Fear Not The Elf Who Knows 10,000 Spells - Chapter 10

"By the Goddess's divine light, young Trenn, you truly have a talent for cooking these skewers." Flink said as he took another piece of deer meat from his skewers and bite into it with clear joy.

"Yeah, he complained about my food sometime, I told him if he didn't like it to make his own, and he said 'bet', before he cooked a fish all on his own. Damn this felt like a tavern girl who worked the kitchen had made it."

I grinned at that memory.

"Bet what?" Flink asked, as I blushed a little at my use of modern slang.

"I dunno, some young kids slang of these days. Something like 'I bet I could do it', or the like." Schroff scoffed.

"I know humans are always in a hurry, but shortening words now?" Flink asked in mild shock.

"Bah, I dunno, what kids do these days. Probably it's just some fun they have between themselves and then will grow out of it, to speak proper like an adult." Schroff said.

"Hmm, depends on what writings survive for a few centuries." Flink nodded.

Okay, this is getting a little bit too silly, with these old folk focusing on my wording. Also it's kind of a hilarious image to see an old man, and a young-ish elf, while knowing the elf is likely older than both our ages combined and multiplied a few times.

"So!" I said out loud to cut this embarrassing discussion short. "Flink, you're religious? I didn't think elves believed in the Goddess?"

"Hmm," Flink paused in thought. "I can not say if I do or I don't, but it is one of the human traditions that stood the test of time, thus I appreciate it."

...When an elf says 'stood the test of time' how fucking long are we talking about?

"And what do you think, young Trenn? Do you think the goddess is real?" Flink asked.

Schroff raised an eyebrow at such a question being asked to someone so young.

"She's probably real." I said, shrugging. I mean, I reincarnated into this world from another.

Gods are most definitely real, so odds are, so was the Goddess of Creation, given how old her religion was, given what Flink said about it.

"Hmm, really?" Schroff now looked at me, curious.

"Oh?" Flink also looked intrigued.

"What?" I frowned (pouted) at their reaction.

"You're a brat, and you sound like you're speaking from evidence." Schroff chuckled.

"What Schroff here says, rings true. You do not speak from faith, and it is intriguing to hear such from one so young." Flink added.

"Hmmm..." I held my chin in thought as I looked to the sky. How do I bullshit this wasn't making myself look weird? "Sir Flink, you're old enough to have travelled enough to acquire some common or basic knowledge about different topics, right?"

"I'd like to think so, yes." Flink nodded with an amused smile.

"Don't tell me but, do you know how the Goddess's magic works?" I asked.

"I am familiar with the basics, yes." He nodded again.

"Well, here's my theory." I began to replay, as this was something I thought about before. "Normal magic, at least the most commonly accepted and known form of it, is about combining one's own mana, with the mana of the World to form a Spell. The distribution is fifty-fifty. Then the spell can only be fed mana from the user to be sustained."

"Correct so far." Flink eyes widened momentarily as his amusement turned to appreciation.

"So!" I raised a finger like a teacher explaining something, or a scholar. "I theorize that a Goddess's magic work by making it so that based on one's faith, the World supplies mana for the spell after it's formed, rather than you needing to supply it yourself."

Schroff raised an eyebrow, before shaking his head in exasperation for some reason.

Flink's smile however widened.  

"Schroff, has young Trenn ever studied with a priest?" Flink asked.

"No. That old lady Gütig never mentioned it, nor has he. We have yet to visit any towns for my trade." Schroff shook his head.

"Trenn?" Flink asked.

"Nope. I was too busy training while living in Schwanz to bother with that. Life as a Priest just isn't for me. I wanna get married when I'm older." I said. Flink and Schroff chortled a laugh out loud. "Like way older." I pouted.

"And..." Flink took a moment to calm down. "How did you come to such conclusion?"

"When Mr. Schroff here taught me how spells worked, I figured it out from there. Magic is magic, but if there's such a strong distinction between normal magic and Goddess magic, then it has to be something fundamental." I explained.

Flink just looked at Schroff with a raised eyebrow, which was weird.

Schroff shook his head with a chuckle.

"No, I didn't teach him that fancy way of talking." Schroff said.

"I'm speaking normal." I huffed and crossed my arms.

"Do not mind the jest, young friend. It is simply that you sound beyond your tiny years." Flink said, good-naturedly.

"Didn't have to say 'tiny'." I muttered.

"You know, there is still a theological debate on whether this phenomena of how Goddess magic works, truly means the Goddess is real or not in the Royal Academy, in the Kingdom last time I was there." Flink said. I didn't feel like asking when was that, this time. "I wonder, what make you sure the Goddess is 'probably real' as you said."

"Well," I thought for a moment. "Faith and prayer, well, they're a conversation. Can't have one person in a conversation, someone has to be answering from the other side."

Flink's smile widened, as if he was fascinated by what a human child was saying, and that he hadn't heard this before.

"And if it's simply a natural phenomena of World mana?" Flink asked.

"Faith is still a deciding factor. I assume the more faithful Priests tend to have stronger spells, right?" I asked, and Flink nodded. "If that's the case then something has to be listening and responding to that faith."

"It could be a cast of magic visualization. The more belief one has that a spell can work, can cause it to work better." Flink argued, looking like he was having fun.

"Visualization for Mages, faith for Priests?" I said, thinking out loud to myself. "Huh, wonder if you can combine both." I muttered. "I dunno." I shrugged as a final answer. "It's just that gut feeling, there being a Goddess makes more sense."

"A surprisingly mature answer that many have taken on." Flink said, before slapping his knees and standing up. "So, what adventures do you two seek next?" Flink asked, as we finished up the meal.

I began to clean up the impromptu campsite, while Schroff gathered up our hunt rewards for the day.

"Not much of an adventure. Just back home from another day of work, rinse and repeat." Schroff said.

"All parts of life are an adventure to those who see it as such." Flink replied back with a nod.

"Hmm," Schroff grunted. "What about you? As an elf, surely you know that the Southern Lands are, well, little bit of a shit show right now."

"Well, it's because I heard of its current turmoil that I wandered here to check on something." Flink said. "Tell me, Mr. Schroff, have you travelled the Froststaub Mountains before?"

"Bah! Of course I have. I live there." Schroff scoffed.

"Oh!" Flink's eyes widened in delight. "Then have you heard of the Schneeleute Tribe?"

"Hmm?" Schroff's expression scrunched in thought. "'Snow people'? I think my tribe were called that at time, when they were only a handful."

"Truly? How fortuitous. They were a group of people I helped a while ago settle upon that mountain. Aided them with making spells to help their lifestyle as hunters." Flink grinned.

"...Oh!" Schroff stood straighter. "You're Great Ancestor Flink. Books kinda failed to mention you were an elf. Or maybe it was forgotten."

"When you say a while ago, you mean...?" I asked.

"About, hmm, three hundred, three hundred and twenty years ago." Flink said after some thought.

"Sounds about right." Schroff nodded.

"Hmm." I nodded seriously before something more important come to mind. "I thought you were an Archer?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

We finished gathering up our things, campsite broken up and all, and now we're ready to head on our way.

"Ah, I had a phase were I tried to be a Mage, but didn't find a passion for it." Flink said sheepishly.

"...And when you say a phase, how long was that?" I wondered.

"Just a little century." Flink said casually.

"Ah, of course." I nodded solemnly.

"Tell me, Mr. Schroff." Flink turned to the old human with a kind smile. "How fares your people? I feared what this human war would do to them, that it would pull them into its relentless maw."

Schroff sighed and looked crestfallen.

"I do not know." He said, and Flink lost his smile, looking commiserative. "About, what was it now, twenty years ago as the tension between the Anti-Elf Coalition and the Elves Shield started to be visible, the Head of the Tribe predicted that our people would be seen as a military assets in that situation, and decided that they'd all leave the Southern Lands."

"But you stayed." Flink said.

"What's the use of a heating spell for cold weather, if you don't live in the cold?" Schroff shrugged. "It's my home. The memories of where I grew up and lived at there on that mountain. I can't leave it. Someone has to remember."

"And now you have someone to remember?" Flink said with a small smile looking at me.

"Nah," Schroff waved him off, surprising Flink. "Kid wants to be a Mage. He just didn't want to learn magic from those stuck up weirdos in his town. Kept bugging me to learn folk spells." Schroff snorted before he smiled. "I got a helper around for a while, and he gets to practice magic, without those Shield fanatics breathing down his neck."

"How wondrous young Trenn. It seems your apprenticeship is baring much fruit. Standing before the Bäriger earlier and having enough of a mind to cast those spells, is a courage and focus those many times your age fail to grasp." Flink said easily.

"Y-Yeah, I guess." I gave a fake smile and looked down, not really feeling all that proud of my 'achievement'.  

"Do you feel you have not done enough? That you could have done more?" Flink asked, making me snap my head to him.

I looked at his understanding expression, and remembered at that moment that this was a person who lived for hundreds of years. Of course he can easily see through me.

"I could have defeated it if I'd just..." How can I explain my problem in a simple manner that makes sense?

"A Bäriger isn't something a novice Warrior can vanquish, young Trenn. Even for a Mage, it's a surprisingly agile beast." He said in a supporting manner, and I don't want to insult his kindness but the disappointment I feel in myself wasn't easy to brush off.

"..." I didn't know what to say. Surprisingly help came from an unexpected place.

"The boy wants to be a Mage using Non-Formed Spells." Schroff interjected.

"What?" Flink let out a laugh of surprise. Upon seeing Schroff's serious face, he looked at me with a smile of subtle amazement. "Trenn, trying to master magic that way would be like building a foundation made of air." Yet his tone somehow didn't sound admonishing.

"Maybe." I started to say, sure surety entering my voice. "But if I focus on Formed Spells... Every Formed Spell comes with a baseline of what it can do. A Phaitagurd even at the lowest level will stop an arrow. A Gluthalt will light a campfire or just a log of wood on fire and keep it going for an hour without input. These baseline, these Certainties in Formed Spells might be good for normal Mages to use and depend on, but I see them as a trap. An invisible chain that limits what you can imagine or visualize a Spell can do.

"That's why I want to master Non-Formed Spells. Yes, keeping the spell structure just so it would be cast would be on me, but..." I smiled as I remembered the simple dream, the image I held onto for too long of what I'd be able to do with Jilwer and Reelseiden once I finally got them. Then frown because I had the grimoire for Jilwer back home but feared opening it.

"Trenn," Flink spoke up, getting my attention back on him. "Can you indulge my curiosity and tell me what you were training in? I might be able to offer an insight."

"Well..." I shrugged and decided why not. Free advice is free advice, especially when it comes from elves. Like imagine if there was a consultant agency ran by elves in this world, it would likely make infinite money or something.

So I told Flink about my usual training, my daily routine, all mana exercises I usually carried out and all that. Flink throughout my description held a patient smile on his face.

"And that's about it." I said after I finished telling him about my sword training which I sadly wasn't doing as much in.

I didn't tell him or Schroff about my visualization training for Jilwer and Reelseiden, only that I did mediation and visualization training in general before bed and when I wake up in the morning.

Flink turned his head to look at Schroff.

Schroff nodded.

"Yeah, the kid's a workaholic."

"Young Trenn." Flink turned back to me, looking like he was struggling not to laugh. "Truthfully I'd tell you that you are pulling yourself in too many different directions. That you should spend a few years on each individual skill till mastery." Flink said and I looked down because I expected that advice. "That is what I would tell an elf." I looked back up intrigued. "But you are human, your time isn't the same as ours. So rather my advice would be..." Flink thought for a moment, before he let out a laugh. "Have you heard the story of Gesang and Stein?"

Schroff and I looked at each other, then shook our heads.

"Oh, it's a great story. Gesang and Stein were dwarfs who were brothers. One day Stein goes to Gesang and says 'Brother, I found a mine under my house. I think there might be riches there, but I fear it would collapse my house if I dig in it'.

"Gesang without looking tells him 'Riches await! Riches await!'. Encouraged by his brothers words, Stein goes and digs into the mine. A year passes, and indeed his home did collapse from the unstable foundation it gained. Stein goes to his brother and says 'Brother, I dug the mine, yet I have found no treasures and my home is in ruins'.

"Gesang tells him again without looking 'The path is forwards! The path is forwards!'. Stein renewed by these words goes and digs into the mine for another five years. He grew stronger and more hearty from the work, yet became more poor for he still found no treasures. So Stein goes to his brother angry and in sorrow. 'Brother, I have followed your words and they did nothing my lead me to ruin. My home is gone and my wealth is ashes. What more must I do?'

"Gesang stood up and shouted with his eyes closed. 'DIG THE HOLE! DIG THE HOLE!' Seeing the passion and fury in his brother words, Stein stood up once more, resolute, grabbed his pickaxe and went back into the mine. For ten years more he kept digging, and miraculously he discovered a vein of gold, silver, mithril and many other precious and magical metals. Stein goes to his brother, hugged him and say, 'Brother! Through your wise words I have not only gained unparalleled strength but treasures for a thousand lifetimes. I have my pick of the lovely maiden of our hometown. I could not have done it without your wise words.'

"In response Gesang shook himself as he focused on Stein and said 'I'm sorry brother, I was singing, what were you talking about?'"

Flink laughed his ass off as he finished his tale, while Schroff look confused and I awkwardly smiled.

Seeing our reaction Flink pouted.

"What? Not even a chuckle? That story used to be a knee slapper not three centuries ago." Flink whined.

"That story has a lot of context the listener is suppose to have known beforehand, isn't it?" I asked, having gotten the idea from context clues.

"That's right, all the response Gesang said to his brothers were phrases from popular songs at the time." Flink smiled and nodded. "The point that I'm saying is, it's fine if your feeling stuck, but are you truly so? Have your efforts really not brought on any results?"

"Oh they did. They definitely did." Schroff commented, surprising me. "Trenn here managed to perfectly cast Offensive and Defensive Magic from the first time, even if he took longer to learn then. He learned how to sense World mana in literally less than an hour, after I explained that it exists, and that's likely because he trained his mana detection diligently before I ever took him in." On and on Schroff went, telling Flink of every accomplishment I ever did.

My ears were burning. Schroff isn't one for praise. He isn't someone that would make a remark on everything I did. He'd just say 'good job' and move on. Seeing him talking about me like that, with... with such pride, I couldn't help but want to cry.

I really had been berating myself when I had someone who believed in it that much? 

"I see. Your diligence truly is amazing, young Trenn. And it has not gone unnoticed." Flink said, and Schorff grumbled and said nothing. "I don't need to tell you that path of mastery that you want isn't gonna be easy, you already know that. But I do want to tell you that it isn't going to be uniformly pleasing. You will stumble, you will end up with blocks and limitations, there's nothing wrong with that. Even if the Formed version of spells end up giving you a mental block, that doesn't mean you can't overcome it later on. The mind can flourish like a garden if you dedicate time to it, and you have been a loyal gardener returning to it everyday to water it with your dedication." Flink said with a simple smile. "So take heart, Trenn. And keep digging that hole."

I laughed out loud at the joke this time.

===x===

Flink, The Archer POV:

The boy will be a monster once all grown up. Flink couldn't help but think.

People generally stick to a single discipline, a single Class as it were, due to simply the limited time they have in their life, and that any Class skills require dedication to master.

A Warrior needs to practice their chosen fighting path, swords, spear, axe, whatever weapon they use, and their hand to hand combat daily.

A Priest needs to pray and keep their faith burning bright.

And a Mage needs to study and memorize their spells and tomes.

And due to that dedication to a single Class, a person can excel but they form habits that have them see their Class as all they need to dedicate their time to.

Some individuals have walked different paths of disciplines before, but they couldn't bring out their full potential in either path. Rarely did some succeed, yet they were still known for their primary Class.

Of course, a Class such as Hero is beyond this simple classification.

The human boy, Trenn however, seemed to be one, that in the future will break this mold. All because of his dedication.

In the future, a Mixed-Class might end up more known, all due to this boy.

Flink stumbled upon quite the unexpected surprise. The blond elf had been traveling the Southern Lands in search of the Snow People he helped those centuries ago

To find a descendant of them was good fortune, and from little Schroff's story, there are likely more of them out there that fled before things could get bad in the Southern Lands.

There was still a chance to find them out in the rest of the continent.

For now, he decided he might stay for a little while to care of little Schroff of the Schneeleute, before heading off.

Also, he was curious about little Trenn. The human child astonished him with his dedication and what he managed to learn and accomplish in what little time he had lived.

Flink was a young elf of two thousand years, he had seen quite a lot of the world already. Yet, the boy Trenn might be something new. Another human that might leave their mark on history that sticks to humanity's myths and legends.

It would be interesting to witness the start of that.

"You're staying with us?" Trenn asked, with that adorable crunched expression of incredulousness and curiosity.

"Aye, if Mr. Schroff and you would have me as company?" Flink nodded toward them respectfully, after all they are to be his hosts if they accept.

"I don't think we have the space in the cabin." Trenn said, looking toward little Schroff.

Schroff looked to be disgruntled as he mentally debated with something.

"I'll show you Eisdorf. You can find a place to stay there." Schroff accepted.

"What Eisdorf?" Trenn asked.

"The village were my tribe used to live. I moved out when they did and build that cabin to be able to live on my own without looking at all the empty houses." Schroff said bluntly.

He was a prickly human, Flink decided, but that was understandable. Some got like that in their old age.

"We have a whole village next to us and you never told me!" Trenn cried out.

Flink noticed the subtle twitch of Schroff's lips and mentally agreed. Trenn's reactions were amusing.

===x===

Once we were back home I immediately went to my room. I had nothing else to do for the day. No tasks, chores, whatever, and I gave my self a break from training today.

I went to my nightstand, and opened the drawer.

The Grimoire was there.

I took a deep breath and picked it up.

No more moping. No more running.

Time to take the first step of my dream come hell or high water.

And if my fears or imagination limited what I wanted Jilwer to be, or what it could be?

Well, as a legendary digger once said.

Row row, fight the power.

I turned the book cover and began to read.

===x===

It was night time where Old Schroff expects me to train outside, or do my own thing, since we were done with the chores of the day.

Flink was a nice addition to have around, and even offered to teach me a little swordsmanship himself.

Which made it all work out for what I now planned to add to my training routine.

I stood before Death Tunnel, facing it with all its creepy glory.

I could tell the Einsam was there. Even without mana detection I could just feel it in my guts.

I took the rope from the wooden post, that stood before the entrance. I cast the spell to strength ropes, Seilstark,  in its Formed Spell shape. It doesn't matter if that would affect my mental image of spells or imagination power. Live, survive and improve.

I did focus on the mental image of carbon nanotubes while casting the spell, focusing on making the rope as strong as possible. In theory, a single spider's thread of carbon nanotubes could carry 6 tons.

So a whole rope should be able to do much more, even if it can't fully replicate that feat.

I tied the rope around my waist.

Closed my eyes.

And blasted my mana detection in full force. Not just the normal mana detection, but the one that granted full sight of the world. It was like synesthesia, I could feel/see/hear the totality of space within my mana detection.

So I also instantly felt the mental hit by the Einsam's mental thread.

It broke through the mental barrier I constructed right away.

I grinned. The fact that it interacted with that mental barrier, meant it can be affected at all. It can be stopped. Eventually.

So now it was just a matter of practice.

"I'M BACK, BITCH!" I shouted as I took my first step into the tunnel.

I could feel the monster's surprise at my attitude and mental state.

I didn't care for its illusions. This time I was studying it and fighting it. The illusions felt like someone colored the world around me in a wave of buckets of paint.

It was an interesting case study of mana control if you can detach mentally from the whole thing.

I did so. And I did so with a song.

"I am a dwarf and I'm digging a hole~! Diggy diggy hole~! Diggy diggy hole~!"

Would this be considered racially insensitive in this world?

Aaah, who the fuck cares?

"BROTHERS OF THE MINE, REJOICE! SWING! SWING! SWING WITH ME!"

The Death Tunnel was filled with dozens of Zoltraak beams fired at the same time.

I 'killed' Schroff, Rein and everyone I knew dozens of times, but I didn't care. The Einsam panicked this time, and I will celebrate it's death throes in the end.

===

AN: Sorry, but I don't think I can finish the 7 promised chapters by today. I will likely finish the rest tomorrow. I'm taking a break, see you all later.