"And there you have it." Rarsu smirks as he took the necklace and handed it to Gray. "A necklace that increases your Strength."

The elf nods as he inspected the item.

u003cNecklace of Bruteu003e

(Uncommon Necklace)

Lvl Requirement: 12

Attribute Requirement: None

Enchantments: +10 Strength.

Item description:

A simple-looking necklace that boosts the user's physical strength.

Gray nods in appreciation at the item that was given to him, storing it inside his Inventory.

"With your still lacking knowledge regarding Elharis, I'm afraid you are not yet capable of partaking this profession yet, more specifically, the Disenchanting part." Rarsu said, causing Gray to frown in response. "Now, do you have any more questions before we proceed to lunch?"

"Yeah." Gray, recovering from his grimace, answers in agreement as he pointed at the shard in the receptacle that is now seen to be cracked and not in good condition. "The shard, is it only for one-time use? It got damaged after the Enchanting."

"It depends on its quality or grade." Rarsu responds. "White Caecus shards, despite its great availability and low price, is the most fragile of them all, thus mostly only lasting for one use. There are other factors to be taken into consideration such as the magnitude and type of the Enchantment. As such, there are some Enchantments that the white shard can't contain due to the more powerful and sensitive magical energy."

"That's… inconvenient." Gray said with disapproval on his tone.

"Yes." Rarsu nods in agreement. "Caecus shards are precious for Enchanters like me. After all, they are the key const.i.tuent in Enchanting. With the shard's rarity, Enchanters would go through great lengths for the sake of collecting such resources. So it's not surprising if two Enchanters would fight over the owners.h.i.+p of a shard, especially the violet and black ones. The shards are mostly found in certain caves or mines. As such, the government of each province has taken the necessary actions to limit the gathering of these resources, integrating it instead in the market. This is to ensure that only Enchanters who partake in the profession and possess the proper knowledge have only access to it. A permit approved and stamped by Arkanos University or any accredited Enchanters must be shown before purchasing the shards as proof of your trade as an Enchanter. As a result, Enchanters are sought out by many for their valuable magical services. Of course, this still does not stop illegally-obtained shards from finding themselves in the black market."

"Enchanting is not for the weak-minded as well." Rarsu adds in to the conversation. "There are times when the Disenchanting ritual would go out of control if one is not in focus or performed incorrectly, resulting in explosions and other hazards that are detrimental to one's life. In conclusion, this is not a profession just for anyone, hence the reason why only skilled pract.i.tioners of the trade are granted access to the necessary resources."

"Hmm, makes sense." Gray answers with a nod. "So, what next?"

"Until you have the essential knowledge of Elharis, I'm afraid you can't perform Disenchanting yet," Rarsu said with a severe tone. "And with everything said and done, we end the lesson for this morning."

"Haha, yeah." Gray grins as he rubs his tummy sheepishly. "I'm kind of hungry, with all that stress coming from the seal and the Alchemy that we did."

Rarsu merely shook his head as he and the soul-siblings proceed upstairs for a lunch break.

***

After some decent lunch of bread and chicken soup, the trio went back downstairs to the bas.e.m.e.nt for the start of the next lesson, which is Magic Circles and its application. The said schedule as from what Gray recalls will take place from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

The three find themselves in what seems to resemble a cla.s.sroom. There's a blackboard in front and a long rectangular table with two chairs catered for the soul-siblings.

"Now, we will discuss the mechanisms of a Magic Circle." Rarsu begins his lecture on the subject matter as he skillfully draws a perfect circle with a chalk. "Since I already told you about the matter during our first meeting, I will be simply be doing a recap. A Magic Circle is a circle of s.p.a.ce that is drawn and written with the hand by Magic pract.i.tioners such as ourselves for the purpose of whatever fits our goals and interest. Arcane Energy is one of the components in the Circle for the success of a magic ritual since the flow of said energy inside aids in stabilizing the ritual's foundation by supplying constant Mana in it. Arcane Energy is acc.u.mulated inside the Circle by using any kind of medium that keeps the energy from escaping the Circle. It can be by the use of a special type of candles, most commonly utilized in big circles due to the huge gathering of the Arcane Energy inside. In smaller circles, however, the Elharis symbols that are engraved in every part of the Circle's circ.u.mference are merely sufficient in entrapping the energy."

"I see." Gray said in acknowledgment to the explanation. "And this Magic Circle, they all vary, correct?"

"Yes." Rarsu answers in agreement. "The size and design of the Circle depend solely on the Mage's purpose. For example, the u003cSeal of Debilitationu003e that I applied on to you is also a Magic Circle with its own unique sketches and symbols. Another is the Circle that is witnessed at the Enchanting Table, the Circle of Enchantment. The small circles are usually utilized for small-scaled spells and magic. In contrast, the bigger ones though are commonly employed for high-scaled magic such as an elaborate spell mostly of catastrophic level, a protective s.p.a.ce or barrier for the Mage's protection, or perhaps a greater summoning of a magical creature with even more complex schemes and procedures. As such, we must adhere to a basic rule that governs about the subject matter… No Magic Circle is the same. If there are ones that look similar, one must observe and compare the two circles for even the slightest of difference as this is an integral part that would ensure either the success or failure of the magic that will be produced. Now, do you understand everything what I just said?"

Gray simply nods while donning a determined expression.

"Excellent." Rarsu smiles. "To be honest, though, in this current era, Magic Circles nowadays is fairly easy, as long as you are capable of sketching symbols. Unlike before, where Mages of the past spends a huge amount of time in dedicating themselves to the research of Magic Circles, we simply copy the Circle's drawing nowadays as depicted in the spellbooks. Of course, there's still the potential for new discoveries to be unveiled, but there are a lot of Magic Circles that are already created and discovered, so there's little point in venturing at unknown territory. Of course, you still need to know the meaning of the shapes and symbols that you'll be drawing, not to mention, the Elharis letters."

"Okay." Gray said with him and Selena listening attentively. "So, what are we going to do right now?"

Rarsu, in response, took out two medium-sized rectangular black box containers from his Inventory. He hands each one to the soul-siblings and gestures them to open it.

Gray and Selena wonder about the contents inside as they did so.

Opening the box, Gray eyes widen with utmost surprise at the items that were presented.

"T-this..."

"Heh, it appears that you have recognized the items inside," Rarsu smirks with amus.e.m.e.nt at the elf's expression. "I can't say I'm not that surprise by your reaction, considering that they were invented in this world during the year 1168 by one of your predecessors, a Paragon Mage who was an engineer back on your original world."

Gray simply nods as he gazes the objects intently.

It is a set of some of the drawing materials from his world. It consists of a rolled parchment, ruler, compa.s.s divider, L-square, protractor, pencil, and a drawing pen, all arranged in an orderly fas.h.i.+on, similar to a drawing kit.

'Wow, I never expected to see these sort of items here in Silverhart.' Gray thought with a simper. 'As a matter of fact, these are not supposed to be invented yet in this current year of 1457 if we compare it to the time period of my first world. Well, invented is not exactly the right word since the guy merely brought the idea from where we came from and simply spread it here in this land. Nonetheless, it's still refres.h.i.+ng to witness at least some familiarity, a semblance of my original home.'

Rarsu cleared his throat to call out the elf from his momentary state of lapse.

"During the era before the invention of the items presented, the drawing of a Magic Circle is quite a formidable task." The lizardling spoke up. "The Magic Circle being drawn requires adherence to perfection. Not even a single mishap in the arc or line is unacceptable. So you could only imagine how hard it is for the Mages of the past to draw a Magic circle filled with various symbols, lines and shapes inside, even more so with the complex ones. The drawing and measurement tools that were used in history are not as effective as the ones that you currently perceive. It was Paragon Lucas, a human u003cElementalistu003e, who revolutionizes the many drawing and measurement tools that we used in this current era. Recognizing the issue that every mage encounter in their drawing, Paragon Lucas opted to introduce a set of tools that made the task significantly easier as well as introducing a new system of measurement called the Metric System."

"Metric System, huh." Gray could only chuckle at the familiar term. "I see. That unquestionably saves me a whole lot of trouble then. With the system of measurement coming from my world, I most certainly am accustomed to it."

"Good, and you'll definitely need it in the future lessons that I am going to impart to both of you." Rarsu nods with approval. The lizardling then took out a huge paper with a drawing of a Magic Circle of simple design and hangs it at the blackboard. "Let's start with something simple. Simply copy the Circle that is shown on the blackboard using the tools that I have provided. With you being familiar with it, I'm sure it won't be much of a problem for you. I want to see how proficient you two are in drawing overall."

Both soul-siblings nod in response as Gray unfolds the parchment and puts the pencil in the compa.s.s divider for him to form a circle.

Selena seemed to be confused for a moment at what she is going to do, but upon observing the elf's actions, she was able to grasp it rather quickly and mimics him.

The lesson goes on smoothly without any remarkable issues.