Antimage: An Isekai LitRPG Adventure (Ends of Magic Book 1), page 56
He walked over. “It’s a way to make very weak natural lightning. How it works is another Insight. I want to use it to help me teach Stella how lightning works. I hope those magnets are pretty strong.”
Beatred nodded, gesturing at them. “They’re a forge-helping tool, great for picking up iron shavings. Helmug makes them himself. I have extras, just like you asked for. Here.” She handed him a spare, and Nathan picked up the strip of metal before tapping it against a few nails in the table.
Yup, magnetic. Pretty strong too. Maybe I should try to find this Helmug if he can just whip out magnets like this. Later – got a lot on my plate for now. I bet you could make some kickass compasses out of this. You know, I just realized I haven’t seen a compass on Davrar.
“Beatred, do you have compasses?”
She looked at him strangely. “What’s a compass?”
Nathan gestured at the magnet he was holding. “You suspend a small magnet in oil, and it points north.”
Beatred blinked. “It does? I don’t think that’s right.”
Nathan frowned. “Can we test it?”
A discussion later, Nathan was staring at a splinter of strong magnet… not spinning. It was suspended in a dish of lubricant that Beatred had lying around, and just sat there. “Huh.” He picked up the little dish and spun it around. The magnet spun with the dish, then just… kept spinning.
Weird.
He looked up at Beatred. “How do you know which way north is?”
She looked at him like he had grown another arm and was scratching his crotch with it. “We look outside. North is the direction where the mountains have snow on them.”
Nathan shook his head. This wasn’t why he was here, but he couldn’t resist it. He sat down and thought for a moment.
Either Davrar has no magnetic field, or it’s super-weak or something. Maybe the planet doesn’t have a spinning ferrous core? I remember that the Earth’s magnetic field has switched its orientation, and it might have gotten much weaker during that period. Maybe that’s happening now on Davrar?
I dunno man. File under the “cosmology” category. I think that’s over in the serological pipette drawer in the new Mind Palace. Along with Endings, the night sky, the sun, Davrar’s systems of classes and levels. Heck, magic itself. Hmm. Maybe I should subpartition that drawer. Bigger issues are bigger pipettes. And Davrar itself and all my hints about what it is are the pipette gun.
Mid-tier Enhanced Memory 10 achieved!
Nathan took a second, thinking back over the conversation they’d had before he got derailed learning the planet he was standing on didn’t have a magnetic field.
Right, metal filings.
“Do you have a spare bag of those shavings I can have? That would be useful.”
The big smith was still giving Nathan an odd look, but eventually she shrugged and moved over to a small pile of rough bags. “Indeed I do. I must admit I’m blasphemously curious why you want them, and what this strange device does.” She gestured towards the generator. “It’s harder to spin than it should be, and I’m not sure why. I’ve checked the axle, and it’s not grinding.”
Nathan grinned, checking the magnet orientations with the spare magnet. They seemed right. “That means it’s working. Well, not entirely. For what I want, there’s one more step. It’s hard to explain, but you can help me with it!”
They needed a brush that would convert the alternating current coming out of the generator into direct current, which was what Nathan had in mind for his explanations. It took a while to build, but Beatred had enough metalworking expertise that they were able to knock something together fairly quickly.
It wasn’t a great brush setup, and the wires made an annoying scraping sound as the generator spun. Sometimes they got bent out of contact and had to be fixed, but Nathan didn’t care too much. This was a tool for teaching, it didn’t have to be perfect.
Mid-tier Identify 2 achieved!
I guess this counts as a “strange object or effect,” and I am manipulating it.
After getting accidentally shocked, Beatred eyed him coolly. “I’d normally ask for the Insight behind how this blasted thing works as payment. But with how much time I’ve spent on guns, I think I’ll just ask you to pay me.”
Nathan paid the rather high price without grumbling. At this point, he was spending out of the various Adventurer rewards and not the cash Stanel had given him, but he wasn’t worried.
Money is honestly the least valuable currency I have. I get room and board as an Adventurer. I can’t buy fancy enchanted weapons. And anything that lets me trade money for respect and Insights is worth it.
With that, Nathan asked for a bag to drape over the crudely built generator before carefully carrying it back to the Adventurer’s Guild. It was bulky, and he got a few strange looks. But nobody stopped him, and Nathan got the device into the suite he shared with the Heirs.
Aarl was the only one there. He had various weapons laid out on every piece of furniture in the main room, examining his arsenal of swords, axes, maces, hammers, daggers, spears, staves, chains and pickaxes. A few larger and more exotic weapons were leaned up against the back wall, including a large scythe, a trident and several different variations on a blade-tipped staff. Halberd? Naginata? Guisarme? Nathan wasn’t sure of the names, but they were all variations on the theme of “sharp piece of metal on a stick.”
Aarl jumped a bit when Nathan came in, clearly not expecting any company as he basked in front of his polished and lethal horde.
Nathan paused in the doorway, examining the room. He looked to Aarl, who looked back with consternation.
After a moment of hilarious awkwardness, Nathan ventured a question. “Uh, can you clear the table so I can put this down?”
Aarl lunged forward to clear the table of its portion of the display, quickly dumping the set of daggers into the large dimensional pouch he’d set on the floor.
Nathan set the generator on the table, glad to put down the bulky object.
Aarl proceeded to clear the room pretty quickly, explaining as he went. “Sarah is with my dad. They’re going over an Insight for [Ranged Mastery]. I hope I’ll get to do that at some point, when my own [Melee Mastery] goes unique. She makes fun of me when I lay out my weapons like this. I just like seeing them all at once.”
The copper-skinned man was clearly uncomfortable and talking to cover it. They’d started to be more free with their secrets after Nathan had made his own confession. He knew that Aarl was currently a [Master of Melee], Khachi was a [Martial Cleric of Deiman], and Sarah was a [Ranged Specialist]. He’d already known that Stella was a [Mage of Elemental Fury].
Nathan didn’t say anything, just pulling the cover off the generator and checking that nothing had broken during the walk from Beatred’s shop. It also gave Aarl an opening to change the subject.
“What in all of the secrets of Kalis is that? I hope it’s not the weapon you’re giving Sarah. I don’t think she’ll like it.”
Nathan grinned, imagining that. It might be a good joke for later. “It’s for teaching Stella about lightning. Here.” He spun the wheel, watching to be sure the brushes were lining up. He had to speak up over the grinding of the generator. “Touch those two wires together.”
Aarl eyed the wide grin on Nathan’s face, but went ahead and grabbed both wires to tap together. They sparked very slightly and gave Aarl a light shock. He dropped the wires in alarm.
Nathan chuckled and stopped spinning the generator.
Aarl waved out his hand. “That felt like a lightning enchantment. Is that what you’ve got in there?”
Nathan shook his head, slapping the side of his device. “Nope. No magic involved. This thing makes really weak lightning when you spin it. That’s it.”
Aarl grabbed one last hatchet that had fallen between two couch cushions. “I have never heard of the like. That’s amazing. Who did you get to make it?”
Shrugging, Nathan explained. “It’s the same weaponsmith who is making the new weapon for Sarah.”
Aarl raised one dark and delicate eyebrow. “Any chance I can get something like that? You’re treating the women to all kinds of gifts, and none for me or Khachi! I suppose you’re helping Khachi with his divine magic, but that’s really more of being a practice partner. Got any Insights you can throw my way?”
Nathan thought for a moment. Was there anything he could get Aarl? He’d been planning to try to uncurse the swords they’d picked up earlier if he could.
But was there anything else he could do? Gemore had some pretty darn good steel already, and it wasn’t like he had an innovative design for a new melee weapon. He shook his head apologetically. “I know a few fighting styles from my home, but they’re mostly designed for unarmed combat. And you’re already better than anything I know. Sorry, I got nothing.”
Aarl reached out and punched Nathan in the shoulder, grinning to show there were no hard feelings. “It’s okay. Sarah’s really looking forward to whatever the new weapon is. I think she’s having a hard time not telling Stanel why she thinks it’ll be great.”
Nathan considered that. He appreciated that Sarah hadn’t told her father about him being from Earth. But the secret was out, and Nathan should consider letting the Heirs’ parents know himself, so he could control how they learned about it.
Maybe when he gave Sarah the guns? Maybe not. Nathan would have to see if it made sense.
He was about to tell Aarl about his plan to uncurse the Mage-Lord’s swords when Stella came back in.
She seemed more centered after spending some time with her parents, sighing and sitting down on a chair. Then, she saw the device on the table and gawked. “What is that?”
“That is how you’re going to learn about lightning.”
Chapter 62
A Growing Spark
Stella was immediately engaged, coming over to study the machine in detail. After a minute, she looked perplexed. “Okay, what does this have to do with lightning?”
Nathan pointed to the two wires coming off the brush. “When I spin this handle, those wires will get charged. Not strongly – you would need to touch them together for there to be a spark. But this device is a way to demonstrate the basic principles I was talking to you about.”
“She merits a warning,” Aarl complained from the side of the room. “I understand the lay of the land. I just get shocked.”
Stella turned and stuck her tongue out at Aarl but turned back quickly. She grabbed the two wires and gestured for Nathan to turn the crank.
He leaned his back into it, spinning up the generator and keeping it moving fast. Stella started tapping the wires together, giggling as small sparks zapped. After a minute, he slowed down and the sparking stopped.
Stella stood up, excited. “Okay! Great. So, tell me how this works!”
Nathan grabbed a slate and sat down. “So I told you before that when you have a moving magnetic field, that creates an electric field, right? That’s what’s going on here. It’s invisible, so you can’t see the field. But I can draw about what they would look like. Now, before we start looking at why that happens, we need to go over the basics of how electric and magnetic fields work.”
Nathan pulled out the two magnets and handed them to Stella. “Have you run across these before?”
Stella blinked, then took the magnets, sticking them together and then pulling them apart with a bit of effort. “Yeah, though they’re not used for much. Not magical, and they mess with some kinds of magic in weird ways. My dad has a couple of them, but more as curiosity pieces than anything else.”
Nathan pointed at the magnets fastened to the inside of the generator – they were almost touching the spinning coils of copper wire. “They’re sources of magnetic fields, but not a simple monopole. Here, let me draw what it looks like.”
Nathan started explaining the basics of magnetic fields, sprinkling some iron filings around the magnet on a table to demonstrate how the filings gathered on the magnet. He spent a few minutes spreading them out, showing how they followed the magnetic field lines.
Now we’re in the meat of it, but this is still going to take a while.
Low-tier Lecturing 9 achieved!
Several days later, Nathan was eating lunch with the rest of the Heirs. He had something to celebrate – he’d been running suicide drills the other day, pushing the limit of what Stamina and Rage could do for his physical abilities and incorporating a single, rapid handspring into each cycle.
Mid-tier Sprinting 5 achieved!
Low-tier Tumbling 9 achieved!
It had been a pleasant surprise, but Nathan supposed the training had been pretty intense. Probably beyond anything that a human on Earth could hope to accomplish, as a matter of fact.
He was still thinking about it, and considering if there were more intensive training drills he could do for [Tumbling] when Simla approached. His team had just come back from their own surprise mission and were basking in the praise of the other trainees.
Simla stepped up and addressed Nathan. “No more monsters in our way before graduation, eh? You ready to swear the Adventurer’s Oath in a few weeks, Nathan?”
Nathan looked at Simla and cocked his head. “What is the Adventurer’s Oath, Simla?”
Simla shrugged. “You’re not from Gemore, true enough. It’s the oath we swear at the end of training. It used to be sworn at the first Solstice after the Blooding Patrol, but I suppose that’s what this is now, hey?”
He ticked off on his fingers. “Around here, the Guildmistress is the one to tell the Tale of Endings, and then we swear on the Endings to defend Gemore. Not too high a bar, is it?”
Nathan looked around at the other Heirs. Aarl shrugged expressively. Nobody seemed to know where Simla was going with this. A few other people in the room were paying attention, but not very many. If Simla was trying to make this a grand confrontation, his stage presence needed work.
Nathan looked up at the golden-eyed man. “I will swear that oath.”
Simla clapped him on the shoulder. “Good, I’ll see you there.”
I have the feeling I missed something.
Nathan turned to the other Heirs. “Anybody know what that was about? Is the Adventurer’s Oath a big deal?”
Khachi shrugged. “It is and it isn’t. Traditional Adventurers put great stock in dividing the Adventurers who have sworn and those who haven’t. That is how Sudraiel took over the Guild, to raise the past to the present. When Kozar was the Guildmaster, he would prevent people from swearing the Oath if they were not ‘traditional’ enough. A cruel line to draw.”
He shook his head sadly. “Hear me, but a fine fighter does not always make for a fine Guildmaster. It was a good thing when the rest of the council kicked out Kozar and Sudraiel replaced him. She made it into an application. Any who have Adventured for Gemore and protected its interests can climb to the top of Gemore and swear upon the Seal at the Solstice. And any who finish the training process, of course.”
Nathan raised his eyebrows. “What’s the Seal?”
Sarah answered. “It’s an enchanted stone disk at the top of Gemore. Looks like a big stone portal set flat into the top of the mountain. Doesn’t do anything but light up on the Solstice. I’d offer to show you, but it’s one hell of a climb and the guards would probably stop us. One of the duties of the Guard is to protect the Seal. Every day but the Solstice, that is.”
Stella chimed in. “I’d ask my parents to fly us up, but, well.” She waved at Nathan, sighing dramatically. “Not something you can do. Maybe eventually I’ll be able to throw you that far.”
“Ha ha. Well, I’ll see it at graduation.”
A few days later, Kadid was waiting for Nathan when the Heirs broke from their group practice.
The old man greeted Nathan by muttering something about not enjoying being an errand boy, but with a small grin that suggested he wasn’t mad. They warmly gripped each other's forearms and walked towards Beatred’s shop.
“Beatred and Herdin have been dangerously quiet about what they are working on,” Kadid probed. “When you first mentioned the topic, you said it would involve an Insight, but I didn’t realize it would be this big. Something to bring Herdin out of retirement. I ask myself, what could have interested that old crone so?
“And I think, it couldn’t be a new weapon, no indeed. She’s worked on every weapon under the sky and invented some herself. My guess is a way to make alcohol from thin air. That woman is a demon with her infusions.”
Nathan shrugged. “We’ve sworn to not talk about it. So I won’t say squat.”
Kadid laughed, then shook Nathan’s shoulder lightly. “And it seems you won’t. I wish you luck, whatever you’re doing. It seems you’re becoming a true friend of the Bhos. Most of us may not fly as high as the parents of your new friends, but we’re the blood of Gemore. Stay safe, Nathan Lark.”
With that, Nathan walked into Beatred’s shop. Kadid closed and locked the door behind him as Nathan entered the workshop.
Poppy, Herdin and Beatred were all sitting around a workbench towards the back, admiring the items on the table.
Nathan had only been here once since he’d picked up the generator from Beatred, and it had primarily been to learn about curses from Herdin. As part of that, she’d given him a lesson on how enchantments worked. They weren’t a spell, and the mana flows in spells and enchantments weren’t even that alike. An enchantment guided mana so that a spell was cast, but it was like the difference between encoding a function into an operation on a chip, and building the function from component parts of code. That analogy, and understanding the difference, had awarded Nathan with a skill rank-up.
Mid-tier Spellsense 6 achieved!
Then they had moved along to practical curse breaking. The old enchanter had brought along a dagger with a curse that made the handle stick to your hand. There was a mundane sharpness enchantment woven into the weapon, and the challenge was to break the curse while preserving the other enchantment.
