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Arc 2: The Power of Knowledge

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『』= Info

《》= Attribute

『』= Skill

【】= Sub-Skill

〘〙= Status, Combat Arts & Magical Spells

〚〛= Internal Thoughts

「」= Other

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Chapter 28: The Depth of Knowledge

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Part 1

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All of the departing Starlight Spark 2,912 Cavalrymen had already left. They were largely composed of 2240 Rangers (7 Legions) from Starlight Spark’s First Ranger Cavalry serving as Primary Combatants, 256 Mechs from the Second Mechanized Cavalry to operate the LandCruisers and Mobile Defensive Psionic Barrier Generator, 64 Scouts from The Third Air Cavalry, 320 Support Specialists from The Fourth Expeditionary Cavalry and 32 Operatives from The Fifth Special Operations Cavalry.

The 173 Atlantian Elves of Light departed alongside 150 Soldiers from the Cobalt City Starlight Brigade. Adding Elrick and the 2 Raid Groups Guarding him the Starlight Spark Group teleporting to the City of Forkland reached 3,300 people.

Elrick had just acquired his tenth Symbiote and was taking flying spheres with his protection detail to the Teleport Tower. Sitting next to Elrick is the inherently compliant Ayana. The Armoured Ayana had retracted the Armour’s face cover just like Elrick because she had noted that people preferred looking at a humanoid face to the Golem face cover. Ayana’s current role is to serve as Elrick’s aid; more like an executive assistant.

The current Ayana needed the Golem Armour to simply move around as her stats are too low to support the weight of the Golem core in her head. That limitation did not diminish Ayana’s abilities as a Conscious Golem. Elrick could safely leave the management of his schedule to the immensely capable Ayana, and should he desire it she would even share his bed. Elrick for his part wanted to hold off on requiring Ayana to provide carnal pleasure until she is fully able to support her own body.

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Upon reaching the Teleport Tower Elrick and his guards were directed to a large Magic Circle; clearly meant for use by large groups of people going to the same destination.

The activation of the Magic Circle alerted Elrick to the countdown that suddenly appeared at the top left corner of his vision; starting at 5 seconds. Once the countdown reached zero they vanished in saturation of light and reappeared at a different Teleport Platform in a different City; the City of Forkland in the Kingdom of Kent.

Looking over the city Elrick immediately noticed that the architecture was closer to that of many European Cities on earth, and the style was not as post-modern as that in the Commonwealth. The disparity in advancement in the architecture could only be attributed to the difference in Economic Power; Kent is a medium Power and nowhere near the superpower state the Commonwealth Enjoys thanks to it being an Asgard Continental Republic autonomous territory.

That not withstanding the City of Forkland is impressive and any country on earth would be proud to possess such a city. The one major distinction that is immediately noticeable is that there aren’t any Flying Spheres; unlike Commonwealth Cities the primary mode of transport is the wagon; both Mana powered and combustion engine powered. What Elrick was looking at was essentially streets filled with Cars; the availability of magic and restrictions imposed by the Asgard Continental Republic on the Commonwealth had sent the 2 nations of the same continent in different technological directions.

Then Elrick suddenly noticed why; as an Elf he is somewhat acutely sensitive to pollution, and the medium size City of Forkland with a population over 2 million is slightly polluted. Elrick had a more pronounced reaction to the air pollution than the Half-Elves that protected him; coughing as the air irritated his lungs, and his eyes watering in response to the irritation caused by the pollutants in the air. Ultimately Elrick was forced to close his Armour’s Face Cover.

It was now obvious why there are such restrictions on Air Pollution in the Commonwealth; the Elves simply couldn’t take such an environment. Elrick had no doubt that the Elves could somehow learn to cope with such a harsh and polluted environment but with a biology tailored for a particular natural environment it was likely that such an adaptation would come at a massive cost to the Elven Lifespan. Thus rather than force the elves to adapt the Asgard Continental Republic chose legislation; the Clean Air Act of the Asgard Continental Republic Federal Council.

As to the question of how the Elves of Light could be the Crafters of the Elven Race and not suffer the consequence it became apparent to Elrick that the elves likely use magic to maintain clean air even during manufacturing; thus explaining the high affinity of the Elves of Light with wind Magic. It was all too apparent to Elrick that inherent Affinity and Proficiency is a consequence of thousands of years of Epigenetics; resulting in hard-coded genetic Affinity and Proficiency to particular Elemental Magic.

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After being met by the receiving Local attendants of the local ruler Elrick was guided to the offices of Lord Forkland and the City Administration Building. By Elrick’s foreknowledge Lord Forkland is a Landed Noble with the Peerage Rank of Count. The analysis received from the Eastal Security Agency indicated that Count Forkland and Viscount Norfork are strategic rivals and it is probable that some of the problems afflicting the major town of Norfork are likely somehow connected with Count Forkland and his allies.

For that reason Elrick would have to tread lightly and not interfere in the internal politics of Kent. Elrick could understand that a High-Elf of Light showing up to aid an adversary would unnerve the local Lords, and the fact that the Commonwealth Noble called the Aid being provided a Mission of Mercy essentially tied the hands of the local Lords; preventing them from stopping the mission. The bigger problem for the Lords is that Elrick would no doubt discover their attempts to cripple Norfork and should that become public there would be political consequences.

Therefore the Local Lords were working behind the scenes to erase any traces of their involvement. They all knew that Elrick is very famous and essentially immortal, and that meant assassination was not a viable option. In any case any attempts to openly impede Elrick’s mission would likely incur the wrath of the Kent Capital Kentridge and all the involved Lords would likely suffer severe punishment; that’s because the Kingdom needed to portray the image of stability and the international community would no doubt be watching the first visit of a Commonwealth Noble of Atlantian Origin.

Even Elrick knew that Operation Elven Light as it had become popularized would become a kind of benchmark of how Adonites treat Nobles of Atlantian Origin. Elrick was relieved by the knowledge that his Title of Eastal’s Emissary to the Atlantians made it impossible for local Lords to openly Undermine him, but he already knew from the ESA resources that the local Lords would not take his interference in their Schemes lying down. Elrick knew that there were already moves to discredit Operation Elven Light as interference in domestic affairs.

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Entering the Audience Hall Elrick noted Count Forkland sitting on his throne, and to his right stood 4 of Forkland City’s Clan Chiefs, to the Count’s left Viscount Vorkland, Baron Lukas, Baron Wilmic, Baroness Narwim & Baron Elis seated in slightly less luxurious chairs. Elrick was thankful that sir Airwick had provided such detailed information.

Elrick was guided to the centre of the room where he gave an Elven bow of the head as a formal greeting to Nobility and awaited the response. The right hand to the chest is reserved for nobility that is of the same nation and of higher rank.

Attendant : " Recognizing His Eminence Elrick Starlight; Eminent Clan Chief of the Commonwealth Realm!"

Elrick : " I offer my warmest Greetings to Count Forkland and the Eminent Nobles of the illustrious Kingdom of Kent."

Count Forkland : " We welcome you to Forkland Elrick Starlight. May I present my brother Viscount Vorkland."

Elrick looks over at Viscount Vorkland.

Viscount Vorkland : " I am Lerno Vorkland Forkland; Viscount of Vorkland. It’s a pleasure to meet the famous Atlantian Acolyte."

Elrick gives a respectful Elven bow.

Elrick : " I am Honoured to make your acquaintance Viscount Vorkland."

Elrick couldn’t help noting that some of the knights were displeased by the Elven bow, but Elves traditionally only bend their heads and not their bodies, and therefore Elrick would not break protocol by giving the full bow other nobles offer High Nobility.

Count Forkland : " Now that the formalities are out of the way; may I enquire why you chose to undertake Operation Elven light?"

〚Elrick : " Getting straight to the point; I see. You’re trying to figure-out if I have ulterior motives. How do I spin this? Right!”〛

Elrick : " This all came about as a result of a request from a little girl …. During my meetings with the common-folk in Cobalt City a young refugee girl withstood the admonishment of her parents and begged me to help her sick cousin taking shelter in Norfork. As an Elf of Light I could not resist such an earnest impassioned plea for help from a child."

The room erupts in murmurs.

Viscount Vorkland : " Wait? You mobilized an Army, spending thousands of Gold just to satisfy the request of a commoner girl?"

The look of disbelief was not just on Lord Vorkland’s face; everyone in the room had the same incredulous look; the look of people who have just encountered a complete idiot.

〚Elrick : " Shit! Why are they misunderstanding things right away?”〛

Slightly panicked Elrick sought to clear things up.

Elrick : " Ah; wait? Your Lordship; I hadn’t planned on bringing the Starlight Legions. My original plan was to bring over no more than a single legion to escort the healers. But my Director; that is the Director of Starlight Spark decided that it is as good an opportunity as any to open a trade route to Kent Kingdom. Apparently the City of Forkland is Ideal."

Count Forkland : " Ah; so you’re here to do Business!"

Elrick immediately notice the relief in everyone’s expressions and he could guess that they all believed that if Elrick is a businessman and wanted to do business with Forkland and its Allies he was unlikely to cause potential problems for his potential business partners. At worst Elrick would use evidence of their misdeeds to extract favourable trade terms.

Viscount Vorkland : " What a relief; for a moment there I thought we were dealing with another political time-bomb."

Noting Elrick’s bewildered expression Lord Forkland explained.

Count Forkland : " On occasion sons and daughters of high ranking nobles and at times even Royal Nobles venture to the borderlands. Whether they seek adventure or merit is inconsequential given that they always bring with them trouble for the local authorities. As fate would have it Forkland is just 425km north of the Capital Kentridge, and 41km from here is the town of Norfork which serves as the primary supply centre for the Border garrison some 60km north of Norfork. Thus both Forkland and Norfork are strategic locations; making them ideal visiting locations for High Ranking Nobility. We invariably have to look after these nobles since any harm that befalls them will bring the wrath of powerful individuals upon us. When we heard that an Atlantian Commonwealth Noble was coming it triggered the same concern. Add to that the fact that the one coming is Eastal’s Emissary to the Atlantians and you can understand the complications. If it turned out that you were oblivious to the dangers out here it would have been terrible. It is therefore a relief to learn that you are a level headed person."

Elrick could see from all the nodding that they were going along with the Lord’s explanation and that it was even true that they had been troubled by conspicuous high ranking nobles.

Elrick : " Oh right; then it pleases me to relieve your Lordship’s concerns. I for one am not looking for adventure, and my immortality does not preclude my losing valuable equipment. However for the sake of my Soldiers I sought and received permission to conduct limited manoeuvres around Norfork to help thin out the dangerous monster herds that had been neglected as of late. After all; being forced to take them along is an expensive exercise."

Count Forkland : " I can understand."

Elrick : " For my part; when my Lord Elron gave me a second chance I undertook to be an exemplary Elf of Light. I couldn’t refuse the earnest request of a child and disappoint the aspirations of those who look to me for inspiration."

Viscount Vorkland : " So that’s what it is?"

The Viscount was now happily grinning.

〚Elrick : " Good; I’m a harmless healer. There’s nothing to worry about.”〛

Count Forkland : " Forgive my intrusion into your private affairs; but can you perform healing magic? The information we received is that you recently returned from Chaos Island."

〚Elrick : " So he cleverly brought up the fact that I was on Chaos Island.”〛

Elrick feigned embarrassment.

Elrick : " Lordship; my EXP in Healing magic is less than a week old."

Count Forkland : " You do realise that people will expect you to perform some healing?"

Elrick : " By combining a few Elemental healing magic and layering I’m able to perform a limited amount of healing."

Viscount Vorkland : " Perhaps we should see a demonstration to confirm?"

Count Forkland : " Right; illnesses are different from injuries, and most beginner healers practise on wounds."

Viscount Vorkland : " Our evaluation of your Healer Level will minimize the risk of you suffering the backlash from unmet expectation.”

Count Forkland : " This will be for your benefit."

〚Elrick : " They’re Sly…. They’re deliberately putting me on the spot; if my evaluation is too low I’ll seem like a clown. They’re already looking for leverage over me.”〛

Elrick had no illusions about what was happening, but he couldn’t allow himself to be cowed into backing down because it would create problems later on.

Elrick : " Then it can’t be helped; I’ll do it."

Viscount Vorkland : " Great; bring forth the patient!"

Lord Vorkland didn’t waist time ordering that a patient be brought over, and Elrick knew that all this had been prearranged. The person being brought over seemed elderly, she was being wheeled over in a wheelchair that could transform into a stretcher.

〚Elrick : " It’s likely she’s a noble given the quality of the clothing”〛

Elrick looked over at the half asleep elderly woman. The suffering of the frail looking woman triggered Elrick’s empathic response.

Count Forkland : " The immunity of the elderly to common pathogens degrade over time, and as they approach the twilight of their days they are afflicted with all manner of ailments. Temporary though it may be; any relief magic you can give is thoroughly welcomed."

Elrick : " I understand; I’ll begin. 〘Aura Glow〙, 〘Divine-Aura〙! Then 〘Light Control〙, 〘Light Shaping〙 , 〘Psionic Control〙, 〘Psionic Shaping〙, 〘Water Control〙, 〘Water Shaping〙, 〘Plant Control〙, 〘Plant Shaping〙, 〘Enchantment Control〙 and 〘Enchantment Shaping〙."

Noting the effect of Elrick’s 〘Aura Glow〙 Viscount Vorkland and Count Forkland began a private telepathic conversation.

〚

Viscount Vorkland : " His individual spell output is relatively insignificant, but that 〘Aura Glow〙 is … "

Count Forkland : " The real deal. He has to be pouring at least 500 Mana into it, and it’s laced with 〘Divine-Aura〙."

Viscount Vorkland : " He can somehow make his 〘Aura Glow〙 identical to 〘Divine-Aura〙."

Count Forkland : " Why is he using Basic Complementary Spell Sets? Is he Shaping that 〘Aura Glow〙 into Light healing magic? "

Viscount Vorkland : " He’s pouring a different Elemental Magic out of each of his fingers; 5 Elemental Magic types in total. How is he simultaneously controlling that many?"

Count Forkland : " Is this an effect of a Golem Implant?"

Viscount Vorkland : " That must be it; not even a novice Elf of Light on Asgard can do something like this."

Count Forkland : " It would take years to gain such control."

Viscount Vorkland : " So the Golem Implant turns the useless Basic Complementary Spell Set into something useful."

Count Forkland : " This Elrick guy isn’t a fake; he’s the real deal."

〛

Elrick continued to work on the elderly woman.

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Elrick had been working on the elderly woman’s Cardiovascular System; starting with the heart he used 〘Psionic Control〙 and 〘Psionic Shaping〙 to create a physical scaffolding that allows regeneration and restoration of damaged tissue through localized energizing 〘Light Shaping〙 of 〘Divine-Aura〙 and 〘Plant Shaping〙 to stimulate cellular replication. The 〘Water Control〙 and 〘Water Shaping〙 was being used to circulate the blood in the body while Elrick worked on the heart.

The process took a lot of time and concentration but once Elrick was able to restore the muscle fibres of the heart he could start working on the blood vessels. Repairing blood vessels required Elrick to restore them in 10cm sections, building artificial Psionic scaffolding, using Plant Magic cellular replication, Water Magic provision of nutrients, Light Magic acceleration of regeneration and Enchantment Magic strengthening of the newly restored tissue.

Elrick’s method wasn’t easy or quick and would be near impossible without the Class 4 and 2 Class 5 Golem Cores assisting him. However the results were beyond anything that the observing Landlords had expected. Once Elrick finished repairing the major blood vessels to the lungs there was a visible change in the elderly woman’s atmosphere; she could breathe a lot easier. By improving the circulation of blood and nutrients the infectious bacteria and viruses could more easily be combated by antibacterial, antiviral and pro-immune system chemicals. The immune system had been given a boost and was coming back to life.

The complementary systems could now be given some attention and Elrick now focused on the nervous system. Elrick sought to repair and restore nerves that had been degraded by age and the failure of the natural replication of cells with age. The biological clock that had been ticking away had been creating an accumulation of errors in the replication of cells and in time slowing down the replication process; slowly breaking down. However by providing substantial amounts of energy it was possible to temporarily accelerate the cellular replication process; replacing older cells with newer and more efficient cells.

Elrick could already see the limits of the application of healing magic, but he also noted that if an individual periodically received healing magic the rate at which the body would degrade decreased substantially. That meant that a healer who applied healing magic on himself would age much slower than his identical twin without access to constant healing magic. Elrick could now understand why mages in realm eternal lived much longer than those who chose a different profession; the greater Mana capacity essentially meant more energy contained within the body.

By the same logic Elrick realised immortality was possible for even the natives of the Realm Eternal. Atlantians are immortal in that a new body can always be created for them, but their bodies are not that dissimilar to those of the Living Golems. However the bodies of Living Golems suffer from the same aging effects that affect normal Adonites. The Continentals live longer because they have higher SP which gives them higher Mana regeneration; making their use of Mana fundamentally more efficient.

Elrick’s Field Command Golem Core suggested that healing spell of Mana that is 25% of HP every 75 minutes should be sufficient to quadruple lifespan. This explained why few people engaged in that practice; they were too busy living their lives. Atlantians didn’t have to worry about a degrading body because a new body would simply be printed with all the previous Attribute EXP; apparently the higher the Attribute EXP the more it costs to print the New body.

Printing a new Atlantian Body was free for HP lower than 5,000 and cost 1 Gold Coin for HP lower than 10,000 EXP. The cost Shoots Up for HP greater than 10,000 EXP; reaching multiples of 1 Gold Coin for every 1,000 EXP above 10,000 EXP. Atlantians essentially pay 1 Gold Coin for every 1,000 EXP above 10,000 and someone with an HP of 100,000 would need to pay 91 Gold Coins for a new body. The expectation being that the Atlantians with higher HP ought to be wealthier.

Elrick’s work on the elderly woman was coming to an end with the near depletion of Elrick’s Mana reserve. Working on her nervous system meant working on her brain and the green eyes now looking at Elrick were not of someone half asleep but those of someone fully alert.

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Noting the green eyes carefully watching him he thought he should say something.

Elrick : " I apologize; this is the limit of what I can do for you."

??????????????? : " It’s alright; this is far more than I’ve received in years. I feel better than I’ve felt in years. Thank you Noble Elf; I’ll make sure my son the Count of Forkland properly rewards you."

Elrick : " That won’t be necessary your Ladyship."

Lady Forkland : " You would leave an Old Lady in your debt?"

Elrick : " Then it can’t be helped."

Lady Forkland : " You are kind young Elf; characteristic of your kin."

Elrick : " You honour me your Ladyship."

Count Forkland : " Mother; you can speak!"

Elrick finally realised the shock in the faces of everyone in the audience room.

Viscount Vorkland : " Chief Elrick; you’re a Magical Surgeon?"

Elrick : " Magical Surgeon?"

Elrick found himself surprised by the question. He doesn’t know how to answer it since he hasn’t properly qualified as a Magical Surgeon.

Baron Wilmic : " A Magical Surgeon would be a tremendous asset."

Baroness Narwim : " Chief Elrick; are you Certified?"

Baron Elis : " We could help in your certification."

While Count Forkland and Viscount Vorkland are preoccupied with their mother the other seated Nobles suddenly jump in.

Baron Wilmic : " Are you open to visiting my territory?"

Elrick : " Ah; Eh?"

Baroness Narwim : " Wait? Why do you get a visit first?"

Elrick : " Hee"

Baron Elis : " No we should negotiate openly."

Baron Wilmic : " Perhaps this is can be part of negotiations for the trade route to this region."

Baron Elis : " That’s if the Commonwealth doesn’t restrict access to him."

Elrick : " Can they do that?"

Elrick is hearing things he hadn’t predicted.

Baroness Narwim : " Put simply; Magical Surgeons are specialized healing mages. The fact that every treatment takes a long time means that they are limited in the number of patients they can see on a daily basis."

Elrick : " Making the consultation fee exorbitant."

Baron Wilmic : " Exactly; a new Magical Surgeon is therefore a fortunate find."

Elrick : " Why not just train more Magical Surgeons?"

Baroness Narwim : " There’s the problem of Funds."

Baron Wilmic : " The primary magic of a Magical Surgeon is Psionic Magic; which as you know isn’t cheap. Therefore the time necessary to skill and train a proficient Magical Surgeon isn’t exactly cost effective. It’s much better for the national budget to be spent on General healers who can provide a larger public service."

Elrick : " Wouldn’t’ the Golem Cores make the training faster?"

Baron Elis : " Good point; it would make it cheaper to train a Magical Surgeon. However Golem Core Implants are a relatively new phenomenon, and in the face of entrenched positions and bureaucracies it would take studies to prove the efficacy."

Baron Wilmic : " Ultimately the fact that a Magical Surgeon can only heal one person at a time limits its viability as a national priority."

Elrick : " But it would be a lucrative profession for the private individual who chooses such a profession."

Baroness Narwim : " And given the initial entry cost it will likely be the Nobility that can afford it."

Elrick : " And Nobles are unlikely to choose such a profession."

Baron Elis : " There’s little reward for High Nobility. It’s come to the point where Lower Nobles are sponsored and become a personal Magical Surgeon for a particular Noble Family."

Baron Wilmic : " However even amongst newly trained Magical Surgeons your talents are noteworthy; which is why we would like fair access to your healing talents."

Elrick : " Then I’m forced to leave the negotiations to the Director of Starlight Spark, and once I’m certified we can allocate time for your affiliates to visit me at home for treatments. As a commonwealth Noble I’ll have to get regulatory approval for this kind of international transactions, but Eastal will help me with that."

Baroness Narwim : " Damn; I forgot that you already have a powerful benefactor."

Baron Elis : " It can’t be helped that it turned out this way."

Elrick : " Haa"

With that sigh Elrick was released from the meeting since everyone now realized that he was exhausted by the Mana expenditure.

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Part 2

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By the time Elrick arrived at the residence Baron Johan Embril was staying in he was already over an hour late for the prearranged meeting. Fortunately Lord Embril didn’t have the standing to be overly upset with the Elrick that was about to help him raise the capital he desperately needed to save his small Town and 4 Villages located some 324km from Forkland. 15,000 Gold Coins likely isn’t a lot of money to the Lords allied to Count Forkland but it’s a lifeline to Lord Embril; it will help him settle his debts.

The town of Embril is not officially in the sphere of influence of Forkland and like Norfork it’s essentially on its own. But unlike Norfork Embril holds no real strategic value and is for the most part a small rural Town. Nevertheless it is home to a sufficient number of people to be viable, and generations who call it home would never abandon it. Lord Embril may have been unprepared for the Demon attack and incurred substantial losses of both people and goods, but if they could rebuild their agricultural sector they could reclaim the 4 overrun villages.

Thus despite Elrick’s tardiness Lord Embril did not raise any objections and instead welcomed Elrick with open arms.

Baron Embril : " Chief Elrick; we meet at last. I trust you’ve had happy travels?"

Elrick : " Thank you Lord Embril; my travels have been fruitful. I apologize for my tardiness."

Baron Embril : " Think nothing of it; I’ve already been informed that you wowed the regional Landlords with your healing talents."

Elrick : " I appreciate your understanding your Lordship."

〚Elrick : " News certainly gets around fast in these areas.”〛

Elrick is guided to awaiting Mana wagons.

Baron Embril : " I hope you don’t mind; I’ve taken the liberty of arrange transportation to the Adventurer’s Guild for the Memory Imprints."

Elrick : " Lordship; if it is not too impertinent. May I enquire as to the number of people who currently possess your Magical Heritage?"

Baron Embril : " It is your right as the purchaser to know the details. In the aftermath of the crisis production in my territories ground to a halt and to save the lives of my people I contracted to sell my Magical Heritage for 20,000 Gold Coins to Professor Norman Ronvan at the Royal Institute of Mage in Kentridge. As you might expect the more people you sell to the faster the value drops, and as such I never intended to sell my Magical Heritage again since Professor Ronvan had already integrated it to his own Magical Heritage and was not likely to sell it for at least 25 years. However my situation did not improve as quickly as I had hoped and I need more funds to complete the recovery. The Demons attacked during a land reclamation project for agriculture, and people had been contracted; that meant cancellation fees and delays."

Elrick : " I see"

Baron Embril : " So I resolved myself to sell my Magical Heritage one more time, but buyers are few, and the Magical Heritage is primarily Light Magic inclined Runic Magic research. So my negotiations were largely fruitless and I got the feeling that the perspective buyers were simply waiting for me to grow more desperate. It was therefore a blessing when Sir Arwick contacted me with your offer to purchase, and the price you were offering may be lower than the current value of the Magical Heritage, but the fact that you’re an Atlantian means that it doesn’t affect the value of the Magical Heritage since you can’t sell it further. With this Embril is saved."

Elrick : " I’m happy I could be of Aid to you Lord Embril."

Baron Embril : " Not so happy as I Chief Elrick; not so happy as I!"

Elrick paid 15,000 Gold Coins and received the Memory Imprint that is a Magical Heritage.

- - -

What distinguishes a Magical Heritage from normal Memory Imprints that a Magical Heritage is more like a hard-coded computer file; a veritable library compressed into a memory pack. A Magical Heritage is referred to as a structured Magical codex hard-coded into an unchangeable memory freely accessible by the memory holder. Now that Elrick had gained a Magical Heritage he could now understand why it is so valuable, and why it can rightly be called a treasure.

After the Memory Imprints of the Magical Heritage Elrick remained unconscious for several hours; this a result of the extreme amount of information being integrated into his mind. Once the Starlight Group was ready to depart from Forkland Bowden instructed that Elrick be placed in one of the Starlight Wagons that would be transporting the Starlight Troops to Norfork. The LandCruisers and the Mobile Defensive Psionic Barrier Generator vehicle would not be released from their inter-dimensional pockets because operating them consumes an inordinate amount of energy in the form of Mana crystals.

Protection while moving would be provided by 4 wagons equipped with mounted Heavy Machine Guns. However should a dangerous enemy be encountered Starlight Commanders were ready to deploy the LandCruisers and the Mobile Defensive Psionic Barrier Generator vehicle. Moving ahead of the Starlight Group are several scouting parties; providing an up to the minute picture of the environment ahead of the Starlight Group. The Starlight Spark commanders thoroughly understood that the Starlight Group was most vulnerable while moving.

Elrick felt comfortable leaving the worries to the Starlight Spark commanders and he was rapped up in a blissful sleep needed for the integration of the Magical Heritage. The Magical Heritage manifested in Elrick’s mind as an Ultra-Modern library, and with the brain expanding the experience of time in this dream state Elrick could explore the Magical Heritage at his leisure. The fact that he had been asleep for nearly 7 hours was completely lost on Elrick.

It is only after receiving the Magical Heritage that Elrick understood his healing display to the Forkland Nobility. The kind of magic that reverses the signs of aging is considered Cosmetic Magic and belongs to the secretive Commercial Class of Magic. A Magical Surgeon isn’t necessarily a practitioner of Cosmetic Magic but their skills primarily belong to Commercial Magic because of the time consuming nature of their methods. From the Magical Heritage received Elrick realized that there existed all manner of Commercial Magic.

Commercial Magic runs in contrast to Combat Magic and Health Care Magic. In simple terms Health Care Magic belongs to both Commercial Magic and Combat Magic, but since most countries consider public Health Care a national security governmental necessity the vast majority of Healing Mages are employed by the Governments and Churches and Health Care Magic is primarily a state competence. There the line between the state and the church is often blurred and the church receives massive financial support from the Government. That means healing becomes a public service.

Since it would be too costly for the State to employ Magical Surgeons that role is usually filled by the Commercial sector. For its part Commercial Magic includes Plant Magic needed for Agriculture and Earth and Fire Magic needed for Construction. It is a given that Appraisal, Alchemy and Runic Magic are all primarily Commercial Magic with Military Applications. Therefore the designation of Commercial Magic, Combat Magic or Health Care Magic is largely dependent on a particular country’s strategic interests.

Usually a Magical Surgeon is a Psionic Magic Healing Specialist, but what Elrick had displayed was the effectiveness of combining different forms of elemental magic to a single healing task. Normally gaining competence in applying different forms of Elemental Magic to the level of a Magical Surgeon would require years of study making it unprofitable, but the skill displayed by Elrick who is a relative Magical Novice proved that the Golem Core Implants could transform and likely popularize the Commercial viability of a practitioner of Cosmetic Magic.

It would now be possible for the average man or woman to access Cosmetic Magic. No longer would the Commercial Cosmetic Magic be restricted to the wealthy and ostentatiously opulent and in time life expectancy could be expected to increase. The fact that a Magical Novice could perform such intricate Magic is what stunned the High Nobles. Being highly educated the High Nobility properly understood the ramifications of what it would mean to have more Magical Surgeons capable of rolling back the effects of aging.

Elrick himself had only seen what he had done as a roundabout way of healing but he now understood that once again he had struck upon something truly troublesome. The Magical Heritage Elrick now possessed clearly showed the formula and structure of Light magic spells used to reverse the signs of aging. Elrick now had access to the runic formulas of thousands of spells; primarily Light Magic Spells in their runic forms. The Embril family had roots in Light Magic from their now dormant Elven Blood.

- - -

Despite possessing the Library consisting of at least 750,000 magical books in his mind Elrick felt cheated. The Magical Heritage was not the shortcut to the Depth of Knowledge that Elrick was looking for, and it seemed to Elrick that the advertising on the value of a Magical Heritage was a fraud.

〚Elrick : " Magical Heritage really is a fraud.”〛

The reason Elrick considered a Magical Heritage a fraud is that it’s not a normal Memory Imprint.

In order to preserve the quality of the information in the Library that is a Magical Heritage it is kept separate from the individual’s memories.

What that essentially means is that despite you possessing the Library that is a Magical Heritage its not part of your memories. Which means that you don’t actually gain the knowledge of the books contained in the Library; you simply have access to the library.

Sure you can run mental searches faster than with a reader but for the amount of money paid Elrick felt cheated.

On the balance of evidence Elrick should have known that the Library that is a Magical Heritage is not a path to an instant Depth of Knowledge.

The Library that is a Magical Heritage is an incredibly powerful tool for Magical Researchers but it is not an answer for those too lazy to study.

〚Elrick : " What a waist of money! The one benefit of this thing is the time dilation of the mind; it will make it easier to read the books in the Magical Heritage. Also the implanted Golems should have access to the Magical Heritage so that’s good.”〛

Elrick : " But still; no more rushing off to buy or do things without knowing all the factors. It all turned to shit!"

Elrick was fully awake.

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