ShanDeRad
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Book 2: Chapter 25
🕑 Added 2024-05-15 14:05:29 +0000 UTCThe rest of Shaun’s day went quickly, he only made it to the 17th wave in his dungeon run, getting some alchemical powder for the reward, the others made it to the 18th wave. From all accounts Eric’s new armour had made him a beast when it came to tanking attacks and also helping to reduce the number of monsters quickly. They then spent time with affinity work, Li joining this time, where some progress was actually made by Gabe, finding some connection to the air element but not enough to actually bond, yet.
The soiree was also much better than the meeting with Life’s Union, this time he met with the vampire Friosh, who was a lot less intense than he thought he would be. They spoke a bit about Death’s Legion, but it wasn’t focused on their war with Life, rather it had more to do with how they lived and what they actually did. From Friosh’s accounts those in their faction focused quite a lot on the development of their people, growing in strength and actually caring for those in the afterlife. They even had access to their own realm which produced a completely different sort of mana, one attuned fully to death.
They spoke about Shaun’s life a lot as well, how he had grown up, losing his parents, and Friosh even offered to see if they could perform a ritual to contact the spirit of his dead parent from the after, which Shaun couldn’t help but get overwhelmed with the offer. He would have agreed immediately, but the caveat was clear, he had to join them, or at the very least, not join Life. They even spoke about vampires, how they were created, how Friosh had become one. It was actually a good meeting and if Shaun was being honest with himself, if the situation was different he could be friends with the man.
Once the soiree ended, they all met up afterwards for a debrief, Shaun telling them all about his meeting and the others informing him of what they had experienced. They had made it clear to the clans that they would all be looking to join the same faction, which caused some waves through those present. It was uncommon for one clan to take on so many people at once, especially from the same tutorial, but the lure of having some of the most powerful participants, already formed into a team, all join to one clan, was a selling point that many of the clans apparently wanted in on. This led to a number of conversations with different recruiters, clans from The Pantheon, The Empire and The Dynasty were currently at the top of their list to join, but no decision would be made until later on.
That night he finished off the rest of Eric’s gear, the shield he completely remade, turning the old one to scrap and reforming it into something much more powerful. He had tested the Trisciolon Power Stone, and although it had a good amount of power to it, it just didn’t suit his needs, his own affinity attacks being more powerful. What he did instead was embed it into the new shield, forming runic lines throughout it to increase the area of effect from the stone. When the power of the stone was released, it would send out a blast in the direction of the shield, which he managed to attune to three different spells, the first fire, the point to cause damage to any monster close to the shield essentially cooking them. The second was an unattuned power blast which would knock back anyone close with enough power to send them flying back, and lastly he managed a new lightning shock, using runes he had never used before but had unlocked when he got his new affinity. This shock could be activated by taking any physical attack to the shield and it would cause a huge amount of electricity to flow from the shield directly into the attacker. The result was perfect, with an unexpected surprise.
*Your skill [Basic] Rune Knowledge (Level 25 - MAX) has evolved into [Advanced] Runic Scribe (Level 1)*
*[Advanced] Runic Scribe: The Runic Scribe skill allows for increased understanding and knowledge on how to apply complex runic spells to items, also providing an innate understanding of how to increase efficiency of runic circuits. This also applies to ritualistic applications of runes.*
*Profession: Elemental Creator has levelled up by 1 levels. [Advanced] Elemental Creator has reached Level 36. +5 Int, +2 Wil, +3 Per, +5 Soul *
*Race: Human has levelled up by +1 levels. Human (E) has reached Level 39. +16 Ap gained*
The upgrade to his skill was not impressive in the way that the wording changed, but it was the last basic skill he had which had now upgraded to advance, something that had been annoying him for a while. The level was also nice, but the shield was a little disappointing. It had turned out at the advanced rank, but he felt that if he had something more he could do to it, it could easily push to epic. Still, it was a good shield.
The sword was much easier to make, he had already planned on what he was going to do with it. He made us of half of the crown of power that were being looted by the any queen, the ones that let out a concentrated beam of unattuned power. He melted the materials down and formed it into the sword, reinforcing it with some of the best ore they had and inscribing it with spells that would take advantage of the crowns material. He also left a spot in the handle to put in a gem or stone later on if they had the coin to buy one so that the spells could be powered without using Eric’s mana. There was only two spells, one that allowed for a beam of mana to be sent through the tip of the sword and another that would coat the edge of the sword in the same mana but could be used in physical attacks or sent out from the sword, like an elemental strike. The sword again only ended up at advanced grade but it was still an impressive weapon. He didn’t get another level for crafting it, but he had finished everything that Eric would need to really make an impact in a fight.
The sword and shield hadn’t taken anywhere near as long as the armour set so he still had some time. He had some ideas, but he needed some more items first, that led him to going for a walk to the store that sold gems. When he arrived he was a little shocked that it was open at this weird hour, there was barely anyone around, everyone clearly asleep, yet the store was still open. When he went inside there was a human man behind the counter, working on his own project, but when he looked up at Shaun he was excited to see someone walk in.
“How unexpected to see someone here so late. We have not had many people visit here, not many able to use or afford our goods.”
“Yeah, I can imagine. I’m Shaun by the way. I hope you can help me with something?”
“Oh I know who you are Shaun, everyone here knows who you are! I am Jackson, but please just call me Jack.” Jack seemed like a nice guy, the bit about everyone knowing who he was was a bit unnerving but really kind of expected at this point. “What are you looking for and I will see what I can do to help.”
“Thanks Jack. I am hoping you may have something that can hold mana and be used in crafting, preferably linked to runic spells.”
“Oh we have plenty of things that would work for that, but they vary a lot depending on how much mana you need held, whether it needs to be durable, reused and of course whether it needs any attunements. Can you tell me what you are wanting to craft and spells you wish to link them too?” This conversation was apparently everything Jack wanted and more, his excitement quickly bubbled up and he moved around to stand closer to Shaun.
“It will be for a few different spells. I am looking to create arrows, I have some materials that I will use for the attunements but the archers won’t be able to power up each spell before sending them off, so they need to have their own power source. It won’t need a lot of mana, and whatever is used needs to be small, very small, so as not to weigh down the arrow. No attunements will be needed either, as I want to make the arrows out of already attuned material.”
“Yes, I see the issue, generally people of your level, especially those to not walk a mages path, do not have the mana abilities to power such spells in short periods. How much are you looking to spend? I assume these arrows aren’t being made for you, your friends maybe?”
“Yeah, I am no archer.” Shaun couldn’t help but laugh at the thought. “They are for some friends, there are 2 archers types, each needs, a dozen arrows each, at least. Cost wise, cheap is better but I need them to work, and for a while at least.”
“Hmmmm, I have a few options, but some will be much more difficult that others.” Jack walked around and grabbed some pouches from a few different places in the store, and then laid them out on the counter for him to look at. “The first, and most expensive, are power stones, these are already reinforced and can take up to 10,000 mana each, the are small and pack a punch, they are also easy to craft with. The next is these slivers of Xamium, it is a sort of metal but not quite, more of a gem structure. They are hard to use in crafting as they are prone to snapping, that means they need to be completely encased and protected in the final piece, as if they are broken they cause a backlash on the user which you will want to avoid at all costs. They are the cheapest though and will still hold around 7,00 mana per sliver. Lastly, is the gem shards, they are off cuts from larger gems and hold the least amount of mana, only around 2,000, again they need to be protected, but nowhere near as much as the Xamium slivers. Not many use them due to the small amount of mana that they can hold, but they may be just what you are after.”
Shaun looked at each of the different materials, he immediately decided against the power stones, not needing that much mana for his spells and wanting to keep cost down. The Xamium and gem shards though would work. “How much per Xamium sliver and gem shard?”
“I can do a bundled deal for you, but I would like something in return. I will sell the Xamium slivers for 3 silver coin per dozen slivers. For the gem shards I will sell those for 5 silver coin be dozen. And to make it better, if you spend over 10 silver coins I will give you 20% off the entire purchase, but only if you show me what you craft from them.” Jack said, “I can’t help but be curious at what you will create, given all that I have heard about you, my curiosity is peaked.”
“Do you mind if I do some testing first, I promise not to damage anything.” He needed to see what would work best for each of the materials he wanted to use, and the only way he could do that would be to do some tests between the items, slivers and gems.
“Of course, that is only normal, go ahead.” Jack’s interest was piqued, and he watched him like a hawk.
Shaun took out one of the remaining crowns, one of the hearts, a feather from a starling and then a tooth from the worm boss, laying them all out on the counter. Using his Mana Sight and Elemental Coercion skill he looked to see how bonds would form from the materials without actually bonding anything together. The teeth and heart formed much easier with the slivers while the feathers and crown seemed more attracted to them gem. That made his decision much easier.
“I will take 2 dozen of each.” Shaun said to Jack, taking back all of the items he had pulled out.
“I must say Shaun, I only sensed what you did there, but even I can see that what you did was impressive, you tested for bonding, that is clear. But how? That is the real question.” Jack gathered everything that Shaun wanted together into 2 different pouches. “For letting me see such a thing, I will happily reduce the cost down to 10 silver for the lot. But I wonder. How would you like a further discount?”
“What did you have in mind?” Saving more coin was high on his list of things to do. And an offer of more coin off couldn’t be ignored, he wanted to see what Jack had in mind.
“I would like to watch you craft, just one of each arrow, using the items that you pulled out earlier. Let’s say, for each arrow you let me watch you make I will take off 2 silver coin for the 10 coin you currently owe?”
“So, if I craft the 4 arrows for you, I will only be paying 2 silver coins?”
“Precisely. What do you say?” Jack seemed almost desperate to see him work, he didn’t get why, but only paying 2 silver instead of 10? Totally worth it.
“You have a deal. Where do you want to do this?”
Jack led him to the back of the store, into his own workroom. It wasn’t the largest area but more than enough for him to work. He sat down in one of the two chairs and decided to start with the crown arrows. It was going to be the easiest, especially after using them in Eric’s sword. He took out everything he needed as well as one of the gem shards from inside the pouch. Each of the crowns would make 2 or 3 arrows, and he figured that if he was going to do one he may as well do them all. He easily used his Creators Control skill to form the crown into three different arrow heads, then formed a long thin cylinder from each that would go through the centre of the arrow itself. He then took the small gem shard, fusing it into the base of the arrowhead and the cylinder, forming them metal around it. When the gem shard was secure, he got to work inscribing the runes, it was easy enough to do, the gem linked to the spell through connecting runes and a mana powered cycle. The spell itself was straight forward, the arrow itself would act as the beam, when powered and shot from a bow the arrow would be a condensed beam of mana that when it impacted would explode. He powered the gem and the runes, finalising the spell, before coating the cylinder with other metal he had on hand, ending it with a normal sparrow feather. Lastly he engraved air runes into it to ensure that it had a certain amount of wind resistance as well as a higher speed when flying through the air. When he was done the finished arrow was an advanced grade Power Arrow.
“That……was impressive. I have note seen someone craft so efficiently. The rune work was extraordinary, the spells, if I am correct have two purposes. The attack itself, a concentrated mana blast, and then the runes that will allow it to travel nearly through the air with almost no resistance.” Jack observed. “An arrow like this would be used by D grades not E. An E grade would have a very hard time buying such things.”
“Do you mind if I finish the other 2 from the leftover crown?” Shaun asked, not wanting to have to come back to it later.
“Please! I would love to watch the process again.”
He finished the arrows quicker than the first and then moved on to the Starling feather, the one that held the power of a star. This was a bit different, the feather itself needed to be intertwined with the arrow for maximum efficiency. The feather was long enough to run the length of the arrow so he started with forming metal around it, and at the same time twisting the feather, condensing it down and having each of the strands run through the metal, the point of the feather was then fused into he gem shard, thankfully without issue, and then completely closed in and the tip of the arrow added. The runes were much more difficult this time, he had to pull out his notes and check over his designs. But in the end the spell that would cause the arrow to fly like a descending star, hitting its target with an explosion of power, was set and powered. The result was an arrow called Stars Decent, still advanced, but much closer to epic grade. He repeated the process 2 more times, Jack more than happy to just sit and observe the process again and again. The next 2 arrow types though, they were going to be the ones that were much more difficult.
Comments
ShanDeRad
Xamium slivers are hard to work with, prone to breaking and cause backlash if something goes wrong. That makes them cheaper as fewer people want to use them. Supply and demand really. Great question though.
Akkido
If the Xamium slivers hold 5,000 more mana than the gem shards, why are the gem shards nearly twice as expensive?
