Benvari Mountains (Emerilia Book 2)

by Michael Chatfield

  Stat Increase

  +2 Strength

  +7 Intelligence

  +1 Willpower

  +1 Endurance

  With all of these new techniques and ways that I’m using, it makes sense that my Intelligence is still increasing. I have a feeling that it’s going to be my largest category by far.

  As he swiped away the notification, he could almost feel as if the world weighed less on him and that he was able to think clearer. At the lower levels, there had still been large changes but it was only now that Dave was truly paying attention to them.

  At higher stat levels, when he gained a level, it was easier to see what the difference was. At a lower level, his stats went up so fast that it was hard to figure out which was doing what to his body.

  Character Sheet

  Name:

  David Grahslagg

  Gender:

  Male

  Level:

  3

  Class:

  -

  Race:

  Human/Dwarf

  Alignment:

  Chaotic Neutral

  Unspent points-285

  Health:

  2,600

  Regen:

  2.12/s

  Mana:

  1,390

  Regen:

  5.70/s

  Stamina:

  690

  Regen:

  3.25/s

  Vitality:

  26

  Endurance:

  106

  Intelligence:

  139

  Willpower:

  114

  Strength:

  69

  Agility:

  65

  With a grin, he followed Gorrund and Jesal, who studied the glass tankard with interest, talking about different temperatures and about using glass for more things. Having something that was see-through and could be shaped to contain items was useful indeed.

  Chapter 24: Creatures of Metal and Malice

  Boran-al looked up as his lord entered. He bowed deeply as the figure, vaguely Humanoid and wreathed in shadows, glided into his area.

  “My lord, I was not expecting you,” Boran-al said to the floor, remembering his own cultists’ losses all too soon.

  “It is no worry, Boran-al. I have come to see how our Creatures of Power fare,” the Dark one said.

  Boran-al nodded and bowed. They had recently found that the balancer had his vision lessened. The Dark Lord had never before seen Boran-al’s experiments as the balancer was sure to see them if he went into the unknown area. With the creature’s vision limited, the Dark Lord was checking over his various projects that he had started.

  “We have created a number of Demon classes, based off different iterations we have had in the past as well as creatures that the People of Emerilia have encountered. We were also finally able to complete the Lich Lords and Banshees,” Boran-al said into the floor, not daring to come out of his bow.

  “Rise. Show me,” the Dark Lord said.

  Boran-al raised himself and moved between the various altars and Magical Circuits that lay around them. They came to a table with what looked like a skeletal creature wearing a crown upon its head and almost ethereal shadows clinging to its form.

  “Rise,” Boran-al said.

  The Lich Lord floated from its position, grabbing a staff of darkness with red runes written down its length. It was hunched over, as if its body had given up trying to support its mass.

  Boran-al could feel the power that emanated from the being. He had been experimenting on creations for thousands of years. Although the Undead Demon Lord was one of his creations, he had not powered it and it was only made up of the combination of things that people could find on Emerilia. It was because of this that it was not classified as a Creature of Power. The cultists had attained the body and then proceeded to animate its undead flesh with their own powers, firmly making it a creation under their power.

  With so much time on his hands, the ability to change and form creatures as he wanted and with his lord’s permission, Boran-al had spent centuries playing with different forms of monsters and listening to the Players who talked of great dark and powerful beasts.

  The Dark Lord walked around the Lich. The Lich bowed its head, understanding the power that the Dark Lord wielded.

  “Very well. Begin seeding them across Emerilia. For now, they are to lie in wait and build their strength.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Boran-al’s voice caught as he bowed.

  “Speak,” the Dark Lord said, sensing that he had something new to say.

  “We worked with the Demons a lot and we started a breeding program for them. Using my own power, as you instructed, I created a place for them to study their habits. It was an experiment but there have been a number of interesting results and their population is rather large.”

  “Show me.” The Dark Lord’s voice was hungry and cold.

  “Yes, my lord.” Boran-al guided him between the various creatures that he had spent hundreds of years creating. They moved to an area where a magical crystal looked over a large town of Demons. There were all kinds, from those that flew to those massive ones that stood at twelve-foot-tall or quicker ones that stood at just five feet.

  The Dark Lord’s aura seeped out as a hand of shadow manipulated the controls. Different scenes were shown as Demons ripped apart one another with a viciousness few other monsters would show.

  “I adapted them from the Demons of Xelur. They have the symptoms of the same Demons—an unending hunger that twists and warps their mind with hunger for more. Unlike the Xelur, they gain little respite for killing their prey. They cannot absorb souls. At a later stage, if they teach themselves, then smarter ones might rise to power. Those that advance the furthest are those that dabble in magics to feed or curb their insatiable hunger for souls.”

  “I am impressed, Boran-al. Make sure that these creatures understand who their ruler is. I do not want to destroy them all over again,” the Dark Lord said.

  “Thank you, my lord.” Boran-al bowed, shivering slightly at the aura the Dark Lord emanated.

  The Dark Lord’s hands stretched and contracted in anger.

  I knew that the Demon princes angered the Dark Lord. I forgot how angry he was when his incarnated Creatures of Power turned against their master, attempting to kill him.

  He had delved into the death magic and manipulation magic born of the Dark Affinity but the Dark Lord’s aura made him feel insignificant, as if an ant looking at a magnifying glass.

  “Get the Dark Elves to prepare for them. It is time that they once again marched across Emerilia.” The Dark Lord left the room.

  “Yes, my lord,” Boran-al said with a hungry voice. His people had long ago looked into the darker arts; their Elven brethren had discarded them and turned to attacking them as the Elves delved deeper into the magic of the Dark.

  Dark magic had turned to death magic with curses, hexes, and necromancers as the Elves continued to attack their cast-out brethren. It had grown a hatred within the Dark Elves that led them to allying themselves completely to the Dark Lord.

  Boran-al was one of them. His parents had died on the run and he had been raised by his uncle, a man who had fully turned to the dark and deadly side of magic. His uncle had died later on, sowing the darkness deep in Boran-al’s soul.

  While the Elves had lived their lives ignoring the things that they had done to their brethren who were interested in Dark magic, the Dark Elves had worked and studied to become masters of death and Dark. They no longer just tried to understand the inanimate of Emerilia. Now they lived to cause others pain and sow destruction across the land so that only the inanimate remained.

  “I wonder what a reunion it will be as we meet with our long-lost cousins.” Boran-al sighed softly, his face warped into a cold and twisted smile that made even the Lich Lord back away in fear.

  ***

  Suzy looked at the small metal figures that moved across the training square.<
br />
  “Well done,” Malsour said, looking over the different creatures.

  Suzy smiled. Malsour might love to nerd out over magic but he was also a really good teacher. He had certainly taught her a lot about creations made from metal. She could create and control two Human-sized golems and had quickly moved on to metal. It was harder to make creatures of metal and the Mana cost was many times that of the golems.

  The metal figures were a hand tall but there were only four of them. They needed Mana to not only transfer her presence into them, but to keep them moving. Earth creations would fall apart if they were not powered by Mana.

  The metal creations would stop moving, needing the Mana to heat up their bodies so that the metal was supple. They were also surprisingly interchangeable. With the metal, it took a decent amount of Mana but Suzy could turn them from people-looking models, to roaming squids and anything in between.

  With Earth, it was easier to create one doll and then imbue it with energy. Moving earth, rocks, and sticks around was much harder than melting metal and shifting it around.

  “Now try to hit that target with one of them.” Malsour pointed to a target ten feet away.

  Suzy sent a command to one of her servants and it sent out a lance of metal. She frowned as the lance failed to reach the target and it rebounded back into the model.

  “Now try that again and detach the metal from the model.”

  The model sent out a lance of metal again, but this time the end disconnected before it ran out and sped out to slam into the target.

  “Good. Now why weren’t you able to hit it the first time?”

  “I wasn’t close enough.”

  “That is one factor. The other is because you didn’t have enough metal. When you are fighting with your metal figures, it is most likely that they will transform their bodies into weapons. The more metal they have, the more damage they can do as they can hit targets farther away. With metal, you need to move away from the melee aspect that you would get with your Earth creations and toward the weapons based.”

  “How do you mean?” Suzy asked.

  “There are the six different creations based off the different Affinities. Earth is good at close combat; they are usually heavy and not all that mobile but their hits are extremely powerful. Air is created from different types of gaseous chemicals that can be used to create area effect damage with either their stored gasses or the air blades they have. Water is much the same. Fire is good at close combat but they are more agile than strong. Dark is good at range; give them a supply of metal and they will be the best archers you know, hurling metal spears into battle. Light has a greater range and they can hit faster, but their hitting power is greatly decreased. They are the hardest to create and least versatile as you need to have a supply of Light to keep them active and replenished. Dark creations can fight no matter the time.”

  “So how strong are the Light creations?”

  “It reflects on a person’s ability with Light Affinity and their ability with summoning. They are the hardest to make, but in no way impossible. Right now, you don’t have a grasp of them.” Malsour shrugged. “But in a few months, who knows?”

  Suzy nodded, taking it in.

  “Now, another thing that metal creatures are good for is providing reconnaissance. If a place you are attacking has good air defenses, they’ll pick up the disturbances that an air servant makes. If their ground defenses aren’t as good—and they rarely are—then you can get your servants inside to create havoc.”

  “How?”

  “You send them underneath.” Malsour gave a devious smile. “Send them through sewers, through the water pipes and the cracks of the walls in your way. With enough stored Mana, metal creations can condense themselves and get through the smallest of gaps, or force their way through. Light can as well, but metal is dark and using different metals can make it simulate the look of the area around it.”

  “Wow, I knew that they were capable of changing forms easily, but I didn’t think of that.” Suzy gave her four metal figures a thoughtful look.

  “One’s magic is only contained by a person’s imagination and their will to push the limits.”

  “Well then, I say we push some more of these limits.” Suzy grinned as an explosion rippled through the courtyard, the air rushing toward them.

  “The hell?” Suzy yelled. Deia and Anna, who had been sparring, and the Dwarves in the courtyard looked over to Induca, who was jumping and dancing around in victory.

  The wind calmed down and the dust and dirt from the surrounding area settled back down.

  “I did it!” Induca cried out, running to Deia.

  “How? What was your area pressure and what form of fuel were you using? And the dispersion pattern?” Deia asked.

  “Well, it looks like we’re not the only ones pushing boundaries.” Malsour rubbed his forehead.

  Suzy laughed. Malsour and Induca’s reactions to each other always made her grin.

  ***

  “This is gold, the second most expensive material in all of Emerilia. Once you’ve got this one in the bag, then you will be qualified on all materials except Mithril.” Jesal passed Dave a green-looking piece of ore shaped into a ring.

  Dave nodded, taking his necklace off and putting the ore on the necklace, showing the first material to the last that he had mastered.

  Quest: Of Anvil and Fire

  After meeting with Jesal, she has decided to accept you as a candidate to be a Dwarven Master Smith.

  You will need to:

  Master the material Stone

  Master the material Malachite

  Master the material Gold

  Master the material Mithril

  Find your Smithing Art

  Reward: Title of Dwarven Master Smith

  Do you accept?

  Y/N

  They sat in a classroom; Jesal had a case with different gold items. “Gold is pretty damned heavy as well as soft.” She pushed a chisel into the gold, making an indent. “It doesn’t rust like other metals but it’ll scratch easy. It can hold some higher-level enchantments that lesser materials would break from. Unlike ebony, it does not absorb part of the Mana that might be flowing through or around it. Its lack of reactivity makes it good for using on high-level Magical Circuits.”

  Dave’s jaw worked in thought as he stroked his beard.

  “Well, at least we figured they did. I had to do some tests to confirm but it does look like silver, although not able to hold the higher-level Magical Circuits that gold can—is actually better for filling in the runes of a Magical Circuit.”

  “Told you.” Dave grinned.

  “No one likes a smart arse,” she shot back, making Dave chuckle. “And it won’t be enough to get you out of learning about working with gold.

  “Gold is primarily used for three things: Money.” She pulled out a few gold coins from different places. “Rings.” The rings were high quality, with details on them that made them seem as if they were small, curled up animals, or golden flowers and trees. A few of them had different gems mounted in them. A few of the gems glowed and Dave could sense Magical Circuits in them. “And presentation, though before your little epiphany, it was used for runes.” She pulled out an ornate dagger with a simple steel blade. Ebony, gold, and silver accents melded together to turn the weapon into something of beauty and power. It was a well-made blade that looked capable of cutting through a quarter-inch steel plate. Its sharp edges and strength was only emphasized by the workmanship that had gone into making the blade so beautiful.

  “Personally, I only use the first two unless I’ve got some major piece. Even then, it’s rare.” Jesal picked up the rings. “These are the most useful things in here, so I will be teaching you the most about these.”

  Dave peered closer at the rings, using all of his senses and his Touch to check out the finer details of the items. They had powerful Magical Circuits hidden in them. They might be fashion items but they were also highly protective and p
owerful. “Damn.”

  “Indeed. We ain’t making no knockoff crap here.” Jesal grinned. “I want you to go from ore to ingot to different forms and then to rings. Once you get to rings, we’ll get to working with some of these gems. For the most part, I think you’ve got this covered after your work with your own armor.”

  “Thanks, boss,” Dave said.

  Jesal shook her head at him. “While we’re working with gold, we can go into the different kind of gems that you can use. From diamonds to rubies and everything in between. Unlike those Human and Elven smiths, when a Dwarf smith makes something with gems, you better take it damned seriously. Depending on the gem, it can augment your enchantments, store some energy, and can even be engraved with magical formations or entire circuits, if done properly.”

  Jesal had Dave’s complete attention as he looked at the rings with a new interest. “They are just like a chipset—put in the right formation, plug it into the Magical Circuit, bingo.” He shook his head, thinking about the possibilities.

  “Chipset?”

  “Something from back on Earth.”

  “Well, I look forward to seeing what this chipset is capable of doing.” Jesal smiled.

  “Not sure if it will work, but if it does, then it could change more than a few things.” Dave rubbed his head, thinking seriously.

  He didn’t catch Jesal’s growing smile. She’d learned a lot over the past couple of weeks. Whenever Dave talked about something that was from Earth, it nearly always meant that he was going to make something interesting.

  “Jesal, I was wondering if you would be able to look at two weapons for me? They’re pretty damaged but I was wondering if you would be able to repair them,” Dave said.

  “Well, let’s see them.”

  Dave pulled out the Daggers of Demons Ruin from his bag and handed them to her. Josh had given them to Dave in order for him to see whether there was anyone able to fix the blades. Dave had forgotten about them as he had bent to the task of getting his final materials before being allowed to touch Mithril. The thoughts of runes and circuits had made him think of the complicated daggers.