Blue core, p.61
Blue Core, page 61
part #1 of Blue Core Series
"I couldn’t do much with this little amount, but you might be able to. The mana density is so high it wouldn’t have any problem imprinting from a Class or Skill, but what that would result in I couldn’t say. Crafting isn’t actually my specialty." She waved a claw, settling back as I pulled the Aurum back into my inventory and removed the display pedestals. "Appraising, now...I can tell you that I’ve never seen the stuff you just showed me, so I bet it’s never existed before."
That was a little bit impressive. Now, I had assumed that the [Mana Diamond Anvil] itself was unique, but I also figured that there were ways to do the same thing with existing knowledge. If Ansae hadn’t run into it, I doubted it was anything commonly known, or even rarely known. I had to wonder if the anvil was itself on the order of an Artifact, because now that I was looking for it I was pretty sure that none of that mana went to waste.
When I used mana to condense stone or metal to the next tier, a lot of that mana was ‘spent’ in the process of the phase change, with very little to none of it remaining in the material. The aurum, on the other hand, was chock full of mana. It didn’t look exactly like the mana that flowed through my dynamos, the process of being bonded with the Aurum having made it almost static. Almost. I wished I had a finer mana-sight, because I was pretty sure I could learn a lot from the details in those subtle movements.
I’d probably have to transcribe someone’s superior mana-sight. Mine had gotten eaten by [Genius Loci] and that didn’t seem to have any way to level itself. Or maybe the improvements were invisible. Someday I’d get my Status to behave.
I mulled over these things as I started putting a golden mesh around the inside of the [Mana Diamond Forge] room. I figured that mimicking electromagnetic shielding would be a good place to start with mana shielding, and then upon further consideration I put [Warding] over the whole room, dialed up as high as it would go.
Only then did I put in a piece of Cultivated Steel into the anvil. Like the gold it was basically a tiny speck, but it was fractionally larger, reflecting how the ‘units’ my interface used definitely weren’t standardized on volume. If I had to guess, considering what I knew now, it was based on how mana-rich it was or some similar metric. I could see how materials that reacted more with mana would take up more space in a mana-based system, just for the purposes of keeping them contained.
The bell tolled again, but this time the golden mesh broke it up, reducing the mana surge to a bare ripple that faded to nearly nothing by the time it reached my core and Ansae’s lair. Neither Shayma nor Iniri stirred, but Ansae cocked her head, listening.
"Yes, I can still feel it. Far away though, so whatever you did worked."
That was all I needed to hear. With my mana regeneration I could keep the [Mana Diamond Anvil] going more or less constantly, and tried a bunch of different materials. What’s more, Ansae was interested enough to give me her impressions of them, which was invaluable in planning what to do with them.
Steel gave me [Firmament], which Ansae said was actually indestructible. I could manipulate it, because it was my mana, but nobody else would be able to. That seemed completely ridiculous, but considering how little I was able to actually make, I couldn’t build everything important out of it.
Silver and copper were similar to gold, but Silver seemed to be more attuned for my dungeon Fields and copper actively drew in mana. Again, the tiny amounts meant that I couldn’t abuse it too heavily, but I could already imagine the benefits of, say, [Shield of Tarnil] being able to absorb mana from what it blocked.
Stone and glass were really exciting, because they had, to me at least, mythical properties. The tiny bit of [Reified Manastone] I made was not only incredibly tough but utterly immoveable, immune to any force once I placed it, including gravity. I could have stared at the tiny sphere of floating stone all day, but I still had to be physically connected to anything I wanted to control, so I couldn’t have any useful floating islands yet. The [Incipex Thaumaglass] was invisible and frictionless, if incredibly fragile — I accidentally broke my first bead trying to adjust its shape, the mana hissing out and joining back to join the flow of my dynamo as it turned to dust. Still, I could think of uses for a frictionless substance if I could get the hang of it.
Some things didn’t work in the forge at all. Wood, flower parts, and monster parts all turned to dust, and the mana seeped out of it so it wasn’t even interesting dust. Magicite exploded, a tiny little pop of a mana-flare that thankfully didn’t actually damage the forge, and calamite turned into some sort of vapor that I had issues corralling. Water was one of the weirdest transformations, appearing unchanged but possessing the crushing pressure of the abyssal depths of the ocean. Not that useful until I made more than a fraction of a drop.
Then there were Sources. Really, at the size the forge took it would be more accurate to call it Source dust, and it created a tiny, self-contained reservoir of ultradense mana. Of course, that mana had an Affinity and I couldn’t access it directly, so I couldn’t simply churn out a bunch and solve my mana storage issues. That would be too easy. No, these were meant for people who could actually cast mana properly, though maybe I could put them into some of my dynamos or something if I needed a buffer.
Even if it would take some time to make all these things useful, I felt good about it. Watching Shayma and the gang take care of the monsters made me realize that they weren’t nearly powerful enough. I needed to improve their ability to go up against higher levels and Tiers, and while the LAE and similar weapons were useful, they were essentially a distraction. The featured centerpiece of the Purifier path was the Companion, and given that I’d forsaken monsters entirely my Companions were supposed to pick up for that slack.
[Tempered Wisdom advances to 7]
If I could get some more advancements I could at least start cross-transcribing Shayma and Iniri, and if Shayma could use [Shield of Tarnil] that would be amazing. Not to mention whatever benefits might come from higher Companion levels. Even though I’d clearly not been using it very well, Skill transcription was kind of amazing and the higher level functions of the Companion path should be equally amazing. Judging by the odd-level pattern so far, I’d find out the next time Shayma advanced a Companion level.
Speaking of which, I was clearly doing something wrong there. I had the feeling that the Companion levels should be advancing far more quickly. Even if a couple of months was nothing in the lifetime of a dungeon, I had mage-kings and fourth-tier jerks to deal with so I couldn’t wait around for the advancements to happen. I had two options there, either bite the bullet and buy the companion specialization, or figure out what actually caused the advancements other than major events.
If I did purchase it, I’d rather wait until Shayma was back. No point in buying it and then sitting around waiting to see what it did, especially if it affected Iniri in some way and then I’d have an annoyed kirin that I couldn’t talk to. Plus there was no telling what might happen to Shayma, and I’d rather not have her discombobulated while on an important mission.
My experimentation carried me through the night and into the morning, when the group near Duenn was stirring. Since I was looking out for any possible attacks I was actually paying attention when Keri woke Shayma up just before her watch ended, as morning broke.
"Good morning, Shayma," Keri said cheerfully, though quietly. "Do you and Blue have some time to answer some questions for me?"
"I sure do."
"Of course, Keri!" Shayma waved for Keri to join her on one of the seats I’d provided from inventory.
"Actually it’s about Annie," Keri said, settling down and clasping her hands together. "You’ve noticed that her Class and Affinity are not very powerful. We talked about it, and if it weren’t for Blue’s blowgun she wouldn’t have been able to put a dent in those monsters despite her level. She could barely protect me even with you and Cheya holding off most of the monsters and it’s really getting to her. Is there anything Blue can do to help her out?"
"Uh." That was not what I expected at all. Generally I expected Annit to be the one to think about these things, but of course Keri wasn’t stupid and Annit wouldn’t come to me for a solution. She had trust issues and I didn’t really blame her.
"Actually yes. I can change or admix her Affinity, but that’s a breeding option so I don’t see her taking that. The same is true for the Companion option, which would make her more powerful once I can transcribe Skills to her. I am actually working on equipment upgrades for you all already, for what it’s worth."
"Admix? I guess that means you can blend in new Affinities?" Shayma asked. Sometimes I forgot that even though Shayma was quite smart, she wasn’t a scholar and I still sometimes spat out unfamiliar words. The fact that she didn’t have any trouble just asking about them meant she was braver than me. Upon my confirmation, she repeated it to Keri, who nodded understanding.
"I was afraid of that." Keri frowned, a different frown than Annit’s. "I don’t think she’d want to try that."
"But you would?" Shayma teased with a smile. "Just a bit curious, then?"
"Shayma…" I groaned. She had too much fun flirting on my behalf. Keri looked away demurely for a moment.
"Well," she said, lowering her voice, "a bit. Now that I know Blue isn’t some monstrous thing, at least. But I wouldn’t do anything to hurt Annie and if she doesn’t want to it won’t happen."
"I didn’t even want to offer just because you’re a couple and it’d be pretty weird. I’m not really sure it’s a good idea even if Annit does want to jump up a power level, because there’s no going back."
Shayma repeated that to Keri, then added a question of her own. "I can see why Annit is worried about how strong she is, but what about you? She really only needs to worry about protecting you if you’re going out adventuring, and you don’t need to. You didn’t when you were at Wildwood."
"Cities aren’t where people need help," Keri pointed out. "Okay, maybe they do but not the type of help I mean. When I was very little there was a mana-spring flare near where I lived, and Tekaomi was there keeping everyone alive." Shayma nodded, though the name didn’t mean anything to me.
"That’s what I want to be," Keri finished. "I go where there’s trouble and I fix things. But to do that, I need to be able to handle it and since Annie will always come with me, she does too."
"You do know if you tie yourself to Blue more completely, you’re going to have less choice about where you go, right?"
Keri snorted.
"Blue’s already opposite the mage-kings and he’s a Power. I don’t think we’re going to stop fighting any time soon. There’s probably nowhere I could go that we would be more needed, at least for now."
"Well that’s fun to think about. Thanks, Keri." Shayma giggled, but I continued. "Anyway some of the stuff I’m working on is probably pretty potent, so she doesn’t have to worry about going to such extreme lengths, probably. Not that I find them unattractive or anything! I just actually like them and I don’t want to mess up their relationship."
"I was beginning to worry about that!" Keri laughed. "Thought maybe Blue was trying to let us down easy."
"If I had a breeding station built I’d probably be looking for excuses to get them into it, but you don’t have to tell her that."
"No, that’s not something you have to worry about." Shayma said with a giggle.
"So what is this Companion thing all about anyway? I know you’re one, but there’s something else going on?"
"Yes, I made a Bargain with Blue in his capacity as a Power." Shayma nodded. "Companions…" Shayma paused to marshal her thoughts for a moment. "Blue gets a link to them, so he can see through their eyes, and then can use their skills to boost his, and his to boost theirs."
"There’s more, keep in mind you’re only companion level six. There’s probably more stuff at seven, nine, and ten. Not to mention whatever things I just haven’t figured out."
"The thing about him seeing through our eyes...Annie’s already uncomfortable with him able to…" Keri blushed, suddenly. "To spy on us all the time. She doesn’t feel like she has any privacy. Is there anything he can do about that?"
"I mean. Not while you’re living in my territory! Although now that you mention it, I ought to see if I can disable the sensory input from the companion bond. If I end up with a bunch of them in the future it’d be nice to at least drop it down low. You tell Keri I’ll see about what I can do to create a privacy bubble or something, but no guarantees while they’re staying with me."
"I understand," Keri said, once Shayma had made that more intelligible. "Thank you for the answers. I’ll see about discussing it with Annie at a better time."
A few minutes later and the other two began stirring, the camp waking up as the light of pre-dawn washed across the sky. I watched them pack up and set out for the last bit of their trek to Duenn before I was distracted by something closer to home. While generally I ignored all the people going in and out of my territory these days, most of those people were near Meil, not near my mountain home. These two had arrived through the wilderness by the foothills, and their names would have gotten my attention anyway.
Sienne Ell
Level 49 [Void Duelist Inheritor]
Giorn Ell
Level 51 [Verun-Style Kinetic Champion]
Day 129 - Shayma (Part One)
They were on the final push toward Duenn, the terrain flattening out as they approached the coast, and everything seemed to be going well enough when Blue’s voice sounded in her ear.
"Um, Shayma? We have a problem."
"What is it?" His tone sparked a little thread of fear twisting through her gut, because he sounded actually worried. Fears of Tor Kot launching an assault while they were away flitted through her head, along with more outlandish worries. She wasn’t at all expecting what he actually said.
"Your parents turned up on my doorstep and I have no idea what to do with them."
She laughed. Of all things, she wasn’t expecting that.
"Blue, that’s the opposite of a problem. They’re here! They’re safe! Well, there, but still!"
"Yeah but I can’t talk to them or anything! Giorn is wandering around with a fuckoff huge tree trunk looking like he wants to smash something!"
"Yep, that’s dad," Shayma giggled. "Don’t worry, he’s a big softie."
"Softie or not I have to do something to show there’s more than just wilderness around. I mean, they’ll probably find my audience chamber eventually but there’s nobody there!" She had to struggle to keep from laughing harder. Blue sounded so worried, all out of proportion for someone who hadn’t turned a hair dealing with queens and fourth-tiers.
"Just send them to Meil," she suggested. "They’ll recognize Iniri’s banner. She can tell them what’s going on."
"Yeah okay that works. I’ll put a portal through to in front of Iniri’s manor. That ought to make it obvious enough something’s going on…" Blue’s muttering trailed off as his attention shifted away. Her attention stayed forward, despite the fact that she really wanted to be back home, greeting her mom and dad. A few days earlier or later and she wouldn’t have missed them! The timing was absolutely just like her dad.
A flash of something made her drop out of [Ghost Step], and it was only after the four of them had emerged into the real world that she realized it was the end of the woodlands. A very abrupt end. While the low trees and scrub faded off just before the coast, they were too far out for that, and a few steps forward showed that a swath of land around Duenn had been cleared.
When she’d last seen Duenn, it was a cramped, sprawling city, half of it ramshackle and the other half overtall, crammed into the point where the Duerre River met the sea. The Duenn that was there now was enclosed by a precise semicircle of wall, straddling a river whose banks had been straightened. While their vantage point wasn’t high enough to see much over the wall itself, the peaks of buildings were visible in neat, orderly rows, sweeping inward to a central tower.
Duenn was no longer mostly bright-painted wood and polished sandstone. It was a stark, featureless white with black accents, as if it had been built from snow and coal. The cleared region outside of Duenn was just as orderly, with the entire span of grass trimmed completely evenly and small trees placed at precise intervals. Even the trees looked entirely too structured, with each one being perfectly symmetrical and identical.
There was no motion from the city at all, and it took her a moment to distinguish Tor Kot’s mantis things from the wall they were posted on.
"That is creepy," Cheya said, matter-of-factly. Shayma was a little surprised; she wouldn’t have thought the shadow-using [Spymistress] to be the kind of person who’d think anything was creepy. Though she had to agree that there was something eerie about the still, overly-white city.
"I just wonder why Tor Kot hates color," Annit muttered.
"This is a lot more, well, organized than Meil was," Shayma admitted. "I don’t think I’ll be able to just slip in and mingle. Assuming there’s anyone left to mingle with."
"Almost everyone from Meil was at exactly two-thirds depletion, or as close as it could get." Blue chimed in. "I bet they get some sort of benefit at that threshold, and it explains why everyone wasn’t just fully drained like Yamal. So there’s probably people in there."
"We should just watch for a few hours," Cheya informed them. "Perhaps an opportunity will make itself known."
"I don’t think the edge of that cleared area is the start of the Duenn dungeon, but I think I’m seeing another piece of that ambush spellwork stuff there instead?"
"Um, does that mean the entire city perimeter is alarmed?" Keri asked after Shayma relayed that, eyes wide. "How are you going to get in?"
"I can help Shayma bypass them," Cheya said. "But only if necessary. It does involve some risk."
"As opposed to everything else we’re doing?" Annit frowned at Duenn. "There are people alive over there, but it feels off. All stifled."
