Chapter 256: The Birth of Wizards

Noah observed the rune-design laboratory at Eldrath’s central research institute. The researchers had moved beyond adapting industrial runes for mental engraving and were testing patterns developed specifically for that purpose. On the central workbench, a newly manufactured rune was connected to a measuring instrument and a small mana supply. Several protective screens stood between the equipment and the scientists.

An engineer activated the test apparatus. A brief flame appeared above the rune, but it spread sideways and scorched the mounting plate. The engineer shut down the supply while his colleague examined the recording.

"It still spreads across the plate," she said. "We’re supposed to get the flame in front of the rune."

"I can see where it starts drifting. The last connection is directing it toward the housing." He brought up the design. "I’ll move that section and have the workshop make another sample."

The researchers had spent months developing the pattern from arrangements they had identified in their studies of existing runes. Some designs produced heat without flame. Others ignited briefly and then failed when the mana supply changed. The modified rune took several more trials before the flame appeared in front of the apparatus, where a target had been positioned, without damaging the mounting plate.

The team called the new design the Flame Rune. Tests with different amounts of mana produced flames of varying size, although the researchers kept the output low until the pattern performed consistently. Elsewhere in the institute, two additional teams were making progress with their own original designs. One produced a temporary barrier in front of its apparatus. Another delivered a directed impact strong enough to move a weighted practice object. They named them the Barrier Rune and the Force Rune.

These results established that the three patterns could produce their intended effects in laboratory equipment. Whether a goblin could activate them after mental engraving remained an unanswered question. The researchers used the institute’s compatibility archive to examine how the designs behaved alongside the Mindmark Rune, then conducted repeated transfers on prepared materials. Only after those tests passed did the director approve a small series of living experiments.

The first participant selected for the Flame Rune was eleven years old and already possessed a stable Mindmark. His parents had agreed to the additional procedure after meeting the medical team. The boy watched an engineer prepare the machine while a physician explained that he should report any pain or unusual sensation immediately. The new rune was to become his second engraving, leaving him within the established three-rune limit.

The transfer completed without disturbing his Mindmark. Afterward, he described both patterns accurately, but nothing happened when the researchers asked him to concentrate on the new engraving. They tried again during the next examination. The boy shut his eyes and sat for several minutes, then looked at the physician.

"I can picture the rune, but I can’t make it do anything," he said. "Am I supposed to feel something?"

"We don’t know yet. The pattern is stable, and your examination looks normal. There’s no reason to keep forcing it today."

Over the following days, the researchers changed how they conducted the activation trials. Instead of asking the boy to concentrate indefinitely, they showed him the Flame Rune’s completed design and let him describe what he perceived when he focused on it. During one session, a small flash appeared above his open palm. The physician called for the test to stop, and the measuring instrument recorded the brief activation.

The boy stared at his hand. "Did you see that? I wasn’t touching the machine."

"We saw it," the engineer answered, examining the recording. "Do you remember what you were doing just before the flame appeared?"

"I was thinking about the rune, like before. Then I tried to make the flame come out in front of me."

They repeated the examination under controlled conditions. The first attempts produced nothing, but the boy eventually managed another brief flame. As he became familiar with the engraved pattern, he could produce the effect deliberately, although the flame remained small and disappeared almost immediately. The scientists recorded the successful activations without claiming that the process was fully understood.

The Barrier and Force Runes underwent similar trials with other medically approved subjects. A Barrier Rune recipient eventually produced a short-lived protective surface in front of herself. Another goblin activated the Force Rune and pushed a lightweight training object across a marked area. Both effects had been generated through concentration rather than the external apparatus used in the original industrial tests. The researchers began using the term spells for these deliberate activations of mental runes.

Continued testing soon revealed a serious limitation. After repeatedly producing small flames, the first subject complained that his head hurt and that he was having trouble keeping the rune in focus. His next activation produced only a faint flash. When the physician asked him to stop, he protested that he could try again, but struggled even to describe the pattern he had seen clearly an hour earlier.

"You’ve already done enough for today," the physician told him. "Your last two attempts were weaker, and the headache is getting worse."

"But I managed it earlier. I think I can do another one."

"The recording’s saved. We can examine it without putting you through another test. Come back after you’ve rested."

The boy recovered after sleeping and could activate the rune again during a later session. Other subjects showed similar fatigue. A Barrier Rune recipient became unable to maintain her protection after several repeated activations, while a Force Rune user struggled to produce the same impact after successive attempts. Longer-lasting effects generally left subjects exhausted sooner than brief ones. Those carrying two functional spell runes also became fatigued when they used the patterns in quick succession.

The institute’s medical researchers examined the difference between physical exertion and the exhaustion caused by spellcasting. Subjects could often walk and speak normally after losing the concentration needed to activate their runes. They sometimes reported headaches, difficulty focusing, or an inability to hold a clear image of the engraved pattern. Rest restored their ability over time, but the length of recovery varied between subjects. The institute therefore avoided assigning a fixed number of casts to any rune.

Several planetary years passed while the research teams improved their original designs and confirmed that their effects could be repeated. They continued monitoring the first recipients as they grew older. The Mindmark remained present, and the additional engravings stayed stable. None of the tests established that a goblin could cast a spell without mental strain, nor had the institute developed a way to exceed the three-rune limit.

The government received a report containing footage of the successful activations. Noah observed a confidential meeting in which the research director demonstrated a Flame Rune producing a short burst, a Barrier Rune holding against a controlled impact, and a Force Rune moving a target. Senior military officers attended alongside the ruler and research officials.

A commander asked to replay the Barrier Rune demonstration. "What exactly struck that barrier?"

"A training projectile," the director replied. "It stopped the one shown here, but we haven’t tested it against every weapon. The barrier also weakened when the subject tried to maintain it for too long."

"And the flame? Could the subject keep producing it throughout an engagement?"

"No. Repeated casting exhausted him. The longer or more frequent the activation, the sooner he had to stop. The results differ from one subject to another."

The officers reviewed the footage of the Force Rune pushing a practice target. Several discussed its usefulness against enemies approaching a defensive position. Others considered the possibility of a temporary barrier protecting soldiers who needed to cross an exposed area. No one proposed replacing rifles, machine guns, artillery, or armored vehicles with runes. The officers wanted to know whether a trained soldier could use a spell at a particular moment and still perform his normal duties afterward.

The ruler authorized a military evaluation program. The research director emphasized that new engravings remained subject to the established age restrictions. Soldiers could not safely receive spell runes simply because they had reached military service age. Instead, the military would recruit goblins whose additional runes had been engraved while they were between nine and thirteen and whose medical records showed stable results.

By the time the evaluation program was organized, some of the earliest experimental recipients had become adults. They were offered places in a specialized military training course and underwent examinations before joining. Most carried a Mindmark and one spell-producing rune. A smaller number possessed a Mindmark and two compatible spell runes, the maximum permitted by the established limit.

At the training camp, instructors first assessed each recruit’s control. The Flame Rune users practiced aiming at marked targets. Barrier Rune recipients learned to form their defenses in a specified direction, while Force Rune users worked on moving training objects without striking nearby personnel. The exercises used controlled conditions and medical supervision. Instructors also recorded how performance changed after repeated activations.

One recruit could produce a large flame that struck the target accurately, but his next attempt was noticeably weaker. Another produced smaller bursts and maintained his accuracy through more repetitions. Their instructor reviewed both recordings with them after the exercise.

"Your first cast hit the center," he told the stronger recruit. "By the fourth, you barely reached the target. Don’t keep trying to produce the same flame once your concentration starts slipping."

"I thought I could manage one more," the recruit replied, rubbing his forehead.

"You tried, and it fell short. Next time, tell me as soon as your head starts hurting. I need to know your limits before we put you into a full exercise."

The second recruit listened while the instructor checked his own results. He had remained accurate longer, although the medical staff found that he too required rest after sustained casting. The officers concluded that rune strength alone was not enough to assess a recruit. Control, judgment, and the ability to recognize mental fatigue were equally important during training.

The first larger exercises combined rune-equipped recruits with conventional infantry. A Barrier Rune user formed a temporary defense while several soldiers moved between marked positions. Force Rune users displaced approaching training targets, and Flame Rune users struck designated targets at close range. The soldiers still carried their standard equipment. When a Wizard could no longer cast, the exercise continued with the weapons and procedures the infantry already knew.

During one exercise, a Barrier Rune recipient tried to maintain his defense through several successive controlled impacts. The first two were stopped. The barrier weakened under the next impact, and the soldier’s expression tightened as he struggled to keep it present. The instructor ended his part of the exercise before the next projectile was launched.

"The barrier’s dropping. Lower it and step back," the instructor called.

The soldier released the spell and sat on a nearby bench. After catching his breath, he admitted that he had begun struggling to concentrate before the second impact. The medical officer recorded the report alongside the instrument readings, and the instructor shortened the sustained-defense portion of the next session. He also taught the recruits to end their spells deliberately rather than attempting to maintain them after control began deteriorating.

As the program expanded, military officers discussed how to classify the new personnel. Their spells were neither ordinary weapons nor the work of external industrial machines. After reviewing the training records, the military adopted the designation Wizard for soldiers trained to activate spells through engraved mental runes. The first Wizard units were formed from recruits who had passed the medical examinations and demonstrated reliable control in training.

The designation did not change what their runes could do. A goblin with only a Flame Rune could not produce a barrier, and possessing two spell patterns did not allow a soldier to cast indefinitely. The original Mindmark continued providing its benefits to cellular activity and slower aging, but it occupied one of the three available engravings. Military planners had to work within those restrictions when organizing their units.

Noah observed a later exercise involving one of the first Wizard detachments. The commander assigned a small group to support infantry moving toward a defended training position. A Flame Rune user struck a designated target, while a Barrier Rune user raised protection long enough for several soldiers to move forward. A Force Rune user then pushed an approaching training object away from the group. All three completed their assigned actions, but the instructors ended further spellcasting when the soldiers began showing signs of fatigue.

The commander gathered the detachment after the exercise and reviewed the recordings with its instructors. The flame had struck its target, the barrier had held during the planned movement, and the directed impact had moved the approaching object. The same records showed that the Wizards could not repeat those actions for long without rest. The commander ordered further drills combining short spell activations with ordinary infantry movement and weapons training.

Noah continued watching as the soldiers left the training area and medical personnel began their examinations. Elsewhere on Eldrath, the rune laboratories were still developing original patterns and testing their compatibility with existing engravings. The military now had its first trained Wizards, capable of casting the spells engraved in their minds for brief periods.