Cursed Heroine

Chapter 22: Discussions on magic

“Lilia, are you still sore? I thought you had already healed yourself.”~Sophia

“Three days! You left me in that state for a little over three days before finally freeing me on the morning of the fourth. Even if I heal myself, my body just doesn’t have the nutrients available to make any real difference.”~me

“I didn’t realize that my aunt would keep you for that long. I did manage to get you back this morning. Aunt Ellen’s eyes nearly popped out when I simply untied you and the attire vanished. With all the questions she asked me about it afterwards, I don’t think she is going to be satisfied with the few days of research she has already had.”~Sophia

“Mistress, maybe we should find our own little place, just somewhere to stay at night on our own. Your mother would still be able to see you every day that way, but we would have some privacy. Ellen isn’t an innocent young lady, her experienced hands wandered around from time to time, doing things other than simply investigating my attire.”~me

“Oh really?! How was it, did she manage to keep you satisfied? My mother insists that I am too young to be on my own. A wood elf’s natural lifespan is about three hundred years, I’m still just a toddler in comparison. Even with my father’s human blood, my own natural lifespan is nearly two hundred years and lifespan increases for each stage of cultivation. Anyways, why did you ask me to keep the eye-shadow on?”~Sophia

“Training. I’m forced to depend on my perception skills in order to get around without my sight. You don’t know that you will always be able to see an enemy. They could try to sneak up on you or you could end up fighting in the dark.”~me

“No comment on my aunt’s technique, huh? Well, at least the eye-shadow looks good on you. It’s a clear sparkly look that makes your eyes seem to shine whenever you blink.”~Sophia

“Toddler huh. That means we probably won’t be able to have much time on our own for several decades. Did you try to explain that my outfits are part of my curse and that she is unlikely to gain anything from studying them?”~me

“I did. My aunt is obsessed with enchantment research though. Well, any kind of magic research is likely to draw her interest. Mother wants us to go meet my grandmother in the capital. Aunt Ellen insisted on not losing her again and delayed her until she can make arrangements here to leave with us.”~Sophia

“I suppose this is just one of many conversations I’ve missed? What else have I missed?”~me

“Most of the conversations with my aunt ended up with talk about magic and enchantments. A mage can scribe their spell runes on a suitable material and directly cast that spell by infusing their mana into it. It can decrease the time needed to cast, but the power is dependent on the material. Another mage could use the same enchanted material and get a completely different result. The reason seems to stem from the mage’s understanding of the inscribed runes. If the mage using the enchantment doesn’t fully understand it, it just won’t work well. It has something to do with the fact that mana is mind power and the runes need the mage to understand them in order to properly guide the mana into the correct form. Otherwise the mana is incompatible. The spell could simply not work or in the worst case, blow up in their face. Most enchanted things currently available only have basic elemental runes which seem to work regardless of understanding. A flaming sword that will singe its user’s eyebrows off, an arrow that shocks, and many other simple things. They are expensive to the degree that only nobles wanting to show off or researchers would ever buy them and they are usually too unwieldy to be useful.”~Sophia

“You sound pretty interested in the subject yourself considering how much you remembered. Perhaps enchanting isn’t meant to be a thing in this world. Was it perhaps a hero who first came up with the idea to grant magic to items and call it enchanting?”~me

“Yup, it’s interesting. Got it in one. A lot of the ideas from heroes bring improvements to our lives, but some of these ideas cause adverse situations as well.”~Sophia

“This seems broken somehow. A hero shouldn’t be able to influence development too drastically since their memories are fuzzy and incomplete. I should ask Kat about this next time we talk. If she intends for magic to be the prevalent technology power route for her world, then some form of enchanting seems like it would be necessary. Maybe they just haven’t found the correct method yet.”~me

We spend about a week relaxing and making preparations for the trip to the elven capital. The capital of the elves is near the center of the forest. I managed to learn a few interesting things from Ellen. Not surprising, elves were the first to follow the mage path. They learned their first runes by studying the residual magic left in beast cores. For some of the magic inclined beasts, they would leave a vague image of the runes from the last magic they had used before death. The elves discovered this and began by copying, then developed their own combinations of runes. Their magic techniques were stolen by humans and eventually stolen from the humans by the demonkin.

Me and Sophia spent our free time cultivating and shopping in the time we have before leaving for Aerylothniir, the capital of the elves. The capital of the dwarves is only a little farther to the north, in the Boknar mountain range. The beastkin don’t have cities, they are more nomadic and only tend to gather into small tribal communities. Even when they choose to stay in a city, it is usually only because they have been cast out or they were chosen to represent them for trade because their tribe is nearby. The fairy race is elusive and rarely seen. Very little is known about them. It takes a few nights of prayer, but Kat finally invited me for a chat.

“It’s exactly how you think. They just haven’t figured out the proper method yet. I’m not going to tell you the specifics because I want them to discover it on their own to build a solid foundation. Actually, there seems to be some progress happening in the elven capital on this matter. The magic of my world is able to be modernized into workable technology much more directly than some of those fantasy worlds you once read about. I spent a lot of time structuring my world’s rules on magic to have scientific methods as a necessary part of development.”~Kat

“Guess that answers that. I had an idea for a new dungeon crystal you might find entertaining. I was also confused as to why the heroes all seem to be from the same generation of Earth even though they are summoned in intervals of no less than fifty years.”~me

“Oh, that’s an interesting idea. I can definitely work something out that does that. The reason heroes all seem like they are from the same generation is because they are. The administrator of the Earth traded some of his excess souls to me a long time ago. Newer souls from a more mature world are stronger than souls born from a newer world. I’ve been adding heroes to the world since its creation through my priests via summoning rituals in order to boost the quality of the inhabitants soul pool.”~Kat

“What do you mean a long time ago? How many souls did you trade for and do you mean that you use us as high quality breeders?”~me

“I got a few million souls from that trade. I performed the trade right before creating Aetheria, about four millennia ago. Although breeding is a fast method to produce numerous higher quality souls, it isn’t required. Souls will be affected by those they interact with. Just having a higher quality soul in proximity is enough to give other souls a boost.”~Kat

“I’m glad to hear that; wasn’t sure how I was supposed to tell you no otherwise. I figured that going back to Earth would be a no go, but I hadn’t realized that so much time could have passed.”~me

“It’s not impossible for you to go back if you really want. You just have to become powerful enough to make the trip. Anyone you knew would be long gone and it undoubtedly isn’t the same as you remember.”~Kat

“Is there any possible use for sp beyond just using it for skills, traits and attributes? I hadn’t known of crystals before, but now that I do, I can’t help but think that I’ll eventually be overflowing with sp.”~me

“Honestly, you pick one hell of a skill to acquire. The soul devourer skill draws its power from the laws of soul and assimilation. Because of that skill, you will have a shortcut into understanding those particular laws. There is no negative effect from having too much sp and I’m certain you will find a use for the excess some day.”~Kat

“Thanks for the guidance. Would it be alright if I make it known that a great deal of time has passed to other heroes? Maybe not tell them the specifics, but let them know that enough time has passed that there is no point in them returning?”~me

“Sure. It might let them settle in more easily that way. About time for you to wake up. This is the second time you’ve given me some useful information; I’ll prepare a little something as thanks. Please look forward to it.”~Kat