Having gathered what he could from Lucien’s story, he put down his pen and tapped his glasses.
Mana seeped out from his fingertip and into the glasses, causing the frame to light up slightly as the mana flowed through it. The mana followed a clear route as it first wrapped around the main body of the glasses, then went down the additional lenses one by one.
The colour of each lens changed, aside from the main frames, as the mana flowed into it, representing a different type of mana.
Fire, earth... a mixture of the two? Probably lava then. Lucien guessed what each colour represented.
The limited amount of lenses meant that he could only search for a few types of mana at a time, but Lucien figured that the owner must have had some way to work around that. Either he could choose what kind of mana the lenses looked for, or he had multiple lenses that were each connected to a specific type of mana.
He continued jotting down notes as he changed what lenses he was looking through. He spent a moment observing through all three lenses to get an idea of how much mana was in it, and to compare the ratios.
Then he looked at it through each lens individually to get a clearer picture for each type of mana.
He wrote down notes on the types of mana and their respective amounts. the ratios between them, the flow and conversion of mana, the intensity, etc.
He continued through the rest of the eyeballs the same way. Starting with physical traits, then analysing their mana patterns and qualities. Through this, he was able to make an estimate on how they could be used, and the potential value of each of them.
Putting down the last jar, he stopped channelling mana into the glasses and put them back in their box with the magnification lenses removed.
He drummed his fingers on the counter, contemplating. “Admittedly, I’m not sure how much I want to pay for these. Their condition isn’t great, but it’s also unlikely for me to be able to get my hands on these again anytime soon,” he sighed.
“The best I can do you is 7 silver for the lot of them. I’m not a hundred percent sure what I’ll be able to make of them. It’s honestly all just guess work until I start experimenting with them proper. This is the best I can do while still ensuring I don’t make a complete loss.”
If his idea works out, he’ll probably be able to make 2 to 3 times that, I guess... 7 silver. Lucien looked at William, noting that he didn’t have any kind of reaction to that price. It’s probably a decent price then. And it’s not like it took much effort to get them. The travel’s the only bad part.
“I’ll take it.”
They shook hands and Lucien pocketed the silver as the owner moved the jars behind the counter.
“Come to me if you ever have anything else you want to sell.” he said.
Lucien nodded as he and William left.
“You could’ve pushed that price up a bit higher if you tried,” William said.
“One or two silver doesn’t matter that much right now. I don’t have any plans to spend much, and besides, I’ll always be able to make more,” Lucien explained.
The two continued talking idly as they returned to the training grounds, where they rested for a bit then went back to practice.
~
“This will be your place from now on. Feel free to take your time settling in, You can come and join us whenever you feel ready,” Calder said.
Having long since known of her impending arrival, Calder had already set aside a room for her with everything she would need to live comfortably.
He had decided to forgo her meeting with the rest of the family in favour of giving her a chance to rest and settle in at her own pace, so he had brought her to her room as soon as they arrived and promptly left her to her own devices.
Now alone, Lynn found herself in what was undoubtedly the most luxurious room she had ever stepped foot in.
She felt like every piece of furniture was worth its weight in gold, and was admittedly scared to touch anything in fear of damaging it.
The bed alone was almost the size of her bedroom back home. The pillows and blankets were all a soft greenish blue colour with gold trimmings.
Bookcases, shelves, and paintings adorned the walls, while a corner of the room was dedicated as a study area, with a desk, writing implements, a chair, and several notebooks.
In the opposite corner of the study area was a chair that looked incredibly comfortable. Lynn was tempted to sink into it and just forget about everything for a moment.
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There was even a small dining table should she ever want to eat on her own.
Aside from the door she entered through, there were two more doors on her left.
She carefully placed her bag down near the door, making sure not to have it touch anything other than the floor.
Unsure of what to do first, she decided to see what was behind the other doors. She was hoping there was a wash basin behind one of them, that way she would feel a little less guilty about touching anything.
Opening the first door, she saw a long series of drawers, shelves, and hanging rods. Most of the space was empty, but there were a few sets of clothes hanging there that surprisingly looked like they could fit.
“Woah. I don’t know if I could ever fill this space up,” she muttered in wonder of the size of the room and the sheer amount it could hold.
She figured that she wouldn’t be able to fill it up even if she was to put in all of the clothes she had worn throughout her entire life.
She went back out and opened the other door. Inside was a bathroom that went beyond her own understanding of the concept.
She had never seen a room quite like this in her entire life, but she could make out a few of the things in it. The sink and toilet were fairly recognisable, though they looked far nicer than what she had back home. And there was a tub in the middle that seemed similar to wash basin, but was stuck to the ground and had an engraved pipe pointing into it.
The room was tiled with white porcelain. All of the fixtures were also made of porcelain.
There was even a strange glass chamber in the corner.
She had never seen an entire room dedicated to personal hygiene before, and she was astonished that it even existed.
“I should probably clean myself up before I go to meet everyone.”
~
Days passed as Lucien and the rest of the army continued to train, eat, and prepare themselves. By now, Lucien had gotten to know those who would be his companions for a long while.
There was Anthony, who he had first sparred with.
William, who had helped him sell the eyes.
Clara, who he had helped out by being a live target for her archery practice. Something that he had done a few times before back home, but this time was definitely the most painful. The kids back home that he taught could barely hit the broadside of a barn if they were standing right next to it.
There was Noah, their group’s resident magic expert, and Edward, a magic swordsman, who was the one that cooked the stew when they first met. Lucien learned a lot about magic after chatting with the two of them. And even though he couldn’t make use of it himself, it was good to know what to look out for in others.
Now, everything was almost in place, and they were about to leave.
The training field had been off-limits since yesterday evening, so everyone had returned to the barracks to gather their things and rest up in relative comfort for the last time in a while.
Lucien was fast asleep in his bed at the far end of the barracks, when he felt a sudden weight on his chest, pushing out the air in his lungs.
His eyes snapped open in a panic, as he came face to face with a familiar rabbit. It’s ears were so large and heavy that it acted like a weighted blanket, trapping Lucien in bed.
“Oh, it’s just you.” He whispered so as to not disturb the people sleeping around him. He felt the weight lift from his chest as he calmed down. Even though the rabbit was still there, it was no longer like an immovable mountain crushing him.
He sat up in bed as the rabbit shifted down onto his lap. “What do you want this time? There are a lot of people here you know? What if someone sees you?”
The rabbit’s nose twitched as it locked eyes with Lucien, the galaxies swirling in it’s eyes as mesmerising as ever.
Lucien felt little pinpricks in his mind as the rabbit reappeared at the foot of his bed. Shaking off the feeling, he followed the rabbit down, passed the beds, out of the barracks, and towards the training grounds.
“Why are we going here?” Lucien asked as they reached the edge of the field.
The rabbit came to a stop just before a line in the dirt, looked up at Lucien, turned towards the middle of the field, then disappeared.
Alright, let’s see what it wanted to show me.
Someone was standing in the middle of the field, holding a tall staff, their back hunched over as they used the base of the staff to draw lines in the dirt.
Lucien could vaguely hear the sound of someone’s voice during the peace and quiet of the night, but it was too distant for him to understand what was being said.
He wanted to get closer, but stopped himself when he almost stepped on one of the lines that had been drawn into the dirt.
Probably shouldn’t ruin their work.
Carefully, he stepped over all of the lines as he approached the person. The closer he got, the more details he could make out.
For starters, the person was an old woman of average height, and on the skinnier side, though not so much for her health to be at risk.
She was wearing a robe that went down to her calves and a pair of slippers more suited for sleeping than for walking around in the dirt for hours. The robe itself was also quite plush and warm, which was odd considering they were approaching the warmer part of the year.
The robe’s hood was flung back, allowing Lucien to see what she looked like, primarily thanks to the lamp on her hip.
Her grey hair was tied up in a simple bun so that it was kept out of her face. Her skin was dry and cracked, and covered in wrinkles. She had a few hairs in the middle of her brow, but not quite enough to make it into a unibrow. Her nose was thin and straight, and her cheekbones sagged slightly with age.
Along with being able to make out her appearance, Lucien was also finally able to hear what she was muttering.
“... Ingrates. Having me do all this without any help, and only giving me a single night to do so. They’re lucky they have someone capable enough for this.” Her voice was harsh, bitter, and as aged as the rest of her.
She continued muttering to herself as she drew lines in the dirt.
It was a complex web of lines that Lucien couldn’t even begin to figure out. Some curved and swirled like leaves in the wind. Other’s were straight lines as sharp as lightning on a stormy night.
Now I really need to make sure I don’t break anything. Don’t want that anger targeted at me. Lucien continued his approach, being extra careful with each step.
Lucien was so focused on not destroying anything that he didn’t realise that the woman had stopped drawing with her staff and was now looking at him.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?”