Dave took off all of his rings and his librarian necklace, replacing them with rings that would enhance his Willpower as well as his Endurance and smithing skill. Dave looked over his workplace before he looked into the fires once again. He had adjusted to the heat, now letting it hit him in violent waves. He smiled slightly at the Mithril that sat untouched in the center of the forge.
Jung Lee, had been watching for a number of hours, smiled as Dave put his hands into the furnace. Mithril seemed to form on his hands and gray Mana pooled from his hands. Runic lines across Dave’s body lit up with mana, grey runic lines appeared on his bare skin, a smoke drifting off from them. His eyes glowed with a similar light. His hair was wild and his body bent in fatigue but each movement was done with precision wholly focused on what lay in front of him.
Dave submerged his consciousness into the Mithril. He poured Willpower into those bonds, breaking them with his strength. As soon as they were broken, it was as if a dam had broken. The Mithril moved like putty under Dave’s hands, growing into various shapes. Dave moved from one piece to another: in his hands, an ingot would turn into a bracer; another two would turn into armor plates for the groin. Five ingots spread outward, becoming one back plate.
As Dave’s eyes glowed and he stared down upon the Mithril, his one hand created a connection between him and the Mithril. His other hand would pull out different materials from his pouch, adding them to the Mithril, altering their chemistry.
Dave rolled and turned the Mithril before expanding it outward into the shapes that it would form. In the forge, pieces were placed down, creating the outline of a suit of armor.
Dave wiped his brow, drinking from a potion to restore Stamina and also another to buff his Endurance and Willpower. Dave was tired from forming that sheer amount of Mithril. When he had first become a master smith, he had passed out from making just two simple breast plates.
Now these breast plates had lines carved into them, waiting for the soul gem construct as well as carvings in the back of them for parts that were to be added.
Dave put down the potion bottle, slightly panting. His face was covered in soot. Time had no meaning for him as he let out a deep breath. He placed different metals into the forge, heating them up once again.
He placed his right hand on the Mithril armor and the left on the metals he had added back into the forge. “Merge.” Dave’s low and rough voice rumbled with power as the newly added metals obeyed.
They combined together into various magically coded components, simplified down to runic lines. A number of them were hollow inside, awaiting the soul gem construct.
In front of Dave, multiple pieces floated up into the air. The different metals would turn from amorphous blobs into components that made up different sheets or sections.
Once all the components were finished, they came together perfectly.
The forge glowed as the Mithril plates floated upright in the air. The smaller components came together, interlinking with the larger parts and inserting themselves into the Mithril armor.
There were tens of thousands of parts and magical runes, thousands of components and hundreds of systems—all of them combined together, perfectly made for one another as they created one whole. The armor was connected and compiled.
The last of the pieces were coming together when the inflexible soul gem construct shot toward Dave, passing over his shoulder and stopping inside the chest of the armor. It spread outwards a nucleus in the center of it all.
It grabbed onto the different parts, flowing through the recesses that had been made for it and sealing over the components that lay under the armor.
The armor plates stopped being sections and started to become a whole. Dave beckoned with his hand; the armor floated out of the furnace as the soul gem construct worked its way through the interior of the armor. The armor glowed from inside with the power of the soul gem construct. From the ceiling and floor, Dave commanded the room’s soul gem construct to reach out toward the armor, supporting it and powering the soul gem within.
On the table, the flexible soul gem construct had completed its work.
With a wave, Dave raised up the flexible soul gem construct. It was shaped like the armor. However, its form followed the runic lines of the armor; it didn’t work to cover it like the inflexible armor did. It had connection points that would allow Dave to freely move his limbs while keeping the armor linked all the time. With the first and second generation Abscondita armor, Dave had needed to use bolts and pivots in order to connect the various pieces of armor that he wore.
The flexible soul gem construct was much larger than the armor, encompassing it before shrinking down in size to match perfectly with the runic lines that ran across the body of the armor, connecting to the legs and running down the leg bracers.
Dave paid special attention to the bracers and their multiple rotating bracelets. They carried small runic lines that would allow him much greater control over his armor, only needing him to move a bracelet instead of needing to conjure and destroy runes within his armor.
On the shoulders of his armor, the flexible soul gem spread out behind the armor, like tree roots, creating an overlay for the cloak.
Dave had a tired expression on his face. His body was covered in sweat and grime and his mind was becoming fuzzy.
He made a grabbing motion. The Dragon-scale cloth appeared in his hand. Dave’s soul smithing art didn’t just work with the Mithril. He was also able to break the bonds of the Dragon-scale cloth. The cloth seemed to burst apart, covering everything in the room.
After some time Dave’s vision cleared as he looked upon his armor.
The cloak fluttered in the air slightly, the cloth pervaded by soul gem runic lines that extended over the shoulders and down the length of the armor to its shoes. Lines ran from the neck to the ankles and down the shoulders to the Dragon-scale gloves with Mithril-reinforced knuckles.
The Dragon-scale cloth lay as the base; covered by soul gem construct, components integrated with the Mithril armor and soul gem construct were completely hidden.
The flexible soul gem constructs were gray where they created runic lines but at the joints, they were wholly integrated with the Dragon-scale cloth, making them one single material.
Dave pulled out the hood that Bob had given him so long ago. It flew from his hand and connected to the back of the armor. Threads of the soul gem construct weaved into the material of the hood, forming runic lines across it.
Dave looked at his armor.
With every piece, among the materials, he had added his own blood and worked it with his Willpower, wholly saturating it with his power.
Dave sat down heavily on a chair, simply staring up at the armor that was suspended in midair, soul gem construct connecting to it.
“I’ll call it Lux,” Dave said, his voice rough as he looked ready to collapse.
He looked at the armor until he fell asleep, ignoring the notifications on the side of his screen.
Chapter 18: To War’s Edge
Deia was sitting in Ice City, playing with Koi as she looked out over the city from her balcony.
Dave had been sequestered in the weapons facilities when she’d first arrived. Jung Lee had told her that he was working on a new set of armor.
Deia had left him to his work and instead spent her time with Koi and the other children of the Dracul family, her family.
Her father, who was also in Ice City, working at the refinery, was also with her.
“So you’ve been having fun here?” Deia fed Koi as her father Mal fed his son, her brother, Desmond. For Elves it wasn’t odd having a brother or sister that was hundreds of years different in age.
“It’s been so much more than I ever thought it would be,” Mal admitted, an excited gleam in his eye as he looked out over the city. “There’s so many brilliant ideas here and I’ve actually increased in strength in leaps and bounds with all that I’ve learned here. Water and his people work with the various mi
ning projects, with the ice asteroids, to the ice planet. They’ve really turned into chemistry savants and have been working with me and the dwarven master smiths to make different compounds that might help us as well as create water and sewage systems that work for the entire city. All of the Dracul family members have been pitching in all over the place. Here they can freely reveal their Dragon form and unleash their power. With their strength, we’ve been able to make things that should take years in mere weeks.” Mal let out a laugh, shaking his head in disbelief. That look of excitement only grew stronger.
Deia smiled, seeing that similar look in Dave’s eyes when he was stuck in his work or started talking about it. Seeing that passion that both of them held for their work, Deia could only smile at their clear happiness.
“How goes the training?” Mal turned to Deia. Seeing Desmond was making a mess of his food, Mal sorted that out.
“Training is nearly done.” Deia’s smile turned solemn. “In three days, we will begin our counterattack.”
“So soon?” Mal let out a deep breath as he finished cleaning Desmond up.
“Yeah. I wish we had more time, but at this point they’re as ready as they’re going to be. We’ve worked together to develop tactics and they’re used to the different ways of the flying citadels. Tomorrow we’ll raise the flying citadels and move them to the Xelur’s portal in the Densaou Ring of Fire near Egas Nation,” Deia said.
“Look after yourself.” Mal gave Deia a deep look.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll be okay,” Deia said.
“It’s hard for a father to send his daughter off to war.” Mal looked much older than his outward appearance.
Deia placed her hand on his and squeezed it. “I’ve got Dave and all of Party Zero. We look after one another.”
“I know, but still...” Mal had a sad and forced smile on his face as he looked to Deia.
“I heard that you had some guests,” Deia said, changing the subject.
“Yes, humans who escaped humanity’s destruction and are hiding out somewhere. They have a stealth ship sitting out near the asteroid base, putting out observation platforms to watch over the system. There’s even talk of them establishing an outpost in the system, which might allow us to share ideas and get closer to them,” Mal said, forcing himself out of his dreary thoughts.
“Dave talked about them but I never thought that we might meet them here,” Deia said.
“It seems that everything is coming together at an alarming pace,” Mal agreed. “We’re just rolling with it. Hopefully it all turns out well, but right now we’re just riding a wave of production and innovation. We’ve got more people coming over every day and we’re even going to start reviving people from the Earth simulation in the near future. Air has been around a lot, talking to Bob. She brought a number of people with her who are to ease the players’ transition from the simulation into reality.”
“That’s going to be one hell of an undertaking,” Deia said. Koi had finished eating, so Deia put her over her shoulder, to burp her.
“Yeah.” Mal nodded. “They’re going to have millions of people to deal with. Jeeves is working with them to make up an AI that can help with the transition—there’s simply too many people to deal with individually. In the meantime, we’ve got to expand Ice City and all of our facilities in order to accommodate them.”
Deia focused on dealing with Koi as they lapsed into silence.
“All that you’ve been able to do here—even I had no idea of the extent that Dave, Malsour, Bob, and Steve had pushed the boundaries,” Deia said suddenly.
“Your fiancé is an impressive man,” Mal said with approval.
Deia blushed, looking at Koi, who was now closing her eyes, a sleepy and content look on her face.
“That he is,” Deia said quietly, a proud smile on her face.
***
“Oi! You want to keep it down!” Jekoni yelled as he entered the room that Dave was in, snoring his head off.
Dave woke with a snort and looked around blearily as Hat moved to Jekoni, who floated at the doorway into the room, looking at the armor that Dave had made with wide eyes.
“Hey,” Dave said sleepily, rubbing at the big white circles around his eyes caused by the goggles he’d worn while working. The rest of his face and clothes were covered in a layer of black soot.
“Lux,” Jekoni said, his voice almost reverent as he glided toward the armor that was still suspended in the middle of the room.
Jekoni passed Dave, looking at the armor, his face slack.
Dave groaned at the blinking notifications that were annoying him. He opened the notification panel, waking up as he went through the descending list.
Quest Completed: Dwarven Master Smith Level 9
You must craft 4 Weapons of Power, 30 weapons of SS quality, or 250 of S Quality with your Smithing Art (Currently 4/4, 0/30, 0/250)
Rewards:
Unlock Level 10 Quest
+10 to all stats
900,000 Experience
Class: Dwarven Master Smith
Status:
Level 9
Effects:
Allowed access to all Dwarven Mountains and smithies.
Allowed to take on smithing apprentices.
+90 to all stats
Access to special quests.
Quest: Dwarven Master Smith Level 10
You must craft 5 Weapons of Power, 50 weapons of SS quality, or 500 of S Quality with your Smithing Art (Currently 4/5, 0/30, 0/250)
Rewards:
Unlock Level 11 Quest
Stat Increase
Level 255
You have reached Level 262; you have 35 stat points to use.
Dave opened up his character sheet, placing twenty-five into his Willpower to recover some of that he had used on the armor, placing the remaining ten into his Intelligence stat.
Character Sheet
Name:
David Grahslagg
Gender:
Male
Level:
262
Class:
Dwarven Master Smith, Friend of the Grey God, Bleeder, Librarian, Aleph Engineer, Weapons Master, Champion Slayer, Skill Creator, Mine Manager, Master of Space and Time, Master of Gravitational Anomalies
Race:
Human/Dwarf
Alignment:
Neutral Good
Unspent points: 0
Health:
52,060
Regen:
25.32 /s
Mana:
16,630
Regen:
62.45 /s
Stamina:
5,770
Regen:
53.15 /s
Vitality:
5206
Endurance:
1,266
Intelligence:
1,663
Willpower:
1,249
Strength:
577
Agility:
1,063
“Nice,” Dave said, a pleased smile on his face. As he looked up at the Lux armor, a prompt appeared in front of him.
Lux Armor
Forged by Dave Grahslagg, this armor that was once hidden is now revealed.
Quality: Weapon of Power
Defense: 32,514+ (Mana Barrier with enough power)
Abilities: Mana Barrier
Mana Shield
Orb control
Control hub for linked devices
Power hub for linked spells/devices
Storage devices
Mana bolt projectors
Heat exchanger
Cold exchanger
Automated Mana Siphon
Automated Soul Siphon
Automated Self-Repair
Automated Self Heal
Increased Agility and Strength (base 15%)
Grows in strength with user
Manipulation possible (Associated values liable to change due to creator’s changes and level of charge)
Telepor
tation ability (group and individual)
Armor Link (Users can share their power and link capabilities. If one armor is fully charged, then it will feed power to the other to charge it.)
Charge: 3,450,845/10,000,000 (Linked Armor 32,514,383/36,000,000)
Durability 51,574/51,574
Active Skill: Soul Manipulation
Level: Master Level 5
Effect: Tools you make to manipulate souls and their energy is 95% stronger. Able to use soul energy to fuel spells. 30% increase to soul energies reserves (can only be used for spells; does not act as extra Willpower points).
Cost: Dependent on creation.
Active Skill: Soul Smith
Level: Expert Level 9
Effect: 81% less soul energy necessary for crafting with soul smith.
Cost: Dependent on creation.
Active Skill: Builder
Level: Master Level 8
Effect: Speed and efficiency is doubled. Creations material cost is reduced by 40%.
Required: Tools
Active Skill: Smithing
Level: Master Level 8
Effect: 99% improved quality of smithing creation. 40% chance to imbue metal with innate skill. Able to analyze items made of stone, iron, steel, silver, malachite, gold, ebony, and Mithril, aluminum, titanium.
Dave laughed out loud, punching his hand into the air, and nearly dropped from the seat he’d passed out in. A smile split his face as he was filled with a sense of pride and joy in his work.
He was tired, hungry, and he was still regenerating the energy that he had expended on the armor. However, he couldn’t refrain from expressing his excitement. Laughing and whooping loudly, he quickly gathered Jung Lee’s attention, who had been carefully working on different projects within his workshop.
He entered the workshop that Dave had taken over to work on his project. A smile blossomed on his face at Dave’s euphoric look at the armor.
Emerilia Series Box Set 4 Page 72