23 Technomagic Lesson

The next morning Null was going for his first official technomagic lesson with Runemagi Vark. Lisa had also tagged along as she was interested in the scientific process behind this so-called 'magic'. She was a scientist and believed everything was just science.

"Let's start with an overview of rune magic. Rune magic is the dwarven version of technomagic and has two kinds of spells. The first is the persistent passive spells. Some examples of these are our antigravity or our shielding. These spells are constantly running and require a constant supply of power. The level of power depends on the area of effect and the level of the spell."

Null was already familiar with the power requirements needed to affect the fields from their previous experiments with Zero. "so how much power does it require to run these spells?"

"It depends on the level, a level A spell might take a planet-size reactor to fuel it while an F level spell can be run with portable batteries. These spells vary by a considerable margin. An A level spell might be used to defend a whole planet while the F level spell is used to keep your food fresh."

"If that is the first type, what is the second type?" Lisa was fascinated by the discussion, she couldn't imagine a spell that could protect a whole planet.

"The second type is the activation spells. They need to be activated every time and require a significant burst of power to cast and have exponential power draw so can only be used for a limited time." Vark using his staff activated a simple wind spell. The spell was an application of motion fields and is useful for clearing the air.

Null had been monitoring the Runemagi and detected more than Vark realised, Null watched as the stored energy in the crystals at the base of the staff travelled up and enter one of the small Zallium gems on the staff and he could see each of the engraved runes on the staff absorb the energy and change the field essence stored in the gem.

Watching technomagic in action, gave Null a better understanding of the difference between the two types of magic. Each had its benefits and drawbacks. Technomagic used Zallium to change a field to affect reality. This took more energy than true magic and had limited scope but it could be used by anyone if given equipment. True magic had the user channel the field and change reality. In essence real magic user became the Zallium.

Null tried to replicate the spell he had just witnessed. Null waved his hand, he didn't need to do this but it made him feel more powerful and then they blew all the air away. His spell had a major flaw. He had changed the state of every single air molecule to be moving away from him. This had left him momentarily in the middle of a vacuum.

"Oops" is all Null could say.

"Since you could copy it, I guess you have some understanding just from watching. So what did you see".

"You stored power in crystals in the base of the staff and then you transfer that energy to the runes that have been inscribed on the Zallium crystal. The runes once they are energised overwrite the current field and then the new field interacts with the air". Null had a smug look on his face while communicating mentally with the others.

"So it is technology! The level of the spell you can cast depends on the amount of power you can store, transfer and control." Lisa was glad she tagged along, she believed that everything could be explained and there is no such thing as magic.

Vark was perturbed that his whole spell had been analysed and dissected so quickly. "Magic, Technology are just labelling. We at the association call it technomagic."

Vark then explained the basics of runes systems. The runes required for a spell would be engraved onto the Zallium crystal using a special material that was made from crushed Zallium and other materials. The dwarfs had a basic set of Runes that anyone could use, but that each Runemagi would have their own secret set, that they could pass onto an apprentice.

Each Runemagi was required to record their secret rune sets in the grand library. These runes set could be auctioned off, if a Runemagi died without a successor. This would ensure that minimal knowledge would be lost.

He taught Null and Lisa the basic runes required for the wind spell he had cast earlier as these runes were part of the basic rune set. After an hour of practising writing the runes out, Vark had allowed them to engrave them onto a Zallium Crystal. He was loathed to let go of a perfectly good crystal he had hoped to gain greater understanding by using the Null unique abilities.

Much to Vark surprise, Null let Lisa engrave the crystal. She had steady hands and had been enjoying the lesson. Once the crystal was engraved she wanted to try it out but didn't know how to activate it. After some discussions, she asked Null to build her a wand.

"It is possible to create a wand, but it won't have an integrated power generator so it would need to be charged each. We can put in a power storage unit at the bottom of the wand and some capacitors in the handle to help it." Null had already done a quick plan of how it should work.

With Lisa and Vark consent, Null rapidly prototype and built the wand that he had designed. The wand had an interchangeable battery and wand head so that in the future it could be used for more than 1 type of spell.

Lisa charged the wand and pressed the button the boys had installed to activate the spell. A perfect replica of Vark's spell was cast. Lisa was giddy and as excited as a schoolgirl. "Yes this is definitely magic"