Chương 10: Book 2 Chapter Seven: Learning Curve

SEVEN"For an enchantment to work one must have a power source, a material, and willpower. The symbology of enchantment has been over the many, many millenia, standardized but a dedicated self-taught enchanter can create their own. Enchantment is a language after all, but an enchanter who did this would then be forced to never be able to communicate with the rest of their community." Jerry's words flowed into Roan as he nodded along, looking down at the ring.

Thousands of small symbols dotted the surface of the metal, hard to see with the naked eye, but he could make them out if he squinted. They wove together in tight spiral patterns, connected together by the barest fragments of line. The longer Roan stared at them the more pieces of the puzzle he could see. And it was a puzzle, thousands of pieces all of them trying to create a picture that the enchanter had seen.

"You must assert your willpower through language. Every rune has a meaning and that meaning can change depending on where and how the rune is placed and what is next to it. This is the work years to understand the language, for it is complex." Jerry's voice was a soothing metronome that Roan absorbed with one ear. He could feel Learn in his skull, the skill pressing against his brain until he felt almost fevered as he stared down." Can I self-teach myself? It doesn't feel like he's helping me that much?

Or is Jerry guiding me even unknowingly?" Roan's stray fragment of thought was consumed as he stared longer at the runes, turning the ring slowly as he continued to listen and think." The lock is supposed to be closer to warding than enchantment, but they're similar in nature. Will I even be able to find it? Why the hell did I take that bet? Why'd I make it? The question ricocheted around for a split second before dissolving. He'd found it, or at least thought he'd found the lock.

His eyes kept being drawn to a single set of runes that sat nearly alone by themselves in the center of the interior of the band. Unlike the organic, flowing runes everywhere else, these six sat like a toadstool in a garden.

"Material is key to what you wish to enchant. You could use plain paper and enchant it for toughness, making it strong enough to stop a sword thrust. But it'd be inefficient. Much better to use the hide of a troll or ogre, properly treated of course, to enchant. If you can find material that already serves the purpose you wish to enchant, it will make things easier for you." Roan felt the ring in his hand, the weight of it, and watched the light sparkle along the intricately curved grooves.

He knew how he could break it now, but he didn't know if he could save the contents of the ring. It would take the work of a moment to scratch off the locking enchantments on the inside of the ring. But that was too easy, any fool could figure that out. Acting on instinct he felt for his mana, the constantly swirling current of power that cycled through his body and enhanced it.

Finding the same breathing pattern and meditation technique was second-nature now and he slowly diverted a small stream of energy from his finger to his nail. Roan saw the glow start to form around his fingernail as he pressed it against an unmarked part of the ring. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. Metal warped and twisted like butter against a hot knife. He stopped as he looked at the marred piece of metal and back at the locking runes.

While they stood mostly alone, there were a few small threads that connected them to the rest of the ring's enchantment runes.

"In an established setting, enchantment is powered through captured mana cores from fallen beasts. Rarely will an enchanter use their own mana unless they wish the works to be nearly useless to anyone aside from themselves. Once you have installed your core and have aspected it, your mana will create a natural protection against others using your works. Filtered beast cores are fine, or those who have just the natural mana in their body, like you," Jerry continued on.

The lines connecting the lock spread out to connect in three places to the rest of the spiral. The central rune on the inside only connected to two of the runes in its small isolated cluster." It's a lock. He told me it's a lock and that it's defensive in nature. Every lock needs a key to open it. But what if you just cut the lock out? I don't mind this thing not being attuned to me. But is there a defensive measure?" Roan continued to study while he listened to Jerry's droning.

With every beat of his heart he could feel pressure in his skull, slowly mounting as his eyes hurt. His skin felt feverish as he tapped his mana enhanced nail on the surface where the lines connected what he thought was the locking mechanism." What'd Jerry say? This is a language? I don't know the language but I know the outcome. Compressed space that can be accessed. What if that cluster isn't just a lock, but the whole ass door? If I tried cutting it all off then I would lose everything.

But the lock should be fine. How many hours have passed?"

"There can be many runes for the same word, like fire. A wood fire is different from a chemical fire which is different from the fire of a star. Same as water, wood, or anything else. The more specific you get with enchantment, the more efficient it becomes. If you used the rune for general wood on say a piece of oak, it would work. But if you used the specific rune for oak, then the efficiency would increase. Now, if you used the rune for oak on a piece of wood that is not oak, it would not work at all.

Knowledge is an enchanter's greatest tool. If you are truly interested in pushing forward with this endeavor, of learning enchantment, look for analyzing or inspection skills and continually learn."" Looks like Jerry isn't doing technical teaching so much as an intro course. Mostly useless to me at the moment." Roan stopped as he thought of what Jerry said and then cursed himself for his own impatience. Jerry had actually been very useful. Whoever had created this ring would know the name of everything in it.

Which meant that runes would repeat themselves, except for the one thing that would be unique. The binding rune. Roan lost track of time as he scoured the ring, looking for repeated runes. They were everywhere. With time passing faster and faster, his mind ached and his vision blurred as sweat rolled down his face and back. Runes were categorized, memorized, and finally Roan found what he was looking for. It was in the cluster he'd thought it was, but not the single rune sitting in the middle.

If he'd gone with his first instinct he would have broken what he now was certain was the access rune and not the locking rune. He'd found the central rune in two other places while the final unique rune in the lock cluster was only attached to all of the other runes by a single strand. Roan smiled as he ran his mana filled fingernail over the line, severing the connecting line. There was a pop that startled everyone, eyes turning to look back at Roan even as he slid the ring on.

Roan lifted his eyes to meet Jerry's stunned expression, the wide eyes and partially opened jaw.

"I win."