Me, My Spirit, And I [Book 1 Complete]

Shada floated in front of a series of blackboards covered in diagrams and runic requisitions. His audience had been hand picked and he was preparing to introduce a scientific approach to magical theory and application with an emphasis on EsseTech.

"Welcome, one and all. Eeach of you have been chosen because you have shown an aptitude towards the development of novel approaches to Essence use, spellcraft, enchanting, technology, and the new hybrid EssTech we are developing here at the Shadow Company," Shada began.

Confused muttering was already spreading through the auditorium style room. The group sitting in front of Shada were a mixture of Paths, Classes, Professions, and they weren't used to being grouped together. Socially, their standings varied greatly and one would be hard pressed to find a more eclectic gathering. They were also a mix of ages, races, and genders, which added to a disorienting atmosphere for many.

One distinguished looking Mage stood and looked around the room. "I see many experts in our respective fields gathered here, but I fail to see the reason why we have been gathered together like this. What do you have to teach that applies to a Mage and Blacksmith both?"

The scathing look Shada gave the Mage made the man's back stiffen and looked like he wanted to sit back down, but instead the Mage remained rooted in his spot, waiting for an answer. "I understand that you are concerned that what I plan to teach today is not appropriate for such a mixed audience, but I assure there are clear reasons for my approach." Shada scanned the group before continuing. "Please let me continue before asking any more questions. I will be happy to answer questions at the end of this lesson." Turning back to the Mage that had stood up Shada gave a brief dismissive nod and gestured for him to sit back down.

"Traditionally, knowledge has been approached as a finite resource that must be hoarded like a dragon and their treasure." Shada once more looked from individual to individual while making eye contact before continuing. "Hoarded knowledge is wasted knowledge. It is knowledge that isn't being used to better understand the world, our place in it, and how we can improve our lives. Interdisciplinary communication is one of the key components of growing and expanding knowledge."

Shada could tell people were already considering various arguments against his statements and were clearly getting ready to defend those positions with a passion. "Be calm, and allow me to continue," he said as the grumbling increased.

"Let me give you a simple analogy. Imagine there is a farmer in a small farming community. This particular farmer had a good crop, and now has more grain seed than he can plant next season. The others in his community weren't so lucky. There was an attack by wild Beasts and their crops were mostly destroyed." Shada created minor illusions by conjuring, shaping, and manipulating light to help tell his story. "While the community had enough food to last the winter they didn't have enough seed to plant their next crop. They were poor and could not afford to buy more." A crowd appeared to gather around the lone farmer with bags filled with seed behind him. "The community begged the farmer to share his grain seed with them. They offered him part of their next crop in return." The farmer was scowling and shaking his head no. "However, the farmer was greedy. He didn't want to give up what he felt he earned so denied his community." The images showed the barren fields and the farmer hoarding his seeds like a miser. "The farmer feared that his crops would be stolen and so didn't plant anything. Why should he? He had more than enough to last him and his family."

The scene shifted to show the community's barren fields and its starving citizens while the farmer kept his grain seed locked tight, but the farmer's storehouse appeared to spring a leak. "Unbeknownst to the farmer they had failed to weather proof their storehouse. Rain came in, resulting in rot and mold. Eventually the starving community came to raid the farmers' stores only to discover it had rotted away." Desiccated corpses replaced the citizens as everyone, the farmer included, starved.

"Now let's take that same situation, but this time the farmer doesn't hoard his grain seed. He shares it with his neighbors. Next season there is a bumper crop. The farmer discovers the leaking storehouse and fixes it before storing that year's crop. The community prospers." Scenes of celebration appear and the farmer walks among the happy citizens. "The grateful citizens give part of their crop to the farmer who now has more than he started with."

"The moral of this story is simple. Knowledge shared grows and everyone benefits from that growth including the one who shares it."

A Dwarven Shaper stood up at that point and made a rude noise. "If you want people to share their knowledge, why then are we all under heavy secrecy contracts, hmmm?" the Shaper asked snarkily.

Shada smiled. "To continue my analogy, though I admit it begins to break down at this point, what would happen if the community had simply stolen the grain seed? The farmer would be left without. The citizens may have fought over who got how much. General unrest would follow." The scene shifted to show the people robbing and beating the poor farmer and then fighting each other over the grain. "What if the farmer had given everything away and got nothing in return? Others may prosper, but not the farmer."

The Dwarf sat down and waited to hear more. It was clear that Shada had a point to make and would get to it soon.

"The secrecy Contracts are primarily to prevent theft and ensure that we all prosper, but there is a darker side to knowledge." Shada sighed loudly for dramatic effect. "One can turn iron into plows or into swords. The same basic material, in this case knowledge, can be used for something productive like a plow or something potentially destructive like a sword. Now, again, the sword can be used to protect and defend or to attack and murder. It depends on the person using it, now doesn't it?"

Shada gestured around himself to indicate the room and the Shadow Company Compound. "What I create here can be misused if shared liberally and with the wrong people. Hence the secrecy." Shada's demeanor grew serious, his face set in a frown. "Together we can make the world a better place or…" Shada conjured an image of the world burning, "we can destroy it."

Several moments of pure silence reigned before Shada began to talk again. "Now, let's get to the meat of the matter, shall we? First, let's discuss methodology. We must create a common framework and reference that can be used across disciplines." Light bent to Shada's will as one of the chalk boards became magnified so that everyone could see it clearly. "This is the Scientific Method; it is a means of studying reality in a logical and rational manner through observation and experimentation…"

Approaching problems scientifically was foreign to those Shada had gathered. They were used to rote memorization, studying ancient wisdom, and learning from masters in their field. The idea that they could add knowledge to those fields though a seemingly simple process was not novel, but marked a fundamental change in their worldview.

There were complications to applying the scientific method in a world where magic, gods, and the overarching System held sway, but those were variables that could be accounted for with the right precautions. It would be harder. Isolating experiments to limit observer interference via Essence field interactions was not easy. However, Shada did his best to explain how to mitigate those issues.

"So that concludes the theoretical portion of today's lecture. We will break for lunch and return with a more practical lesson this afternoon. Remember, I will answer questions only at the end of the second lecture. Go eat, and give your mind a chance to digest what I have been explaining."

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

People's reactions had varied during the lecture. Some were disbelieving, others angry, but in general there was an air of contemplation and anticipation. The brighter individuals who could extrapolate further could see the appeal of this approach while other, more dogmatic individuals struggled. Shada hoped the second part of his lecture would win over the rest. Each person in the room were experts and he wanted each one to adopt his processes.

—

"Welcome back everyone. I hope you enjoyed your food. I know a few of you are prone to forgetting to eat when a new project has your attention." There were a few laughs and a couple of people cringed as they had skipped lunch to review their notes from the previous lecture.

"I am sure that many of you have wondered how I have been coming up with all the new inventions and processes. Many of which never existed before." There was a resounding agreement from the crowd. "I have four Skills that give me an absolutely unfair advantage. I have the Essence Perception Skill, not the much weaker Essence Sense, most people have." There were surprised looks on the faces of those that knew what that meant. Many didn't understand. "I don't just sense Essence…I hear it, smell it, taste it, see it, and experience it in ways that are hard to describe." Shada pointed to a person in the crowd that had paid close attention to the scientific method lecture. "What is one of the key components of the Scientific Method that would be aided by an advanced Essence sensory Skill?"

The young man Shada was addressing stood nervously. He gulped and looked around for people before glancing down at his notes and nodding to himself. "Observation?"

"Exactly! I can observe processes involving Essence in a way that is somewhat unique, as far as I know. In fact, when I am embodied rather than in the spirit form you see, I cannot fully process all the information my sensory Skill provides. I have shared my sensorium with others and they found it overwhelming, disorienting, and even nauseating." Shada motioned for the young man to sit.

"Now as I said that is one of four advantages. Next I have the Ployglotism Skill. It is a greater version of the more common, but still rare Polyglot Skill, which works on mundane languages. Can anyone guess what makes it different?"

The arrogant Mage from earlier shot to his feet and shouted in disbelief. "It works on magical languages!?"

Shada had a predatory grin. "It does indeed; as far as I can tell it works on all languages, regardless of form."

"Preposterous! A Skill like that would change everything! You would be able to translate and understand any Spell or Enchantment you encounter given enough time! It would be world shattering!" the Mage was red-faced and shouting.

With a solemn nod Shada retorted with a simple callback to his earlier lecture. "Or to rephrase, world destroying?"

The Mage stopped and stared at Shada.

"I told you, some knowledge is dangerous. This is definitely part of that, but let's move on, because I am not done." Shada held up his hand with four fingers raised. "I said there were four Skills. The first two laid the foundation of the second two." He paused again before speaking. "I have both Essence Mastery and Material Mastery."

This time it wasn't only the Mage that started shouting, it was others as well. Those two Skills were considered pinnacle Skills only possessed by Archmages and Grandmaster Crafters. Having both was practically unheard of. It took a while for the group to settle and allow Shada to continue.

"Now, each of you are among the rare few to know the five key secrets to what has made me and the Shadow Company so successful. When applying the Scientific Method to the use of Essence Perception, Polyglotism, Essence Mastery, and Material Mastery the world becomes a far more comprehensible and malleable place."

From one of the tables in front of the chalkboards at the front of the auditorium, Shada picked up a chunk of iron ore. "Many of you likely recognize this. It is hematite, a very common iron ore that can be refined by blacksmiths into iron and steel." The audience leaned forward as the ore floated in defiance of gravity in front of Shada. "Others may recognize it because we feed massive amounts into the enchanted blackboxes that churn out steel for the Company."

Shada began chanting a complex spell in the Lingua Aracana for the benefit of the audience. This spell made Essence visible by giving it a phosphorescent glow; it was commonly used by those with poor Essence senses. Here, Shada was using it to show the audience what he was doing.

"Each of you, even the non-Mages, should be able to see the flows of Essence to give you a visual idea of what is occurring. However, please note there is much more going on that this spell simply cannot reveal." Shada made a few gestures for effect as he Shaped the ore into a sphere before picking up a pure iron ingot from a nearby table. "This is obviously an iron ingot. People have been turning hematite into iron via heat based refinement processes for millennia. So I know that hematite contains iron. I have a sample of pure iron here as a comparison."

The sphere of ore split and reformed as two smaller spheres. "I can use the Essence Resonance Pattern in this iron ingot to find the matching pattern in the sphere of ore to my left." A more intense glow surrounded the left most sphere and the iron ingot. "One of the key components of the Material Mastery Skill is the ability to Banish materials to the Etheric Plane." There was a flash and snap that temporarily blinded a few people with low Body Cultivation. "With the iron removed, all that is left is obviously not iron. In the case of hematite, what remains is mostly air, or rather one specific component of air called oxygen." There was a small glowing, but otherwise empty seeming sphere where the left most chunk of ore had been. "Now here is where it gets really interesting. You see, I know the pattern for iron, because pure iron has been produced for ages. By removing the iron I now can use my skills to detect the pattern for the air, or oxygen, that makes up a significant portion of hematite." The second sphere vibrated and glowed before there was another flash and snap. Where there had been a chunk of ore there was now a cloud of dust that was sinking inward to form an iron sphere. "By banishing the air I am left with pure iron. Refined without fire, without tedious hours of careful heating, or any of the mess involved in turning ore into metal using conventional methods."

The blacksmiths among the crowd could quickly see the appeal. Smelting and refining ore was a laborious process. If not done just right, you ended up with brittle, unusable metal that had to be re-smelted. Shada had done in moments what could take hours or days using conventional methods. He made it look easy, as if he hadn't performed magic that would stump an Archmage and leave a Grandmaster Crafter in shock. The Mages in the group were just as surprised by how smoothly everything had gone. Several felt their Skill getting ready to level up the moment they could spend the Essence on them.

Shada smiled widely at the stunned crowd. "You now know half the secret to creating steel magically. Through scientific study and experimentation, I figured out how to use my Skills to refine materials into basic components. I use the same process on steel to figure out the components, but the tricky part was turning this entire process into a viable spell and enchantment."

One of the chalkboards glowed before the diagrams and runes written on it ballooned outward to form a projection. "This is an enchantment that can be used to refine hematite. All you need is a sample of each component. In the case of hematite, iron and oxygen. These act as reference points for the spell. The spell then uses them to separate the two materials using the reference resonance patterns. This will then produce pure iron and pure oxygen. Now, hematite isn't truly pure as there are contaminants, but those are filtered out." Shada pointed to the central circle. "The raw ore goes in the center of the spell circle." He then pointed to two circles. "These circles hold the reference samples." Finally he pointed out three other circles. "The iron, oxygen, and impurities are then split between these three circles."

Looking around the crowd Shada saw looks of disbelief, enlightenment, fear, confusion, and general bewilderment. Sharing a personally crafted spell was a rare thing. Sharing it with a group was practically unheard of. No one shared spells with non-Mages, let alone tried to explain how they work.

"Now, I am sure many of you are wondering why in the name of Sierra I would share this information, demonstrate, and even provide part of the spell work." Many people were nodding in confirmation. "This is the clearest example I could think of to really show the potential of using the shared framework of the scientific method. While I have advantages in my Skills, those Skills are unnecessary to refine ore into iron. I took a known mundane process and applied the scientific method to reengineer it with magic. Each and everyone of you can do the same thing."

"But we don't have your Skills!" Shouted someone in the crowd.

"Blacksmiths don't have my Skills, but are still able to extract iron from hematite. Science is a method of understanding the world through observation and experimentation. If you can't use Skills to figure something out you can use the process to figure out other methods to make up for the lack of Skills. Blacksmiths use heat to refine metal, but they also take notice of the properties of the metal to ensure they got it right." Several Blacksmiths in the group were nodding along. There were lots of ways to check the quality of metal, like how it bends when heated or the sound it makes when struck by a hammer.

A book floated up from the table behind Shada. "This book contains a more detailed explanation of the Scientific Method, simple easily repeated experiments, basic physical principles, and a few other suggestions to help each of you get started. I have copies for everyone. As part of your jobs for the Shadow Company, you will study this book and begin unraveling the secrets of the world. With this, we will change the world, but be warned." The air chilled and the shadows in the room shifted unnaturally. "There is nothing worse than hoarding knowledge except for misusing it. Each of you were thoroughly vetted for your ethics and knowledge. This entire lecture falls under the strictures of your secrecy Contracts." The air shifted as if nothing had happened. People blinked wondering if they had really seen the shadows move. Fear gripped their hearts before Shada spoke again. "Any questions?"

For a moment there was silence, then everyone began trying to talk at once. Shada smiled, and spent several hours answering innumerable questions. He was excited to see what the future would bring.