"Thank you for explaining that to me. I had been wondering when Kilna had seemed so surprised when I didn't seem to care about her being a Necromancer," I said, and Fawna nodded.
"Yes, most of those that practice keep it to themselves, but Grand Mistress Manta has given them a safe place to practice. Mages from all over the world come to join her, and anyone that goes into Deaths Grove in hopes of getting information never comes back the same. They always have their minds altered so horribly that there is no way to change them back and return their minds to normal," she explained, and I smiled at that, but then it melted off as I started to think about it.
Alizra Manta was a fierce woman, and she seemed to have a tight rein on things, but she was in one of the most vulnerable positions that I had seen so far. Kaido and Zaraki weren't playing at being criminals and filled the roles of ones. Manta, on the other hand, was the head of this Mage Council, giving her a public position. Considering that the Order of Salvation liked to make up reasons to put people in jail, she could easily put her nose in the wrong spot or do the wrong thing and be threatened or even arrested.
That made me concerned about tonight. I had considered bringing the kids with me to test them out, but this was too good of a chance for Ned to make good on his threats. The chances of them using something to try to coerce Alizra were almost certain, meaning that tonight would be a trap of some kind.
I hummed and then looked at Zarek. "I want you to go to the area around Deaths Grove, not inside of it. You are to be on the lookout for Order of Salvation guards moving around. I want you back here by nightfall to give me a report," I said, and he nodded his head.
"Yes, sir!" Zarek said before turning to leave, except for Fawna and Kyla.
"What do you want me to do?" Kyla asked, and I waved for both girls to follow me.
Before getting the girls, I talked to Miles about finding some platinum, and he was now looking into how to get more, but the stuff was expensive.
Miles had told me about the extraordinary power of platinum, and it made sense why Ned would be melting down others like me to acquire it. It was a powerful metal that could absorb magical energies, amplifying them into formidable weapons, shields, armor, and other items with enhanced magical properties. With the right use of this material, potions and elixirs granting great strength could also be created. That gave me more questions about my own body, but it looked like platinum wasn't going to be easy to get ahold of.
Still, I had gained enough to make some changes to the office. While the changes were only three more desks and computers on all of them, both girls were far too impressed.
"What is this thin rectangle?" Fawna asked as she pointed at the screen, and I snapped my fingers, making the computers turn on, and the screens went white for a moment.
Both girls flinched back and screamed.
"The box is casting a spell!" Kyla screamed.
"My eyes are burning... wait... what is a computer?" Fawna asked after her ability kicked in, and she heard my explanation.
"You two will be learning how to use these. We will be recording the information that we get on them, and then we will be able to sort through information faster, and I will have instant access to it. You will see that there are boards with buttons on them. They have letters, numbers, and punctuation to help put in the information you are given. For now, these four computers are only hooked together, but soon we will be able to track people with this. I will create devices for everyone, and this will create a much higher success rate for our missions," I explained, but the girls were both lost in the screen-saver fractals that I also enjoyed. Thankfully, today I had something that should be fun for them to learn.
"Girls," I growled, and they both looked up with embarrassment.
"Sorry, I have just never seen anything like that. You can use Magic to Farsee, but where is this?!" Fawna asked, but then her eyes went big. "What do you mean the place doesn't exist?! It has to be a pocket dimension, right? Maybe this is in a Spatial Cube somewhere? No?" Fawna started to rattle off, but I put my hand up.
"Stop! While I do appreciate the foresight of your ability, turn it off and just listen. These devices use a complicated series of switches and transistors to process and store data, which is then converted into images or sounds. The binary code--ones and zeros--is combined in a specific sequence that directs the device on what actions to take. Once the sequence has been completed, you will be able to see and interact with the device. Today you will be learning how to use comms and fly drones, so you can gain a better understanding of how computer systems work," I explained, and it looked like the gears in the girl's head were skipping, and steam was about to come out their ears, but then Kyla pointed at the fourth desk.
"Who is that for?" She asked.
"Possibly Kilna, but I am waiting to hear back from her. I assume that she will come today with more information about tonight," I said; Kyla raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure that is a good idea? She is pretty close with Grand Mistress Manta, so she is most likely going to be a spy. Are you sure you can trust her?" She asked, and I gave her a look.
"You, of all people, should know that I don't trust anyone."