High Artificer, Ch 9: Renown

Gasps echoed through the crowd as they all drew in a shocked breath.

It wasn’t just that Sam had defeated Jasperi instantly. It was his revealed status.

It was utterly unexpected for a Level 577 professor to appear, much less as an unknown and new one. That was why they were stunned. 

They’d all thought he was in the Fourth Evolution at most, and to have their view of things overturned so suddenly was a massive wake-up call. The looks they gave him instantly turned to hesitation and wariness, as well as more than one trace of fear.

Especially as they looked at his golems.  

All of the golems were Level 525, and from the way they’d dealt with Jasperi, it was obvious that it wasn’t for show.

Sam wasn’t just one professor in the Fifth Evolution. He was an entire army.

“How…are you so strong?” Jasperi forced out from where she was lying on the ground. Her voice sounded strangled. “Level 577…?! You’re almost at the Sixth Evolution! What are you doing here as a professor?!”

The blades of the golems’ halberds were stuck in the stone on either side of her, effectively imprisoning her in that small space. She was looking up at him through their crossed hafts.

“It’s time for Artificing to be better recognized,” Sam said as he looked down at her. “This is a good start. Now, do you concede the duel or should my golems show you how strong they really are?”

“I will n...” Jasperi gritted her teeth as stopped the word halfway through. She glared at him, her hands flexing as she tried to reach for her daggers again.

Unfortunately for her, the weapons were in fragments. Only bits of their grip were still in her hands. She looked down at them and then hurled them away. Her eyes were furious as she looked back up. 

Beyond a few bruises, Sam hadn’t harmed her, so the damage was mostly shock. She just hadn’t accepted reality yet.

“Very well,” Sam said as he raised his hand. “Let’s continue.”

The shield golems glowed with silver light as they raised their halberds. The weapons moved so swiftly that the air buckled around them and sent out a thunderclap of force that sent Jasperi rolling across the ground.

The eight eagles that had landed on the field raised their heads, their eyes burning as they spread their wings. Winds began to shake the area like an approaching storm.

“Stop!” Jasperi cried as she rolled across the ground. When she stopped, she looked up at the golems towering over here. 

“Fine! I concede!”

She clearly didn’t want to admit defeat, but there was nothing else for her to do.

Sam’s hand froze in the air and the golems stepped back, their weapons coming down to rest by their sides. The eagles’ wings folded back in as they returned to rest.

“I look forward to your assistance in the future,” he said. “I’m sure you won’t cause any more trouble.”

The implicit threat was clear.

If she did, they would come back here to finish what they’d started.

As Jasperi gathered herself and limped toward the side, her expression was ugly. Her attitude had disappeared, crushed under the weight of the duel. She looked bitter and unresigned, but it didn’t matter. 

He knew she would eventually uphold her side of the deal. If she didn’t, her reputation on the faculty would be ruined. 

These duels had become very important over the years since they were one of the only accepted ways to settle differences. If Jasperi ignored her promise, her days at the academy were numbered. Even her current allies would likely abandon her.

Her help would probably be the absolute least she could get away with, but that was fine. The threat of his strength would keep her in line.

Conversations from the faculty and students filled his ears. It was like the lid came off the crowd as Jasperi walked away and their words erupted everywhere.

Altey and Rolen were over on the side of the field and Sam was amused to see how bright their grins were. Rolen’s eyes in particular were as wide as saucers.

The boy knew that Sam was one of the faculty members, but until now, he hadn’t known just how strong Sam really was. The demonstration today put him not just among the higher ranks, but at the very top of the entire faculty. 

The protection Rolen gained as his student was self-evident. There was probably no one in the entire academy who would dare to touch him. Sam watched as that realization hit him, and the boy’s eyes teared up. 

Altey elbowed him in the side, pulling his attention away from those thoughts, but there was sympathy in it. She began whispering in his ear, telling him how strong Sam really was and some of the things he’d done.

Still, Sam set up a ward around them to block the conversation from getting out. He needed to give Rolen a rune tattoo soon, one that included communication.

He’d take care of it shortly. 

The rest of the crowd was possibly even more stunned than Rolen, since they were more familiar with the academy. The duel had overturned their perception of strength and the ranking here.

“How is he that high of a level?” one professor asked in disbelief. “He has to be the strongest person on campus. How come I’ve never heard of a new human who’s that strong?”

“There’s still the headmaster,” another corrected them, “but this is different. With all of those golems, he’s probably even stronger, at least before Asperio uses his domain.”

“Is this the strength of Artificing?” one of the students asked. “Why haven’t we studied it before?!”

“Because it’s stupidly expensive,” a faculty member muttered from nearby. “Only the dwarves really use it and making a single Third or Fourth Evolution golem has a horrifying cost. He has ten at the Fifth out there! Do you know how much he must have spent on those things? It probably cost more than the entire academy.”

“So he’s wealthy as well as powerful?” Someone’s ears went up as they looked at Sam in a new light. “Do you think he’s single?”

“Good luck with that,” one laughed. “Jasperi was good looking for a Winged Fury and I don’t think he cared.”

“What is his class?” another student asked more thoughtfully. “High Artificer of the Elements? Which elements? All of them? Isn’t that a little ridiculous? I thought most elemental classes only focused on one.”

“Who cares about which elements! It’s an artificing class, so it’s probably just for making golems. Enchanters do something similar. Instead of that, look at his subclass! The Lord of Silver Stars. That is the part that really matters. You don’t get a Lord class easily. He’s done some dangerous things.” 

“I thought a Lord class was related to being a noble...” a student muttered from the side, looking confused as he listened in.

“No, that’s a Title and they don’t matter by comparison,” the faculty member looked over at the student as she corrected them. “Anyone can get a title with a bit of effort and recognition.

“A real Lord-tier class is a category that is always either Heroic or Legendary in rarity, and it has something similar to a domain inherent to it, a major power that it specializes in and that it’s developed to the peak. 

“Do you see those silver stars shining in his aura and around the golems? That has to be his Lord influence. It probably enhances his creations in some way and is also why they’re called ‘astral golems.’ Maybe he uses starlight or other celestial energies to forge them? That could explain why they’re so powerful.”

“What was that gate he used to summon them,” another student asked, looking up at where it had been above Sam’s head. “It was instantaneous. Was it some type of spatial gate? Or is that part of his class for like...storing golems?”

Sam hid a chuckle.

He had other golems in his cloak and spatial bracelet, but it was more dramatic to summon them. The gate had been a portal to his avatar at Celeste and the research base, as well as its golem chamber. 

These ten golems were the strongest he’d created there so far, but there were thousands at the Fourth Evolution that were just a bit weaker. 

Astral quintessence and unlimited elemental energy went a long way toward making golems, including taking care of the material costs. His old Heroic abilities of Elemental Smithing and Componentless Scribe were key to the process, since they let him create everything he needed. 

It was just a matter of time and concentrating the energy enough, as well as the complexity of their cores. Fifth Evolution golem cores were twenty times more difficult to make than a Fourth Evolution one. 

Without that, golems really would have been impossible to create in significant numbers. The required purity of materials for high level ones meant they were nearly impossible to build, even if you met the requirements otherwise.

Although he would teach Artificing here, unless someone was lucky enough to get a class or ability that allowed something similar, it would never be their main path. 

That was why Rolen’s subclass was so important. He planned to help the boy get something similar.

He ignored the rest of the conversation as he looked toward the other eleven faculty who’d wanted to schedule duels with him, especially the three Winged Furies who had followed Jasperi.

“Your turn,” he said as he looked at them. “Who’s first? Or do all three of you want to come together. I will allow it.”

The three Furies took a step back at his words. They had been full of vigor before, but now their confidence deserted them. They looked at each other, their hesitation clear, and then the one in front spoke.

“We concede,” he said directly. “We have not made a bet, so we apologize for the request for a duel. We acknowledge your strength and will not contest your decisions.”

With that, the three began to walk away, now and then looking carefully over their shoulder to make sure he wasn’t following.

Sam ignored them as he turned his attention to the rest of the crowd, especially the other eight faculty who had planned to fight him today. Seven of them stepped forward, their heads lowered.

“I concede as well,” one said formally. “I only wished to test your strength and see what the new faculty was like, to make sure that the standards of the academy were upheld. I apologize for any offense.”

A moment later, she was gone. 

Sam didn’t bother to stop her. He had no interest in dueling with the faculty except to prove a point, and now that was made. 

Similar apologies followed from six more faculty members. 

Most of them had decided to challenge him on principle, either to gain status or to force him into some disadvantage in a political game. One had challenged him over the change to the old training hall, but now he lacked the confidence to pursue it.

Within moments, only Harsen was left out of the dozen.

The Dragon Spirit grinned at Sam as he stepped forward, his large hands raised. Hard calluses and bulging muscles defined his body. He made a fist with one hand and slammed it into the palm of his other hand, creating an explosion of sound and wind that rolled outward like a thunderclap.

“I still want to test your strength,” he said with a grin. “It was all I was interested in to begin with and I’m even more interested now that I can see your level. It is difficult to find worthy opponents who will make me go all out here.

“I’m on the faculty for Smithing and Unarmed Combat, just so you know,” he added. “Both in this form and as a Dragon Spirit. I’m the undefeated champion here in pure strength.” 

“You won’t mind if I use my golems, I hope,” Sam said with a smile. 

Harsen was Level 448, a respectable level but not something he was concerned about. Most people would have been afraid of facing ten golems and a high Fifth Evolution Artificer, but the Dragon Spirit just looked eager.

Punching him would have been satisfying, just to show off his strength as a Titan, but ultimately pointless. It was more useful to show off his artificing to the crowd some more. The golems had barely got a workout against Jasperi.

That meant he shouldn’t end this one as quickly. He’d use Harsen to show off some of his golems’ abilities.

He waited for Harsen’s nod of agreement and then raised his hand, a completely unnecessary gesture to control the golems, but it looked dramatic. 

The eagles leapt into the air and then landed again behind his back, followed by the shield golems that stepped back once, creating a squad with Sam at their head.

“Let’s begin,” Sam said as soon as Harsen took up a spot on the other end of the field.

The field’s enchantments activated, sounding a golden chime to signal the beginning of the match.

Before the sound could barely begin to spread, Harsen launched himself across the distance, trying to close the gap as swiftly as possible. 

Sam just chuckled.

His two defensive golems stepped forward, their shields slamming into the ground as their silver barrier spread out again and locked down the space around him. Instead of calling up his eagles, he waited for Harsen to arrive.

The brawler slammed into the shield in a golden blur, his large fists hammering into it like twin battering rams. Basso reverberations sounded out from the shield, rolling across the field. 

The shield didn’t even tremble. 

The only effect of Harsen’s attack was the rolling cadence of his strikes. His body was a blur as he activated a speed enhancement and strengthened his blows even more, building on his momentum to increase the damage.

He seemed to think he could break through eventually, if he worked hard enough. 

It was time to disabuse him of the notion.

Sam let the attack continue long enough so that the crowd could see just how strong the defense of his golems was. Then he sent a flicker of runes toward the eagles behind him and waved his hand.

The eight eagles launched into the air, their wings in perfect arcs like silver blades. They shot down the length of the field, turned, and flew back, displaying the energy radiating from them for everyone to see then.

Then they let out a shriek that tore apart the air as they dove at Harsen.

The lead eagle’s beak was wide open and his claws were outstretched. Behind him, the other seven eagles copied the gesture. Arcs of astral light flowed between them, intensifying on the lead one.

Harsen tried to dodge, but the eagles’ speed was as fast as lightning. Before he could block them, the eagle’s claws closed around his shoulders and clamped down. It dragged him forward as it shot back into the air, taking him with it.

Then it turned upward, arcing toward the sky.

For the watchers below Level 200 or so, things became blurry at that point, but the rest saw the truth. The eagle shot straight up into the atmosphere, past where the clouds thinned. It covered the distance in less than a second, its speed so fast it almost looked like a teleport.

Behind it, the other seven eagles followed like an honor guard. 

Harsen thrashed around and began trying to transform, but his movements were much too slow. 

Sam had fought a Fifth Evolution Dragon Spirit before, one of the reinforcements who came to Aster Fall, and he was aware that they could take on a half-real draconic form that was much larger. 

He could have dragged Harsen off the world at that point and hurled him into the Void, but instead the eagle turned, diving back toward the earth. The eagle’s claws adjusted, expanding in size as Harsen’s body changed shape.

The Dragon Spirit stretched out, transforming into a long and lithe dragon with golden scales, a fierce head crowned by horns, and two muscular arms and legs tipped with sharp claws. A long tail stretched out twice the length of his body.

The form was partially illusory, the scales as translucent as air, but it had enough mass that the eagle was able to grip onto it. 

Harsen’s tail slammed toward the eagle and his claws sliced out, drawing a trail of silver sparks as they met the astral metal of the golem’s plating, but it only left a faint white line on the surface that instantly faded away. 

The eagle’s beak opened, letting out a shriek that sent a wave of condensed sound directly at Harsen’s head. The force was so great that the Dragon Spirit’s body wavered like a cloud, losing some of its consistency. Scales along his back, an arm, and most of his tail faded away, disappearing into golden mist that struggled to reform.

Before he could manage it, they were already approaching the dueling field again. Instead of slowing down, the eagle continued to accelerate.

A bolt of silver and golden lightning crashed into the surface of the arena, echoing to the sound of an eagle’s shriek.

Then the eagle released Harsen and shot back upward, curving into a reverse arc. In an instant, it was gone into the clouds.

The Dragon Spirit lay at the center of the arena, his body twisted. The stones around him were shattered in a massive impact circle that was a hundred feet across. Fracture lines radiated through it like spokes on a wheel.

Sam walked toward the man, his expression calm. The shield golems fell into formation at his shoulders as he passed. When he reached the edge of the crater, which was embedded a dozen feet deep in the earth, he walked on the air instead, creating an even path down.

Harsen’s body was flickering and disappearing, only to partially reform a moment later. He wasn’t dead, just heavily stunned, but he wasn’t going to be moving anytime soon.

Sam stopped beside him, his golems flanking his shoulders, and looked down.

“Satisfied?” he asked calmly. “Or do you wish to continue?”

He didn’t smile or turn it into a joke. He had some respect for Harsen and it would have been insulting. The man wasn’t too badly wounded, but quite a number of bones were broken and displaced.

Dragon Spirits could take a lot of damage, partly because it was absorbed by their transformation and not their real body. He’d taken that into account when he calculated the impact.

“Satis...fied,” came a half-intelligible growl from the Dragon Spirit, who then slumped over as he drew in a deeper breath. His body shimmered, the scales disappearing as he returned to his usual appearance. 

Sam held out his hand and when Harsen took it, he pulled the man to his feet effortlessly.

“Let’s get some drinks then,” he said as he gave him a nod. “Now, if you like. If not, you know how to reach me.”

Then he looked out at the watching crowd, who were once again staring at the center of the field.

“The tour of the new Hall of Artificing and Enchanting will be in a few days. Spread the word. Everyone is welcome to come and see what happens there. Students may also sign up for classes and learn how to build golems, as well as all the related arts, from enchanting to forging. It will count as a crafting class.”

With that, he nodded to Harsen and then he turned and walked away from the arena. He left his eagles gathered around the edge, like sentinels looking inward.

The man looked around the field and at the damage, but he shrugged. 

“It’ll fix itself.” 

Then he glanced at the crowd, who were still stunned.

“If you’re a crafter and you know what’s good for you, you’ll be there,” he said sternly. “Otherwise, you won’t even know how to regret it.”

He slowly twisted his body, which crackled as bones fell back into place, and then he trudged up out of the crater. As he passed the eagles, he reached out and brushed his hand across one, hesitantly. 

Then he headed after Sam. There was a respect in his eyes that hadn’t been there before.

“Looks like the academy just got a new discipline,” he muttered.

Before Sam left the area, he looked over his shoulder at Rolen and Altey, shaping a mental message.

“Meet me in two hours at the new hall. We have work to do.”

As he walked away, he heard the crowd explode into conversation, all of them talking about what they’d just seen and what the limits of his golems were.

Eyes were fierce as they stared at the impact crater on the field and the silver eagles that were resting around it. He figured he’d leave them there for a while. 

No one else would be using the dueling field today.