The girl didn't attack. She didn't scream.

  She was looking at the tuning fork in Julian's hand like a starving man looks at a feast.

  "Let me see it," she demanded, stepping out of the bushes. She wore the silver-trimmed robes of a 2nd-Year Artificer student. Her hair was messy, tied back with what looked like copper wire, and her fingers were stained with ink.

  "You're an F-Grade," she said, her eyes flicking between Julian and the dead wolf. "You don't have the mana capacity to sustain a spatial severance spell. It's impossible."

  Julian slid the Sonic Lancet into his sleeve. "Nothing is impossible. Just highly improbable."

  He analyzed her.

  [Target: Amelia Voss]

  [Class: Rune Scribe (Level 9)]

  [Threat Level: Low (Physically) / High (Socially)]

  [Status: Curious]

  "I won't report you," Amelia said, sensing his hesitation. She reached into her pouch and pulled out a small, glowing blue stone. It jingled against others in the bag. "I have Low-Grade Mana Stones. Do you want them?"

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  Julian adjusted his glasses. His mana bar was currently blinking red at **2/40**. He was running on fumes.

  "I'm listening," Julian said.

  "Tell me the frequency," Amelia said, stepping closer. "I've been trying to enchant a Mithril cutter for three months. I used the *Rune of Sharpness*, the *Rune of Severance*, even the *Glyph of Wind*, but the metal always shatters when I overcharge it. How did you stabilize the shear wave?"

  Julian looked at the stone in her hand. Market value: 10 Credits. It was enough to refill his mana pool twice.

  "You're trying to force the metal to cut," Julian corrected her. "You're pouring energy into the edge to make it harder. That creates stress fractures."

  He picked up a stick and drew a simple sine wave in the dirt.

  "Everything has a natural frequency," Julian explained, tapping the drawing. "The wolf's bone. The air. Even your Mithril cutter. I didn't force the tuning fork to be sharp. I just found the frequency where the molecular bonds of the target gave up."

  Amelia stared at the drawing. Her mouth opened slightly. "You... you didn't use a rune?"

  "Runes are just code," Julian said. "Physics is the hardware. You're trying to run a high-end program on bad hardware."

  He held out his hand.

  Amelia hesitated, then dropped **five** Low-Grade Mana Stones into his palm.

  "Show me," she whispered. "Show me the math."

  Julian smiled. It was a predatory smile, though he didn't mean it to be. He finally had resources.

  "Class is in session," Julian said. "But my tuition is expensive. These five stones cover the introduction. If you want to learn how to fix your Mithril cutter, it will cost more."

  Amelia didn't look like she cared about the cost. She looked like she had just discovered a new religion.

  "Deal," she said.

  [Relationship Unlocked: Amelia Voss (Patron)]

  [Resources Acquired: 5x Low-Grade Mana Stones]

  [Mana Restoration Available.]

  Julian pocketed the stones. He could feel the ambient energy radiating from them. With these, he wasn't just a guy with a tuning fork anymore. He was a mage with a battery pack.

  "Meet me at the old library tomorrow," Julian said, turning to leave. "And bring your broken cutter. I'll show you what resonance can really do."

  Author's Note: