Closed The Beginning of the Craft (Clyde)

[Terag]

35th of Winter, 515 AV – two bells past dawn The snow had already begun to fall in Syliras, and it was more than cold enough. Terag took his time preparing for his trip out to see Clyde again, as he had two of the items that he had needed to make. The staff and the stone. The stone was tucked away into his pocket, it made a noticeable bulge but it made transporting everything easier, and he decided to carry his staff. By the time he had made his way outside, Terag had already wrapped himself in his cloak. It wasn’t chilling him to the bone just yet, but there was no reason to just let the weather wreak havoc on his body. The snow was beautiful, he had seen it a few times before but watching it fall from the sky was always incredible. He stopped for a long moment, with his right hand outstretched to catch the falling snowflakes. He smiled some, enjoying the change in temperature as each piece landed and then quickly melted in his palm. There was more to living above ground, something he was learning every day. After wiping his palm onto his cloak he quickly made off in the direction of Clyde’s building. The place where he might be learning something fantastical. He had some idea of the processes of magecrafting, learned from his father, but he had never pursued it. Now was his chance and Terag could barely contain himself. He still had a long way to go, that was for sure – in magecrafting and all the other abilities associated – but it was going to be great. With a smile on his face and excitement in his breast, Terag stopped in front of Clyde’s lab. After a long moment he reached forward with his free hand, his right hand, and knocked.

[Clyde Sullins]

35 Winter 515

Clyde often rose early. It was a habit formed in part from Magecrafting. On the days that one was working on an enchantment there was little time for anything else. One rose early, stayed up late, and generally was exhausted by the time the process was over.

It was because of this that an item of Magecrafting had occurred to him, as he planned for his next Magecrafting item to be made for the Knights.

He'd passed through the books in his lab a few times, skimmed and seen a bit, but specifics tended to escape him until he'd read one in depth.

Thinking about his problem, a vague notion of an item mentioned in one of the books came back to his mind. And so here he was, early in the morning, sitting before the bookcase with Cha across his lap and thumbing through a book.

It took him a good half chime of looking before he found the entry he was looking for. The page entry was headed "Fortitude Belt."

It had a short description of the item generally used for it, a belt with a silver clasp, and then went into theories and steps for how the item worked.

One was a behavioral step, simple enough. The other, the one the behavioral step influenced, was an infusion of power from a gnosis mark of Izurdin. It was a mark he didn't carry, though if memory served was often carried by Isur and was how they Izentor crafted an item.

Perhaps if he understood the process of how that was done, or perhaps knew more of the god in question, he'd understand how that translated into the effect listed. Sadly he didn't. But then, he thought to himself, understanding of the background of how an effect worked wasn't required to harness and use it.

Clyde had been reading over the entry and pondering its effects for about half a bell, delaying physical fatigue by in the end forcing increased sleep, when he heard a knock at the door.

Heading over to the door he unlocked it, and opened it a crack to see who was outside. Who should he find at his door then, but the Isur he'd met previously and concinced to make him some items. One who was also interested in Magecrafting... He'd forgotten about the Isur, unsure if he'd ever return, but return he had it seemed. Which meant... Perhaps he'd finished some of the promised items. Thinking back to the book an idea for another item he should ask of him occurred.

Opening the door wide, Clyde smiled and motioned for movement. Unlike most people, this man-Isur's name had stuck in his head. But then, he had use of him, and he didn't meet many Isur.

“Terag. Come in, come in. Nice to see you, I'd half feared you'd forgotten about our prior encounter.”

Where last time Terag had been here Clyde had been working on a glyphing setup on a blackboard, now the same setup was painted on the floor around the pedestal for Magecrafting.

A few of the glyphs had faded or eroded away, after all they had been painted awhile ago and in the intervening time he'd done a work of Magecrafting, but the main thrust of it was still there. He'd planned to do some repair work before he began another Magecrafting, but the skill involved was still clear to anyone knowledgeable of Glyphing. Likely even without repairing it the complex setup would still work for any but the highest level of Magecrafting, and certainly for anything the knights would commission of him. There were multiple layers of redundancy built in, and so even in the small bits where glyphs had failed many others still worked which occupied the same purpose.

“I suppose you are ready for your first lesson then eh? You've completed the first few items?”

“Well, before we begin, I need to know were to start. What all of Magecrafitng do you know? Tell me everything, so I can make sure not to repeat anything you know. What do you know of the tools involved, of the process, of anything? What items have you made? What steps imbued? Those such things. Once I know what you know, I can begin the lesson.”

[Terag]

Terag smiled, it was nice that Clyde seemed so friendly. He already felt the excitement well in his chest. He had been worried that perhaps he had been too late to grab the opportunity still to learn more. It looked like there was still hope, still more her could do. So with a smile Terag made his way into the lab, taking in the scenery. The disappearing glyphs had no effect on him, it was a sight common enough that he had seen with his father. Glyphs didn’t last forever, even when etched in stone. Clyde asked a few questions and Terag waited patiently until he had finished. Harder said than done with how excited he was, but eventually he had his turn to speak. “Yes, I have finished two of the items you asked. I do believe this should be enough for the start.” Terag showed Clyde the staff and then pulled the etched stone from his pocket. “Both are izentored and ready.” “Everything I know? I made a few of the tools with my father, the hammer we spent a long time as he explained how important it was in the process and how it manipulated the djed. I think I remember working on the looking glass as well, but that process is a lot more blurry in my head. I know how to use the hammer. I know that the glyphs help keep the process safe and that the glass is used to help see the aura of the item. Past the tools for making magecrafted items though, I have personally done little else. I did watch my father make both some cube that started fire and a belt. I do not remember the second’s purpose as it has been so long but it is something. Also, as you are aware, I do not know how to use either auristics or glyphing itself. Father never taught me at any rate.” Terag smiled a bit painfully, he had not realized just how green he still was in the whole process. Hopefully the items would still be enough to sway Clyde that he would be useful to teach.

[Clyde Sullins]

Unconsciously Clyde's eyes flicked to Terag's arm for a moment, his special arm. He couldn't help pondering how it worked, where it came from, and such. So far every Isur he'd met had one such special arm, not that he'd met too many.

Even if he couldn't imitate it, he still perhaps though had use of it. Already the isur had crafted him a few items, imbuing it with the special properties only such an arm could instill. Weapons were stronger and held an edge, and items in general weren't damaged as easily.

It was a good thing to do with any item he planned to Magecraft. The better the starting item the better the end result with Magecrafting. Considering how expensive it was, having an item izentoring was well worth the added cost.

Clyde happily inspected the staff, a length of wood infused with Izentor which would make a fine product as a new Magic Staff. Cha the staff he so often held was one such creation, it base item being a piece of wood found on Mura and infused with Izentor. Along with that he'd further increased its hardiness with three steps in durability enhancement.

As it was not much would damage Cha, even normal metal weapons which would hack a mundane piece of wood in half with ease.

However as he saw the stone he couldn't help but purse his lips, a questioning stare on his face.

He'd asked for a stone izentored, and had assumed the isur would take a stone from a larger one, carving it out or some such thing. He wasn't sure what the markings meant, or why they'd been placed upon the stone. It might not affect his Magecrafting, but then it might also do so. It was an uncertainty, and he didn't go into any work of Magecrafting without fully understanding what he was working with.

“What is this? These markings? What is their purpose? I asked for a izentored stone, not this.”

Clyde, especially when it came to his magic, was particular. Others might call him controlling. If he told someone to jump three inches high, and they jumped four, he'd be dissatisfied. It was a method he used in his teaching to prepare his students, particularly for Magecrafting.

While his instructions might not matter in one instance, he knew another time might come when they did. If then that person didn't do exactly as Clyde said, they might both end up dead. Or if they were lucky, a ruined item or miscast spell, which in and of itself was not acceptable to Clyde. It was one reason he was often so upset if someone deviated from his instructions.

Technically, he supposed, the Isur hadn't deviated, he had made the stone. However he had added something to the item, seemingly without thought of how it might affect Clyde's plan. As he had no idea what Clyde intended to do with the stone, this was especially egregious.

Once Terag explained the stone, what he'd done to it, why, what the purpose was, the intent of the design, and what had physically been done and cut into the stone, Clyde would toss the words aside and let out a slow sigh before responding. Clyde being his normal obstinate self would refuse to go onward with the conversation until the Isur had given a full explanation.

“Terag... Understand something... Magic can be finicky. At times a hairsbreadth difference in action can mean the difference between safety and death. It can mean the difference between success and ruination. I don't mind you taking initiative, I applaud it when used appropriately. However, bear in mind, you are the student here. I am the teacher. If I ask something of you, please follow it. Or if you do desire to not follow my instructions, then if nothing else ask first before you deviate if such a change is acceptable.”

Clyde paused here for a moment before continuing on.

“Did you consider Terag what I planned to do with the stone? Or any of the items I planned to make? What if your deviation from my instructions made it useless for my intended purpose? I don't hold much to aesthetics. I don't do things just to make things more attractive. And I don't work with items I don't fully understand. My intent for each of the items you have izentored, is to Magecraft them. Each for very specific uses. For very specific effects. You now have chosen to alter an item, to add to it, without knowing what my end intent was. What would you have done, if by doing this, by changing this item, you had ruined it and made it useless for my plan?”

“It might still be of use, I am unsure. Perhaps it hasn't affected the base item. Perhaps though it has weakened it, or ruined it, or made it less valuable to me. I do not know yet, I do not understand it yet, nor what you have done to it. But please bear this in mind in the future.”

“The last time a student of mine failed to follow my instruction during a lesson, she risked dying by her action. The time before that, it nearly got both myself and my student killed.”

Clyde did not speak with anger, nor with threatening, such was not found in his voice. Instead he spoke as one did with a great deal of understanding, of lessons learned and trials fought through. Of pain and luck and magic. All of which was aimed at Terag, who in this instance was the novice showing his foolish mistake to his master who had seen the same mistake made dozens of times and knew the outcome all to well.

His mind flashed back to several vivid instance in his memory. To Mura, to a Konti pulling water to her. Too much water. Along with that his mind flashed back to Syliras long ago, when he was but a child, to a short man messing about with Reimancy, a flash of light and heat and him throwing himself aside as a burst of lightning was released from a stored glyph by his haphazard action.

[Terag]

His smile faded as Clyde began to speak again, he was not pleased with the liberties that Terag had taken with the stone. Surely it was still an inzentored stone, and with little instruction he had taken it upon himself to go further. But only now did it occur to Terag that perhaps the lack of instruction wasn't meant as an invitation to show what he could do, but instead to mean not to do anything more with the work than exactly as the man had asked. "I assure you it is still an inzentored stone," he began, in his voice it was obvious that he knew he had wronged. "I took it upon myself to do more for the stone. It was so plain, and the more I work on what I make the better the process takes. To inzentor it, that is. I pulled the rocks up from under the ground, and pulled off this piece of stone." For the time being he left out that he had used the ability of his people to shape stone, the information seemed unnecessary at this point, and he worried that going into a tangent might only get him further in trouble. "Once home I engraved it, truly worked on it. Though I suppose, now that I think back on it, I could have inzentored the stone without engraving it... The design was just something spur of the moment, I assure you they have no hidden meaning or anything behind trying to be pleasing to the eye..." His voice trailed off as he finished his explanation. Despite being fourty-two years old he felt as if he was in his twenties again in front of his own father. Terag stayed silent as Clyde spoke again. Of course everything the man said was true, he remembered his own father giving a similar lecture a long time ago. He made sure to nod when Clyde mentioned that he should at least ask before taking a deviation from the instructions. He of course was a novice, and just as Terag had done when learning to smith in Sultros, he would have to do everything in his power to listen and learn to Clyde and learn the craft. He continued to stay silent as Clyde went on, clenching his jaw a bit as he listened. It was not in anger at Clyde, but rather disappointment at himself. He should have known that while he was not aware of what might be going on, Clyde would have plans. "I do apologize, Clyde. I will not make this mistake again, I do not want to risk your life or mine in the future. If the item is unable to be used for what you need, then I will make another one immediately. I can even do it here if needed, though the process takes me a day once the stone is ready. But regardless, I will not do it again. At least, not without asking you first." In his haste to apologize his accent came back thicker. He could still be understood, but he hoped at least his earnest feelings would show through.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde frowned once more as Terag admitted that the alterations he had made to the stone had been for purely aesthetic reasons, as the isur had felt it was too plain and had wanted to make it look... Nicer. Clyde inwardly shuddered at the Isur's thought process and explanation, though he kept more than the frown of displeasure from visibly showing.

“Please bear in mind in the future that I am more concerned with the item being as fully functional as possible. Aesthetics is a secondary notion, and only to be included if it is assured it will have no negative affect. If you can truly say, this item is no worse off, no less durable, no less fitting of its intent and purpose, then fine. But I tend to ere on the side of caution, and I'd rather have a plain item than risk having a lesser final product for its needed use.”

“A sword, no matter how ornate, if it cannot function as a sword, is useless and worthless, to me and I'd imagine many others. This is even more so with items which are intended for Magecrafting. The item is paramount. If it is ruined or destroyed after the enchantment of Magecrafting is laid upon it, said magic is lost. That is why it is so important to have as sturdy a base item as possible. Why spend all that money on enhancing something, on giving it new abilities, if it should be broken the first time someone drops it.”

Clyde paused for a moment, letting his ire show for one last bit, before letting his face settle to a more neutral expression.

“Regardless... I suppose we should press on. It seems from your... Limited training... I will need to start at the basics.”

“Magecrafting, at its core, is a means of enhancing a object. You can enhance qualities it holds, or with the right processes add new properties and then enhance them. You take djed from things, and then use that djed and add it to the item so to speak, so as to alter and enhance it.”

“If you think of a object as a page with a paragraph written upon it, with that page defining it, what it is and does, how it interacts with the world... Imagine then going back and adding new lines to that defining paragraph, editing and adding. That, in a simplified manner, is how Magecrafting works. Though its application can be a bit more complicated.”

“An item can be enhanced traditionally in one of five ways. Its physical structure can be altered, as can its behaviors. Its intellect can be enhanced, as can its ability to use some forms of magic. Lastly it can be enhanced to allow it to wield a gnosis, though I've never seen such an item, and I doubt such a thing is common even amongst the rarity that is a work of Magecrafting.”

“In my experience the most common steps performed to enhance an item are structural and behavioral. Though the behavioral ones tend to be the more interesting of the two, allowing for some very unique and interesting effects.”

Clyde paused for a moment, giving Terag a bit to take his words in and to make clear he was at a small stopping point.

“That is the rather extreme basics, though clearly there is increasing levels of complexity, particularly in application.”

[Terag]

Terag stayed silent as he continued to listen to Clyde reprimand him. He was right, and Terag knew it. Magic was always unstable, regardless if it was world magic or personal magic there was always the change it could go wrong if it wasn't done just right. Changing something purely for an aesthetic reason and not for function was a bad idea when it came to magic. If it made the magic fail they could make a product that would do nothing or even have the wrong effect. The sword analogy struck home hard, it was something many Isur are taught at a young age. A tool is a tool first, and then a thing of beauty second. If it can't fill the first part, then it can never be the second. Terag was able to relax a bit when the ire faded from Clyde's face, and he made sure to listen more intently from here on. The general idea made sense to Terag still, and with Clyde's further instruction he was able to gain a bit better of an understand. Everything had djed, and you can take the djed from one object and put it into another. That was the basis. Adding the djed like adding lines to a paragraph, not so much modifying the item but adding onto it. A sword was still a sword and could still cut, regardless if it had fire emitting from the blade or not. A simple idea, and would Terag would make sure to ingrain into his memory. The five ways that an object could be enhanced were simple, in theory, as well. Each of which Terag mouthed to himself as he tried to force them to take a permanent space in his memory. 'Physical, behavior, intellect, magic, gnosis.' "Well it seems simple enough, the basics that is. Although, as is seeing a sword made and making it yourself. The physical is some innate about the item, right? How sharp or heavy it is? Then behavior would be... how it acts. Perhaps how it naturally moves? Or maybe how quickly it moves?" Terag made a bit of a face as he tried to grasp that concept a bit better, magic was strange if it could do something such as speeding up the movement of an item. "Intellect would be, well being intelligent? So it could respond to what I said to it? That seems pretty crazy on its own. Magic, I would guess, would work similar to how a mage uses their own magic? Creating fire, moving water, pushing earth? Could an item be made to interact with other types of magic, say to help with magecrafting?" He thought for a moment on the last one, an item could be given a gnosis? Surely humans did not posses the ability to do so. He was going to ask a question about it, but Clyde said he had never even seen an object with such an effect. So, for now, he wanted to keep his focus on the basics. "Also, there is more for working the item right? Auristics to see the object better? How does that even work?" Terag made a bit of a face, more so to show he was confused on the idea. Since he had never done it before, a magic that made him 'see' better seemed almost impossible. "And then there is Glyping? I suppose that one makes a bit more sense to me, the things you draw out have a purpose right? Are they only used for magecrafting? I am sorry, but both of those two still make only a small amount of sense to me." His voice was slightly apologetic, but he couldn't completely mask his excitement. His torrent of questions were from the desire to learn more, to be able to do more.

[Clyde Sullins]

Terag's questions were obvious to Clyde, considering what he'd said. He let out a slow sigh before continuing on, having to explain each of the topics the Isur had brought up that he had planned to bring up in each ones own time.

He had long since learned that in teaching, a huge volume of information couldn't just be disgorged at once. If he just sat there for the next few bells endlessly spouting information about Magecrafting the Isur would likely learn little.

Instead he knew the importance of timing and pacing. He broke the subject up into chunks which could be more easily learned and considered in each ones turn before going on to the next. He knew the limits of a persons understanding, and knew how to cater to such limits.

“Patience Terag, patience. I will answer your questions in time, but you must have patience, and not attempt to run in five different directions at once. You must trust me to teach you, and trust me to teach you when you need to know it. Minds aren't deep wells, into which you can endlessly pour gallons of knowledge. Minds are shallow holes in the ground. Pour too much in at once, and much will be lost and spill over. And like said hole one must give the mind time to absorb what has been poured in, before more is added. Otherwise you'll end up with a mud patch, not a nice fertile spot.”

Clyde paused for a moment, letting out a sigh and then taking a slow measured breath, forcibly breaking up his words before turning to the next topic.

“Now, as for the steps... Yes, physical alterations affect the physical nature of the item. How heavy it is, how sturdy, how sharp its cutting blade. These tend to be simpler to understand, as they are much more easily quantifiable aspects too the item.”

“Behavioral yes is how the item acts. But it is also how it interacts, and its innate and ingrained behaviors, depending upon how it is used. In simpler uses it can affect how fast a blade swings, which is an existing behavior upon the item. Or with the right steps it can give an item new behaviors it didn't have, and then enhance those. Like letting a blade warm at a touch, or even to glow. It is also often used in the place of some lesser intelligence steps.”

“Intelligence steps is giving the item, to a lesser extent, a mentality. Being able to recognize and respond to a certain spoken word, and thus activate other abilities and uses if the item. Its commonly used when an item is imbued with magic, as a means of triggering it. And with greater more potent magics greater intellects are usually used, so as to allow the required deviations and mental ability required for such complex djed usage. You wouldn't for instance give a item with the equivalent mentality of a dullard the ability of a master mage, not if you didn't expect it to go poorly.”

“However as I'd mentioned earlier, sometimes in the place of a greater intellect, behavioral steps are used to sort of... Train the item. Intellect at a higher level can allow greater variation on use, but tends to be costly. Its often much easier to just ingrain a few set actions through a behavioral step than it is to give it enough mental ability to do it on its own. But that would be more for lesser items with less potent effects where a lack of variation and initiative in the item isn't such a bad thing.”

Clyde could see the confusion on Terag's face as he tried to understand Magecrafting, on some of the points.

“Lets focus on Magecrafting for now though. I do know of Auristics, and of Glyphing, but that is not within the scope of this lesson. I promised to teach you about Magecrafting, not two other magics. No free lessons, if you want to learn about those it'll have to be agreed upon as a separate deal.”

Clyde said this with a smile on his face, not as if he was offended but as if Terag had attempted to sneak in a free additional lesson and had been caught in the attempt.

“But I might mention a few bits, of how they interact with Magecrafting. Later. But first, focus on Magecrafting all right.”

“I see your confusion. Just understand, while you might not understand some of the finer points, of how things are done, you don't necessarily have to in order to do Magecrafting. You don't have to understand how striking flint and steel makes sparks, what complex things are going on to cause that effect, in order to use them and make a fire, now do you? Magecrafting is similar in some regards. You don't have to fully understand how an effect is added, how such a thing is possible, how the djed does what it does, in order to do it.”

“I mentioned the paragraph earlier though. I said when you Magecraft, you are adding to the items djed, changing it. You thought of that as the end of it, that you tack on some djed and make it stronger, sharper, and such. But that isn't true. The paragraph isn't the thing, its the conveyance. Think of the paragraph as describing the item and how it interacts with the world. Now think of everything having such a writing about it. You, me, that wall, everything, has a writing describing it. It, how it interacts with the world, everything. Not just what it is, but what it does and how it does it and how it interacts with the world itself.”

“Now imagine one of those lines is a rule of that item. This line says this items swings X fast when it is swung, that is how it interacts with the world, what it does mundanely. If you could edit that line, change it, call reality a liar and spit in its face and say NO!!! It goes THIS fast when it swings!”

Clyde paused here after having raised his voice, leaning forward a bit closer to Terag before speaking again in a more normal tone.

“Well then, that... That would be Magic. Not just Magecrafting, but all Magic. Its how all Magic is possible, and how it works. Djed is what does the editing, what changes somethings rules, changes its writing in its paragraph that defines it and what it does. That is what Magic is. Using djed to change something, to make the impossible happen.”

Clyde paused here, grinning at the Isur and shaking his head, as if he'd just said something as simple and straightforward as stating the sky was blue.

[Terag]

Terag nodded and continued to try to take in the information Clyde was revealing. The steps for the most part made sense now, as well as why you might need a behavior step before intellect. Maybe it was better to try to avoid intellect unless it was necessary, for fear of what the object might do or think. He was slightly saddened when Clyde specifically noted he was not going to teach anything on the other magics this lesson, and Terag made a mental note to try to ask for them in another lesson once he was done with these ones. Or perhaps, at the very least, find some sort of book on either topic and try his best to begin learning on his own. They couldn’t be too hard, or at least Terag’s father made it seem like it was less complicated in a sense than Magecrafting. He nodded at Clyde’s analogy with the flint and steel, it seemed to make it click a bit more. He didn’t need to know about the things came before he just needed to know what he had to do in that moment. That thought seemed to make him relax a bit more and for a brief moment made it seem like perhaps learning magecrafting wouldn’t be so hard. Although that was all jumbled again by Clyde’s comparison to the paragraph and editing a line and other things like that. It also made him jump a bit when Clyde raised his voice, though Terag willed himself to try to stay still and keep listening. To be able to manipulate reality was a topic that deserved his full attention. It took Terag a long moment to understand this last statement. Djed does the editing? Strange to think of It that way but it was almost too simplistic. But, with its simplicity it had one of the largest impacts: changing the world. It wasn’t in the same sense that he knew it, as he changed metal in front of him, but in the same way it was. The tool was simply the Djed instead of the hammer. In that moment it clicked for him, his struggles with reimancy seemed so simple now. He wasn’t forcing the Djed to do the work, he was using it as the tool. A smile broke across Terag’s face as he looked at Clyde again with understanding now. Perhaps he didn’t get fully about the changing of the rules for an item, but he was starting to get how the Djed was able to do this for him. “I had forgotten how terrifying magecrafting has the possibility to be. I suppose the true is for all magic regardless, if it is in the wrong hands. But to change the aspects of an item itself that any can pick up almost seems scarier. Scarier, but so much more interesting and deserving of respect rather than fear.” Terag could feel his anticipation rise, he wanted to get started and working on something but he tried to force himself to remain patient. “What else is there to know about the process before we begin? Or perhaps it would be better to show me? After we cover whatever else you feel I need to know first, of course.” Terag couldn’t his the twinkle in his eyes revealing his desire to see the magic at work. He was much more of a learn in the process sort of student. A dangerous type when working with magic, but he was going to take the process as carefully as possible. After all, he can’t learn more if he’s dead.

[Clyde Sullins]

Clyde shrugged somewhat noncommitally, agreeing but not fully to the Isur's statement.

“Anything can be used badly by the wrong person. With magic perhaps its a bit easier, and the damage perhaps a bit greater in some cases, but someone who wants to do so can do the same with skill and a blade. Magic is a tool, just like any other. You can't blame the tool for how it is used.”

“But yes, perhaps because of this a Magecrafter must consider how an item will be used before it is given away or sold. But then, the same goes for anything really. Or even for teaching. Of course, there are some steps that can be taken in regard to that, limiting the items effect or who can use it, which is unique to Magecrafting. But those aren't used very often, and it a subject for another time.”

“Best not to bog down the lesson while we are still going over the basics.”

Clyde frowned though at his question, of beginnings.

“Begin? What do you mean? Begin what? We've already begun the lesson. Show you? That was not our deal Terag.”

“We agreed, after two items I would give you a lesson, a practical one. Which is what we are doing now. After I received the other two, then we would do the hands on one where you aided me with some Magecrafting. But I've only received the first two.”

“This is all we are doing today. That is the end of the scope of our deal. Anything more waits for the other item. And anything beyond our past deal, such as learning other things, will require agreeing on a new deal and trade. But as we've yet to conclude the first, it would be premature to make a new deal.”

“Now the actual process itself, at its basics, is more or less straightforward in theory. Perhaps less so in application, but then that is always true.”

“First the item is placed upon a pedestal, preferably isolated with Glyphing. Djed is infused into the charging hammers from various materials, and then infused into the item. The change in effect is placed upon it, altering the items djed. Then once it is done the item is placed in a basin of specially prepared water, and cooled. Once the item has fully cooled it is done, and its effects are ready to be used.”