Chương 28: A Perfectly Simple Request

"I am terribly sorry, sir," Iris said as she followed a sailor through one of the Katamaran's long hallways, keeping her head bowed while Gloria walked beside her.

"That was an appalling way to conduct myself aboard your vessel." Rounded windows occupied much of the outer wall, granting passing glimpses of Ural while lamps hung between cabin doors on the opposite side and cast their light across a floor polished brightly enough for Iris to see her own mortified reflection following beneath her. A sailor only laughed and continued leading them deeper into the ship.

"Nothing to forgive, miss. You reached the railing, which already places you among the more considerate half of our passengers. Last month, one man wasn't as considerate and threw up all over three crewmen, a luggage cart and someone's grandmother, so as far as I am concerned, your arrival was dignified."

Iris accepted the reassurance with a miserable nod, then raised a hand and spread her fingers as a current of heated air stirred against her palm, sweeping upward across her clothes and sending the damp ends of her hair fluttering around her face. She guided the wind over herself several times in quick succession, drying the last traces of slime clinging to her body.

Gloria tilted her head and watched Iris in open wonder, her eyes following every sweep of the heated current with such complete concentration that she scarcely appeared aware of anything else around them. The sailor continued along the curving passage, giving Iris enough time to wrestle her hair back into something presentable before resuming the explanation he had begun while leading them away from the landing area.

"Since this is your first voyage, there are a few places worth knowing about before I leave you to explore; the uppermost deck contains the main viewing gallery, where most passengers will gather to watch the departure show, although every outer hallway has windows much like these, so you may remain indoors and still see nearly everything without fighting through the crowd."

Iris glanced through the nearest window, where another tendril could be seen carrying a passenger toward the vessel, and immediately returned her attention to the corridor.

"The windows will be quite sufficient."

"A popular choice among those who have recently become acquainted with the railing," the sailor replied.

"The level beneath this one holds most of the Katamaran's entertainment, including the central area, shops, public baths and several halls where performances continue throughout the voyage, while the restaurants occupy the adjoining section beside the main all-you-can-eat dining hall. There is also an aquatic park farther toward the stern, along with enough smaller attractions that listing everything would keep us standing here until we reach our destination." He took a breath before continuing.

"If you become lost, follow the colored markings along the floor or ask any member of the crew," he said as they passed two attendants pushing a cart heaped with folded towels." There are considerably more of us aboard than you have encountered so far, and anyone wearing this uniform will answer whatever questions you may have, although I fear I must return to the landing area before the next group arrives."

He withdrew the two tickets that he had collected from them minutes earlier and examined the numbers stamped along their edges, comparing them against the doors as they walked.

"Cabin One Hundred and Forty-Nine… which places you right here!" The sailor produced a narrow silver key, placed it in Gloria's hand and offered both women a courteous bow.

"Here we are, my ladies; the window inside should provide a respectable view of the departure show if you decide against visiting the gallery. If you will excuse me, I must go now."

"Your assistance has been most useful, and I wish you fortune in the battle awaiting you above," Gloria replied, inclining her head as the sailor laughed and hurried back along the corridor.

"Farewell." She watched him disappear around the curve, content with what she had learned despite receiving no proper tour. Once his footsteps faded, Gloria unlocked the cabin and pushed open the door, though Iris remained in the hallway for a moment longer while staring after him.

"Lady Gloria, do you believe he told that story merely to make me feel better, or does this truly happen that often?" Iris asked as she followed Gloria inside and closed the door behind them. Gloria dismissed the concern with a faint scoff.

"It should not matter, Iris, for the incident was trivial, and no sensible person would judge your worth by the contents of your stomach."

"The Mighty is being far too generous," Echidna declared from the ring, her voice filling the cabin before Iris could take comfort from the reassurance.

"The child's display was profoundly embarrassing, and such disgrace from one permitted to accompany the Mighty reflects poorly upon her magnificence." Iris closed her eyes and drew a slow breath through her nose.

"I had almost begun to feel better."

"Then Echidna has performed her duty correctly." The ring replied, sounding thoroughly pleased with her contribution. The cabin beyond them was undeniably beautiful, with polished dark walls, pale-blue carpeting and brass fittings, although its careful arrangement gave it the impersonal elegance of a room designed to offend no one and remain memorable to equally few.

Two broad beds occupied opposite sides of the space beside matching tables and wardrobes, a separate door opened into a private bathroom, and an enormous window replaced nearly half the outer wall, offering a sweeping view of the outside. Gloria crossed the room and settled upon the edge of the nearest bed, finding the mattress soft enough to sink beneath her, while Iris inspected the bathroom and placed her satchel carefully upon one of the tables.

"I have heard a great deal about the exceptional service aboard the Katamaran, although I must confess that these accommodations do not appear particularly different from those aboard a White Whale."

"That should hardly surprise you, since both vessels cater to those willing to pay for comfort," Gloria replied, testing the mattress with a small bounce before allowing it to settle beneath her.

"I am more surprised to learn that you have traveled aboard a White Whale, for their passengers did not appear especially welcoming toward ordinary adventurers."

"I had the opportunity during one of my quests, and while the journey consumed a painful portion of my payment, reaching Gold rank improves one's social standing by a remarkable degree," Iris explained as she approached the unoccupied bed.

"People who might have ordered me away from the boarding grounds a few years ago now seem delighted to discover that they have a Gold-ranked adventurer aboard." Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. She began lowering herself onto the mattress opposite Gloria, only to stop when Gloria raised a hand and patted the open place beside her.

Iris blinked, glanced briefly toward her and then brightened as she crossed the space between them, taking the offered seat with her hands resting neatly upon her knees.

"I possess very little tolerance for wasted time, whether it belongs to me or to someone placed under my guidance, and since we have a quiet room, the necessary materials and at least an hour before the Katamaran departs, your study of magic shall begin now," Gloria announced, turning slightly upon the bed so that she could face Iris more directly. The Archer recoiled, though surprise swiftly gave way to such unrestrained delight that she nearly sprang back to her feet.

"Now? Truly, Lady Gloria? I would be honored! Whatever you require of me, I am ready to begin."

"Your familiarity with magic should spare us from wasting effort upon its most elementary principles, although I must first understand how you believe those principles function," Gloria replied.

"Take one sheet of paper and one of the pens you purchased, then place them where we can both reach them." Iris hurried to the table, opened her satchel and withdrew the named items. She carried one of each back to the bed, and Gloria examined the sheet, finding it broad enough to accommodate several circles without forcing their lines too close together.

"Before I show you anything, describe what occurs within your mind whenever you cast a spell," Gloria instructed.

"Set aside the names you have learned and explain the process itself, beginning with the moment you decide upon an effect." Iris rested the paper across her knees and considered the question.

"Magic begins with imagination, although imagining the final result alone is rarely sufficient, because the caster must understand how that result is reached and hold the important stages clearly enough for mana to follow them. If I wished to create wind, for example, I would gather mana near my palm, give it motion, decide its direction and then maintain the desired force until the spell was released."

"And the limit imposed by your mana?"

"No amount of concentration can create an effect whose cost exceeds what the caster possesses," Iris answered.

"The image may be perfectly clear, yet if the mana required to realize it is beyond the caster's capacity, the spell will simply refuse to form. Greater familiarity can remove unnecessary waste, and a precise image is usually cheaper than a confused one, although neither allows us to create power from nothing." Gloria nodded as the system began arranging itself more clearly within her thoughts.

"Then consider a simple fireball: would you imagine the flame being created, the heat gathering within it, its movement through the air, its expansion during flight, the moment of contact and the damage inflicted upon whatever it strikes?"

"The first five, certainly, though what happens after impact is usually governed by the structure the caster has already established." Iris replied, her expression brightening as she realized that Gloria was testing the boundaries of her knowledge rather than asking for a rehearsed definition.

"A sufficiently skilled caster could attempt to imagine the flames spreading through armor or burning particular parts of the body, but doing so requires an extraordinary degree of concentration for very little improvement. Most people would cast more slowly, and maintaining several spells at once would become almost impossible."

"Then how do you manage those stages during battle without considering each one separately?"

"Practice," Iris explained.

"Once the same spell has been cast enough times, much of the process becomes instinctive, much like drawing a bow after years of repetition. I no longer need to examine every movement of the air when using my wind magic, though the structure remains within my thoughts, and any attempt to alter the spell forces me to consider those details again."

The crimson ring remained unusually quiet while Iris spoke, and Gloria suspected that Echidna was listening with the same attention she gave to every unfamiliar fragment of the present age.

"How peculiar," the goddess eventually murmured.

"Mortals must carry the entire shape of their magic within their thoughts and rebuild it whenever they desire even a minor alteration."

"Precisely," Gloria agreed, raising one hand between herself and Iris.

"The magic of our age approaches the same problem from another direction, for the caster places those instructions within a structure before releasing the spell. Your method stores its design within the mind, while ours gives that burden to geometry." She extended her claw and drew a thin ring of white mana through the air, closing it with a single, unbroken motion before adding a narrow symbol shaped like a forked bolt at its center.

The completed circle hovered before her hand, every line remaining perfectly still as Gloria supplied the small amount of mana required to awaken it. [Funke] A pale thread of lightning sprang from the circle with a crisp snap, crossed several meters of open space and dissolved harmlessly before reaching the opposite wall.

"For that spell, I required no image of electricity gathering within my hand, no imagined path through the air and no vision of what might occur upon contact," Gloria explained as the circle faded.

"My attention remained upon the completed formation, because its outer boundary contained the mana, while the symbol within determined what that mana would become. Once every necessary instruction had been placed correctly, the circle performed the process on my behalf." Iris stared at the empty air where the spell had appeared.

"Then the caster does not need to understand how lightning is created?"

"A deeper understanding of an element grants the caster better judgment when choosing which spell to employ, for one who has studied lightning will know whether a narrow discharge, a branching arc or a sustained current best suits the target before them," Gloria replied.

"The circle itself places little value upon such knowledge, however, and two people who reproduce the same formation with equal precision and supply it with the same mana will achieve nearly identical results, even if one understands every principle governing the element while the other's mind contains nothing beyond the pattern being drawn.

Knowledge becomes truly valuable when selecting between established spells or altering their construction, and you will attempt neither until you can form the foundations without error."

"And their cost?" Iris asked, glancing toward the fading afterimage left within her vision.

"Could I cast that spell with my present mana?"

"The cost of circular magic offers considerably less room for negotiation than your own," Gloria said, lowering her hand.

"Every established spell belongs to a tier determined by its complexity and the burden it places upon the caster, and once a formation has been completed, repeating it under the same conditions will demand the same proportion of that caster's mana each time. Greater skill may allow you to draw the circle faster, maintain it more steadily or alter its construction, yet you cannot persuade an unchanged spell to accept less mana merely because the price has become inconvenient to you."

Iris looked down at her hands, measuring those words against everything she understood about spellcasting.

"Then someone with little mana would be unable to use the higher tiers, regardless of how clearly they understood the circles."

"Correct, although the lowest formations should remain safely within your capacity, and Funke belongs among the simplest spells I could offer you," Gloria assured her.

"I see no reason why you should not begin learning it today, provided that you can satisfy the requirements preceding any attempt to cast it."

"Today?" Iris repeated, her excitement returning with such force that the paper shifted upon her knees.

"You truly believe I could use magic from the Golden Age before this voyage ends?"

"I believe the possibility deserves to be tested," Gloria replied. She took the paper from Iris and rose from the bed, carrying it to the nearest table before laying it flat. Gloria smoothed the corners of the sheet, placed the pen beside it and stepped away to grant Iris sufficient room.

"Before you learn them, I require a demonstration of the control you already possess." Iris approached the table and looked at the blank sheet with solemn attention.

"What must I do?"

"Draw a perfect circle," Gloria answered.

"Use a single line, lift neither the pen nor your hand until it is complete, and make no corrections after the two ends meet."