I give Myria a kiss and then head back to Amn’s carriage.

  “The enemies are dealt with, but my wife suggests that it will no longer be a good place to set up camp. I suggest we camp here and you can send some of your troops, who have strong stomachs, ahead to clean up a bit.”

  Emperor Amn says “Alright. We are well ahead of schedule so losing an hour or two is no big deal.”

  As Amn starts issuing orders I head back to my carriage to let the others know. As soon as I do, Leylisha takes Lizzy off to the side to give her a thorough grooming. I sit next to Myria, but I take the cleaning stone back out to take a look at the enchantments.

  As I do I realize that I have never done so before because I have never seen this enchantment. It is nothing like the cleaning enchantment that I have been putting into our clothes. It is far more primitive and only works as well as it does because it isn’t limited in what it will clean.

  Considering that it was part of a sewage treatment system that makes perfect sense. However, it doesn’t mean that it is good for what I have been using it for, I can do much better. In fact, after taking a good look at the enchantment, I just crush the stone to powder in my hand.

  Myria says “What did you do that for?!”

  “I got a little upset when I realized how stupid I have been.”

  Myria says “What do you mean?”

  “I got that thing back when I was in the pit. In all that time I never once looked at the enchantment or thought of making a better one.”

  Myria says “I take it that means that you can make a better one?”

  “Oh, absolutely!”

  Myria says “I’ve never really liked using that thing, but if you can make better ones then I want one.”

  “No problem. In fact, I am going to make one for all of you and the kids.”

  Myria says “That’s a good idea, but only if it works well enough.”

  “Mind being the guinea pig?”

  Myria says “I suppose, but if it does something weird to me you will have to make it up to me!”

  “What, you don’t trust me?”

  Myria says “I trust you! I just don’t trust your experiments!”

  “This isn’t an experiment, this is enchanting. It is a completely different situation. My enchantments almost never cause problems. That is even more true now than it was in the past.”

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  Myria says “Alright, go ahead and make it, I will test it.”

  I quickly look around the camp until I spot a stone about the size of a human head. I grab it and float it to my hand using my mana, then I compress it down to the size of a human finger. Then I alter the structure and turn it into a light blue crystal, but then I stop and stare at it in shock.

  Myria says “Ash? Ash!”

  “Huh? Oh, sorry!”

  Myria says “What’s wrong?”

  “I have no idea how I just did that! In fact, it shouldn’t even be possible!”

  Myria says “What do you mean?”

  “Well, turning a rock into crystal is somewhat possible, but not altering the mass. Somehow, the crystal only weighs a fraction of what the rock did. Not to mention that it somehow greatly increased the mana capacity!”

  Myria says “Sorry, you lost me.”

  “Don’t be sorry. I know magic isn’t your passion, but I can try to teach you if you want?”

  Myria says “I don’t really have an interest in enchanting. I will leave that to you and Lin. However, if you want to teach me how to use the magic that I do have better, I would be fine with that.”

  “Sure, I can do that. We should have plenty of time on this trip. First, can you give me a few minutes to figure this out? If I don’t, it is going to drive me absolutely insane!”

  Myria laughs and says “Sure, go ahead.”

  I give Myria a kiss for understanding and then focus all of my attention on the crystal in my hand. I really have no idea what I just did, or how I did it, but as I stare at the crystal a word pops into my head. It is the word for rock in draconic and as soon as I think of it information floods my mind.

  As I am going through the flood of information I quickly realize that I was using it without knowing. That explains how everything has been going so well since I got the language. Even my new plans for the platforms can be traced back to the draconic word for travel.

  I get totally lost in the new knowledge, but the information does not tell me how I just did what I did. I learn more by thinking about the draconic word for crystal, but it still doesn’t fill in the gaps. It isn’t until I think of both words that I get another flood of information that finally explains it.

  In converting the rock into a crystal, all the extra mass was converted to mana capacity. I had no idea that was even possible and I still don’t completely understand the process. However, I will be able to do it again which is the important part and it opens up a massive amount of possibilities.

  Before I can start thinking about them I get interrupted by Myria shoving food in front of me. I might have just ignored it, but my stomach decides to tell me that I don’t want to do that. As I am debating with myself it lets out an even louder growl.

  Myria says “Did you just growl at me?!”

  “No. No, that was my stomach.”

  Myria says “Then eat already! What is wrong with you?”

  “I was lost in new knowledge and didn’t even want to stop to eat.”

  Myria says “Didn’t you learn the language a while ago? Why is it still bothering you now?”

  “It’s hard to explain. It’s sort of like a dictionary.”

  Myria says “What’s a dictionary?”

  “Okay, picture a list that has every word in this language. Now each and every word has a book of information linked to it. Maybe more than one book.”

  Myria says “That would be a massive amount of information.”

  “Yeah, it is. That is how I got lost in it.”

  Myria says “In that case, it is going to take a long time to get through, right?”

  “Yeah, absolutely. Probably years, or decades.”

  Myria says “Well, you can’t survive that long without eating, so how about you focus on that first. Then, finish the crystal. Once that is done, you can let yourself get lost again.”

  “You’re right, sorry. I probably won’t have time to get through it all anyway. I need to focus on things that I can accomplish. Besides, it seems like I can use the knowledge without learning it. Dragons cheat!”

  Myria says “What do you mean?”

  “Well, dragons can sleep for decades or centuries. That is probably when they learn all of the information from the language. I don’t have that option.”

  Myria says “Ash. Focus. Eat!”

  “Right, right.”