I couldn’t see ahead while in the wagon, and while the farmhouses had been getting closer together, and maybe a bit taller, I didn’t realize we were already there until the carriage jumped as it left the dirt and started running along cobblestones. It wasn’t nearly as bad as I had expected, the suspension this thing had and the seat were still doing wonders, but even then the road seemed less rough than it had been in the castle town.

As we were traveling through what really looked like a medieval city, what with all the wood framed and plaster houses overhanging into the street, I realized we must be in at least the regional capital. After a few more turns on the wide road the carriage, for hopefully the final time, came to a stop. This time the driver got off and opened the door for us.

If we were here, I was about to meet someone new, so I quickly shifted out of dog form and into armor again. I moved my Creighton tag to my chest, raising it slightly to ensure it was readable, as it was still made of metal like the rest of me. The kid, Tommen, had been distracted trying to guess at how my name sounded, but so far he was stuck on the eigh sound. He hadn’t even started on ton, and I figured that would be a ton of work. I was still smirking, though only on the inside, for that little gem when I realized the wizard wasn’t moving and I gestured for Cole to go first. If we were meeting nobles, like the fancier building around us implied we would be, it must be proper to let the man of highest rank disembark the cart first. Or something like that. I followed after him, having to stop Tommen from exiting before me. I wanted to once again help him down, but as the road was level I initially just offered him a hand.

He seemed embarrassed, and if I remember correctly that is something families do for eachother, or lovers do when they are courting, but I wasn’t gonna risk him eating it on the street because someone didn’t give this thing handrails. I just picked him up by the armpits and set him on the ground like I had before, and when I turned around Cole had walked up the straight path, and what greeted me was a real mansion. I had thought that modern rich people lived in mansions, and they do, but the sheer scale of the building in front of me, despite its rustic design, was a different feeling altogether. The building must have housed all the servants as well, because I couldn’t imagine even an emperor needing this much space to himself.

The entrance was tall double doors, and they were once again held open by butlers. Although I don’t know if butlers normally carry swords. Behind them was a lavish foyer, a room with lots of open floor space, with an area to sit on both sides. There were two fancily dressed men waiting for us. One was dressed in mundane looking priest robes, at least until I looked closer and saw the seemingly familiar silver threads woven into it. The other man looked quite old, and with the way his robe seemed to glow, it must be a cloak of fire or something.

Both men seemed to possess more mana than Cole did, and the old man was shining noticeably brighter than the other guy. I figured introductions would be in order. Giving Cole a side eye and seeing he wasn’t making a move, I put a gauntlet out for a handshake. The old man laughed, and the middle aged one took it. He gave me a firm handshake, but I kept my hand rigid, because I didn’t want to risk crushing his fingers. I still hadn’t tested for the actual limits of my physical strength either. When it came to keeping his mana out, it wasn’t difficult for me, as draining the dragon had given me plenty of my own, I was more than a match for his capacity.

The man in front of me said what I presume to be his name, Daniel. Ever since my two companions had given me their names, I had started to recognize other patterns in their speech, but that also might just have been from me making a conscious effort to. I pointed at the old man who was still chuckling to himself, and Daniel gestured and called him Archibald.

It was only after that that the old man took my hand, and when he shook it I had to focus on keeping his mana out. If Cole or Daniel was like lifting a full jug of milk while I kept their mana out, this guy was like lifting a full propane tank with just one hand. My reaction seemed to earn me another fit of laughter.

I gave Cole a pronounced shrug, but then he started laughing too. I couldn’t help but feel something was going over my head, but whatever it was Tommen and Daniel didn’t seem to think it was funny, so maybe it was an in-joke. It was at this point that Daniel, the priest looking guy, pulled out some paper. On it was written my name, and while the handwriting was not good, it was legible.

I pointed to my nametag, and nodded. He smiled back, and then gestured for me to follow him to the left side’s seating arrangement. When we got there, I saw a lot of papers were prepared. Most of them were blank, but some had text. Looking over them, they seemed less like the knockoff eastern european characters, and more like knockoff english ones. Familiar letters were warped slightly, or had new quirks. My favorite was a W with each outside line folded over again like a little mountain range.

I gave them another shrug, and they shared another look. When he pulled out the scroll, I knew they were getting serious. It looked old, like most of the paper here did, but it also clearly contained mana. I figured they were still trying to solve the translation problem, so I stopped them before they could commit to the spell. There was one more thing I could try before I wanted to let them start casting magic on me.

~~~

Daniel had been about to start trying to walk the soulsteel through the most generic translation spell he’d been able to find, when it started to ask for something to write with. The servants had some ready within a minute, and they all watched as it started to write.

“Those don’t look like the same letters it used for its name.”

“They aren’t, these are his numbers, from when he showed us he could do math.”

“Its own numbers?”

“Yes, he matched a sequence of lines up, one through ten, and then ran through it all over again with his numbers. and then Tommen wrote our numbers underneath both.”

“So what’s it trying to do with the numbers?”

“He’s already putting our numbers in, though he got three wrong.”

The Soulsteel handed the sheet to Tommen, and then started a new sheet. Everyone leaned in as the soulsteel started writing its letters, but leaving large gaps in between, just like he’d done with the numbers. The quill kept giving him trouble, as he seemed unaccustomed to having to constantly go back for ink. They briefly thought he was giving up before he formed a writing implement in his hand, dipped it in the ink, and got back to writing.

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“How does that work? It's not producing mana from ink, right?”

“No, It’s storing the ink inside the handle, and somehow it's controlling the flow so it doesn’t all come out at once.”

“He’s not using mana to slow it. It's a mechanical quill.”

“Focus on what he’s writing. His alphabet has twenty six letters?”

“Knowing its alphabet would be helpful if I was going to rework a translation spell, but it’s not enough on its own.”

“What about a pronunciation spell?”

“His name, the first letter sounds like a K.”

They began pairing letters off with what they sounded like in the Soulsteel’s language, and slowly managed to put together its name. When it enthusiastically nodded to them getting its full name right, Tommen seemed the most pleased to finally have a name to call it. The Soulsteel wasn’t done yet, as it drew a circle, and then divided it up with unfamiliar lines. While this was normally how mana was depicted, it was archibald that pointed out it had drawn a globe. As they sounded out the word he’d labeled the planet, All four of the mages felt the word resonate with their Earth mana. The Soulsteel went on to show them its words for Fire and Ice, but stopped there. Daniel was disappointed.

“Does he not know what the other mana would be called in his language?”

“That’s my guess.”

“So, Earth doesn’t seem to resonate as strongly as Trezemek does, right?”

“No, but it definitely means the same thing. Could we build a translation spell off of the names for mana?”

“I don’t know. Anything derived from the big four is more subjective, but It certainly seems like it would learn Wernst quickly if I started teaching it.”

A footman approached the ring of Mages, and after a moment, the Soulsteel had to point him out so they would stop arguing about what exactly this could mean.

“The Duke is ready for you now.”

“Damn. We’ll have time to talk this through later. We can’t keep him waiting.”

“Allright. Tommen, stay here. We will be right back.”

“Can I really not come?”

“Take some time to catch up with Natasha. I’ll take care of Creighton.”

~~~

Natasha had been told to wait to greet the Soulsteel after it met the Duke, so she had waited to the side. When the Soulsteel was led away, she rushed to greet Tommen, and he returned her proffered hug.

“How was the trip? I heard you ran into a great wyvern.”

“We did, but the Soulsteel killed it in three hits. Mostly the third though.”

“Did it really pick a fight with a greater wyvern? While it was with you?”

“I think he was worrying about us. The wyvern couldn’t have hurt him if it tried, and it was flying in our direction.”

“Why didn’t Cole put up an illusion?”

“He said the Soulsteel spell was too disruptive.”

“I don’t know Tommen. It sounds kind of dangerous.”

“Of course he’s dangerous, he’s got more mana than Master Archibald does.”

“It what?”

“Yeah, Master Archibald tried to overpower it during their handshake, and he failed. That was why he couldn’t stop laughing.”

“I don’t think it’s safe for you to be around something with that much unstable mana.”

“I sat on the soulsteel's lap the first night of our trip. He has plenty of control over his mana. Now that I think about it, He might not have more mana than Master Archibald. Just more control.”

“Why do you keep calling it a he?”

“We know its name now, and we all agreed it sounded like a man’s name.”

“What is his name then?”

“Creighton.”

“Well me and this Creighton are gonna have to have a talk about getting the attention of a monster while you’re with him. But as long he apologizes I just might forgive him”

“He still doesn’t speak Wernst.”

“Dammit. How do you know his name but not what language he speaks?”

“We also now know he calls the planet Earth.”

“Was this its attempt at drawing Trezemek? It didn’t get any of the continents right.”

It was only then, as they both turned to each other, that they realized it might not have been trying to draw Trezemek after all.