The Witch

by V. A. Lewis

  "I do."

  Mana crystals were expensive. They were made from raw mana such as mana stones or liquid mana. It was like the difference between iron and iron ore. Except, you did not have to melt it down. You simply had to refine a mana stone into a mana crystal.

  On the other hand, liquid mana would then have to be converted to a mana stone before it could even be made into a mana crystal; with such a tedious and expensive process to create mana crystals from liquid mana, it only made liquid mana that much cheaper.

  It was also an issue of simple supply and demand: there was an abundant supply of liquid mana— just as much as mana stones— but much less a demand for it. So…

  "So of course liquid mana would be cheaper!" Gennady finished my thought for me. His loud voice startled a family walking down the road ahead of us, and he waved unapologetically at them.

  "Why steam then? Why can’t you make something more… less gassy?"

  "I told you, I was experimenting. I would love to actually invent something that makes liquid mana useful— maybe some kind of machine that just converts the mana straight into mechanical energy. No engine or anything attached to do the job for it."

  "I see," I said, nodding at the family as we passed them. "Well, as long as it doesn’t produce all this steam with a boiler or something, I’ll be fine with it."

  "What’s wrong with it?" the Dwarf asked. "Hate the smell?"

  "Mhm, something like that," I mumbled a reply. "Let’s just say I find it very… polluting."

  I opted not to say anything else on the subject; pollution was bad and all, but it was not much of a problem in this world with how everything ran on mana power. If liquid mana was being turned to steam, it probably wasn't an issue. And how the depletion of raw mana sources affected the world at large was not something I was an expert on.

  Plus, I was a magic user. It would have been hypocritical of me to criticize mana waste, when I literally destroyed the mana in the air with every spell I cast. Allegedly.

  I was not sure if I fully believed what the Church said about Hell. My mom seemed to believe that the mana used in spellcasting would return slowly over time. And yet, why was Hell the barren, desolate landscape that it was supposed to be?

  It was not something I knew the answer to; in the meantime, however, I pulled a grimoire out of my bag and began studying.

  Gennady glanced back at me for a quick moment. "Uh, are you sure you should be doing that?"

  "Don’t worry," I said, pointing at the leather bound book. "It’s got a fake cover so no one would know what’s actually in it unless they actually look inside of it."

  "Inside of it? What do you— oh, right. Spells." The Dwarf shook his head. "I meant you shouldn’t be reading. You’ll get motion sickness if you do."

  "I’ll be fine," I said, waving a hand dismissively. "I used to read on the back of horses or on carts, and I never had a problem."

  That was a lie. What I really meant was I used to browse through social media while on the passenger seat of cars and busses. But, there could not have been too much difference, right?

  Oh my God, I should not have done that.

  "Told you, lass," Gennady snorted, as I leaned over to puke once more.

  "Ugh," I groaned, straightening. "I know, I know. Don’t rub it in my face."

  "I won’t. I don’t want to get anywhere near your face right now." The Dwarf grimaced. "That’s disgusting, wipe your damned mouth!"

  "Wait." I put a hand out. "Not yet. I feel… another… bleghhh."

  It took me another five minutes before I could get back on the bike; we were off again quickly enough, but the nausea persisted even after I threw up the contents of my meal.

  "Why did you even insist on reading that for," the Dwarf asked, eyes facing forward. "That’s the Essence of the Elements, right? It’s got more theory and history than actual practical spells, doesn’t it?"

  "Yes," I said, still curled up in a ball next to the backpack that was as big as me. "I don’t really care about learning new spells. At least, not from any of the books I have. I’ve already read up on all the important spells of note. And I can cast most of them— some I have not tested until recently. I’m actually reading it for the theoretical ideas presented in the book."

  "Why’s that? Most of the theories postulated in these old books have already been debunked. If they have been proven to work, it’s probably still somewhat inaccurate, and there’s a much better grimoire or tome out there for you to read."

  "I know." I sighed— not because of the question, but because I felt a headache coming over me. "I just don’t have access to those. This is all I have, and if there’s some magical theory in here that actually works, I’m sure I can figure out how to do it. I’m sort of… talented when it comes to spellcasting."

  Gennady laughed. "Hah, I would believe most people when they say that. But you? That’s an understatement, lassie. You know—"

  "Wait!" I cut him off frantically.

  We slowed to a stop. I hopped out of the bike, running to a patch of grass on the side of the road. I hurled once more.

  "I think we should take a break for today," Gennady commented, scratching his beard. "There’s a town just ahead. We could probably find an inn for you to rest in."

  I raised a weak thumb. "T-thanks."

  We arrived at the town a few hours before evening. It was early, but I spent far too long reading while on the road thinking that I could deal with it, until I couldn’t anymore. For the sake of saving money, Gennady and I shared the same room, even though he insisted he should get his own. However, he ended up giving in to my request that we share a room.

  The reason I gave which convinced him was simple: he was my escort and if something happened to me while I was asleep, he would not be able to protect me. Sure, I did not have any assassins going after me (at least, I think) but it was better to be safe than sorry.

  Now the real reason I had for pushing for this sleeping arrangement was slightly different; I might have ostensibly trusted Gennady with my life, however I still had my apprehensions about him. We only met this week, and I was not sure if he was somehow tricking me. He might have been a Dark Crusader or a member of the Church for all I knew— if he tried to sneak out at night, I would at least be there to catch him if we were in the same room.

  We slept on separate beds, of course.

  The next morning, Gennady brought me for a quick look around the town market since he wanted to buy some things.

  "Superior mana crystals?" I asked, cocking my head.

  "Yes," he said, walking just ahead of me. "I took a quick look through Locke, but I already knew they didn’t have any. They probably don’t have any here either, since they’re rare and expensive. Luke is a port city, and the Capital of Laxis, so they probably sell them there. However I just want to make sure— see if there’s possibly any here, and if it’s being sold at a good price."

  "Are they that rare?" I mused, remembering the Inquisitors decorated in what were clearly Superior mana crystals. "How much would one cost?"

  "It depends on the size, lass. And it’s rare. It’s the second most mana dense form a mana crystal can take. If you want to buy a Superior mana crystal this size"— the Dwarf spread open his fingers, as if he were holding a large pebble— "it would cost you up to 500 gold coins."

  I tripped at his words. "500 gold coins?!" I sputtered. "That’s more money than I have seen in my entire life!" That was more than what the slavers thought I would sell for in the Free Lands!

  ...I'm not sure how to feel about that.

  "Don’t need to repeat me," he said, grinning. "Yes, it would probably cost 500 gold. You’re dealing with a military grade mana crystal. And one that big? You could power a dozen Iron Golems for the rest of your life with just that." Gennady pointed at me for emphasis, adding, "And you’re a child!"

  I grabbed the Dwarf’s finger before he could snatch it back, and used it to help pull me up from the ground. "That’s… certai
nly impressive," I remarked stupidly.

  "It’s certainly worth the cost." Gennady nodded his head. "However, most Superior mana crystals don’t get that big. Most would require you to pick it up with your fingers, and not your hands. Of course, even a dozen of those is beyond my budget. I can probably get four— maybe five— Superior mana crystals with what you’ve paid me."

  We finally arrived at a shop selling some mana crystals. Gennady began looking through the wares as I shook my head, looking at the prices of some of the mana crystals. None of them were as exorbitant in cost as what he told me— probably because these were Inferior or Lesser mana crystals— but some of them, mostly the big ones, sold for over 10 gold coins. Regardless, I still found myself putting a hand over my coin pouch at seeing these prices.

  "How can normal people afford these?" I asked, aghast.

  The Dwarf paused as he was inspecting a larger Lesser mana crystal. He slowly set it down as he snorted. "They don’t. Normal people don’t need mana crystals like these. These are made specifically for weapons and the like. A regular Inferior mana crystal— like the ones people use for everyday items like a lighter or a lamp— would probably cost a silver at most. Of course, there’s a difference between getting a pure, clean mana crystal that has not yet been tinkered, and buying a mana tool for your own use. Most Tinkerers would sell their tools for double of what they paid to make them." He turned to the merchant managing the store. "Hey, got any Superiors?"

  The elderly man shook his head apologetically, and Gennady sighed.

  "Thought not."

  I was still trying to protect my coin pouch from suddenly depleting just from the price tags alone, when an idea struck me. I tugged at Gennady before he could leave, speaking quickly, "Could you buy me one of these Lesser ones?"

  "Why?" he asked, raising a brow. "I’ve got a few on hand, so if you want, I can just give it to you."

  "No, I mean I’ll pay for it," I said, clarifying my statement. "I just want you to pick one out for me."

  "Pick one out for you?" Gennady frowned, stroking his beard. "Lassie, these ain’t jewels for ya to wear."

  "I know," I said, suppressing a groan. "I want you to pick out the best mana crystal to tinker with for a beginner."

  "You…" I watched as the gears slowly turned in the Dwarf’s head. "You want me to teach you how to create mana tools?!"

  "Yes. And as for the reasons why, we can discuss it at a more private place." I shot a glance to the side, at the merchant who was busy helping another customer. "Just choose one for now, and we’ll talk later."

  "Well, if you say so." Gennady picked out a handful of large Inferior mana crystals; altogether, it cost me a gold coin and a half. These were mana crystals specifically cut to make weapons and the like— for Hunters or Mercenaries trying to upgrade their equipment— so it was expensive even for a low grade mana crystal.

  We went back to the inn, and in the privacy of our own room, I explained to Gennady, "I want to create my own weapons. Non-magical ones which I can rely on as a Hunter. If you can teach me how to do that— maybe I won’t have to resort to magic so often."

  The Dwarf frowned, and I could see his forehead crinkle as he considered this. "I could certainly teach you the basics of Tinkering. Although I’d think you’d do much better as an Artificer, since you can actually cast magic, and do it well. But since you’re saying you want to avoid using magic, I guess that’s out of the question."

  "An Arti— what?" I asked, blinking. "An artist?"

  "An Artificer," Gennady corrected me. "They are spellcasters who mixed both magic and tools to create their machines. Although they are rare since most spellcasters tend to not be fans of mana tools, believing it to just be a sham mimicry of magic."

  "I’m not opposed to learning that as well," I said. "I do want to lessen my reliance on magic, but I’ve also hit a plateau. I’ve learned basically every important spell there is to learn in the books I have with me. There are a bunch of useless ones I’m pretty sure I can cast without even trying— other than that, I mostly just want to find more ways to defend myself." The Dwarf looked at me quizzically, so I quickly added, "In case anything happens."

  "You know, lass, you’re pretty paranoid for someone so young." Gennady paused as a thought crossed his mind. "But considering your situation, I guess it makes sense."

  I raised my shoulders in a shrug. "So can you teach me?"

  "Sure," he said, pulling out a chair. He sat on it the wrong way as he grabbed some tools out of his pocket. He spread them out onto the table, placing one of the larger mana crystals next to them. "Come here, I’ll teach you how to alter a mana crystal so it does what you want it to do."

  I glanced over the array of tools the Dwarf had set down; there were calipers, tweezers, iron files, carving needles, and other such items typically needed for lapidary alongside a ruler, protractor, and a compass. I raised an eyebrow. "This is how you tinker?"

  "This is one way to do it. Us Dwarves prefer to do it this way. I know the main method the schools over in the Holy Xan Empire teaches on how to tinker differs significantly. However the fundamentals are the same." Gennady reached over to the pen and paper that was on the inn’s desk, and began to draw some symbols on it.

  He was not writing down something I could read— they were symbols, almost reminiscent to the style of the Venerable Language which did not use letters like the Ordinary Language did— but they clearly had no meaning to it. Or at least, they were just shapes with no words associated with them.

  "These," he said, setting down the pen as he finished, "are the four basic symbols that are fundamental to form the runes for any mana tool to function. Do you recognize them?"

  I narrowed my eyes. They certainly looked familiar— more than just looking like the characters for the Venerable Language. Then it clicked. "These are the symbols on magic circles. The shapes that form whenever anyone casts a spell!"

  Gennady smiled, but shook his head. "Not exactly, but you are correct. From what I’ve observed, there are slight differences in the way the symbols in a spell circle take shape. Furthermore, the complexity of the patterns formed by casting a simple Light spell would make any Tinkerer give up on even creating a basic light crystal."

  I stared at the four symbols. My mind was racing. Mana tools. They worked just like magic, I always knew that. Everyone knew that magic also used mana in some way or another. But this? This felt like I had finally formed a proper connection between the two; as though both were one in the same, just executed through different means. "I… what does this mean?"

  "Hmph, I’ve theorized on that quite a bit. I don’t think it means casting a spell is inherently superior to using a mana tool that achieves the same result. I speculate that it’s because of the very workings of magic that gives it its extra layer of intricacy—"

  "No," I cut him off. I turned to Gennady, staring into his eyes. "Do people know about this? That the Great Hero Xander based his ‘gifts from the Goddess’ off of magic?" I spoke quickly, like a kid who just learned about Santa Claus, and was asking their parents all about the mysterious red man who gave out presents to everyone in one night.

  The Dwarf’s answer, however, made me lose that excitement. "I, uh, yes?" he said, scratching the side of his head. "At least, everyone educated about the history of mana tools would know. The average layperson would probably find this pretty shocking, but it would not change anyone’s perspective on magic."

  "Oh," I said, voice sucked dry of emotion.

  Gennady saw this, and he hesitated. "Do you, uh, still want to…?"

  "Yes," I sighed. "Please continue your lesson."

  "Right." Gennady righted himself, and pointed to the symbols on the piece of paper. "These symbols represent the four basic elements: fire, water, earth, air."

  His finger passed through each one slowly: the shape for fire took the form of an inverted ‘y’, skewered in half by what appeared to be a small cross with a tail coming out of it; water roughl
y looked like a man missing his arms and legs lying on his side, with lighting bolts lying parallel above and below him; earth was a square with curved lines inside of it like pillars holding up a structure, with two small dots in the opposite diagonals; and lastly, air was the simplest of all the designs, taking the shape of a ‘Z’ with its bottom half cutting back up through the top.

  "And each of these symbols lets you create their elements when you etch it onto a mana crystal?" I asked, leaning in to get a closer look.

  "Not exactly," the Dwarf said, and quickly explained. "That’s just how we categorize them. Putting any single one of these four symbols onto a mana crystal will not let you do anything with it. But if you want to, say, create a small spark with a mana crystal, you can arrange four of the symbols for fire in a diamond shaped rune, and only then it would work."

  "That…doesn’t sound too difficult," I commented, to which the Dwarf laughed.

  "Trust me, lass, it’s not that simple. Not only do each of these symbols have to be equidistant from each other, you’ll have to restart if you get one of the symbols slightly wrong."

  Ok, maybe that’s a little bit difficult—

  "Plus," Gennady added, raising a finger as he did, "the same rule does not apply for the other symbols. If you want to create a drop of water, you can’t just make a diamond with the symbols for water. In fact, it doesn’t create water, but forces precipitation onto a single point. Same thing with air— the simplest design simply blows air. And earth doesn’t manipulate the ground like Geomancy would, instead, it affects the properties of whatever solid it is in contact with."

  ...that’s very difficult.

  "It’s pretty complicated," Gennady said, as if he read my thoughts. "Once you mix in different symbols together into a rune, you start getting different results. For example, the pattern for a light crystal mostly uses both fire and earth symbols, with a select few water symbols. But don’t worry, there are various books on the subject that outline the various combinations of symbols to give you a basic understanding of how it all works. Right now, you probably just want to practice etching each symbol onto a mana crystal to get used to it, then you can try and create your first mana tool some time in the future."