Runic
Janus considered exactly what he wanted to ask as he made his way back to Bruno’s shop. In hindsight, it all seemed too obvious.
Nobody really questioned the fact that some spells produced glowing runes because there wasn’t really a need to. Spellcasters simply used their spell and if they had enough mana, it tended to work.
The System was versatile and complex, though. The runes surely meant something deeper. Why did some spells have runes involved while others did not? What do the runes accomplish?
It was likely that only metamages and maybe enchanters would be interested in the specifics.
The thought summoned an image of Tsula to Janus’ mind. He wondered if she had survived the attack on Crow Station. The kindly metamage from the Backwash had probably expected to continue working with Janus, but it was possible he would never see her again.
Janus let himself be distracted by Bruno’s obnoxious sign. The enchanter’s shop loomed ahead of him. He stepped forward through the open archway.
“Returned so soon?” asked Bruno, idly twirling his mustache.
“I hope I’m not being too much of a bother, but I was wondering if you’d be willing to answer some of my questions?” asked Janus. “This isn’t about the stone from earlier.”
“Oh?” said Bruno, crawling out from behind his countertop and moving towards a small table.
With a grunt, he sat down on a too-small chair. It was almost comical seeing the massive man shove himself under the shelves of knickknacks jutting from the wall above.
“Have a seat!” he bellowed.
Janus took Bruno’s offer and took the seat that was on the opposite side of the enchanter.
“I guess I’ll just get into it,” said Janus.
“Please do!”
Janus paused for a moment, wondering exactly where he should start.
“I have a pretty basic understanding of runes. They perform specific actions or manipulate ambient mana, right?”
“Pretty much. But finding the right runes to slap together is an art, in my opinion, and I say ‘Bah!’ to anyone claiming it’s a science.” Bruno reached across the table and poured some tea from a pot that Janus hadn’t noticed earlier. “Want some?”
“Oh, uh, sure.” Janus eyed the tea pot as Bruno poured some into another cup.
I swear there was only one cup before… where did he even get the first cup? Where did the tea pot even come from?
“Let me be more specific,” Bruno continued, “Runes react to mana. If I push mana into a rune, I can make it do something. The effect depends on the rune.”
“Right. That makes sense. I was wondering, more specifically, why certain spells produce glowing runes in the air?”
“Oh, now that’s an interesting question.” Bruno paused for a moment, thinking. “If I had to guess, I would imagine that the spell is using the runes for structure. Like if I made a kinetic rune to push something, maybe a spell would use a kinetic rune to do the same thing.”
Janus grunted in agreement. “I was thinking something similar. Sort of like the spell is offloading some of the burden on the runes?”
“Hmm… yes. That is probably a good way of putting it. Although I must warn you—enchantments and spells are fundamentally different. Spells, because they are skills, are fixed and cannot be changed unless they evolve. Enchantment is more fluid. As long as I know the runes and have the required skills, I can create many varied enchantments.”
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Janus hesitated before speaking. “But what if you could do the same with spells? I mean, create your own spell arrays with any rune you desired?”
“That is an interesting thought…. I imagine you could produce an almost endless amount of effects. Under the System, spells are generally much more powerful than their enchanted counterpart. This is probably because anyone can use almost any enchanted item.”
“Are you alright with me casting a spell here?”
“As long as it damages nothing, go right ahead.”
Janus formed a mana shell around himself, close to his skin. It covered his body in a translucent green shell, and a glowing green circle appeared near his chest, surrounded by runes. “What do these runes mean?”
Bruno bent over the small table and squinted his eyes. “Let’s see… anchor, force, reinforcement, danger sense, reversal, and I can’t quite make out this last rune. It looks like someone fudged a reflection rune of some kind.”
“Hold on. Could you draw the reflection rune for me?”
“Sure, one moment.” Bruno stood and shuffled between the cramped aisles of his shop to a small counter-top. He rummaged around under the counter, producing pen and parchment.
As Bruno retook his seat at the table, he quickly scrawled on the paper and turned it towards Janus.
It looks pretty much the same….
Janus sensed the mana around his mana shell array and located the relevant rune.
Oh. There’s supposed to be a small loop here and the upper part should be flat, not curved.
With a thought, Janus reshaped the rune on the array. Moments later, his mana shell began to change shape. The previously smooth surface bristled with hundreds of thorny protrusions.
Wait, this is what it was like when the goblins used it! I messed up the rune!
Bruno simply stared. His eyes were wide. “You… you changed the rune?”
Janus flinched in surprise. He was so engrossed in fixing the rune that he had completely forgotten where he was. It reminded him of his meeting with Hashilli and the others.
Curiosity killed the cat, or something.
He wasn’t even sure if keeping his skills secret was worth it. So many people already knew, especially if Janus counted his instructors and friends from before the attack. It wasn’t like he’d kept [Mana Manipulation] hidden.
“I have a skill that lets me reshape runes,” said Janus, opting for a half-truth rather than spilling everything.
“That’s unprecedented!” Bruno’s statement started as a shout, but slowly grew quieter. “This only works on spells with an array?”
“As far as I know, yes.” Janus didn’t actually know. Could he add runes to a spell that didn’t originally use them?
“What if you change… no, that might suffocate you. Hmm….”
Suffocate me! Stars, I didn’t expect this to be dangerous.
“What do you mean, suffocate?”
“Your spell appears to create a cocoon of mana around you that lashes out at enemies. There is a careful balance there to ensure the spell knows what an enemy is and what breathable air is, among many other things.”
“Could you show which rune is which? I know the reflection rune now, but the others, not so much.”
Janus spent the next few hours in Bruno’s shop, taking notes. The enchanter occasionally had to tend to customers, but would always return to see what Janus was doing.
“So the anchor rune is what keeps the array in place?” asked Janus.
“Yeah. It should be the reason that the mana shell stays centered on you. If you removed that rune, you might be able to create mana shells that stay in one spot, regardless of where you are.” Bruno replied.
Janus stood and focused on the spell array. He slowly unraveled the rune meant to anchor the spell to himself. As he walked away, he left a Janus shaped shell of mana behind him. Focusing further, Janus expanded the shell, and it grew outward in the shape of a sphere.
“Incredible! If I made an enchantment for that, it would cost a fortune!” exclaimed Bruno.
Janus was hardly paying attention as he stared at the spell.
What if I added an anchor rune to the arrow point array? Could I anchor it to my arm and change the direction it aims?
He quickly dispelled the mana shell and began scribbling in his notebook.
“I know some metamages that would give an arm and a leg just to take a look at that notebook of yours,” said Bruno.
Slowly closing the notebook, Janus looked towards the enchanter. “Huh. Well, I’m not sure if I’d want to sell it.”
“Of course, of course. I don’t want to push you. What you’ve shown me today is already incredible enough.” Bruno smiled. “I would love if you showed me anything else you come up with. I can teach you your runes! Free of charge!”
Janus wondered what exactly Bruno would get out of this. The man’s interest differed from Hashilli’s endless curiosity. It was almost visceral, like Bruno needed to know more.
His chair slid back with a screech as Janus stood from the table. “I should go, though. I’ll be back tomorrow to check on the [Deepstone Crystal]. And maybe I’ll take you up on your offer to teach me runes.”
Bruno grinned. “Of course, Janus. Have a good night. I look forward to tomorrow.”
As Janus wandered back up to his apartment, he wondered how Hashilli would react to everything he had learned today. Between the [Enhancer] and the Bruno, he would probably spend all his free time practicing.