Sera stepped further into the room and waved a hand to clear the lingering haze of smoke. She looked at the charred spots on the wood, then at the soot-stained pillow Jacob still clutched in his hands.
"I can see that," Sera said while she suppressed a grin. She reached out to touch the blackened edge of the desk. "It smells like a lightning strike in here. Is this what you meant by working with the magic instead of commanding it?"
Jacob set the ruined pillow aside and rubbed a patch of soot from his forehead.
"Exactly. When I enchant, I usually focus on the object and the runes. I treat the mana like a physical thread that I have to weave into the metal. But with this, I didn't send the magic to my hands at all. I kept the visualization entirely within my mind and invited the ambient mana to match the shape of my thought."
He stood up and paced the small space between his desk and the bed.
"Instead of coming from me, the fireball formed because the world's magic responded to my visualization of heat and form that I had for a fireball. It felt like I put out the suggestion of how the magic should form a fireball, but without being forceful about it. Once I opened up to the magic, it seemed to do it on its own."
Sera leaned against the doorframe while she watched him. "But you seemed to lose control of it at the end. Why did it explode?"
"I got excited," Jacob admitted with a sheepish shrug.
"I broke the partnership by trying to hold onto the result too tightly. The moment I felt that surge of success, my focus shifted from cooperation to ownership. It seemed like the magic didn't like being owned, so it reverted to its natural, chaotic state."
The heavy thud of boots sounded in the hallway before Arthur appeared behind Sera. He stopped and sniffed the air, his eyes immediately landing on the burnt desk.
"I thought I smelled something scorching," Arthur said. He walked over to the desk and ran a rough thumb over the damaged wood. "I assume this wasn't part of Caleb's birthday surprises?"
"I was testing a theory, Father," Jacob explained. He kept his voice steady, though his heart was still racing from the near-disaster.
"I managed to manifest a flame without using a core or an enchanting rune. It was a bit more volatile than I anticipated, though."
Arthur looked from the desk to the singed pillow, then back to his son.
"Magic is a powerful tool, Jacob, but a farmer knows that a fire in the hearth is a blessing while a fire in the thatch is a curse. If you are going to bring the sun into your bedroom, you might want to keep a bucket of sand near your chair."
"I'll remember that for next time," Jacob replied to the reprimand with a gleeful smile.
Arthur nodded, his expression softening from one of concern to that of a proud father.
"Good. I'm happy to hear that you have made a huge leap into using magic for more than just enchantments. But make sure you can spare a little bit of magic to fix that desk. I would hate for your mother to see you've been practicing your 'suggestions' on the furniture."
He reached over and mussed his son's hair before heading out.
As Arthur headed back toward the living room, Jacob turned to Sera. The adrenaline was fading, leaving behind his clear thoughts.
He realized that the he could likely utilize his enchanting methods to catapult his ability with magic forward. Both relied on the same principle of suggestive partnership rather than brute force.
"Do you think you can do it again?" Sera whispered. "Perhaps with something less flammable than fire?"
Jacob looked at the Earth Core sitting on his desk.
"I think I need to try with water or perhaps a simple gust of air. If I can master how the magic responds to intent and why I need to open myself up to it instead of trying to take control, then the possibilites would be endless."
As Jacob moved to perform more experiments, Sera stepped around the charred desk and placed a hand on Jacob's shoulder, turning him away from the soot-covered wood.
"The desk will still be burnt tomorrow, Jacob. You should probably worry more about the boy in the barn. Bran has been out there by himself for well over an hour, and I have a feeling you might be able to guess how he gets when he starts obsessing over gear ratios."
Jacob looked at the Earth Core sitting on his desk, his mind still racing with the possibilities of his new discovery. He felt a strong urge to try one more visualization, perhaps something that didn't involve combustion.
"I just need a few more minutes, Sera. I think I can make the air move without the heat."
"You can practice your wind-whispering on the way to the barn," Sera countered, her voice brokering no quarter but decorated with a small smile. "If we don't go now, Bran will likely forget to eat or sleep until the spring thaw."
She lifted her arms, and Jacob noticed for the first time that she was carrying a plate with a cloth covering it.
"I saved him some food from the birthday even though he said he wasn't hungry. I even snagged him a small slice of the cake."
Jacob let out a long, reluctant sigh while he tucked the Earth Core into his pocket before turning from his desk.
He followed Sera out of the room, though his focus remained entirely internal. As they stepped out into the cool night air, he began to nudge the mana around his feet.
He didn't command the earth to move. Instead, he suggested to the packed dirt of the path that it should be more elastic with the visualization of small springs under his feet.
With every stride, the ground seemed to push back against his boots, giving him a lightness that made his footsteps feel effortless.
He moved with a strange, gliding rhythm that put a literal spring in his step.
While they walked, Jacob flicked his wrist toward a nearby rain barrel. He imagined the water having the desire to see the air.
A thin stream of liquid rose from the barrel, twisting into a shimmering ribbon that spiralled around his arm before falling back into the dark water.
He laughed softly, his eyes fixed on the fluid motion.
Next, he imposed himself on the still spring air around them, he didn't force anything but opened his visualization in the manner he had been getting used to.
A sudden, sharp gust of wind caught Sera's cloak, billowing the heavy fabric out behind her. The breeze swirled in a tight circle around Jacob's head, whistling a low, erratic tune through his hair.
He was so deeply immersed in his communion with the energy of the world that he didn't notice the path ending or the large shadow of the barn looming over them.
Sera pulled open the heavy barn door, but Jacob walked inside without even looking up from his palms.
He had moved on to a new visualization. He was imagining the tiny, invisible friction of the air rubbing together until it created a charge.
Between his cupped hands, tiny blue sparks began to dance. They crackled with a sound like dry parchment tearing, jumping from one fingertip to the other in jagged, beautiful arcs.
"Jacob, look at this," Sera whispered, her voice full of genuine admiration.
Bran was hunched over the seeding mechanism near the workbench, his back to them as he tightened a final bolt on the central assembly.
He didn't even acknowledge their presence. In front of him, the automatic seeding mechanism sat transformed.
The previously crooked brass plates were now perfectly aligned, and the distribution channels had been polished until they shone like gold under the lantern light.
The gears were nested together with such precision that they looked like a single, solid piece of sculpture.
"The automatic seeding mechanism looks amazing," Sera said, stepping closer to the machine, reaching out tentatively with her hand.
"I can't even tell what is going on anymore, but it looks like it will work much better than what Jacob was trying to do."
Jacob didn't respond. He was staring at the sparks between his hands, his face illuminated by the flickering blue light.
He watched a particularly bright bolt bridge the gap between his thumb and forefinger as he shifted his visualization, his mind already wondering if he could convert this same energy into an enchantment for the metallic stone of the gauntlet.
"Jacob! We need to get you and Bran talking!"
Sera was getting a little frustrated. It was obvious that both boys were addicted to their respective specialities, but they were supposed to be working together.
Bran nearly dropped his metal file, his head snapping toward the door with wide, startled eyes.
At the same moment, the blue sparks between Jacob's fingers gave a final, sharp pop and vanished into a thin trail of ozone.
Jacob blinked, his vision clearing as he looked down at his empty hands, then at the intricate brass machinery on the workbench.
"About time you showed up," Bran grumbled, though his voice lacked any real bite. He wiped his greasy palms on his apron and gestured toward the seeder.
He watched as Sera placed the plate of food on the bench next to where he was making adjustments on the machine. He nodded his head as he removed the cloth to dig in while talking.
"I have the physical tolerances within a hair's breadth of perfect. Every gear is seated, and the timing on the distribution plate is as tight as a drumhead. But there is where the problem begins."
Jacob stepped closer, his mind finally shifting from the fluid joy of direct magic back to the rigid demands of enchantment.
He looked at the labyrinth of brass channels and silver-soldered joints.
"The precision is incredible, Bran," Jacob said while he leaned in to study the interlocking teeth.
"But you are right. My usual method of providing a broad suggestion of flow will fail here. The machine needs to stay in constant harmony with its own movement to keep the valves in sync with the rotation of the wheels. We need the runes to ensure every joint stays fluid under the pressure of the field."
Bran nodded and pointed to a series of secondary levers.
"Exactly. The wheels determine the pace of the whole assembly. If the farmer moves the animal used to tow this thing faster, the seed drop has to accelerate to match. If the soil resistance changes, the depth has to remain constant. You cannot just tell the machine to plant, you will have to make the magic react to the physical resistance of the earth."
Jacob ran a finger along the main axle while he sensed the complexity through the mana field of the newly minted mechanism.
The brass felt receptive to his touch, nothing like the resistance he felt from the void gauntlet.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out the Earth Core. The stone hummed with a deep, subterranean energy that made the fine hairs on his arms stand up. He held it near the brass plate, and the metal thrummed in a sympathetic vibration.
"We will use the geometric shape within this core as the anchor," Jacob said.
"Instead of a simple loop, I will link five distinct patterns for different enchantments directly to the core's power. First, we need auto-targeting runes specifically for the seed sorting, so we don't have to change many parts between seeds and bulbs, and so they flow freely without jamming the whole thing."
Jacob pulled a piece of charcoal from a nearby tray and began to sketch the overlapping patterns on the wooden surface of the workbench.
"Next, I will weave a strengthening enchantment throughout the entire frame to make the mechanism durable against the stones in the soil. Combined with that, we need to enchant sharpness for the injectors. The metal that stabs into the ground will punch through both dry and wet earth like paper."
Bran watched the charcoal lines as they began to form a complex map of the machine's future spirit.
"To make it practical for a long day in the fields, I will add a lightness portion to make the whole thing easily pullable over long distances," Jacob continued.
"It will feel as though it is floating just above the dirt, and whether it is pulled by an ox or a donkey, we should be able to finish a field in just a single day. Finally, a self-healing set of runes will ensure the machine never breaks down, and it will prevent the need for constant repairs. The magic will mend any stress or fatigue in the brass as it happens, drawing on the core for the power it needs."
"And," Jacob continued, "I will shape the intent for last to bring everything together, smoothing any of the irregularities that might arise in linking everything to the core."
Bran looked at the sketch while his brow furrowed in concentration. He traced the lines where the sorting intent met the sharpening runes.
"That is a massive amount of coordination to pack into these plates," Bran remarked. "But it sounds feasible, and I think it might just keep everything together for how I intend for it to work."
"Then we had better start with the first step," Jacob said, the thought of the challenge causing a twinkle in his eye.
"If we can get the timing plate to accept the primary enchantments from the core, the rest of the seeder will follow. Our future projects will be much smoother as well."