I wake again and pull myself up, 'my' left arm moving strangely halfway around to my intent, the other half on stray thoughts. I walk into the morgue proper out of the office and look upon the amber-haired man who had still not woken.
I grab his bag and papers, all of them with the same symbols, not a difference in any one of them. I separate one from the rest and try to use it, pouring my intent and will into it, and it works, although less than the one that had taken my arm.
The paper burns, but there are still others, and so I pick up the book I had written the runes in and write them into it before I begin to truly examine. The rune at the center of the spell resembles that of a flame, and the ones on the side look as if to launch it, resembling that of a sling. But also words, maybe? The flame is in the center surrounded by words I cannot read before the slings four on each side, and surrounding the hole thing is a simple circle. But I have no idea the significance of any of it.
But will he know about it? When I was taught my class, I was given a single lesson without learning what any of it meant, just how to replicate it. It most likely is the same for him, but then I must learn on my own. I examined the paper used for it and found it is just normal paper, nothing special, but the substance used to make it is not ink; it's blood.
I tear out one of those useless blank pages that are in every book for some reason before making the same pattern and replicating everything as best as I can. But with ink from a pen instead, and try to ignite it, and nothing arises. No flame, nothing. I try the same with blood instead, and it works; the flame appears and hits the concrete wall. That means blood has some meaning to mana, but what? If it flows inside humans and works inside of blood, it could mean it moves through biological materials.
I start a small fire outside and go back in, waiting for it to burn. I check on the leather and find it's done, so I set it out to stretch after washing it. And I wait, memorizing runes when suddenly they burst into flames. I hurriedly put them out.
I grab a chair leg and wake the amber-haired man by hitting him in the ribs. "GOd uh-holy crap," he starts to try and say something before looking at his missing limbs and screaming. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?" It's annoying. He did the same to me and took one of mine, and I took all but one of his. he keeps screaming and questioning me on why. I grab his face to stop him from screaming and calmly tell him that I could have taken all of them or simply killed him if that was what he wanted. he goes silent before looking at me, his eyes scared.
"What's your name?" he looks at me, almost confused, before replying, "Rafe Wagner." He's scared, and it almost makes me want to laugh after what he did. "Are you a variable?" "Yes, I am; it designated me a pyromancer." So he might be useful. "What did it teach you?" "How to make the runes and the spell before just sending me back. s-sir." So, almost nothing great. But he still has some use. "The runes on the paper, why did they explode?" he looks at me almost like I'm a monster before responding. "That's just what happens when they are out for too long. I made new ones every day. The circle makes it go slower or all at once for some reason." Maybe mana traveling through the air and environment gathers contained by the circle, and so when enough mana builds up, it can naturally cause the spell to activate without a caster?
I go outside and get the wood ash before making the fire spell with it. Same as the blood, it activates and gets hit against the wall. Finding ways to neutralize mana in the written spells is necessary to keep them longer. But I should learn all I can from Wagner. "Wagner, have you met any other variables?" "N-no, but I did meet someone else. He wasn't a variable, but he did know magic." What? "Elaborate now." "He was in robes with a staff; he knew how to do magic without the paper, like full-on spells. He had dreads and brown eyes, a scar covering half his neck. he beat us once before, saying he was making camp in the park for survivors, and if we met again and we were still raiders, he wouldn't spare us." So, a true mage?
But that raises another question: if he's from the same world as these monsters. But Wagner could also be wrong, and he's another variable, but with a better class. Still, I should check it out if I can find those three again. I could ask them about it and use them to get into it if they joined, but if not, I'll need to approach it alone.
I leave the mortuary and go to where I saw them last in the hospital. I'm guessing they came from the north since that is the direction it's in, but also the park is in that direction. The singular park in the city because one of the princes' wanted it. I don't think he was in the city when the calamity hit, like two weeks ago. But that doesn't matter. I should check the system, I haven't since I woke up. [You have gained the Roman Pyromancy skill.] Just like Koine, it puts where it's from, but I don't know what Roman is. Still, I should find the park.