Kedra scampered up to her room with great speed, bringing the leather book with her. She sat on the bed and opened up the cover, revealing a lengthy table of contents. Each topic covered by the work took up three to four pages; the entire book was about a hundred and twenty pages long.
'Taking into account the fact that I know next to nothing about this topic, it's going to take me a while to finish reading this.' Kedra briefly skimmed through the pages, then opened the first chapter: 'What is magic engraving?'
Reading through the first few pages, her understanding began to grow. Magic engraving utilized a set of predefined symbols that, when inlaid or painted onto a surface with a mana-conductive material, would naturally draw in mana and activate the spell associated with the combination of symbols.
'It seems each symbol has its own effect, and spells are created by mixing the effects of each symbol. The book doesn't seem to cover why each symbol does what it does, but that's not what's important. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious, however.'
Each engraved circuit had its own unique activation conditions, usually determined by a single symbol added at the end of the carving process. Kedra flipped through the more technical pages, disinterested by the lengthy calculations and scientific principles that had been established by the mages in order to create consistency in circuit creation.
Eventually she stumbled upon a list of commonly used symbols in magic engraving; the most notable to her were those she had recognized from the stove: the circle, described as the most important part of any circuit as it was the symbol used to draw in ambient mana, and the five-pronged star, a symbol that ignited a mana-fueled flame when powered.
Kedra also took note of the fact that a triangle interacted with stone and earth, that three arrows pointing to the center of the circle interacted with water, and that three horizontal lines interacted with the air.
'It seems that basic magic is based off of the four elements but that it doesn't necessarily limit itself to them. I understand; I suppose it's much easier to base yourself off of existing phenomena to create a spell than to suddenly invent a brand new effect.'
She also took note of a few activation symbols; the most common of them was a simple spiral added to the outside of the circle that made the circuit behave like an on/off switch, activating on touch. Other symbols could designate the duration of the circuit's activation time; the book insisted on the importance of such symbols, warning of the problems that could be caused by "ambient mana depletion.".
'It seems that while mana is described as an infinite resource, it needs time to reappear after use and that this ambient mana depletion phenomenon caused by overuse can have catastrophic effects.' The book further developed, stating that the lethality of the phenomenon was caused by a large and sudden influx of mana in the depleted area, causing volatile and unpredictable magical discharge.
Spurred on by her fascination Kedra read through the book at breakneck pace, trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible. Stopping on a page talking about engraving materials.
The materials themselves were of little interest to Kedra as there was no way she could procure them; most of them were alloys or rare metals with complicated names; however, an annex near the bottom of the chapter's last page caught her eye.
'You can draw circuits with blood?'
Further reading through the article, it seemed that blood was an unfavorable material to draw circuits with, as they tended to disappear after five seconds of usage, making drawing complex circuits in blood a completely pointless task. It was explained, however, that blood could always be used in a pinch to make simple, one-time-use circuits.
Kedra felt a rush of excitement. 'I can use magic right now, can't I? I just need to draw a bit of blood.' Her enthusiasm clouded her judgment. She swiftly used her kitchen knife to make a small incision on her index finger and clumsily drew a circle on the ground. She then consulted the book, adding three evenly distributed arrows pointing towards the center of the circle, finishing with a spiral on the outside.
She stared at her work with pride.
'It'll go away after five seconds, right? It shouldn't make too much of a mess then.'
With a grin on her face, she tapped the spiral, watching as the blood on the floor began shining in a blue light. After a second, a small ball of water began coalescing above the circuit, growing bigger and bigger. Kedra counted every second.
'One, two, three, four, five! Wait, shouldn't it have disappeared by now?'
Much to Kedra's confusion, the blood on the floor did not vanish; instead, it kept glowing the same blue hue as the orb of water continued to grow. In a panic, Kedra wiped the circuit away with her hand, feeling a slight shock as she did.
As soon as the circle was destroyed, the orb of water, which was now about the size of a housecat, fell on top of Kedra, soaking her from head to toe. However, her frustration was eclipsed by her confusion.
'Maybe the book had incorrect information? But the symbols were correct, and the rest of the pages seemed in line with what Maria had told me. How strange; maybe blood just isn't used very often, and they based that line off of a one-time phenomenon.'
"Either way, I want to do that again."
Kedra continued reading through the book and sketching down circuits with ink and paper she had stolen from the head maid's office. When she was confident in a circuit's effect, she drew it in blood and activated it.
This continued until late in the evening, when her trance was interrupted by a sudden hunger pang. Thinking that dinner would be prepared soon enough, she cleaned up to the best of her ability and exited her room. Heading towards the dining room, it had become a habit for her to eat dinner with the maids, both to keep tabs on them and to build positive relations with them. She could not keep relying on fear to keep them loyal after all.