Technomancer: Genesis Chapter 106: Hearth's Lament

Hearth was drunk. He was in a tavern named the Armed Ice, it was one of the more luxurious inns in Bren owned by a noble. He was the wealthiest among Ezra's retinue since he also got a stipend from his father from Castle Bedross. The Bedross' were now even more powerful now that that Blackfyre became wealthier because of the favour they gained from the Emperor. Trade opened up to them and there were more merchants that flocked Bren even more.

'Damnit!' Hearth thought as he chugged another mug of ale. 'Caspian, Caspian who I looked down upon as bastard before was actually the pureblood.' They had become really close during their tenure with Ezra. They had become best friends of sorts. His bitterness wasn't directed to Caspian rather it was directed at his fate.

'Why in the fuck does this have to be like this,' Hearth raised his hand for another round of ale. 'Fate is such a cruel mistress. Turns out I'm the bastard and he's the pure blood. What a bloody fucking twist of fate,' He cussed in his mind

"Argghhh!!" he screamed out loud, his intoxication had gotten the better of him, he couldn't control the swirling sea of anger and sorrow in his body.

Everyone looked at him with cold stares as he shouted. Most of the people in the bar were wealthy merchants or lower nobility.

"Mister, could you please not shout, you're bothering the guests," the barmaid tried to calm Hearth down.

"Shut up whore, I can do what I want! Don't you know who I am!" Hearth shouted even louder.

"Please calm down sire, we just want it to be peaceful,"

"I am Hearth Bedross, future heir to castle Bedross and the domain of Abrosite! I am the vassal of Lord EZRA Blackfyre don't you dare talk to me in such condescending manner! You wench! You want money? Huh? YOU NEED MONEY WHORE? HERE HAVE THIS! JUST GO AWAY AND LET ME BE!" Hearth opened his satchel and threw silver coins at the barmaid.

She immediately became teary-eyed. "No, no it's just . . ."

Two gentlemen went over. A dashing silver-haired gentleman in his early twenties, with piercing black eyes wearing white gloves and another blonde haired man, came by donning an aquamarine cape that matched his eyes.

"Excuse me miss, is something of the problem here?" The silver-haired gentleman moved forward to intercept the coins.

"Get the hell out of my sight and leave," Hearth said aloud as he chugged another mug of ale.

"Pardon my manners, Lord Hearth, I am Heinrich Astoria, of House Astoria."

"I am Ulric Walden of House Walden," both of them bowed when they introduced themselves.

"Please sire, calm down we just want it to be peaceful here during our trip to Bren, you shouldn't cause too much of a scene like this. You are of the peerage are you not?."

"Hmph, " Hearth sat down as he sipped again on the mug of ale.

But there was a whisper, "Hearth Bedross? I've heard of him, I heard he has no chance of inheriting the Castle, he's a bastard from what I heard."

"WHO SAID THAT!" Hearth stood up in rage!

"Calm down Lord Hearth, those are just the whispers of-"

"SHUT UP!" Hearth interrupted Heinrich, "You're all over my face I hate your smugness. Condescending prick," Hearth said as he spat to the ground. "OI, YOU BASTARD OVER THERE COME AT ME IF YOU THINK IM LOWBORN FILTH."

"Please be reasonable," Ulric Seconded.

"I HAVE NO QUARRELS WITH YOU BEGONE IF YOU DON'T WANT ME TO BEAT YOU TO PULP,"

The two were stunned at the confidence of the Hearth, normally kids his age knew their place especially when facing older mages who had more developed magic. They weren't annoyed they were even slightly amused, they obviously thought that they could deal with Hearth in a heartbeat.

There was silence as Hearth's eyes darted around the room. He was so furious, he wanted to vent his anger, and frustration and this was the perfect canvas for him.

"You're the one who talked shit about me," Hearth pointed and lunged forward.

"Hold your horses, kid," two men blocked him. The person who spoke was a tall guard wearing plate armour.

"I have no quarrel with you step aside and let me teach that shit a lesson." The man who spoke about him didn't even look at him and just continued with talking with the people in the lounge area like there wasn't a person in site.

"Now, you see we can't do that, we were hired by that merchant to protect, him."

"Although not from little boys who still have mother's milk on their mouth," the other slim guard snickered.

However, they didn't notice he already slept past him.

"Hey, now, we were being polite, young fellow," the tall guard charged toward him with his sword in tow swinging it lightly.

As the sword swung, Hearth seemed to have moved sideways without even stepping. The slim guard was puzzled for a second.

"Lord Ezra, you've taught me so much. It feels like I know the world a little better now," Hearth was far from the boy who had first looked down on the lordling toddler. For him, it seemed Ezra was not even mortal anymore. He seemed transcendent knowing the physical laws of nature.

Ezra nodded, "Aye, you're smart and you pick up fast."

They were walking side by side in the training grounds looking at the new recruits.

"I was wondering if you could help me with my magic,"

"I told you. when it comes to magic, I'm no expert. I have a lot of gaping holes in the knowledge I have about magic. I really still don't understand spells. But I think the path to breakthroughs are crystals and cores. I have theories and they can only model what magic does to a certain extent," Ezra replied.

"Even then milord, a little of your knowledge helps,"

"From what I observe magic seems to operate in 100 per cent efficiency, this is of course just a hypothesis,"

Hearth nodded.

"It is able to conjure up matter and the content of that matter is different on the spell. Water spells make water, air spells make air, fire actually makes plasma. And Earth spells make earth supposedly,"

Hearth nodded again in agreement.

"However, we tried to study the contents of the actual matter that the spells created remember?"

"Yes, we found out that water spells are pure H20 and that what hydromancers manipulate is the temperature and kinetic energy of the water," Hearth answered Ezra.

"Yes, so supposedly every spell is somewhat the same they should be able to also manipulate temperature and kinetic energy, I still can't understand what fire spells exactly does, or what air spells are made up of since we don't have an air mage within our ranks. However, I think earth is special in its own way, we tested the components of the conjured earth and we see that it is almost indistinguishable from the earth of the present area.

"Even though earth spells conjure earth it is still a mixture of different types of silica, igneous rock and minerals. Sometimes earth spells even conjure substances that make up the walls, we find traces of sedimentary rock when Rycharde makes his [Rock Bullets] near the walls however there is not a trace of organic matter within the conjured sample, it's really fascinating," Ezra elaborated as he looked at a distance seemingly pondering the depths of the universe.

"The question then lies, can a terramancer manipulate the contents of matter in each Earth spell? I think that is one of the paths to power. If one can create somewhat of a uniformity in the spell itself, it need not become an amalgam of different materials I think it is one of the most powerful schools of the arcane."

"Walk me through then Lord Ezra, help me create my own spells." Hearth said with a determined look.

"You mean like what I and Caspian did?"

"Yes," Hearth said and paused.

"Please," he followed up with pleading eyes.

"Hearth, my good man I thought you'd never ask!" Ezra laughed he loved doing experiments like this. If he could decompose each step then understanding how spells work would help him understand it a little better.

"Let's start with something simple let's start with [Earth Shake]" Ezra said.

"Sire, that is an advanced tier spell," hearth added with an exasperated tone.

"Maybe, but the mechanics are simple, it is focused on the kinetic energy manipulation of magic, This one will definitely aid your combat abilities, we can try to make it a more simple spell. Remember simple doesn't mean weak!"

"If you say so Lord Ezra, I trust your judgement," Hearth nodded as they tried to decompose the structure of the spell.

Chapter end