Aegis continued where it left off in response to Zephyr. 'As part of my duty to be of assistance to you, I've been observing how you cast spells to see how it could be done better, and although I have no access to your mana core directly, I can already make some assumptions based on some observations.'
"What assumptions?" Zephyr slowed his walk in anticipation. The way he was walking absentmindedly and muttering to himself would have made anyone watching him suspicious, but thankfully there weren't any soldiers patrolling the area right then, so he was safe.
'Whenever you try to cast magic… it's almost like your intent has to wait in line to be understood before it is shaped and then finally released... That process is very similar to something I know very clearly...'
"Which is..?"
Aegis paused in what seemed like deliberation for a second or two before eventually responding.
'A CPU... It's also used to carry out commands, but compared to your mana node, it handles information step by step, breaking big tasks into small, defined parts, handled by things called transistors.'
'Another loss in translation,' Zephyr thought. He didn't want to point it out when Aegis mentioned that 'CPU' thing — in his mind, it translated to something like a processor or an executor — but this... 'transistor', there was totally no frame of reference for it in his mind.
Surprisingly, Aegis expanded further. 'Think of them like tiny little gates. And each gate only decides one thing- Yes or No. But when many of them are working together, they can take huge, complex commands and break them down into fast, clear actions."
"...So like a mana node, but with smaller specific processes..." Zephyr was starting to see how this could help him. Imagine his mana node had even smaller sub-nodes.
"Well, that's great and all, but how would I go about creating these 'transistors' at all?"
'...There should most likely be a way. I believe it is very likely that other people might have also noticed the multi-purpose-like structure of mana nodes and tried to break it down into separate clear sub-structures.'
'I suggest starting from the books said to be available with points. Expanding your knowledge base would be to your benefit. You may learn something more about mana nodes.'
"That would mean I'll have to aim for the top spots also..." He rubbed his face in exasperation.
'Yes, Host. It is of the utmost importance.'
Zephyr sighed. Utmost importance..? This was the first time Aegis didn't seem to be just suggesting...
He didn't mind though. His curiosity was also piqued. The possibility of finding something that would help him not suck this hard at spellcasting sounded good to him. If Aegis was right, that meant even the nobles might already have an idea about this...
"Well, we'll see," he breathed out.
"I have to go all out from now on though. There's no need to think too much, I can always blame it on my bloodline anyway."
Growl.
Zephyr held his stomach, just realising how hungry he was. He'd lost himself in his talks with Mistress Alyra, and by now, the rest of the recruits were probably finishing supper.
He looked around and took off towards the center of the settlement where their dorms and mess hall were.
"I hope there's still food."
In the dark recess of a corner, a pair of eyes, stared on as he left, before slowly fading into the shadows.
Zephyr got to the mess hall just as some people began to finish up and trickle out.
Anna and Helga, along with Cedric and Zeke, were all sitting together eating. Zeke was the one to spot him first, raising an eyebrow in a questioning gaze.
Zephyr simply waved first, he had a more pressing matter at hand. He was hungry.
He rushed to get a serving quickly. The server— a grumpy-looking lady— hesitated at first, checking a record beside her, but when she saw that Zephyr hadn't been given any food previously, she grudgingly dished out his food.
Zephyr accepted it and went to sit at the table with the others.
"Where have you been, Zephyr? I was just asking Cedric whether we should go look for you after we finished eating," Anna asked.
"Yeah sorry, I got caught up in rune inscribing and lost track of time."
"So you're really a rune inscriber? Anna told me and I was surprised," Zeke said.
Zephyr started to dig into his food, talking between bites. "Yeah I am. And why are you all acting like it's so surprising?"
"No, I mean, you just don't look it..." Anna chuckled.
"And how do rune inscribers usually look?"
"Snobby—"
"Pompous—"
"Their noses are always held high, nearly even touching the sky—"
They all spurted out in short bursts. It seemed they had similar experiences with rune inscribers.
"What? All rune inscribers?" Zephyr asked with a mouthful.
"All— well maybe not all, but most human rune inscribers are very pompous," Zeke stated.
"Yeah, it's a talent that you either simply have or you don't. And spoiler alert, most people don't. Especially humans," Anna raised a finger.
"We're the ones with the least talent for rune inscribing among all the superior races. So the few who have the talent are usually very snobby because they are in high demand."
Zephyr paused eating as he listened. "Man, there's so much I don't know. Maybe because I just never bothered. The only other runesmith I knew was my master."
"Let me guess, he is not a human?" Anna asked matter-of-factly.
"Yeah, he's a dwarf."
"Ha! That's why."
"..." Zeke tilted his head in contemplation.
"A dwarf... The only dwarven rune inscriber in the whole city of Rhys is... What was his name again?... Bjorn?... Yeah, Bjorn."
"Wait that's true—" Anna's head snapped to Zephyr.
"And I heard that dwarf has the worst temper. So many families have tried recruiting him all to no avail."
"I heard even the Ryvelin family tried recruiting him, but he still also turned them down... Blatantly too. And they took it like that without ever doing anything." Cedric chipped in.
Zephyr was hearing some of these for the first time. He knew Old Bjorn had turned down a lot of exclusive requests for his services, but not to this extent. Even the Ryvelin family? The ruling noble house of their region?
'So I guess this means even Old Bjorn has some great background.' Zephyr sighed.
'What's next? I find out my mother's a princess from some lost elven family?' he mused.
"I've never heard of him having an apprentice though..." Cedric continued.
Zephyr turned back to his food before responding, "Yeah, no one really knows that. Most people just think I'm the sales boy or something."
"That means you must be really good then?" Zeke asked.
"...Yeah."
"...Well, if you're ever in need of a job, if becoming a combat mage doesn't work out for you, the Stone merchant family would welcome you with open arms." Cedric extended an invitation.
"The same offer stands from the Goldryn merchant family." Anna quickly added.
"The same from the Marreck family." Zeke made sure not to miss out.
Helga waited till they were all finished before she added quietly, "Whatever any family would offer you, the Braldur family would offer you double."
Zephyr was just about to thank them and turn them down lightly when Helga said that, stilling the whole table... except Anna, who sighed like she expected it already.
Zeke made to say something, but held himself back, contemplating as he stared at Helga. He didn't know her family. He knew Anna and Cedric's family, but not hers, so he held back from saying anything yet.
"T— Thanks guys. I don't have plans for anything like that yet, but I'll keep the offer in mind," Zephyr quickly said to ease the slight tension on the table before quickly switching to another subject.
"So, are you guys prepared for tomorrow?"
That seemed to break the icy atmosphere as everyone fell into contemplation again. Tomorrow was going to be another gruelling day. In particular, the combat training.