World Sphere - 35 - Skipping Enchanting 101

Chapter 35 Skipping Enchanting 101

We got to the farm, and everyone came out to greet us. At first, I thought they were excited we had returned, but as they got closer, the three young women looked beat up, bruised, and with cuts on their arms and faces. Gareth had a black eye and a bandage on his arm and spoke first, “Storme, heal me first!” That had all of them voicing their persuasions for me to heal them first. Only Aelyn stood back as the other three mobbed me. I started with Gareth and proceeded to Cilia, then Leda, and finally, the patient Aelyn, who smiled brightly as I healed her.

I found my mend flesh spell had finally progressed from this work on my training companions, and the evolution to level seven allowed me to repair poorly healed injuries. This evolution had required the scar removal evolution. The basic spell only identified injuries and repaired them with aether. If an injury had already healed with time, the spell would not react to it. Now, I could seek out old injuries beyond just scarring and heal them.

Once things settled, Callem questioned everyone about their day and then handed out presents. Gareth got clothes, and the girls got the massive bag of candy—after Callem pulled out a few specific sweets for himself and Wynna. Wynna got the silver jewelry box stuffed with the items Callem had selected. I handed the pocket space spell book to Aelyn as well. She was a little flabbergasted and unable to thank me for a good minute. Then, she gave me a short but intense hug. I didn’t say anything but noticed the others pretending not to notice the extended embrace.

Everyone contributed to unloading the cart and setting up the chicken coup on the far side of the tobacco field. Callem had gotten one rooster to protect the hens from the local foxes. We released the chickens one by one and watched them as they explored. I was bored and started bringing my own haul to my loft. I had the enchanting materials, the ice cream buckets, the 69 plates, and the chocolate, which actually went to the larder in our bunk room larder.

It didn’t take long for everyone to come into the bunkhouse. Gareth climbed into our loft and began talking about what I missed. I half listened as I rearranged my shelf. I put three books on the end of the shelf along with my new aether light stone. This gave me easy access to them at night. The three books I had within easy reach were aether shield, alarm, and dimensional closet. I hadn’t decided which of these spells to learn next. Well, ideally, I wanted to imprint the dimensional closet spell, but since it was a tier three spell, I worried it would take too long.

To get Gareth to stop talking, I had him look at the stack of plates, and he quickly became engrossed in them. Each one was an artistic masterpiece, in my opinion. I flipped through the alarm spell and thought I could possibly learn it in five or six days. It was fairly simple, but I felt I didn’t need the spell’s utility right now; however, leveling it up would make it invaluable in the future.

Next was the aether shield spell, which was complex, but I thought it might take me three weeks—maybe four. The last spell I reviewed was the dimensional closet spell, and it was incredibly complex as Sebastian had warned. It was the first tier three spell I had considered learning, and since I didn’t have an affinity for space magic, it felt like a migraine-inducing headache as I perused the spell forms. I had no idea how long it would take me. My best comparison would be saying it was like a book in a foreign language, and I needed to translate each word one at a time. After completing the translation, I had to memorize the book cover to cover. I had a few new tricks I had learned that I could apply, but still saw this as taking a very long time. Eventually, I slid the alarm and aether shield spells back on the shelf and got to work on the dimensional closet spell. Go big, or go home, my dad used to say. If I got too frustrated, I would switch to aether shield.

Gareth called me down for some food, and I had lost track of time. It was a beef stew, heavy on vegetables and needing just a little salt. I used some buttered bread to clean the bowl. I was distracted as flashes of the spell forms danced in my head. Leda asked me to make chicken parm for tomorrow’s dinner, and Cilia tried to talk over her friend’s request for spiced ham pizza. Gareth bellowed over all of them, announcing I would make fried chicken.

I waved them all off, turning to the half-elf, I asked, “Aelyn what do you want?”

Without hesitation, she said, “ice cream and mac and cheese.” The half-elf girl was apparently a junk food junkie. It certainly hadn’t hurt her figure with all the training we did. I nodded, but I would add some broccoli to the pasta and cheese. I planned on trying my hand at chocolate ice cream. No one seemed upset with Aelyn’s choices, even complimenting her on the them.

I allowed the group to continue talking while I climbed into my loft and put away the spell book for now. I retrieved the buckets, stylus, and silver enchanting wire. I never intended to use the stylus; rather, I planned to pretend to use it as a cover for my metal-shaping ability. I took out the book for the cold rune primer, some parchment, and began sketching my design. It was fairly simple since I wanted the outer bucket to create an inward aura to maintain the temperature precisely at freezing. I intended to use enough silver wire to hold a charge for two days, approximately half a roll if my quick calculations were correct. I was very good at math, so I didn’t double-check my calculations.

It was late when I was ready to try my hand at inscribing the bucket. It was a bit frustrating to use the stylus, just using my shaping skill would have made the process take moments. I fake traced the runes, wasting over two hours, and Gareth’s loud breathing in his sleep didn’t help my focus. When I finally finished, I was satisfied, put the bucket down, and fell asleep.

Morning came too soon. I was exhausted and not able to match everyone else’s positivity this morning. I couldn’t understand why everyone was so chipper today. At breakfast, we had fresh eggs, bacon, fruit, and toast. It made my mind wander as I was eating buttered toast. We didn’t have jelly or peanut butter in the larder. I hadn’t actually seen any peanuts in this world, so I asked Callem and Wynna, and neither of them was familiar with the treat. We did have cashews that could be made into a sort of peanut butter. For jam, all I needed was a touch of lemon juice, sugar, and a high-sugar fruit. Mash it all together and heat it all in a pan to reduce the water and then cool. It would make a good ice cream topping.

Following breakfast, the banter during stretching was quite intense. Apparently, some feelings had been hurt yesterday with no one to monitor the group’s training. Gareth had tried to be in charge which just infuriated the others. Now, the injuries made sense. Callem seemed to understand as well, and I was glad I was not part of the farmwork today.

My mind was focused elsewhere, though, and after stretching, I was soon in the kitchen. Prepping the mac’ n cheese was quick: Three types of cheese, milk, and some spices were whisked together over low heat. Wynna made fresh egg noodles.

I then tried out my new ice cream bucket, my first artificed item! Wynna was reading a book in the living room while I worked. I put water inside the big bucket and then nested the smaller bucket within. Then, I channeled my aether into my first enchanted object. The water froze almost instantly, and the runes started to glow and smoke. I stopped channeling and just prayed I didn’t ruin the bucket.

I watched the bucket carefully and went to try to make cashew butter and some berry jam. I had obviously channeled too much aether into the runes I had made. Did I burn them out? I wasn’t worried about the waste of silver runic wire but lamented the possible loss of the perfect buckets for making the ice cream. I had a large pot of jam going and Wynna was joined me as I directed her in making the cashew butter.

Wynna interrupted our normal back-and-forth inconsequential banter this morning, “Storme, I have been thinking a lot about your obfuscate spell. I think instead of completely shielding your aetheric soul you should just cover up what you don’t want others to see.” I looked confused, “Let me explain. You see, readers can read a multitude of things. They can quantify your physical, mental, and magical attributes. They can read potentials of…” she paused. “Well, let’s just say there is a lot there that a good reader can see. If you block everything then a reader can tell you have access to the obfuscate spell. So don’t hide everything—just the things you don’t want others to see.”

“That just makes too much sense not to do. Thank you, Wynna.” I recast the spell covering the abilities, traits, and skill affinities I wanted to be hidden with some mental effort of will. “Wynna, can readers see status effects…like the fact I have the obfuscate spell active?” I asked.

“I don’t have that ability, but yes, some readers can. You might be able to hide that with your spell, I think. Just focus on what you what hidden when you cast it maybe?” I recast the spell again and ‘felt’ the active spell was now being hidden. Why hadn’t this suggestion been in the spell book? I guessed it was the Triumvirate intentionally not including this possibility. I was just thankful that Wynna had figured it out for me. My spell even advanced to level four for this brief amount of effort.

I kept checking on the bucket, and it seemed I was cooling the entire farmhouse with the bucket, like an overcharged air conditioning unit. A thick layer of ice was forming on the outside of the bucket, and the inner bucket seemed clear of ice at the moment. It just had a light fog hovering inside. The enchantment seemed to have stabilized, so I got the ingredients for the chocolate ice cream together and made the largest batch I could, 3 gallons. The device worked too well. I was quick with my mixing and the ice cream hardened too fast. I must have made some calculation errors, as the temperature was obviously below freezing.

Maybe the over-investment of aether did something as well? I had to wait until the enchantment exhausted itself…or could my metal shaping skill get me an image of the runic workings? I sent out my metal sense to the runes.

The runes were correct…the silver was over-saturated with aether and slightly unstable…and the functionality…I think I saw the problem…the regulator extension of the rune that was supposed to hold the temperature at freezing was reliant on the aether content…so over-saturating just supercharged the rune. I also could sense I burned up about one-third of the silver! Another odd effect was the over-saturated silver resisted my metal-shaping ability when I tried to disconnect the rune.

This device was supposed to last for hundreds of uses! I tried to get a feel for how much aether I put into the device, feeling out my aether core….it felt about 70% full or thereabouts, so 30% of 1200 was 360! Oops! I should feel fortunate I hadn’t blown myself up. I had a book on how to fuel magic items properly. Guess I needed to read it. To charge my light stone for days, I had just used a kiss of aether, so I should have known better. I found my fingers now had frostbite, so I quickly healed myself.

It took some effort to transfer the hard ice cream to another container. I placed the finished ice cream in Callem’s freezer box. I tasted the chocolate ice cream, and it was satisfying. Not as sweet as I had hoped, but very creamy as it melted in my mouth. The chocolate content also needed some adjusting, and maybe just a tiny pinch of salt should be added to the cream before mixing and freezing

I looked at my ice cream bucket, the outer layer of ice slowly growing, and sighed. I surmised that the enchantment would last much longer than two days, and the bucket would be completely encased in ice and useless. Well, at least everyone would have ice cream tonight. My foray into enchanting was over for now.

This morning's conditioning was brutal as we all had to carry half our body weight through two obstacle courses. We were all filthy, sweaty, and miserable at the end, and I knew it was Callem’s punishment for the group beating on each other yesterday. I wasn’t sure how I got included in the punishment, but I didn’t complain, especially since cleaning off took me a few seconds while everyone else needed to bathe and wash their clothes. Lunch today was the cashew butter and jelly sandwiches with cold milk and some fresh fruit. Everyone except Leda liked the lunch. She didn’t like cashews in general, so I couldn’t blame her.

During our free hour, I talked with Leda and showed her my failed ice bucket sculpture, which was now a three-foot ball of ice and growing. She laughed at me, “I only loaned you the primer runes! There are lots of control runes that need to be sequenced. Also, most devices like these are connected to an aether stone to regulate the aether in the runes.” She patted my shoulder, “Don’t worry, Storme. For a first attempt this is quite impressive. Most enchanters runes fail on their first attempt.”

“Enchanting is about finesse,” she stressed. “You are already ten times the enchanter I ever was. If you want to study with my family in the capital, I can make it happen.” She pulled me into a side hug as she thought I was sulking.

“I think I will just dabble in artificing. How much aether should I have invested in the runes?” I asked.

Leda considered the bucket, “At most, two aetheric units.”

Well damn, I estimated I used 360. This was 180 times as much as was needed! I little nervously, I asked, “What happens when you overcharge an item?”

Her eyes had understanding in them as she studied the large ice cube. “Tier one dust would quickly dissolve the silver if a device was overcharged. Tier two would hold the aether better, but the runes would glow white and burn the silver. Tier three aether dust wiring would act like a sponge to hold as much aether as possible but would bleed into the environment.”

I had to ask the net question, “Could I could blow myself up if I overcharged something?” I had so much more aether than anyone else my age, that I had wielded it negligently. I was used to using all my aether to create silver, gold and platinum.

Leda released me and thought about the question. “No. Well, no if the runes are properly drawn. If you made errors, you might create some feedback. That is why you always charge new artificed items slowly.” She smirked, motioning at the ball of ice. “If the runes are perfect, overcharging runes will just bleed the excess aether into the environment.” I thanked Leda and we went to the yard for weapon’s practice.

We got to choose our weapon practice today, so I picked the bow since it would be the least physical effort on my part. That only lasted half the session before Callem pulled me to spar with staves with Leda. I was smart enough not to complain to Callem. Leda had gotten better, and we were equal now. I still won elven of twelve bouts, but that was mostly due to Leda trying stupid things to get me in a compromising position. On the other side of the yard, Gareth was working with a broadsword, Aelyn a rapier, and Cilia a saber. I didn’t follow their practice too closely.

It was no surprise that dinner was a hit. The chocolate ice cream was even better received. I was shocked that our group had eaten half of it. Gareth and Aelyn both got brain freezes from eating too fast, and when I explained what happened to them, it just cracked me up. I then gave everyone a short lesson on portion control. Callem asked me to help him in the larder while everyone else was cleaning up and preparing for tonight’s book lesson.

In the basement, Callem had me pause at the bottom of the stairs. “Storme, you see this brick I am pressing here?” I stopped and focused, and Callem was pressing on a brick with a dark gray protrusion on it. I nodded. “Well, Sebastian installed it. It is an illusion charm. Anyone scrying will see an illusion within the cellar of the people doing menial things.” He then walked to the far wall and trigged another stone that opened a secret passage. “This is another new addition of Sebastian’s. I doubt we will ever need it, but this passage emerges 200 yards away from the farmhouse.” I nodded trying to figure out why we needed all this subterfuge. What was Callem worried about?

“You can show the others. I also think it would be good for you to practice your metal creation and shaping abilities for half an hour in the morning while you prepare dinner down here. Making weapons with your skill will be good practice.” He held up his hand, which usually meant he knew my next question. “I will extend the farm work by 30 minutes so it won’t interfere with your dinner preparation duties.”

“Well, that wasn’t my question, actually. Can I start making more platinum coins?” I asked. Callem nodded slowly as he was considering my request.

“Yes, you can.” He looked around and went to an empty juice cask. “Activate the illusion and put them in here, and ensure you don’t leave any out in the open when you turn off the illusion. Also, put the weapons you are working on in the chest over there.” Callem pointed out a new large chest that was a new addition to his larder. “Inside the chest are the notes on the weapons I want you to make. I will inspect them in the evening and leave you notes to make changes to them.”

“Why all this subterfuge Callem? Is there something else going on that I should know about?” I asked.

“Sebastian thinks the Sadians are going to attack…that is the reason for the tunnel. The reason for the illusion spell is in case the Inquisition starts sniffing around the farm.” A panicked look spread on my face, “Don’t worry, Storme. It is very unlikely. They have bigger things to worry about right now. But the man who brought you to the healer at the carnival was an agent of the Inquisition. Sebastian’s connections have said your name has been mentioned, but Arturo was smart enough not to draw too much attention to the incident in his official report.”  I nodded, feeling somewhat relieved. I had been unconscious but Callem had been worried the nobles would become interested in me.

I was more than a little excited to reacquaint myself with making platinum coins. It made me feel powerful to create such wealth. Callem was leaving, so I followed him. We returned upstairs, ending the illusion as we climbed the steps. Tonight, we discussed the twenty or so kingdoms that Aelyn had visited during her time with the carnival. It was interesting, and it was the most animated Aelyn had been in the two months I had known her.

Later, as I lay in bed struggling through my dimensional closet spell, I felt things were going too well. Something bad had to be on the horizon.