Chapter 18 - Lesson

“Welcome to our first lesson! This will be your introduction to Ficium and Ars.”

Tetsuo looked around the empty workshop. Surely enough, he and Eleanor were the only ones in the room. He looked back from his seat and could see her enjoying the fantasy. The room they were in was cleaner, with tools in their respective containers rather than strewn across the floor. It was a nice change of pace compared to her office. Old tables and a handful of chairs were set up in rows, with a small podium at the front of the room. Behind the podium was a chalkboard with the symbol she had taught him during his proposal. Below were other symbols he couldn’t recognize. Beside Eleanor at the podium was a large barrel containing a couple rods of chalk and paper sized sheets of Ficium, not unlike what he had seen on that carriage.

“Does anyone have any questions before we begin.” Eleanor beamed proudly at Tetsuo.

Tetsuo quickly raised his hand. “Yes, teacher! I have one!”

Eleanor smiled as he went along with her act. “What is it my dear student?”

“Can we drop this bit?”

Eleanor frowned. “Fine.”

Eleanor grabbed a sheet and broke a piece off one of the rods of chalk. She pulled up a chair and sat in front of the table where Tetsuo was seated. She laid out the sheet on the table, and swiftly scratched on a circle with a triangle and two lines within.

“As I’d hope you know by now, Ficium is only usable by Earthens.” Eleanor looked expectantly at Tetsuo. Tetsuo nodded, allowing her to continue. “This symbol is required for it to do anything at all. Otherwise it’s just a metal that soaks up Ars and does nothing with it. We used to think it would be good for warfare because it can leave people feeling drained of their Ars when they’re close to raw versions of it. However, as we were searching for ways to make our beloved Earthens a bit more capable, we realized that when combined with instructions, we can actually make it do something.”

Tetsuo raised his hand. Eleanor pointed to him waiting for his question.

“If only Earthens can use it, how did you guys figure out it could do something?”

“I’m glad you asked. One of my ancestors accidentally burned his house down after pushing Ars through it. He had written a joke on the Ficium calling it his ‘Anti-Ars wand’ and wanted to prove that he was stronger than its draining ability. To make a long story short, the chalk ignited, and the rest is history. That day we learnt that rather than just draining Ars, it was storing it, and given the right instructions, we could harness it. From there it was just a 300 year endeavor of trial and error to find the sigil combinations we know do something.”

Tetsuo thought about what she just said. He mulled over her words as she prepared to continue. Quickly he realized and interrupted her. “Wait, how’d you guys find those combinations if only Earthens can use Ficium? Have Earthens been involved in the process before?”

Eleanor grimaced for a short second before returning to her teacherly smile. “I’d tell you, but for the time being it’s prohibited information. I hope you understand.”

He was a bit bothered by this but knew it’d be best to wait. “Alright, fair enough.”

“Great. For now, since you’re learning, we’ll be having you go through the basics.”

Eleanor stood up and walked behind her podium. She crouched down and retrieved a large dusty book. The cover had been patched with different colored pieces of leather, and many pages poked out from inside. She came back to him and set it down in front of him. She flipped to the start of the book and removed a few pages from the binding, setting them down.

“These are some basic combinations you should be able to learn easily. The effects aren’t very useful, but they’re safe and they don’t do anything if you screw it up.”

Tetsuo looked at the sheet. The first combination was listed as a way to make the Ficium heavier. It contained thirteen different symbols, organized in two columns of six on each side of the base symbol. Tetsuo scanned the rest of the sheet. Underneath the diagram was a section labeled misuse, that was empty.

“Start by working on recreating these sheets. Make sure you’re careful. Since you’re Earthen, we’ll be having you test the sheets to make sure they work properly.”

Eleanor handed Tetsuo a piece of chalk and returned behind her podium retrieving a short Ficium knife, and a metal pen like instrument, with a thin piece of chalk affixed to its tip. She laid both devices out on the table and began to work, frantically flipping through pages while drawing symbols onto it at an illegible size.

When she worked, she remained completely silent and focused. Her eyes were fixed on the tiniest of writing, and her hand moved with frightening accuracy. The sheet she was observing had a diagram with hundreds of symbols organized in an unintelligible manner. Its description said it was for emitting fire. Tetsuo relinquished himself to working on his miserly thirteen symbol combination. As he began to practice he thought it may be a good opportunity to try to find some answers.

“So… that’s a fire dagger?”

“Yes.”

“It sure looks complicated.”

“Yup.”

“Are all combinations this complicated?”

“Most.”

“Even for less powerful effects?”

“Depends.”

“What about for tools?”

”It’s the same.”

While short she was at least responsive. She didn’t seem particularly bothered either, so Tetsuo felt it may be safe to continue.

“Alvania sure makes a lot of weapons.”

“I guess.”

“Not many Earthens actually end up getting Ficium stuff, huh.”

“I suppose.”

“Do we send it back to Remes for them to use?”

“Private.”

“Oh sorry, I didn’t know.”

The quick shutdown when Remes was involved made Tetsuo feel a bit nervous. He figured it may be best to avoid the topic of where the weapons are going for now. Tetsuo thought back to what Wilbur had told him before.

“Do you have family in Remes?”

“Private.”

“Okay…”

Strike two.

Tetsuo paused. He felt he may be pushing it if he asked more questions but the restrictions on Remes proved that there was something more to know there. He wanted to believe in her as a friend, so he took the risk for the sake of one more question. “Is everything about Remes private?”

Eleanor set down her pen for a moment and took a deep breath. “It’s your first day. You’re here to learn how to make Ficium tools to help people in Tervana that can’t be used to harm the kingdom. I’m taking enough of a risk letting you do this, and let me remind you: nobody can know. Focus on learning, and how you can turn that into something for regular Earthen to use.”

“Right… Sorry…”

“It’s alright. Let’s continue.”

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“Alright let’s wrap it up there for today.”

Tetsuo stared out at the dozens of Ficium sheets he had ruined. He felt like they all had the exact same drawing on them, and yet none of them worked. Eleanor closely examined each sheet and wrote into a small notebook. She tore the page out, and handed it to Tetsuo.

“These are the mistakes you made, they’re what made it fail. Next session, come in and practice it again. Don’t practice it at home. When you leave, if anyone asks, you were offering ideas for different kinds of weaponry to make. Or inviting me out on a date. Your call.”

Tetsuo felt a bit annoyed by the comment. “You know I’m married right. I know I’m asking you a favor, but no more of that. Please.”

“Sorry…” Tetsuo was taken aback by how oddly somber her response had been.

“Um, I’m fine as friends and all. Just wanted to draw a line. That’s all. Not a big deal or anything.”

“Right, sorry. I guess I got carried away with it.” Eleanor paused and took a shallow breath before returning back to her teacherly persona. “Next time, we can talk a bit more about specifically how Ficium emits Ars.” She spoke in an exaggerated way but Tetsuo could detect a tinge of loneliness in her words.

“Alright. Thank you… teacher.”

Eleanor gave a half hearted smile and waved him off.

Tetsuo exited the building, surprised to find Alon at the entrance.

“You ready?”

“Huh? For what?”

“You’re staying at my place right?” Alon leaned in towards Tetsuo and whispered to him. “You know? So you have somewhere to stay after your super secret Ficium smithy training?”

Nobody can know, my Ars.

Disgusted with the pun he had thought of, he sighed and accepted defeat, leaving with Alon.