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LLOTF - Chapter 40: The last three days
🕑 Added 2024-12-21 23:41:13 +0000 UTCTristan finished cleaning up and went back up to the top boughs to repair his armor. To his surprise and delight, two fairy dragons were just finishing polishing the armor. Thankfully, it had not suffered any indentation, and after thanking the two who went flitting off, he inspected his sword. No nicks or edge rolling, he thought. I guess against dragons, or while I’m pouring mana into it, the blade is a lot sturdier.
Moving over to the artifice bench, he looked at the gloves he had identified. Well, the gloves replacing the ones I normally put on under the articulated gauntlets. Going over to the suit of armor, he reached into the gauntlet and pulled out those gloves, swapping them for the Gloves of the Growth Shaper. He set the old, worn leather gloves on the bench. Now…decisions. But first, taking stock.
Taking off his family seal, and unclipping the two favors, he set out all his equipment in neat rows on the bench and ground in front of it. I should identify what spell the Archon’s favor uses. His eyes went over the king’s favor and continued his line of thought; and see if there is something hidden on that one. His eyes drifted to the greatbow, and that as well. I doubt the weaponsmith I bought the dagger and sheath from would have given me artificed items.
Going through the steps of the Discern Artifice spell, he did not find anything already artificed into the greatbow, dagger, sheath, or king’s favor. But the Archon’s favor did have a spell stored in it – which Tristan expected.
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Archon’s Favor of Communication
Receive Message - Realm (Third) [Communication]
This object will vibrate when subjected to the Send Message – Realm spell, and by pouring mana into the object, the wielder can engage in a conversation with the sender. This will reach any place on the same Realm of existence.
---
Pulling out a sheet of parchment and quill, he jotted down a list so he could easily plan. He had always liked listing items out – especially when his grandfather had assigned him training tasks. After a few seconds, he had charted out what he wanted to put in words.
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· Mana-Seeking Lantern = Detect Magecraft (First) [Divination]
· Fey Realm Ring = Interrealm Warp (Fifth) [Teleportation]
· Cloak of Winterbloom = Thrice Command (Third) [Enchantment]
· My armor = Scales of our Foe (First) [Dragonbane]
· My sword = Dragon’s Doom (First) [Dragonbane]
· Insulating Socks = Discharge Shock (Third) [Lightning Elementalism]
· Gloves of the Growth Shaper = Plant Shaping (Second) [Flora]
· Anorox Family Crest = Disguise Form (First) [Illusion]
· Archon’s Favor of Communication = Receive Message – Realm (Third) [Communication]
· King’s Favor =
· Dagger =
· Sheath =
· Greatbow =
---
The Matriarch approached from his side; also having cleaned up and appearing regal once more, minus her still-healing injuries. “A thought occurs, Lord Tristan.”
“Hmm?” he replied as he looked at her, standing up from his crouch on the floor.
“I do not know what prompted that Incursion, but I would like to know what you were doing in your inner world before I roused you from your meditation.”
Tristan sighed and put the quill behind his ear, “Well, I was fighting enemies I made up like you said I could. I fought a mercenary, and then thought up the Arch Dragon my grandfather described fighting.”
The Matriarch had a look of consternation writ upon her visage. “I…hmm…strange. And you were not…” she shook her head. “I can’t think of why, but I know that the two events must be connected somehow. You were not doing the reverse-spin and regular-spin of your core, correct?”
“That’s right,” Tristan replied. “Just the breathing exercise you taught me.”
“Then you were not connected to the realm as when you performed such a feat at the rift itself. It must just be a coincidence.” She walked over to look at his list, then glanced at the gear arrayed before him. “Well, the sheath is not very high quality; I can tell you that much. It won’t be able to be artificed.”
Tristan sighed and scratched that off the list with the quill. “I have two items well crafted enough to be useable in artifice.” He looked over at The Matriarch, “Unless some of those practice weapons, or even real weapons down there, are crafted exceptionally well.”
“Not as well as Mortal Realm implements, I am afraid,” she replied. “Most of those were wrought by hands using the same Plant Shaping spell you have in those gloves. They are not truly crafted.”
“Well,” Tristan said as he crossed his arms and looked at his gear, “I need to figure out what spells I am going to put in the King’s Favor, the dagger, and the greatbow.”
“May I suggest something?”
“Go ahead,” Tristan replied.
“For the King’s Favor, put the Command enchantment spell upon it. In the event you must return it, you can explain to the king what change you have wrought, and he will thank you all the more.”
Tristan nodded, “A wise decision.”
“And you still have those primers to read,” The Matriarch added.
“Yes. Illusion, Flora, Enchantment; and that would cover all of the First Order spells.”
“Forgive me, Lord Tristan, but why would you not look into the higher Order as well?”
Tristan chuckled, “Grandfather’s words. I should master the basics before moving on to something more complex. I want to fully memorize and have the First Order spells in those primers all mastered before moving on.”
“Strange,” The Matriarch said as she crossed her arms. “You have the mana capacity for higher Order spells – the vault doors are evidence of that. And your inner world should have some type of indication as well. Most magecraft users would pursue the higher Order spells as soon as possible.”
“I’m not most magecraft users,” Tristan replied. “I’m…me. Methodical, and I take my training seriously. I don’t want any shortcuts to power-”
“Minus the whole eating dragon’s mana thing.”
Tristan nodded, “Right, except for that.” He set the parchment and quill down before heading over to the primers. “I suppose I should see what other options I have before putting spells into items.” He sat down on one of the cushions as The Matriarch departed, and a group of fairy dragons flew by, asking briefly if Tristan needed anything. “Some clearcool, thank you,” Tristan said as they flew off to fulfill his request.
Grabbing the primer on enchantment, he flipped through the book until he came upon the basic information section. It was written in terse, straightforward language that left no room for doubt that the author was some type of true scholar who only cared about the craft itself – not flowery or poetic language.
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Welcome to your primer on enchantment. One of the more dangerous spell types due to its prevalence towards ill intent.
Commands come in several types as listed below:
· In Character – something they would normally do or is very unobtrusive
o Example: Commanding a baker to bake bread.
· Out of Character – something they would not normally do or is obtrusive.
o Example: Commanding a baker to pick up a sword and fight to the death.
The more out-of-character an enchantment spell is, the easier it is for them to resist or shake off.
All enchantment spells come with the following downsides:
· The spells will never last longer than a day (approximately 18 hours).
· Once the effect ends, is shaken off, or otherwise removed – the victim sees a vivid, visual representation of the magecraft user who placed the effect upon them.
As with most primers, this tome contains a few spells from First through Third Order.
---
Tristan flipped past the First Order spell Command, as The Matriarch had already written down instructions for that in Elvish. Note to self; practice that on willing fairy dragons here, so I can get it memorized. He flipped through and found that the only spells contained within were differing levels of Command, which just increased the number of words that could be used in a single sentence of an enchantment spell. I would bet there are more out there, Tristan thought as he shut the primer. But this Command, and the higher Order versions, are just the easiest to use.
He was disappointed that he did not find any type of defense against enchantment within the pages. He raised his voice and yelled out, “Matriarch? Do you have a minute?”
A few seconds later he heard flapping, and she flew up to the edge of the platform, clasping on with her fore-paw-claws and resting her head on the platform, “Yes, Lord Tristan?”
“Are there any enchantment protection spells?”
She shook her head, “None that I know of. We fairy dragons have innate spells for invisibility, shapeshifting – with size increases on what we can turn into based upon our mana capacity – and the extradimensional storage space only we can access. The only spell types we can use are illusion and enchantment, with some of my children gaining other spell types depending on their ‘pod-birth’ timing. I, myself, have divination as a spell type.”
Tristan sighed once more and put the primer back into the bookshelf. “What about other enchantment spells? This only has Command, Twice Command, and Thrice Command.”
She scoffed, “Fwah, a beginner primer. I will work on transcribing a tome with all the enchantment spells I know of. And I shall do the same for illusion – but the tasks will take some time.”
“That’s fine,” Tristan replied as he went for the illusion primer. “Thank you. I will see you on the morrow for our training.”
She nodded and let go of the platform, diving back and out of sight. Tristan cracked open the primer on illusion. It was written in the same gruff, no-nonsense fashion as the enchantment primer.
---
Welcome to your primer on illusion.
Illusion alters senses. The senses in order of easiest to most difficult to trick are below, along with the Order of the spell required to trick said senses.
o Sight – First and Second
o Hearing – Third and Fourth
o Smell – Fifth and Sixth
o Taste – Seventh and Eighth
o Touch – Ninth and Tenth
All illusion spells come with the following downside:
· Prolonged interaction results in the unraveling of the spell.
Unlike most primers, this tome only contains First and Second Order spells.
---
Tristan saw the familiar-to-him Disguise Form spell, but no mention of Blended Body that Felicity had taught him. There must be so much knowledge out there, he thought. At least The Matriarch is going to work on two tomes for me for illusion and enchantment. Let’s see what else is in here.
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Minor Illusion (First)
Spell Phrase: “Je souhaite modifier l'apparence de cet objet. Le faire correspondre à la vision que j'ai dans mon esprit.” (I desire to change the appearance of this object. Shift it to the vision within my mind.).
Spell Gesture: Place your hands together in front of your chest, tucking them both into your sternum so that the thumbs are along the chest itself, and the elbows are propped out to the sides. Keep all of the fingers together.
Other Notes: The effective range of the spell is ten feet from the user. The size of the object that can have its appearance altered is no larger than what can fit inside of a five-foot by five-foot cube.
---
“That’s an easy spell,” Tristan muttered. “The gesture isn’t even that complex. One more primer to go.” He flipped open the primer on Flora, and to his dismay found that it only had the First Order spell Invoke Growth which he already knew. And I don’t want to move on to Second Order until I’ve mastered all the First Order ones at my disposal. It’s a risk, sure, not going for more powerful spells faster…but I want to follow grandfather’s advice. Master the easy stuff before going for the harder stuff.
The words of the warning that accompanied that lesson echoed through Tristan’s ears as he stood up and went to the artifice bench and began preparing to artifice the last few items he had at his disposal.
“People who rush too fast, like your father with his desire to adventure at a younger age, or your sister with her courtly intrigue – they lose out on the skill that comes with trained practice. If you rush too quickly, you will be more likely to make mistakes. Not only that, but you will have something all of them will lack. Confidence. In spite of the harshest of odds, you will have the confidence that you have mastered everything you know. Focus on mastery. And don’t reach beyond that mastery until you are ready for it.”
He took in a breath and spun his mana core as he performed the spell gesture for Investiture of Artifice, placing his hands on either side of the dagger. Incanting the spell, he rapidly followed up with Minor Illusion. There was a glow of silvery light, and he felt his mana drain from the two spells. But, it was done, and he set the dagger aside. Next came the King’s Favor. He performed the same set of gestures for Investiture of Artifice, then cast the spell Command. Once it glowed a silvery hue, he set that aside as well.
Last came the Greatbow, and he once more used Investiture of Artifice, but this one he wanted something special and had no clue how it would work in practice. Casting Frost Flurry, he saw the silvery light appear and then vanish as the other items had. Grabbing two arrows, he walked over to the edge of the platform and took aim at a knot in a tree a decent distance from the Queen’s Wood.
As he nocked the arrow and pulled the string back, he could feel the tension as he had during his practice that morning. Loosing the shaft, he saw it impact the knot-hole. Right. That is as expected. Next, he tried pulling the string back, but as he did so he poured mana into the weapon. He saw a spike of ice appear on the bowstring and grown in length and size as he drew it back. When he reached full draw, it was easily the size of a lance. Letting loose, he saw it fly down and embed itself into the tree boring a huge hole. Several fairy dragons flew over to investigate the odd noises.
Tristan waved them off, “Move! I want to try something!” They did as he ordered. Good, he thought, I can create projectiles of ice. Taking aim at the horizon, he let loose and saw that after one-hundred feet the arrow of pure ice began to drop. Also as expected.
Last, he drew back the second regular arrow, channeling mana as he did so. Instead of forming a projectile of ice, the arrow glowed with the icy-blue energy. Oh, that is interesting. He took aim at an upward angle – his maximum range with the bow – and let fly. The arrow flew off into the distance, and his enhanced Elven eyes were able to track it as it descended in an arc, impacted a tree – and exploded in a hail of ice and frost – shredding nearby branches.
One of the fairy dragons flew up to him, “The fuck you doing?”
“Huh?” Tristan asked as he lowered the bow.
“Blowing up holes in the forest!”
“Oh…testing.”
The creature made a frustrated noise, “Hmph! Some new lordling, thinking he can do whatever he wants to the Fey Realm.”
Tristan walked back to the artifice bench and set the bow down, “Sorry, didn’t know it would do that.” The fairy dragon flew off, and he descended the tree spire towards his quarters. But I was hoping that is how it worked. He got to his room and while several fairy dragons brought in a hot meal of freshly roasted starberries and filled the tub, he pointed his hand at one of the walls. A thought hit him. I wonder if for some spells the intent also counts. I was hoping that the icy missile would explode; but is it just because I used a real arrow and the stored spell? Or was it my intent?
Alright. Let’s try casting a tiny version of the spell, but with shattering projectiles. “Ich beschwöre die Wut von Eis und Frost herauf: Ich forme Splitter, die mein Ziel durchbohren und aufschlitzen.” (I summon forth the fury of ice and frost: form shards that will pierce and slash my target).
He only held the mana until he had a quill-sized projectile and let it fire. The shaft impacted, quivered for a second, then shattered – fragments shooting out in all directions. Huh. So for that offensive spell, at least, intent plays a role. And with the artificed version on the bow, I just bypassed the one-hundred-foot range. He settled into the hot bath with a smile on his lips.
---
The next three days were a blur. He continued his daily routine with The Matriarch, growing ever better with the maul. His skill with his sword, the bow, and the dagger progressed ever-so-slightly, but the true training for those came from his inner world.
Of highest priority was practicing the various First Order spells at his disposal. He practiced those in the inner world over and over until he could do them without any issue. And, keeping an eye on the tree at the center, he saw that he was past the second ring and about a third of the way to the third ring – but the distance was further. Sort of like my progression is going to be more arduous as I continue to build my mana capacity, he thought. But the fact that Second Order spells now – at least, if the tree inside the inner world was anything to go by – filled him with an excitement and enthusiasm he had not felt in a long while.
Because he wanted to hold off on the Second and Third Order spells contained in the primer – desiring to follow his grandfather’s instructions and master his current capabilities, he spent a large portion of the day meditating in his inner world. And, despite envisioning and fighting many, many more dragons of varying sizes inside that space, another incursion did not occur.
The evenings were spent learning about Elven culture. Song, dance, and poetry. Tristan was not the most gifted with either song or poetry but he picked up the dances quickly enough and found himself having quite the enjoyable time. At night, he would visit the deep, bubbling pit of sap near the roots of the tree that he had placed his mother’s corpse in. He spoke softly, talking to it as if he was talking at her grave, and shared with her all of the day’s events.
He could swear there was a hint of some response from the bubbling sap, the rustle of the sparse leaves in the small space as he exhaled…but he never made any words out. The action of sharing what was going on in his life with his mother, if only with her memory, filled him up with emotion. The closest he would ever be to sharing with her all of the wonders he was learning about and the amazing new reality he found himself living day to day.
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The five days of his time in the Fey Realm came to a close. The final morning he woke up, ate, drank some refreshing clearcool, and got his equipment from the top boughs. His underclothes that were freshly laundered and made from the strandvine in the forests nearby by fairy dragon weavers. The padding that went on before the armor, his new gloves, his trusty boots with the Insulating Socks, and then the other pieces like the greaves and epaulets. Affixing his sword belt to his waist, he made sure to string the Mana-Seeking Lantern through, keeping it affixed with his chain. It had grown used to not only the mana of the Realm, but his as well, and was glittering with a little bit of starlight, but not wildly spinning out of control.
Making sure his ring was in place, he put the various favors of the Archon and the King back into his family crest before putting it around his neck and slipping it under his armor. The dagger joined the sword on the belt, the cloak over his shoulder, the bow on his back, and the quiver of arrows on the opposite hip of his sword and knife.
As he was just getting the boxes filled with vials of clearcool, mana, and healing elixir together, The Matriarch flew up in her humanoid form with the wings sprouted from her back. “Lord Tristan, allow me.” She hefted two of the boxes and flapped up. Her legs transformed into claws, and she lifted him off of the top boughs and brought him back to the dirt circle in front of the Queen’s Wood. Setting him down, she placed the boxes on the ground. “You travel safely, Lord Tristan.”
This was echoed by the surrounding fairy dragons. Tristan dipped his head in a bow in return, “Thank you for everything, Matriarch. I plan on coming back to sleep here each evening.”
“We will await your pleasure,” she replied as she reverted to her full-sized, fairy dragon form.
Tristan ensured the items he planned to take were all within the circle and began to spin his core, channeling mana. The world turned white, and he was inside the cave he had departed from.
Felicity was laying on the ground and jumped up to her feet. “About time!” she shouted.
