thomasdarkrose
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Vol. 4 - Growth - Chapter 50
🕑 Added 2019-04-03 22:23:59 +0000 UTCThomas drifted into using his 'Serenity' to recover his health, stamina, and mana. He felt energy flowing into him and recovering his body but his headache didn't recede. This annoyed him greatly as it showed that the headache was likely something that natural healing couldn't help him with. Even after his mana and stamina had completely recovered, he continued to use 'Serenity' until the headache became much more manageable.
When he felt a lot better he climbed to his feet and checked his nose. The nosebleed hadn't been bad, no more than a trickle but it had shown how dangerous pushing himself could become if he went too far. He could push a little bit but too far and it was definitely a possibility that he would kill himself. He looked at the two completed throwing daggers. He hadn't been able to take the time to view their information but nothing was preventing him from doing so now.
Weapon Type:Throwing Dagger
Rarity:Magical
Quality:Excellent
Description:This 'Origin Steel' throwing dagger was created by an insane Magitech Engineer. When powered by mana it will have a stable flight path and additional thrust provided by a burst of wind.
+5 Power when wielded or thrown
+35 Additional Power to piece when powered by mana and thrown
After reading the description he felt vindicated in his decision to make them using Magitech Engineering. The more he infused mana and intent into the weapons the more he equated the process with enchanting. Though he could feel a subtle difference between the two he found it rather hard to describe what the difference was. In mechanical devices, the difference was more apparent. In simple weapons, it became more blurred. The biggest advantage he could find though was that he could enchant Magitech items.
Looking through the blueprints Hekrin had provided him had given him a lot of insight into what was possible. Being able to enchant Magitech items was one. Another was that items could have multiple enchantments. Though the number of enchantments an item could support was directly proportional to the materials used to construct it. Iron-based items could only accept a single enchantment. He wasn't sure if that applied to his Origin Steel or not though and he intended to find out.
Thomas arranged the throwing daggers on the workbench and retrieved the short sword from his inventory to arrange with them. The last thing he wanted to do today was enchanting the weapons. Tomorrow he would make his new armor, sheaths for the sword and daggers, and a holster for his revolver. He intended to wear his weapons out in the open.
With the weapons arranged he collected the mortar, pestle, and alchemists oil. Mana crystals weren't an issue as he still had well over a hundred sitting in his inventory still. He ground a handful of the mana crystals into powder within the mortar. When it was fine enough he added the alchemists oil and mixed the two substances together. After selecting a proper engraving tool he looked over the weapons to decide what enchantments he wanted to add to them. Something complimentary would be best.
After thinking for a while he had a firm image in his mind for what he wanted to add to the sword. As it was bigger than the daggers and would need a continuous stream of mana to power it he decided on a supplementary enchantment. He could have gone for something to simply enhance the destructive power of the weapon. However, he felt like longevity would be the best option. Thomas pictured a turbine inside of his mind. A machine that could suck in air and create a stream of it that would feed into the weapon. If it worked it would, hopefully, lessen the amount of mana he would need to feed into the weapon while providing more wind for the weapon to use. Maybe.
With the image firmly in his mind, Thomas began the process of carving the enchantment into the weapon. It took a fair bit of effort for the hardened tool steel to actually cut into the Origin Steel to carve the enchantments image. It took several passes over the same area for the engraving to become deep enough to deposit the mana crystal powder within it. Slowly he carved a simplified image of a turbine. A circle with curved lines leading into the center of it. The process took significantly longer than any other enchantment he'd placed on an item but he eventually managed to finish it.
System Notice: You have gained 78 Magitech Engineering experience.
Thomas set down the engraving tools and picked up the short sword. Everything seemed to be done now. He took a breath and prepared to power the weapon with his mana. Some would say that he should have tested the items as he went along to make sure things were working as intended. From a certain point of view that was correct. In the case of these weapons, it was less about making sure they were correct and more about making sure he was correct. He needed to know if what he expected would come true without him having to check every step of the process.
Thomas summoned up his mana and fed it into the sword in his hand. His mana sank into the handle and fed into the blade and the enchantment. Immediately the blade of the sword began to glow a soft green color as wind element energy flowed along the edge of the blade as he'd imagined. The enchantment glowed as well and fed more power into the weapon while taking a small portion of his mana for itself. As he looked over the powered weapon he could hear a soft whining sound as the air started to move at a rapid pace along the edge.
Thomas opened his inventory and pulled out his ruined iron kukri. He'd never thrown it away and now he could use it to test his new sword. Thomas held the kukri in his left hand while gently swinging the short sword with his right hand. The short sword collided with the kukri. He felt minimal feedback from the short sword as it easily sliced completely through the kukri. The severed blade of the kukri clattered as it hit the floor. Examining the severed portion of the blade in his hand showed that the cut was clean and even looked polished.
He stopped feeding mana into the short sword and started to examine it closely. There were absolutely no signs that the sword had just cut through a piece of hardened iron. The edge was still perfect without even a scratch on the weapon. It could easily bisect iron without any real effort put behind it. Thomas wasn't even sure if his gun would destroy a piece of iron so effortlessly. When he finished examining the short sword he set it down on the workbench and stored the truly ruined kukri back inside of his inventory.
He retrieved the engraving tool and picked one of the throwing daggers to work on first. For these, he already knew what he wanted, something to make their flight even more stable. He was never all that great at throwing weapons. That made making throwing daggers odd, but they could still be used in melee and thrown if necessary. They were even more powerful when thrown so he wanted to enhance that aspect even more while making his terrible skill at throwing them better. To do that he pictured the daggers rotating in flight like a bullet. Since they were symmetrical they wouldn't be thrown off balance by the rotation. Or so he hoped.
There was never a guarantee that things would work exactly as he wanted them too. No matter the game he'd played in the past there was always a chance things wouldn't work properly or do things the way he wanted them to. That was just the nature of games. Especially one with RNG mechanics. He hated RNG as his luck had never been all that great to begin with.
Shaking his head to dismiss the extraneous thoughts, Thomas began carving the enchantment into the first dagger. The image for the enchantment was rather simple, just a swirling circular mark meant to represent the rotation of the blade in flight. Like the short sword, it took a significant amount of effort and several passes over the same area to carve the enchantment deep enough into the weapon.
System Notice: You have gained 78 Magitech Engineering experience.
Once the enchantment was completed his set his tools down and picked up the throwing dagger. Because of how light the wood of the handle was and how thin the tang was the blade was a bit heavier than the handle. This was what made it a good throwing dagger. Because of movies and videos, a lot of people felt that throwing daggers and knives should flip end-over-end when thrown. Though they could be thrown that way it wasn't considered the proper way. The proper way was to throw the weapon so that the tip was aimed at the target and the weapon didn't flip over. That's why so many throwing knives had wide fat bellies, to make the upper half of the knife heavier than the handle.
Throwing daggers weren't as common as throwing knives but he wanted to be able to use the weapons for stabbing in melee as well as piercing weapons then thrown. It was meant for multiple uses and a dagger fit his purposes better than a knife did. Thomas looked around the workshop and sighed. There was no proper area in here for him to test the weapon out. He couldn't just start putting holes in Hekrin's walls. The dwarf would probably kick his ass if he even tried it!
He set the dagger back down and went through the process of enchanting the second throwing dagger. Having done the enchantment once, doing it the second time was even easier. With all three weapons enchanted and ready for use he started to clean up the shop. In just a single day he'd completed his short sword and two throwing daggers. All completed with enchantments.
He'd also learned not to push himself too hard when using dual casting in the future. Not until he could find a way to lessen the punishment from it. He honestly wished there was a 'Dual Casting' skill or ability that he could unlock. Perhaps there was and he just didn't meet the requirements to unlock it yet? He had no real way of knowing at the moment. The best thing he could do was ask. With that in mind, he collected Snowlily and made his way to the front of the shop where Hekrin was.
Hekrin looked up from his musing at the counter and smiled at Thomas, "Ya done fer the day kid?"
Thomas nodded, "I am but I wanted to ask you something. Do you know anything about dual casting spells?"
Hekrin stroked his beard as he answered, "I only know it's extremely dangerous, can even kill ya dead! It's not somethin' a newbie like you should be worried about just yet kid. Personally, I never learned ta do it cause it's not necessary fer Magitech Enginnerin'. Ya can only put one element into an item so dual castin' is pointless."
Thomas hadn't held much hope for Hekrin to know the answer. Hekrin was a Magitech Engineer, not an archwizard or even a regular spell caster. Though magic was an integral part of Magitech Engineering, actual spellcasting wasn't. You just needed a bit of mana to partially convert into an element and a good imagination. It didn't matter if the only fire spell you knew was the fire bolt spell as long as you had access to the fire element.
Hekrin looked Thomas over, "Why ya ask kid?"
Thomas shrugged his shoulders, "I was hoping to find out how to get a skill or ability related to it. I'm having some issues with using magic and one of my abilities at the same time. I figured a dual casting skill would make my life a little less painful."
Hekrin frowned deeply, "Ya need ta be careful kid. If ya push yurself too hard ta use two magics it will kill ya. I know you otherworlders are immortals but noo good will come from killin' yurself ta make an item."
Thomas agreed with Hekrin. There was a difference between 'killing' yourself through hard work to make a weapon and literally doing something suicidal. Since he didn't have suicidal tendencies he had no intention of pushing himself to the point of death to finish an item. He also hadn't bothered to find out exactly what the death penalty of the game was and didn't want to risk potentially losing progress in the game just to make an item.
Thomas dismissed himself from Hekrin's shop with a promise to return the following day. He needed to make his armor still. After the armor, he wanted to start working on a proper Magitech version of his revolver. He was getting a few ideas from his work today and the various blueprints he had access to now thanks to Hekrin. There really was a lot of information contained in them. It would just take him time to find the things he could understand and use to progress his understanding of Magitech.
Thomas made his way from Hekrin's shop to The Swans Nest. He was really looking forward to a nice fresh cooked meal and a good nights sleep. Judging by how Snowlily's tail was wagging, so was she.
Comments
VexedGamer
Where did Ch 49 go?
