I saw where he was going with this, and couldn’t help but sigh. “How much is it…?”
Hearing me, the man’s smile grew a bit more. “It can be yours for just two silver, since it is after all low quality. Also, before we begin, you should go to the terminal in the back of the store and look up the rune language. I assume that your eye has some sort of recording feature, so you should be able to memorize the entire language pretty quick.”
I nodded my head. Since he had mentioned something about my eye the day before, I had looked into a mirror back at the hotel. My previously dark green eye now had lines of red streaking through the iris, with a tiny red dot at the center of my eye. Likely, that was a physical manifestation of my Cybernetic Adaptation spell. I was left wondering if integrating the other senses would give similar features.
Moving back to the room behind the counter, I saw a simple desk with a silver orb sitting at the back of it. Figuring that was his ‘terminal’ I sat down at the desk. Immediately, a holographic keyboard appeared on the desktop, and a blank blue screen of light flashed up above the orb. “Greetings, unregistered user. Please type or state the object of your search.”
I looked curiously at the device, and couldn’t help but extend my Mana Sense towards it. Although I had considered Celeste to be advanced, this device had an aura dozens of times more complicated than hers. It was like the universe was playing connect the dots with every star in the sky at once. “Uhm… rune language, please.”
“One moment.” Soon, a series of strange symbols flashed out on the screen, scrolling almost faster than I could keep track. “Would you like a second language to compare with?”
“Uh… yes. The local elf language, please.” I did not think for a moment that what I was speaking would be English. Likely, I had an instinctive knowledge about both the human and elf languages due to my character’s heritage.
After speaking, the jumbled mass of characters became a neat list, with a single rune labeled next to a word or description. I calculated my mana usage, and sighed slightly. “Scroll down for ten seconds on my mark. Show each page for half a second before moving on.” I then focused mana into my eye to begin the Record process. “Mark.”
The instant I said the word and saw the red glow in front of me, the screen began rapidly scrolling. As I requested, the screen flipped forward every half second, showing me a total of twenty pages before my mana ran out. Since there were roughly twenty words per column, and two columns per page, that meant I had learned eight hundred runes.
Runic Language Completion: 0.001%
I felt my mouth gaping at the absurd number of runes there must be in this language, and then shook my head. I had accurately learned eight hundred runes, and even now could understand the meaning of each of them. However, those were only so few. I decided to do another method after my mana recharged. “Okay, on my mark, continue for another ten seconds. This time, increase the speed to fifty pages per second.” This was only half of the speed that my computer was able to record images, so I hoped that my Cybernetic Adaptation spell was good enough to give me some measure of clarity in this.
Again, I focused the mana into my eye and began to Record again. “Mark.” Again, pages flashed in front of me, though this time dozens of times faster than before. I felt my head starting to hurt from the rapid rush of information, but forced myself to endure it for ten seconds. After it was done, I was left holding my head in a bit of pain as my mana began recovering slowly. This time, I had learned a whopping twenty thousand runes, but my completion of the language had only increased by another 0.025%.
I started to truly believe that there was a rune for every single word, and maybe a few words that didn’t exist normally. About twenty minutes later, I was ready for the next round. “Computer… this time, eliminate all words not necessary for enchanting up to the intermediate level. How many words does that leave?”
“That leaves roughly 15,300 runes, not counting the ones you have already learned. Do you wish to continue at the same speed as before?”
I sighed, knowing I’d regret this. However, it was either get it all over with at once, and deal with a headache while my brain rushed to process the information, or be here all night. “Yes. On my mark…” I began to Record again. “Mark.” The images came just as fast as before, but this time at least it didn’t last as long. By the time I was done, there was a new window waiting for me, this one presented by the game itself.
New Skill Acquired!
Runic Language – Intermediate Level 1
Exp: 0%This knowledge skill marks the progress of the owner in regards to learning the language of magic. After reaching Master level, this skill will be deleted, and the user will be considered fluent in the language.
Chapter 32: To Enchant or Not to Enchant?
I sat there for a little while longer to recover from the sudden rush of information. If possible, I’d need to look into increasing my processing abilities in the future. Maybe with that I could even write a program that increases my perception to a degree where time seems to slow down. Leaning back in the chair, I thought about the various symbols I had instantly learned thanks to Technomancy.
With this, not just enchanting, I should be able to make some Runic spells as well, right? The only prerequisite to use that is memorizing the runes and creating the scripts. I smiled slightly as I considered the bounty from this session. Likely, anyone who delves heavily into Runic spells will use a method similar to what I just did in order to memorize the language.
Though, I imagine that it’s not that simple. Cybernetic implants should be considered mid-level gear, going by common standards. The fact that I was able to copy it with Technomancy was likely only because I was basing it on a far more primitive tech than what is used in the game. If I tried to copy this computer currently in front of me, I might have truly fried my brain at my current skill level.
Once I was done recovering from the headache, I got to my feet and made my way out to the main room of the store. The old man was waiting for me, the ‘basic’ staff leaning against the counter. Part of me was glad that I hadn’t considered using it to help with learning the runic language, since I could barely put up with ten seconds of the constant image streaming.
Seeing me exit the room, the old man looked back at me. “Oh? You finally came back out. I take it you learned enough runs to satisfy yourself?”
I nodded my head slightly. “Everything relevant up to Intermediate enchanting. I’ll have to learn the rest later, maybe through a direct download once I figure that out.” I wanted to simply have Celeste download them all, but thought I remembered Harlan saying that doing so was a special software that cost money.
The old man nodded his head, satisfied with my answer. After I paid the two silver for the staff, he handed it over and began the lesson. “Okay, there are two methods of enchanting, but one basic trick needed for both. That is the ability to probe an item’s aura and discover what type of enchantments would fit it best. Since you’re a druid, you’re likely familiar with how intricate auras can get, which makes this easier.
“It’s hard to properly explain, so I will do my best, and then give you some examples to test on. Most of it is trial and error until you figure out the pattern. For the very basic levels of enchanting, you will learn how to enchant based on major properties such as durability, strength, and defense. The next level involves enchanting special effects, which is where your elemental seeds will be useful. That part will also be easier for you as a druid, since it requires measuring an item’s innate affinity with the elements.”
I nodded my head, indicating that I understood. After I practice a bit with this, then wouldn’t the Identify software Celeste received earlier automatically show what an item would be best equipped for? Maybe she’d have to write another program for that, but I think she could do it.
After that, the old man pulled out a large, heavy chest from behind the
counter. “Now, I’m going to show you an example of each of the beginner enchantments. An item is typically most attuned to enchantments that match its strength. As such, you are building on what’s already there, rather than shoring up a weakness. You can do that instead, but it will not have as strong of an effect. Altering an item’s aura more than it can withstand will cause it to shatter, so you must be careful.”
He pulled out ten pieces of identical wood and placed them side by side. “Go ahead and study the aura of this piece of wood to form the template. After I enchant them, you’ll study each one, and I’ll explain which enchantments they have. Then, I will enchant another set, and have you identify it yourself. Finally, I’ll show you ten different materials, and ask you to determine the best enchantments for each.”
I nodded again, and he got to work. Though, rather than the process of drawing runes like I had seen Jacobs do, he simply placed his hand on each of the pieces of wood for a few seconds before moving on to the next one. Once he was done, he placed the first piece in front of me. “This has a strength enchantment. Study it and find the difference.”
I picked up the log, and examined it with my mana. Indeed, there was a difference. Certain patterns within the log had extended and thickened. Though, I could not see any of the runes I had noticed in other enchanted items like Celeste, my dagger, or the Seed. He was likely doing that on purpose so I wouldn’t cheat. Instead, I memorized the new appearance of the log, and how it had changed.
We continued this process for the other nine enchantments, which were durability, dexterity, agility, charisma, intelligence, wisdom, vitality, attack, and defense. I had expected there to be a luck enchantment too, but he did not show it. Next, he pulled out ten logs of a different type from within the chest, and repeated the process. When I examined them after he was done, I got almost all of them correct, only confusing durability and defense.
Finally, he pulled out ten different items. These were all spheres of the same size, but their materials were vastly different. One was a ball of glass, another wood, one metal, yet another was stone. This was the final test he had mentioned, and I took my time going through it. Since I had analyzed the enchantments before, I knew what to look for. Out of the ten different aspects of the item’s auras, which were the most prominent? Although their arrangements were different, each item had those aspects hidden somewhere inside of it.
I spent roughly five minutes with each item, so the entire test took nearly an hour before I was done. But, to my surprise I had gotten each of the items correct in my assessments. This made the old man smile and nod again. “Good, very good. Now, there are only two steps left. Enchanting, and disenchanting. The latter is a more advanced step, but easy enough to do if you have the right equipment.” He smirked as he looked at me. Most likely, he was referring to my eye.
“First, enchanting! It is much like casting a spell with runes, except you are embedding the spell in an object, rather than letting it go free. Integrate the runes with an object’s aura, and it will change accordingly.” After saying so, he held up the glass sphere, which I had identified as the medium most suiting a wisdom enchantment.
Nodding my head, I took hold of it and began drawing runes with my finger, much like I had seen Jacobs doing when he enchanted my bow. While drawing the runes, I made sure to send a bit of mana to my fingertip to manifest it, and then sent the rune into the sphere. In total, I only drew two runes, ‘increase wisdom’. Then, I inserted my Mana Sense into the item, and frowned as there failed to be any visible effect.
Shaking his head, the old man told me what I had done wrong. “No, no, you aren’t using nearly enough mana. For even the most basic enchantment, a hundred mana is required to make each rune permanent.”
I sighed when I heard that, and tried again. No wonder Jacobs had to tap into his mana gem in order to enchant my entire armor set. This time, I repeated the process, but poured a hundred mana into each of the runes. When I inspected the glass sphere again, I watched its aura gradually change, the runes attaching themselves to the segments I had identified as corresponding to wisdom and enhancing them.
New Skill Unlocked
Enchanting – Beginner Level 1
Exp: 0%This skill marks your ability to bestow magical properties upon ordinary items.
Intelligence +2
“Good, good. Now, you’ll learn how to disenchant. In order to disenchant, you must return an item to its original state. This is most easily done with runic enchantments, as you merely need to peel the runes off of the aura for it to return to normal.” After the old man spoke, I nodded and inserted my Mana Sense into the sphere again, this time grabbing the runes with my aura and gently peeling them off. To my surprise, they did not resist much at all before coming off of the item and fading away into nothingness, after which the glass sphere’s aura returned to normal.
“Good, very good. With this, you know the techniques for starting on enchanting. Now you’ll just need to expand on it yourself, and either experiment, or find someone to teach you once you are ready for the next step.”
I was a bit depressed that I couldn’t enchant special abilities right away, as I had considered disenchanting my dagger, and then enchanting it to emit a wind blade when used. Still, I nodded my thanks to him and left. Doing a quick bit of math in my head, I calculated roughly how many runes I would need to learn before I knew them all.
The result made me shudder, because if 25,800 runes was only 0.026%, that meant that there were nearly a hundred million runes in the entire language. Though, from my first attempts at learning the language with the computer, one of the runes I had learned meant ‘to water the grass once a week’. So, likely it wasn’t just a rune for every word in English, there might be a rune for every word in every language. If that was the case, then the runic language truly was a universal written language.
Once again I headed back to the hotel room, and used the money I had gotten from the old man to pay for a few more nights. There were a couple of things I needed to experiment with regarding Technomancy before I was ready to take up a job involving it. Specifically, how to interact with technology, as so far I had only adapted myself to it.
Inside the hotel room, I attuned my magic to Technomancy and sent it into the bedside lamp. On an almost instinctive level, I could feel the functions of the lamp. That is, on and off. There was a tiny part of the aura that seemed like the switch, and when I pushed it, the neighboring parts of the aura lit up as energy coursed through it. At the same time, the lamp turned on.
New Spell Unlocked!
Activate Device – Technomancy – ☆
By studying the aura of a device, you have learned how to activate it. Congratulations, you may now turn on a light without having to get up, you lazy bum.
Mana Cost: 10
Again, the flavor text of the window made me shake my head with a sigh. Next, I did the same thing with the holographic TV on the wall. This time, I found several sections that felt like switches, and chose to activate the one that separated the ‘on’ parts of the aura with the ‘off’ ones. As expected, that caused the rest of the aura to light up and the TV activated.
Then, I tried to activate some of the other functions of the TV. Unlike the lamp, I wasn’t sure what all the TV could do, aside from turning it on and off, and obviously switching channels. After some experimentation, I managed to finally find the part of the aura I had to focus on in order to change the channel. This is way too much work for this… I decided to go with a more direct approach, and channeled my magic again. This time, rather than going through and tampering with the aura, I simply imagined the TV turning off. When I pushed the spell into the TV, it indeed turned off.
New Spell Unlocked!
Deactivate Device – Technomancy – ☆
By studying the aura of a device, you have learned how to deactivate it with a thought. Co
ngratulations, you may now turn off a light without having to get up, you lazy bum.
Mana Cost: 10
A bit surprised how simple it was, I shook my head, depressed with how I had tried so hard to get an effect I could have achieved with so little effort. Next, I did the same thing, but this time sent the command to turn on, and then instructed it to change channels. I found that as long as my mana was connected to it, I could act as a remote control, making it do anything that I knew it was capable of. Of course, this did not mean I knew what a device did, just that I could control it after I figured it out.
Activate Device and Deactivate Device have merged into a new spell!
Control Device – Technomancy – ★☆
By studying the aura of a device, you have learned how to control it from a distance, provided you know what it is capable of.
Mana Cost: Dependant on instructions.
Well… at least it’s not calling me a lazy bum.
Chapter 33: Lore? Lore!
After I was done with my simple test for controlling technology, I began writing software again. This time it was a software for both myself and Celeste. I recalled how Harlan and Rita talked about there being the possibility to get an extension for the companion AI that would allow it to display information in front of me eye, like a heads up display. Since I already have a Cybernetic eye, and Celeste can tap into my mana to ‘connect’ to me, why not make use of it?
My first test was unsuccessful, because I did not take into consideration that Celeste was unable to alter my mana flow, meaning that she could not output energy in the same way that she takes it in. However, there were other ways that she could output it, as proven by the fact that she creates holograms. I simply had to create a workaround that let her hologram function pass through my aura and connect to my Cybernetic Eye. Meanwhile, I had to also create a special access program for my eye that would allow the connection.
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