Chapitre 15: Chapter 15 - The Final Lesson
The following days passed quickly, and soon it was time for Lilly's next lesson with Eldrin. She was eager for it, armed with questions about enchantments and a growing curiosity about the looming war. The possibility that Eldrin might join the war weighed on her mind; if he did, she'd need to find another mentor.
Arriving at his door, Lilly knocked and entered without waiting, knowing Eldrin expected her.
"Hello, Eldrin!" she greeted.
"Hi, Lilly. Ready for your final lesson here?" Eldrin asked, his tone a mix of warmth and solemnity.
"Oh, it really is then?" Lilly's heart sank a little.
"I'm afraid so," Eldrin replied. "I'll likely be leaving for the war in a few days. Even if I weren't, there's not much more I can teach you."
"Do you have to go, Eldrin?" The concern in her voice was hard to mask.
"I do. It's my duty, both as a member of the Eldrian mage order and as a Woldner," he explained.
"Woldner... is that your family name?" Lilly asked, her curiosity piqued despite her worry.
"Yes, it's one of the oldest families in Eldoria. We've traditionally been in teaching and education. I chose a different path, venturing as an adventurer. My uncle is the current head of our family, but in this war, I might be the most useful of us all."
Lilly found herself torn between expressing her concern for Eldrin's safety and her eagerness to learn more about his family and the world.
In the end her curiosity led her to ask, "What's the mage order?"
"It's a network of skilled mages throughout Eldoria. Most powerful mages in the country are part of it. It's technically under the military's umbrella, so members often have obligations in times of war, depending on their role," Eldrin explained.
"Could I be part of that someday?"
"Absolutely, Lilly. Your potential as an enchantress is almost boundless. You wouldn't be expected to fight in times of war, but you might be asked to provide enchantments for the army."
Lilly felt a surge of pride at his words about her potential, mixed with relief that she wouldn't be expected to fight. She wasn't entirely opposed to the idea, especially with the power she might wield through the amulet, but she knew she needed much more preparation before considering something like that.
"Being in the order also means access to extensive learning resources and connections with other mages. Their main base is in the capital, Eldhaven, right next to the royal palace."
Lilly hesitated before saying, "I still don't want you to go, Eldrin. What if you get hurt, or worse?"
Eldrin sighed, a solemn look in his eyes. "That's a risk I need to take, Lilly. I don't trust Dortfell to show mercy if they win. We'll fight with the intention to end the threat completely. Remember, in a defensive war, morale is high as long as the defenders have something precious to protect."
Lilly nodded, understanding but still worried. "Okay, then. Just... do what you have to do and come back safely."
"I'll do my best, Lilly. Now, let's start the lesson," Eldrin said, a mix of determination and solemnity in his voice. "I've gathered all I know about the three advanced components of enchanting: transmutation, double enchanting, and celestial enchanting."
Lilly's face brightened with enthusiasm, ready to dive into the new information. "I can't wait to learn!"
They moved together to the study area, each taking a seat at the central table. Eldrin had arranged several books on it, each opened to key pages. Lilly leaned forward, her gaze eagerly scanning the pages.
"So, what do you know about transmutation?" Eldrin asked, his eyes studying Lilly's reaction.
"Isn't it about changing one material into another form?" Lilly responded, her expression one of concentrated curiosity.
"Yes, it's a distinct branch of magic," Eldrin confirmed, nodding. "But in enchanting, it's used to harmonize the magical material with the base item."
"Harmonize?" Lilly echoed, her brows knitting together in intrigue.
"Right, to make their energies sync up," Eldrin explained, his hands gesturing to illustrate the concept. "The enchantments you're making might have conflicting energies, which reduces their overall effect. Some forces might be working against what you're trying to do, while others only partly align. A truly perfect enchantment aligns all the forces in the material to work together. That's what you can achieve with transmutation."
"But, how do I know which direction they should align?" Lilly asked, a hint of confusion in her voice.
"The 'direction' is more like a metaphor, I think. It's hard to pinpoint exactly," Eldrin replied, his tone contemplative. "Have you ever felt the energies in the items you're enchanting?"
Lilly nodded, her gaze thoughtful. "I have, but it's hard to describe. Now that you mention it, they do seem a bit... off. I haven't really thought about how the material and base item interact."
"That's where you'll need to practice. Transmuting those energies to align them is key. It might take a lot of attempts to get it right, unless your amulet does the trick for you again," Eldrin said, a wry smile playing at the corners of his mouth.
"You sound a little jealous, Eldrin," Lilly teased, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
Eldrin chuckled, "I didn't mean to. I guess I shouldn't complain about inherited advantages, huh?"
"Yeah, mister ancient mage family being jealous of my baker inheritance?" Lilly joked, her laughter lightening the mood. "I bet that'd be the talk of the order."
"Indeed. But remember, the less people know about your amulet, the better," Eldrin reminded her, his expression turning serious.
"I know, I've been careful," Lilly assured him.
"Great. Now, I've got a transmutation spell here. Want to give it a shot?" Eldrin offered, shifting back to the lesson.
"Definitely!" Lilly responded eagerly.
Eldrin then brought out some magical materials for Lilly to practice with. He began teaching her the new spell, which, like her enchantment spell, allowed her to see through the items using mana. This spell, however, had an active component that altered the energies in the material, theoretically aligning them in a more harmonious way.
Lilly quickly grasped the basics of the spell and decided to test it on a scale, a shimmering piece that caught her eye. As she concentrated, the familiar web of magical threads unfolded before her, as vivid as ever.
She tried to focus more intently on the energies this time, attempting to discern their alignment and figure out how to adjust the misaligned ones. But it was more challenging than she had anticipated.
"I'm not getting this right away, Eldrin. I can sense the energies, but making sense of them is another story," she admitted, her brow furrowed in concentration.
"That's understandable," Eldrin replied, nodding empathetically. "I had similar issues when I tried. Why don't you activate the spell and see what changes?"
Following his suggestion, Lilly activated the spell, her attention fixed on the scale. She could immediately see the energies shifting, though not necessarily for the better. Despite the less-than-ideal result, she couldn't help but feel a thrill at the tangible effect of her efforts.
"The energies shifted, but it looks like I made them worse," she observed, a tinge of excitement in her voice. "But with some practice, I think I can improve this."
"That's the spirit," Eldrin encouraged her. "You've got the basics down. You can experiment with the amulet on your own from here."
Lilly nodded, already thinking ahead. "How much could a perfect transmutation boost an enchantment, do you think?"
"It varies with the material. Some are more misaligned than others. But a well-done transmutation could improve the result by at least 20%, I'd say. You should be able to tell how aligned a material is, so you can decide for yourself if it's worth it."
"That's a significant boost. I might need to start using stronger materials if I get the hang of this," Lilly mused, her mind already racing with the possibilities.
"Really? What kind of material have you been using?" Eldrin asked, his interest clearly piqued.
"Electrum. But the last enchantment I did almost maxed it out. It was for fire resistance. I was thinking about the war and protecting the people I care about when I finished it. It ended up being way more powerful than I expected, like over double the original strength," Lilly explained, her eyes reflecting the surprise she felt.
"Wh– over double!? Emotions usually don't have that much impact on enchantments. Is it because of the amulet? Or maybe it's your natural talent?" Eldrin seemed both astonished and curious.
"Is such an increase not normal? Then maybe it's the amulet again. I wasn't consciously focusing that hard on protection, but I was really worried at the time," Lilly mused, trying to make sense of it.
"That makes sense, given the situation. But with that kind of power, you might want to ask Eolande for some crystals, just to be safe. You don't want to overload any more items. The formation on this table should protect you, but it can't handle an excessive amount of mana," Eldrin cautioned her.
"Right, thanks for setting up the table, Eldrin. I know Elly must have nagged you about it," Lilly smiled gratefully.
"It was no bother. To make it I mean, Eolande was a bother," he smiled as he looked at her. "By the way, you can transmute an item even after you finish an enchantment,"
"Really? What would that do? Can you skip the initial transmutation if you do it afterwards?" Lilly asked, intrigued.
"No, they're for different things. The second transmutation adjusts the effects of the enchantment. It doesn't change how much mana it can hold, though. For instance, if you want to reduce the strength of a protection enchantment to make it last longer, you can do that. I'm not sure exactly how it works, but that's the general idea," Eldrin explained.
"I see, that could certainly be useful. So, what about double enchantment then?" Lilly asked, eager to learn more.
"Right, let's move on to that," Eldrin said, shifting gears. "Double enchantments are straightforward in theory: just add another enchantment on top of the first one. But in practice, it's tricky. The second enchantment has to maintain the integrity of the first one's system, and it needs more mana capacity than if it were the only enchantment. Two enchantments together will use about as much capacity as three individual enchantments on the same item. To keep the first enchantment intact, you usually have to limit its spatial presence in the item during the first enchantment, compressing it so the second enchantment has room. There's also a way to do multiple enchantments simultaneously, making them work together naturally, but that's a lot harder. Most of the time, you'll see enchantments done separately to avoid complications."
Lilly processed this, her mind racing with possibilities. "So, doing even more enchantments on the same item is possible?"
"Yes, but the more enchantments you add, the less efficiently you use the item's capacity. If an item can hold three enchantments and that fills it up, a single enchantment in their place could be made with eight times the power of each of those three. And the efficiency drops further with each additional enchantment. However, with something like an adamantium sword, which can hold a lot of enchantments, you could likely fit three or four powerful enchantments."
Lilly nodded, understanding dawning on her. "So, it's better for situations where I have more resources than skill to fully utilize them."
"Exactly. Adamantium isn't cheap, after all. So, in summary, double enchantments are useful and not too difficult once you understand the process, but they do have a trade-off in terms of the item's capacity," Eldrin concluded, laying out the complexities in a way that made sense to Lilly.
"Got it. But do the enchantments have to be the same type?" Lilly asked, trying to grasp the concept fully.
"No, they don't need to be the same, but they shouldn't work against each other," Eldrin explained. "For instance, combining a cooling enchantment with cold resistance would just waste mana, same as pairing displacement with a floating enchantment."
"Okay, I think I'm getting the basics. I just need to practice keeping the magical threads tight and compact before I try it. But what's celestial enchantment about?" Lilly inquired, her curiosity piqued.
"Celestial enchantment refers to enchantments that take into account three types of heavenly influences: time of day, time of month, and time of year. Each can affect your enchantments in different ways. If you time it right, you can boost the power of an enchantment by up to 60%," Eldrin shared, his tone indicating the significance of this technique.
Lilly's eyes widened. "Wow, that's a huge increase. But I guess you'd have to plan well in advance for the right timing, right?"
"Exactly. Such perfect timings are rare. The absolute best time is during the winter solstice, at a full moon, in the middle of the night. The second best is the summer solstice, also during a full moon, but in the middle of the day. These events don't line up often, so you're more likely to get a chance around midday at the summer solstice or midnight at the winter solstice, which can give you an increase of around 30%. A full moon alone gives a boost of about 20%," Eldrin detailed.
"That's really useful to know. It means I have several opportunities throughout the year to focus my enchanting towards," Lilly noted, her mind already planning.
"There are other times that can provide extra boosts, but those depend on star alignments and are unpredictable. And with that, I've taught you pretty much everything I know, Lilly." Eldrin concluded, a hint of pride in his voice at her progress.
Lilly paused for a moment, feeling a swell of gratitude. "Oh… Well in that case," she said, stepping forward to give Eldrin a hug. "Thank you so much, Eldrin. I know you've really gone out of your way to teach me as much as you could."
Eldrin, who usually seemed a bit uneasy with physical affection, accepted the hug, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"You have a lot of talent, Lilly, and you deserve a good teacher. Plus, I enjoy teaching. Don't feel like you owe me anything for these lessons," he said, gently releasing the hug.
"Still, you've been the best teacher I could have hoped for. Just a month ago, all this would've seemed impossible to me, and you've helped me get to this point," Lilly expressed, her voice laced with sincerity.
"I'm glad to hear that. I'll likely be leaving for the war tomorrow, so this might be the last time we see each other for a while," Eldrin said, a hint of sadness in his voice.
Lilly felt a pang of concern. "Do you have any idea how long you'll be gone?"
"No, not really. If the war is averted, I might be back in a few weeks. But if not, it could be months, maybe even years. Don't worry too much, though. I'm valuable to the country, so they'll try to keep me safe. And I can take care of myself," he reassured her.
Feeling a bit better, Lilly smiled. "If you're that confident, then I guess I'll see you later, Eldrin." She let go of him and began to pack her things.
"See you later, Lilly. And take care of Eolande for me, will you?"
"I will, don't worry about her," Lilly assured him as she headed out.
Pausing just outside Eldrin's house, Lilly turned for one last look at the familiar structure. It stood there quietly, a testament to the past month of learning and personal growth. She realized how much she had evolved from the uncertain girl who first stepped through those doors. Eldrin, with his vast knowledge and guidance, and Eolande, with her unwavering emotional support, had become pillars in her journey, far more significant than she could have ever imagined at the start.
As she gazed at the house, a mix of emotions swirled within her. There was a sense of accomplishment, certainly, but also a tinge of apprehension about the changes looming on the horizon. Eldrin's departure marked the end of an era in her life, yet it also heralded the beginning of another where she would have to navigate her path more independently.
Lilly knew that finding another mentor like Eldrin would be a challenge, especially with the secret of the amulet to safeguard. But now she felt equipped with the foundational knowledge to continue growing as an enchantress on her own.
'When's the next full moon?' she pondered, her thoughts shifting to the enchantments she planned to do. 'Can I wait to enchant the protective necklaces until then?' It was a question that needed some consideration, but not tonight.
With a final, lingering glance at Eldrin's house, Lilly turned and walked away, her mind already weaving plans for the future. There was a sense of determination in her steps, a readiness to face whatever challenges lay ahead, both in enchanting and in life.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone