Caleric was wearing his new cloak and making his way through the streets. The region closer to the center of the city never slept, with the shopping district being active all around the clock.
Lights had been invented in this world and electricity had been discovered, but the use of manacules for lighting was the more mainstream form, as it was an easier way to set up.
It was still not as convenient as the developed lighting system, which could illuminate complete areas with a single click of a button. Instead, the manacule lighting system required a technician to reinfuse mana into the lamps every month. The rest of the time, the lights did turn on and off on their own automatically.
The type of lights found in homes was also manacule lighting. The governing body was trying to come up with a way to make the management of mana lamps easier. This way, they could easily impose taxes on lighting itself.
The main types of taxes that the Quax royal family had imposed on their citizens were the water tax on the drinking water supply and the tax for housing, which applied to those who bought their own house. Electricity tax wasn't a thing, as electricity, despite having been discovered, wasn't put to much use due to being easily substituted with manacule technology.
Instead, a different type of tax was introduced in the past few decades: the Mana Tax, established to regulate the use of manacules. Given that the Spell Index was publicly accessible, anyone could theoretically use spells; however, unsupervised use of manacules had previously resulted in multiple issues, necessitating legislation to control their application.
Since spells draw upon manacules present in the user's vicinity, the use of manacule-intensive spells could disrupt the local balance. Uncontrolled or mass deployment of such spells posed significant risks. To address this, the Mana Tax was implemented. All spell wielders were required to register with the official Wielder Records.
Use of spells above Tier 3 required a special permit. Unauthorized use of higher-tier spells was deemed illegal and could result in imprisonment of up to two years, a fine of up to 20 Crowns, or both.
Spells up to Tier 3 were to be used with caution. While Tier 1 spells were subject to minimal restrictions, unauthorized use could still lead to legal consequences.
Wielders were required to provide a specific justification for the use of their spell and submit a legal statement to the court. They were also required to issue an apology and formally confirm that they would not repeat such behavior.
This was precisely why spells, despite being the oldest and most studied form of manalogy, were also considered the least practical. The latest form of manalogy, the manalogy techs, was instead regarded as superior due to having fewer restrictions.
Manalogical techs were specifically designed to avoid disrupting the local manacule balance, making them far more efficient compared to spells, which drew directly from raw manacules. However, manacular engineers and artificers were also subjected to heavy taxes on their inventions and sales.
In addition to this, other taxes included trade and commerce-related taxes, which were particularly effective in Virelia, the world's trade capital, as well as the natural resources tax.
Caleric was surprised that there seemed to be a tax on almost everything. If the government could, they would likely tax the air and the oxygen next. It was exactly like back in his world, with the common people burdened by taxes to fill the coffers of those at the top.
It was late at night, and Willow Grove Burial Grounds were located quite far from the center of the city. As Caleric made his way down the upper street, he noticed that the later sections of the road were completely silent.
He did not take an arcavel, as he did not have enough money to afford the midnight fare, which was significantly higher. He instead decided to walk. After some time, having ensured he had reached a relatively remote area, Caleric pulled down his hood and started running.
He had previously tested the cloak's abilities and found it very convenient for traveling. Although he wasn't yet comfortable walking on walls and was too scared to attempt high jumps, he could still use the cloak to run at a fast pace without draining his stamina.
He ran through the narrow streets, avoiding the main roads, which were less likely to be patrolled by the guards of the Iron Patrol. He was a little scared but also a little excited.
He had already planned his route before leaving his house, using a very detailed map of the streets of Virelia. All he had to do was avoid getting lost, and he would reach the cemetery in no time.
After a few more minutes of running, the streets started breaking down, and the number of houses in his vicinity began dwindling. He knew he was close to the burial grounds.
There was no marked boundary for the Willow Grove Cemetery, but it was called a cemetery despite being just a large open ground used for burying bodies. The graves were not arranged in order; they were randomly asymmetric, something that would give a hard time to someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Caleric had finally reached the open grounds and could already see some graves. His next task was to find where Thisia and Corvin were.
They had not planned a meeting spot, and the area was too large for him to search, so instead of looking for his new teammates, Caleric headed straight to the grave of the Gnalets.
He found the lone tree that stood on the small hill-like elevation and spotted the four graves. He had mentally prepared for this and was able to control his emotions this time.
So how am I gonna find them now? As Caleric wondered he saw two figures walking towards him from a distance. They were wearing black cloaks, and their faces were dark—darker than the darkness of the night.
Thisia removed her hood to reveal her face. Next to her was Corvin, carrying a large shovel.
"On time," Thisia said.
"Yes," Caleric replied.
"Let's get to digging then."
"Sure."
Caleric was ready to dig up the grave. He didn't quite know why they had to examine the bodies to figure out who the perpetrator was, but since he was an amateur at things like this, he decided to leave it to his teammates.
"Why do we only have one shovel?" Corvin asked, looking at Thisia.
Thisia looked back at him, then turned to face Caleric, who was leaning on the tree trunk.
"Where is your shovel?" she asked.
"I had to bring a shovel?" Caleric was dumbfounded.
Thisia put her left palm on her forehead and sighed heavily.
"Don't mind it. Take turns digging."
"Let it be. It can't possibly be that deep. I'll do it on my own, and he doesn't look like someone who could dig very well. He looks like a princess that needs to be protected," Corvin said, laughing.
What did you say? Of course I didn't bring my shovel because I didn't know I had to, but what's up with the princess comment? Caleric was a little furious at his remark, but he didn't show his true emotions.
Corvin started digging Aron's grave. Thisia and Caleric stood by the tree, watching him work. For a while, they stood in silence, but soon Caleric decided to use the time to ask some of the questions that had been bugging him ever since he had met up with Blue Preservation.
"That relic, the glass globe—no, the eye. It's a relic, right? What exactly is that?"
"You don't need to know that. Think of it as something that shows me revelations," Thisia replied.
Both relics and artifacts were objects or tools infused with manacules and could be used to perform certain set tasks. Both fell under the category of manalogical techs; however, there was a significant difference between them.
Artifacts were artificially created, whereas relics were naturally formed. Relics usually referred to the remains of something that had a strong mana force. A relic could be anything, ranging from something living, like the eye Caleric had seen when he met Thisia, to something dead.
"What is a formation?" Caleric asked his next question. He remembered that Arven had said something similar in his introduction, and even before that, Thisia had also mentioned it briefly.
"I think someone who is already in a formation is more likely to explain it better, so you should ask Arven," Thisia replied.
So you are not in a formation? Is a formation a type of group or something similar? And are there multiple types of formations? Arven said he was from the Jester Formation. He tried connecting the dots, but his lack of information was a major obstacle.
By then, Corvin had already dug up the grave and unearthed Aron's casket.