I turned them over in my hands, getting a good feel for the weight. I put it over my fingers and felt how it would move and react to motion. It left room for the wrist to move freely and even covered the side of the hand on the outer side opposite the thumb.
I sat it on the workbench before me and closed my eyes. What could I possibly give it to make it suitable to fire damage. It was one that I had the most trouble with when I was beginning, but then again, I was considerably weaker and didn’t know everything.
I felt a stirring in my core; heat pressed against my ribcage from the inside. I could feel Coal looking outward at the item. I could metaphysically see or envision this taking place inside my body. Like the place he was in inside my being was this cool little room that he laid in and waited for me to call to him.
I picked the weapon up and held in the palm of my left hand before I began to focus on the engraving I wanted to use. I drew my mana out and formed the shape around the outside before drawing it close to the surface. I pressed my mana evenly across the surface and scored it a little deeper than usual.
The engraving was a larger, more intricate one, so it took a little more mana than I might normally spend—about 300 MP total—but it covered the front plate from the bottom of the spikes to the top near the back of it by the wrist portion. The engraving was the top view of a wolf’s head with the side portion a side view and the front, the open mouth.
I was vaguely aware of Shellica watching out of the corner of my left eye.
“What I’m about to do is something I haven’t been able to try yet, so I’m not sure what will happen,” I mumbled. I saw her step back a bit. Then I refocused on my efforts.
As I waited a minute needing to recoup my mana, I focused my will and intent on what I wanted. I wanted this weapon to become the embodiment of fire. I envisioned it becoming the inferno but the owner being able to wield it without it harming them. I saw the wolf I had seared into it biting, burning, and rending flesh from bone with the wicked spikes as the fangs.
As I was beginning to concentrate on adding mana to the item, the soul of flame touched my mind and added a newer, fresher perspective of the element. Not just heat but intensity. Burning purpose. Destructive power personified. I saw Coal, his mouth roiling with flames, baying into my mind as my focus and intent sharpened with his aid.
I began to pull the mana from the center of my being and rather than the cool pressure I had felt before—this was like trying to handle a flame, but it didn’t burn the way I felt it should’ve. Like a bath that is just this side of comfortable. I brought the mana—red now rather than blue with a feeling of fire itself—under control and began to pour it into the engraving.
As the mana drained from me into the item, I watched as some of the red, flaming mana began to evaporate, and my mana drained at an alarming rate. I continued to focus, but as I poured my mana, I imagined it leaving my body in a funnel and spiraling into the engraving.
It helped a little, as it wasn’t draining quite as quickly—but it was far from my normal control. I managed to get 350 MP into it before I ran completely dry. I sat the item on the workbench and nursed my head as a headache began to take over. A groan escaped my lips.
“Quit your bellyaching.” Shellica snorted.
I took a quick assessment of my body, in and out. My mana pathways felt like they were charred. I ached all over, and Coal seemed content as he yipped at me from inside my body.
I heard a gasp of surprise and looked over to see my trainer staring at the item in her hands.
“What?” I groaned. My body was recovering as my mana began to refill.
She tossed the item to me, and I caught it easily enough. The first thing I noticed was that it was warm to the touch. I looked it over, the engraving a deep orange and red depending on the lighting that shined on it.
Fire Fang
+ 10 flame damage, + 5 piercing damage
Wearer’s fist becomes wreathed in flames that only affect the object of their dissatisfaction.
Knuckle Buster crafted by Master Smith Milgarth and Enchanted by Craftsman Enchanter Zekiel Erebos.
I whistled low. “Damn.”
“I agree.” She snatched it out of my hands before I could think to protect it. I reached for it, and she smacked my hand. “Ah-ah. You have attained craftsmen level, what is it actually?”
I checked and saw that—on top of reaching level 31 enchanting—I saw a notification that said I could now use other components to augment the strength of my enchantments.
“Thirty-one,” I said dazedly. My mind felt a little fuzzy, but was that from the shock of leaping two levels in my craft, or the fact that Coal was excitedly trying to tear my insides apart.
I thrust my right hand away from myself and summoned the Flame Wolf with a flex of will and the familiar burn of the soul leaving my body. His corporeal form materialized, and I instantly felt better.
“So that is where you learned that?” Shellica said. She stepped closer to my familiar and began to look him over. “I thought you said you had a bird for a pet?”
“I do,” I explained. Coal pranced next to me happily as she observed him. “This is Coal. I’m looking after him for the Primordial Flame Elemental until he’s strong enough to return. He was trying to eat my insides after that, and it really hurt.”
Coal yapped at me.
“Why would you do that, Coal?” I scolded.
Warmth blossomed across my being as he sent emotions to me. They all seemed to indicate that he was happy.
“It’s not nice to chew on me when you’re happy!” I tried to be serious about it, but the more I looked at him, the more I realized he was seriously just a puppy. It didn’t matter that he was almost as large as a full-grown wolf.
“You will not scold him like that, lad,” Shellica reprimanded me. She stood between us with her back to him and winked. “I doubt he will do it again.” She turned to face him. “Isn’t that right, wee doggy?”
Coal hopped in place and began to playfully lunge toward her and scamper back. I didn’t know if I could take that as an affirmation, but he seemed happy.
“Suppose we could take a break, lad.” Shellica smiled at the wolf. “This next bit will mainly be theoretical knowledge and learning what components will aid you in certain kinds of enchantments. Bring out the bird. Let me meet her properly.”
I looked around the smallish room and smiled. “We may want to go outside.”
She led Coal and me to the courtyard behind the building we were currently in. As soon as we were outside, I let Kayda out of the collar around my throat. The black smoke that was her body solidified on the ground in front of me, and Coal began to bark wildly at it.
Kayda’s wings burst open in a stretch as she finished forming. She looked at Coal curiously; as he was much smaller than she was, she didn’t see him as an immediate threat. She did ask though, Food?
“Hahaha, no baby—he’s not food.” I stepped forward to her and affectionately patted her neck. “He’s my other familiar—at least until he’s strong enough to go home.”
Kayda buffeted me with questions, images, and thoughts so quickly that I was forced a step back.
“Hey, easy.” I motioned for her to stop. “One thing at a time!”
Brother? Nest-mate? she inquired. I saw an image that she had pulled from my memories of her nest. The cracked and broken shells of her siblings. A weight settled on my chest at the sight of them. I stepped closer again and pulled her into a hug.
“Yes, love,” I whispered to her. “He’s a brother. So we have to protect him. Okay?”
She spread her wings to the full breadth they would reach and screeched to the heavens, BROTHER!
I heard Shellica gasp and watched her shrink back a step.
“Sorry, she’s just excited to meet Coal for the first time.” I put my arms out wide to try and hush her and soothe her a bit.
“Quite alright. She’s magnificent.”
Coal crouched in
fear, his tail tucked between his legs and his ears flat against his skull. Kayda regraded him; her head twitched to the side curiously before hopping over toward him. She was completely engrossed in him and had no interest in her surroundings.
Brother? Kayda tried to get his attention, but Coal was still afraid and backed away a little further.
“Coal,” I called. He looked at me. “She’s okay. She’s family. Like you. She’s a familiar of mine, like you.”
I sent a series of commands to Kayda through our connection, and she agreed to settle and sit as low as she was able. She laid down, settled as comfortably as the stone beneath her could afford, and waited patiently.
I stepped over to Coal and tried to reassure him. I sent loving and kind thoughts to him. I sent him memories of Kayda when she was only a chick and how I felt about her. How I loved her as if she were my daughter. How she would never hurt him. Or eat him.
He warmed up after a moment of petting and comforting. He stood with me, and we began to close with the giant bird slowly. When he was close enough to start trying to smell her, Kayda slowly offered a wing to him. He sniffed it, then sent me a feeling of cold. I laughed.
“She can be cold at times,” I agreed, “but she doesn’t always do it on purpose. Only if we have to fight, but you don’t have to worry about that.”
Coal, heartened by my humor, stepped toward Kayda. He began to snuff and snort at her body to gain her scent. She leaned forward and watched him curiously again. As the wolf looked up, he came face to face with her, yelped, and bolted away.
A chorus of laughter and catcalls rang out from behind me, and I looked back to see dozens of the Light Hand Clan Dwarves outside seeing what the commotion was safely by their homes and shops.
Kayda took umbrage with their jeering and stood to her full height. She spread her wings wide and hopped in front of both of us protectively then gave a cry that sounded like a thunderclap.
More than a few of them stopped laughing and began to go about their feigned business as if they had to be outside earlier and had become sidetracked.
“BWAHAHAHAHA!” Shellica fell on to her back, she was laughing so hard. When she could finally breathe enough to speak, she called, “Cowards! The lot of you!”
They ignored her and shuffled off to do Gods knew what. Coal stood behind me, eyeing the still chuckling Dwarf, and Kayda side-eyed the hell out of the Dwarves as they left.
“Kayda, chill,” I warned softly. Then I chuckled at the unintended pun. The best kind.
“Shellica, this is Kayda, my familiar and companion,” I introduced them belatedly.
“Aye, I can tell, lad.” Shellica stepped in front of the bird and smiled wide. “You’re a pretty lass, aren’t you. May I touch you?”
Smooth. I snorted. Better to ask her than me.
Kayda shook herself a bit and let her head down far enough to allow Shellica a pat on top of her skull. She was gentle, and Kayda appreciated the light hand.
Damn, another one. Was I on a roll today or what?
“So soft—cool to the touch, too,” Shellica observed to no one in particular. “You’re sure you want to stay with this one? I’d have you safe and fattened up in no time.”
Kayda looked at me with a slight bit of snark. Oh, you little shit! I laughed aloud at her.
“Hey, she gets fed plenty, and she’s already spoiled as hell,” I let Shellica know. “Yohsuke would be pissed if you took his favorite eater.”
“The dark one?” Shellica’s confused features crinkled up. “He cooks? How odd.”
“I mean. I have a living elemental creature that lives inside the core of my being until I summon him, so… which is weirder?” I snickered with my hands motioning to the still-growling Coal.
“That’s fair.” She shrugged.
After that, we went back into the building with Coal and Kayda put back into their respective domiciles. I promised to let them out more though. They were living beings after all.
As Shellica took me through the list she had of components that I could add to my workings. I began to note that she was a little less tense. Not as harsh in this moment. It was nice.
“Now, the reagents and components that you will work with will be simple.” She pulled some objects from her pocket. “Diamonds, topaz, obsidian, quartz, sapphire, and emeralds—as well as most other precious stones—are what you may end up using. Typically, this is in powdered form. If you have these items, it would be a good practice to learn how to create powder yourself as they can be expensive to procure.”
She opened one of the objects, a small container of what looked like lead with a fine powder that refracted the light a little inside and sat it on the bench. “Powdered diamond.”
She also set a whole ruby and pearl next to the container. “Raw ingredients such as these can be crushed, ground, and applied at a whim if you have the necessary tools.”
“Next, we have filings.” She produced a drawstring bag the size of my fist and opened it to show me light-blue metal shavings. “This is a little more advanced but still within your realm. What I have here are mithral filings gathered before they hit the ground at the forge. You can use these to give a weapon a tougher quality enchantment. Say you wanted the item to be more durable? This would be a good component to use for that enchantment.”
She stepped back to allow me the opportunity to look over each of them. The filings were interesting, but the method confused me.
“If you wanted to use shavings or filings like these,” I pulled one out; it was the size of a pencil lead, “how would you get these to fit into the engraving? Would you have to make it larger to specifically fit it?”
“I had hoped you might ask!” Shellica grinned and produced a bracer made of iron. “Now, this will be for demonstration purposes and not for any kind of actual use. Attend closely.”
She closed her eyes and ran her fingers over the metal top portion of the bracer, meant to help protect the appendage beneath. Where her fingers touched, grooves were left behind. After she was finished, they connected to make a shield. The engraving was no thicker than what I might normally do on my own. Definitely too small for the filings to fit without trying to place them in with tweezers.
“Now, as I focus my intent and harvest my mana for the enchantment, I take a pinch of the filings. A generous amount never hurts, but too much—like mana—can be harmful to the overall product. As I siphon my mana into the engraving, I wait a moment, then,” she sprinkled the filings over the engraving, “finish pouring my mana into the engraving until it’s done and you’re finished. Now—tell me what you notice that is different without touching it.”
As I looked over the item, I saw what I was looking for immediately. “The filings are gone, but the engraving is no longer just an outline filled with invisible mana; it looks like filigree made of mithral. Almost ornamental.”
She clapped me on the shoulder. “Yes!” She tossed the item into her furnace before continuing. “The component ‘disappears’ but what is left mingles with the mana you are using to change the properties of the item. Now, the filings I added were to do what, do you think?”
“Well, the item you had was something that would be worn by a low-level Fighter—who wears iron at a higher level?” I shrugged, thought a little more then began to try and relate my thoughts. “With the shield engraving, I imagine that your intent was on defense, rather than simply durability. Right? You wanted to increase the defense of the item and not change the overall look too much.”
Shellica frowned slightly. “Half right.” She stepped over to her bed and took a seat.
“I did have defense in mind, but I also wanted the item to take on the durable and light-weight properties of the mithral component.” She wagged her finger at me. “‘Who wears iron at a higher level?’—indeed. Some of the most intelligent Fighters lure their opponents into a false sense of security exactly like that and come out on top every time. Because they are smarter. You are one such warrior, n
o?”
I had used some tricks and events to my advantage before in a fight. She was right.
“My apologies,” I replied humbly.
“Do not apologize!” Shellica stood upright and stomped over to stand before me and hiss, “Be better!”
I nodded dumbly, and she eyed me a moment longer before gently smacking the back of my right ear and continuing with the lesson.
“Now, the component lent those extra properties while I focused on the one because those are properties that already exist within that specific component. Now, this is meant more for filings and shavings of metals that will typically produce these results.” She motioned to the gems. “Gemstones and other precious stones or metals will give other properties. Some gemstones will give elemental properties a boost, while poorly matched components will cause other effects or even degenerative effects. Can you think of such a case? An example maybe?”
“If I were to use pearl, made in the ocean, with a fire enchantment?” I hoped I was right.
“Quite so.” She pulled a small stone that I didn’t recognize out. “This red stone is called an elemental crystal. They are found primarily in the elemental planes of existence. If you were to find them, take them, and you will be a wealthy man. Now, that is all for today’s lessons. You grow tiresome, lad, and I have a little work to do. Tomorrow, you will bring the requests your friends have. And take that weapon with you. I am sure that craft-less monk will appreciate it.”
“Thank you for teaching me.” I nodded my head, then all but bounced out the door.
On my way back to the compound, I paid attention to the people around me. The Dwarves tended to throw cautious looks my way, but I just minded my own and walked proudly.
After a while, I reached the Mugfist Clan’s compound and walked in unmolested. Some of the Dwarves called out to me in passing. One asked if Shellica had been gentle, and I just laughed.
Two Dwarves practicing throwing axes at a target ribbed each other on my way by, “Ye know, I ne’r came back to me clan alone after so much time with a lady.”
He threw his axe, and it hit the outer ring. His friend threw his, and it landed a little closer to the inside, it clearly not a bullseye.
Into the Dragon's Den (Axe Druid Book 2) Page 29
