You get used to altered states of consciousness.


    ?Mixing ideal gases does not change the enthalpy of the system. Hence this mixing always occurs spontaneously, driven by an increase in entropy, as the second term is negative. Of course we already knew that ideal gases will mix. This quantified expression is nevertheless useful, as it allows us to give a lower limit on the energy required to separate the components.“


    Students are allowed to ask questions. ?What constitutes mixing?“ That makes the professor smile serenely ?Indeed we are closing in on an almost philosophical question. Entropy can be seen as the number of states that can be told apart. Actually, even mixing isotopes of the same material increases entropy.“


    I have been a nerd. Here this is much less of a stigma than at home. People would call it an arcane aspect of witchcraft and fear you for knowing about it. I, however, feel a bit stupid as I note down the formula for free energy according to Gibbs, lest my memory fail me again.


    And here it raises more questions. They speak Latin. They use the Latin alphabet. But not Arabic numbers as I am used to, though I think they can still be derived from the same Indian original. I am keeping my native mathematical notation.


    I close my eyes and sigh. I will need to organize some schooling. My children will grow up with an education, if I can help it. Do I need to buy scholars, too? A library, while we are at it? At this rate I will need a big house to just house the domestic help. They will also need to be fed and clothed. Such a facility would need to be guarded and fortified. Fortifications need to be maintained in turn. Add to that that wood is not the best material to build a fortress out of. In addition, given this environment, they will need to be trained for combat. Do I really want my children to be raised and educated by slaves? I see a real chance of this train of thought getting out of control.


    Am I reacting to the fact that I have arranged for myself to get some overdue schooling?


    <hr>


    ?So the inscription forms the spell?“ – ?No, the inscription reinforces the spell in its primary function and secondarily refocuses each layer, so that they join. You still need to cast it for each layer, though the inscription has to be compatible to the spell.“ Anjali corrects me. This is turning into a slog, even though I am lucky. It turns out that my sorcery can do the translation from the free form of a spell to a version that can be embedded into an object and the adjustment to the various materials without me learning and applying transformation rules.


    We are doing the magical version of ?Hello, world!“. It takes twenty iterations. This is ridiculous. There must be a better method. This base is equipped too well to have been built with such methods. But I cannot expect a woman who learned enchanting purely as a theory many years ago to be as good at teaching it as an Atlantean is at using it.


    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.She hasn’t been holding out on me. That is a stupid idea. Yes, I do not fully trust her any longer. No, I do not blame her for doing what she did. I am in no position to do so. Questions of sincerity aside, I am her next-to-last and best line of defense. Weakening me would be suicidal. She is homicidal, not suicidal. That is kind of hot actually.


    She may exploit me, yet I am in no position to complain about that either. Nor can I do anything about it. I am not ready to put myself in a position, where I would need to explain to my daughter why I kicked her mother out into the war ending the world.


    She looks at me with her head tilted. She knows that I am considering something, maybe even her status. She knows me too well for my taste. In fact she knows wizards too well. Holding that against her isn’t right. Certainly not by the standards of home. But also not by my personal standards. Whereever she learned, she has learned very well. Yet I do feel betrayed.


    She smiles and says ?You don’t need to say anything. When the Dark Mother picked our fates she had had too many cups of the good stuff.“. A wise man would say nothing. Hence I obviously say something. ?Thank you for the lesson. I never thought I would get private lessons in wizardry. Even if I had dreamed of them, I wouldn’t have dared to imagine somebody like you to be my teacher.“. She arches an eyebrow ?You think I look unqualified as a teacher?“ I nod ?Far too attractive. A teacher of wizardry is supposed to be a wheezing crone or an old man in a pointy, purple hat.“


    She moves a little bit, but then stops. I think she considered playfully hitting me on the head. No longer. She looks down at the floor ?Our teacher – I was in a class with a few half-sisters – was indeed an old woman.“. I pat her on the shoulder ?Nobody is perfect. I will get you a pointy, purple hat, though.“ That makes her head jerk up. ?You could not be serious if your life depended on it, could you?“


    I can sense a tension. She wants to say something challenging. But it is in the air. You do not attack a wizard, if you value your life. That worries me. I need people who tell me, if – no, when – I am about to do something stupid. Besides, if she respects my power, not me as a person, we are heading for a cliff. Her gaze has fire in it, but she maintains silence.


    The silence is getting uncomfortable, but I need to come up with a good reply. ?When I was serious … did it work well?“. She remains silent. And stays silent.


    That is too much for me. I break the silence ?Would you engrave protective amulets for everybody? We have some spare ingots. Not that I want to shirk the engraving. It is just more efficient if I cast spells.“. She makes an odd gesture with her head ?No. That is not a good idea. People who can defeat an Atlantean own sophisticated protective gear. I am a solid engraver. But I am a beginner. What I can make will damage our credibility.“. I agree ?Yes. You are right. Thank you. Something that we would make quickly in the field. Protection against the cold? Let’s assume that the fimbulwinter surprised us here?“. She agrees.


    <hr>


    Hildegard has taken her wax tablet into the shower room. Running the showers contionously has turned the room into a second rate steam bath. It is uncomfortable, but without candles it is the easiest way to soften the wax, again. She has to tell her parents. It is a matter of duty. They might use her to make promises for the time after Ragnar?k. They need to be aware of the changed circumstances.


    This version does not work either. Yet there is duty. Wax is patient.