The Black Iron Glory
The Second Diary

Chapter 77

The Second Diary

Sometimes it feels like time is crawling at a snail-like pace. Other times, it is hard to follow. People sometimes, suddenly feel astonished, don't they? How did a few days pass? I still haven't managed to do this or that. . . '

Time must be moving too fast for Claude at the moment. Two months as he recovered from his foot injury made every day feel like a year. Anyone whose left leg was wrapped in a cast would feel the same way. Discomfort in everyday life is something that is given. Claude could not bear the stench that started to develop on his body from not being able to take a bath. It does not help that summer has arrived, which causes him to sweat frequently. All he could do was use a large, wet linen cloth to wipe himself every day.

He went to the pharmacist four more times after his first visit. Initially, he went three every three days, before becoming once a week. During each visit, he would not be able to avoid having his blood removed by the old shaman. Only after the last visit did the pain finally end. The old man said that there was no more leftover blood and he would be able to move as usual after another month of rest. However, he still had to take care of his newly recovered leg and try his best not to press him and stay seated as much as possible.

So, Claude obediently remained in his attic with his books during his recovery. Even during the 10th day of the 9th month, which was the harvest festival of the great earth goddess, he remained in his attic and watched the marches in the streets without joining the celebrations themselves.

Claude is not the only one locked up in his house to recover. There was a change in his three friends. Welikro changed a bit, as he became calmer than before. However, he turned into a fishing maniac and would always carry his fishing rod and wooden bucket to the side of the lake alone instead of asking the others to come along with him.

Eriksson was busy repairing his fishing boat and he did not ask his friends for help. He did all the work himself, from buying boards of the same thickness as those on his ship, drying them on the dock, removing the damaged parts of the ship and replacing them under Pegg's guidance. After about a month of repairs, the ship was finally able to sail again. But now, Eriksson no longer calls his friends to travel and instead frequently travels for an hour around Lake Balinga.

The one who changed the most was undoubtedly Borkal. He may be overwhelmed by the humiliation and shock of a crocodile carcass auction. He divided the four crowns he got from Sir Fux with the others and paid for the repair of Eriksson's ship alone, the three thales of them. He also paid for Claude's two thales in medical expenses.

Borkal has spent the entirety of the sale. Although others said they would bear the brunt of the sale equally, he insisted on rejecting their offer. Borkal said that only this way would he feel better about himself. It was his fault that caused them to lose more profits and only by spending one crown could he forgive himself for it. Otherwise, he would not be able to face his other friends.

Others initially wanted to give one thale plus from the sale they got from fish and birds to Borkal to make up for it, but he insisted that it be added to their own small public fund. Even Borkal believed his performance in the auction was terrible, he still wanted to keep everything fair as the treasurer among them. Since they had already agreed in advance for the sub sale to be added to their mutual fund, that was what he would do.

Claude wondered why his friends had lost the urge to hang out ever since he started living at home. Other than school time, the three did not get together. Prior to this, all three had always demanded to find something fun to do on Sundays. Now, however, they do something on their own. Even during the three days of rest during the harvest festival, no one went anywhere, they just followed the parade around the city.

Welikro spoke to Claude in person to answer his question. He believes Eriksson is afraid of a fight with crocodiles. It had shown him how fragile he was, and he was too afraid to do anything now.

The two quickly spoke big in front of others, but secretly he and Borkal were now scared to death to enter the same situation. Snake episodes do not affect them because they do not actually experience them, but they are in the middle of the entire crocodile business. They had all come to the conclusion that only Claude could handle such a situation, and with him out of commission, the, no one wants to risk finding themselves facing something similar or even half as bad as a crocodile.

Claude laughed at that moment, but he was secretly grateful that the two had been forced to have a more reasonable view of themselves and the world. They were right to the extent that he was the only one who had proven he could handle such a meeting, and he was completely out of the picture for now. He goes to school, then goes home and sleeps or reads a diary. He had gone through twice so much now he could recite it word for word.

They have answered many of his questions, though not all. One of the big questions is why Landes became a 'first rank magus rune' instead of a 'ring one'. He must have made the transition at some point as his recipe book diary said he was a four-ring rune mage.

The second diary answers that question for him. It turned out that 'alignment' was something that resembled half a step into the corresponding number of rings. In the case of first rank magi runes, they could control the mana in their bodies, but had yet to learn or master any spells. In order to become a one-ring rune mage, the first ranker must be able to lay a formation within his empty space and carve out his hexagram, allowing him to cast spells.

The seven formations were not equal in strength or status. The main formation within the hexagon was the central pillar where the other six were carved and called masters. The other six were known as slaves. Together the seven formations formed the core of the magus power. Each spell had a corresponding formation that had to be carved in its rune space. A magus can learn more than seven spells of which seven formations on its hexagram are allowed. He could carve formations anywhere in his empty space, but those seven were the core of his repertoire and often remained the most familiar and frequently used. This was mainly because only the marks engraved within his hexagram were permanent. All the other runes quickly faded away, meaning they had to be carved whenever a suitable spell was cast. It was not too difficult to become proficient at this, but it meant that spells were always slower to use, overall weaker in their output, and which cost more.

Landes had spent much of his early years researching the hexagrams and formations carved into them. He discovered that magic consumption was not only a matter of the scope of the spell effect, but was also greatly affected by where the corresponding runes were carved. If an average one-ring rune magus had a hundred units of magic power, hence the standard spells for one-ring magi cast from formations carved in the center of the hexagon cost around one or two units. The same spell cast from a formation carved into one of the six triangles cost three to six units. However, if that same spell was cast from a temporary formation carved in empty space, the cost rose significantly, averaging around thirteen units, he said, although they vary between seven and twenty units depending on the spell in question.

There was an additional difference between a permanent formation-based spell and a temporary formation-based spell. Spells cast from formations within the hexagram only needed to be summoned with one or two syllable spells, and masters could even do so without saying anything, calling him forward with just a thought. That same spell was cast from a formation beyond the hexagram, however, requiring a longer spell and a series of hand movements, he said, both become longer and more complex as the spells get bigger or stronger.

Because these latter spells require longer movements and spells, they are also more prone to failure. If the caster misses or misaligns one move, or misses or misspells one syllable, at any point during casting, the entire spell will fail.

To things are even more complicated, while temporary formations, by their very nature, can be changed as often as you want, as their formations fade away quickly, permanent formations are just that, permanent. Once carved, they are set for life. No one changed it later. So choosing those initial seven spells was one of the biggest choices magus could make. And those seven must be the most basic spells – zero-level spells. The spell formation required by a high-level spell was no match for a first ranker hexagram.

The task was somewhat simpler for the magi of the Landes generation than it was for those who were a thousand years or more before. The selection of valid mantras they could choose quickly declined like a century ago. Even the simplest of certain spells required materials to cast, and as magic materials became scarce, or depleted of use, the spells became completely useless and were abandoned. In Landes' time, the only spells left in the catalog were those that could be cast using only mana stored in the body.

The concept was no stranger to Claude. At the beginning of the automobile industry, cars were 'good' faster or stronger, they were not concerned with fuel consumption. But when the fuel starts to dry, that 'good' maintenance becomes something that can be quick or powerful when using far less fuel. Only the most luxurious and rich things can continue to be inefficient.

The same principle applies to magic. As resources become scarcer, the emphasis goes from strong and expensive spells, to a balance of power and efficiency, to ultimately versatile spells that can be cast without any external material at all. This process eliminated the entire discipline of magic, ultimately leaving only battles and runes.

The rune magus uses runes to focus the movement of the ambient magic to complement the magus' own mana, to direct the magus' mana to achieve more complex results that require materials, or to make the most efficient use of materials still available. . The Battlemagi honed their own incantations and abilities to make the best use of their own mana in battle, with the greater goal of maintaining control over Faslan despite the diminished power of the spells at their command.

Only white sterling nobles still used material-intensive spells on a large scale, although in the last years before their fall even they became extremely frugal.

The seven zero-level spells that Landes chose all had something to do with alchemy. He was quite satisfied with his choice as well, even though he had one regret. Tawari had advised him to order at least one of the six triangles for combat spells. He listened to her, but never needed to use a spell in the end, either, and over the years he had come across several dozen alchemy-related spells he used regularly that he could place there instead.

However, Tawari's advice is only bad if revisited. Logic's good. The world is not safe anymore, and it is getting worse every year. Magus rune or not, he should be able to protect himself. It would be wiser even without the ever-diminishing power of magi and their control over the general masses. The power struggle between magi and bitter strife and their own competition is justification enough to sustain something. Even if he had never really used the spell, just letting others know that he had permanent Combat Runes would be enough to scare most of the people he had to worry about. Those people who were able to ignore that knowledge were the kind of people he could not deal with even if he only had combat spells.

Claude also noticed the tone of gratitude for Tawari's suggestion in Landes' writing, even when he said he regretted taking it. Having a permanent formation for a combat spell was much better than memorizing it for normal use through a temporary formation. He, as a magus rune, would never be allowed to learn combat spells stronger than those reserved for the initial seven choices, and using one of the spells through the formation temporarily was a waste of mana. They were completely worthless unless their corresponding formation was permanent.

Tawari was also right about the deterrent nature of having one of those spells. He was seen to have practiced it once and after that almost nine-tenths of all the people who were making trouble for him on a regular basis suddenly stopped.

That's normal, Claude thought, rookies are always bullied by seniors. Most senior Landes, however, were rune magi and had no battle spells. So they were completely defeated by him and would stand no chance in a fight. He had a huge greatsword, and all of his would-be opponents were their fists. They might only be able to defeat him if they were to gang up on him, but more than a few of them would still suffer from it, and no one would be willing to risk becoming one of them.