Chapter 16: What Can You Learn from a Spark? (Part 1)
Mia led the group west for the rest of the day without incident. They stopped for a brief lunch on a hilltop clearing after Mia cast a 'silver protective barrier' spell. After they ate lunch was when she talked to Ethan more about technology and about magic.
"...And that's how the smartphone camera works" Said Ethan after explaining yet another function of the smartphone.
[Incredible. With this I can create a painting instantly, and that painting will have perfect accuracy. Perfect accuracy! With a 'photograph' in front of you, it would be easy to instantly remember an image with perfect accuracy! Now that I think about it, this would be the perfect tool to help me bend the rules of the game 'Kartenmerken' and beat the Minister of Agriculture, Frank Von Weizen in gambling in order to get him to owe me a huge debt which I will forgive if only he would vote to remove Otto Von Geld from his position as Minister of the Treasury. After all, Frank Von Weizen's favorite game is Kartenmerken, which would be easy to win after I take a picture of the cards.] Thought Mia.
'Kartenmerken' was a popular card game that many nobles played in the Vorbei Kingdom. How it is played is that there are two players and a moderator. The amount that is being wagered is decided by the players ahead of time and told to the moderator. The two players are sitting beside each other with a small table with a grid of 16 rectangles, with each rectangle being the size and shape of a card, drawn on the table in front of each of the players and with a stack of 16 cards at the center of the table, with each individual card being different than the other 15 cards. There is a curtain separating the two players so that they can not see eachother or each other's tables or cards. The Moderator also has a table several meters in front of the players with 16 cards laid out on the grid on the table and a curtain in front of it so that neither of the players can see it. When the game begins, the moderator removes the curtain in front of his table and the two players have 16 seconds to try to memorize the positions of the moderator's cards. The players may make notes on parchment if they wish, and use whatever memory trick but may not move their cards yet. After the time is up, the moderator puts the curtain back up in front of the table so that the players can no longer see the cards, and the players may begin to move their cards. They have 160 seconds to try to get their cards arranged on their grid as close to the moderator's cards as possible. The player who is closer after 160 seconds wins. If the two players are equally close, they play again to break the tie.
[Kartenmerken is a challenging game for those with the best of memories, but Frank Von Weizen is famously good at it, getting on average fourteen cards positioned correctly when he's sober, or an average of twelve cards positioned correctly when he's drunk. It is said among the gambling community at the capital that he has a 'memory like a steel trap'. Many audacious young gamblers have tried to challenge him for the title 'World Champion of Kartenmerken', but none have thus far succeeded in beating him, and only lose all of their money to this national minister. The ones who do the worst at this game are the ones who try to take notes because 16 seconds just isn't enough time to get the information all written down on parchment, even if a 16 rectangle grid were drawn on the parchment ahead of time. That was the reason why notes on parchment are allowed, because they bring no clear advantage. But, with this smartphone, things will be different. I can bet him a fortune and then just take a photograph of the moderator's cards, and then effortlessly get a perfect 16 cards correct. After all, there is technically no rule against using smartphones. It could even be argued that it's just a more effective form of taking notes on parchment. I'll have him voting to remove Von Geld in no time. With this smartphone as my weapon, I shall vanquish that Treasury Minister.] thought Mia while smiling maniacally.
"Well, it looks like you're planning something over there. Just don't go too overboard with the camera function. Anyway, I have a question about magic for you." Said Ethan.
"What's your question?" Asked Mia while looking a little embarrassed that Ethan had once again seen her 'plotting something' face.
"It's actually about that 'delayed spark' spell that you taught me the other day. Do people in this land use it for anything other than starting fires?" Asked Ethan.
Mia was a little a little surprised hearing him ask this. Sure, the 'delayed spark' spell was somewhat useful to beginner magic users and for commoners who couldn't afford much mana potion because of the ease of casting it and the low amount of mana used, but serious magic users hardly ever used it, and certainly wouldn't use it for anything other than starting fires. It was only because of the very specific need of the gunpowder devices and the fact that they were low on mana that Mia had thought to use it in the battle, but that was unusual circumstances and even then, it could still sort of fall under the use of 'starting fires'.
[Could it be? Has he found some other use for this spell that I and most of the other prominent magic users had dismissed as a basic level spell useless to serious mages? I should pry to find out more.]
"What else would people use it for?" Mia asked.
"For example, do people set the conditions for the spark to go off to get any strange utility out of the spell?" Ethan said
[What other utility is there? It just creates a spark.] Mia thought
"For example?" Mia asked.
"Like, could the magic caster gain any information from the 'delayed spark' spell?" asked Ethan.
[Information? What can you learn from a spark?] Thought Mia.
"What can you learn from a spark?" Asked Mia.
"What I learned from a spark is that the Western Empire is planning on attacking the Vorbei Kingdom and starting another war in two months, eleven days, and sixteen hours, and I can prove it to you." Said Ethan.
"WHAT?!" Said Mia.
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