unprotected paw, but Tarrin's immunity to heat protected him from the dangerous temperatures.

"It works," he told her with a slow smile. He willed the power of the belt to cease, then he pushed at the water with his finger once again.

His finger easily sank into the boiling water.

"It definitely works," he said confidently, then he willed the Illusion to activate. It was hard to feel anything with the non-detection actively trying to hide it from him, but he made it, so he knew what to flook for. He felt a surge of magic that quickly surrounded him, then seemed to solidify into an Illusory image. "Did I disappear?"

Jesmind gaped at him, then she laughed. "There's a little disortion around your silhouette, and it gets a little worse whenever you move, or I change my vantage point," she told him, moving around him to check from different angles. "Is that invisibility?"

"In a sense," he answered. "The Illusion picks up what's behind you and projects that image forward."

"So it's like camoflage. I guess that's why there's that small distortion on the edge. It's the border between the magic and reality." She walked completely around him, then stopped before him. "I can definitely see the green of your eyes, and they certainly stand out. But from a distance and from behind, I'd never notice you."

"That's what matters," he nodded, willing the Illusion to stop. "Am I here again?"

"In all your wondrous glory," she told him. "That's amazing, my mate! Is that mine or yours?"

"If you want it, it's yours," he shrugged. "But you're going to look a bit silly running around with nothing but a belt."

"Who's here to notice?" she asked.

"Did you have any trouble while I was working?"

"Nah," she sounded. "That lobster thing hasn't come back yet, but it's about due. I was kinda hoping that it would show up while you were working."

"Don't bother it, Jesmind," he told her.

"What you didn't know wouldn't hurt me," she grinned.

"It would have been a little hard to to hide that much," he chided.

"I'm curious."

"If you're that desperate for lobster, I'll Conjure you some," he told her. "Just don't try to eat the one that comes in here."

"Spoilsport," she teased. "How do you feel?"

"Like I've been dragged behind a horse for a few months," he answered honestly. "I'm hoping the second one won't take me as long. Since I made the first one, and it seems to work, I'll know what I'm doing a little better the next time."

"Well here, let's get you into one of the springs," she said, taking his paw. "I'll fix you something to eat, and you can soak before you get some sleep."

"That sounds wonderful," he sighed sincerely, letting her lead him away.

After a long, relaxing soak in a hot spring and a filling meal, Tarrin got some much-needed sleep. he slept longer than he intended to sleep, and because of that he started on the second belt almost immediately once he got up, almost forgetting to Conjure Jesmind the food and some things to help her pass the time before he committed himself to his work.

The second belt took him only a day and a half to make, but just because he had experience now, that didn't make it any easier. It did make the process of laying down the weaves a little faster, and he had to rest less often. But when he finished with that one, he was even more worn out than with the first, as the concerted effort of making both belts without proper rest between the two projects had taken its toll on him. He finished when Jesmind was taking a light nap, dozing in cat form just outside the circle he'd drawn on the stone that told her not to come any closer to him than that. Tarrin didn't disturb her, moving to a stable pool of water to test the belt. He put it on and activated it, then stepped out onto the surface of the water as if it were solid ground. Nodding to himself, he returned to solid ground and deactivated it, then went over to the food pack he'd Conjured and pulled out a meal of bread, cheese, and salted ham. He fell on the meal ravenously, finishing it and continuing to deplete the pack, until he realized that he'd eaten everything he'd left for his mate while he was working. He solved the problem by Conjuring a large side of beef out of some inn's kitchen somewhere, one that hadn't been cooked yet, but the meat's raw state in no way discouraged him from starting to devour it.

"Mmm," Jesmind hummed in her humanoid form, coming up behind him and sitting down beside him. She was still nude, but to his relief, she wasn't wearing the belt. That would look a little silly. She had probably played with its magic for a while, then got bored with it and put it away. "Done already?"

He nodded, taking another piece of meat off the flank with his claws. "When are you going to put on some clothes?"

"As soon as we leave here," she told him. "You may not notice it, but it's rather hot in here. I'd rather sweat into the open air rather than my clothes." She ran her paw up his back sensually. "Besides, I think you enjoy the view."

"I can't argue with that," he admitted with a slight smile. "As soon as I get some sleep, we'll be on our way again, my mate. and we'll have to pick up the pace."

"That's fine with me. I'm starting to get restless in here. It's hard to sit and do nothing while-" her voice broke a little, and she looked away.