Chapter 36: Inscribing Mana Gems

As Al had explained before, the method used to enchant weapons, armours and other such items was through inscribing and embedding mana gems.

But what are mana gems?

Mana that exists in the environment permeates through everything living and nonliving. As Mast explained before, it can bend and twist the natural laws by shoehorning itself in between.

Following this property, many naturally occurring metals, minerals and organic matter have been in one way or another affected due to the presence of mana. Mana gems are one example of this deviance.

Naturally occurring minerals such as diamonds, emeralds, sapphires, rubies and so on form due to natural processes such as heat and pressure. During their formation, it is possible for mana to enter into the mix. This mana could contain an elemental alignment depending on where this is taking place. If the gems are forming under a volcano or lava pool, there can be an abundance of earth and fire-aligned mana. If this mana is sufficiently concentrated, it can exist in liquid or even solid-crystal form. If they mix in with the mineral crystals, the result is a lustrous gem with a natural affinity to the alignment of mana present during its formation.

This is one particular scenario. If such minerals are being formed in a deep-sea trench or a large mana abundant water body, the gem may be water-aligned. Essentially, the mana gem's "flavour" depends on the conditions during its formation while in the presence of a large concentration of mana. Similarly, it is also possible to find mana gems with no affinity to any particular element. These are the more commonly found gems in the market.

Many mages have tried to artificially form these mana gems and have succeeded, but only to an extent. The artificially formed mana gems tended to have lower affinity and were less efficient. That is, the amount of mana required to form them was astronomical and the yield was extremely low compared to the reagents used.

In the beginning, these mana gems were solely used for decoration and simple operations such as coloured lighting. However, with the loss of Dwarven enchantments, enchanters began to experiment with these mana gems and found their effectiveness when embedded in items.

To be of use for enchanting, these gems had to be inscribed with the specific enchantment.

This begged the question, how do you inscribe on a mana gem?

The process is extremely complicated as it requires a steady hand from the enchanter and dextrous penmanship.

An enchanter uses an inscribing tool to inscribe the required construct inside the gem. The inscribing tool appears similar to a fountain pen, however, its tip is made of a sharp and hollow gem called a mana diamond. These gems are extremely rare to find and the process through which they are cut and treated to form these tool-tips is complex in and of itself. The tip is attached to a hollow tube-like body made of a ductile and highly heat insulative material.

The tubing is filled with the inscribing ink which is magically activated when it passes through the tool-tip. Once activated by the mana diamond, the ink turns corporeal, and the mage must complete the precise inscription in one go at a constant rate. Once the inscription pauses, the corporeal construct shrinks and enters the mana gem. After this point, the inscription on the gem is permanent. If there is a failure then the gem is a dud and cannot be used for anything else apart from decoration.

On the other hand, if the inscription is successful, the gem can be embedded into the prepared item through a simple process. But embedding is not as straightforward as sticking the gem into any location on the item.

During the forging or making of the item, the enchanter needs to nudge and shape the naturally forming mana channels so that they complement the final enchantment. Similar to the way the modular spells work, these mana channels need to connect the gems to be embedded into the weapon and form a closed circuit. The process of moving the mana channels can be an astronomical task requiring a lot of mana and mana control. And usually, when embedding multiple gems, these channels need to be extended, turned and twisted by a lot. Therefore, more advanced enchanters need to naturally have a higher cultivation realm.

With regards to the inscribing process, the enchanter must also take into consideration the alignment of the enchantment, the gem, as well as the inscribing ink and its constituents.

An earth-type enchantment or spell works best when inscribed in an earth-aligned mana gem. Depending on the tier of the enchantment, a larger mana gem may be required. The size of the mana gem corresponds to the capacity of mana it can naturally hold.

It is possible to inscribe a water-type enchantment on an earth gem, but its effectiveness may be reduced. However, if there is a natural opposition between the gem's alignment and the spell, a catastrophic result can be expected.

The inscribing ink is somewhat similar. The ink used for enchantment needs to support the type of enchantment as well as the gem. Many enchanters have special ink formulas and compositions that work well with their specialised enchantments. These ink formulae are usually trade secrets meant to be passed down through the generations. But one thing all inscribing inks have in common is Mithril.

Mithril falls under a special type of metal found in nature called mana metals. They are somewhat similar to mana gems in that they are a complex amalgamation of naturally occurring metals and concentrated mana.

Through various tests, mage researchers found that mithril is an alloy made purely of silver and mana in equal proportions. It is also one of the most mana conductive metals in existence.

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It is naturally found in a solid, dull crystalline ore. However, once it is extracted it turns into a lustrous liquid at room temperature. Yet, the special property of mithril is that once it reaches room temperature, it quickly fuses with any material it comes into contact with and hardens.

This is why pure mithril needs to be stored in its molten form at high temperatures.

The way it is used for enchanting is as follows. Enchanters bring together the ingredients for the inscription and pour it into the inscribing tool. They then pour in a specific ratio of molten mithril into the tool and allow the mixture to become perfectly homogeneous. As this molten liquid flows through the mana diamond it is activated causing it to turn corporeal, and the rest of the steps remain constant.

The ratio of ingredients to mithril is carefully determined through multiple trials and errors. Mages can sometimes spend years on end tweaking their formula to get the perfect ratio.

Once the inscribed ink affixes itself into the gem, the mithril within the mixture joins up the mana channels on the embedded item and completes the circuit.

In this way, an enchanter needs to consider the end before beginning their operation. Enchanting is a highly complicated procedure requiring a lot of patience and steadiness.

This entire process was described in a single book which acted as a primer for beginner enchanters. Within the same book were basic enchantments that they needed to get proficient with, which also acted as springboards into the more complicated enchantments later on.

Once Guy finished reading through the book, he concluded that for his objective he needed to become proficient in inscribing. And for that, he would have to practice doing it multiple times to get a hang of it.

All in all, Guy found that there were a lot of things he needed to do to accomplish his goal.

He had to source the appropriate body to hold the enchantment, he needed to determine the required enchantment to be inscribed into the gem, he needed to choose the appropriate type of gem, he needed to determine what inscribing ink to use, and finally, he needed to practice inscribing, embedding and maybe forging.

All of these tasks were dependent on one another and they couldn't be prioritised one over the other. This alone was a massive dilemma for Guy, and he knew that given the time limits, he had to be efficient.

With slumped shoulders, Guy sat down and started to write down how he would go about it.

Based on a superficial analysis, Guy decided to set inscribing practice as something to begin immediately. He couldn't delay this because once he accomplished all the other tasks he would have to straight away begin with the inscribing process. He did debate on whether to perform the inscribing by himself or ask Al to help him out. But he apprehensive about the latter idea.

'I've already asked Al for a lot. I'll try to do it by myself. If things don't pan out by the deadline, then I'll ask Al.'

The inscribing ink, gem and body choice were grouped together as they were interdependent. He had a gist of what type of enchantment to apply in the gem, but he recognised that additional tests and tailoring would also be required.

With all of that finalised, Guy heaved a long and exhausted sigh, stood up from his igloo of books, and stretched his body.

Even with the prospect of having a monumental and possibly unachievable workload, Guy actually felt a little relaxed. Having a specific goal to work towards was always better than stumbling around in the dark.

It was at that moment that a bunch of knots in Guy's mind all unclasped at the same time. With a mix of concern and excitement, Guy psyched himself up to get down to business.

"Grrrrowwwwl" But he was immediately interrupted by his stomach calling out for sustenance. Guy realised that he was so absorbed in research that he had nearly missed lunchtime.

The guild cafeteria would only remain open for fixed periods daily, and he couldn't afford to miss a free lunch!

"Food first, then work!" Guy muttered as he left the book repository.

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