CHAPTER 08

Lÿarah asked Siegfried to summon the men very early; the sun had risen only a few minutes earlier.

Despite the strong wind, the day was bright and sunny. The sky was uncharacteristically blue and cloudless—a perfect day to finally fulfill the promise of training the tribe's warriors.

In an open field near the Élivágar River, the huntress asked the men to gather around her. Alex, despite not being a warrior, was among them.

“Good morning, gentlemen.”

Everyone returned the greeting in unison.

“As you know, I intend to introduce magic into your training. I can already see on your faces the reproduction of the common sense that has dominated discussions about this for years: 'Magic is useless in battle,' 'Incantations take an eternity,' 'It is not practical,' and so on...”

The warriors remained silent, attentive to the explanation.

“And I have to agree with those statements; the traditional way of performing magic is indeed inefficient.” She sighed as if in relief. “However, thanks to BahDehToh, we have found a technique that simplifies all of this and makes magic an excellent resource, even for hunting and, perhaps, a fight.”

“Look at the hilts of your new blades.” She pointed to the weapons at their waists.

“What are they made of? Would anyone care to guess?” she asked.

“They look like they are made from the underground roots of Yggdrasil, is that right?” answered one of the warriors.

“That's right, very well observed.” Lÿarah let a smile slip. “Mana is essential for executing any magic. Mana is in everything—in the air, in the water, and in the soil—but nothing has more concentrated mana than Yggdrasil's roots. Roots that cover the entire world like a vast, hyper-connected web.”

As a demonstration, she caused a small spark of fire to emit from her blade.

Everyone drew their blades and spent a long time analyzing their hilts.

“I want you to notice the details, the engravings, and the carvings on both the hilt and the blade.”

“What are these drawings? I've never seen drawings like these,” Siegfried said.

“A sign is anything that has a signifier and a signified. For example, a spoken word has as its signifier the emitted sound associated with it, while its signified is what it means. This meaning is arbitrary and conventional; we agree on it. This works only because we socially agree that a certain sound has a certain meaning. Words, sounds, gestures, and drawings can be signs, and there are three categories of them: icons, indices, and symbols.”

Some had difficulty following her reasoning, but all had their attention fully focused on her.

“Okay... it seems very complex, doesn't it?” Lÿarah said, looking at their faces and seeing the doubt in their expressions. “I myself had a lot of difficulty understanding this. I am good with knives, not necessarily with words. I memorized all of this from hearing the master repeat it so much.”

They began to relax a bit upon learning that even she had struggled with it.

“Unlike the icons we use in our writing, whose drawing refers to a thing or an idea, these signs engraved on your knives are symbols.”

“Old BahDehToh called this 'Semiotics', the science of signs and languages. He taught me that not every drawing needs to be a 'portrait' of something or refer to a thing or idea. A hunting map is an icon because it draws and represents the mountain. These carvings on the blades, on the other hand, are symbols. They do not look like fire or wind, but they are a 'language agreement' in written form that will interfere with the code of reality itself.”

“Is that why these symbols don't look like anything and don't resemble anything?” one of the warriors said.

“Exactly. Symbols do not possess any physical resemblance or direct cause-and-effect link with the object or idea they mean to represent.”

“So... if I understand what the leader means... these strange drawings here, which do not remind us of anything or resemble anything we know, have a hidden meaning?” Siegfried asked.

“Exactly. Very good!” Lÿarah answered, satisfied. “And what do these symbols mean, you must be asking yourselves? They represent incantations that, in turn, trigger larger blocks of code, which are written on linen made from Yggdrasil roots kept elsewhere.”

An exclamation of understanding was heard in unison.

“You mean that a single one of these symbols here can signify an entire magic incantation?” Siegfried said. “Saves quite a lot of space, doesn't it?”

“That's it, that's the idea. Now, look here, there are layers upon layers of symbols and meanings superimposed on the blades. It would be unfeasible to perform recitations or incantations to trigger such extensive and complex codes. Still, there is a programming layer above all the others that is triggered through simplified commands.”

Lÿarah began to move, performing motions that resembled a dance.

“[Execute: Ignition Loop]. I am indomitable and powerful like fire. [Compile: Fire Parameter],” Lÿarah said while executing the movements.

To everyone's surprise, her blade began to ignite. Her blade became engulfed in fire.

“As you can see, there is a rule that prevents the caster from being affected by the triggered element; this way, even if I wield the blade, the fire emitted by it does not burn me.”

Everyone marveled at that.

“So, these movements are the shortcut that triggers the spells?” one of the warriors said.

“Exactly. The movement, when well executed, spares us from reciting the entire incantation. It triggers the first programming layer and sets in motion the order of corresponding symbols, which in turn access the previously prepared blocks of code and execute them all at once. The cool thing is that we can combine and execute several triggering movements, together or interleaved, creating countless unprecedented variations of magic. Instantaneously.”

“And how do these symbols trigger their corresponding code blocks? You said these texts aren't written here, but where are they?” another warrior asked.

“Excellent question,” Lÿarah said, satisfied. “The command resonates through the source code of nature, and the roots of Yggdrasil act as a network that spreads this order across the entire planet until it reaches the tomes where these spells are stored. That is why the spells will be executed wherever we are.”

The warriors, quite satisfied with what they heard, began to applaud Lÿarah.

“Stop, stop... this is not my merit; this is the merit of BahDehToh's people, and of him, who compiled all this knowledge for us,” Lÿarah said, gesturing for everyone to cease their praise.

“And what happened to BahDehToh's people? With this knowledge, they could have conquered all the humanoid and intelligent peoples of this world, couldn't they?” Siegfried wanted to know.

“They never aimed for power. They had a greater purpose behind it, a purpose that BahDehToh never told me. But what I do know is that they decided to stop living, of their own free will, as soon as the great endless winter took over our world. They understood there was no longer a reason to live—unlike BahDehToh, who seems to have a mission still or hopes to see something come to fruition before he dies.”

All the warriors looked at each other.

“Well then,” Lÿarah interrupted herself. “Let's go. Today I will teach you three simple spells. One is this fire blade; another is a defense using gusts of air, which can cut as much as the sharpest blades and daggers; and the third is a state transmutation, where we will change ice into its liquid form regardless of the ambient temperature. We will turn snow into treated water.”

“Yes, ma'am,” Siegfried replied.

“Please, gentlemen, line up and repeat the movements I make. The quality of the execution will depend on the precision of the gestures. Let's begin.”

•••

Everyone trained to exhaustion until the end of the day, taking brief pauses to eat and drink. By nightfall, most of them could already perform at least two of the three spells taught. Except Alex, who, to everyone's surprise, managed to execute all three spells.

“That's all for today, gentlemen,” Lÿarah said, visibly tired. “You must continue tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, and as many times as necessary until everyone can execute these three spells. Siegfried, can I leave the continuation of their training under your responsibility?”

“Certainly, ma'am.”

“Excellent. The protection and management of the village will be under your responsibility while I am away. I believe you were already performing this function very well before my return, right?”

“As you wish, my lady.”

“Excellent then, gentlemen. Dismissed!”