Invent ~ 42!

*Ting.* There was a long pause as Joe inspected the cup before hitting it one last time with his Aspect Ingot Hammer. *Ting.*

Congratulations! Under the watchful eye of an Expert Blacksmith, you have created your first ever Rare-ranked forged item.

Skill increase: Ritualistic Forging (Student 0 -> Student I).

Item created: Ebonsteel Eternal Coffee Mug. Durability: 5,000/5,000. This mighty Coffee Mug, made from ebonsteel, offers a nigh-unbreakable defense, especially against coordinated attacks and smaller ballistics. The design was perfected throughout the ages, though this mug was first forged for a General on the front lines of the 58th of 100 waves on Jotunheim, as he struggled to defend that Plane’s first and—to this day—final city.

The Coffee Mug’s edges are embellished with small metal studs and have been set with decorative gems. Its circumference is ornamented with intertwining metalwork, and the item is ready to receive up to two minor—or one major—enchantments. It's clear this Coffee mug has yet to be used by its master. This mug was created by Joe ‘Anti-mage’ for his favored coffee elemental.

“That’s… different.” Joe squinted at his template, noting that it was indeed an aged document. “Is it just me, or does personal gear have a lot more lore attached to it?”

“Unless you’re making new stuff all the time, you’re going to be able to see some of the history attached to whatever it is you’re making.” The Expert smith had a shrewd smile on his face as he looked over the reputation he had just earned for offering a few pointers here and there as Joe worked. “Think of it as a way to always be remembered, yeah? Like when someone makes one of these particle-buildings you’re putting up, they’ll always be reminded that they weren't the first to make it. You were.”

“Not bad.” Joe’s head bobbed as he took all that information in. “I can totally get behind that. Now, at long last… Mate, your new home!”

The coffee elemental swirled into existence from Joe’s sleeve stain and inspected the coffee mug. It dripped a few ounces of hot liquid into the opening, then sloshed in excitedly. A moment later, the coffee mug and elemental began releasing light, and were soon too blinding to look at directly. Joe threw his hand in front of his face. “What’s happening?”

What? Mate is evolving!

“Elementals can evolve? That’s a thing here?” Joe looked to the smith, who shrugged and continued to watch the show.

Congratulations! Mate has evolved into AutoMate, and can now use its abilities from a storage device. No more stains on your clothing!

AutoMate has gained new abilities! Here’s a handy list!

• Auto Over-caffeinate: Similar to a traditional Haste spell, Auto Over-caffeinate increases all effects of physical and mental characteristics by 10% for 10 minutes. Can be used once per day! The negatives of this ability have been removed.
• Proper Presentation: No matter what liquid is poured into AutoMate’s Mug, AutoMate will exchange it for coffee and store the other liquid for use at another time of your choosing. Great for dinner parties, tasting amateur brews, and blocking attempted assassinations! Try storing your own blood for a handy anti-bleed IV drip at a time of your choosing!
• Eternal Ebonsteel Encasement: Once per month, AutoMate can encase your physical form in Ebonsteel and block one attack—a blow that must involve a physical component—that would otherwise reduce your health to zero. Damage absorbed cannot exceed durability, and AutoMate’s mug must be repaired in order for the durability to be regained.

In order to evolve again, AutoMate must be provided an Artifact at minimum. Remaining possible evolutions: 1.

“Abyss, Mate. Er… AutoMate.” Joe looked at the jewel-encrusted coffee mug, noting that the liquid within was so dark that peering inside was like looking into the depths of a starless sky. “That was some pretty impressive upgrading. Thank you for being so patient with me on this; I’m sure you’ve been wanting to get stronger as well.”

*Bubble!*

“Is that actual ebonsteel?” The Expert smith stepped forward, hungry eyes locked on the mug. “You used it to make a coffee mug? Are you out of your mind? I’ll give you five… no, ten thousand reputation for it right now! Twenty, if you give me a week to gather it!”

“I… this is a creature now? So, no, but thank you?” Joe regarded the template in his hand, then the panting Dwarf. “I can make another if you want to buy it, though.”

“Yes! This will allow for the repair of… ahhh. Right. Listen, don’t make it into a mug; just give me the ingots!” the Expert pleaded as he attempted to transfer reputation to the human.

Joe shook his head. “I can’t. That isn’t how my abilities work.”

“Okay, whatever you need!” The Dwarf backed down instantly, waving his hands non-threateningly.

Nonplussed over the situation—the simultaneously demanding and reticent Dwarf—Joe decided that now was a good time to take in some volcanic air. He likely had a few more days before the actual negotiations began, so he decided to take a stroll around the small bazaar that had sprung up in the ‘Elf fans’ sector which the Dwarves had cordoned off. He was looking at a houseplant—which he was almost sure housed a camouflaged listening device—when a voice next to him almost startled him into blasting out of pure reflex.

“Oh, so this is where you’ve been hiding, hmm? Somewhere my long-range hunters cannot find you, yes? Inside a volcano?” Herr Trigger stood still and smug, with Major Cleave’s axeblade pressed to his throat. He looked at her disdainfully, reaching up to flick the blade uncaringly. “Oh, yes, how scary. Please show my patrons that this is all a waste of time. I beg you… press deeper.”

“Major!” Joe barked as his personal guard moved to follow through on the taunt. “Let him go. If he’s here, that means the Elves brought him as part of their Elite unit.”

“Hmm, he can think, it seems.” Herr Trigger’s lips were twitching as he watched Joe work to comport himself and his people professionally. “You know, I never thought that my skills and desires would find such a welcome home with the Elves. Everyone told me that guns were useless. That I would never manage to make them viable in a wide market. Yet… here I am!”

“Yeah, here you are,” Joe scoffed as he observed the pressed trench coat the man was wearing in the near-sweltering heat and humidity, “using something that only you and your close allies can access. Not exactly a ‘wide market’, is it?”

“Ahh, but that is why it is oh so sweet.” The man stepped closer in an effort to loom over Joe, gazing through perfectly round lenses that Joe recognized as tiny auto-focusing scopes which could be set into position in an instant. No wonder the guy’s long-range shots were so accurate. “Only I, and those close to me, have the most powerful individual weapons in the history of the world in our palms. This gets us access to… ahh… exclusive content.”

“A whole new world, and you’re still stuck on what we already had.” Joe turned and started walking away, only for Trigger to roughly grab his arm and half-turn him.

“Stuck on…? You have no idea what I gave up to be here. I had the ideal life!” The man’s accent was gone, but Joe couldn’t place the new diction at all. Most likely somewhere in America or England, but he couldn’t be certain. The man took a deep breath, and when he spoke again, the now-clearly-fake accent was back. “Do you know why I have been able to establish my career here, micro-enchanting bullets? I had an entire workshop of my own where I painted competition-winning minis!”

“You…” Joe flexed his Exquisite Shell, and Herr Trigger’s hand lost its grip, allowing the Reductionist to fluidly step away. “You mean to tell me that you went from painting dolls for fantasy conventions to being an actual assassin? You’re right, that is quite the shift. You even modeled yourself after a cartoon character for children? I can’t even begin to imagine what your life was like. I’d compare backstories with you, but you aren’t worth my time. I think I’ll just let you read the biography when it’s written. Make sure to leave a review; I’m sure it’ll be well-received.”

Once more, Joe walked away. Three guards descended on the gunsmith, forcing him to return to his delegation, since he had been causing trouble in the town. Joe surreptitiously glanced down at a thin needle, his taglock, which he had managed to poke into Herr Trigger while he had been focused on grabbing at Joe’s arm.

Taglock: current storage, 1 drop of blood from [Herr Trigger].

“Now I don’t even need to have him in view,” Joe muttered softly as he stored the item away. “The minute he starts causing trouble, or this negotiation ends, I get to try out my new Ritual Orb setup.”

Now that the Elves had arrived, there was very little that Joe could do to improve the area without setting off alarm bells that would smash the fragile armistice to smithereens. What he could do was all the preparatory work for the moment when everything was completed. Over the next few hours, he set up a ritual to create the first monument in his town, the Ritual Ziggurat. He was so excited to make this small structure, even if he wasn’t entirely certain what it would do when it was up. He enthusiastically shrugged. “Can’t be nothing!”

Cheered up by being inane, Joe decided that he would get his bubble travel ritual ready as well. If he wanted it to work perfectly, he needed to do quite a lot of math. Gravity was different than Earth-normal here, stronger, even if he didn’t really think about it too much anymore. After accounting for the strange forces on this plane, he needed to figure out what angle would deposit him outside the city that he wanted to approach. There was a good chance that the Dwarves would blast him out of the sky if he accidentally landed too close.

Getting caught up in that plan was a fun distraction, and after a few hours of calculations, he had the ritual ready for activation. Leaving it out in the open risked someone else activating or damaging it, but that was fine by him. In fact, it made him chuckle like a villain from a children show at the thought. “If they activate it, they get sent to the Capital. Damage it… welp, it’s a Rare-ranked ritual. They can only mess it up once. We should be able to hear the explosion all the way in the Shoe if they do.”