Chapter 347: Knowledge is Bliss
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Chapter 347: Knowledge is Bliss
Knowledge is Bliss
Manday offered an opportunity to learn more about the nature of relics from the Lyceum's human granary of knowledge; though Martel figured it best to wait until the lesson in Tyrian runes had ended before he approached Master Fenrick. Asking questions outside the topic of the class just meant that his teacher would give a curt reply in order to actually begin the lesson. Thus, Martel concentrated on the task at hand. With a piece of charcoal, he drew the rune of warning, following the example of the symbol as shown by Master Fenrick, and practised activating it.
"Vara." The rune glowed, as did Martel's face with satisfaction. He felt the almost strange, intangible connection of magic between him and the symbol; similar to how he might connect to a flame or some object in order to move it around, and yet different. The other end of the connection did not attach to the parchment with the symbol, nor the charcoal drawing itself. Rather, it felt like having a rope around his waist with the other end floating in the air on a strong wind; intangible, yet the connection tugged on him all the same, making its presence known.
Master Fenrick, moving through the rows of students, glanced at his work and grunted in approval before continuing.
***
As the other students filed out of the classroom, Martel quickly approached his teacher before the latter left. "Master Fenrick, I've a question. Can you explain to me what relics are?"
The eyes under bushy brows beheld him. "What makes you ask?"
"I went to the shrine of Saint Laurentius the other day," Martel explained, sticking as close to the truth as possible. "They had his hand in a chest. Even closed, I could practically smell some kind of – power, I guess. I'm just confused about what it actually is."
The Master of Lore nodded a little. "Sadly, the Faith denies any requests to scrutinise their relics. As if we want to take them apart! I just want a closer look," he sighed. "Because of that, my knowledge is limited. But we can infer a few things. Most people cannot sense the mere presence of a relic like you can. What conclusion can we draw from that?"
This would be easier and faster if Master Fenrick simply explained it, but apparently, the teacher in him demanded that he led Martel to the answer. Accepting that he would have to play along, the acolyte easily guessed what was meant. "The effect is magical, since only those with the gift of magic may sense it."
"Indeed. Now, there are two ways that an object may be imbued with magic. Intentionally or spontaneously. Can you give me examples of either?"The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.
"Uh, the first would be enchantment, like what Master Jerome does. The second – as an accident?" Presumably, that was what spontaneously meant, though Martel could not think of a more precise answer.
"Yes, as a by-product when great amounts of magical energies are released. Ghosts wandering the battlefield where mages fought, for instance."
"Care to guess the potion all of this can make?"
One answer would be a tincture to make someone dazed and easy to defeat in a pit fight, but probably not what Mistress Rana meant. "A potion to help someone relax or rest?"
She gave half a nod. "The potion of blissful sleep, we call it. Six hours of deep slumber. I gave you one the other fiveday if I recall. Have you tried it?"
Sort of; Julia had done so on his behalf. "Yes, mistress, it worked great."
"Time for you to learn how to make it."
***
This was among the slower potions to make, at least judging by Martel's experience of having made two other kinds. The heat had to be low, leaving the water simmering at most, which seemed to be compensated by more time spent stirring and dragging the magic from the ingredients out into the liquid. Martel estimated that three hours had passed before Mistress Rana finally removed the cauldron, tipping the contents into a flacon while Martel distilled the magic along with it.
The end result was a murky, brown liquid sloshing inside the glass container. The alchemist placed her hand around it tightly for a moment. "This is a rather weak result. I am not sure this will actually put anyone to sleep. Certainly not for a whole night. Can you think of why the result is poor?"
Martel frowned. "Too much heat?" She had specified several times during the process to avoid that.
"One possibility. Another is that you didn't awaken the ingredients well enough. Have you practised that since last time?"
To be honest, he could not remember. "A little."
"Not enough, clearly. You have only worked with herbs, which is the easiest kind of ingredient. Practise this every day until our next brew, so I can be sure you have made progress." She poured out the content of the bottle into the sink. "Clean up."
After watching the last drops of his work drain away, Martel did as ordered.
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Chapter 347: Knowledge is Bliss
Knowledge is Bliss
Manday offered an opportunity to learn more about the nature of relics from the Lyceum's human granary of knowledge; though Martel figured it best to wait until the lesson in Tyrian runes had ended before he approached Master Fenrick. Asking questions outside the topic of the class just meant that his teacher would give a curt reply in order to actually begin the lesson. Thus, Martel concentrated on the task at hand. With a piece of charcoal, he drew the rune of warning, following the example of the symbol as shown by Master Fenrick, and practised activating it.
"Vara." The rune glowed, as did Martel's face with satisfaction. He felt the almost strange, intangible connection of magic between him and the symbol; similar to how he might connect to a flame or some object in order to move it around, and yet different. The other end of the connection did not attach to the parchment with the symbol, nor the charcoal drawing itself. Rather, it felt like having a rope around his waist with the other end floating in the air on a strong wind; intangible, yet the connection tugged on him all the same, making its presence known.
Master Fenrick, moving through the rows of students, glanced at his work and grunted in approval before continuing.
***
As the other students filed out of the classroom, Martel quickly approached his teacher before the latter left. "Master Fenrick, I've a question. Can you explain to me what relics are?"
The eyes under bushy brows beheld him. "What makes you ask?"
"I went to the shrine of Saint Laurentius the other day," Martel explained, sticking as close to the truth as possible. "They had his hand in a chest. Even closed, I could practically smell some kind of – power, I guess. I'm just confused about what it actually is."
The Master of Lore nodded a little. "Sadly, the Faith denies any requests to scrutinise their relics. As if we want to take them apart! I just want a closer look," he sighed. "Because of that, my knowledge is limited. But we can infer a few things. Most people cannot sense the mere presence of a relic like you can. What conclusion can we draw from that?"
This would be easier and faster if Master Fenrick simply explained it, but apparently, the teacher in him demanded that he led Martel to the answer. Accepting that he would have to play along, the acolyte easily guessed what was meant. "The effect is magical, since only those with the gift of magic may sense it."
"Indeed. Now, there are two ways that an object may be imbued with magic. Intentionally or spontaneously. Can you give me examples of either?"The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.
"Uh, the first would be enchantment, like what Master Jerome does. The second – as an accident?" Presumably, that was what spontaneously meant, though Martel could not think of a more precise answer.
"Yes, as a by-product when great amounts of magical energies are released. Ghosts wandering the battlefield where mages fought, for instance."
"Care to guess the potion all of this can make?"
One answer would be a tincture to make someone dazed and easy to defeat in a pit fight, but probably not what Mistress Rana meant. "A potion to help someone relax or rest?"
She gave half a nod. "The potion of blissful sleep, we call it. Six hours of deep slumber. I gave you one the other fiveday if I recall. Have you tried it?"
Sort of; Julia had done so on his behalf. "Yes, mistress, it worked great."
"Time for you to learn how to make it."
***
This was among the slower potions to make, at least judging by Martel's experience of having made two other kinds. The heat had to be low, leaving the water simmering at most, which seemed to be compensated by more time spent stirring and dragging the magic from the ingredients out into the liquid. Martel estimated that three hours had passed before Mistress Rana finally removed the cauldron, tipping the contents into a flacon while Martel distilled the magic along with it.
The end result was a murky, brown liquid sloshing inside the glass container. The alchemist placed her hand around it tightly for a moment. "This is a rather weak result. I am not sure this will actually put anyone to sleep. Certainly not for a whole night. Can you think of why the result is poor?"
Martel frowned. "Too much heat?" She had specified several times during the process to avoid that.
"One possibility. Another is that you didn't awaken the ingredients well enough. Have you practised that since last time?"
To be honest, he could not remember. "A little."
"Not enough, clearly. You have only worked with herbs, which is the easiest kind of ingredient. Practise this every day until our next brew, so I can be sure you have made progress." She poured out the content of the bottle into the sink. "Clean up."
After watching the last drops of his work drain away, Martel did as ordered.
Chapter 347: Knowledge is BlissKnowledge is BlissManday offered an opportunity to learn more about the nature of relics from the Lyceum's human granary of knowledge; though Martel figured it best to wait until the lesson in Tyrian runes had ended before he approached Master Fenrick. Asking questions outside the topic of the class just meant that his teacher would give a curt reply in order to actually begin the lesson. Thus, Martel concentrated on the task at hand. With a piece of charcoal, he drew the rune of warning, following the example of the symbol as shown by Master Fenrick, and practised activating it."Vara." The rune glowed, as did Martel's face with satisfaction. He felt the almost strange, intangible connection of magic between him and the symbol; similar to how he might connect to a flame or some object in order to move it around, and yet different. The other end of the connection did not attach to the parchment with the symbol, nor the charcoal drawing itself. Rather, it felt like having a rope around his waist with the other end floating in the air on a strong wind; intangible, yet the connection tugged on him all the same, making its presence known.Master Fenrick, moving through the rows of students, glanced at his work and grunted in approval before continuing.***As the other students filed out of the classroom, Martel quickly approached his teacher before the latter left. "Master Fenrick, I've a question. Can you explain to me what relics are?"The eyes under bushy brows beheld him. "What makes you ask?""I went to the shrine of Saint Laurentius the other day," Martel explained, sticking as close to the truth as possible. "They had his hand in a chest. Even closed, I could practically smell some kind of power, I guess. I'm just confused about what it actually is."The Master of Lore nodded a little. "Sadly, the Faith denies any requests to scrutinise their relics. As if we want to take them apart! I just want a closer look," he sighed. "Because of that, my knowledge is limited. But we can infer a few things. Most people cannot sense the mere presence of a relic like you can. What conclusion can we draw from that?"This would be easier and faster if Master Fenrick simply explained it, but apparently, the teacher in him demanded that he led Martel to the answer. Accepting that he would have to play along, the acolyte easily guessed what was meant. "The effect is magical, since only those with the gift of magic may sense it.""Indeed. Now, there are two ways that an object may be imbued with magic. Intentionally or spontaneously. Can you give me examples of either?"The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n."Uh, the first would be enchantment, like what Master Jerome does. The second as an accident?" Presumably, that was what spontaneously meant, though Martel could not think of a more precise answer."Yes, as a by-product when great amounts of magical energies are released. Ghosts wandering the battlefield where mages fought, for instance.""Care to guess the potion all of this can make?"One answer would be a tincture to make someone dazed and easy to defeat in a pit fight, but probably not what Mistress Rana meant. "A potion to help someone relax or rest?"She gave half a nod. "The potion of blissful sleep, we call it. Six hours of deep slumber. I gave you one the other fiveday if I recall. Have you tried it?"Sort of; Julia had done so on his behalf. "Yes, mistress, it worked great.""Time for you to learn how to make it."***This was among the slower potions to make, at least judging by Martel's experience of having made two other kinds. The heat had to be low, leaving the water simmering at most, which seemed to be compensated by more time spent stirring and dragging the magic from the ingredients out into the liquid. Martel estimated that three hours had passed before Mistress Rana finally removed the cauldron, tipping the contents into a flacon while Martel distilled the magic along with it.The end result was a murky, brown liquid sloshing inside the glass container. The alchemist placed her hand around it tightly for a moment. "This is a rather weak result. I am not sure this will actually put anyone to sleep. Certainly not for a whole night. Can you think of why the result is poor?"Martel frowned. "Too much heat?" She had specified several times during the process to avoid that."One possibility. Another is that you didn't awaken the ingredients well enough. Have you practised that since last time?"To be honest, he could not remember. "A little.""Not enough, clearly. You have only worked with herbs, which is the easiest kind of ingredient. Practise this every day until our next brew, so I can be sure you have made progress." She poured out the content of the bottle into the sink. "Clean up."After watching the last drops of his work drain away, Martel did as ordered.
