Clyde nodded, in response to Kyra's decision. Fire, certainly one of his oldest and favorite styles. It also tended to be the one least available, and the most often to require him to transmute it to use it. Earth on the other hand, was generally available, and did not often require him to create it from nothing. Which meant it tended to be a lot more efficient to use it, than fire. Though that did not matter in use for a scroll, which no matter what required him to create his Reimancy by transmutation. Mundane matter could not be stored in a scroll.
Setting himself down, he got to some Glyphing. A simple quill in hand, dipped repeatedly into the inkwell as needed during the process, he set out upon his task. He began simple as usual, with a focus glyph in the middle. Currently, that was a circle, with a wavy line drawn around it. It was meant to resemble the darkened sun used by the followers of Rhysol, but he was no artist. But it did resemble it well enough, to be clear to someone who had lived in Ravok. It was quite large, as big as his own head, if not a bit larger.
After that, he wrote out words, which were meant as a barrier, all around the focus, forcing him to turn the parchment, so the bottoms of the words were always facing the focus in the middle. Words such as "constrict, control, hold, guide, impede, stop", were written down, and occasionally repeated. Once there were all the way around the focus, he drew a double pathway out of the right side of the barrier, which would be a passage for the magic to leave the focus, once the trigger was activated.
This pathway was made of a series of slashes back and forth, with a small extra line added in to cap each one off, to make the inset of each one a small reinforced diamond shape, with an extra line coming off of it from the stroke. He did this twice, once for each side of the passage, till it stretched all the way from the right side of the barrier, to the very right edge of the scroll. There he added a further detail, another focus. This one was much smaller, only large enough to fit inside of the dual lines of the passage, but just like the first in its depiction. He had learned of the need for this second smaller focus, in his first attempt at making fire arrows with glyphing.
Finally, he added the trigger, a small triangle, drawn attached to the point were the barrier and pathway met. It was attached to the barrier more though, and upon being activated, would make the right side of the barrier fall, letting the magic flow outward, down the passage, and out the other focus, were if properly aligned, it would flow out the engraved glyphing passage, and be released.
He worded the trigger as such, "Release this side of the barrier, and the magics it holds back, when the arrow this is attached to is fired, and hits a target the firer wishes to damage."
Over time, Clyde had gotten ever more skilled at his triggers. He doubted when he was less skilled, such a trigger would have worked, but now he was proficient enough for such a worded trigger to be possible.
In this case, not only did the arrow this was attached to have to be fired and strike something, it had to be a target the firer, Kyra, wished to damage. So if she missed, and it landed near a ally, it would not go off. Only if it landed, such that she wanted it to, would it go off.
This was an improvement over the wording of the trigger of his previous attempts, and he showed the words of the trigger to Kyra, a grin on his face.
"I think this will work much better than the old trigger, I just thought of it. This way, only if you want it to go off, after firing it, will it go off. So it will be safe, should you misfire and shoot it were you do not want to. But even if you miss, if you still want it to go off, it will."
Clyde's face was filled with a joy, that had not been there when he had done his Reimancy. Clearly, he loved talking of his new idea in Glyphing, and of doing the magic itself, by making this scroll.
During his Reimancy, his face had only been filled with concentration, and seriousness. If nothing else, this would seem a bit odd, to Kyra. Especially considering that Reimancy was the skill he was the more praised for, and more often asked to use.
After showing it to Kyra, he would turn over the scroll, and draw a small arrow on the side of it, opposite of the pathway, right on the tip of the scroll. This way, even when it was rolled up and around the arrow, Kyra would be able to tell which end should be turned to the arrowhead.
Holding out both hands before him, he began to exude his res, collecting it into a ball in front of him. He continued this for a chime, till he had a good bit of res gathered. Then with a motion of two fingers on his left hand, the outside exploded into flames, through transmutation. A fireball about the size of his head.
With one final motion, a downward wave like he was swatting a fly, he tossed the ball of fire downward, and transmuted the core into fire. The fireball was right on track, and struck the focus, in which it only just fit, disappearing without a sound.
That done, the first scroll was ready for usage.
"And the second?" He asked Kyra. |
