The next day, I decided to spend the morning practicing hexes in the hopes of better performing the lost magic at night. As a sort of review for what I’d learned so far, I went to purify the cursed land once again.
“You have nothing to worry about when it comes to purification,” Rosenberg said. “Let us add the finishing touches.”
“Next up should be the spell to repel cursed energy.”
“Precisely. Although you have now purified all of the cursed energy that had pooled in this place, more will seep out of the ground with time. The final step of purification is to contain said cursed energy until you can return to the cursed land, preventing it from spreading any farther. Your predecessor’s spell is still active here, but it must be reapplied before the effect lapses. How long you can make the containment effect last determines how often you will need to revisit each location. Since this will be your first time, we will work on extending its duration little by little.”
“Sounds good.”
“Now, when it comes to casting this spell, the key is the conduit—a target for casting the hex. Your predecessor used those marks.” Rosenberg’s gaze led me to the cryptic symbol on the trees. “You can cast the spell without a conduit, but utilizing one that aids your visualization boosts the effectiveness and duration of the spell. Normally, an apprentice would aid their master and handle their master’s conduit to practice the process. For you, Ryoma, I think you should choose a conduit that matches the image of your spell.”
“What would be a good conduit for containing cursed energy...” I muttered.
“No need to overthink it. You already use smoke as a conduit for your purification. This is the same concept. The best conduits for hexes are ones that naturally come to mind when you think of achieving your purpose, or simply the first thing that comes to mind. There are times when warlocks use conduits that seem unrelated to the spell they are casting, but that is usually for an ulterior purpose, like preventing the spell from overloading or concealing a trade secret from competing warlocks. There is no need to get into that now, so try using anything that feels right to you.”
I had something in mind. From my Item Box, I took out a spool of black-and-yellow caution tape. I’d made it just in case I’d have to rope off an area of the mountain, but I hadn’t imagined using it like this. I’d faithfully re-created the durable caution tape from Earth—a tool I was very familiar with from my days of working construction sites.
Back in Japan, ropes could have ritualistic significance, like marking off a divine realm within Shinto shrines. Not to mention, the Japanese word for “territory” literally meant “roped off.” I couldn’t think of a better conduit.
I told Rosenberg that I’d be using the caution rope and got to work. I steadied my breathing and concentrated, recalling how it felt to shut myself in the woods.
“Isolation!” I cast the hex on the rope in my hand. Compared to when I used the pebble last time, I could clearly sense the magical energy seeping into the rope like roots taking hold deep into the earth. In fact, I could sense the hex I just cast from within the rope...and it felt more stable than previous attempts. “This feels very different from before,” I told Rosenberg.
“Because the conduit matches how you imagine the spell. That should last for a substantial time. However...”
“However?”
Rosenberg held up his right hand to the rope. Minuscule magical energy flowed from his fingers and wrapped around the rope. He nodded. “The hex is successful. However, in addition to containing cursed energy, it also has an effect to repel humans and animals.”
“Repel humans and animals? Why did that happen?” I asked.
“When you cast the hex, you must have imagined something that made you long for solitude. You were too effective at casting this hex and added additional effects. This is a rare phenomenon, but not unheard of.”
Come to think of it, that made sense. Maybe the human-repelling came from my past urge for hermitting, and the animal-repelling from the idea of roping off a territory. Both effects were conducive to our objective here, but I’d have to be careful about adding unintended effects to my hexes.
“In any case, the hex was a success. With how quickly you pick things up, I am sure you will get used to controlling the spell. Remember how it felt, and continue to practice. The same principles may get you closer to successfully casting the lost magic. Let us continue experimenting with methods and conduits that make sense to you. In addition to conduits, you can also use wands and magical items to assist you in the spellcasting. Any method that works is a good one.”
“Got it. I appreciate your continued tutelage.”
“Excuse me. May I ask a question?” Sebas asked from where he’d been watching us work from a distance. He must have waited for our conversation to pause. It was a rare occasion for Sebas to speak up like this—he normally stood back as if to stay out of our way unless one of us talked to him.
“Of course,” Rosenberg encouraged.
“Master Rosenberg. How much of an area does that rope affect? And how does it affect its surroundings?” Sebas asked.
“From what I can tell, it does not affect too wide of an area. As long as you do not reach for the rope and touch it, you could walk alongside it and be completely unaffected, even without a protective spell like the one we have on. Even if the hex were to affect you, there is no intent to harm imbued in it. You would feel like you didn’t want to get any closer, which is not dangerous by any means. It ‘separates’ more than ‘repels,’” Rosenberg explained.
“Oh...? Then, could that hex be used even when Master Ryoma is not present?”
“It could, as long as someone else was there who could handle the hex on the rope. You could make sure one of the workers on the team was able to cast a protective spell or distribute gear treated with protective magic,” said Rosenberg.
For whatever reason, Sebas was greatly interested in the hexed caution rope. I must have been giving him a curious look, because Sebas offered an apology and an explanation.
According to Sebas, construction projects were booming all over Jamil’s fiefdom. Reinhart had informed me of plans to build a new village, and I knew the plans to build another city next to Gimul were well underway. Sebas was confident that there would be demand for my caution rope at these construction sites.
“Development projects are prone to danger: bandits, monsters, wild animals... I thought this kind of rope could help keep the workers safe. Besides, setting up a perimeter of rope is much faster and easier than building motes or fences. And these won’t only be useful for development projects. By setting it up around farmland and keeping animals out, for example, it could increase produce yield. There are plenty of areas that should be kept off-limits to unauthorized personnel. There are countless applications for this.”
“It could replace a simple wall, at least to keep people out. Against wild animals, it would work like an electric fence... Not only does it have the potential for varied applications, the demand for it is particularly high right now,” I confirmed.
“Master Rosenberg just guaranteed its effectiveness, so there is no doubt of that. Unless you object, Master Ryoma, I would like to notify the duke of your invention posthaste.”
Hearing this, I turned to Eleonora, who had been keeping record of our progress as usual. She nodded reassuringly—she was going to handle this too. “Then I’ll ask Eleonora to write up a report. But we haven’t seen it in action yet. Let’s put it to use here and experiment with it,” I said.
“Master Takebayashi, I believe including the prospect of mass production in the report will expedite future discussions,” Eleonora suggested.
“Oh... Well, I have enough caution tape to go around the cursed land we have here. If the barrier being somewhat less effective isn’t an issue, I feel like I could hex any old rope.”
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“You could tailor your process depending on its use,” Rosenberg suggested. “Focusing on one target and keeping your magical energy contained will make the hex more effective. That could double as training to control your hexes.”
I liked that idea, and I had plenty of magical energy to play with. I almost wanted to rope off the entire mountain to keep people out, but I definitely didn’t have enough rope for that.
“Then I shall buy some in the nearest town. If there are no special requirements for the rope, I should be able to acquire a decent length of it anywhere,” Sebas offered.
“That would be great. How much would I—”
“The duke will front the cost. That should smooth things out.”
“Right... The sellers will probably be more eager to accommodate a big purchase out of the blue. Okay. Please give me an invoice for it later. And, since we’re still experimenting, I don’t want to inconvenience any of the sellers if buying too much of their inventory would do so.”
“Understood. I will return shortly.” Sebas bowed elegantly and disappeared with the use of Space magic.
Casting a hex wasn’t an arduous process, and I could probably cast it on a bunch of rope at once. If I had to guess, the biggest hurdle for mass production was going to be the acquisition of rope rather than any toll it would take on me.
What was the spell Rosenberg used to access the details of my hex, anyway? He’d used it on me before, and I assumed it was similar to the Neutral spells Investigate or Appraisal, but I was still curious. I’d have to ask him the next time he was teaching me curse-breaking.
Meanwhile, we began running the rope through the trees around the perimeter of the cursed land.