05 – A Peculiar Organism

Jack frowned as he observed the tall woman in the third stage of the Blight through the spell construct in front of him—it let him zoom in to view things without needing expensive lenses and glasses, and it didn't cost him too much mana. Her flesh was rotting, and she appeared to be quite feral. Growling through the rope tied over her mouth, she writhed back and forth as her claw-like fingernails raked across the floor.

"That looks bad." Miller said, standing next to him.

Jack didn't argue.

Jack was actually quite frustrated. Curing the tainted was possible, but it required significant mana—the higher in the stage the tainted was, the more mana it required. Trying to cure a woman in the third stage—by far the most progressed they'd encountered—was so challenging that the room was a complex web of magic-reinforced stone. Their precautions had failed in the tainted they'd worked on, and the man had died, and now he was in Jack's retinue of summons. Regardless, they still didn't have a proper understanding of how this sickness worked.

"Sir Jack," Miller said. "Is it possible to cure this disease? Could we cleanse it from all the people infected by the Blight?"

"Yes and no," Jack answered, and he went on. "I've found patterns."

"Patterns?"

"Yes, the Blight is almost alive. Yet dead at the same time. It eats at the lifeforce. I'm arriving at the theory that whatever makes the Blight work, these small organisms, they're the antithesis of mana itself—eating on lifeforce to mate. However, like everything in nature, it has a predator."

"Mana."

"Precisely. And said mana needs to penetrate these organisms—not only that, but it somehow needs to identify which movement pattern its dealing with at one particular time."

"This... organism, it has different movement patterns for everyone?"

Jack hummed thoughtfully, then shook his head. "The moveset isn't infinite. However, there's enough variation to give us trouble given that we cannot pre-program our spells to detect each movement pattern. Even now, I'm working on a spell that will target them en-mass, but if just a few get by..."

"They'll re-infect those already cured," Miller finished for him.

"Indeed. So, going forward, I need a way to somehow add a detection system which will not only detect the movement pattern of each individual the Blight infect, it needs to differentiate so mana itself can change its movement while intercepting the organisms. Not only that, these blight-organisms self-replicate—somehow, it requires them to eat lifeforce, or more like, eating lifeforce triggers their mating process—and that's causing there to be even more new variations in the moveset to be developed as this... species evolves.

"So, somehow, the spell also needs to copy new information and send that information back so we can analyze and send a counter movement. Aaaand, that's ignoring the fact that I'm still clueless as to how I can make the mana remain inside the soap. Mana isn't static, you see, it always—always—looks for a new medium to move to.

"That means, in our case, that the mana will 'dissipate' from the soap—in reality, it's just moving from one medium, soap, to another, air or anything else in the environment."

Miller put a hand on his chin. "That sounds... hard. To be honest, you're already developing a spell way beyond the skill of an average [Mage]. How did you learn all this? Do you, perhaps, have a master, Sir Jack?"

Jack ignored him, continuing to stare at the patient in contemplation.

"I've never taken on such a big challenge, but the problems are like exhilarating puzzles for me; I love solving puzzles, Sir Miller," Jack grinned, giving Miller a side eye. "Why do you think I chose to become a [Necromancer]? The human body, or any species' body, for that matter, is a huge puzzle I can't wait to solve."

"Alright... Then... How do you plan to deal with all this?"

"I have no clue?" Jack's grin widened. "And that's why it's so much fun."

Miller shifted away. Jack laughed, finding the [Cleric's] discomfort quite amusing. It was a huge deal to Jack that a [Cleric] was working with a [Necromancer]. [Clerics] had faith in their chosen deity, after all, and [Necromancers] weren't something they liked. Evil, and all that.

Rolling his eyes at the narrow minded but understandable view of theirs due to events in history, Jack continued his goal for the foreseeable future: observe the organisms and note down their movement, and develop the most complicated spell he'd ever worked on.

All for soap... Jack chuckled, but then rubbed his hands. Oh, I have so much more research to do!

***

Roland watched with a mixture of confusion and apprehension as Lord Theodore carefully scooped up piles of the gray ash into a cloth bag. The silence was broken only by the soft sift of ash and the distant cry of a mutated bird.

"My Lord," Roland finally said, "what use is there in collecting this... ash?"

Lord Theodore paused, then blinked. "Ah, Roland," he said, wiping a smudge of ash from his cheek, "this is the key to a little something called lye."

Roland's brow furrowed. "Lye? What's lye good for?"

"You see, tree ash contains lye, and lye is required to create soap. When mixed with fat or vegetable oil, obviously. Ah, why am I even telling you this? Just know lye is an essential ingredient in the creation of soap. Imagine, Roland, never having to rely on those overpriced, smelly bars from the market ever again. Not to mention we can solve the issue of the Blight with this."

"Understood, my lord," Roland said, then shifted. "But, my lord, it's not safe to be here. Let us be done with it and go back, as quickly as possible."

"Sure," Lord Theodore said, then turned around and called the other guard. Looking back at Roland, he said, "Cut down more trees while I light them up. We still have many bags to fill, after all."

Roland refrained from sighing as the guards drew axes and headed off toward another tree.

"Is the great warrior really so terrified of some creepy wood, hmm?" Lord Theodore asked.

"Creepy? Is that what you think of the woods?" Roland stared into the trees, eyes searching. "I would say it's cursed."

"I know, I know, I'm just kidding. Relax."

Suddenly, the ground shook as the tree slammed down on the ground.

Roland sighed.

***

One of the guards had an interesting way of going about things. It was the [Mage], obviously. He'd used [Cleanse] earlier that day and right now, Ethan was staring at the man as he used some kind of water-related spell. He had a small sack full of water, and he could manipulate it. And that's exactly what he was doing

He poured the liquid into the air, shaped it into thin strings, then proceeded to use it to cut the tree. It was a repetitive process in which he kept striking the tree on the same spot again and again horizontally—the water moving fast and the pressure enough to cut through.

It was fucking badass, in Ethan's opinion.

Regardless, Ethan raised his hand above the fallen tree that had been cut into smaller pieces. Then, he used [Elemental Spells] and willed fire into existence. It was bigger now, already being at level six. Easier to control, too. Fire burst from his palm and engulfed the logs. In about an hour, Ethan had burned down dozens of trees and filled up bags with their ash. It was incredibly monstrous and made Ethan realize he needed another skill, perhaps, that fit more for this kind of stuff.

During all this, he felt the headache many times and had to rest when he got to it, but he didn't complain. He was making soap, fuck the pain. After resting, he would get down to burning the wood again. It was quite easy given that the trees easily burned. Ethan got notifications of the skill's increase while doing that.

[Elemental Spells] — Lvl 6 -> Lvl 7!

[Elemental Spells] — Lvl 7 -> Lvl 8!

He couldn't gain more levels, however, and Ethan had an inkling so as to why. I'm only using fire when this is supposed to be elemental. If so, he needed to possibly try water spells and wind or earth or the like—starting with basics sounded the better way to go about it.

However, Ethan wasn't sure where to learn those spells. He had the rune of [Cleanse] memorized, as well as fire, but nothing else. Oh, actually, Ethan thought, then looked at the guard that'd been using the water spell.

"Hey," Ethan called.

The guard looked at him.

"What's your name?"

"Leto, my lord," he responded with a respectful bow.

Ethan had taken note of the man's magic when they had dealt with the bandits. "Leto, could I see you use that, slowly?" Ethan pointed to the water sack in the man's hands.

"You wish for me to manipulate water, my lord?" Leto asked.

"Yes."

Despite his confusion, Leto put a hand inside the sack, then removed it. A small mass of liquid formed at the tip. Ethan observed his hand with narrow eyes, noticing the rune glowing a blue, yet faint, light. Ethan noted it. The hand moved up, the water with it, moving and twirling around. Slowly, though.

"Is that all, my lord?" Leto asked.

"Yeah, that's all."

Blinking, Leto bowed then went away.

Ethan got into his carriage, and sat. Roland looked in confusion but didn't speak. He'd come to accept many of Ethan's whims. Ethan, on the other hand, grabbed a water sack inside the carriage and then put it beside him. Looking at his palm, he visualized the rune, knowing exactly the way it should be. He poured mana into the shape, but couldn't hold the form for long. Focusing harder, and sending a bigger amount of the mana into it, Ethan could manage a couple of seconds, but even then, it would dissipate.

He practiced. Time passed. Two hours, give or take. The guards spent that time burning wood using the fire that was already outside. Meanwhile, Ethan kept on practicing, pouring mana into the shape and visualizing. However, the rune kept on breaking, and Ethan had to stop multiple times as he'd gotten a headache that spread from the back of his head to his eyes. Why's it not working? Ethan felt frustrated, and his head was getting dizzy now.

He raised his hand, once more, and visualized the curvy shape. There were lots of loops, small swirls, and a half circle in the middle of the form. That's what it looked like, and that's how he'd been pouring mana into it. So, then, what exactly was he missing? What was the last bit?

Ethan tried again, only this time, a sharp spike of pain lashed out against his forehead and traveled through his scalp, up and into his brain, then spread, engulfing all the nerves. Ethan almost cried, he could barely concentrate, the world was spinning, his forehead pounded hard and heavy. Then, through the dark spots in his vision, he noticed blood dripping from his nose. Okay, fuck, time out.

He definitely shouldn't have done that over and over.

Sighing, Ethan leaned back with a heavy frown on his face, grabbing a cloth to wipe the blood on his face. His hand shook when he rubbed against his nose, so he stopped the movement abruptly, held the cloth over it, then put his palm on his temple.

Ethan grumbled to himself, taking a breath and calming down.

It took half an hour for him to recover enough to try again. Only this time, was he able to notice the thing he'd been missing. The flow of mana... Ethan face palmed when he figured that one out. All that fucking pain and he had just figured out one more element, but it was worth it. Essentially, he'd been pouring mana like he poured it into the fire rune. But the water rune was the exact opposite. So, he needed to switch the flow. It was such a simple solution that he felt stupid now for not realizing.

When he switched the flow of mana, he suddenly could keep the rune in place, and as [Basic Rune Creation] tingled, Ethan knew he'd done it.

[Elemental Spells] — Lvl 8 -> Lvl 9!

I need a way to level up [Basic Rune Creation] too. Actually, I need books on magic, damn it. I should read up when I get back.

The water rune glowed. He pushed mana through and plunged his hand into the water, to control it. He brought a small, very small, orb of water that stood afloat on top of his hand. To his disappointment, he couldn't even keep the shape. The water spilled and trickled to the ground.

His eyes twitched.

Just because he figured out the right mana flow didn't mean the rune would do as he wished.

Leaning back, he sighed again. At least, he'd leveled up his skill. He felt that the next few levels would be even harder to level up.

"Lord Theodore," Roland called out.

"Huh?" Ethan replied, and blinked. He didn't even notice the door opening. "What is it, Roland?"

"We've filled the bags with the required amount, should we head to town now?"

"Yes, of course," Ethan said, then smiled.

However, just then, orders were barked outside as the guards shuffled about. Ethan felt confused and peered outside the carriage to notice a dozen wolves, drooling and growling.