Wild Era 2, Ch 11: Armaments

After his mana practice the next morning, Kelin returned to the crafting hall.

It had been a pleasant evening with Sandren. 

When the serious part of the conversation was finished, they’d focused more on teasing and getting to know one another.

Throughout the evening, he’d felt his anti-scrying bracelet heat up several times. There had also been more than one person moving in the shadows that Gaius kept an eye on.

He had been planning to have Gaius and a few silent spells deal with any problems, but the watchers’ levels had all been below 100 and none of them had dared to make a move.

He would have liked an excuse to capture one for questioning, but it was probably Sandren’s presence that had kept them from trying. 

Even in festival clothes, she was still an intimidating figure and well known across the city. The watchers must have known they would die before closing the distance.

He’d seen her eyes flick toward the figures a few times, so she’d noticed them, but she hadn’t let it interrupt their fun. 

He was planning to meet her again in a week or so, both to see her and to discuss the sanction plan against Verasun and Sarathia. If the guild agreed to it, it would be a strong blow against the baron.

Meanwhile, he had his own work to do.

As he sat down at the crafting bench, he pulled out a fresh scale, swiftly refined it, and turned his attention to Runic Engraving. 

The ability was at the Expert tier, so it only needed one more improvement to get to Elite. 

The best way was to challenge himself with something complex that would force him to control the power of the runes at the edge of his current limit, so he chose one of the new First Evolution talisman patterns.

It was one for obscuration, something he hadn’t inscribed yet in this life, but he would be making quite a few of them soon. 

Creating a talisman of that level with only Basic mana was doomed to failure, since it would be difficult for him to apply enough energy to the runes to sustain them. 

They would crumble before they could be fully formed, and it was likely that the energy would backlash.

Fortunately, he had his own way around that, one that would train other abilities at the same time.

He activated Blaze and felt his mana condense, but at the same time it became wilder and harder to control.

That was the opposite of what was needed, but he persisted as he began to engrave the first rune on the scale, which trembled beneath the force.

After a few moments, his mana wavered and a spiderweb of cracks splintered the surface of the scale. He grumbled and tossed it to the side.

Then he pulled out another one and started over.

Inscribing a high-tier pattern on a low-tier material required a delicate touch. Every fluctuation of the inscriber’s breathing, meridians, mana, and state of mind mattered. If anything was out of alignment, the material would explode under the contained mana.

It was an art that demanded perfection.

There were ways to stabilize higher-tier mana and make it easier, but they required either more skill or more power, like balancing a sword on top of a needle. 

If you had the skill, you could find the exact point of balance, and if you had the power, you could hang the sword in space so that nothing could move it, whether it liked it or not.

One of the simpler ways was to weave a web of mana around it or to isolate it with a Law or a spatial domain.

Right now, he could only try to take control of Blaze and balance the energy. 

He let himself fall into a meditative state as he began to slowly engrave the runes and connecting patterns onto the scale. Mana flowed through his meridians and out into the scale like a steady river.

As he was forming the first runic interchange for the mana storage sublayer, the scale began to shudder under his hand. 

The runes flared up, glowing increasingly bright as their mana fluctuated, and resonances hummed across the surface, ringing from rune to rune and filling the lines of the engraving.

The power surging from the scale was ten times greater than the first one.

Kelin grabbed the scale off the table and flicked it across the room into the testing chamber. As it hit the wall, it exploded into a rain of blazing fragments.

His breathing and mana circulation had gone briefly out of sync, which introduced a new variable to the energy he was infusing, and it had failed to balance.

He dusted off the table and grabbed another scale. This time, it was an even lower-quality Coralfire Scale. 

He refined it and got to work again.

One explosion after another followed as he destroyed more scales. The number of possible flaws was endless, with each variation in his energy causing another failure.

But slowly, as each failure pointed out another issue, it allowed him to address it and he started to bring Blaze under control.

It was like engraving with a sword instead of a stylus, but it was something he was able to adjust  to.

He took conscious control of the various parts of the task and pushed Runic Engraving to advance by modeling what it was supposed to do. He worked to smooth out the flow of his mana, to enhance its stability and depth, and to harmonize it with the runes.

Now and then, he seized complete control of the process and used his soul energy to guide the soulfire into the correct patterns, forcing it to balance.

Scales continued to explode, but his mana stability slowly improved and he was able to get through more runes before the talismans became unstable.

By the end of the first day, he was able to complete about 25% of a talisman. By the end of the second day, it moved to 60%.

On the third day, it leapt forward as he swiftly brought the final pieces together.

A Sandfire Eel Scale covered with glowing golden runes lay on the table in front of him, humming with mana. The runes blazed with light in an ornate and interlocking pattern.

The surface pattern resembled lines of script, but there were deeper layers underneath that showed the spell formation contained inside.

The voice of the Path rang in Kelin’s mind.

Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire.

You have completed one of the Crafter’s Trials.

You have created a talisman at an Evolution higher than your own.

This is a mark of great accomplishment.

You have been granted the Innate Trait: Runic Hand.

This trait grants you enhanced mana stability and a steadier hand while crafting, helping to eliminate small flaws in your work that would otherwise disrupt the process. It will be slightly easier for you to create higher-grade runes in the future. 

This Trait also grants you +10 Wisdom.

A wave of golden light spiraled around Kelin as it flooded his mind and spirit. 

He felt his mana channels grow broader and deeper, and his hands, which had been shaking from the effort crafting the runes so precisely, calmed and turned steady. 

When the voice of the Path faded away, he assessed the results and then he flexed his hands. They felt stronger than before.

Then he picked up the talisman and studied it, examining it for flaws and areas to improve.

Soul Veil Talisman.

First Evolution Talisman.

Grade: Uncommon.

Quality: Professional. 

This talisman is designed to conceal the presence of the user for five minutes. It blends their signature with sources of Elemental Fire, obscuring them from scrying and other forms of divination. It is most effective when there are many sources of Fire scattered nearby, and weakest when Fire is completely absent from the environment. It will still function, but it is easier for a trained Seer to identify the discrepancy.

It held about thirty points of mana with First Evolution density, which was several times stronger than the equivalent at the Basic Evolution.

The quality had also reached the Professional tier, which was a requirement for them to be sold in the guild shops.

The only downside to the talisman was its short duration, but once he switched over to using First Evolution drake scales, it would improve, probably to about thirty minutes.

The Crafter’s Trials were a well-known series of challenges that the Path had for crafting classes. 

There were hundreds of them, with everything from making a set number of artifacts at a certain quality to hours spent focusing on a task. 

Some of them could be repeated, like the one he’d just accomplished, as long as you did it at a higher Evolution or higher tier.

It was a way of encouraging crafters to strive harder, and to give them a chance to earn bonus abilities and traits in the same way that combat classes did while fighting.

Most of the trials took quite a while to complete, but making a higher-tier item was one that was relatively simple. 

Some of the rewards were standardized, but classes varied widely, so they were always at the discretion of the Path.

This new Trait was a good one, and it meant it would be easier to make First Evolution talismans.

He’d been planning to make Basic Evolution ones en masse, but it was worth changing the plan to focus on the higher ones instead. They would have a higher failure rate, but the results would be much more useful. 

It should also take fewer to upgrade Runic Engraving.

There were only a few hours left in the day, so he pulled out a First Evolution drake scale and got back to work.

His success rate on the First Evolution talismans was one in three, and the failed versions littered the testing chamber as they exploded one after another, adding more scorch marks to what was already there.

By the end of the day, he managed to create 20 Soulfire Veil talismans at the First Evolution. 

He looked down at the stack of glowing talismans, each of them covered with the same ornate script, and a trace of a smile flickered across his lips.

He picked up one and sent his mana into the activation sequence. 

At Level 94, it would have been a strain for most people to activate a First Evolution talisman,  but these were made with his mana.

The talisman blazed with ethereal golden flames as the runes ignited. The scale disintegrated and left only shimmering runes behind, which floated in the air. They swirled into an intricate spell form and shot toward Kelin.

The runes sank into his aura and the spell form reappeared like a shield around him, and then everything faded away, leaving only a sense of simmering heat and energy behind.

The anti-scrying bracelet on his arm grew cooler to the touch. 

He’d grown used to it feeling warm, since Verasun or others were constantly looking for him, but now some of the burden had been taken from it. 

It was difficult to assess the exact potency of the talisman, but it should be equivalent to a Level 100 or 110 spell, and the duration had indeed increased to 30 minutes.

The following day, he continued to work on the same talismans, burning through his stock of First Evolution scales.

Eventually, he had fifty of them.

He stored them away and turned his attention to offensive and defensive talismans instead. 

A new stack of scales appeared in front of him as he repeated the same process, starting with a Soulfire Blast talisman.

The design of the spell was slightly different than his old ones, but the core concept wasn’t too different. 

The new trait helped to stabilize this one as well, but some failed talismans still exploded in the testing chamber from time to time.

Before long, a finished talisman sat in front of him. 

Soulfire Blast Talisman (Uncommon: Professional).

This talisman is designed to release an intense explosion of soulfire at a chosen target. It is similar in effect to a fireball, with a concentrated blast radius. The most intense impact is within ten feet of the target, but the explosion will spread outward for thirty feet depending on the environment.

Since it was an instant spell, it didn’t matter as much that he’d inscribed it on Basic material. It was just slightly weaker than it would have been otherwise.

He activated the talisman and hurled it at the testing chamber. The scale disintegrated in the air, turning into a roaring sphere of golden flames that flew across the distance.

It exploded into an inferno of soulfire that covered the testing chamber, crashing against the protective wards.

It took a full minute for the flames to die down, and when they did, the walls were covered with fine ash.

“Good enough,” he said, chuckling slightly.

The talisman contained thirty mana, the same as the Soul Veil one, and it was as powerful as a Soulfire Bolt that he’d intensified with Blaze.

His offensive ability had just leapt upward.

He couldn’t guarantee that one of them would kill a regular monster in a Level 110 or 115 dungeon, but if one didn’t work, two would.

He just needed to have enough.

He dusted off his work area and went back to work, but this time he used First Evolution scales.

By the end of the following day, he had sixty Soulfire Blast talismans tucked away in his storage ring.

He took a break that evening to acquire more First Evolution scales and traded in most of his Basic materials, since they were no longer useful to him.

The following morning he moved on to defensive talismans. 

Before long, he had a completed one in his hand to test.

Warden’s Talisman (Uncommon: Professional). 

This talisman was created by a Soulfire Warden and is imbued with some of his innate defensive abilities. When activated, it forms a protective shield around the bearer that is capable of blocking direct and indirect attacks, including most curses or other magical afflictions.

It was a potent defensive talisman, much better than the ones he’d created in the past.

When he activated it, a shield of glowing golden symbols flared to life around him and then faded to invisibility. A subtle weight surrounded him, like the feeling of a cloak on his shoulders.

He nodded in approval, and then he turned his attention to the notification that had appeared when he completed it.

Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire.

Your Innate Soulfire Ability: Blaze has gained a tier and reached Expert.

The activation cost of this Ability has dropped from 20% to 15% of your total mana and soul energy. Spells activated under the effect of Blaze now cost 15x the mana for 8x increased density.

Previously, it had been 17x the mana for 8x the density, so between that and the lower cost to activate, it was a significant improvement in terms of efficiency.

He dismissed the notification and shifted to using First Evolution scales.

The shielding talismans were slightly trickier to create than the offensive ones and it took him longer for each one, but by the end of the day, he had thirty of them.

The next few days passed in a similar manner as he made one talisman after another. 

He switched back and forth between the offensive and defensive ones, and after he had a hundred of each, he moved on to the other two types: healing and augmentation.

Before long, he had a completed version of both in front of him.

Soul’s Rest Talisman (Uncommon: Professional).

Soulfire Infusion Talisman (Uncommon: Professional).

The healing talisman had the benefit of affecting both physical wounds and, to a lesser extent, soul wounds, which made it a useful one to keep on hand.

It was about as powerful as an Intermediate Healing potion, but the cost to make them was much less at about a gold each for a scale, so it would save having to buy some potions in the future. 

Drake scales were an expensive material and cost almost as much as a regular Level 100 core, but it was worth using them for this.

The infusion talisman was perhaps even more special, since it was effectively an amplification spell. It could be used to enhance the effect of another talisman, an artifact, or a ward.

As soon as it was applied, it would infuse the target with pure soulfire.

If it was a talisman that he’d made, it would double its strength.

He picked up the infusion talisman and pulled out one of the Soulfire Blast talismans he’d made before.

A moment later, the two talismans glowed with power as they merged together, and then he hurled the spell at the testing chamber.

The resulting explosion was massive, filling the chamber with a thunderous blast as soulfire raged against the wards. 

He gave it a grin as he turned back to his work table and started making another infusion talisman.

This was going to be fun.

With a complete set of the new talisman designs, things were looking up.

One after the other, he continued to make talismans and store them away.

Each of them was a way to eliminate his enemies and guard his path, so there was no such thing as having too many.

Two days later, as he finished another talisman, he finally got the notification he was looking for.

Congratulations, Lord of Wildfire.

Your Subclass Ability: Runic Engraving has gained a tier and reached Elite.

Runic Engraving allows you to shape your innate mana into a blade and to engrave runes on objects. The complexity of the runes is based on your level and understanding. This ability grants bonuses to the effects of the runes you engrave, with up to 30% at the Elite tier.

He dismissed the notification with a smile and then stood up from the table, stretching as he counted how many items were in his ring.

There were 621 First Evolution talismans, with 150 each of the Soulfire Blast and Warden’s Talismans, and then a roughly even split between the others at just over a hundred each.

He yawned as he stored the latest one away with them and started to clean up the crafting hall.

It had been a little over a week since he’d last seen Sandren, so he spent a moment to send her a message about another date.

Then he pulled out his staff and set it on the table.

The golden threads of soulfire that had linked the two parts together were almost invisible now, with only some flickers of light showing in between where the wood of the staff had grown along the lines and fused back together. 

It was about 75% repaired, and the soulfire runes he’d placed at the center were strong and vibrant. Their energy had spread throughout the staff, giving it a stronger presence.

So far, he’d used about 16 days of the time he’d given himself. 

He had a week or two left, but with Runic Engraving finally at Elite, it was time to decide what enchantments would go on the rest of his gear.

Next to the staff, he set a stack of new clothing, all neatly folded and waiting for enchantments.

He’d gone back to the guild shop and picked up a set of clothes made from First Evolution material. They were dark green with silver and gold accents, matching the old preference of Irian.

The experience in using Blaze constantly to engrave talismans for the past two weeks gave him the confidence to use First Evolution enchantments on them too.

That way, they would last a while and Blaze could benefit from them, unlike his old equipment, which hadn’t been capable of handling First Evolution mana.

The enchantments on the clothing would be upgraded versions of what he’d had before, mostly mana regeneration and efficiency improvements, plus an agility boost for his boots, but their power would be much higher. 

They would also be the first artifacts of his new school of soulfire enchantment.

His staff was complicated, since it needed three enchantments layered into it, but he had planned them out.

He had debated engraving an offensive or defensive spell pattern, something that could be triggered at a thought with an infusion of mana, but it wouldn’t add anything that he couldn’t do himself with slightly more effort.

Instead, he was going to focus on the nature of a mage’s staff as an amplifier, which this one already was with its 10% boost to the efficiency and power of Soul and Fire spells. 

It would get an interlocking series of three augmentation enchantments that were designed to maximize the range, area, and intensity of his spells. 

The augmentations would all be linked to the Ignite and Blaze runes for their core identity and draw on the Law of Soulfire. 

Once they were in place, the staff’s ability to boost the power of his spells should triple, or close to it, depending on the final quality of the work.

There were some smaller upgrades that he was going to work in as part of those enchantments, but they were minor additions to utility, like innate defenses that would prevent anyone else from picking up the staff.

It was already soulbound, which prevented anyone else from using it, and if it were separated from him for too long it would return within a day, but it was still possible for it to be knocked out of his hand.

Adding some protections against that and a faster returning ability was fairly simple.

With a clear goal in mind, he settled back down at the table and returned to work.

Time flowed on like mist and glowing runes filled the hall with blazing force.