Emerilia Box Set, page 68
part #1 of Emerilia Series
Dave bit his lip in thought as he turned to the Affinities.
Affinity Levels
Dark
58
Light
35
Air
39
Water
25
Earth
48
Fire
37
They were getting rather high, and the fact that there was only a difference of about twenty between his Affinities was probably why Jesal was frowning, as if not understanding what the heck she was seeing.
Most had one Affinity that far exceeded the others. Dave was 58 in Dark Affinity; it would make more sense if he was 5 in Light. The two competed yet, somehow, he was skilled in both. In the end, it came to his conjuration as he used all of the Affinities in order to conjure.
His Dark was higher as he knew the most about elements of the Dark items, such as metals. It also went back to what he knew of back on Earth: he’d tinkered with a few rockets here and there, but he also worked with forges and understood the different effects fire had on different objects. He knew the various states of water, how it could change the compositions of different things, but he didn’t know it as intimately, which was why he didn’t have such a high Affinity in it.
Air—well, his damned rockets had to make it out of Earth’s atmosphere when he’d been on Earth. Applying that knowledge and showing his understanding of air had increased it.
His stats were a reflection of his knowledge and his capabilities.
Once I get them higher, then I can start to look at the real damned projects. He smiled, thinking to himself about the various drawings he’d made on his interface’s notepad, completely secure and away from prying eyes.
“Soul manipulation?” Jesal asked.
“What about it?” Dave asked.
“It says that you have been dabbling in the Dark arts for building your weapons,” Jesal said, not looking pleased. Durn started at Dave oddly.
“Well, you know how we enchant things with soul gems?” Dave asked.
Jesal nodded.
“Okay, well, I kind of went and looked into how to make soul gems. It meant I had to understand the very basics of soul gems, the Dark containers that Dark mages created, then into how it was used like a power source for those with limited understanding of magic. Well, I needed something a little better, so I went and started playing with soul gems, changing them around. Meant that I got to know the ways souls worked pretty well. Then I got to study some daggers that were big ole soul-powered nasties and, well, learned a bit more. Had to delve into the Xelur Demons’ information. Then, when I was fighting at Boran-al’s Citadel, I manipulated the souls of the cultists and the Undead Demon Lord to my use.” Dave left out the fact that he had used the souls of the people on his side.
He thought that they might get all religious on him. Souls were simply energy here; through everything he looked, only the twisted people thought of souls as people. In reality, they were just a power vacuum. When the cultists had sealed their “souls” to their bodies, they’d sealed their consciousness. When a person died on Emerilia, they were gone but a “soul” of energy was left behind.
Players were different, as their consciousness was uploaded at the very moment of their death and this was then put into a new body.
It was just power for the using, but people got all freaked out because it was the Dark mages who found it first. They were just looking for another way to get a lot of power, save it up, and then use it when they needed it.
Dark mages, always looking to make the biggest and baddest impression.
“What did you use this on?” Jesal asked.
Dave scratched his head. “Can we go somewhere?”
Jesal tapped the hammer at her waist in thought. “Come. Durn, you might as well come—otherwise you’ll be pestering me for decades.”
Durn smiled as Jesal led them out of the smithies and into a break room. There was food, drink, and safety equipment around. A few people were talking; they waved and nodded to Durn and Jesal as they passed.
Jesal walked to a workshop that had seats and different furnaces and anvils around. It was a classroom, complete with a forge facing the others and a chalkboard.
Dave checked the windows and closed the door behind him. “Give me a sec.” Dave opened his interface.
Jesal’s hand lowered to her hammer.
“What kind of sensing ability do you have?” Dave asked using quick commands to change his outfit to preset leather pants and cotton shirt.
“What kind of question is that?”
“Well, I don’t know if you’ll be able to see through the different layers.”
“Different layers of what?”
“The armor. Kind of made it so that it is pretty damned hard to see all the layers.” Dave rolled up his sleeves revealing runes across his arms. Jesal’s eyes went wide; Durn moved closer as they studied the runes across his arms and under the collar of his shirt.
At least they don’t look too horrible for battlefield tattoos. Probably a good idea not telling them where I was when I added them to my body.
“I don’t even know many of these runes.” Durn looked at the markings.
“Nor I.”
“Ahh, well, that’s because I didn’t use just the Dwarven lexicon of runes. I went and found a few different languages of them. It was a pain in the ass,” Dave said.
“Why did you do this?” Jesal asked.
Dave smirked. “Check the armor.”
Jesal took the armor and turned it over in her hands. “Simple steel armor. Rather thick. Trace elements of...” Jesal’s eyes went distant as her face pinched together, as if finding something she wasn’t expecting. “Ebony and silver sheets, very thin, turned into a composite magical rune.” Her face opened up as she shook her head, her eyes still unfocused as her hand moved over the armor.
“Damn, that is fucking complex. Multiple three-dimensional circuits and formations that can create multiple variations of Magical Circuits. There are a few complete circuits for power draw and release as well as passive defenses, though the majority of the formations and circuits aren’t complete—as if they’re missing a few runes here and there. I don’t understand all of the runes and the way that they’ve been put together. Though I can feel their disjointed Man... Holy fucking tin men.” Jesal’s eyes focused on Dave.
“Do you want to blow the mountain up with that kind of soul gem! How the fuck did you even find it!?” Jesal demanded.
“Ahh, well, that whole soul manipulation thing was so that I could better link to the armor, for the power source. What I had found wasn’t good enough for my needs, so I had to go and make a new one. Thus, what you’ve got in your hands.”
“You made a soul gem?” Durn asked.
“No!” Jesal cut off Dave before he could explain. “He took the idea of a soul gem, tipped it on its head, pounded it apart with a damned power hammer, and then reformed it together into something that might kind of, barely, be related to what we know of soul gems.” Jesal’s serious face turned into a grin and then a smile. “It’s fucking awesome!”
That more than anything made Durn look scared as Jesal started to mutter to herself and looked over the armor again.
Dave pulled on his shirt again, waiting a few minutes.
“Jesal,” Durn said.
“What?” she asked, going back to muttering. “Those layers—might need some alterations. Maybe his own forging techniques might help him. If not, need to get Horkum to mess with it. Horkum would ruin this little beauty.”
“Will you take me on?” Dave asked, trying to disturb her muttering.
“Huh? Oh, you’re still here? Well, yeah, I’ll take you on. Even with your limited understanding, you went to the damned limits, boyo. Never thought of anything like this in all my years. No wonder Kol was going nut-bag about making you a Dwarven smith. This thing is—well, fuck, it might be better than some of the sex I’ve had.” Jesal looked up to the ceiling as Durn held his head in his hands, shaking it.
“Nope, take that back—better than most of the sex I’ve had.” She nodded as if agreeing with the statement and stroked the armor.
“Can I get that back?” Dave pointed to it.
Jesal turned it away from him, waging an inner battle before turning back and giving it to him. “Okay, well, I’ll teach you how to really forge. Then you’re telling me about how you made that damned thing. I’ve seen a few Legendary weapons, but that is clearly one of them. Damned thing is a piece of art—want to mount it to my wall!” Jesal laughed.
“Uhh, thanks?” Dave said.
“So, we’ll work together. First, we meet in here, talk about what we’ve figured out, and I give you some goals. We go into the smithy and you work your heart out. At the end of the day, we come back here, talk about it all and then go our separate ways. Room and board will be provided to you for your stay. Got any questions?” Jesal thundered on.
“Uhh, well, I have a few friends who are here. I was wondering what I could do for them,” Dave said.
“We could get them a place within the keep, but while you’re here, I don’t want you distracted. Focus on training. I don’t know how long it might take.” Jesal’s voice became serious.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Very well. Go tell them about it and get ready for tomorrow. Be here at the fifth bell. We’ll begin early and work through the day. Tomorrow your true training to be called a Dwarven Master Smith starts.”
Quest: Of Anvil and Fire
After meeting with Jesal, she has decided to accept you as a candidate to be a Dwarven Master Smith.
You will need to:
Master the material Stone
Master the material Malachite
Master the material Gold
Master the material Mithril
Find your Smithing Art
Reward: Title of Dwarven Master Smith
Do you accept?
Y/N
Chapter 20: Path of a Dwarven Smith
Deia watched Dave as he stood up from the bed, moving to the bathtub to wash himself. She pulled the sheets around her, making a dress out of them as she traced the tattoos that covered his back.
He now stood at around six-foot tall, just a half foot shorter than her, but nearly twice as wide. His dense muscles rippled as he cleaned his face and chest. Deia rubbed his back and he turned around.
“I’ll be back soon enough,” he reassured her.
“I know, and I understand it. Just, my damned emotions are getting the best of me.” Deia gave him a small smile.
Dave smiled, pulling her close to him, and kissed her.
It was over too soon as he pulled on his different clothes and grabbed his bag of holding. His armor was stored in the bag; now, he just wore simple but hardy clothes.
“Hurry up becoming a Dwarven smith. When you come out, we’re going to need to make up for your lack of training for Agility,” Deia said.
“Training, training, training,” Dave complained.
Deia silenced him with a kiss.
He grinned. “I look forward to learning from you, master.” He bowed his head and gave her a sweeping bow.
Deia laughed and shook her head.
“Thank you for letting me do this.” Dave’s arms wrapped around her.
“I’m old enough that I know that it is better to let you do the things that you want to than try to hold you back.” She pouted and looked up at him. “Though I can’t help but wish I did.”
Dave laughed. “Well, thank you for supporting me. If you ever want to go off and train with some master on some remote mountaintop, let me know.”
Deia snorted. “I think Induca will be able to teach me a good number of things. Mixing her teachings with what I’m learning from Earth, you might see a whole new kind of magic by the time you see me again.”
“I look forward to it, my smart, brilliant, and pretty firecracker.”
She rolled her eyes again, kissing him. “Now get out of here, and hurry back to me!”
“Yes, ma’am.” Dave turned and walked out of the door, turning back. “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Her emotions wanted to grab him and hold him back, but she knew that as she wouldn’t want him to do that to her, she didn’t do it to him.
His smile made her blush and feel butterflies in her stomach before the door closed behind him and he was gone.
Deia sat on the bed, trying to get her emotions under control. She moved to the bathroom, where there was a thing called a “shower.” Dave had jumped into it as soon as he saw it. It had led to him pulling her into it.
A smile passed over her face as she opened the valve for the warm water. She showered, thinking of her own goals. As Dave was working on his smithing, she and the others would work on their various skills. Already, Malsour had talked to a few Dwarves about growing his skills with his Dark Affinity. Deia and Induca were going to train with each other at an outside training ground that the Dwarves ran. Suzy and Anna would work on Suzy’s summoning. Deia had also mandated that they get together in the afternoons and work on their melee fighting techniques.
Deia was wondering what kind of damage they would be capable of once they left the mountain. Boran-al’s Citadel had served to show her just how weak she was. She might be over three hundred years old, but she had been happy with her skills, thinking of herself highly. The time that she had spent with the Stone Raiders showed her that she needed to improve in all aspects.
Even Malsour seemed to grab this concept as he was throwing himself into learning how to fight. He was a decently high level and he knew a lot of information, but he had never put that information to use, so Emerilia had not rewarded him with higher stats. Now he was applying those theories.
Armed with the knowledge of the Emerilia forums, both Suzy and Deia were becoming founts of knowledge to improve the others’ skills.
While Dave was working on becoming a Dwarven Master Smith, the rest could finally take their ideas and test them out. Before Boran-al’s Citadel, they had only been testing out different ideas that might give them an edge in that fight. Now, well, they had no pressing concerns so they were free to experiment.
Next time those Affinity lords and ladies show up, they better damned well watch out.
***
Dave walked into the classroom.
“All right, get your kit on and store your bag in that locker there.” Jesal pointed to a bunch of lockers. Dave equipped his smithing gear and Jesal led him out to the smithy.
“Okay, so first of all, we’re going to need to get you up to speed on gold and stone. First we’ll work with stone.” Jesal pointed to a big piece of stone that was sitting on a workbench at the side of the smithy. “Turn that into something.”
“Anything in particular?” Dave asked.
“Whatever comes to your mind.”
Dave nodded and walked over to the stone. He used his sense, closing his eyes and passing his hand over the stone. It wasn’t like metals; veins ran through the rock. It would be hard to form something from the block with hammering; it would just crack and break.
Going to have to carve the damned thing out.
Dave grabbed a piece of sharpened coal and worked on a piece of paper, making a simple sketch of what he wanted to make. He opened his Internet browser, checking out different images and practices that people used to shape stone.
This is going to be interesting. He continued to browse. People went for lunch; he just ate a snack bar he’d made.
***
Jesal was impressed. Dave was taking his time to plan out what he wanted to make. Most people felt as if they had to prove themselves right away. This was only increased if someone got to this stage and didn’t know how to use all of the materials.
Malachite was a normal one to not know. Only the Elves on the Ashal Islands knew how to make the best malachite weapons and they weren’t telling anyone their secrets.
The Dwarves were good with it, but they couldn’t create the flowing creations that the Elves were able to make. Their malachite was prized around the world in the halls of kings and the richest of nobles.
Every smith knew how to carve stone and gold was necessary to add flair to many different pieces, and it was a great conductor of Mana.
Though why that boy used silver instead of gold on his armor interests me. It might be worth trying out a few experiments of my own. I should ask him after today’s work.
Jesal’s mind was off somewhere else as she walked into the shop again.
Dave was hammering away at his block of stone.
Jesal looked over, trying to not distract. She snorted, looking at his face. Seems that this one also knows how to get into his smithing fugue. She smiled.
A smithing fugue to Dwarves was as close as smiths got to meditation unless they were mages as well. It was when a Dwarf was so in tune with their work that everything else seemed to fade away. It was just them and their work. People who were in a fugue were rarely interrupted, the others knowing that they were deep into their work.
She looked at his work, knowing that he didn’t even care she was there.
He had various pieces clamped down, a half-dozen arrowheads to the side. They had a gleam to them.
She picked one up. It nicked her tough skin. “Damn.” A normal smith might have thought that they were formed with Earth or Dark magic but she knew that Earth and Dark magic left a certain residue on their works and they weren’t as strong as items that had been made in a smithy.
She looked at the work table. A piece of parchment appeared in Dave’s hands and he used it to rub back and forth on the knife he was making. The parchment had a rough look to it as the roughly carved knife was smoothed out.
Jesal studied the arrowhead again and placed it back down.
Impressive. Kol was right about how he mixes techniques from his land with our own. I’ve never seen anything like that rough parchment. Using a file might make the stone crack and break but using this applies less pressure and friction, allowing for a finer finish without the strain of a file. I wonder if it would work well on smoothing out other items?
