Frostbound

Chris

My fingers traced out the tiny Runes upon the Mana Crystal in yet another attempt to create our very own Message Stone. So far, my attempts had all ended in failure, but it wasn't as frustrating as one might think.

Even if every failed attempt was mightily upsetting, all I had to do was remember this wasn't life or death. A mistake didn't mean I would perish on the battlefield.

It was simply that. A mistake.

It wasted a bit of resources, but that was nothing we couldn't get back.

I did my best to throw myself into the process, but no amount of supreme effort was going to let me learn the Runes any faster. It wasn't even the learning part that I had trouble with.

It was the engraving portion.

I knew what the Runes meant. I knew what they were supposed to do. It was getting the tiny, intricate Runes carved into the Crystal without messing them up that I had trouble with.

My hands didn't shake, they just weren't precise enough. One slight twitch, one drifting wrist, and the string of Runes would end up worthless.

My strength didn't help. A mistake that wouldn't have meant anything to anyone weaker turned into either a crushed crystal or a failed piece so easily. It felt like if I breathed wrong, the Runes would mess up.

The studying part had been fun, I'll give it that, but the application part of the knowledge was not. As sad as that was. The stone itself was based on a radio, except instead of mundane radio waves being sent and received, it was magical transmissions.

Some of the Runes created the 'frequency' while others powered it and worked as amplifiers. One string was for sending while the other was for receiving.