The Ether-Knight's Lessons

18

.^^ Rune-Talismans ^^

— Idun —

My Glyph materialized, above my palm, and Bergen nodded slowly. "Now the Perth."

I grinned and did the next four steps, recognizing the pattern from my own runes, and he nodded with each one, then leaned back, moving so I could cast it.

—

I picked up a rock, and one of Bergen's talons, (he'd shed all of them, several times over, in order to create more Mithril with me, and do interesting experiments with them,) and placed both pieces on the Glyph, letting it begin its work.

Before long, I held raw Mithril, and I began the second stage, refining it, a more complex and draining process, as I had to reformat the Etheric Web blindly, unable to see into it, like with other metals.

But, once done, I held the last piece of 120 mithril beads, which I had been slowly etching with Runes, recharging my Personal Ether between sessions.

I laced it onto the Mithril string, next to 19 others, then carved it with a Sigel, the Victory Rune, to complete the 6th strand.

My energy drained dramatically, as the Rune finalized, far more than usual, because this was a Standing Rune, which would activate when I called on it, and absorb magic until then, strengthening itself.

Bergen hummed. "And these... Standing Runes... they're more powerful than normal Runes?"

"They can be. They absorb magic, in the Mithril, and grow more powerful, the longer you use them to defend yourself against magical attacks, or sometimes just pull whatever you aren't using... and because of the Spiritual Connection, I can pull energy from them, when I need it, just like my cards. And when I finally do cast them, they'll be... impressive." I smiled.

He nodded slowly, and nudged me onto his back. "Well, the tournament starts in an hour, we should go see Glass and Mikhail."

I nodded and secured Weiss in my jacket, then held on to him as he leapt off the roof, and dove down to the ground, swooping up at the last second.

'The Tourists should love that.' I smirked sarcastically.

Indeed, several people were waving, smiling, and showing small children Bergen's shadow, then the glowing golden himself.

He landed in front of the lobby, preening under the scrutiny of several small children, and then sniffed one, a tall, yet obviously still young, boy with beautiful middle-eastern tan skin and black hair. "This one smells of Fire and Gold. Of Forges and Magic. It is... Pleasant." He commented slowly.

The child cocked his head, and reached out a hand. I watched, amused, as the child contracted him instantly.

I laughed softly, thinning my own connection with him, down to a bare connection to share power and abilities, and felt the boy as well, who was a Two-Fielded Physical-and-Ritual Magic User.

I squatted next to him, holding out a hand. "I'm Idun Rotorstein, child. What is your name?"

He blinked slowly, and looked at the elderly woman standing nearby.

She smiled, speaking to him in Arabic, and my mind surprised me by translating, through our connection. "She asks your name, little one. You have just Contracted her Dragon Companion. Be Polite, and she may allow you to keep him."