Sudden Change
The battle for authority between gods and royalty had always been a problem. As the next leader of a low-grade noble family, Leylin was considered royalty. Tapris could not do anything to him, at least not out in the open, else the royalty would declare war on him. Even the pope of the god of knowledge would only choose to sacrifice Tapris and pacify the royals.
‘Besides... it’s not like Oghma is the only god on the continent. There are still many new churches that are crying out, trying to gain more followers. Of course, this is only what might happen in the worst-case scenario. Things probably won’t get that bad...’ Since he could now predict Tapris’ future actions and the worst consequences, Leylin felt at ease as he returned to the manor.
He first met with his master Ernest, and mentioned Tapris’ demand. He thought nothing of it and answered with a grunt, and then sent Leylin out. It seemed as if he was preparing to immerse himself in a very important experiment, and his mind was wandering while he was speaking to Leylin.
‘Perhaps I’m motiving master to work harder as well. A few days ago, he was saying he was about to reach the fifth level of the Weave or something like that...’ Leylin’s rapid progress must have been a huge motivation for Ernest, who had been stuck at rank 9 for a while now.
In reality, he was actually far from truly reaching the fifth level of the Weave. Leylin cleverly hid a portion of his own strength as well, else Ernest would probably want to commit suicide from the humiliation.
Half-reclining on the sofa in the room, Leylin waved his arms and got Claire to come over and massage his head while he communicated with the A.I. Chip.
‘A.I. Chip, what’s the recent progress on the analysis of the Weave?’ he commanded with his eyes shut.
[Beep! Progress on analysis on the Weave: Rank 0 Weave 100%. Rank 1 Weave 41.22%. Rank 2 Weave 2.3%.]
After seeing these numbers, Leylin sighed noiselessly.
‘Two years have already passed, but there hasn’t been progress in the two layers after rank 0. The analysis of rank 2 has completely halted...’ Though Leylin knew that this was due to his command to maintain stealth, he still gre dejected by it.
‘But analysis of the rank 0 Weave has finally reached 100%! What kind of surprises will it give me?’ Thinking this, Leylin instructed, ‘Give me the information on the rank 0 Weave.’
In that instant, Leylin felt like his line of sight was drowned out by words of laws. All of them held the power of laws, and Leylin felt like he was losing himself within.
[Beep! Analysis of rank 0 Weave complete. Obtained all rank 0 spell models!] The A.I. Chip intoned loyally while opening up a subdirectory. Within it were rank 0 spells of varying types, all arranged in an orderly fashion.
Resistance, Acid Splash, Caltrops, Detect Poison, Detect Magic, Daze, Dancing Lights, Flare, Light, Ray of Frost, Electric Jolt, Sonic Snap, Ghost Sound, Silent Portal, Disrupt Undead, Touch of Fatigue, Mage Hand, Arcane Mark, Prestidigitation...
A whole array of rank 0 spell models of varying types that included spells Ernest may or may not have taught him before were displayed on the A.I. Chip.
“Based on what master said, wizards can be separated into varying factions. There is abjuration, conjuration, enchantment, transmutation, divination, evocation and necromancy, which comes up to a total of eight schools. There are also spells which everyone can use... A wizard can choose to train in two to three spell schools before one’s energy is completely exhausted. Master Ernest, for instance, is versed in evocation and transmutation spells, and he can’t even use the spells of other schools at all...” Leylin muttered, “But now, I’ve grasped control of all the rank 0 spells of the eight great schools as well as those that can be used by all wizards...”
[Beep! Host has obtained all rank 0 spell models. Removing restriction on rank 0 spells. Host has obtained authority to cast all rank 0 spells without any restriction! Exempted from effects of forgetting spells!]
Having conquered one layer of the Weave, the benefits that Leylin obtained were terrifying. While he could not match up to the controller of the Weave, Mystra, having these benefits made it simple and very convenient for him.
This means that besides being proficient in all rank 0 spells, I won’t need to prepare rank 0 spells the day before and can use them on the day itself...” Leylin was rather excited. The flexibility this allowed was enough for many wizards’ eyes to go green in envy.
“Furthermore, not needing materials when casting spells and not forgetting spells...” Leylin’s eyes brightened. Many rank 0 spells required magic materials to cast, something that wizards usually spent the most of their money on. Forgetting spells was also what had many wizards fuming with rage. After casting a spell, wizards would completely forget the original spell model and would have to relearn and memorise it.
From Leylin’s point of view, the controller of the Weave had drawn all their spirit and soul strength and slowly exploit them. The gods who were at the top of the Weave were practically vampires.
However, with these effects, Leylin could now do away with the limitations of the rank 0 spells.
“Since I’ve only analysed the first layer of the Weave, this only works for rank 0 spells... But wizards have always been wise about what spells to cast. Even a rank 0 spell can turn the tables if used correctly...” While he would only have these effects when it came to rank 0 spells, that was already enough for Leylin to be elated.
After completely analysing the rank 0 Weave, Leylin could even steal other wizards’ spell slots and get them to cast the spell in their memories for him. It was a pity that Leylin was not the Goddess of the Weave. While he could make things convenient for himself, it was best not to go too far.
If he did so, the wizards who noticed something was off would definitely investigate and report it to the gods. It was much too easy to be discovered, which was why Leylin dared not do this.
“At the last part, once the A.I. Chip completely analyses the Weave, I might be able to challenge the Goddess of the Weave herself...” Leylin’s eyes flashed.Meanwhile, white rays of light flickered at his fingertips.
“Ah...” Claire, who was massaging Leylin, let out a shriek.
“What, have you never seen the power of spells before?” Leylin watched her teasingly. Before the coming of age ceremony, his two personal maids had fully committed themselves to their duties and helped their young master become a true man. Of course, this was only in terms of his body.
“N- No...” Claire’s eyes were filled with envy. The power of magic obviously left her intoxicated. Due to the harshness of the Weave of this world, wizards cherished their spell slots like they did their eyes, planning their spells everyday. Nobody would be like a spendthrift like Leylin, playing with magic even if it was only rank 0 magic.
“There’s something more fun!” Leylin watched Claire, a teasing look on his face, “Mage Hand!”
The sounds of girl’s screams and coquettish laughter transmitted from the room, causing the maids who passed by to turn red...
Sudden, hurried footsteps destroyed this beautiful scene.
“Young master, young master, something’s happened!” Clara, the other sister, ran in. She’d even forgotten the courtesy of knocking. She was met with the sight of her sister all flushed, and her young master, who was in a state of undress.
Though it wasn’t as if she’d never seen this, Clara still turned red. “My- My apologies...”
“There’s no need to bow. Tell me what happened!” Leylin stood up leisurely. He knew that for Clara to become so frantic, it must be something very serious. In comparison, his entertainment obviously came second, and Claire focused on not herself, but arranging Leylin’s clothes.
“Miss Isabel has already reached the manor. Madam Sarah has requested you to go over quickly!” Clara calmed her ragged breathing and finally managed to present the information in its entirety.
“Cousin Isabel?” Leylin was confused, “Wasn’t she apprenticing as a priestess for the Goddess of Agriculture? She can’t leave for three years, so why’s she suddenly here at the Faulen lands? She’s obviously not here on a vacation...”
Hurriedly pulling on a coat, Leylin went to the other side of the manor. For safety during their training and experiments, he and Ernest stayed far away from the couple.He headed to outside the drawing room and saw his housekeeper, Leon, standing outside resolutely while looking sorrowful and strong.
This housekeeper was also Claire and Clara’s father.
“What happened? Is this about Isabel’s family?” Leylin approached him and asked.
“Miss Isabel is inside. Please persuade her! I’ll let Madam tell you what happened.” Housekeeper Leon bowed low.
‘What is this? I have a bad feeling...’ Leylin had an ominous feeling that there was trouble incoming, but he still walked into the drawing room while bracing himself.
“Mother! And... Cousin Isabel!”
After greeting his mother, Leylin glanced towards the other person in the room. However, she had changed so much that he could not believe his own eyes.