Draith
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Chapter 72 - No Waves
🕑 Added 2025-04-11 14:00:33 +0000 UTCAfter picking myself up, I went looking for Myris so she could ensure my emergency work on her nets wouldn’t immediately collapse. Only to discover from one of the evening sentries that she'd already gone to bed for the night.
What a monster.
Leaving them a message to get her to check her work, I attempted to track down Inertia. Which proved just as futile. She hadn't yet returned from hunting the wyverns. I couldn't bring myself to believe I needed to be worried about her. Seemed more likely she was simply enjoying the hunt.
Tresla was still in the main refugee hall, though the children had finally been sent to bed. A relieved looking Tamrie was sitting off to the side, staring out at the sky, rubbing her knees.
I approached Tresla, letting her know what had happened, and asking her and Inertia to come find me in the workshop once Inertia returned. I also asked one of the Tethered to find Calbern and get him to find me.
The thing about traveling along the high roads of the Frigid Peaks was that we'd encountered several monsters with high Ice affinities. We'd taken the bones from most of them, as well as saved any other special organs Inertia recognized.
All of which had been sitting around, collecting dust, much of it literally.
A secure space where we could keep food had just been bumped up my priority list. Sure, we could set guards and watch over the rest of the meat. Yet there were only two people I could really ask for help, and I could only ask Inertia to do it for so long.
"Good evening, master Perth," Calbern said, finding me still in the storehouse where we'd left the bones, which seemed to have disappeared. "Did you need assistance?"
"Yeah," I replied, telling him about the attack and that I was looking for the bones.
"Ah, those have been moved to the old fabric storage facility, near the Ways," Calbern said, tilting his body slightly towards the exit.
"Figures," I said, setting the crate I'd shifted back into place. "Guess we're still sorting everything out."
"The last few days have been a tad hectic," Calbern said as he followed me to the ropes leading down.
"Tad bit," I agreed as I grabbed the rope then leapt off, heart only slightly clenching in my chest. As I went down, I realized it almost felt… fun.
No wonder the villagers enjoyed it so much. Especially if they always felt like that.
Making my way to the fabric warehouse where we'd once searched for Grivis, I stopped. I'd been expecting a mostly empty warehouse, since the fabric had been mostly used elsewhere by that point.
Somehow, I'd failed to consider where they might put the bones from the mist-rex.
"Good thing you're here," I said, turning to Calbern. "Cause I've got zero clues where to look."
Calbern inclined his head in my direction, before leading the way deeper into the building. The wood quickly gave way to stone as he led me to the very back of the building. In a smaller room the bones from our trip had been labeled and stacked neatly on wooden racks. I kneeled down and took a selection of bones before standing back up.
I'd need to refine them first, and even then I'd need to actually work out the specifics, but with Create Ice, I suspected I'd be able to get some basic refrigeration enchantments working.
"Perhaps this can wait until morning, master Perth," Calbern suggested after I'd put the bones into my inventory and started walking towards the Ways Between.
"Still a little amped up," I told him, though I slowed my pace. "And I'd really prefer not to tempt that giant wyvern with more free food."
"An understandable concern. Do you require any further assistance?"
"Hmm. Maybe see if Xoth is up? Pretty sure he mentioned something about doing enchantments when he was back home," I said, pausing as I was about to trigger the Waygate. "And maybe bring me something to eat? Probably gonna be up late."
Calbern nodded, then made his way up the nets while I went to the workshop.
The first thing I needed to do was refine the materials. The first step would be getting them cleaned properly. I'd already used Flense to strip most of the flesh off, but I'd need to use properly attuned needles to complete the process.
As I set to work on the first bone, Neta came over, rubbing against my leg. I gave her a couple quick scritches, then attempted to return to my work. Only for her to press against me again.
I was about to tell her not to bother me when I noticed two of her rope-tendrils were floating over my shoulder. Stepping back out of reflex, she quickly took my place in front of the workbench. Lifting one paw up, she started licking her paw even as the rope tendrils took over the needlework.
Watching carefully, I realized Neta was more familiar with the process than Perth had ever been. Not a spec of flesh remained on the bone. That each little piece was being tossed directly into Neta's mouth wasn't lost on me.
Still, I figured that was a fair price to pay for an extra set of tendrils to do the work.
While Neta worked on the first of the bones, I decided I'd work on one of the organs. It was a special gland from a beetle that exuded ice along its carapace. The ice could then easily be broken, allowing it to freeze and escape whatever had been hunting it.
That we'd taken if from a beetle as long as I was tall had been concerning, especially since it was a prey only response.
Working with organs was less a matter of repetition, and more a matter of patience. Every gland, heart or lung had a specific way it functioned. Refining it meant clearing out the parts that weren't required, such as excess fat or muscle, and then incorporating the correct runes as transfer points.
Calbern returned with a hot meal just as I was starting, apologizing as he informed me that Xoth had already returned to his ship for the night.
Which was fine. I'd see about getting his help in the morning.
For the next couple hours, Neta and I continued working. Whenever she'd finish with one of the bones, she'd come over and rub up against me, always getting between me and what I was working on.
I attempted to solve her disruptions by setting out two bones at once for her to work on. She'd simply produced an extra set of tendrils and worked on both at once.
Obviously, I'd decided to test her limits by putting out more bones. Four bones. She could process four bones at once. And that seemed to have to do with range more than capacity. She sat neatly in the center of four separate workbenches, feeding herself tribute from all four.
There were two more setup a little further along the room, but she ignored them. They did serve to keep her distracted when she finished the first four though.
By the time I went to bed, I'd finished processing three of the beetle glands and a heart from a frost wolf. The wolf'd been a lot smaller than the wolves the Frost Riven rode but the heart was still the size of my fist. While I'd done that, Neta had worked through thirty-one different bones, and I left eight of the workbenches with more bones for her to snack on. At least now I knew why half the benches in the room didn't have their preservation fields active when I’d first stumbled upon the lab.
After getting a good morning's sleep, I found Calbern waiting on me. Thankfully, there wasn't an emergency, he'd simply insisted that he dress me properly.
I kept my mouth shut and ate the breakfast he'd brought me, contemplating which building would be best for converting into a big ol' walk in cooler. Considering I had him right there, I decided to make use of Calbern's knowledge of the ever shifting conditions in Tetherfall. "Hey Calbern, which building do you think we should convert to cold storage?"
"Would it not serve to have such a space in each village, master Perth?" Calbern asked. "Or would that require too much enchanting?"
"No, that'd probably be a good idea. Still don't know if the Waygates are gonna keep working," I replied. Plus, if we set one up in the refugee valley, it might encourage them to start building up a stockpile of fish. Something I’d like to do anyway.
The next few hours were spent setting up the first cold room in Tetherfall, right next to the Waygate. I'd forgotten how much of the space next to the Waygate had basically been closed off. It turned out we could, in fact, house all the refugees within Tetherfall. Once all the old rooms had been cleaned up, anyway.
Not that most refugees wanted anything to do with Tetherfall. A couple had come through, and other than one particularly excited teenager, most had taken a look at the vertical nature of Tetherfall and turned right back around.
Which was fine. More refugees were coming, and even if only one in twenty decided to move to Tetherfall, we'd quickly run out of room. Another ship had already arrived early in the morning. According to Calbern, Shaper Kallum had somehow sent a message south letting them know there was a refuge here. The captain of the new ship had disgorged his passengers, then returned south without even allowing his crew to come ashore.
Apparently there was good money in ferrying desperate people to safety.
Just like that, fifty more people had arrived.
All these thoughts passed through my head as I worked on the enchantment for the cold room. I spaced the bones in rows along the ceiling, creating a looping enchantment that ran through the entire space. Thankfully, now that it'd been refined, the wolf’s heart was a proper tier two Ice affinity mana generator. Linking it to two of the beetle glands and using a Create Ice based enchantment to diffuse the effect to the loops of bones, I created an array that would release enough cold to keep the inside of the cold room well below freezing, even if the door was left open.
Maybe a bit of overkill, but I could remove several sections later with only a few minutes of extra enchanting once people got used to the idea of keeping the cold in.
With the first cold room done, Selvi started getting people to transfer meat over. Not all of it though. The room wasn't big enough for that, since people would be working inside as well.
Not something I'd planned for, but we were in the Frigid Peaks. The Tethered knew how to wrap themselves up, even if they still struggled with walking on the ground.
As I blew a breath into the air, watching the mist form, Calbern stepped inside, nodding to me. "Master Perth. Xoth has arrived."
"Right," I said. Forgot I'd asked for him. Was time to find out if he was any good at enchanting. Much as I enjoyed figuring it out, there was a lot I needed to do.
Xoth was indeed waiting for me. His gaze was fixed on the nets and mats that ran all throughout Tetherfall.
Wasn't him that drew my attention though. His daughter was there as well. And she wasn't dressed in the traveling robes she'd been wearing last time I'd seen her. Those had been exchanged for a set of armor made of bone tubes with copper engravings in each tube. Sorta like the rolling tray I used to clean parts on, except turned into armor. She was carrying a long blade thin blade, tied into its sheath with a small white ribbon around the hilt.
"That's quite the getup," I found myself saying before I could think better of it.
Xoth and Xelinda both turned towards me, with the sort of eerie similarity only close family members could achieve.
"You requested my presence, Magus Dominus," Xoth said, both hands resting on the head of his staff as he met my gaze.
"Yeah. Heard you were good at enchanting. Wanted to know if I could get your help setting up some enchantments to keep things fresh and water clear," I said, giving a half-nod back towards the Waygate.
"That could be arranged," Xoth said, nodding slightly.
"Great. I've got-"
"For a price," he added a second later.
The dramatic pause, huh? Thought that only happened in movies when dealing with hidden experts. Guess he and his daughter fit the role well enough. "Sure, how much you thinking?"
"For a proper cold room enchantment, three thousand Waves should be sufficient. And fifteen hundred to set up a water purification block. This is, of course, assuming you provide the materials. I'm afraid my own stock is rather low," Xoth said, tilting his head in my direction.
I laughed, not bothering to hold it in. "Oh man, you're trying to twist the wrong guy's arm," I said, shaking my head.
Xoth frowned, though I caught a twist of the lips on his daughter. "I assure you, these are standard rates in-"
"Oh. I believe you. It also doesn't matter. For that much money, I can do the work myself. Just thought you could save me a few hours."
"Ah. I was not aware that the Magus pursued the noble art of Path Shaping," Xoth said, his tone much warmer than it'd been since I met him.
"Wait, is that why you call yourself Shapers? Cause you do enchanting?"
"That is correct," Xoth said, puffing himself up. "It is the noblest pursuit in all of Spellford. None are respected more."
The lie was revealed by his daughter's snort, though I'd already been smelling three flavors of bull. And I didn't mean Inferno Drake.
"Well. Hate to tell you, but even if I wanted to, I couldn't afford those sorts of rates. Not sure if you've noticed, but a taxable population base, this is not," I said, gesturing at Tetherfall.
"Ah, I suppose not. Perhaps a trade of favors?" Xoth said, inclining his head once more. It was funny, cause compared to Calbern, he managed to make the motion look stiff and awkward. Speaking of whom, I noticed he'd skedaddled after informing me of Xoth's arrival.
Well, wasn't anything for it.
"Yeah. That's possible. Probably won't be able to give you anything worth four thousand Waves unless you want a few pounds of dust," I said, chewing on my cheek as I considered. "Though you'd have to make it yourself. Not much point in me wasting my time making the dust just to save time on doing the enchanting."
"That… five pounds of Grade Ael enchanting dust, and we have a deal."
I blinked at him. I knew what that word meant in Elinder. Beginnings, I was pretty sure. I was also sure that wasn't how he was using it. Why did everyone have to twist the damn language. Sheep were sheep. Beginnings were the… beginning.
"Just to be clear, that's basic tier one enchantment dust, right?"
"Of perfect purity, yes," Xoth replied, basically confirming I'd missed the mark. I didn't miss his daughter rolling her eyes though.
"I mean, that'll be on you. I can give you the materials, but I'm afraid the workshop's guardian is a little picky. Doesn't like guests," I said, crossing my arms. I had more than enough bones in my inventory to make fifty pounds of dust, not to mention the materials in the storehouse. The mist-rex could probably make a ton of the stuff, if we were willing to waste most of its potential other uses.
"Six pounds then, since there will be losses. And, as time permits… I would be willing to produce more dust in exchange for twenty percent of the materials."
That was a little expensive, but a better deal than the Captain had offered Nexxa.
"Done," I said, holding my hand out, open armed. He clasped my arm and we both squeezed. At least that part matched up with what I'd read. "Calbern will let you know where we need the enchantments." Once I figured out where he went.
"Very well. There is, however, another matter we wished to discuss," Xoth said, clicking his tongue.
"Oh?"
"Yeah. I wanna train under your knight," Xelinda said, interjecting herself into the conversation for the first time.
Xoth tried, but he wasn't entirely able to hide his frown. "That is not what we-"
"Joining their guards would be pointless. They barely know which end of the stick to hold," Xelinda said, waving at said guards who were hanging off the net by the Waygate not twenty feet away.
The Tethered bristled at that, but at the same time… she wasn't wrong. Though that was cause the Tethered would rather use a heavy object on the end of a rope to smash something. No stick involved.
Still, unlike her father, Xelinda had some of the same smoothness I recognized from Calbern. Not to the same level, of course, but there.
"I'll have to ask him. He's a rather busy man," I replied, though I couldn't keep a bit of a smirk from slipping onto my face. "He's spending a couple hours every day training the guards, you see."
The twitch of Xoth's lips didn't go unnoticed by his daughter. Nor did the sudden laugh from the nearby guards. Xelinda's cheeks flushed, her hand clenching on the sword.
Having mercy, I added, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you joined their training sessions. Just after dawn, in Mistvale, south of the Waygate."
"Thank you," Xelinda replied through gritted teeth. "I'll be there."
After providing Xoth with enough bone to make his six pounds of dust, they turned and left.
I waited until they'd phased through the gate, then said, "So, Calbern."
"Yes, master Perth?" Calbern replied, materializing at my elbow.
"We really need to talk about this whole you being a Knight Exemplar thing."
"Ah," Calbern said, working his jaw for a second before he added, "Darn."
Comments
RJD
Can you explain in story what his thinking is on dealing with Xoth
Jason Hardman
You'd think a refugee and pioneer would be a bit more community minded, rather than trying to gouge for everything he can get. Especially as he's being granted a new home at no cost to himself, and the enchantments he's being asked for will be helping provide the food he eats. If he behaves like that at every ask then make sure he starts paying taxes and for any benefit he gets that others are sacrificing time and effort to create.
Noah
Shouldn’t the free shelter and land be factored into the cost of help with enchanting? Seems like he should just be doing the enchanting for free, seeing as its purpose is to make a livable town for him and his daughter. Also seems like the daughter should be providing something in exchange for the training. Maybe she could train the guards for 3 hours a day in exchange for an hour of lessons from Calbern? She seems to know enough to train novices and that seems to be a small price to pay for lessons from an, assumedly, super rare super soldier??
Julkur
Thanks for the chapter. A lot of things happened in it without being rushed. ❤️
