Edgar

Edgar, who also gives the full name Edgarmoulous Katorius XeTalouvoi, is an elderly gnome regarded as the best runesmith in the Baquaire Archipelago. He bargains with Kai Tylenn over a cloaking amulet, reluctantly teaches him weapon engraving, and helps turn sea-serpent fangs into enchanted weapons. (Chapters 173–323)

Biography

The Runesmith to Break Out

Edgar lives behind a whole-building cloaking array in Higharbor's upper city and initially refuses commissions or apprentices. Kai gains his interest by carrying a concealment artifact Edgar cannot fully identify and wins a wager over which item hides his grade. The resulting bargain obliges Edgar to engrave Kai's yellow sea-serpent fangs and provide a substitute disguise. When Kai spends the informational favor he earned on instruction rather than another object, Edgar agrees only to offer tips, sets deliberately tedious work, and tries to drive the unwanted pupil away through criticism and repetition. (Chapters 173–175)

Kai's persistence changes the arrangement without changing Edgar's abrasive style. Edgar begins offering a period of real instruction in exchange for being left alone and, sometimes, baked food. He teaches that rune arrays must be synchronized to the exact material rather than copied generically, corrects Kai's balancing and composition, fuses paired fangs, engraves nearly invisible lines with special ink, and adds concealment to protect the finished work. The Sea Serpent Sword becomes their principal joint result. Kai later reproduces Edgar's Mana Engraving through Mana Echo, and the copied skill helps him create yellow enchantments and eventually break enchanted restraints, extending Edgar's influence beyond the workshop. (Chapters 175–225)

Looming Darkness

Edgar does not appear directly during the Limgrell investigation. His craftsmanship remains Kai's benchmark when Rain Ryuu copies an unfamiliar array with exceptional precision: Kai judges the transcription good enough to satisfy even the exacting gnome. The comparison establishes the durability of Edgar's standards in Kai's education, but it supplies no new action, advancement, location, or status for Edgar himself. (Chapter 278)

Snacks and Airships

During Raelion Academy's entrance tests, Kai compares the testing-room enchantments to Edgar's Higharbor work and remembers that Edgar eventually expelled him from the workshop. The source does not date that final separation, explain whether it ended their personal arrangement permanently, or show Edgar after the academy transition. It therefore confirms the apprenticeship's end but not Edgar's later activities. (Chapter 323)

Appearance and personality

Edgar is an elderly, very short gnome with wild white hair, hairy pointed ears, sharp teeth, wrinkled skin, bulbous eyes with thin orange irises around large black pupils, and knobby six-fingered hands with an extra knuckle. He wears a worn yellow robe while keeping his nails carefully manicured and surrounding himself with enchanted jewelry and tools. Edgar is reclusive, irritable, sarcastic, perfectionistic, and openly hostile to interruptions. He is also intellectually curious, delights in a difficult enchantment, honors bargains, recognizes persistence, and gradually gives Kai more instruction and craftsmanship than his complaints admit. (Chapters 173–179)

Skills, magic, and the Guide

Mana Engraving and runesmithing

Edgar's demonstrated specialty is Mana Engraving, the skill Kai later copies and acquires at Yellow grade. Edgar draws enchantments in both mana and physical ink, tunes rune chains to the composition and mana behavior of each substrate, fuses pieces of yellow material, and engraves fine lines that remain reliable under use. Purely mana-formed runes are described as the ideal endpoint, but even Edgar has not reached it and still requires physical ink. The corpus never states his profession name, race grade, profession grade, skill level, attributes, or full set of specializations, so the grade of Kai's copied skill should not be converted into a complete status for Edgar. (Chapters 173–179, 190, and 225)

Cloaking and magical analysis

Edgar cloaks his entire home so thoroughly that Mana Sense perceives a void and attention slides toward neighboring buildings. He also creates portable grade and profession disguises, hides elemental enchantments without concealing their existence, and studies a superior amulet with layered lenses and devices. He notices Kai's concealed physical grade through gait and balance, explaining that Dexterity can betray what a status cloak hides. Some perception may come from an observation skill and some from enchanted equipment; the source does not isolate their contributions. His cloaking is formidable but not absolute, because Kai locates the door mechanism with Inspect and Edgar himself recognizes that Virya's amulet is beyond his own seamless concealment. (Chapters 173–174 and 179–203)

Teaching limits

Edgar teaches through exacting repetition, material theory, rune synchronization, design review, and strict refusal to let an unqualified pupil touch valuable stock. This method improves Kai's technical judgment but depends on Kai's unusual persistence and Mana Echo to endure hundreds of repetitions. Edgar cannot make an unsafe design viable by skill alone: he requires a suitable material, a properly balanced array, appropriate ink, and time to engrave. His isolated workshop and dislike of commissions also limit access to his expertise, and no combat ability is shown. (Chapters 174–179)

Relationships

• Kai Tylenn: Kai begins as an unwanted customer, wins Edgar's interest through an unusual cloaking amulet, and converts a bargain into reluctant instruction. Edgar's criticism and material-specific method shape Kai's enchanting, while Kai's persistence gradually earns real lessons and help with the sea-serpent weapons. (Chapters 173–179 and 190–225)
• Reishi Senyu: Reishi gives Kai Edgar's address and a letter of introduction after negotiating compensation. Edgar complains that the merman sold his location but accepts that connection as the reason Kai found the hidden workshop. (Chapter 173)

Items

• Sea Serpent Sword: Edgar fuses two fangs for its double edge, engraves intricate nearly invisible rune chains, and adds a cloaking enchantment beneath the hilt. Kai contributes the design and materials, making the weapon a joint project rather than Edgar's personal possession. (Chapters 175–179)
• Enchanted monocle and jewelry: Edgar uses a silver-rimmed monocle and multiple lenses to inspect concealment, while his earrings, rings, and robe all carry mana. Kai infers that a golden earring helps detect lies and that the robe or its pockets may have a spatial effect, but the text does not directly define either item's complete mechanics. (Chapters 173–174)
• Cloaked workshop: Edgar's Higharbor home is covered by an array that hides its mana, redirects casual attention, and conceals a mana-rich interior. The door uses a small mana puzzle rather than an ordinary handle, allowing Edgar to screen visitors. (Chapters 173–174)