“Well, I’ve heard of work driving people up the wall, but never floating up it in a chair.” Matt grinned.
“Well, I wasn’t able to smooth out the floor and my runners kept on getting caught, plus it’s relaxing floating around,” Dave said, defending his actions.
“It does look cool. Where do you want these ingots?” Matt asked.
“Place them in the correlating resource hoppers.” Dave waved at the factory lines off to the side.
Matt looked at a pop-up before he dismissed it from his screen. Apparently Dave’s request had turned into a quest.
“Hmm, I should check my class quests,” Dave muttered to himself. He opened his interface as Matt put ingots and materials into different bins.
Quest: Dwarven Master Smith Level 4
You must craft 1 weapon of SS quality, or 50 of S Quality with your Smithing Art (Currently 0/1 (0/50))
Rewards: Unlock Level 5 quest
Increase to stat gain
Quest: Friend Of The Grey God Level 4
Get the Stone Raiders’ Guild Hall functional
Rewards: Unlock Level 5 Quest
Increase to stats
Quest: Bleeder Level 3
Get the Stone Raiders’ Guild Hall functional
Rewards: Unlock Level 4 Quest
Increase to stats
Ability to disable Jukal Link
Quest: Librarian Level 4
Contribute to someone’s research topic
Rewards: Unlock Level 5 Quest
Increase to stats
Quest: Aleph Engineer Level 4
Help build 1 Aleph facility
Rewards: Unlock Level 5 Quest
Increase to stats
Increased access to Aleph College Knowledge
Quest: Weapons Master Level 4
One handed and shield 0/1000
Two handed 0/1000
Dual wielding 0/1000
Archery 0/1000
Rewards: Unlock Level 5 Quest
Increase to stats
Passive skills from other weapons increase from 25% when not equipped to 50%
Quest: Champion Slayer Level 4
Kill 100 Champions (85/100)
Rewards: Unlock Level 5 Quest
Increase to stats
Increased/Decreased reputation with Affinities
Quest: Skill Creator Level 2
Personally teach 1 person your Skill (0/1)
Rewards: Unlock Level 3 Quest
Increase to stats
Quest: Mine Manager Level 8
Pay 20,000,000 gold
Rewards: Unlock Level 9 Quest
Increase to mine’s output
Quest: Master Summoner Level 2
Open a rift to 10 planes (0/10)
Rewards: Unlock Level 3 Quest
Increase stats
“Hey Matt, I know you’re an artificer, and you know something about magical coding. Would you be interested in learning more?” Dave asked.
“Yes.” Matt’s head turned around so fast Dave thought he broke his neck.
“Would you say it’s a topic of research for you?” Dave wheedled.
“Yeah, sure,” Matt said, a confused look on his face.
“Boo-yah!” Dave punched a triumphant fist in the air. “All right, finish up with that and I’ll teach you about magical coding.” Dave grinned. If I can teach him, then I might be able to get Skill Creator and Librarian up a level!
“Be done in a second!” Matt moved much faster to put the ingots from his bag of holding into the various factory hoppers.
Chapter 37: Oncoming Tournament
Geswald looked out over Emaren from his office’s large windows. Day had turned into night as he lost himself in his thoughts.
“Sir?” Pete said from the doorway.
“Hello, Pete,” Geswald said, his voice as tired as he felt.
“We have got word from some of the people we know who went to Devil’s Crater. It seems that the Stone Raiders’ videos of them fighting the Demon Horde was right. They’ve made a friendship with the Devil’s Crater inhabitants and are regularly clearing out the crater of wild animals and clearing out dungeons. However, we were not able to get a reading on the strength of the Stone Raiders there. We were able to get some on those who are training in Cliff-Hill. We weren’t able to get any information on their other guild hall. We have no location for it and it seems the only way to reach it is by teleport pad. The Cliff-Hill smithies are owned by a person called Dave Grahslagg, a member of the Stone Raiders. They’re expanding into Cliff-Hill and another company also owned by Mister Grahslagg is the ceramics factory in Cliff-Hill that is expanding into Zol’Ord.” Pete stopped talking, waiting for a reaction from Geswald.
“Anything else?” Geswald knew that even if the Stone Raiders all got killed off, they could come back. They had run away from Selhi after their fight with the PKP Guild and Lord Esamael believed that they would do the same when confronted with his army.
Geswald hoped it would go as Esamael planned.
“It seems that any of the Stone Raiders who desire to join the tournament will make their way directly to the mountains where the tournaments are being held. They have the gold for it and the guild wants to show off their strength.” Pete paused, as if wondering the best way to continue.
“Out with it.” Geswald looked to Pete, feeling better after knowing that the majority of the Stone Raiders would be far away, unable to interfere.
“Alamos of the mage’s college was at the Verlun location. It seems that one of our people we sent to make the Stone Raiders look bad was incapacitated and then escorted out. We could have spun it to make them look bad, but Alamos was in the store and agreed with the Stone Raiders’ treatment of the mage. He expelled the man as soon as he returned to the college and made it clear that the mages of the college reflect on their institution. Any behavior that is unbecoming of a mage’s guild or college student will be reprimanded and punished accordingly,” Pete said.
Geswald’s eyes thinned as he took a deep breath in. “Interesting.” Geswald pondered. “Seems that the mages support them, and have given them some added protection. Let’s see if we can’t reach out to those who don’t agree with this current ruling. See if we can’t use them later. Also, see if we can decrease prices here and make the stores that the mages deal with more appealing than the Stone Raiders’ in Verlun.”
“Also, the adventuring guild, while they haven’t made it public, most of their chapter houses refer to the Stone Raiders as an ally. The Stone Raiders give them a discount and assist the guild but don’t pay fees,” Pete said.
Geswald snorted.
“With the decreased prices, the adventurer’s guild is getting a lot more from the Stone Raiders than they could get with their fees. Also allows them both more freedom.”
“I have heard that the trader’s guild want to increase their ties to the Stone Raiders as well as Dave Grahslagg’s businesses. They assisted with helping the people of Devil’s Crater. Being such a new secured village within Ashal, it is sure to grow into a city with both its natural and manned defenses. The fact that there are dungeons within their walls and not too far beyond is sure to attract all manner of people,” Pete said.
“Yes, which is making it much harder for me to apply pressure and still not go against what the guild’s leadership is telling me.” Geswald pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a loud and frustrated exhale.
“I know it’s not my place, but it seems that the Stone Raiders are becoming quite a powerful force in Emerilia.”
Geswald let the tension in the room grow.
“It does, doesn’t it? I wish we had a way out of this mess, but we’re in too deep. Esamael has given us assurances, and based on what the Stone Raiders have done in the past and how they will be playing in a tournament, we should be okay. There are just a few hundred of them.” Geswald waved his hand as if it were a moot point. He didn’t know the full power of Esamael’s forces but from what
he had gathered, it was around a half million strong.
More than enough to deal with the Verlun hall.
“They’ve been recruiting. They’ve got nearly five hundred in training camps, or being cycled through Devil’s Crater for training. Their vetting process is in-depth. We haven’t been able to get anyone in and while they don’t hire the highest-leveled people, they take on those who are driven and believe as they do,” Pete warned.
“Our cards have been played. All we can do now is try to stack the rest of the deck in our favor.” Geswald felt more tired now than when he had started talking to Pete.
***
Dave watched as Matt used the carver. His runes were a mess but they were easy enough to read.
With computers, keyboards, and voice recognition, there really wasn’t that much of a need to learn how to write with a pen and pencil back on Earth. Maybe it’ll be easier for the POEs to get the writing aspect while the Players can understand the coding method better—maybe pair them up?
Dave snorted, already starting to plan out the best way to teach his magical coding to others. He’d made a ton of interesting things with his simple magical coding, but there was just one of him. If he could have a dozen coders, he could spread the load out, all of them refining Magical Circuits and coming up with new code.
It could be a magical coding revolution! Dave focused back on Matt’s work with a smile on his face.
Matt finished off his final rune, ending it with the Xelur symbol of end. He looked at it, as if expecting it to explode.
“Okay, now let’s put it in the test cage.” Dave clapped Matt on the shoulder.
“Okay.” Matt put it into one of the machines Dave had created to ease his magical coding.
There was a line of code in a box, with four lines of code depicting different corners around the inner box. Matt placed the piece of metal into the inner box.
He pushed a switch on the side of the outer box. It lined up the runes, activating the Mana barrier in the outside box. He turned on another switch; the metal floated.
“Hmm, might be an idea to make a control bracelet, easier than having to conjure runes into my armor,” Dave muttered to himself, looking to his spear bracelet. Adding in the ability to turn it on and off and allow someone without the conjuring skill to change its outputs was pretty revolutionary.
Maybe add a higher powered ability to the bomber runes engraved on the DCA’s armor? He shook his head, concentrating on the metal band as Matt turned a dial also placed into the table next to the testing station.
The runes below the metal lit up; the runes engraved into the metal started to glow. The magical code didn’t store much power but it should be enough to activate it.
“Well done.” Dave grinned as the metal vibrated slightly and then settled back down.
“Thanks.” Matt took a shuddering breath and grinned nervously. The last ones had blown up rather spectacularly; the runes had not been deep or refined enough and the energy escaped randomly, and there was no power control. The metal had filled with energy and continued going, making it unstable and adding another black mark to the testing station.
“Well, let’s see what you’ve made.” Dave smiled. He understood some of the runes but he’d let Matt pick and choose what he wanted to make.
A thin beam of crackling energy extended out from the metal. It was hazy and sparks flew off from it.
“You’re losing power from minor problems in the coding. Need to work on your carving skill.” Dave studied the item.
Matt nodded, waiting, eager to learn more.
“Also, your shaping is not the best. If you’re trying to make a Halo sword, you should have used Aleph and Ooinfa runes,” Dave said with a reproving glance.
Matt looked downtrodden with Dave’s remarks.
Dave couldn’t keep the look up. Breaking into a smile, he excitedly clapped Matt on the shoulder, making the man stumble slightly with the Dwarven power behind it. “But it’s a damn sight better than my first tries!” Dave laughed.
Matt broke out into an embarrassed and proud smile.
The metal fizzled and shuddered. The runes were melting slightly with the power going through them. Dave flicked the power off. The sword’s five-inch-long Mana blade faded. Sparks ran across it before dying.
“I just got the skill magical coding.” Matt looked at a window on his interface.
“Boo-yah! We’ve got a lot more to do, but Mana sword—I didn’t think of that. Pretty cool. Might have to try that out.” Dave deactivated the testing station and pulled out the metal.
“It says that I get a bonus in learning magical coding by learning from you because you’re the original skill creator,” Matt said with clear shock. His shock turned to excitement.
“Much to learn, you do,” Dave said in his best wise old goblin voice.
Matt let out a big belly laugh.
Dave joined in before he handed over the metal. A pop-up blurred in his vision.
New Active Skill: Teacher
Well. Hello again there! Looks like you can teach an old dog new tricks! And even old dogs can teach others new tricks... Or something like that...Well, at least, you aren’t running around in circles trying to catch your own tail, most of the time. Just boring the hell out of people with your damned lectures! Why did I have to get stuck with this guy? Can I get some adrenaline junkie? I’m calling HR!
Level: Apprentice Level 3
Effect: You can teach people skills that you have prior knowledge of, up to your level of ability. Your students are 5% more likely to understand what you’re teaching them. Teaching on subjects you have a higher knowledge on will yield higher results. Teaching skills you have mastered or created give a higher chance for students understanding your lessons.
Dave rolled his eyes; he’d missed whatever weird AI was making up his descriptions. Seemed they were pretty bored. “Maybe I’ll meet them one day.” Dave shrugged and pushed the pop-up aside, and found two more.
Dave laughed to himself.
Class: Librarian
Through tireless research, you have taken the written word and used it in a practical sense. Beware the nerd who studies; they’ve got a dozen ideas others haven’t even thought of yet.
Status:
Level 4
Effects:
+80 Vitality
+30 Endurance
+60 Strength
+60 Agility
Class: Skill Creator
You have gone beyond regular skills, mastering them in the pursuit for more. You have created a new skill in your endeavors
Status:
Level 2
Effects:
+40 Intelligence
+40 Endurance
+40 Willpower
“All in a day’s work.” Dave felt the rush as his body adapted to the new stats. Might be an idea to just sit around, do some training with other people than just grind out levels. With more classes, it makes it much easier to increase my stats. Dave pondered and opened his character sheet.
Character Sheet
Name:
David Grahslagg
Gender:
Male
Level:
148
Class:
Dwarven Master Smith, Friend of the Grey God, Bleeder, Librarian, Aleph Engineer, Weapons Master, Champion Slayer, Skill Creator, Mine Manager, Master Summoner
Race:
Human/Dwarf
Alignment:
Neutral Good
Unspent points: 366
Health:
26,300
Regen:
10.66 /s
Mana:
7,980
Regen:
23.55 /s
Stamina:
3,240
Regen:
21.00 /s
Vitality:
263
Endurance:
533
Intelligence:
798
Willpower:
471
Strength:
324
Agility:
420
Dave took a deep breath; his eyes and runes glowed slightly with the influx of power. It settled down, Dave feeling refreshed and stronger than ever.
“Okay, so, what did you learn from your first success?” Dave looked to his student.
“I need to work on my carving.” Matt winced.
“Well, yes, but what about the coding, the power output, everything and anything!”
“The runes weren’t the best made, which was making the power unstable and messing with the coding. I need to refine my carving for that. I can see why you now use so much silver in runes. Their ability to stabilize and help the magical coding work will be a lot of help in larger productions. I also was trying to do way too much. If I had scaled down the output, then I could have sustained the blade for longer. I also thought more about form over function. If someone’s hand had been on that blade, they would have been getting a surge of Mana right through their hand.” Matt winced.
“Well, you’re learning.” Dave smiled and slapped Matt on the back. “We’ve got a long path ahead of us.”
Dave’s smile flickered slightly, thinking of all the challenges in their future.
And the Players don’t even know simulation from reality.
Dave’s resolve firmed. He would do everything he could to get his friends and those he called his family ready for what was to come.
Epilogue: A New Pantheon
The Dark Lord waved his hand at the air. The spell took a lot of power, what was worth five months of his old follower’s devotions.
Boran-al shivered in excitement at his lord’s newfound power. Space seemed to distort, tearing open a hole through it. The Dark Lord walked through the shimmering portal without a care.
Emerilia Series Box Set 2 Page 68