Shadow Sun Rebellion

by Dave Willmarth

  “Can I run and show this to Amanda?” Allistor asked, his voice quiet and his tone neutral.

  “Um, sure. Why?” Michael looked up at him, gauging his reaction to the weapon.

  “I just want to prove to her once and for all that I am not the worst at naming things.” Allistor kept a straight face until Michael punched him playfully in the gut. “Oof! Seriously, though. Sliceyness… okay I feel you there. But steelruption?”

  Michael shrugged, unrepentant. “I might have been a little drunk when I figured this out. It was right after the goblin attack and the funeral. I had made a bunch of toasts to the guys we lost, and stumbled in here cuz my Stronghold was just too far away. I was drifting off to sleep on the bench there when the idea hit me.”

  “I’m guessing by the name, you figured out how to enchant a crystal with the Erupt spell, then somehow modified it to extend the blade instead of just shooting out a spike somewhere?”

  “Exactly!” Michael clapped his hands together. He glanced through the door at the man working on his engraving, and whispered, “Just between you and me, the first few tries didn’t go well. There were some minor… mishaps.”

  “Explosions.” Allistor translated for him.

  “Well, okay, yeah. Small ones. Practically nothing. Anyway, somewhere around here there’s a shield that does just what you guessed. A spike bursts from it when you trigger the crystal. Unfortunately, I hadn’t yet figured out a way to control where, or which direction, the spike extended. Painful couple of days, there.” Michael grimaced as Allistor tried not to laugh.

  “The good news is, I figured out that I could adjust the amount of mana each time I used it, making smaller spikes that weren’t long enough to poke through my brain by accident!” Michael puffed out his chest and beamed with pride.

  “That’s… actually a very cool discovery! Kind of like when I put more mana into a Flame Shot or Erupt spell to increase the size and damage. And that one time I created the tiny vortex in that monster’s head. But there, I didn’t use less power, I just compacted it.” Allistor nodded, thinking as he spoke.

  Michael took the sword back, pointing to the crystal. “Once you set the spell into the crystal, you can’t modify it. You’re not actually casting the spell yourself, you’re just triggering it. It’s set to use a certain amount of mana, in this case five percent of the full charge. And I haven’t figured out how to recharge the crystals yet. So right now, once you’ve used the enchantment twenty times, this becomes just a cool looking sword with a shiny stone.”

  “Still, my friend, this is amazing! Like, next level genius kinda stuff! I’m proud of you.”

  Michael sat straighter on his stool and gave Allistor a proud grin. One that faded a moment later when Allistor added, “I still want to show this to Amanda, though. Steelruption. Ha!”

  Chapter 18

  Allistor spent some time with Michael, discussing the theories behind his method of enchanting gear. Then Michael accompanied him to the market kiosk, and they purchased a complete set of tools for Allistor, from the anvil to the smallest engraving tool.

  From there, Allistor left Michael and went to visit Ramon in the library. Ramon gave him several skill scrolls, including Blacksmithing, Enchanting, Engraving, and Leatherworking.

  “Thanks, man. So… when’s the wedding?” Allistor couldn’t resist poking at his friend.

  “I’ve asked, but she wants to put it off. She hasn’t given me a reason, and I don’t push. But I think maybe it has to do with mourning her late husband for a proper amount of time.”

  “Ah, I see.” Allistor was thrilled that Ramon and Nancy had found each other. He knew Nancy had lost her husband and son in the early days, but he had never asked Ramon about his own family. Though he was curious, this wasn’t the time. “Well, just know that we’re all happy for you both. All three of you. Four, I guess, if you count Max.”

  “You’ll be among the first to know when she finally says yes.” Ramon assured him. “Now, quit distracting me and go pound something with a hammer. I got shit to do.”

  Allistor was heading for the door when Ramon called out. “Oh! Hey, I almost forgot. We have a new healing spell. One of my guys found it on the market. Take some of these with you and pass them out. Just yourself, and designated healers for now, each of these takes a while to make. Supply is limited, and min level is thirty.”

  Allistor took the stack of scrolls that Ramon produced. Putting all but one in his bag, he Examined it.

  Spell Scroll: Mend

  Item Quality: Common

  This scroll teaches the user the Mend spell. Mend will restore up to five thousand health points when cast on self or others. When directed at a specific wound, it will first focus on mending that wound, then restore the target individual’s general health with whatever power remains. Spell cost: 500 mana; Spell can be channeled to heal more effectively.

  “This is amazing!” Allistor quickly opened the healing scroll and learned the spell. A moment later, grinning like a madman, he drew his belt knife and looked at Ramon. “Wanna test it out?”

  “Go away, psycho!” Ramon backed up. “Go find some dumb tank to try that shit on. Not me. Also, here’s that Fade spell scroll. The one from Pelican Bay.”

  Allistor took that scroll and opened it as well, quickly learning the spell. He immediately cast it and faded from sight, his Stealth and Sneak abilities making the spell more effective.

  Doing his best invisible archvillain laugh as he turned away, Allistor crept out of the library and returned to Invictus.

  He made a quick stop at the medical ward to pass the Mend scrolls off to Amanda, passed on Ramon’s message about their scarcity, and she promised to get them into the appropriate hands. “Damn, a day late. I wonder if we could have used this to regrow Michael’s leg?” She was already learning the spell herself as he cast Fade and quickly left the room before she could make him play guinea pig again. He had planned to let her watch him learn all the skill scrolls with her Internal Analysis, but he recognized the look in her eyes, and no way was he letting her cut anything off of him.

  A short elevator ride later, and he was on the roof of the tower. He picked a spot along the side of the elevator structure and opened up his interface. A quick search found him a basic plan for a smithy, and he placed it on his chosen spot. He didn’t plan to share this smithy with anyone, so a single anvil and furnace were enough. He did add three separate work benches, one for Smithing, one for Enchanting and Engraving, and one for Leatherworking. He thought it best, at least initially, to keep them all separated.

  That done, he unloaded all the tools he’d purchased and set them on the nearest bench. Then he removed all the raw materials that he’d snagged from the Citadel’s smithy. Bars and rods of iron, steel, and other metals, stacking them on the floor until he built proper storage.

  Taking a seat, he began to open and read the skill scrolls one by one. He took a little break after absorbing each set of skills, allowing the knowledge to sink in fully. He found it slightly taxing after the second, and began nibbling some jerky in between.

  The Blacksmithing scroll was first, and easiest, as his Weaponsmithing and other abilities had already loaded much of the information into his brain. There was more detail on metals and alloys, proper temperatures for working the metal, cooling times, quenching, and so forth.

  He chose Engraving next, and that one went quickly. It gave him a strong sense that he should also explore Inscription as a way to enhance the etchings on the items he created. Leatherworking involved a little information about Skinning, and even though he’d acquired the basic skill from harvesting canid hides early on, it showed him the proper way to obtain usable hides from different types of creatures he had not encountered yet. There was information on tanning, coloring, stretching, stitching, and even a few basic patterns.

  The hardest, which he’d saved for last, was Enchanting. When he opened the scroll, the information that flooded his mind seemed almost to have
intent, a desire to inflict pain as it imparted knowledge. At his current level, with the extensive use of various spells over the last year, and maybe his high Luck stat, the scroll seemed to be offering connections and details that he had a feeling Michael didn’t get when he learned the skill in the early weeks of Stabilization.

  When it was done, he found himself sitting on the floor, one arm wrapped around his stool for support. His head hurt, and at the same time was flooded with ideas and theories he wanted to experiment with. He tried thinking back over his conversation with Michael about Steelruption, and found he had a much clearer understanding of how his friend accomplished what he had. Allistor suspected that, with a little work, he could even improve upon it.

  Seeing that it was lunchtime, and feeling a little worn out from the upload to his noodle, he went back downstairs to grab some lunch with Amanda. Reaching her ward, he activated his Sneak ability before peeking his head around the door frame. She was sitting at a table, writing some notes on a pad. Creeping up behind her, he broke the sneakiness by launching a tickle attack. She screamed and threw her pen in the air, launching an elbow back at his face. He ceased the attack as he ducked to avoid another broken nose like the one Meg had given him.

  “Lunchtime! Wanna spend an hour with the most handsomest, coolest Prince on Earth?”

  “No. He’s a horrible human being that just tickled me and almost made me pee myself.”

  “I’m sure he’s very sorry.” Allistor’s smirk didn’t look the least bit sorry.

  “Well, I am a little hungry.” Amanda smiled sweetly and got up out of her chair. She held out a hand for him to hold, and the moment he took it, her other hand slammed a blade into his shoulder, then ripped it downward, opening an eight-inch long gash in his upper arm.

  “Aaaargh! Dammit woman!” He realized too late that he should not have trusted that smile so soon after a tickle attack.

  “Hold still, wuss. This’ll only take a few seconds. Then you can buy me lunch and tell me how much you love me.” She cast Mend directly on the wound, then her eyes immediately began to glow with the Internal Analysis spell.

  “You’ve been waiting for me to come back down here so you could test this.” It wasn’t a question.

  “And you thought by running away you’d avoid guinea pig duty.” She smirked at him, her eyes never leaving his shoulder. “I accidentally scratched your humerus just now. I got to watch it instantly remodel.”

  Allistor looked on, a grumpy expression on his face. He decided to pass on a humorous-humerus pun, because he didn’t want to be that guy. Instead he said, “I just wanted to maybe share a quiet meal with my girl, maybe do that whole pasta-nibbling smooch thing. But no… I had to pick the girl that likes to cut me for fun.”

  “Shush. This was for science. The fun is just a bonus. Now don’t move, it’s almost over. How does it feel?”

  “Like I’ve been betrayed and abused.” he mumbled.

  “That’ll teach you not to sneak up on a girl. Seems Meg’s lesson wasn’t effective.” She looked directly at him as the magic glow faded from her eyes. “Bet you’ll remember this one!”

  He stuck his tongue out at her as she inspected his torn shirt. “I’ll mend this for you myself. No need to bother Lilly.”

  “You mean, ‘no need to explain to Lilly how you brutally attacked me’, right?”

  “Well, that too. See? You’re not as dumb as Helen says you are!” She leaned in and kissed him softly, letting her lips linger for a while. By the time she pulled away he’d forgotten all about that last insult. “You mentioned food?”

  *****

  Lunch went by quickly. Amanda flat out refused to do the pasta-smoochy thing in public, so instead they had cheeseburgers and a very tasty green bean casserole Meg had invented. When a server brought them their meals, Allistor quickly snagged the knife from Amanda’s tableware set. “Like that’s going to save you.” she chuckled evilly. The two foods together gave buffs of +3 Stamina and +2 Health Regeneration for four hours. They washed the meal down with a home-brewed iced tea that gave +1 Intelligence for the same period.

  Allistor walked her back to her office, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek and a butt squeeze before dashing down the hall toward the elevator, shouting, “Free! The guinea pig is freeeee!” He didn’t turn around, but he could hear her laughter behind him. He completely ignored the strange looks people gave him as the doors closed and the elevator began its ascent.

  The elevator he’d chosen in his rush to avoid dismemberment didn’t go all the way to the roof, so he had to stop partway up and switch cars. As he waited for Nigel to bring him the next one, he placed a call through Nigel to Amanda.

  Her voice sounded suspicious when she answered. “Yesss?”

  “Love youuuu!” He grinned at his reflection in the elevator door as she just snorted and disconnected.

  Up on the roof, he returned to his brand new smithy. His heart was thumping in anticipation of all the cool things he’d get to create.

  Thinking back through all of his fights from the first days forward, he decided on a spear. His trusty rebar spear had kept him alive and allowed him to kill more than a few monsters. He had a decent sword at his hip, and an epic bow for long ranged attacks, so a good spear for stabbing and clubbing beyond arm’s length or throwing short distances seemed like a good fit.

  “Right! And the droids made pretty good use of their shield-and-spear combo against the creepers. So I should make myself a shield too. Barrier is leveling up, but most mobs are still just blasting right through it.” While he was thinking about it, he cast Barrier - behind himself so it wouldn’t get in his way while he worked. He decided to keep it active all the time to try and level it up high enough to be effective. Remembering the notification he’d waved away before, he took a quick look at the two new options for Barrier.

  Option one was simple. He could now cast the spell at two targets at the same time. But each shield would be at half strength. Allistor quickly moved on. The spell, at its current level, was still too weak to stop most attacks. Half strength would do no good to either person he used it on.

  Option two was better. It increased the coverage area of the spell, and allowed him to shape it. So he could create a bubble around himself or someone else. This would have come in handy several times in recent battles. Like the one with the bees.

  He quickly chose option two, and spent a few minutes experimenting with shaping the shield. He formed it into a sort of umbrella above him, then stretched in down to the ground in a dome. After a few practice casts, an idea struck him. He cast it as a wall in front of himself, then concentrated on folding in the sides, then the top. It failed to follow his commands the first several times, but eventually he was able to fold the shield into a four-layer barrier about the size of his body. In theory, that would make the Barrier spell four times as strong.

  With his natural Strength stat, and the boosts provided by his gear, he could easily wield an iron spear. But iron was softer than steel, as well as being heavier. A steel weapon would hold up better in combat, and require less energy to use, preserving his Stamina.

  He pulled some paper and a pencil from his ring and took a seat at the workbench. He began to sketch some ideas for the form of the weapon. He wanted it to be at least six feet long, maybe a little longer. The butt-end would be capped to give it a little extra weight. Maybe a dull point at the end, for breaking skulls or chitin armor. It only took a moment for him to create a design for that.

  The sharp end was more of a problem. He’d seen literally hundreds of different spear weapons in his lifetime. Not in person, but in his various VR games, holovids, and such. There were classic spears with flat, pointed tips meant just for throwing and stabbing. Fancier tips with blades along one or both sides, some curved, some straight. Others with hooks near the base that could be used to hook an opponent and pull them off balance, or rip innards free after stabbing into an enemy’s gut. There were full halberds that were seve
ral weapons in one – an axe-like blade on one side, a hammer or spike on the other, and a spear point sticking out the end.

  Allistor decided to start simple and work his way up. He drew a simple spear point, the blade about a foot long, no frills. In fact, it wasn’t even going to be a separate blade. His plan was to simply hammer out the end of a steel rod to make it sharp and pointy.

  He lit the furnace, activating it by simply flipping a switch on the side. Immediately the smithy began to heat up, and he went to open all the windows, making a mental note to check on the possibility of air conditioning very soon. Grabbing one of the steel bars from his pile on the floor, he placed one end into the furnace. The new knowledge imparted to him by the Blacksmithing scroll told him what color the metal should be when it reached the proper temperature for working. He watched, fascinated as the color changed slowly.

  When it reached the glowing red that he was looking for, he withdrew the rod and set the end atop the anvil. Taking hammer in hand, he made a few tentative strikes. His first one missed the hot metal altogether, ringing off the anvil and vibrating his hand. “Well, that’s embarrassing. I guess crafting in this new world isn’t as automatic as it is in games.”

  Tightening his grip on both spear and hammer, he pounded away, slowly flattening out the heated end. Once he felt confident of hitting where he aimed, he experimented with the power of his hammer blows. From full-strength smashing strikes to flatten out the thick bar stock, to gentler taps for more refined shaping of the thinner, weaker bits.

  When the metal had cooled too much to work properly, he returned it to the forge. The next time he pulled it out and set it on the anvil, his body took over. He went into a sort of half-trance, watching as his hands did their thing, pounding and heating, shaping and turning, carefully considering each movement without actually consciously thinking about it. His speed and accuracy increased by the minute, and the weapon began to take shape. At the same time, he gained a +1 to Blacksmithing.