Catherine’s instructions came as quite a surprise to me. Why wouldn’t she want me to tell people about my class? Why nobles in particular?
My boon translated the word ‘noble’ as ‘one with an elevated social standing’. If the nobles had a higher standing, didn’t that mean they had earned their position somehow? I would have expected that those would be the first people you would have wanted to share otherwise secret information with.
Maybe there was something wrong with being a true caster? I couldn’t see why anyone would have a problem with my class, but I clearly still had a lot to learn about the empire.
“Why?” I asked in a voice full of confusion.
“Because if they realize how valuable you are, there is absolutely no way that you will remain a free woman for long.” She replied emphatically.
“I’m valuable?” It was better than my class being scorned, but it still didn’t clear up any of my confusion.
“Yes! Do you have any idea how rare true casters are?”
“No?”
“I only know of sixty in the entire empire…” Liam helpfully informed me. ”...Sixty-one, now that I’ve met you. I guess it’s also possible there might be some more hidden away…”
“Probably locked in some noble’s basement.” Catherine added darkly. I got the impression that she had a rather negative opinion of nobles.
“Why would they lock me in a basement?”
“Look, Kyo, magic is complicated. It uses shapes so hideously complex, they can’t even exist in the real world.” Catherine explained. “Most people can’t even imagine those strange patterns, let alone design new ones that will actually work.”
“Yes?” I already knew people tended to have a hard time learning new magic, but I didn’t see what it had to do with me being valuable.
“Almost everyone relies on the system to handle the difficult parts of magic. You just need the right spell or rune in your codex, and you can use whatever magic you want. But what can you do if you don’t have the right mana form?”
“Make a new one?”
“That… Isn’t something most people can do, Kyo.” Liam corrected me. “Normally, people can only get new mana forms from system boons or from people they know.”
“He’s right. Now do you see why true casters are so jealousy guarded?”
This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.
If people relied on true casters to craft new forms of magic, I could see why they were valued so highly. I was still confused though. Knowledge wasn’t a limited resource, so why would someone want to hide it away? Didn’t it make more sense to try to spread it to everyone who needed it?
“No? Why not share?”
Both of the rune carvers gave me some interesting looks at that question. The two didn’t seem to know how to answer me. Catherine was the first to respond as Liam awkwardly picked up his cup take a drink.
“I don’t know where you come from, but it must be a very nice place if you have to ask a question like that.” She commented, causing Liam to nearly drop his water.
“Yes… It was.”
“Oh…” She softly exclaimed, evidently realizing that this was not a subject I wanted to discuss.
An awkward silence settled over our little group.
It was almost a relief when a man ran into the room looking for the pair of rune carvers. There was a problem with the water filtering runes that they needed to fix immediately. I remained behind as the others rushed out. Normally, I would have been excited to see what sort of magic could be used to make clean water. After the reminder of what had become of my home, I wanted a bit of time to myself instead.
----------------------------------------
Over the next few days, I fell into a sort of routine. In the morning, I would more or less willingly practice my spear work with Ophelia and sometimes Salvador. After lunch, I would experiment with magic on my own while recovering from the morning exercise. After that, I would trade magical knowledge with the rune carvers.
Liam and Catherine weren’t the only rune carvers in the camp. There were four more who were also quite interested in learning about new magic. Each of the carvers had slightly different specializations, which meant the whole group had plenty of different runes to show me.
Working with the rune carvers was quite enlightening. With their help, I was able to understand some of the branches of magic that had previously baffled me.
As an example, helping repair the healer’s disinfectant station gave me a great deal of insight into the strange mana forms I had discovered while examining plants and animals. That peculiar dimension of mana dealt with the energy held within all living things. The carver I was working with at the time informed me that it was typically referred to as “biochemical energy”. The disinfectant runes worked by interfering with all of this biochemical energy in a small area around them.
When I asked how this was supposed to stop illness, the healer provided me with a very unexpected answer. At some point in the history of the empire, a curious magician had developed a spell to examine the finest details of the world around him. In doing so, he discovered that almost everything was covered in vast swarms of minuscule creatures, too small to be seen without the aid of magic. According to the healer, killing these tiny creatures was a very effective way to prevent infections.
I was aware that insects could be small enough that it was nearly impossible to see them. I also knew that bugs could cause illness, so the idea that these germ things were the cause of most diseases was at least somewhat plausible.
Another interesting bit of magic was the water purifier. The tool itself consisted of a series of pools fed by the giant lake called the ocean. Set into the pools were sets of disinfectant runes. Between each of the pools was a narrow channel lined with runes. These runes worked a bit like my water gathering spell, but instead of pulling water out of the air, it pushed salt out of the water. Apparently, water from the ocean normally held so much of the tasty mineral that it was undrinkable.
While helping repair a damaged disinfectant rune in one of the pools, I noticed the flashing purple notification that my boon had finished integrating. It took much longer to integrate than I expected, but I was eager to see what it would do.