Chapter 618 618

"Well, we can't deny the power of those hammers now." The Dwarven Master Smith chuckled as his disciple was led away by the city guard.

"You can keep those recipes if you like. I have another copy with me, and you already know how to make the item now, so there really isn't a good reason to take them away from you." Cain told the three old men, whose faces lit up with pure joy at the news.

"That is much easier than trying to inscribe a new copy ourselves. But I will replace them for you. You never know when you might want to do this again, and it will be easier if we return your originals." One of the Smiths informed Cain.

"We have questions. So many questions." An audience member demanded as they moved to surround the group of four who had participated in the demonstration.

"When you carve the stones, does the exact size matter? I would like to make a two-handed version, with a longer hilt, as it would fit the fighting style of my sect better." A man in dark brown robes asked.

"Boyo, who are you planning to give it to?" The oldest of the smiths asked, then handed him the Stonebreaker that had been used to take down the golem.

"Bah, I forgot that you've got freaky midget strength. Who is supposed to use this thing anyhow?" The man muttered when he realized that the existing version weighed upward of ten kilograms.

"Physical cultivators, Immortals, you know, the usual sort of people who would have a Mythic Hammer. It's not like anyone would just give it to a weakling or a rookie." Cain shrugged.

"Even if it weren't a Mythic weapon, I wouldn't want to get hit with that thing." Another cultivator agreed, now that he knew how heavy it was.

"But I second his question. Can we extend the handle?" another man asked.

"I don't see why not. It's just a matter of the mold that you use. The runes end before the grip, so just don't change that and extend the bottom with the same rune to cap it off, and it should work just fine." Cain decided after looking over the interactions between the enchantments.

It would take a lot of luck for them to make a copy just from watching since this world didn't have anything resembling a video camera, so Cain wasn't too worried about the weapon spreading too far. It should help them in their attempts to make other, similar high-quality weapons though.

"Do you have time to come to an inscription symposium? There is an Elder from another sect holding one now, and none of us have the status to call him out on what is clearly false information since we can't copy an advanced manuscript accurately, so there is no solid proof." A female voice called from the back ranks of the assembled crowd.

"You want me to start troubles by calling out another Sect's Elder? Hard pass." Cain replied.

"Could you perhaps hold a symposium of your own on the topic after he finishes? Just showing people how to do it right would do the same thing, and there are dozens of other Inscription symposiums going on." She suggested.

"Fine, but not in the same location. Find me a spot to set up, and I will show people how to manipulate energy to copy a manuscript." Cain agreed.

With Spell Crafting, that was a simple thing to do, especially since these people got so excited over even the simplest of techniques if you gave them a complete manuscript.

"I know just the place. There is an Inn here, where a few Young Masters have set up, as well as the Holy Guardian Sect. They don't bear any ill will after your Disciples won the fight, don't worry, and it's a large open area with a gazebo that is used for plays when the city isn't as busy." The woman suggested.

"We will follow you there. Manuscripts and Recipes are very similar in some ways, especially the fact that they will not copy properly for those without sufficient skill." One of the old smiths informed them, gesturing for the young lady to lead the way.

Just around the corner, there were two Elders from her sect, waiting patiently with pleased smiles on their faces.

"I told you that it would work. When the pretty one asks, people listen better than when a cranky old man asks." One of the Elders chuckled to the other.

"Bah, he would have done it anyhow. Now get out of the way. It looks like he's bringing a crowd." The other Elder replied, leading the way to the symposium area.

There were a large number of other Inscriptionist and Enchanting displays and vendors set up in this part of town once they got away from the smithy region, and the smell of paper and ink quickly replaced the smell of burning coal and hot iron.

The area that they had mentioned looked more like a park than anything else, and the gazebo was set up in a depression so that the audience could sit on the tiered bleachers, like an overgrown open-air theater. It was an excellent spot, even out of any wind that might pick up, thanks to the tall trees around the area, and Cain wondered what they had to do to reserve this spot for a symposium. Logically, it should be busy all day, every day.

Once Cain arrived and found a table and tools already set up for exactly this purpose, he took a seat, preparing to pick a skill to use as an example.

Something simple and with a wide utility, but filling an in-demand purpose in this world.

Since half the places he had been to didn't have running water, the answer was obvious to Cain after only a few moments' thought. [Gentle Shower] created heavy localized rainfall and was chosen by many Druids to water their gardens, though it was just as good for washing themselves.

The disciple who brought him here looked like she was quick on the uptake, so she might get the double meaning of teaching everyone a skill that would let them shower but that didn't create a concentrated enough stream to fill water containers.

Once the bleachers were mostly full, Cain stood up to greet the audience and introduce his lecture.

"Greetings, everyone. This will be a very simple introduction to the proper creation of complete skill manuscripts without introducing errors or omitting information. The skill that I will be using today will be [Gentle Shower], and the creation allows for a pause between pages, so I will stop for a few moments if others want to follow along or ask questions." Cain informed them.

"You will allow us to follow along?" One of the Elders asked, looking incredulous.

"It might be easier for those with an affinity to water to learn the skill, but anyone with enough talent at Inscription can copy out the manuscript. I will finish the page, and my assistant will hang it overhead, so you all can read it. What you need to do is exactly replicate the way that I controlled the energy going into the manuscript and the text of the page. For professionals such as yourselves, who have much experience with talismans and such, it shouldn't be impossible." Cain replied politely.

"How long will the manuscript be?" One of the Elders asked, taking out a lap table and writing supplies.

"Six pages in total. As I said, I will make a rather easy but useful skill today."

It looked a lot like a classroom in the park when everyone had their materials out, and Cain took his seat.

"For the Smiths, watch closely as I scribe the diagrams. That part will be the most relevant to your creation of recipes," Cain informed the group who had followed him from the other site, who mostly had chalkboards out instead of paper since that's how they drew weapon diagrams in the smithy, where the magical fires might set a pencil and paper on fire.

The energy flowed smoothly from Cain into the paper, and he carefully guided it into the text, going much slower than necessary so that the others could see what he was doing.

With the first page finished, he looked up at the audience to see if there were questions.

Most of them were already busy writing, having begun the moment that the disciple who led them here had reached over to hang the quickly drying page on the rack.

What followed was a string of inventive curses and tossed balls of paper while everyone worked, but after half an hour, a large portion of the crowd had either succeeded or given up on the attempt.

"Very good, everyone. Now, I will move on through the next few pages at the same rate, and I will finish the last one at a more normal writing pace so that you can get a feeling of how it is supposed to go. By then, you should be able to follow even at a normal pace." Cain explained, then began the second page.

He was right. By the fifth page, most of the Elders present could follow along quite well, having seen the pattern, and they were beginning to understand the theory behind it, thanks to a series of detailed questions about the adjustments being made.

Cain wrote out the final page, while the Inscriptionists nodded in understanding, the faster pace showing them that it was meant to be integrated into their writing technique and not an addon that was specific to the book.

This time there were a lot more errors since Cain hadn't shown them as slowly, but the majority of the crowd looked confident in their ability to learn the skill from the manuscripts that they had written.

"Now, there is one more very important point to clarify. Will those who are confident in their skills please bring their copies up to the front? Compare your copy to mine and to the others who used the technique to create their manuscript. Then you can stack and bind them." Cain instructed.

One after another, dozens of Inscriptionists came up, comparing their work to Cain's and the others around them, finding that they were perfect copies for the most part.

"Now that is incredible. Dozens of Sects now know your Sect secrets." Someone from the back sneered, clearly not one of the audience members who had been writing.

"Literacy isn't a Sect secret. Teaching others to write basic manuscripts is just a public service. They're not going to gain anything that my Sect can do, but they can't just because I gave them this manuscript." Cain told the man, shaking his head in annoyance at the level of ignorance displayed.