Runes

I look at the man, confused. A closer look at the form in his hands reveals a little girl who can't be more than eight years old. Though given the dwarf outside she might be older.

The man speaks again, his voice impatient. "Well, what are you waiting for? Dispel the rune! And where's that nanny I hired? I swear, if she left Nina alone to see her boyfriend again I am going to lose it."

I stare at him for another moment before I manage to ask a question. "What's a rune?"

He scowls. "Are you new or something? Honestly, I know I call you guys alot, but still. Is your master coming up soon? A little hands on training? Really, given how much business I give you people, I'd think I would be entitled to at least a bit more professionalism."

"...I have no idea what you're talking about. I'm just here because the person you were selling this house to said they were concerned after you hadn't come out after more than an hour had passed." I pause. "I probably could have phrased that better, but whatever."

He blinks at me. "You mean you aren't with the Enchanter's Guild?"

I shake my head. "Nope, but I was thinking of learning the craft. Do these runes have anything to do with enchanting?" I gesture at the glowing circle around him, to which he sighs.

"Of course they do, and my daughter is a prodigy in the field!" He puffs out his chest in pride while lifting the girl in his arms a bit before deflating. "...Though having such a talented kid does prove a bit troublesome." He nods his head at the circle.

"I'm not bad at magic, so if you can explain the problem I might be able to help." I take a seat, crossing my legs. It's awkward talking down to someone in a literal sense like that.

He gives me a doubtful look before shrugging. "Might as well kill some time while I wait for the Guild." He takes a deep breath, shifting a bit so he's more comfortable.

"So in simple terms, runes are best described as the language of magic. Though enchanters tend to argue about which represents which. When someone applies an enchantment to an item, it is represented by runes appearing between the 'focus points' of the item. Focus points are the area where mana pools in a manufactured object.

This is different from the way mana flows through natural beings: such as people, plants, stone, monsters, etc. Essentially anything that happens naturally has a mana flow, while anything that's no longer in its natural form has focus points of mana where it pools. Understand?"

I nod. Pretty simple so far, and it supports the reason Tesk is obsessed with my tail. My mana flows through my tail more than any other part of my body, and it's the point of ejection as well I'd guess.

Seeing that I'm following along, he continues. "Now, when you enchant an object, runes will appear describing what it does. Or you use magic to engrave the runes to get the effect you want. Again, people argue about which results in which. Personally, I think you can do both. You can either use the runes, or use your knowledge of the spell to enchant an object." He smiles down at the girl in his arms.

"My daughter here, well, she managed to get her hands on a primer of runes and started writing them down. Imagine my surprise when her paper burst into flames!" He chuckles. "Well, I took her to the Echanter's Guild and they said she has an instinctual understanding of the runic language, as well as good penmanship."

He sighs. "So of course they decide to give her a book that details all the runes a beginner could use. But she's a child and has an overactive imagination. So when she gets out of the house and starts drawing runes with no concern for the where, we get a situation like this. The rune I'm sitting in isolates an area until either the invested mana runs out, or you say the password. It's a more advanced enchantment, but my girl's a prodigy." He shrugs before sending the girl a rueful grin.

I nod. "So if I can drain the mana, the rune will deactivate. Right?"

Another sigh. "Yes, but you need to start from a certain part of the rune, otherwise the whole thing will destabilize and explode. And I'm rather partial to living."

"That's fair. Want me to check outside to see if they're nearby? Oh yeah, I should also tell those people you were showing the house to what's going on."

He looks surprised. "They're still out there? Wow, they must have really wanted this house."

I nod and get to my feet. "Yep. Anyways, be back in a couple minutes." I leave the house and see the couple talking to a couple of people in robes. An old man who's violet robes sparkle in the sunlight, and a guy my age in a frayed blue robe.

"Hey, you two from the Enchanter's Guild?" They seem surprised to see me come out of the house, but nod. "Ok, the guy and his daughter are up there stuck in an isolation rune. The girl is passed out, probably due to mana depletion."

"Most likely," says the old man. "That is usually the case when Leonard calls." He looks at the guy next to him as they walk inside. "What do you think the proper procedure is for a case such as this?"

"Ah, well, a low tier mana potion to help the girl, and to deactivate the rune…" Their voices fade as they walk inside the house, and I turn my attention to the couple who are blinking at me.

"So yeah, the realtor's daughter was practicing her rune writing in the house. He saw her through the window and tried to stop her. But she activated it and they both got stuck inside. On the bright side, if you're still interested in the house it's pretty nice inside. And now it comes installed with an isolation rune!" I give them a winning smile and the man chuckles.

The woman rolls her eyes. "Well, thank you for checking things out for us. And honestly that rune does make the house more appealing. Those things are expensive to get done. And an isolation rune would definitely work as a panic room!" She nods her head as she continues speaking.

"We'll have to see the interior ourselves, but a hundred gold for such a nice house and a pre-installed isolation rune would be a steal!"

I blanche at the casual way she quotes the price. Considering the average salary is a gold a month, and there are twelve months a year, the average person would have to save up for eight years to be able to afford a house!

Which now that I think of it is still much easier than buying a house back on Earth. Plus there are two of them, so it probably didn't take them that long, even considering the daily costs of living.

Anyways, I wave goodbye to them and continue my day of wandering. Though it's starting to get late, so maybe I'll head back to the inn.