Chapter 68: Don’t die

Another couple of weeks passed, and Frost’s visits to the workshop became a regular part of his routine.

On the days when training left him with enough time and energy, he would stop by before returning to his room, sometimes coming back after dinner if Jasmine was still working. She usually was.

At the moment, he sat beside her workbench, watching the tip of a slender quill move across a spherical orb.

He had hardly breathed properly for the past few minutes.

Jasmine was bent over the object, her goggles pulled over her eyes and her lips pressed into a thin line.

One hand held the orb in a padded clamp while the other guided the quill through a series of careful strokes.

A small triagram shimmered around the tool’s tip, its faint, shimmering light churning as each new marking joined the inscription.

Frost had come to learn that the quill was worth considerably more than its appearance suggested.

It was a specialized tool made and distributed by the Rune Crafters Association, supplied to certified crafters who had earned the right to purchase one.

That didn’t mean someone else would be arrested simply for possessing it, but getting hold of one was another matter.

The association controlled its manufacture, and no one outside it knew how to reproduce the tool.

Without one, engraving a functional rune script onto an object was impossible.

Jasmine didn’t even own the quill she was using. It was one of her master’s spares, entrusted to her so she could continue working in his absence.

Frost had yet to meet the man, who was apparently busy in another city, though the number of tasks he continued sending her suggested that distance did very little to limit his ability to be troublesome.

A thin line of light traveled through the inscription beneath the quill.

Frost remained perfectly still.

He had learned the hard way that interrupting Jasmine while she worked was a terrible idea. The last time his curiosity had gotten ahead of his common sense, the small component on her table had burst so loudly that it left his ears ringing.

Fortunately, she had already pulled her hand away, and the damage had been limited to a scorched work surface and several pieces of metal lodged in a nearby board.

According to Jasmine, that had been a mild failure.

Making a mistake didn’t always cause an immediate reaction. Sometimes, the script remained quiet until the crafter tried to activate it, which was almost worse.

Essence would enter a section that couldn’t handle it, become trapped where it should have passed through, or follow a connection that had never been meant to exist.

More often than not, the stored essence would then burst out.

Frost had developed a healthy respect for the distance between his chair and the workbench.

Jasmine completed another stroke, paused, and turned the orb slightly. Her wrist moved again, joining a final marking to the section she had been working on.

The triagram around the quill’s tip faded.

For a few moments, she simply watched the orb. Then her shoulders lowered, and she released a long breath.

"Whew..."

Frost waited until she had set the quill down before speaking.

"Done?"

"Not exactly." Jasmine pushed her goggles onto her head of messy curls and wiped her brow with the back of her hand. "But the first section is finished, and it’s stable."

"That sounds like a good start."

"It is, provided the next section doesn’t ruin it."

She leaned back on her stool, stretching her fingers one at a time. Frost looked at the orb again.

Fine lines covered part of its surface, arranged with a neatness he doubted he could have managed even on a flat sheet of paper.

"What is it supposed to do?"

"Reduce vibration," she replied. "At least, that’s what I’m trying to make it do."

Frost glanced around the workshop, where something rattled steadily beneath a covered platform.

"For the machines?"

Jasmine nodded. "Some of the smaller components are difficult to work on while everything else is running. A little movement doesn’t matter much when you’re tightening fittings, but it’s annoying when you’re engraving something delicate."

She pointed towards the orb without touching it.

"If this works, I should be able to fit it beneath a work surface and keep it steadier. The part I’ve finished handles the intake and flow. I still need to complete the section that produces the effect, then make sure the whole thing doesn’t draw more essence than it should."

"And if it does?"

"Then I’ll probably need another workbench."

Frost moved his chair back a little. Jasmine noticed and gave him a tired smile.

"Not now. I haven’t finished it yet."

"I’ve heard that before."

"That was different."

"It certainly felt different when the pieces hit the wall."

She snorted, then reached for a cloth to clean the quill. Despite her casual response, she handled the tool with the same care she had shown while engraving.

Frost watched until she had placed it safely inside its case before leaning forward for another look at the orb.

He could recognize more of the markings, though understanding the complete inscription was still beyond him. Studying the script had helped, but watching Jasmine use it made the gap between reading about rune crafting and actually doing it painfully clear.

"Oh, that reminds me," she said. "I heard you’ve finally been cleared to go out."

Frost looked up.

"Yeah. Apparently, it’s time for me to get some real combat experience."

Jasmine’s hands stopped moving.

"Be careful out there."

"I will."

"And don’t die." Frost gave a sheepish laugh, expecting the usual dry remark to follow, but she stayed quiet.

She was looking at him with an expression so serious that it made his smile fade. It was clear that the matter brought with it some unpleasant memory for her.

The only thing he could imagine was if she had lost someone on the field in the past. Frost himself had nearly died not too long ago, so he could somewhat relate.