"This is clearly just a coding language though right?" How many times have I repeated that sentence while reading through this book? And how am I still in disbelief that the Pricors used a coding language in the past?

  Okay, call me insane but I, for the life of me, can't associate a world like this one with a coding language! Because that would mean that the Pricors had computers!

  Well, no, not computers... Or at least not strictly? Did those things actually have them? I'm not sure. What I am sure of though is the fact that the coding language I'm studying wasn't used for devices but instead controlled magic. Sort of.

  Pricors making computers or something similar isn't impossible.

  Even if there aren't any computers here– which is unlikely. – the fact that magic has its own language that can be understood means that phones and other similar things don't need to pop up for some type of code to form. Well, I guess runes aren't the language of magic, actually I'm not sure what they are.

  Going back to Pricors now, my best guess is that if the Pricors did have phones then chances are, those came after the runes themselves and that any code used that is structured similarly or maybe even the same way are not coincidences. However, phones wouldn't be the priority of the Pricors because why would they need them?

  Long distance communication can be done through magic, encrypted messages too, and so can a thousand other things.

  Personally, I can see a race of magically capable individuals picking the study of runes over entertainment.

  With that being said, given how runes can be used everywhere... Does that mean that Pricor-made cars have their own codes? Pricors had ships so it's not strange for them to have land vehicles as well, even if it's not the same ones back on earth.

  Actually, I wouldn't call it far fetched if their cars even fly, that's not impossible given the circumstances.

  My curiosity for the Pricors' society becomes more prevalent the more I learn about runes. Because I can't help but think: what would an advanced society with technology on par with earth's– or close to it? Possibly more advanced? They had power armor, earth didn't. – look like? They have military bases, ships, a giant light house, sure. Cool. But what about everything else?

  What's left of their civilization is already so amazing, I wish I could see everything else related to it.

  But since I can't, I can only be satisfied with studying the runes that they designed. And even those are quite interesting.

  For one, the way items are coded are very similar to how things worked back on earth, albeit with slight name differences. Oh and I guess some of these are far more efficient than the codes I used to work with, which makes me wish I could copy and paste them.

  Anyhow, to "code" magic into an item you need to do three things: put a "core" into the item. The core also has its own code, one made with the knowledge of the enchanter. This code consists of information to "guide" the runes. For example things that measure distance, weight, and energy.

  Obviously you can add more but those three are often enough.

  Then after that would be the circuitry that allows both information and magic to flow through it, it's not as complicated as the CPUs computers use thankfully.

  Lastly, the code itself. Or rather, runes. Same thing.

  There's no need for a battery since the one holding the enchanted item will more or less serve the same purpose.

  Like most things related to magic, a lack of materials is the biggest detriment to using runes. Making an enchanted item can be very expensive but also efficient in the long run, assuming that the enchanted item is well made, that is. If it's low quality then that's hundreds down the drain. Possibly even thousands.

  To make a core, if I'm reading this right, one would have to create a storage unit for memories. Because of course that's how that works.

  But then again, with all the knowledge I got from earth, I wouldn't be surprised if the cores I make are far superior compared to even the ones the best mages can make. Actually, do mages know about physics? If they do then I guess I'm slightly comparable?

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  The general sum of knowledge of the upper class of this world has never been addressed in the game, the only thing that's discussed is how most peasants are illiterate and stupid. And also bad at math.

  However, it is well known that mages have good education with a good few of them going as far as to study the planet to learn more about how things work. But given their understanding of the world– which is strictly viewed through the lens of magic. – I wouldn't be surprised if they don't have the scientific table of elements and instead understand it as fire, earth, wind, water, etc.

  Atomic numbers should also be far from them, let alone atoms themselves. Transmutation, despite its potential for science, is... Well, an art. It's not a branch of academia like magic is. People with the [Transmutation] ability are rare to begin with so there's a lack of understanding when it comes to material science.

  Add on the fact that thanks to magic, most objects are malleable to the common mage and it's clear they don't have the strict limitations of the engineers, architects, STEM students, and physicists of my world.

  Without those definitive limits, they will lack the heavy handed knowledge found on earth.

  In conclusion: I do have an advantage when it comes to understanding the material world and the cores that I make for my enchanted items should be more complex than that of the common mage.

  That or their cores are made with a mage's understanding of magic, which I lack. Even then maybe I do have an edge? Enough to get me hunted down maybe?

  The chances of it happening are low but getting hunted down by scholars isn't part of my plans so I'm gonna have to figure out how to hide the cores that I make.

  "How do I hide them though..." My yawn made me realize that it's late and I briefly paused to look around. Then I realize that I'm now in the storage shed and I can study for as long as I want. Mom can't disturb me here.

  I went back to skimming the pages of the book.

  After some time I learned that for things such as scrolls, I don't need a core for them to function. I just need to write down the runes for a spell– for example [Magic Missile] – and then I'll be done.

  Understanding the runic language is a must to do that so I'm studying it right now. Enchanted items can wait, I wanna make scrolls first.

  When I think I understood enough, I decided to test my knowledge by making a scroll for [Mana Shield]. It's one of the few spells that I currently didn't have. Wardcruncha bought me a lot of magical scrolls but all of them have offensive spells.

  When I finished writing the rudimentary code in a piece of papyrus, I channeled mana into it only to then let it go when the paper burst into flames.

  I did see a blue, translucent shield appear for a brief second though. My scroll worked but then it also didn't, why?

  Going back to the book, I read more about runes and their placement as well as how they work and came up with three answers for why my scroll failed:

  One is that I used the wrong runes, which is unlikely given that I had a cheat sheet in the form of my book. I copied runes from its pages so there's no way that happened. Not drawing the runes correctly is also off the table, despite their weird shapes, runes are so simple a 3 old with a blindfold can draw them.

  Two is that the circuitry I designed is wrong, which nope, I've played kingdom building games in the past and have made resource management systems between crafting stations so I know how to design efficient circuitry.

  Third and what I think is the problem: My materials are sub par. I didn't use the right stuff and instead relied on regular items so it's only understandable they couldn't hold themselves together and broke down after getting exposed to magic.

  The barrier did form, I saw it with my own eyes. The runes work. The third option is the most feasible conclusion.

  Even if I didn't have the items necessary to make scrolls, I decided to just keep doing it anyway. Studying? I don't feel like it. I wanna make scrolls even if they keep burning things down.

  There's the matter of safety of course, but that's why I momentarily went outside and brought a bucket of water in here.

  For the next few hours, I practiced my writing skills. I've succeeded in making 5 shield scrolls combust before I stopped– oh, and all of them formed a barrier for a second. – and moved on to other spells, like [Water Ball].

  I did have a real scroll with a [Water Ball] spell so I compared my work to that one. I wanted to see if I'm good enough to sell my own scrolls only to end up confused.

  "What?" My shock momentarily killed my drowsiness. "I don't know if this is because I don't understand the runic language well yet but isn't this too inefficient?.."

  Frowning, I placed the two scrolls side by side on the table and grabbed my book. I read and took notes to help me find the right answer. I'm still not sure why the scrolls Wardcruncha bought were written the way they were but I will eventually.

  Eighty minutes. An hour and a half. That's how long it took me to get a grasp of why the runes were placed the way they were, and what I realized is that the person who wrote the scrolls Wardcruncha bought is a total amateur.

  Seriously? I paid several hundred silvers for this and as it turns out, the damn things might as well be useless! Not only are they inefficient, they are also written badly. I genuinely can't believe that these scrolls are being sold in Ghorise.

  Or maybe this is an untapped market?

  "Well I am learning runes now aren't I?" Most of the time, intrusive ideas pop into my head and I don't like them. But not this one. "Who's to say that scrolls bought by adventurers have to strictly come from adults?"