The carriage was moving along the mountain road.
Inside the carriage, Claude felt a headache coming on as he looked at Maria. "Madam, is this appropriate?
With your status, it should be my father who pays you a visit, not you who condescend to my humble abode as a guest … "
Maria giggled and replied, "It's fine, I don't care about these details.
Also, I have something to discuss with your father. For example, hiring you to guard my forest … "
After dragging the three boars down the hill with much difficulty, Claude noticed that the coachman, Wayne, and the forester, Sioris, couldn't do anything to the two boars given to them.
Well, Wayne the Coachman was afraid of blood and could not do butchering.
The forester, Siori, was a half-cripple. He only had three fingers on his right hand and could not hold a butcher's knife. It was said that he had been injured in a war when he was young.
The only ones left were the butler, Ludian, and Siori's wife, Lancy. From the looks of it, it was hopeless to expect them to dissect and slaughter the two wild boars.
In the end, Claude had to do it himself. He had Luan find a few tasks for the coachman, Wayne, and Sioris to do. Without anyone watching, Claude used Magus' Hands and Fine Control once more and spent only half an hour to dissect the two boars. He skinned them and removed their innards in an orderly manner. Everything that was useful and useless was placed aside.
On the other hand, Madam Maria was beaming with joy as she watched from the side. She did not mind the smell of blood at all.
When Claude was done with his work and wanted to borrow a carriage to transport his 150kg boar back home, she actually got into the carriage and said that she wanted to send him back and pay a visit to Whitestag's chief executive, Morssen.
That was the reason for Claude's headache.
"Madam, are you really going to hire me to guard your wood?"
"Of course, why would I lie to you?"
"You see," said the Lady, "the Sioris are old, and Sioris is half-crippled. I am afraid that the wild boars will come and cause trouble in my wood. If I hire you to guard it, I will not have to worry about that.
In addition, you can live in the wood. I will also give you the key to the potion laboratory. You can read as much as you want there. "
Claude smiled bitterly. "Madam, let me remind you that I'll be graduating in two and a half months. Do you think it's a suitable time to hire me?"
"Well, since we are so familiar with each other, I don't want to hide it from you. Actually, I want you to do something for me. You only need to take a week off from school. Maybe you don't even need a week."
"Madam, what do you need my help with?"
"Claude, didn't I say that I can only stay here for another ten days before returning to the royal capital?
Actually, I want to use these ten days to dismantle the crocodile specimen and use the membrane inside to make rune parchment to bring back to the Imperial City … You know, if I bring the whole crocodile specimen back to the Imperial City, I might not be able to keep it … If you help me, I think I might be able to directly make the rune parchment into a magic book. That way, the magic book might have a better preservation effect … "
Hearing that, Claude's interest was piqued. "Madam, can you tell me what this magic book is used for?
Is it for writing so that it can be preserved for a long time? "
Claude thought that the magic book made from the crocodile specimen would be like Landes' diary and notebook, which could withstand the passage of time and still look as good as new after six hundred years.
He didn't think that Maria would burst out laughing. "I'm sorry, Claude. I forgot that you're just a rookie in magic and don't know such common knowledge.
There are actually many types of magic books. The one you mentioned is made from the lowest grade of rune parchment. It doesn't have much use apart from being able to be preserved for a long time.
The magic book I'm going to use this crocodile specimen to make is of a higher grade. It's basically used to engrave magic formations.
By the way, Claude, have you heard of the theory of quantization of mana?
It's about quantizing the mana in a hexagram and using that to measure the difference in mana consumption between spells. "
He seemed to have read about it in Landes' diary before.
Claude nodded. He recalled that Landes had given an example of engraving seven foundational spells in his diary. If the hexagram had a mana capacity of 100, the primary foundational spell would consume between one to three mana per cast. The other six foundational spells would consume between three to five mana per cast.
While spells that weren't engraved in the hexagram could still be cast, the process of engraving a magic formation and casting the spell would consume more than ten to twenty mana.
Compared to the seven basic spells engraved in the hexagram, not only would the casting time be much longer, but it would also consume a lot of mana. Thus, any mage would have to choose the most suitable basic spell for themselves as much as possible when advancing.
Seeing that Claude nodded to show that he understood the theory, Maria continued, "No magus can only cast their seven basic spells. However, mana limits the number of times they can cast other spells. So, two thousand years ago, magi invented magic scrolls, which are magic formations carved onto rune parchment. When casting a spell, one only needs to infuse mana to cast it. The advantage of that is that they can save half of the mana needed to cast a spell out of thin air.
"However, there's a disadvantage to the magic scroll, which is that the spells engraved on it can't be cast multiple times. The rune parchment used to make magic scrolls can't withstand the impact of casting too many spells and is easily damaged.
Later on, there were magicians who improved on the basis of this magic scroll and compiled it into a book. They also drew recovery rune circles on the front and back covers, so that the rune parchment that carried the structure of the magic rune circles could slowly recover on its own after a spell was cast.
The advantage of magic tomes over magic scrolls was that they didn't have a single spell. A single tome had 24 pages of rune parchment and could have 24 spells engraved on it. The magi could then choose to combine different spells.
Unlike magic scrolls, which only had one spell, one had to choose from many magic scrolls to combine the spells, which was complicated and time-consuming. At the same time, the Recovery Runic Magic Circle in the magic book could extend the usage and durability of the Rune Parchment. At the same time, it could reduce the consumption of one's own Mana. It could be said to be killing two birds with one stone.
So, a true magus would have at least one or two tomes to use as backup spells.
"Magic scrolls, on the other hand, were replaced by tomes. Later on, they were developed by magi to be used to carry spells.
"Nowadays, magic scrolls are engraved with the rune formation of a spell before sealing it with mana. Once the scroll is torn, the spell will be released. That way, even non-magi can use spells."
Maria knew that Claude was lacking in general knowledge about magic, so she explained in great detail, "Towards the end of the dark age, when the magic civilisation fell into decline and magic materials and resources became increasingly scarce, the only two categories of magi left were battle magi and rune magi.
"At that time, very few magi would carry a few tomes with spells engraved on them because the rune parchment used to make high-grade tomes comes from the fur of magical beasts. By then, magical beasts were already extinct on Freia.
"Do you know why I rushed back from the royal capital the moment I heard someone in Whitestag managed to hunt a niros crocodile?"
Claude shook his head cooperatively.
"That's because the skin of an adult niros crocodile is one of the three types of beast fur that can be used to make rune parchment for magic tomes.
The other two are the red-eyed raging ape of the western highlands and the blood-backed grey wolf of the southern peninsula, the one known as the alpese fiendwolf.
"Of course, the rune parchment made from the skin of a niros crocodile can only contain level-0 and level-1 spells.
"If a higher-level spell is engraved on it, it'll be like the first magic scrolls. It won't be able to withstand the mana impact when the spell is released and the entire tome will be damaged.
That's why magi looked down on niros crocodiles hundreds of years ago. But for registered magi like us, a niros crocodile specimen is enough for us to fight to the death for it. After all, what we learn are trash, low-level, and harmless spells.
"Fortunately, I was the one who got the news and rushed over. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to get my hands on it in another two or three months."
"Do you understand now?
Why do I have to stay here for another ten days? "
"I'm going to peel off the skin of the niros crocodile and turn it into rune parchment before bringing it back to the royal capital. That way, no one will be able to snatch it from me. They'll have to trade with me if they want it.
When you were dissecting the two boars, I suddenly thought that if you could help me, I wouldn't have to work so hard to remove the skin from the crocodile specimen. You could use Magus' Hands to help me achieve my goal.
That way, I'll have time to turn the skin into rune parchment and try to make a few magic tomes. I have all the materials I need in the wood anyway. "
Claude finally understood why Maria had her eyes on him. He smiled bitterly. "Madam, I can teach you Magus' Hands and Fine Control. That way, you'll be able to use that crocodile to make magic tomes without breaking a sweat."
Maria immediately refused, "That'll waste more of my magic power.
You engraved these two spells as basic spells, so using these two spells won't consume much mana.
I don't have any magic tomes to carry them and I'll have to waste a lot of mana every time I use them. I can only use them a few times a day, so I think it's better for me to order you around. "
Alright, I'm being pinned on.
"Claude, don't think that I'm ordering you around. Think about it. What I'm doing will be of great benefit to you," Maria said seriously.
What benefit?
Claude looked at her with a confused expression.
She seemed to enjoy seeing Claude's expression. "Think about it. When I order you around, did you learn how to make rune parchment out of the skin of a niros crocodile? I believe you haven't learned that before, right?"
Yes, Claude thought. That magus Landes had recorded the steps and process of making rune parchment out of the skin of a niros crocodile. Of course, he only used it for his diary and notes, not low-level magic tomes like Maria did.
Claude had only seen it and memorized it. He hadn't tried it out yet.
But he could only nod silently.
"Also, I might be able to make a few magic tomes and scrolls after making the parchment. You can learn the process by my side. Ask me if you don't understand and I'll answer your questions," Maria said with an even more attractive offer.
"Really?" Claude was moved. That wasn't recorded in Landes's diary at all.
If Maria taught him how to make magic tomes, he could go to Swamp Kemda to hunt niros crocodiles and peel off their skin to make magic tomes.
"Also, if you make a good magic book this time, I can give you one as a reward for your help."
Maria tempted him once more. "The only condition is that you live in my wood and listen to my orders at all times.
I heard from Rodan about how you climbed up the roof last year and got mistaken for a thief. I believe you were meditating back then, right?
If you live in my wood, you won't have to worry about anyone finding out about your secret.
I'll return to the royal capital in ten days and you'll be in charge of the wood. Just like the excuse I told your father, I'll hire you to guard the wood.
You can continue living here and read my books. You can even use my herbalism lab. "