Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1794.03.11]

The presentation –as Aisha gently called the process – was as awkward as it was uncomfortable.

A long, if simplified, explanation was only mildly annoying, for everyone. He spoke about Willforce and Willforce Morphon in the context of his new Spell but had to omit any details regarding his Will. All Heads of Departments were in the know or were clued about him being a Terrien, but he wasn’t going to admit anything aloud in case anyone would be interrogated in the future. Being almost certain about something and having a solid confirmation were two different things. Considering a potential truth reader, the more wiggle room was left, the better. Especially for a Hannyajin like Kwan.

The practical part, though, wasn’t as straightforward.

It was hard to focus fully when five eager pairs of eyes observed his every movement. And when he finally managed to construct his Spell, the intense prodding caused it to collapse within a few seconds.

It took them six tries in between long resting periods before everyone was satisfied. Not including Zeph, though, as he was lying on the floor, panting heavily.

Congratulations! [Force Projection] [General Skill] is now [T2][L55]! (+5)

Even the fact that the Spell was becoming easier to manage with each successful construction didn’t make him feel any better.

“Nothing suspicious here,” Makani was first to voice his verdict. “Besides the fact that the construct is way bigger than it should.”

“Not exactly,” Aisha disagreed, “the physical effect feels eerily familiar on my Veil. That familiarity makes it stand out…”

“That’s not all, it’s interfering with Mana movements, too,” Ghrughah added.

“You are exaggerating, it’s a new Spell! It has every right to be a bit strange,” P’pfel said, gesturing at the area where the Spell manifested.

“Yes, it makes no difference to me.” Kwan shrugged. “Aisha, anything in the Soul aspect?”

“No, I couldn’t feel or see anything. But I expect it to change when he finishes this Spell. It’s a prototype, if you forgot.”

“Mmm, it will be recognized as a milestone Enhancement, sooner or later,” the giant confirmed.

“Is that a bad thing, though?” P’pfel asked. “People did way stranger things with their Energy Enhancements.”

“Considering his level? It’s very disconcerting,” Kwan said. “This is not something you would consider before Class evolution.”

“You know… I am still… in the room… right?” Zeph asked weakly between breaths.

“I think, it’s safe enough,” Aisha said, ignoring the human husk’s voice. “If he trains his Soul Arts further, most would assume it’s a combination of techniques that made it possible.”

P’pfel smirked, his glasses sliding to the end of his nose. “To be, once again, mistaken for a wealthy fop? I like that idea!” He cackled.

“Cruel..” Zeph whispered into the air.

“Are we done yet?” Kwan asked with a sigh. “I would rather work on our next selling order.”

“Almost,” Aisha said coldly, crossing her arms. “It’s the best opportunity to see how he fights when spent. I would appreciate it if you shared your wisdom as well…”

P’pfel huffed and turned to leave the room. Kwan rolled her eyes and did the same. But the rest stayed; their curious glances weighing down on his body almost physically…

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Lurona city [southern shores of Fuminao Legacy Kingdom], local time [1794.03.28]

Zeph had finally learned what his ‘Enchanted’ module could do.

It was a simple affair, really. To the point where he regretted not reading from that General Skill before.

It simply offered a multitude of ways to transform a Spell into an enchantment, knowledge about materials and how to possibly scan them, as well as ticks and tips about the fast application of enchantments in general. Also, there was information about Mana frameworks that should help him in the future, but he would have to construct them manually according to the situation, which wasn’t helpful at this stage. Especially the more advanced topics.

It was a Tier 3 General Skill. Even if those applications sounded simple, the memories contained inside the Skill were all but that. Zeph had an impression that some methods would require him to possess a computer built into his brain.

At Tier 1 of the knowledge base integrated into the Skill, he learned about simple methods of fast application of enchantments in matter. Some weren’t all that different from his ‘Primitive enchanting’ and other techniques he had been using, but the Skill also encompassed the reasoning behind them and a big chunk of theory. An awfully detailed reasoning. Not to mention, there were methods he would have never thought about – like ‘enchanting’ the very air with a proper mix of Magicules and force constructs, although it has little to do with true enchantments.

The thing was becoming convoluted as he reached the Tier 2 methodology, though. Also, most of the information centered on transforming Spells into enchantments, taking into account the environment, available materials, and other factors. As much as this was the most interesting part for him, it wasn’t a simple topic at all. And yet, he was expected to be able to do such things on the fly.

A ridiculous notion.

To put it in simple terms, it was like calculating advanced integrals in his mind. Not only were there many ways of solving the same equation, but the way he would choose influenced the possible physical applications. For example, if he were to transform the 3D diagram of a Tier 0 Spell into a flat enchantment, it was better to apply the simplified ‘Terov’s flattening method’ instead of anything more advanced. He would only lose around 10% of effectiveness and it would be exceptionally fast… in theory.

After that came the calculations pertaining to the material itself. Wood was way too complicated, but even uniform materials—like pure iron—posed problems. It wasn’t a Matrix Skill, so he would know nothing about the internal structure and/or flaws of the material. He would have to manually scan it somehow, or spend an awful lot of time getting accustomed to the tool he was going to use enchantments on. The latter method had a side effect of damaging the material, so he would have to attempt and test the enchantments on the copies of the tool first.

If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

The effectiveness could vary as much as 40% in both directions, depending on his preparation, calculations, and application quality.

Then came the compound materials. Truthfully, the Skill told him, in non-uncertain terms, that he wouldn’t be able to calculate the outcome in any measure. If he wanted to get any repeatable results, he would have to invest in matter-scanning Skills or just do a whole lot of tests on the designated material and tool before using a Mana framework to work out a generalized enchantment. He would, theoretically, gain a Spell specialized for that exact enchantment if he succeeded, but he had his doubts.

The level of complication was already reaching exponential growth at this point. How many variations would he have to record for the blasted thing to work smoothly with all of his Generalist Spells or other enchantments? Hundreds of thousands? Millions? And, most importantly, how could he store that amount of instructions with his limited Matrix Space?

But only the Tier 3 knowledge was the true eye-opener.

He started to understand how the Tiers worked, going by his Spells. But, evidently, he was still naïve.

Geometric transformations were present in the previous Tiers, but how could he—instinctually, mind you—do something requiring an application of non-euclidean geometry and corresponding math? Worse yet, the simplest of the logical puzzles—which were already impossible to solve by hand—were merely forming a base for more complex ideas and calculus.

Additionally, even if those Soul memories contained information about the methodology and math, it wasn’t taking even one-tenth of the volume. Most of it was an experience of calculating all that in real-time by experienced specialists. And each one of them was thinking differently; each used their own notation and logical structures; even the language they used oftentimes differed.

There was no straightforward and standardized math being used between the different memories – kind of like before the 17th century on Earth. Those specialists in the memories used different symbols, different logic, and different bases for their ideas. Mathematics can be a universal language, but you first need to decipher the logic standing behind it. It wasn’t a coincidence that Earth’s movies about ‘first contact’ with aliens showed that much struggle with communication. At least the older movies.

In the end, even if he could, slowly and methodically, extract pure math from all that, he could never use that knowledge in any fight efficiently. Also, he could not allow himself to specialize to such a degree without spending years over years training. By his estimation, he could force his Brain to learn how to semi-automatically process certain problems by training with the memories contained in the Skill, but no more than a few. He knew such things were possible – forcing the human brain to estimate results based on input, almost like a computer – and it was further confirmed by those specialists. But any more than that few trained operations? Impossible. And it wouldn’t even scrap the tip of the iceberg of his needs.

Of course, that would change if he could somehow split his mind. But that was merely a fanciful thinking. Even if it was possible—and seeing the Onjis he was sure it was—such a thing was unattainable for him.

Anyway, even if the Tier 3 Soul memories were more ‘crisp’ and clear, the discrepancy between the original owners was only exaggerated thanks to that fact. It was like comparing the train of thought of an ancient philosopher and a modern mathematician in some cases. It was not easy, to say the least.

But, it was also the first time he was learning from a General Skill legitimately. He wasn’t forcing the levels to rise through random actions alone, but by studiously following the Soul memories written within. Memories passed over by the predecessors of the discipline.

He was building his experience that way. He always knew that General Skills were meant to teach people, but he never expected the process to be so tedious.

How did this translate to his training? It was more hellish than he could imagine.

Aisha and Ghrughah were working hard at beating out of him any potentially dangerous ideas while he was trying his hardest to make use of his whole arsenal of equipment, abilities, and techniques. The idea was less to polish his newly-forming fighting style but to make sure he wouldn’t do anything stupid by trying new things in a real fight.

And there was a lot to test and get accustomed to. His Spells and melee weapons were one thing, but his equipment was also refreshed.

Zeph’s armor gained a new set of enchantments. Besides the classic ones – like soundproofing enchantment, projectile shielding based on Air-Mana Spells, or the Anchoring enchantment – he now had access to a few detection-type enchantments, some helping during a grappling-distance fight, and a set of auxiliary enchantments. Of course, it was too much to fit on his armor at once, but he had them on modular plates that could be replaced. They took quite a bit of place, but he was very happy to have them. Especially because of the last category of enchantments.

Detection enchantments were the most important, as part of his detection-type Spells took a very long time to construct, rendering them useless in a combat situation. Quality-of-life enchantments would help him tremendously during the long travel – keeping the temperature inside his armor comfortable and helping him with cleaning himself. He even had such simple enchantments like a Water Mirror from convenience. He would be able to focus on more important matters thanks to that. He also had a few small enchantments meant to help in unexpected situations – like being imprisoned, or if he needed to cover his armor with dirt and/or water for additional protection, camouflage, or to make it airtight. He had w whole new bag of tricks this time around.

Sadly, Ghrughah wasn’t able to make the armor airtight by itself – the seals would fail at some point, no matter what he did. But Aisha was adamant that contingency measures against toxic air or underwater exploration had to be made.

As so, Zeph had many new enchantments to get used to, and he wasn’t even that proficient with the ones on his spear, so he had a lot to learn.

He was also training with his pistol, now that he had new ammunition. The accuracy have dropped and he knew the weapon would fail at some point, but the giant assured him a new one would wait for him in a few months.

It was the best emergency solution for Zeph, so he also tested his gun-fu in hand-to-hand with Aisha. It was a painful experience.

Besides that, he now had a new compound crossbow. This one was much stronger than his old one – the materials were so much better for the job. Ghrughah was delighted to see a new blueprint flying his way, too.

All in all, Aisha, Zeph, and the giant focused on the melee and hand-to-hand combat. They also made sure that Zeph’s instincts regarding the distance and timing were top-notch. It could end very badly if he miscalculated and started firing a mid-range enchantment from his spear instead of preparing for pure melee – people could move very fast, after all. Sadly, they only had time for basic training in projectile detection and application of countermeasures, but there wasn’t much they could do about that.

~~~

“I think it will be all right to finish here today,” Aisha finally said, allowing him to collapse to the floor. She was wearing a loose shirt and pants, all in a gentle yellow, used locally during hand-to-hand combat training. They were quite similar to the martial artist’s attire back on Earth.

“Let’s eat something, shall we?” she asked, coming closer. She bent down and grabbed his ankle before unceremoniously dragging his aching body to the corner of the training room. “You should have started with the physical training. If it was left to me, I would have reserved those two months for this exclusively.”

“Let’s thank the Onjis that it wasn’t the case, then,” he said silently. His breathing was already stabilizing, but he would have to wait another few minutes before trying to sit up.

It was the last day of their focused training, as Zeph had only four days left before their planned departure. He still had unfinished business to take care of, and it would be safer if he was well-rested before the long trip started.

“Don’t be a grump,” she said with a false pout, releasing his leg and throwing herself at the big pillows set on the floor. “I care for you! You had plenty of bad ideas and dangerous habits. At least now, I can trust you to not die like a total fool. Well, not fully, maybe…”

Zeph laughed dryly with an unimpressed face.

“Hmph, and here I brought good news today, too…”

Zeph’s eyebrow raised as he turned his head to her. “I see. I think it can wait a few more hours if you were keeping it to yourself a whole day, no?”

She rolled her eyes. “Maybe those few days of rest are really necessary… you are behaving more and more like an aging man,” she said, reaching to the low table for a plate filled with meat. “Anyway. You remember that scholar that was to meet you around spring?”

He nodded slowly. The information about the planned city’s lockdown complicated everyone’s plans. Makani’s friend was to arrive around spring, but Zeph had to leave the city before that. It wasn’t possible to wait for the man only to have some small talk about technology, and, most probably, he wasn’t aware yet of the whole situation as he was keeping contact with Makani through letters. Those took a while to arrive. Without any method to arrange their meeting, the idea was forgotten.

“We received information that he was denied permission to stay in the city during the possible siege. He should receive the message from the city soon, but it will catch him in the middle of his journey. Makani wants our ship to give him a lift as he is traveling along the western coast. It wouldn’t take much time and you guys don’t have a strict schedule, either way.”

Zeph sighed. “Let me guess. Makani already sent him a proposition to meet our ship somewhere? Before asking anyone.”

She grinned. “Indeed. Not like you have any reason to decline.” She leaned back and took a small bite from a fried leg of some unknown small bird. “You are already taking a stranger – the Mapmaker lass – along with you, so you will have to keep your guard up all the time, with the man on board or without.”

“It’s good news, I suppose,” he nodded. “I will have to pack some notebooks…”