บท 28: Magic demonstration

"Can we see the process?" Savine asked.

"I'm afraid yer pretty dresses and blouses will turn black as a coalminer's wife. Moreover, it's gonna be hot as hell in there."

Savine shrugged. "Don't worry about us."

The blacksmith sighed and beckoned them. He normally probably didn't allow people inside, but since it was a magic tool, he needed to make some concessions. He went into the shared house with the furnace and shouted.

"Yuri! What's got you stuck in there for so long?"

A youth of about 18 was inside, hammering a longsword.

"It's the… Nothing!" he shouted, putting the sword away.

The blacksmith stared at Yuri and the sword he put away, but sensing the three ladies behind him, he didn't start berating the kid.

"Finish it later! I've something to do in there. Get out!"

Yuri went running and the blacksmith glared at the red hot longsword. He chucked it into the water without care and scoffed under his breath.

"Youths and their heroic fascinations. Bah."

He then headed towards a rack and picked one piece up. It was a circular brand, but the circle was completely filled with metal in the middle. There were many other similar pieces in the room, half-finished products that could be turned into anything.

Without waiting, the blacksmith heated the metal and started punching holes to form a cross. Gradually, the holes became wider and wider and the piece was slowly taking on the same shape in the drawing. Finally, he started sanding the pieces.

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't up to Savine's standard.

She leaned towards Eliseline and whispered.

"What are your affinities?"

"?"

"Your magic affinities. Since you can use sound-blocking magic, I assume it's air?"

"Ah, yes, it's Fire and Wind," Eliseline said.

It was a good combination.

"But you can still use other elements, right?"

"Yes."

"In that case, I want you to imagine a spell for me. Visualize a material made completely out of that sander."

Eliseline looked confused, but she pulled out her Vasa. Compared to Savine's it was much larger and denser.

"A sandpaper?"

"Yes, but the shape must be like a flattened ball. Or maybe a cone."

At the tip of Eliseline's Vasa, the object materialized.

"Now, put a hole here, and make it fit on this metal," Savine said, giving her one of the large broken metal rods in the room.

Eliseline focused a bit and the metal rod was tightly wrapped around by the sandpaper-like material.

"Now. Have you ever created a tornado?"

"A tornado? Yes. It took seven mages for it to work, though."

Tornadoes did take a lot to cast. Which was why Savine couldn't create the spell herself, and had to rely on Eliseline.

"Create a smaller one, that rotates at the tip of your Vasa and bind it to both your Vasa and the steel."

"Bind them?"

"Yes. So, they don't jump off anywhere."

"How do you do that?"

"Just force it?" Savine tilted her head. "Will it to happen."

Eliseline looked confused, as if Savine was talking some sort of nonsense.

'Are these guys so into the scientific route that they don't even know they can cheat?'

Though the imaginary casting method was a slower, more expensive, and more inaccurate version of the scientific one, it still had its uses. When your spell became too complicated to function with the scientific method alone, you could just leave the complicated parts to your imagination and force certain phenomena.

What would magic be if it was bound to the rules with no other option available?

However, Eliseline seemed to not know that fact.

"Okay, keep the tornado spinning and focus on keeping everything as close to each other as possible."

Savine pulled out her Vasa as she stared at the piece of solid sandpaper revolving at the tip of a Vasa. She touched Eliseline's Vasa with her own, and felt the spell she was currently maintaining. Eliseline was casting two spells at once, one to create the sandpaper and another for the tornado.

Savine focused on the connection between these two spells and the Vasa and connected them both forcibly. It took a sizable amount of her mana, but with this, nothing that was attached to Eliseline's Vasa would fly away randomly.

Savine approached the blacksmith and whispered to him.

"Can you hold the brand in fire for me?"

"Young miss? What?"

"The brand, heat it. I'm going to pour manastones over it and blend it," Savine said.

"But that's not going to stick-"

"I know, I'll do something about it with magic."

At the mention of mana stones, the blacksmith nodded and dutifully put the brand in the fire. When it was red, Savine reached into her pocket and picked up the manastones that were turned to dust. She sprinkled it over the brand and felt it sizzle into the metal.

She held her Vasa next to the brand, forcing the manastones to blend into the brand more thoroughly. Sparks of blue fire flew everywhere, startling the blacksmith, but he never moved his hand an inch. In the end, none of the manastones was lost.

"Now hold the brand still," Savine ordered.

The blacksmith nodded resolutely and tightened his grip on the tong.

"I'll borrow this for a bit," Savine said as she took Eliseline's Vasa.

The latter was still staring at her Vasa, confused, but she allowed Savine to do what she wanted.

At first touch, the spinning sandpaper recoiled off the brand while making a loud whirring sound, startling everyone inside the room.

Eliseline looked frightened and curious, Zuri looked frightened but was trying to look calm, and the blacksmith looked frightened and confused.

"What is that thing there, young miss?"

"It's a… spinning sandpaper?" There was no better way to describe it. "Using this is much easier than rubbing the thing with sandpaper, right?"

"I guess, but… is it safe?"

"Of course. Now hold the brand still."

"Should I do it, young miss? This feels dangerous."

"You need to be a mage to use this," Savine shook her head. "You can only trust me on this."

Though the first touch was a bit dodgey, with a couple more contacts, Savine quickly grasped the strength needed to keep the thing in place.

It was a long time since she did anything like this, so Savine was quite absorbed. Feeling the heat in her hands and face, she didn't even notice all the people that gathered from the sandpaper's sound.

***