702
A corner of Intis.
"Steamships are too inefficient. Loen's new ironclad design is quite good. It's time to consider increasing displacement and speed. I think we could engrave magical patterns and ritual markings on the hull, putting magic and Beyonder powers to practical use in operating ships."
The speaker wore classical mage robes, his hood covering his eyes.
A large freighter lay in the port's shipyard. It had only been in service for a few years before being damaged in the recent great flood, and it had become the only usable vessel left in the port. All the other small and medium-sized fishing boats had been swept away. The small harbor town had no other mainstay industry, either. Everyone was counting on this ship returning to service as soon as possible to bring some psychological and financial comfort to their devastated home.
The Artisan sent by the Church of Steam and Machinery jumped down from the ship and complained to the Mystery Pryer Advisor, "Ever since we became enemies with Loen, our territorial waters have been almost completely blockaded. We can barely catch any fish. What do we need a ship for?"
The Mystery Pryer countered, "Why does a ship have to be in the sea?"
The Artisan looked at him, then at the ship. "If not in the sea, is a ship of this tonnage supposed to fly through the sky?"
"Why couldn't it fly?" The Mystery Pryer rolled up his sleeves, revealing arms far too slender compared with the Artisan's, then took the Artisan's hammer and nails. "I'll engrave a levitation Ritual Magic on the ship. All it needs is spirituality to power it and a prayer to the Sage."
Five minutes later.
Having barely managed to engrave a large circle a meter in diameter, the Mystery