With two days of bullshit and bad feelings already over I come to terms that I cannot stay caught up on it for too long. It's not healthy and the longer I mull over the past, the more likely I am to lose motivation. I have to keep myself in top form, and I have so many plans for the road ahead, if I screw it up now I might never recover.
As the princess had said, letters came to the villa. One for each of us three Hasslerouges. Inside the letter is a simple yes or no survey asking which competitions we will be participating in. I check yes on all the ones I am capable of doing. The anything-goes combat tournament, the magical theory exam, the arithmetic exam, and the non-magical combat tournament. These are the ones I stand any semblance of a chance at even competing in.
After answering I reseal the envelope and send it back with the messenger so that I may participate in my chosen competitions. Then I begin my training plan. My regiment will be built on an alternating schedule. One day I focus more on physical capabilities and the next day I focus on the more academic ones. All the while I will supplement the training with other activities all in the pursuit of making myself better. I will drown my woes in hard work.
To start I begin with a physical day. My first class of course helps with this as Violet doesn't let me get away with being lazy. Afterward in the forge, I make a very crude pair of grip trainers. They aren't the best but it's difficult to squeeze and they are durable. This allows me to train my grip strength during lectures so I am never simply sitting around. I sprint between classes and do bodyweight work whenever I can. I am already maxed out on my physical strength and speed, but I can always build conditioning. I punch trees (like Minecraft) to toughen my knuckles when I can afford to have bloody knuckles. While I am capped on how strong I can be, I am not capped on things such as reflexes and coordination. I challenge my balance whenever I can and do what I can to work on my reaction time. Then at the end of every day I work on my weapon handling in the yard for at least an hour making sure I am accustomed to any weapon, I put in my grasp.
I repeat this every day I am working on my physical aspects. There isn't enough time to learn any new combat or fighting styles so I hammer down on the ones I already know. When I'm lucky Zindri or Zandra try to train their fighting skills against me in sparring matches, which rarely ends in their victory, except in times they utilize magic.
During my mental days, I spend any free hour in the library on campus reading through the massive tomes. I gain what I assume is a solid grasp of what magic is in this world.
Standard magic like what everyone uses but me it seems is simply the channeling of mana or magic energy or whatever you call it. Mana appears to be some sort of energy like thermal, electrical, or kinetic. It just sorta exists floating around in the air and really anywhere in this world. Most people and creatures act like batteries for this energy. It sorta clings to the internal body of any creature. People who can use magic are simply capable of channeling the mana from their bodies and out into the world. No energy is lost or created. Somehow this mana energy is capable of altering the molecular structure of things and changing the energy level of some things. Like making something hot or cold. Simply put mana is a type of blank energy that can become any type of energy in an instant and can in a way convert matter. It's odd but it rationalizes it for me.
Magic circles do something to channel it all, but it appears magic circles that appear when casting are simply involuntary and are bound by what spell is being cast. According to the many texts, I read the gods of this world created all the spells, and no more have been created since, but there is a massive quantity of spells available and not everyone has the capability of channeling the same amount of mana at once so there is major variation in how powerful a person can be. Apparently, it's genetic so higher-ranked people in society tend to be more powerful, which is easy to see how that social structure came about.
Ritual magic is a little more interesting. Ritual magic is where you create a physical magical circle and put certain catalysts inside thus casting what is usually an obscenely powerful spell. This is because it utilizes the mana floating around in the world. The catalysts are usually sacrifices of some manner and they sorta act like the battery where the mana gathers and due to the massive overload of mana the sacrifice is destroyed, the sacrifice has to be a creature or a plant. Depending on what you want the spell to do requires a directly proportional sacrifice in response to how much mana will be required. This can either mean more sacrifices or a sacrifice with a higher mana storage capability which can mean either a larger object or something very magically potent.
I found that during class I actually am capable of doing ritual magic, just it's not very useful in combat situations, but it's nice to know I can do something. I found it quite easy to understand. The ritual circle acts like a string of computer code. Each symbol has a meaning similar to runes but in a different script. I've figured out how to change already discovered spells slightly creating interesting effects, but I was never a programmer so I don't screw with it too much. It's just nice to have a minor understanding of how to shift and change things and potentially create my own spells, but for now, I'm happy with being able to do any kind of magic... even if casting it feels oddly cult-like.
The last kind of magic I learned about is enchantment. From what I can tell it is worse runic enchantment. It requires a specialized magic user to make it so it's usually expensive. The major downside though is that it is not permanent. The enchantment duration depends on both the skill of the enchanter as well as the amount of mana pumped into the enchantment. Another downside is the limit of enchantments. A single piece of equipment can only have one enchantment and you cannot wear or hold certain enchantments together or you will violently die. The books don't say how, but it doesn't seem pleasant. My only question about it, in the end, is why runes became a lost art.
With my daily routines decided for the next month or so, I also start to work on some runic equipment for myself. I gain a stronger appreciation for the art of making runes and their strange mathematic structure. A mixture of creating a math equation and creating a sentence with the runes. I figured actually working on items with runes on them is far more productive than theory crafting on a chalkboard. My first drafts suck but slowly I create composite runes that can either work off of one another or work in tandem. I even figure out how to effectively put more runes on an item than what the material should allow. Due to the mathematical structure, I can mess with the structure enough to put two runes in place of one. It's honestly really cool, but I do have some new scars on my hands due to failing to properly combine runes and the item explodes sending white-hot metal flying in every direction.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
In the end, I manage to make some nice equipment for myself. While the steel isn't of the quality I would like, everyone else will be using the same steel if they use metal weapons at all.
My favorite bit of equipment is the armored gloves I made. I call them the gauntlets of pimp-slapping. Its two small steel plates on the back of my hand and upper forearm with some toughened leather at my wrist. When my hand is straight the plates connect leaving no room for anything to hit my wrist. I use leather straps on my forearms to secure them to my body. My knuckles are still unprotected, but I'd rather keep the mobility in my hand. The runes I put on them are the same for both hands. The old book says these runes are for shields but I find this is a better use. First is a reflection rune which returns a doubly strong force back into an object that hits it.
For example, if a sword hit a shield with this rune inscribed, then a force twice as strong as the sword hitting the shield would be acted against the sword. This is in order to stagger attackers more effectively. The force also doubles if you smack someone with it because for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This means even if I'm the one creating the force the rune will double it. This means if I smack someone with the back of my hand they will receive a nasty blow, or if I miss a block or parry there is less of a chance of me getting cut if they hit the gauntlets.
The other rune put on them is one of those dual kinds I managed to figure out. One-half is heat resistance and the other is one that is electric resistance. Apparently, it works by sending it into the ground rather than into me. How this works is beyond me, but it works. From working with the Hasslerouge girls I figured out that the rune works through my weapon as well so even if I block, say a lighting bolt attack it will be stopped at the gauntlets at the cost of some fairly bad burns to the leather and myself. Same with fire attacks.
To pair with the gauntlets is my armor. Due to me being of the Stella Coyote I never learned how to fight in heavy armor so I created some interesting composite armor for myself. While not composite in the sense of modern composites it's mostly leather armor with small and lightweight steel plates built into it. While difficult to craft and requiring patience to make I managed to create a lightweight and tough set of armor. The plates ate thickest on my chest and belly. The only other plates are on my thighs, shoulders, upper arms, and my shins. My back is simply covered in leather and my underarms are unarmored to allow for better movement.
The main advantage of the metal plates is that I can put two runes on them, and due to the construction of the armor, the runes also work on the leather they are embedded in, which is incredibly useful as the leather itself can only have one rune.
I use the same two runes on all the plates. I can't put the reflection rune on them or else if I hit the ground at all, even purposefully I'd bounce like a ball. I found this out the hard way when I tried to roll in the first set of armor and I flew into a weapon rack because I couldn't recover.
Instead, I put a hardening rune which made both the leather and steel act as if they were of much higher armor quality. This time I was able to adjust the value of the runes so it makes the leather much tougher rather than becoming so hard they are brittle. The second rune is a cushioning one. It reduces the impact of an attack or falling. It doesn't affect the force against me, but instead, the force is dampened by the armor as if it were made of pillows or something really soft. This also reduces the chance of steel getting shattered or cracked by a hard attack. I didn't put any hybrid runes on the armor mostly because I was at wit's end embedding the steel inside of the leather. The first model almost mentally broke me. It was perfect but then I was sent flying when I rolled. Over twelve hours of straight work wasted. So I decided on making a good enough set rather than a perfect set which resulted in what I have now.
I only made two runic weapons. This is because I don't need a dozen runic throwing knives.
The first weapon I made was a shortsword. The blade only being about two feet long. It's double-edged with a sharp angular grade down to the point. The handle is made of some cheap wood and wrapped in leather making it more functional than anything else. I put only two runes on it as well mostly because I couldn't figure out anything else useful for a sword.
The first rune is one I call impact. It works almost exactly like the reflection rune, doubling the force acted upon the sword, but this one works only when the sword is swinging. It works perfectly with the other rune which doubles the weight. It doesn't feel any heavier, but when I make contact with it, the sword acts as if it weighed twice what it does, and this adds to the force exerted on a target. Mixed with the impact rune it quadruples the force of my swings, stabs, and parries. I don't bother adding any sharpness runes because I can sharpen a sword enough to be deadly, and I was incapable of making a runic weapon sharp enough to slice through steel easily, so against armor, the sharpness rune may not be useful.
My second weapon is something custom. It's a shorter blade only about a foot and a half, so just a little shorter than the sword, but it is an inch thick. A heavy little thing. Its sole purpose is to break other swords or weapons. It has two pockets designed into it that can hook blades or the poles of polearms. The inside of these pockets is sharpened to help cut wooden objects, but most of all they are slightly hooked. This allows me to catch enemy weapons and with a twist, I can break many different materials and objects. I also sharpened the very end to work as a stabbing weapon, but aside from that it works as a blunt bludgeoning weapon when not breaking opponents' weapons.
For runes inscribed, it has the impact rune which I found works when twisting to break blades. The other rune is the weight one, this makes it actually work offensively when I want to hit someone with it.
Aside from my runic gear I also make various knives, two boot knives as backups, and six throwing knives for the chance I need them. With all my gear created I feel... prepared... and proud.
With the tournaments only a day away now I stand in my room looking at my stuff. I feverishly check and recheck everything. I want to do well and I will do well. I am going to make sure of it. Once satisfied with my work I head to bed. The last part of my preparations is to make sure I am well rested in the last two days. Therefore, I am now become sleepy... the goer to bed...