The following day Master Isaac did just as he said he would, waking Evan and the rest up at the crack of dawn to follow him back into the labyrinthine roads and alleys of Fool’s Hope. He introduced them to all of the places he mentioned yesterday, demonstrating the signs, ensuring they would be unable to get lost or confused, and at the requisitions office they were saddled with several books each.

One of those books was much thicker than the others, titled as a beginners guide to learning the language of inscriptions. The others were about common practice in crafting, another more specific to formations, and finally one containing various blueprints on different standard equipment in the military.

All of them were warned off from selling the books or sharing the information contained within, including making copies. Once they had left Master Isaac explained that aside from the blueprints, none of the information mattered much, but that it was best to develop the habit early – crafting knowledge was hoarded very dearly, and it could be considered one of the most valuable things a crafter could ever sell or pass down.

He sounded quite haughty as he told them that, no doubt thinking about how he would be passing down some of that ultra-valuable knowledge and experience to them.

Once they got back to the workshop, or perhaps home, Master Isaac went straight into lecture mode, explaining a few things before they delved into the books.

“Before I let you all return to your rooms and start studying, I wanted to explain a few things first. First off, while those books are for military use only and contain some more valuable information, never expect what is written to be the full story.

“I’m not going to get into the reasons – you’ll quickly discover them for yourselves – but it is important to mention it beforehand. Next, I wanted to inform you all a little more about how I teach. I take great pride in my students, and demand excellence in return for all the things I’ll be sharing with you in the future.

“I’m not going to quiz you or such, but you should always craft to the greatest standard you are able, for I will be inspecting your work on occasion and, of course, often be in the workshop while you work in order to provide guidance and demonstrate techniques.

“So long as you continue to improve and meet my standards, we will part ways as soon as you feel confident in passing your certification; I’m not going to hold you here or force you to learn – if you can’t do this, we will part in less fortunate circumstances. Always tell me if you have a question or need help, but I expect you to try.

“Whenever you need new books, or anything else you don’t feel that you should buy yourselves, let me know, and we’ll put in a requisition order. That’s mostly it. Any questions?” They didn’t – Arnav and Iliana had already told Evan a little about Isaac and how he operated, and he felt everything he said was fair.

They were soon dismissed, and he was excited to crack open the books. Each of them had received a slip of paper detailing the order the books should be read in, so he was glad to see that the first contained details on the basics on inscriptions. He had long been curious about them and how exactly they worked.

***

A little over a week quickly passed as the three of them immersed themselves in their reading. Each day they would eat together in the kitchen with Isaac, taking turns on who was to prepare the meal. Afterwards, they would discuss the reading from the day before, and if they couldn’t clear up everything themselves, Isaac would step in to help. Following that, they would go back to studying before having lunch and spending some of the afternoon watching Master Isaac complete various requests. He would explain each of his actions, allowing us to ask questions as he worked, and took his time so we could keep up.

It was obvious that Master Isaac did all of this for their sake – the orders were always relatively simple repair jobs, and not something he would overwise concern himself with. Evan was touched by the care he showed while he worked, going over each step intricately and allowing us to ask questions, every day, so we could pick up the process quickly. The man was a fan of repetition.

Several hours after that they would be released and have the day to themselves, but with little to do and being unable to try their own hand at crafting, the three of them would chat and get to know each other better before returning to their rooms – upon which Evan would go back to reading and taking notes.

Overall, it was one of the driest weeks of his life, even worse than learning at the orphanage – at least there he had other things to occupy his time with. Here at the outpost, everyone was busy, all the time. Arriving, working, or leaving, none of them had much time to chat with a young man new to the military, and most already had their circles.

The military was slow to warm up to him, and the hunters thought themselves above him – even the young ones of a similar age to him.

Everywhere he might have been able to have some fun cost money or didn’t interest him, and he felt bad for not taking advantage of every moment to learn.

Back at the workshop though, his relationship with the others had taken on a new appearance. All of them were bitter rivals, always trying to one-up the other or prove themselves superior in understanding. It was all quite friendly – they actually got along rather well – but it seemed all of them possessed a competitive spirit that refused to admit defeat.

This surprised Evan, as he didn’t consider himself such a person. Then again, he never really had someone to compete with over anything that mattered.

Iliana was usually the winner, followed by Evan, but he and Arnav were quickly catching up. The first few days Evan had floundered, realizing that he was a fairly slow reader – he didn’t get much practice, after all. Arnav, despite being the most competitive of the three, seemed to struggle more with motivation than the others, and often left after watching Master Isaac work rather than return to his room like he and Iliana often did. He had asked, but Arnav wasn’t telling.

After a little over a week Evan was beginning to catch up, getting faster and taking better notes. Arnav had seemed to find motivation in their little competition after they decided the loser would be the cook for the following day – Iliana’s idea.

That morning, as they all settled in to eat – Arnav had cooked – they tabled the discussion of their readings for more exciting matters. Master Isaac had told them he was suitably impressed with their diligence, and that today they would be allowed to try their hand at repairing some broken swords he picked up.

Arnav spoke up first, “Finally! All this bloody studying has been driving me mad. Day in, day out, with nothing but studying!”

“It’s been wearing me down too, I will be glad to start putting all my hard work to practice.” Iliana responded.

“Ha! Don’t you know it! Now I’ll finally get to show you guys what’s what. Hmph!” Arnav sneered, playing up the expression, though he couldn’t hide the grin that soon followed.

Evan stepped into the conversation, unable to help himself. “As if! The reading is already too much for you, how will you cope with actual work too?” He laughed, but he meant well, mostly. Arnav was just too easy!

As though he hadn’t considered the reading would continue, Arnav lost his grin for a moment, but upon seeing the sparkling eyes of Iliana and Evan’s own laughter, it returned.

“That’s alright! We’re already nearly done with the first set of books, how many more can there be? I think we should be moving more towards practical stuff from here on out, and I’ll surely outpace you both then.” Arnav was still hopeful, but they all knew what they had read, and the books assured them they would never run out of material to learn.

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The conversation was slightly interrupted as they each deliberated on that. The thickest book, the beginners guide to inscriptions, had taught them the “language” of inscriptions was varied and complex. The language itself could change completely depending on the size one used for making the inscription and the purpose needed for each inscription.

In addition, there were different forms for each character in the language for different dimensions. This meant that for the same character or letter, there were various versions, from two dimensional versions and extending even further than the three he was familiar with.

Somehow, there were ways of representing higher dimensions when creating inscriptions, though the book didn’t detail on how. All it mentioned was that the more dimensions the inscription extended into, the better the inscription would work, and the more could be done with each inscription. It neatly solved how more complex imbuements still used inscriptions, even on small objects.

The “level” in which you could make inscriptions was even one of the more highly regarded certifications in the guild for some professions. For him though, planning on working larger sized jobs – maybe even a Voidship one day – it didn’t make a huge difference, though the added stability and smaller size would always be attractive.

Breaking the silence, Iliana giggled loudly. “You think so? I’d like to see it, but I doubt any of us will.” Her face showed a predatory grin. “But – since your so confident in beating us, what if we raise the stakes?” She paused, as though she hadn’t already decided on what to say.

“Raise them to what?” Arnav was guarded now, aware that Iliana could be tricky. Evan figured having to cook nearly every day had taught him that.

“Well, for starters, you tell us where you disappear to every afternoon.”

“Hmm… alright, but what if I win?”

Evan was only a little worried, but he still thought it best if he made the stakes himself. Iliana would throw them both under the boss with little worry, confident as the usual winner. “We won’t ask about it anymore, and- “

“No no no, I already have the perfect thing in mind. If I win, then you’ll both cover for me when I don’t come back at night.” Arnav sounded like victory was already in hand.

Evan considered this. Typically, Master Isaac didn’t much mind what they did, so long as they dutifully studied. He wasn’t with them this morning, out preparing for their practical lesson today, but he usually was and would know how they were progressing – thus he was quite happy.

He was also usually with them in the evenings for dinner, but if Arnav was missing… he would notice, and surely ask. What would Master Isaac do? Surely, he would care, if for nothing else than that Arnav would be breaking the outposts curfew. Could they lie to Master Isaac and get away with it?

No. Even if they could, it wasn’t worth it.

“No. I’m not going to betray Master Isaac’s trust like that; he might never trust me again or do something even more drastic, like kick me out. How about instead I buy you a meal if you win, your pick.” They should have gotten their first pay by now; they were paid weekly. Even if it wasn’t much, it should be plenty for a meal for the three of them and enough left over for some necessities. He only had one pair of clothes, after all! None of the others were worth taking.

Iliana seemed to take his side in this matter, having the sense to know better than to potentially offend their recently met teacher. “As Evan said, we don’t want to upset Master Isaac. Pick something else.”

“…Alright, fine. If I win, not only will the loser buy us all a meal, but as agreed before they will make the next meal. Is this a one-time thing, or?”

It was left unsaid that they probably didn’t get paid enough to buy many consecutive meals for all three of them. Evan figured it was probably okay – he supposed he could afford to buy a meal for them weekly, maybe twice. He planned to win every day of course, but best to consider the worst circumstances – their talent might be leagues above his, and make it far easier to win even with a significant skill gap.

A gap that probably wouldn’t be that wide – they both seemed competent, even if Arnav seemed to stay a little behind them.

Voicing this, he grinned as he spoke. “Sounds fair to me. Can you really afford to buy us all dinner every day though?”

Iliana gave her assent, and with their updated bet made they all made their way downstairs, all the way to the workshop, where they spent a little while bickering as they waited for Isaac to return.

When he did, he revealed six swords all of the same make, and then had them pass the swords around so everyone could get a feel for the weapons, and feel out how each weapon had decayed differently.

Evan, like the others, brought what he now knew to be soul sense to bear, and looked at the weapon in his hands. It was a common shortsword on the exterior – relatively light and flimsy considering that whoever wielded it would have likely cultivated some manner of strength or speed Substance. Maybe even both.

The inside revealed a different story, however. Able to see the Substance moving through the blade, he didn’t have enough experience to know the Substance itself, but he did know enough from the books he’d been reading – mostly the blueprints book – that the inscriptions matched a weight and durability increasing inscription commonly used in such swords.

Obviously, the fluctuating weight of it in his hand helped as well – they had been studying dutifully, but it had only been a little more than a week, much of that spent on learning the “normal” size language of inscriptions.

Turning the blade in his hands idly, he pressed his will towards it as a connection snapped into place between him and the Substance inside. The books he had read didn’t speak much on this connection, but it noted it as a real, genuine thing – not just an impression he had. One day, that might be important to remember, as the connection could be hijacked – such a measure was even used as security by crafters to keep anyone from snooping in on their work, or to force customers to come back to them, in particular, for repairs or replacements.

It didn’t detail any methods to fight this, as the book was just about common practices, nothing too detailed.

The sword in his hand had none of this, of course – just an idle consideration of Evan’s. Instead, with the connection now in place, he used his will to feel out the Substance – an alternative way of sensing Substance that was independent of the constraints of his soul sense, and the only way to sense the intent inside and attempt to understand its purpose.

Feeling out the paths the Substance took, flowing through the inscriptions on the blade and the intent that guided this, he noticed that there were parts where the intent was broken or missing. The flow was uneven, and even the inscriptions seemed slightly decayed from use.

In other places Substance that should have been there was missing, consumed to power the imbuement. All of it helped to broaden his horizon, allowing him to understand on a deeper level how imbuement worked at all.

The Substance, broken down into immeasurable pieces, could each hold a certain amount of intent, determined by talent and multiplied by certain types of cultivation. Intent would hold the instructions and parameters imparted by the crafter, and was each a piece of the whole, too tiny to hold even a single complete instruction individually. Together, all of this would add up into what was called the imbuement – the whole of all the intent combined.

From instructions such as when, how, if, or where the Substance should move, to the various parameters such as how quickly, for how long, etc. the Substance should follow those instructions. These parameters also included things about the effect produced itself – from how strong or efficient it should be, to where and how it should manifest.

All of that was to say that there was a lot going on with any imbuement, and it was easy to flaws to come out in all sorts of ways. A distracting thought, an imprecise instruction, and so on. That was definitely present within the sword, surprisingly common, but wasn’t what he was looking for.

Because Substance was consumed by the imbuement, parts of the Substance inside would randomly vanish – Substance that would still have intent within it. Since each “unit” of intent held only a small part of any imbuement, this wasn’t such a big deal – like anything else, imbuements wore down, and they worked not quite as well.

Eventually, though, the damage accumulated to a point where the whole imbuement started to break down and was unusable, when it either stopped working completely or only worked occasionally. This was especially prevalent in things such as weapons or armor – nobody would willingly use a sword that could spontaneously become duller, or a helmet that only occasionally protected you adequately.

This was the case with the sword Evan held, as it would be for all the others. He took note of these damages, appreciating the insight he had gained from looking at only one of the six. Master Isaac was right – this was an excellent learning opportunity.

Several minutes passed as Evan analyzed the sword’s imbuement, finding all the places where the sword had broken down – some parts seemed more damaged than others, and he wondered why.

“Master Isaac, why is it that parts of the swords are more damaged than others? I thought the damage was random?” He asked his question.

“Good eye Evan. This is because damage is more likely to occur in places where flaws from the crafter are present. All the pieces of intent inside an imbuement must communicate, and where these flaws are present, more communication happens or is incorrect in some way. It’s like not knowing what you want, so you change your mind several times. This causes more consumption in those places, as well as throughout the imbuement in general, causing more damage.” Master Isaac succinctly explained the reason.

That was one of the reasons he believed Master Isaac to be such an excellent teacher – he didn’t leave explanations at the bare minimum for understanding. Instead, he sought to teach them why everything worked as it did, which Evan found far more helpful and insightful.

Happy with the explanation, Evan waited until Master Isaac felt they had all explored their swords imbuement completely. Then, he had them exchange their sword for another to do again, allowing them to gain a more general understanding of how the damage affected the imbuement.

After all six swords had been analyzed by everyone, he left for the second floor to obtain the Substance they would need in order to fix them. It was finally time to do some crafting!