He Doesn’t Decide Himself

Whilst Earnest was still thinking on the best course of action, he heard a noise from inside the base. It sounded like Rosalind had woken up and gotten out of the bed. Earnest stayed still as he considered getting out of his cover and trying to approach her, but realized that revealing himself might not be the best move. He continued to wait, until Rosalind left the base and went down the forest path as well. After waiting an additional moment to make sure that he was now alone, he emerged from the bushes and went back to the entrance of the base.

While there was a door, there was no handle or lock. The only thing that made it a door was its hinges. He pushed his way in and entered. He could now see more of the interior than before, but there really wasn’t all that much to see. In the center, there was a stool, an old chair, and a crate which the members sat on when they talked. Off to the side, there was the makeshift bed that Rosalind was just in. At the foot of the bed, there was an open box where he saw the charred black twig and berry come from earlier. At the head of the bed, there was a small table with a couple of small stacks of books on top. Looking beyond the furniture, he saw that the interior side of the wall with a window had two wooden pegs that held up a wooden sword.

It’s a common saying within the knights that a man’s sword tells you all you need to know about him, and after catching a glance of this one, it drew his curiosity. Walked to the pall and picked it up off its pegs, and quickly noticed that it wasn’t very worn. Usually wooden swords would be used for training, leading to plenty of chipping, dulling, and splintering on the “blade” and visible wear on the grip. This one had a couple of chips and dulling in some places, but it was clear that this sword was not used for much swinging practice, and had only made contact with something else a few times. He didn’t have to wonder who the sword belonged to, as Ricard’s name was carved into it above the grip.

Putting the sword back, Earnest made sure to place it on the pegs with the same side facing up. He didn’t want anyone to know that he was here at all. Well, Barnabas’s parents probably had an idea, since they gave him the directions, but he had a feeling that they wanted Barnabas out of the misfit boys, so they wouldn’t say anything to Barnabas or anyone else hopefully.

Earnest moved onto the box at the foot of the bed. Inside, he saw a pretty random assortment of small objects thrown in. The first object on top was the black twig that was used to draw on Barnabas’s forehead. He picked it up by the cloth grip on it, and noticed by its light weight that it was very likely to be charcoal. Earlier, he saw it used on skin, so it didn’t seem to be especially dangerous. He used his other hand to touch the tip of the charcoal. The moment the tip of his finger made contact with the black material, he instantly knew that this was no ordinary charcoal. Earnest immediately recognized that this material had magic conductivity, and the slightly nauseating feeling he got from it revealed to him that it was especially conductive for dark magic.

Earnest’s ability to recognize this was due to his magic tool and magic weapon training. High performing knights that showed great growth potential were given this training, as the military wanted as many elite knights with powerful weapons as possible. He had his magic energy capacity measured, and was found to have enough to activate these tools, so the training began. This consisted of basic magic theory so that the knights at least had a basic understanding of what they would be wielding. They learned about the intricate engineering of magic amplifiers, magic conductors, and magic patterns that came together to create a seamless and effective killing tool.

If one were to witness a powerful mage cast a destructive spell that would turn even the most steadfast armies into fleeing cowards, that mage would certainly be holding a magic staff, usually taking the appearance of a large orb or crystal inset into a long body of wood or metal. There was a reason for this, as these staves were largely all variations of the same design. The long body served as a conductor for magic energy, which would flow into the amplifier at the top. Once the energy had been amplified, these skilled mages would harness it with a magic pattern to unleash godly phenomena on the battlefield. However, these were the naturally talented, blessed with high magic capacities granted by God. The tools that he and the knights used were far less impressive, but still useful.

For the elite knights that were able to use magic tools, they were unbeatable when faced by a conventional soldier. Elite archers were able to shoot farther and more accurately than imaginable, striking targets that thought they were at a safe distance. Lancers were able to pierce straight through any obstacle, whether that be a heavy tower shield, the armor of the poor soul behind them, or their flesh and bone. Earnest himself was trained to become a magic swordsman. All it took was a little bit of magic energy to activate the magic pattern on the sword grip, which in turn activated the flow of magic energy to an amplifier in the hilt, which then filled a magic pattern across the blade. He himself had a sharpening effect on his blade, allowing it to slice through opponents’ swords and armor with ease.

This was not the only way to use a magic sword, as many different swords and styles could take advantage of different effects. One of his comrades wielded a rapier, which had two effects. The first was to lighten the weight of the blade, allowing its user to maneuver the blade at imperceptible speeds. The second was to extend the tip, catching opponents by surprise with a piercing lunge from yards away. Another one of his comrades wielded a heavy blade, which had the magic pattern for increased weight. He would activate it mid swing to increase its power, demolishing enemies with a gruesome power, even cleaving horses into pieces.

From what Earnest knew about conductors, he was likely holding the burnt branch from a wicked tree. Magic trees were rare and valuable, as the wood from such a tree acted as a fantastic conductor for magic energy. Magic trees also had elemental affinities as well, most having affinity with nature and earth related patterns. One variant of these was the wicked tree, which grew upon ground that was tainted by dark witches or warlocks. Even a mere twig from these trees could harm anyone who made direct contact with it, causing their flesh to rot instantly, however it was possible to make them safe to use by burning them into charcoal first.

He was holding a magic conductor, meaning that Rosalind drew a real magic pattern on Barnabas’s forehead. He couldn't see the details of the pattern when he was spying on them, so he couldn’t know what the effects were, but the fact that the misfit boys had access to this was incredibly dangerous. He hoped that Rosalind was not dabbling with dark magic, as almost all applications of it were strictly forbidden by the kingdom and feared by the people. Hopefully, they just used this material because it was the only conductive material they could get, and didn’t make use of its affinity to profane magics.

He placed the burnt wicked branch to the side and returned to the box. Next up were the berries that he saw Barnabas apply to his forehead. There was still an unused half, so he touched his finger against it. The juice quickly numbed his finger. Earnest wiped his finger on his clothes, and supposed that this was why they were called “numberries”. He wondered why he had never heard of them when he was training in first aid.

He moved on to the next item on the pile, a small rounded pink crystal, smaller than a chicken’s egg. As he touched it, he again recognized it as a magical item, this time being an amplifier. However, Earnest knew by its size and feeling that it was a very weak one. A catalyst of this magnitude wouldn’t even be powerful enough to be used in the simplest of magic tools. He brought it closer to his face and inspected it closely, and noticed it had magic patterns carved into it. Amplifiers themselves did not strictly require conductors to be magic tools. It was possible to have magic patterns carved directly onto them to create magical effects. However, this wasn’t possible for strong amplifiers, as directly touching one to supply magical energy would damage flesh on contact. Strong amplifiers, such as the ones used in scepters and wands, had to be placed at the end of a conductive material like magic wood. Earnest held the weak amplifier in his palm, wondering what it could be for. He could satiate his curiosity by activating it, but he recognized that this thought was incredibly foolish, and placed it aside.

He reached the bottom of the box, and the rest of its contents were fairly mundane. A hammer with some nails, a spare hinge, and some dirty rags. He placed the pink crystal, the numberries, and the burnt wicked branch back into the box, then moved to the table at the head of the bed. There was a variety of books that were in a couple of small stacks on top of the table. Earnest leaned down and tilted his head to read the titles on the binding of books. The books that were on the bottom of the pile were generally novels and stories, but the books on top of them took a genre shift. They were books on magic mechanics, and judging by the titles, largely introductory. The topmost book, however, did not have a title at all, nor even much of a binding. Unlike the other books, which looked like officially published and sold products, the topmost book appeared to be a personal journal, one that had seen many years of usage and wear.