Arcana and the Art of Getting Along

"Your generosity flows like a mighty river, and your wisdom shines like the sun."

Roland spoke with heartfelt sincerity.

Only when he accepted the staff did he notice the natural wood grain on its surface. Under the indoor Magic Lamps, it gave off a faint cherry fragrance that refreshed his spirits.

The entire staff had been painstakingly polished, leaving its surface smooth without being slippery. Every detail reflected the artisans' pursuit of perfection.

He estimated that its practical functions alone were worth at least 1,000 gold coins. Taking its appearance and quality into account, it would probably have to be specially commissioned from skilled artisans, adding considerable value.

Ovesto then chatted with Roland about everyday matters, including his living situation, his parents and family, and his friendships, gradually steering the conversation toward his progress in arcana.

Upon learning that Roland had recently been studying Ancient Elvish, he casually recited a short poem from the Third Dynasty in that language to test him.

Roland had not slacked off during this time and passed the test without trouble.

Eventually, the conversation naturally turned to his submission to "Arcana."

"I've already read your paper. Its conception is nothing short of genius!

Although I worry that excessive praise might cause young people to lose their way, you don't strike me as that sort. I hope you'll keep up your efforts and continue refining this arcane research."

"Thank you for your praise, sir. Over the next few months, I'll continue strengthening my foundations and work on refining the oracle-bone characters. My next step is to try bringing them into practical magical applications."

"Very good. Fame and fortune should not be life's highest pursuits, but neither can one do without them. Practical magical applications are clearly a good way to gain both."

"Would you have any advice, sir?" Roland promptly asked.

"I haven't studied your Oracle in depth, but after a brief look, I think it might prove useful in common fields such as Spell Scrolls and alchemy. You could give those a try."

"Thank you for your guidance, sir."

Roland had, in fact, already glimpsed a few possible directions, but he had not been certain of them. Ovesto's simple remark was undoubtedly a beacon showing him the way!

Ovesto continued, "In arcana, the knowledgeable aren't all-knowing, and the capable aren't all-powerful. Many subjects require deep, sustained study before you can master them.

Even the all-round scholars of the Enlightenment would find other disciplines as unfamiliar as distant mountains in today's age of exploding knowledge.

They might be very quick learners, but their time and energy are still limited.

Researching several fields all by yourself may not get you anywhere. Talk and collaborate with your classmates and friends. You might gain something from it."

Roland naturally understood that people learned at different paces and specialized in different fields.

He thanked him again.

Before their conversation ended, Ovesto told Roland that there were some rare books here that were unavailable downstairs. Whenever he wanted to read them, he could come up.

He could also take the bottle of wine they had opened earlier back with him and enjoy it at his leisure.

"Oh, one more thing," Ovesto added. "There's no need to be so formal and call me 'Your Excellency the Archmage' anymore. You can simply call me Teacher."

Roland froze for a moment, then caught on and replied delightedly, "Yes, Teacher!"

In theory, everyone who passed the entrance examination for this Mage Tower was Ovesto's student and could address him as Teacher.

But establishing that close bond between teacher and student was not something Atrelin's laws alone could sustain. It also depended on the people involved.

Only if he acknowledged you did you have that privilege.

"Roland, someone saw you heading up to the ninth floor. Did Lord Ovesto summon you?"

Feeling that he had gained a great deal, Roland left the ninth floor and returned to his quarters.

The Hourglass Formation had barely activated upon sensing a mage's approach when a Projection screen appeared in midair. Skord had left him a message through the tower's network.

"He just asked how I'd been doing lately."

Roland kept his reply understated.

"Roland, what's the ninth floor like?"

Yvonne was brimming with curiosity too and sent him a message.

"It's hard to describe in a few words, but it's definitely a wonderful place."

Their group was a circle of friends centered around Froya. Their conversation soon caught the interest of the senior students, who popped up to join in and ask all sorts of questions.

Remembering something, Roland created a private group and added Skord and Yvonne, his two classmates.

"Huh? What's up? Is there something you want to discuss privately?"

Although Skord often had the clear-eyed look of a fool, he was not actually stupid.

"There is something, yes. I'm not sure how much you know about Oracle."

"I've read your graduation thesis and the manuscript of your second paper recently, so I'd say I know a little."

"Then what do you think of its prospects for magical applications?"

"Applying language and writing to magic involves exploring runes, abstract concepts, resonance rates, and so on. Simply put, it means casting spells by investigating the rules governing signifiers and signifieds-the relationship between symbols and meaning. That's a fairly broad subject. Which aspect do you mean specifically?"

"Oracle is a writing system, so naturally we'd start by turning it into runes. Could we possibly use it on Spell Scrolls?"

"It looks like it should be possible...

But if we actually do that, there's no need to rush into using it for everything at once. We should start with numerals, nouns, and other things found in every writing system and use them as substitutes. That should simplify some of the transcription process."

What Skord meant was that, for instance, one two three in Chinese, one, two, three in English, and the Arabic numerals 123 could all be equivalent at the arcane level of "meaning."

Transcribing Spell Scrolls made use of these subtleties to some extent.

Yet although the principle was simple, putting it into practice required consideration of tense, parts of speech, singular and plural forms, writing formats, methods of magical application, and so on across different languages and scripts.

The gap was roughly equivalent to the difference between boiling water and generating electricity in a nuclear power plant.

Of course, it was not yet so easy for the two of them to produce anything substantial, but they were gradually grasping some of the principles of hydroelectric and thermal power.

Very satisfied with Skord's answer, Roland put forward the proposal he had long been preparing. "Let's work together. You provide the scroll application techniques, and I'll provide the support related to Oracle."

"Huh? That would be fantastic! To tell you the truth, I'd already been considering this myself. I just didn't have a research topic yet, so I wasn't sure how to bring it up."

Roland added, "Yvonne, you should join us too. You're a genius at translation. You can help us."

Yvonne asked in surprise, "Me too?"

"Of course," Roland said.

Strictly speaking, they would not actually have much use for translation this time.

But the three of them were the only new students in their year. They could hardly leave her out, could they?

The art of getting along was part of arcana too.