The next thing Relic and Frankie did after eating was going to the library. The library was a large building with an open entrance. The first thing Relic noticed when he walked in, was that there were no books, only desks evenly spaced around the large room. The next thing he noticed was an old woman sitting at a desk that looked different from the rest. He was about to start walking away when Frankie said

“Come on. We need to go get your library card.”

They walked up to the old lady, and before they even asked her anything, she looked up from her book, reached out her hand, and said

“ Five silvers.”

Frankie and Relic looked at each other before Glancing at each other and saying

“Excuse me?”

“He doesn’t have a library card. If he wants one, it’s five silvers.”

“Oh” said Relic.

“Frankie I haven’t been paid yet. We should just come back next week.”

“’No, you need to know about Royal Road. I’ll pay for your card so that you can go ahead and start learning”

Frankie gave the old women five silvers, and she instantly brought out a card for Relic and then said

“ Books are upstairs and in the basements. If you take anything out without checking it out then you better hope that I don’t notice.”

Then Frankie said

“ Relic I am going upstairs to pick out some books that will give you some basic knowledge. See if you can find anything you like”

As soon as Frankie finished saying that he walked upstairs leaving Relic to wonder what to do. He decided that since Frankie went upstairs, he might as well see if he could find any books in the basement. As soon as he went downstairs into the basement his eyes adjusted to the dark letting him see. He walked around reading book titles while the musk of old books permeated his nose. He had been walking around for quite a while when he saw a book called I Understanding Mana and decided that was what he wanted to check out. He then grabbed it and went back upstairs and saw that Frankie was already waiting in the lobby.

Frankie called out saying

“ Check these out, they should help you understand Royal Road”

Relic accepted with a nod before looking at the two books. They were Gods of Versailles and The History of The Kallamore Kingdom. After Relic checked out those three books Frankie left saying that he had some work to do and that Relic should read at least some of Gods of Versailles by tomorrow. With that Frankie Left and Relic went back to the blacksmiths before starting to read.

The first thing he started to read was Understanding Mana

(I just felt like writing out my views on mana and how I planned on making it work. Tell me if you think that everything is correct or if there are any important functions that I left out. Skipping it wont leave you lost in the story later but what’s the fun in that?)

Understanding Mana

Fluflam’s study on mana and its uses.

Mana is energy in its purest form, but this does not mean that mana does not actually have many different types. The first, and most important type of mana is internal mana. Internal mana is the mana that the user would have access to even if they were in an environment that was completely devoid of mana. It is mana that has become attuned to your body and has ended up being stored there. This mana is what is most important for spell casting. Using this mana the user creates the basic design of the spell and then that design is filled with ambient mana, which activates the spell. The amount of internal mana that can be stored is determined by the users understanding of and knowledge about the world.

The next type of mana is basic elemental mana. Just as mana can become attuned to a person’s body, mana can also become attuned to the different elements. Mana that has been underground for a long time becomes attuned to earth spells. Mana that has been exposed to great amount of energy becomes attuned to flame spells. Mana that soars around the upper atmosphere becomes attuned to wind spells. Mana that is around large amounts of water becomes attuned to water mana.

This mana attunement is true for Elemental and all other types of mana. In fact, mana within these can be divided into many more sub divisions, but those are unneeded for a basic understanding of mana. By understanding these mana types, they are able to be stored within the body, which grants resistance to spells made using mana of that type.

The next subject I will mention is the feedback from a failed spell. One receives feedback from a spell when they fail to place the proper design with their internal mana. Improper designs cause external mana to be allowed to enter the body. Since this mana has not yet attuned to the practitioners body it will damage them. The amount of feedback that one receives from a spell is difficult to determine. Spell feedback is the worst when the caster only makes one error, but that error is in the link between the internal mana and the caster. When the caster makes an error that damages the link between internal and external mana then the feedback is minimal.

Another thing to consider when casting spells is location. Spell failure can be caused by factors other than a flaw in the spells construct. If one were to try and cast a spell such as earthen wall while sailing across any sizeable body of water the spell would be liable to fail even if one was a great earth mage. The two exceptions to this are air and fire mana. Since fire mana is made by using energy in the surroundings there is no places were it couldn’t be used. Even the coldest tundra has large amounts of energy in the movement of ice and snow. For air mana, there is no location that a mage might enter where he would not have access to air. Even in caves or underwater there is air that can easily be made available.

Another important topic is complementary and opposing mana types. The most compatible mana types are wind and fire. The wind feeds the fire making the spell stronger, but also greatly increasing how difficult it is to control the spell. The mana types that conflict with each other are air and earth and fire and water. If either of these mana types are used in conjunction with each other it usually simply lowers the strength of whichever element wins out. (Usually earth and water for those examples.) earth and fire are neutral to each other as a water and wind meaning that while they will not cancel a spell, they also will not give it a boost in strength.

Another important attribute of mana is that it can be sealed in any object. Enchanted weapons are made simply by permanently infusing different mana types into a weapon. Sealing complementary mana type allow the enchantments to be as strong as possible without damaging the weapon, while sealing contradictory mana types will damage the weapon and may even weaken it. The most common technique for enchanting weapons is to allow for the weapon to be made, and then seal the mana into it. This technique makes reliable weapons with a good bonus, but it does not make the best weapons. Infusing appropriate types of mana into the different parts of the weapon as it is being made makes the best weapons. Another way to increase the efficiency of enchantments is by placing appropriate sigils on the weapon. Though it is unknown why, having appropriate sigils on a weapon greatly increases the flow and strength of mana.

Another important topic regarding mana is controlling mana without the use of mana. Though many different techniques have tried to achieve this, very few have been efficient. Those that have involve using life force in order to make the design instead of mana. While this can be done by a single mage, blood magic as a whole is viewed in an extremely negative light due to the fact that almost all mages that use this technique steal the life force they use to cast spells. Due to this almost all blood mages have been hunted down and those remaining are those strong enough that they were unable to be captured.

The next topic is uses of internal mana other than casting a spell design. By affecting the flow of internal mana the practitioner’s body can be greatly enhanced. The correct way to enhance ones body using internal mana is to speed, smooth, and increase the flow of mana within ones body. This will provide a boost in the bodies overall abilities. Those who use internal mana to enhance their body without proper training often only focus their mana on the part of their body that they wish to enhance. While there have been individuals who have mastered this unsafe technique and use it to great effect, there are many more who fail to use it and seriously injure themselves. These injuries are caused by the imbalance in the body caused by the uneven mana flow. Listing the effects from least to greatest. The first effect is that your balance is made much worse by focusing your internal mana on only one part of the body. The next part is extreme muscle fatigue caused by overusing a muscle, sometimes even resulting in the complete destruction of the muscle. The third, and worst injury that could result from improperly using internal mana is a permanent change in mana flow. Permanent changes in mana flow usually result in extreme suffering, followed by a coma, and then death. Even those consequences that avoid the worst-case scenario always restrict the usage of spells .

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

Medical uses of mana are another important topic to study. Listing all of the types of medical mana is a task that is far above my knowledge so I shall just list the simple types. First, is using mana to stimulate the body and aid in recovery physical wounds. Second, is correcting a temporary imbalance in the body’s mana brought about by curses and improper use of magic. Last is using magic to transfer your own life to someone in order to heal him or her. Though this is the least popular method it is also the most effective.

He only made it through two pages of Understanding Mana before he decided that maybe reading about the Gods of Versailles might be more interesting. He got fairly far into that and learned that The main Gods of the Versailles are Freya, Loki, Odin, Thor , the Valkyries, Fenrir, and many others. He also learned that each god had a following and that their followings spread their names throughout the land, and that in exchange they were granted rewards. Great warriors would spread the name of the Valkyries, while those who played Elaborate tricks would spread the name of Loki.

After that, Relic went to sleep. He woke up early the next morning and completed all the jobs around the forge. He swept the floors, polished the tools, and repaired all of the beginner’s weapons that were brought in. By the time he had finished, Frankie was at the door waiting for him to go. As soon as Relic came out, Frankie grabbed his arm and started pulling him through the crowd saying.

“We need to hurry and get to the church so that you can find out who is fit to be your patron God.”

“Is it really that easy to get a patron God? Everyone in the book you gave me was a hero.”

“Everyone gets a patron God, but those that don’t fit their Gods attributes well and spread their names don’t get as good bonuses.”

“Ok, lets just get it over with.”

After that Frankie and Relic entered the church. They waited in the line for blessings until they got to the front and Frankie said

“He’s here to find out who is his patron God.”

“So do you want the basic medium course or the deluxe course?”

Frankie was about to reply when Relic asked

“What’s the difference between the courses?”

“For the basic medium course I will simply put myself in a state where Gods can easily enter my body and claim you as one appropriate for one of their followers. For the deluxe course I will actually call the gods instead of just making it easier for them to come. The basic course is twenty-five silver and the deluxe is one gold. They have a success rate of thirty and ninety-six percent respectively. Anything else you would like to know?”

Frankie responded saying

“Nope just give him the basic course and get it over with.”

With that said the priest led Relic to a back room and told him to sit down. While Relic was sitting the priest went around lighting candles until he had completed a full circle around both him and Relic. As soon as he finished that, he sat down on the ground and closed his eyes. He sat with his legs crossed for a minute or two, before there was a noticeable change in the room’s atmosphere. The candles dimmed going out one by one until relic was left in complete darkness. The air started to get colder until Relic could see his own breath, and then the priest began to talk in a voice deeper and more sinister than any Relic had heard before.

“Power as a birthright

Sealed in fear

Death and destruction wait

For a time when all bonds are destroyed

And the world is put to rest”

Relic got up, and was about to ask the priest what he meant, when the candles suddenly flared back into life. They were far stronger than they were before they went out, and the cold dark atmosphere had been replaced by heat and a blinding brightness. Then the priest spoke once more, with the voice of a woman.

“A warrior

Chosen by the gods

To fight darkness

Preserving life

Even as the world itself burns down”

Relic quickly regained his eyesight and saw the priest, looking up at him expectantly.

“So” he said “ what god was chose you?”

“ I’m not sure”

“How can you not be sure? What did I say?”

Relic told him of the first time the priest talked telling him what he said as well as about the chill and the darkness that came along with the words. Relic was about to continue, when the priest said

“Then it has been decided, Fenrir has claimed you as one of his apostles. Prepare yourself and keep your affiliation a secret, should anyone on Asgard’s side learn of your patron God you will be hunted down.”

The priest started to shoo Relic out but Relic stood there and asked

“But what about the second thing you said?”

“What second thing? I should have stopped after I gave the prophecy that tells your patron God.”

“The candles flared back into life and you gave me another prophecy after the first.”

“Oh my.”

“That doesn’t sound good.”

“ Your fate is now set by those prophecies. It means that you are fit for both Gods, and important enough that they will fight to claim you. Depending on your actions, you will either end up destroying the world with Fenrir, or fighting against him with the Valkyries.”

“What should I do?”

“All I can say is that you should do what you think is right. And also, Don’t call on Fenrir in public unless you are willing to sever all ties with those affiliated with Asgard.”

Relic sat there for a second thinking before the priest shooed him out saying

“Go now. You must figure out your fate on your own and decide which side you will support.”

With that Relic walked out to meet Frankie.

“So Relic how did it go?”

Relic thought about what to tell Frankie before saying

“The Valkyries chose me as one of theirs.”

“Perfect, that means that you will get buffs that are good for fighting. Lets go try them out at the training center”

When they arrived, the first thing Relic noticed was the well-muscled man who seemed to be in charge of the building. He seemed to be proficient with every type of weapon brought to him. Since he did not know what he should be doing himself, he went up to him and asked his advice.

“Can you help me find the right weapon?”

Without asking Relic any questions at all, he walked over to a rack and pulled out a wooden blade that was more than four feet long.

“Here, use this.”

“Ok.”

“ Hey, Sullivan, get over here. This is one of the more dedicated to completing the training program. Lets see how you do in a spar.”

“Why?”

“Your bodies in great shape, you must have practiced some yourself. I just want to see how good you are.”

Before Relic could make another protest, both he and Sullivan had been pushed into in front of each other and the instructor had begun a count down. As soon as he reached zero Sullivan lunged at Relic and tried to stab Relic with his long sword.

Relic jumped back and swung his own sword, but without form, using it almost like a baseball bat. Sullivan brought his blade up to block Relic’s sword, but Relics blade already had too much momentum. Sullivan’s hands were left stinging, and he would have a nasty bruise on his right arm. Relic tried swinging again, but now Sullivan refused to take his blade head on. He would deflect it and each time he did he would manage to score a small hit on Relic. This happened three or four times, before Relic decided to give up on his current approach.

First Relic backed up. He got a foot of extra distance between himself and Sullivan Then he called upon the Valkyries saying

“Gods of war guide me in this training.”

With that he got a ten percent bonus in strength agility and a twenty percent decrease in the amount of time it takes to level up a skill.

With his new buffs now in place, he attacked again with his sword. He took as large an overhead swing as he could, and swung straight at Sullivan. Sullivan brought up his sword, and angled it to deflect Relics blade like he had before, but just after contact was made Relic let go of the sword and tackled Sullivan. He pinned down Sullivan’s chest with his knees and pressed his forearm down over his throat. Sullivan tried to hit Relic with his blade but Relic was so close that it was completely useless. Sullivan continued to struggle for ten more seconds before his eyes rolled back in his head, and the instructor pulled Relic off of him and said

“Well, looks like I have got someone interesting to teach now.”

End chapter 4