Fortunately, I knew the form of the sword I was making intimately. In just over twenty minutes, I was done, my crafting skill going back to mostly normal as I made the weapon. The folding of the metal made it so that I could remove that step in the process. As I let the sword cool, I looked at the waiting prompts.
Your Skill has evolved: Mystical weaponsmithing (crafting) has changed to Mystical Blacksmithing (crafting): Can use the spell Ion control to forge metal.
You have crafted a Long sword!
+ 8 to Mystical Blacksmithing!
●Long sword:
○Adamantine: This weapon is more durable, and sharper than steel.
○Mystically forged: This weapon is steeped in magic and can channel spells without taking durability damage.
○Quality: Excellent
○Durability: 100%
Mystical Blacksmithing(J): 38 learned + 7 class skill points (45)
●Novice Perk: Spell slots count double for crafting. Items produced are automatically of Good quality.
●Journeyman Perk: Crafting speed increased by 50%. Has a chance to create Excellent quality weapons.
I was starting to think it was my knowledge of this particular style of sword that made the quality excellent. Prompts out of the way and the glow of the sword fading, I looked up to see both Melkor and Lucky staring at the sword in utter amazement. They gazed at me in awe. This. This, is why they think we’re gods. I couldn’t help but think.
I handed the sword to Lucky who gripped it awkwardly. It was a copy of my own sword, but this one had a silvery blue glow instead of a white golden one. Lucky examined the blade nicking himself on the sharp edge. Hissing in pain, he handed the sword to Melkor to examine. The blacksmith held it with the reverence of a new father holding his child for the first time. His giant smile was infectious, making even Lucky stop sucking on his bleeding finger to grin before going right back to his finger.
Huh, guess that is a habit for elves as well. Finishing his inspection, Melkor went to give me back the sword, but I shook my head. “Give it back to Lucky,” I looked my apprentice in the eye. “That is your sword now, Squire. Tomorrow we start training with it.” His eyes were wide, tears of joy welling up as emotion got the better of him for a moment. Composing himself as he knelt before me, he gently took the sword when Melkor passed it over, pausing in hesitation for a second. “Be worthy of this gift, Lucky. Rise, the next time you kneel before me is the day you become a knight.”
With the moment over, Lucky stood, his eyes still locked on his new blade. I told him to see Dawn to get a sword belt and sheath made for the long sword. As our lesson was finished for the day, he scampered off to do just as I had suggested.
Melkor told me that his blacksmithing class had evolved into arcane blacksmithing, and that the class managed to level twice from the xp he had earned from evolving it. Just by watching me work, and understanding the concepts involved the system had rewarded him for his efforts, which I guess makes sense. He had a class skill similar to my perception, allowing him to use his spell slots to focus on the magical blacksmithing that had been performed in front of him.
While we rebuilt the fire that had died out earlier , I told him I would bring him a present in the morning to congratulate him. Still on an adrenaline high, Melkor left me for the evening just as Tabby made her way towards us. Grinning broadly at her, she cocked an eyebrow at me.
We mentally discussed what had happened, Tabby pleasantly surprised at what had happened. That’s amazing, Rho! To evolve a skill on your own and help another progress in their class… Honesty, I knew it was possible, but still, it’s extremely rare. Again, great job, I’m proud of you! She sent me, beaming with pride.
Walking into our yurt, Tabby led the way as I held the flap. “Thanks, Tabs,” I said aloud now that we were alone. “It was ridiculously cool to do. Though, I’m pretty damned drained now. I was planning to make Melkor a hammer but need to get my spell slots back first, so I think I’ll just wait until morning. How did your day go?”
She was sitting on her bedroll, looking through some papers I couldn’t make out. She answered me without looking away from what she was doing. “It was good.” I waited to see if she would continue, but she just kept going over the papers in her lap. As much as she was a person now, she still had a lot of habits left from when she was the system. This was one of them, happy, talkative one minute, ignoring you the next, or maybe, it’s just a woman thing. I shrugged. Oh well, back to work.
The next morning, I got up to find that Tabby was already out by the fire, eating breakfast. I looked over the prompts I was too tired to deal with last night. I had decided to make the hammer, after all. Tabby wasn’t being very talkative, and while drained, I was still feeling too much of the rush that accompanied my little magic show to be able to rest right away. It was only after draining myself again by making the gift for Melkor that I was able to get my mind calm enough to find meditative rest.
You have crafted a blacksmithing hammer!
+ 3 to Mystical Blacksmithing!
●Blacksmithing hammer:
○Adamantine: This tool is more durable than steel.
○Mystically forged: This tool is steeped in magic and can channel spells without taking durability damage.
○Quality: Excellent
○Durability: 100%
I had a feeling Melkor was going to love it. Although, I have to admit that with his new class, I had no clue if he could even use it, but thought it would at least be a symbol for his profession. I was almost an adept in mystical blacksmithing but figured I would get it soon enough, so I didn’t spend the skill points to push it to the next tier. Well, that… and I’m out of metal, I mused.
Chapter Nineteen
The next few months went by in a fury of activity, as Tabby and me settled into a routine. Our relationship was solid, with us becoming closer by the day. Still, other than a few kisses, we hadn’t been physical yet. Bless Sayer, the beds are freaking wonderful. I couldn’t help but think as I stretched out while we waited, noticing how much more limber I was since I had started sleeping in the bed.
Almost five hundred elves had joined the system in that time, with Tabby moving from teaching the basics to more advanced topics to select groups of elves. She used all the time she could between classes to write books of knowledge to give the elves when we left. Where she got the paper, she didn’t say, but I figured it was just another one of her tricks, as she called them. She only rested when she was so worn down that I forced her to though, making me worry about her state of mind more than once.
Lucas was now training the mages in addition to his other duties. Like a fish to water, he had taken to overseeing the day to day running of the village, just as we had planned. To my surprise, the mages, of which there were a fair number, were coming along great under his instruction. So, neither Tabby nor I could complain about the job Lucas was doing.
The first batch of soldiers had finished initial training, blooding themselves against the wereboars on more than one occasion. The barracks had been built and were always occupied. I gave Maximus command of the soldiers after the first group finished basic training. He had quickly put his son, Armand—Tweedledee, at least, I think it’s Tweedledee, fuck, I can’t remember at this point—as his second in command, but more in an NCO position. It was extremely weird to me, but whatever. I shrugged, bringing me back to the present.
We were outside the tree ring on top of the flat part of the massive boulder the village sat on, but inside the ring of yurts the elves used. The construction crew were talking to the druids in preparation for the arduous undertaking that was about to begin. Lucky was off to the side practicing his sword forms while I watched. He still didn’t have the combat sorcerer class, but I didn’t think it would be much longer until the system recognized him, giving him the class. I was really impressed with his progress, especially seeing how he hadn’t taken any of Tabby’s classes. He had learned ion control as a magic type
from my demonstration, but hadn’t decided what second type he wanted yet. As soon as he chose and learned a spell, I was sure he would get the class.
It had taken a month to get the number of druids trained up to start building the tree houses, agh, I have to come up with a better name. That was on top of the time needed to build the barracks and for Tabby to tweak the construction crews classes as well. Yet finally, the work was about to begin. It looked like everything was in order as the mages circled the tree with the construction crew inside their circle. We were on the far side of the hilltop closest to the river, more importantly though, this tree was the farthest away from the jungle side where the wereboars came from.
I started to feel the hairs on my arm raise as the magic in the area thickened noticeably. The air grew hazy and somewhat semi-prismatic as the druids channeled their spells. Melkor was standing next to me, hand on the adamantine hammer I had made for him. He never went anywhere without it, developing a habit of touching it when he was stressed. I could see Lucky fumble his forms turning to watch the spectacular display of magic in front of us. None of us spoke, as we watched the crew go to work, shaping and guiding the tree’s growth as the druids channeled their magic into the tree, the construction workers’ movements starting to blur. The magic in the air obscured their features. That mixed with their speed being increased the more the magic grew made their movements impossible to follow.
The tree, already well over three hundred feet tall and thirty feet thick to start with, grew three times as big as we watched, transfixed. The hollow entrance to the tree was sixty feet tall, the doors ten feet thick. When closed, the doors would be perfectly flush with the rest of the tree, making them nearly impossible to spot. I will have to take a look at how the hinges work on that thing, ’cause I have no clue from just looking at it, I thought in amazement.
It took about an hour for the druids to use up their spell slots. Somewhat of a surprise to me, Tabby had said something about shared magical load and how it increased their casting time. To be honest, at the time I had tuned it out as I wasn’t interested, a decision I was now regretting. Mesmerized by what I was seeing, I wished that I knew more about the process. However, the work was far from done, so the opportunity might yet present itself.
At Tabby’s request, all the mages, druids, and other magic users had taken the spell recovery ability. This allowed them to regenerate their spell slots throughout the day so that they could keep the construction crew busy. Though an impressive amount of progress had been made in just the first hour’s work, the crew—as I decided to call the team doing the construction—was blocking all access to the tree, refusing to let anyone see what it looked like before it was finished. Well, the bottom section at least. So, for now, with the show being over, everyone went back to work.
The earth mages were working on diverting the river, out of sight for the moment, starting at the opposite side to the druids. They split into two teams, each heading toward the river, but on different sides of the hilltop where the village of Tigris was to be truly established. I was worried that this would cause the river to slow down, but Tabby reassured me that this wasn’t the case. She didn’t have to laugh at me when I asked though, I thought, a frown plastered on my face.
What they were doing was no less spectacular, but it was like watching a bulldozer work, fun for a bit, yet quickly boring after that. Still, they should have the central hilltop with its crown of trees encircled in the next few days. That gave the village just one access point, and much better defenses. The river would flow around the hill before heading along its natural course again, forming a horseshoe around the village. Leaving the tree the crew was working on now with a pathway into the jungle on the opposite side from the grasslands. By the time the earth mages finished moving the river, a few of the tree homes should also be completed. Meaning that the elves of this world would finally live in trees. Just like the stories from home, I thought with a smile.
***
A day later , Lucky and I were sparring on the barrack training ground. Although, he was getting good, I had nearly two decades of practice on him, making it still a rather one-sided show. Usually, I let him spar with others, but lately, he had been trouncing them easily, getting a swollen ego, that I am now knocking out of him, in the process. I had taught the soldiers the legionary formations, and fighting style based on the Romans, what I could remember anyway. Maximus had taken to it like it was the air he breathed, continuing to train the soldiers in the legionnaire style formations after I had transferred command.
The soldiers would link shields, creating a shield wall, the soldiers in the back row throwing spears as the enemy approached. Then the front line would engage with swords while keeping the shield wall in place. The lines would rotate from the back to the front, allowing them to pick up the wounded and move them to the rear, as well as keeping the front line fresh. The mages and rangers would stay in the rear, firing what arrows and spells they could without hitting their own troops. They had used this formation style a few times now against the wereboars to great effect, so I doubted they would make any huge changes to their fighting style for quite some time to come.
Sending Lucky sprawling to the ground yet again, I called for a break. I could tell the lesson had worked as he was far more subdued compared to when we started.
“Hey, kid, don’t be too hard on yourself. Just remember there is always more to learn, there is always someone better than you, and most importantly…” I paused for effect, glad Tabby wasn’t there to tell me how ridiculous I looked. “No matter what, even the best swordsman can lose to a beginner if he isn’t always putting forth his best. Oh, and don’t forget that goes for taking on too many enemies and getting worn out. Exhaustion will kill faster then I can.” I finished giving my all over the place advice. I’m a terrible teacher. And I must quit sighing all the time. I thought after sighing with disappointment at my lesson.
Helping Lucky to his feet, I asked, “have you given any thought to what your second type of magic is going to be? It’s been over a month and I can’t teach you more advanced techniques without you accessing your class.” I informed him, leaving out the part where I wouldn’t be there forever. We had already discussed that, as well as me not being a god. It was like Tabby had said, he was confused, upset even about me leaving, but wouldn’t accept that I wasn’t some type of divine being. I gave up trying after he agreed to call me Rho in private.
“I have, Rho. It’s just… I’m having a hard time choosing between metal and fire magic. I discovered both of those, plus ion magic, when I watched you make Moonlight,” patting his sword as he said moonlight. Personally, I didn’t name my weapons, which didn’t mean I wasn’t aware that a lot of people did. Apparently, even in newly emerging, or reemerging cultures. Wonder if it’s a compensation thing? I chortled to myself, making Lucky give me a funny look.
“Don’t worry about it,” I told him, waving it off. “As for your magic type.” I continued, having had time to think about it. “And again, I stress, the decision is totally yours.” I shrugged, about done with his lack of commitment in choosing one or the other. “I just don’t think fire magic is going to be as viable or versatile as metal magic. You told me the two spells you can learn are fire stream, and magnetic manipulation. Fire stream is just as the name implies. You can shoot a stream of fire. Yeah, you can apply it to your weapon and make fireballs. The problem is you live in a jungle, dude. Everything is flammable, and trust me, fire doesn’t simply stop where you want it to. It will burn you just as fast as your enemies.” I advised, looking him in the eye and watching his reaction, hoping he would pull the trigger and choose.
Lucky snorted a laugh, “yeah, I know, Rho, but I’m still worried I won’t get metal manipulation as my second skill. At least with fire, I know I’ll have an offensive skill.”
We’d had this discussion a few times already, Lucky looking at me sheepishly because of that. “I know you said that it was, and I quote ‘al
most guaranteed that you will’ I still…”
I cut him off, bringing my hand up in a stop gesture, “we’ve been through this before. Do what you want. I told you what I thought and don’t feel the need to go through this again.” I shrugged, trying not to let my disappointment with him show. “I’m just telling you that at this point it’s hurting your progress.” I put my hand on his shoulder, looking him in the eye. “Listen, Lucky, you’re going to start to fall behind. Once those soldiers get a couple more levels under their belts, there’s no way you’ll be able to keep up with the worst of them.” I paused to take a breath, hoping that what I was saying was sinking in. “I can’t train you any further without you getting your class.” I emphasized , shaking my head, “I won’t waste my time, Lucky.” I gave him a little shove, “shit or get off the pot.” I smirked at his expression as the instruction skill did its thing, and Lucky appeared amused .
“Fine, you old fur. You just can’t wait to get in Tabby’s pants,” he laughed.
“Old fur, what the hell does that mean? Don’t expect me to tell you any more personal shit, you ungrateful asshole,” I laughed with him.
G.E.S.S.: Genetically Engineered Super Soldier Page 15
