Now that everyone was together and the most pressing emergencies had been solved, it was time to seriously consider a plan for the future. As Lucius, Jack, and Patrick sat in a circle near the store's register, eating some of the low-quality food every small store carried, James was running around with Jack's shield, playing hero while Mary quickly followed, trying to get him to stop.
"That's not a toy, James! Look at those dangerous spikes; you could hurt yourself!" she complained, but the boy was undeterred.
"But I need to get strong like Jack and Lucius, Mom! Maybe I'll get a shield skill like Jack's if I practice with it long enough!" countered James.
"That's fine, but you can practice with one of the shields Jack made from the cabinet doors—not the one with deadly spikes!" she insisted, as she finally pried the large shield from his hands and returned it to Jack. Despite its size, it was amazingly light, and even James could hold it without too much trouble.
"Fine!" he relented. "But I want a real knife. What if another monster gets close to me like when the bugs first attacked? I need to defend myself!" James explained, his argument rather convincing.
"I'll think about it. Now quiet down and let your father speak," said Mary, as Patrick patiently waited for the drama to finish before he began talking.
"Before we discuss anything else, I'd like to show you all something. Mary and James, come take a look too," Patrick began. "You young men don't know this, but I was studying Latin before all this happened, and while I was trapped in that car, I practiced my writing to pass the time. That's when the system first spoke to me." Patrick held out a piece of journal paper with the Latin word Fortis written on it. The word was placed prominently in the center of the page, written with artistic flair and full of intricate details. Patrick had obviously put a lot of effort into it.
Lucius took the paper in his hand and immediately realized it wasn't a mundane item any longer. "I can feel it—there's power coming from it!" he said.
"That's right!" Patrick responded. "I unlocked an ability called Wielder of the Word! If I focus my energy and attention while inscribing a word, I can imbue it with magic. For some reason, the more details I add to the word, the better it works. I was able to create a rudimentary inscription with this paper and pen, but with proper materials, it could become much stronger." Patrick showed the boys a plastic water bottle filled with red liquid. "I filled this up with the blood of the Abyss Queen before we burned her. I'll try creating stronger inscriptions with it. So, think about what you'd like inscribed. Your sword and shield are too strong, though; I can only inscribe mundane objects with my current skill level. I tried it on a piece of monster carapace and learned about my limitations. I can enhance the protection of a piece of defensive equipment or increase the damage of a weapon."
"Can one person use more than one inscribed item?" asked Lucius.
"No, but if I level up the skill enough, I have a feeling that will become possible," Patrick replied.
The boys considered it for a few moments before deciding what they would like inscribed. "Can you inscribe this belt with durability? I'm trying to use it to hold my sword, but I'm having trouble." Lucius had used two belts, wearing one around his waist and looping the other around it to hold his sword. Even putting the sword in gently was cutting through the belt.
"I know what I want," said Jack, walking to the back of the shop and returning with a large sledgehammer. "This weapon suits me better than the spears or knives. It's already plenty durable, so I'll go with the damage buff." Jack handed the hammer to Patrick.
Patrick laid the two items on the floor and took out a black case from his vest pocket. He opened it, retrieved a strange-looking pen and a bottle of ink, and mixed some ink with the blood from the Abyss Queen. He then dipped the pen into the mixture. Starting with the belt, Patrick carefully inscribed the word durabilis, working incredibly slowly, putting utmost attention into each detail of the writing. As he wrote, golden motes of light like those that had created the boys' items began to appear, though not nearly as many. Whereas thousands of lights had appeared in an instant during item creation, they now appeared one every few seconds. The lights lingered around Patrick's hand before moving toward the tip of the pen, eventually joining with the item being inscribed. He kept working until the entire item was dotted with lights. When he made the last pen stroke, the lights disappeared, but the mundane belt retained a slight magical sheen. Patrick repeated the process with the hammer, this time inscribing the word damnum on its head. When he finished, he handed the items back to the boys.
Lucius put the belt on, and tried placing his sword inside it, he was pleasantly surprised to find that it held the sword without issues. Focusing on his makeshift sheath, he prompted a description from the system.
Sheath - [Belt] - Quality [Mundane]
This is a mundane belt that has had its durability magically enhanced through inscription.
Jack's hammer had a similar description, with the difference being that his item had received a damage enhancement.
With that out of the way, the companions began the more important discussion. "Has anyone tried to look up the news on a cellphone or on the TV?" asked Jack. "Maybe there are designated shelters we could try to go to."
"The internet hasn't worked since the beginning of the emergency, and even regular electronics are starting to malfunction. Look." Mary picked up a flashlight off the counter and pressed the button to turn it on. Only the tiniest flicker of light came from the bulb. "I've tried new batteries and even opened new flashlights. They're all the same. The more time passes, the more broken everything gets. So we won't be able to get any TV, radio, or internet signals," she explained.
"Regular electronics are failing over time..." Lucius had a suspicion about what was happening and decided to ask the system directly to confirm his fears. "System, do you know what's happening?"
As the mana levels on your planet rise, mana is imbued into every molecule of your world. This has an impact on physics itself, and even the chemical reactions you have relied on to create technologies. Technologies affected might include batteries, gunpowder, explosives, medicines, electronics, internal combustion engines...
The system continued listing technologies until Lucius finally asked it to stop. This new discovery would throw a massive wrench into any plans they might have. They would need to travel by foot anywhere they decided to go, greatly restricting their ability to cover long distances. They were also completely cut off from the rest of humanity, with no way to communicate or gather information from the outside world.
It was sinking in that no matter what they decided, they were on their own. As the group fell into silence to consider what they had just learned, they were able to hear a trembling noise coming from far off in the distance. It was the same noise that Lucius and Jack had heard when they first stepped outside, right before the battle with the Abyss Queen. Whatever it was, it was getting closer, and Lucius could feel Sense Danger activating, it was telling him that he needed to be gone before the sound arrived.