An Octopus Riding a Chariot Pulled by Dragons
Class: Sculpture
Material: Etheric Flame - Blue
Grade: A
Contains the essence of a fallen blue dragon.
Use: Increases speed of transport by 100%. Increases water resistance by 25%. Can be combined with other effects. (Additive)
“This is pretty amazing, Annabeth,” I said, climbing onto the buggy and moving toward the deer statue she’d placed earlier. As I placed the new sculpture next to it, I took a second to really look at the old one.
The Rearing Deer
Class: Sculpture
Material: Dark Blood
Grade: A
Contains the essence of a fallen warrior of Darkness.
Use: Increases speed of transport by 50%. Can be combined with other effects. (Additive)
“I know,” she said, settling down next to me and staring at the new sculpture. “It could stand to be a bit more lifelike, but I was trying to be fast so we could go.” She pointed at a spot on the chest of the dragon. “Took too much off there. A dragon with a build like that wouldn’t have the muscle to fly.” She rubbed her chin. “I’d like to try again if you could spare some.”
“Maybe but not right now,” I said, glancing back toward the crate where the Etheric Flame was stored. “I think we’ll be back to Lustnor soon enough, and while I in no way consider your sculptures a waste, I don’t want to risk not having enough for the Nexus Gateway.”
She nodded to me, and as she did, I noticed a strange halo around the menu orb above her head. As she said something I didn’t quite catch because I was opening her Skill Tree, a new message appeared.
New Skill Tree Unlocked. Prestige Tree- Sculpting with Feeling.
I quickly opened the tree and read the descriptor.
Sculpting with Feeling: User has the Ability to work with obscure resources to sculpt creations of higher Ability and value than normal. This Skill will also give a 10% bonus to all sculptures created with normal materials.
Looking closer at the tree, I saw the first Ability, Sculpting with Feeling, had been unlocked as well as three sub-Abilities. Specialty: Dark Blood, Specialty: Demon Horn, and Specialty: Etheric Flame. Both were Rank one out of ten. The rest of the Skill Tree was blacked out so I couldn’t see the actual Skills, only spots for them.
“Oh my God,” I whispered, swallowing hard as I turned my eyes back to Annabeth. “It worked. It fucking worked.” I pumped my fist in the air before pulling her into a hug.
“The sculpture?” she whispered, eyes wide with confusion. “My sculptures always work.”
“No,” I said, releasing her as I sprang to my feet. I needed to find Sally now. “My idea. You had a new Skill Tree unlock.” I took a deep breath. “That means that maybe Sally did too.”
“Maybe Sally did what?” Sally asked, coming around the corner with Buffy, Crystal, and Diana.
“Maybe you have a new tree,” I said, gesturing at Annabeth like she was exhibit A. “She got one by working with the Etheric Flame.” I nearly jumped off the buggy in my haste to check, but before I could, Sheila grabbed my arm, halting me.
“Maybe we get on the road first,” she whispered into my ear, “before you give away all your secrets.”
I turned to look at her and then nodded. She was right. We should get out of here and on the road. After all, I’d have the whole trip back to examine Sally’s Skills, assuming she had new ones.
“Actually, maybe we need to get on the road. We still have a lot to do back home and I’m worried we’ve been away too long,” I said, turning my gaze to Diana. “Thank you for everything, Lady Diana. It means more to me than you know.”
“A leader’s work never ends, eh? Until we meet again,” she replied, nodding knowingly to me. “Next time I’m around the border, I’ll stop by and visit.” With that, she turned on her heel and began walking away, leaving me alone with my women.
As if they’d read the haste in my words, they all climbed on board the buggy. Before I could say aardvark pizza, we were halfway down the road. The scenery blurred by as the buggy zoomed across the asphalt like a bat out of Hell. It’d taken us about a day last time, but I was willing to bet we’d be back in less than twelve hours. Crazy.
“It’s so much faster,” Buffy said, her hands in a white-knuckled grip on the steering rods. “I like it.”
“It’s all in the materials,” Annabeth said, looking at her sculptures ruefully. “I just hope that I can one day be good enough not to make such a mockery of them.”
“Lady, have you ever seen me sculpt? I tried to make a platypus once, and it just wound up looking like an exhausted duck.” Sheila shook her head. “You’re awesome, and the false modesty is annoying.”
The two of them quibbled a bit with Buffy chiming in as I turned to look at Sally. She sat cross-legged in front of her alchemy bowl. A pair of Etheric Flame, one red and one green, sat inside the bowl, glimmering with inner fire in a way they hadn’t when I’d left her last.
“Any luck?” I said, making sure I paid attention to her even though I just wanted to open her Skill trees and look.
“Some,” she whispered, gesturing at the bowl. “These didn’t take very well, and even the ones that did are pretty bad. I guess they’re maybe ten percent better than before.” She made an offhand gesture to the sack sitting between her and Crystal. “The rest didn’t even take, and I broke one into shards by accident.” She made an apologetic face. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay. They were for you to try. I’m sure you’ll get it. Besides, we have better equipment back in Lustnor. We can always try more there.” I tried my best to look supportive even though I was upset. It wasn’t her fault though.
“I know.” She took a deep breath. “I just wanted it to work. I want to save Gwen.” She took another breath, and I saw tears start to form around her eyes.
“I know, but you just need to do what you can. We’ll save her.” I put my hand on her shoulder. “Why don’t you rest a bit?”
“I’d like to keep trying if that’s okay,” she said, looking down at the bowl.
“You know,” Annabeth said, and as she spoke, I realized she was right next to me. I hadn’t even heard her approach. “When I started working with it, I tried to carve it like I had the Dark Blood. Only I couldn’t because it was innately different. Instead, I forced myself to see it as its own thing, but not only that, I tried to figure out how to enhance what it brought to the table already.” She gestured toward her sculpture. “Hence the octopus.”
“I’m trying to transmute it, not carve it into a pretty shape,” Sally said, picking up the red Etheric Flame. The light of an arc of lightning caught it, sending gleaming flashes of scarlet across the buggy. “Wait.” Her eyes widened as she stared at the Etheric Flame, and as another arc of lightning cracked, she smiled. “I’ve got it.”
She dropped it into the bowl before fishing out the green Etheric Flame. She put the green one back into the sack before pulling a few pouches off of her belt. As she poured their contents into the bowl, a silvery liquid began to form. As it did, the Etheric Flame sucked it up like a sponge. Silver outlines flowed through the gemstone like veins drinking up ink. Then the color darkened to a deep burgundy color. Sally raised one hand over the dish and raised the other into the air.
Again, the sky rumbled. More lightning crackled through the air as she began to chant. Power began to flow from her hands, causing the dish to glow. Energy whipped off it in tendrils before striking the Etheric Flame like a Tesla coil. Only with each strike, the gemstone began to glow brighter while the liquid within faded.
By the time all the liquid had been absorbed, the Etheric Flame was so bright I could barely look at it. Better still, the grade on the Tooltip attached to it had changed from D to A.
Etheric Flame - Red
Material: Gemstone
Grade: A
Contains the essence of a fallen red dragon. Has begun the refining process
.
“Sweet!” I said, grabbing her hands and squeezing them. “You did it!”
“I almost can’t believe it,” she whispered, clearly spent. As she gave me a smile, eyes half-lidded from exhaustion, I saw the same halo appear above her menu orb that I’d seen on Annabeth’s earlier.
New Skill Tree Unlocked. Prestige Tree- Equivalent Exchange
Equivalent Exchange: User has realized the one truth of alchemy. To obtain something of value, something of equal value must be sacrificed.
Unlike a normal Skill Tree, in addition to the specialties: Etheric Flame, Dark Blood, and Demon Horn, recipes were also listed under the Equivalent Exchange Tree and while they were all colored and usable, I had no idea what most of them were for. I did, however, understand the last one. Nexus Gateway Conduit. Barely able to contain myself, I opened the recipe.
Recipe: Nexus Gateway Conduit
Skill: 1/10.
User can fuse the necessary ingredients into a Nexus Gateway Conduit. Doing so will allow the Nexus Gateway to be opened at the user’s will. All ingredients will be destroyed. 10% chance of success for every Rank in the Skill.
Ingredients: Etheric Flame - Red, Etheric Flame – Blue, Etheric Flame – Green, Prestigious Conduit (3), Prestigious Emitter (3)
Requirements: Special: 95+, Agility: 95+, Special: 95+
Since I didn’t know what the Prestigious Conduit or Prestigious Emitter was, I opened their tooltips.
Prestigious Conduit
Material: Gemstone
Grade: S
Sculpted from Etheric Flame by a Prestigious Sculptor.
Prestigious Emitter
Material: Gemstone
Grade: S
Cast from Etheric Flame by a Prestigious Blacksmith.
“Okay…” I said, taking a deep breath as I stared at the box of Etheric Flame we’d gotten. It wasn’t enough. Not nearly, given the requirements of the Nexus Gateway Conduit. “We’re going to need a shitload more Etheric Flame because if this were a game, this is where I’d be buying gold from Chinese farmers.”
38
Once we were back in town, Buffy went to find Elizabeth so they could work on getting ahold of more Etheric Flame. As for myself, my first thought was to seek out Sam, but I didn’t. I’d been musing over the problem with the Nexus Conduit recipe for hours and I knew we didn’t have time to grind out a billion of each item. Gwen’s life force, while still there, wasn’t infinite. There’d be a point where either she died, or Nadine came back. We had to be ready before that.
Besides, I didn’t know how long it’d take to successfully craft the Nexus Gateway. While it might take one try, I’d once seen a coin break the odds by flipping heads twenty times in a row. I had no desire to spend months making the materials, to blow them up without success. That was just insanity.
Which was why I’d thought of an idea. I didn’t know if it would work, but it damned sure couldn’t hurt.
“Hey, Annabeth, got a second?” I asked as the sculptor got to her feet. She’d been working away on a piece of wood with her sculpting knife. As she turned toward me, I saw that it was a sparrow so lifelike, I almost couldn’t tell it was made from wood.
“Of course,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I assume you want me to start trying to craft the prestigious conduit.” She looked at me. “I’m honestly not sure what to even make. Sally and I talked about it, but I don’t quite know what it’s supposed to look like.”
“I think it’s supposed to come from your heart,” I said, nearly reaching out to touch her chest before stopping myself. That’d have been embarrassing. Instead, I dropped my hand to my side. As she watched it fall, she shook her head.
“That is non-advice.” She shifted uncomfortably. “But I can still try.”
“I’m glad, but I actually was thinking about it, and I had an idea come to me.” I turned and pointed to the massive statue she’d carved in the center of town. The massive dragon tearing itself from the earth had finally been completed, and even though I’d seen real dragons, I found her sculpture more lifelike than they had been.
“What’s your idea?” she asked, following my gaze toward the dragon sculpture. “I know, I need to fix it now that I’ve seen dragons. The shape of the scales is all wrong…”
“Forget that,” I said, narrowing my eyes at her. “What I want you to do is craft sculptures to the…” I waved my hand uselessly. “I was gonna say gods, but that’s not what I mean really.” I looked at the ground, trying to think of the right word.
“Just tell me what the basis of your idea is. I’ll come up with a suitable subject,” she said, touching my shoulder lightly with one fingertip. “It will be better that way.”
“Um… I want you to try to craft some sculptures that increase luck and alchemy. Hell, if they can increase sculpting too, that’s a bonus.” I gestured at the box of Etheric Flame. “Your prestige class, like Sally’s, was unlocked because you’ve worked with rare materials so I want you to work an Etheric Flame, a Demon Horn, and a Dark Blood into each one too. They can be big or small, just make them as powerful and numerous as possible, okay?”
Her eyes widened in surprise as she absorbed my words. “That’s a great idea.” She nodded. “If I could do that, the sculptures I’d make would be better overall too.” She nodded furiously, eyes glittering with excitement. “I’ll do as you say. You’ll have the best sculptures ever created.”
“I’m sure I will,” I said as she bounded off, leaving me standing there beside the buggy. I knew I still needed to see Sam, but before I did that, I had one more idea.
A few minutes later, I found Maribelle. She was standing near the lumber mill, surveying the lumber with a frown on her face.
“Is there a problem?” I asked, and she nearly leaped out of her skin at the sound of my voice.
“You scared the hell out of me,” she said, one hand clasping her heart as she sucked in a few deep breaths. She tried to smile then. “Glad to see you’re back. I’ve completed all the construction like you asked. We haven’t found a mason though so that’s out, unfortunately.” Her smile turned upside down. “On the plus side, we can make a few more buildings, which will be good. We really need to work on the whole food production thing.”
“Yeah, we can later. Do we have the stuff to build the Apothecary?” I glanced at the pile of lumber. “I can’t quite remember what it required.”
“Oh, that?” she rummaged around in her pockets for a minute before giving up. “Yes, we have the materials. I was trying to find my plans, but I left them with Elizabeth…”
“Great, can you start construction on it immediately?” I asked, looking around. “Then we can have a meeting about what to do for food production. This takes precedence though.”
“Sure thing,” she said, nodding furiously before looking around. “I laid out a few spots for new buildings so let me go find which will work best.”
“Have fun,” I said, and she waved at me before heading off. That done, I went to find Elizabeth and Buffy. It came as no surprise to me that the two of them were squabbling.
“Hey, you two,” I said as I entered the door of the trading post.
Both girls turned to look at me before turning back to each other like they were going to continue their argument. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if it was a goblin thing or a sister thing or some combination thereof, but right now, I didn’t care.
“I need you to recruit an apothecary right now,” I said, taking a step forward and pushing between them. “Is that clear?”
“An apothecary?” Elizabeth said, raising an eyebrow at me. “Why, that’s all hogwash and snake oil.”
“I want someone who can brew up luck potions. An apothecary can do that,” I said, patting Clarent. “That I can make sure of.”
“We could just buy luck potions,” Buffy said, looking at me like I was crazy. “Though I’m not sure they actually work.”
“That’s why I want the actual apothecary because then I�
�ll know. Maribelle is already starting construction on the shop.” I moved to leave. “I know I can count on the two of you.”
“Wait, we need to talk about food,” Elizabeth said, running after me and grabbing my arm.
“We will in a few hours, okay? I promise.” I smiled. “Actually, no, we won’t. Get the apothecary, and we can talk about whatever you want.”
“Are you seriously refusing to feed us until I find an apothecary?” Elizabeth asked, hands on her hips.
“I am feeding you,” I said with a shrug because I was tired of hearing about farms. We had the money to buy food and didn’t have the resources to grow it yet. She really needed to stop bringing it up. “So, don’t be dramatic. Just find the apothecary.” I turned my gaze to Buffy. “I’m going to see Sam. Come find me when it’s done.”
39
“Great, you’re back,” Sam said, not even bothering to look up as I entered her shop. She was hunched over a workbench I’d not seen before. Tools, as well as bits and pieces of metal, gemstones, and stone, were strewn about the surface. As I tried to get a closer look, I realized her two apprentices were nowhere to be found, and the forge had gone cold. That seemed a bit odd because, well, we needed to produce weapons and armor for the town and for trade.
“I am back,” I said, taking another step closer. The smell of burning plastic hit my nose. “Whatcha working on?”
“A surprise,” she said, turning to block her contraption from sight with her back. Her face was stained with soot, and she had grease in her hair. Her clothes were sweat-stained, and as she stared at me, pink eyes roaming over my body, I heard her stomach growl.
“Hungry?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
The Builder's Sword (The Legendary Builder Book 1) Page 22
