Chapter twelve 

P.O.V. change - John (M.C.)

         All I could think of as I left the orphanage was that I was really thankful that I indulged my paranoia when I was buying clothes. That could have gone disastrously wrong. Well there is no point thinking about it now.

         Walking through the rundown neighborhoods of the borrows towards my home, I started to think about all the projects I had on my plates. There was weapon development, I know I have my trusty canes but not only were they inappropriate for many situations , but they are also somewhat hard to deploy in a split second situation and in a world like this a split second could be the difference between life and death. 

         Next on my list was my non existent defense. I am the very definition of a glass cannon, I could hit really hard but can't take a hit. Of course there was my super healing but I didn't want to find out its limits in the middle of a battle so I needed a set of defenses that are effective in as many different scenarios as possible.

          Finally, and maybe most importantly , I want to know what kind of tech I can create using magic and science. I want to see how mana reacts to magnetic and electric fields, as well as find out if there are materials other than orichalcum that could conduct mana. This is gonna be a lot of work.

         By the time I finished processing the thoughts about these problems I was already at the gates of my house, I got into my house and still deep in thought I fell on to the bed and passed out.

         The next day was a Saturday so I didn't have to go to the shop , instead I woke up bright and early and started working on my projects. First of all I wanted to see how mana reacts to magnetic and electric fields.

   "Jules, you awake in there?"

    " I'm always awake you dimwit, what do you want "

    " As pleasant as always I see. I wanted to ask you about my eyes, they can normally see manna right? Why can't I see the ambient manna around me?"

     "Because I'm filtering it out otherwise it would be something like this." Suddenly my vision turned into something from the mind of someone who took acid, psychedelic was the only way to describe it.

      "That's enough Jules , you've made your point. Damn there is a lot of manna isn't there?"

      " I did tell you it was everywhere"

      After my vision returned to normal , I thought of a rather simple experiment to see the interactions between mana and magnetic fields. I made a simple solenoid and connected it to my magic generator. Then I told Jules to show me only the manna around the solenoid. From what I could see there was no mana around the solenoid , but there seemed to be a strong current of mana passing right through the middle. 

        I was shocked , this was it ,if I could study and analyze this phenomenon it could be the key to making magic technology.

       "Jules , are you seeing this . This is incredible! "

      " Of course I see it , and while you were spasing out with your little eureka moment, I have been running millions of calculations to see exactly what is happening."

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      "Always appreciated Jules, what do you have for me "

      " Its very strange, the phenomenon is not uniform, the numbers aren't exact but from the preliminary results the magnetic field is acting like a sort of 'shepherd' for the mana. If we use this right we might be able to use this to stabilize longer chains of enchantments."

        This was turning out to be a very good morning.

           * * *

      Unknown P.O.V.

       Somewhere in Europe

         I ran as fast as my legs could take me. Our ancestors said this day might come, but nobody really thought it would happen. Most of the apprentices treated their shift at the giant ornate scrying pool as a time to relax and veg out for a while, I was also honoring this time honored tradition and zoning in and out so at first I didn't even know what I was seeing. Ripples suddenly started to appear in the ever calm pool, as if a single pebble was dropped at that point, then it happened again and again and again for fifteen minutes then stopped. I had been standing there in slack jawed amazement at what I had just seen, then my brain started getting into gear and I bolted to the matron mother's chambers. After knocking frantically at her door for what felt like forever I heard a voice behind the door grumbling.

      " There better be something on fire ....disturbing me while I'm casting ....if there is nothing on fire I'm setting someone's hair on fire..."

       "Matron mother, it's the pond, there were ripples." Suddenly the was silence on the other side of the room. After a few seconds had passed, the door was flung open violently.

       "..... what did you say girl? "

      "The pond of scrying, it had ripples."

      "Girl, do you know what you are saying? If you are lying , forget being expelled I'm going to have you flogged. Are you sure?"

      " Yes matron mother, I swear on my power." For a moment I felt heat on my forehead as a symbol on my forehead glowed for a moment showing that I was telling the truth.

       "Alright girl come with me."

       We then proceeded to go through various corridors and went up a grand looking staircase.

       When we entered the room at the top there was a desiccated old lady sitting behind an ornate writing desk.

        We both knelt and said, " your Eminence"

        "What brings you to my office Minerva ?"

         "The pool of scrying activated, this girl saw it."

         "Can you show me on the map where the ripple started little girl?" I pointed and showed her where I saw the ripples.

         "The north of the Druid's lands...hmmm, isn't that where your daughter is Minerva ?"

         "Yes, your Eminence."

         "Well no matter, inform all of the others. It seems we have a heretic to hunt."