After the comunication was ended between Narrick and Sheila, Gunnar was still a little locked in his culture shock about the comunication device. He knew that the tech existed, but as far he knew it was kept locked in a special room at his grandma's house. Most everyone he knew, kept their tech locked away, so this use of it shocked him a little.
Narrick noticed the slight awe on the boy's face, he smiled and then showed him the slate and spoke.
"Every clan leader or officer ,as well as many teachers, keep one of these tablets on their person at all times. It is how we issue warnings or schedule meeting of the council. They are one of the only exceptions to the technology ban on the first and second Forge planets."
Gunnar thought for a moment then asked. "If they are used for reporting demon incursions and comunication between higher ups, then are the smaller radio beacons used for the scouts and regular people on Kelton?"
Narrick nodded in appreciation, his deep raspy voice answering. "Yeah, for the most part. On the first two planets, the level of tech that can be used without justification paperwork, is pretty low. There are exceptions for clans like your own where your gramma and mom need to be able to converse with people off planet to coordinate materials or weapon deliveries, but those exceptions are exceedingly rare. The third word in the Tri-Forge planetary system, Bellius, has almost no restrictions on communication tech or transport tech, but the restrictions there are of the weapon variety."
"No weapons that could destroy the planet, right?" Gunnar remembered his mother saying something about that.
Narrick laughed, a loud rumbling laugh that seemed to shake up Gunnar's insides.
"Something like that. Boy, you will be set to learn this later in the introductory classes. But the rule is no technology, weapons or people in active battle that have a rank above dark steel. It can exist on the planet but it cannot be used."
The boy furrowed his brow. As far as he could think that meant rank five, and rank 5 power couldn't destroy a planet.
"Titanium and above leave nasty environmental afteraffects. That kind of power leaves after affects on the ruins and holy places of the planet." Narrick slapped Gunnar on the back and motioned for him to follow, as he headed towards a cliff nearby with windows and a giant pair of double doors set into it.
As they entered through one set of doors, Gunnar was led down a hallway painted a dark gray, magic stones set at regular intervals into the ceiling lighting up the doors lining the halls. Each of the doors was labeled with a teacher's name or simply labeled "meeting" or "mana training". Gunnar looked on with curiosity as they made their way to one of the doors for the meeting rooms labeled as "mentor counseling".
When they entered the room he noticed it was painted differently than the hallways, it was a room filled with dark greens and browns, a single fire mana stone on the ceiling that gave off a flickering light like a torch or a campfire. It made Gunnar feel much more at ease than a sterile grey or white room with a table lined with steel chairs, like the meeting rooms that his family had at their home for discussing business.
Narrick waved Gunnar towards a chair on one side of the room as he locked the door and took a seat. After they sat he looked at Gunnar and began to speak.
"What has your family taught you about body refininement? Or about mana in general?"
"I know that mana exists in some amount in almost everything. That metals have different mana conductivity rates just like they have different electricity conductivity. That metals, people and even the world itself has veins that conduct mana flow to different parts of the whole. It's why you have to be able to sense mana to be able to forge elemental type weapons. If you can't then you could ruin the veins of the metal you are trying to forge, breaking it's magical circulation so it will forever be an incomplete crafting."
The older man smirked a little, "Of course that old hag would teach you more about mana for metals than actual body refinement or external mana usage. You do at least know the ranks and levels of refinement right?"
The boy nodded and Narrick sighed a low grumbly sigh as if in relief.
"You know about mana veins in humanoids and beasts alike, but do you know about reforging your mana veins?"
Gunnar furrowed his brow a little. "You can forge mana veins?" His mind raced with possibilities. "If you could forge mana veins you could use different type of mana in the forging to give yourself differing mana affinities right?"
"Close kid, to a very lesser extent you can indeed forge your mana veins with a specific type of mana to gain a smaller affinity for that element. But it works much better to amplify your natural affinities. If you have a fire affinity then you can use metal mana to improve either the strength of your body or you could use water and greatly restrain both the little water affinity you would have gained from the mana vein and the fire element you originally had."
He stopped for a moment to draw a parallel in forging. "It's the same way you can't forge ice and fire elemental metals together. You dampen boths effect."
"But I have seen mama and gramma both forge weapons or tools with both ice and fire effects."
Narrick nodded. "That's is because they are both very skilled in forging and can keep the veins of both types from affecting each other. The same can be done in body refinement, you can forge a new set of mana veins on top of, or alongside your existing mana circuit. But conflicting elements have to have something in between them."