“It is indeed how things work now.” Sam stated. He gazed into the forge’s flames. “Here I had this book put together for you. It shows a few of the runes we have discovered and what they do. Don’t show that to anyone. Knowledge is a powerful weapon and we are trusting you with this.”

Kai took the book graciously. He gently opened the pages and began to examine the shapes and symbols. They had a familiarity to them but also an alienness. The dual nature of the runes and glyphs fascinated him. “I am honored you are trusting me so much. How would you recommend starting?”

“At the beginning of course.” Sam chuckled and turned to Alric. “I think I’ll keep the rest of today and tomorrow. That should be enough time to start a foundation.” Alric nodded and walked away, he knew a dismissal when it was given. Sam turned back to Kai. “Now to get you started; I have some basic leather bracers here somewhere.” Sam began to shuffle objects about the various workbenches. Curses began to filter through the noise Sam was making. There was a loud throat clearing noise made by the man who had escorted Alric and Kai into the forge.

Sam stopped what he was doing. “Ken if you know where the damn bracers are just say something.”

“Very good sir. They are in the chest over there. Under the leftmost workbench.” He pointed to a chest that Sam had skipped past in his search.

Sam eyed the man and walked over to the chest. He pushed back the lid and found a pile of leather pieces. “Excellent. Both of you come move this to the rightmost bench over there out of my way so I can keep working but keep an eye on you. Ken supervise his work and answer whatever questions Kai has.” Sam closed the lid and moved back to the furnace.

The two men looked at one another and walked over to the chest. Kai bent down and pulled the chest forward to make lifting it easier. At least that was his intention. As he pulled on the chest he realized the chest wasn’t coming closer to him but his feet were sliding across the floor bringing him closer to the chest, and of course the bench it sat under. Kai realized the bench part as his head collided with it.

“Shit.” Kai fell on his ass.

“Please allow me sir.” Ken bent down and shifted the chest with ease. Once the angle allowed it to be lifted out Ken never seemed to strain a muscle as he lifted and walked the chest to the rightmost workbench as Sam had indicated.

“Damn. Beat by chest and workbench of all things.” Kai stood and rubbed his head where he had hit the table. He walked over to the table and opened the chest Ken had placed on the ground within easy reach. He opened the book Sam had just gifted him and turned to the first few pages. They contained three runes, their names were Bear, Fish, and Dragonfly. They looked nothing like those animals to Kai. Perhaps they were representative of what the runes provided. He thought flying would be awesome so he sat and began to study the Dragonfly rune.

Sam pretended to be working. He often glanced over and watched the kid just staring at the rune book. Ken stood behind him just watching. He didn’t interfere as he had been told to let the kid just try and shape something on his own. Probably an hour later the kid finally looked up.

Kai turned to the man behind him, he thought his name was Ken, “Excuse me. Could you help answer a question?” Ken nodded enthusiastically glad to be of help. “This book is great for showing the shape of the runes but it doesn’t give any insight into the runic language. Do we know what sounds these runes represent? And do we have any words or writing in the runic language that would help us understand more about the runes and their deeper meanings?”

Ken’s face was flat. Kai didn’t see any thoughts going through Ken’s mind as the questions were asked. A few moments later Ken started to shake his head, “I’m afraid not. So far this has been the only book concerning runes that we have been able to purchase. We do know that the various runes have meaning on their own. The Dragonfly is associated with wind and affects Agility and Reaction. We have yet to find a book that uses the runes in words. I will pass your idea on to Daniel for him to investigate the shop.”

Kai nodded. “That makes sense I suppose. I’m guessing this book wasn’t just found laying around? Was a bit hard to come by?”

“Yes. Sam himself actually purchased that book a while back. Well not that exact book. Copies have been made, though at great cost so not many exist. Books such as that are not exactly made on a standard printing press and the system has a price for them. Are you also interested in book binding and printing sir?”

“No, not in the slightest. Thank you for the offer though. I’m certain my plate will be full enough with these things. Another question for you. What if instead of engraving the rune into the leather with this needle thing I instead push mana into thread and stitch that in the rune shape?” Kai saw some thread on the back side of the bench and grabbed it. He began to thread the needle as he spoke to Ken.

Ken watched what Kai was doing and cleared his throat as Kai finally threaded the needle with the fabric he had grabbed. Sam looked over but Ken was the one who answered Kai’s question. “We have seen something similar done but we are not certain of the exact mana imbuement process. Or perhaps we overloaded the fabric with too much mana. Starting at a very low level of mana imbuement may hold success.”

Kai nodded and held the thought of casting Mana Bolt from his right hand where he held the needle. A soft blue-white glow began to suffuse the needle and thread. Kai set about learning to sew using the dragonfly pattern as his first project.