“Ah ha!” Sam exclaimed after placing the final anchor for her arcane tent in the soft soil of the plains. Stepping back from the tent, she admired her handiwork until, unsurprisingly, a notification popped up.
Arcane Tent
Classification: Shelter
Quality: Pure
Magical: Yes
Functions: Portable Defensive Shelter
Max Occupants: 7
Enchantments: Absorb Magic, Kinetic Dampener Shield
Capacity: 1750mu
This shelter came into existence from nothing by a novice Magismith who used pure arcane mana as its composition. As the amount of mana used to form the shelter was less than its structure can retain, it can absorb a moderate amount of incoming magical damage before it fails under the strain. The tent also has a node to affix a mana crystal that can charge a Kinetic Dampening Shield for a short time. It will also keep its occupants dry in the rain. The design of this tent meets all requirements to become a level 2 safe zone when a firepit is also used within 10 meters.
“Yes! The node worked!” Sam yelled at the sky while performing a jumping fist pump. She was worried the small node she made wouldn't accept the mana crystals she could create…or that it might blow up in her face. Thankfully, none of that happened, and she successfully embedded the node and the spell into the tent structure.
Sam was delighted! The node with its spell had been the two hardest things she created with magic on this planet, or any planet, for that matter. Sam accomplished it by replicating the node she had seen in Alexandar's workshop from memory. It hadn't been as difficult as she expected because she could see all the contraption's inner workings with her mana sight when she charged the mana crystal for Alexandar. The device's outer shell had been used to show or maybe to prevent tampering. Regardless, the machine was only a receiver and a transmitter with microscopic mana needles in the hand scanner that siphoned any mana the user chose to give the device and transmitted the energy to a receiver where a mana crystal could be placed. If the crystals placed in the receiver were multi-use, then the receiver would charge them using the energy provided by the user, which could power whatever the crystals connected to, giving the user the freedom to work on other things. Sam figured the machine was once part of a network that multiple people could access from various areas of the ship it had once been a part of.
The simple node Sam created was nothing like that, but the concept stuck with her and gave her the idea to create something that could charge a barrier around her tent. Creating the node was easy; making it charge a kinetic dampener spell had been extremely difficult. Sam nearly gave up many times, but with every attempt, she felt she was getting closer to getting it right. That and the fact that her Magismith skill kept leveling up as she tried and failed over and over.
Luck was the deciding factor that provided the success she was working toward. While in the middle of trying to push the energy from an active kinetic dampener into the node with one hand, Sam was absently holding one of her depleted arcane mana crystals with the other when Lupie accidentally slapped Nul directly at Sam’s head while they were horseplaying, yelling, “Look out!”
Sam reacted by forming another kinetic dampener in the crystal holding hand to prevent the little teardrop of doom from slamming into her. Her spell didn't work; instead, the crystal in her hand absorbed the spell, and she wound up getting a void slime to the face.
After spitting out the aftertaste of void slime, Sam investigated why her spell didn’t work. She felt the spell activate and deploy, but there was no effect. It took her longer than she would ever admit to realize the depleted crystal was the culprit.
Thinking about the small violet crystal now, Sam used Identify on the node on the central pole of her tent; she smiled at the notification that popped up.
Mana Crystal: Pure
Quality: Flawless
Affinity: Error
Enchantment: Kinetic Dampener
Power: 1750mu
Output: 50mu/ms
Input: 100mu/ms
Uses: Multiple
This crystal was created by a novice Magismith who accidentally infused it with the spell Kinetic Dampener. When activated, it will form a one-meter shield around the user, absorbing physical damage until its energy is depleted. Note: this crystal has been permanently attached to a structure and cannot be removed without its destruction. Activating the crystal will activate a kinetic shield around the structure, adding to its defense against physical damage until the crystal is depleted.
“Oh man, this is so cool!” Sam said to herself and any gods who were listening. “I am definitely going to make some armor with these properties!” She knew what she created was the holy grail of defensive abilities. If she could create armor and clothes with the same properties...
Sam’s mind raced with scenarios, and she thought, “Unless I’m missing something, having armor with the same enchantments as my tent would mean that if I am being attacked by a magic user and a physical attacker at the same time, the magic user’s attack would charge my shield crystal once it was depleted, which would, in turn, instantly reactivate the spell, giving me physical defense again!”
Another notification popped up, distracting her from her musings.
‘Bing’ Congratulations! You have learned the skill Enchanter [Level 1]. After successfully enchanting more than one item, you have unlocked the enchantment pathway in your mind. It will now be easier to place enchantments on magical items. Note: The Enchanter skill is ancillary to the Magismith skill and has been removed from your interface.
“Well, look at me, learning new tricks!” Sam said with a massive grin as she continued examining her handiwork and dreaming of one day being invincible. A soft moan behind her made Sam turn around to see Lupie standing outside the tent in her monster girl form.
“Um, I really like the tent, Mistress, but can we eat now?” Lupie asked in as innocent a voice as there ever was.
Sam feigned indignation, "How can you think of food when your Mistress unlocked the power of enchanting?" Then she tapped her chin in thought before adding, "Well, I guess I already could enchant but didn’t know it…or was it blocked until I leveled the Magismith skill to a certain point…meh, it doesn’t matter. Let’s eat!”
Lupie bounced on her feet, and Nul said, “Fooooooood.” Which was the slime's way of saying it was hungry.
It was several days since Lupie and Sam had their uncomfortable run-in with the realization that Lupie could not defy Sam’s orders. However, during their wanderings, they discovered that as long as Sam didn’t outright order Lupie to do something, the power binding them together didn’t take effect. This meant Lupie had much more autonomy than they initially thought, which relieved Sam.
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Sam walked out of the tent to the firepit and checked the raptor meat, wild leek, and potato stew she was cooking. The potatoes were partially done, so she left the pot over the fire and pulled out a few Gilabear steaks to roast while she waited for her stew to finish. Lupie had her own 'Banta' steak cooking, which still creeped Sam out.
Looking at the Bloodmorph as she happily cooked the meat of someone, they talked to around a week ago, Sam thought, “She has to be nearly out of Bovalin meat by now.”
“Fly tomorrow?” Nul asked from a bundle of violet and black covers near the fire.
“Yes, fly tomorrow,” Sam confirmed, looking at the multicolored hues of the sunset.
Lupie mumbled around a mouthful of food, “Are you sure it will work?”
“Nope!” Sam said with a gleam of what Lupie considered insanity in her eyes.
Lupie sighed and grumbled, “It is probably going to hurt.”
Ignoring Lupie’s grumbling, Sam rechecked the stew and pronounced it ready. So, the three of them settled in and enjoyed stew and steaks for their evening meal, savoring the hearty chunks of leek and potatoes and the gamey raptor meat.
After eating and cleaning up, Sam led them into the tent and closed the flap. She marched straight up to the crystal in the central node and activated it. Instantly, the kinetic dampener spell enveloped the tent with an almost imperceptible hum. Smiling at her success, Sam sat to meditate the night away as her companions slept.
However, Sam's happiness was short-lived because the protective spell surrounding the tent shut off abruptly only seventeen minutes later. Checking the crystal and finding it depleted, Sam sighed; she hoped the barrier would only use mana upon activation and if it was attacked. However, that wasn't the case.
It wasn’t terrible, though; seventeen minutes was a long time, and Sam could keep the crystal charged without expending too much energy as she meditated. Still, she decided to figure out a way to have her embedded spells automatically activate upon attack instead of always having to keep them on. With those thoughts, Sam started playing with her Magismith skill while keeping the tent's defenses charged and listening to her companion’s snore.
***
The next morning, Sam stored the tent in her inventory. She was elated when the entire item went into her storage without having to disassemble it.
Turning to Lupie, Sam asked, “Are you ready, girl?”
"I am," Came the resounding, rumbling reply from the Bloodmorph in her wolf form, "and I hope we survive."
“Come on, girl, you’ve already done this a couple of times, so we know it will work. Isn't that right, Nul?”
The slime's less-than-helpful response was, “Nul survive. Have a teleport spell. No splat, Nul.”
“See, Nul thinks we’ll be fine,” Sam chirped as she jumped onto Lupie’s back with her void slime hat.
“I do not think that was what Nul meant,” Lupie said as she wrapped Sam in a cocoon of blood.
Ignoring the giant Bloodmorph’s comment, Sam admired the thick dark red coating coming up to her waist, which now secured her to Lupie’s back. “It feels more like a thick velvet blanket than congealed life juice,” Sam thought.
She took Nul off her head and placed the little black teardrop in her lap; Lupie also secured the slime.
With one final query to make sure everyone was ready, Sam said, “Okay, Nul, do it!”
An instant later, a giant portal opened beneath them, and they fell through. The portal closed with a slight whoosh almost as quickly as it appeared. It left the slight grassy rise the three companions had occupied silent and unscathed. The only indication anyone had camped there was the trodden and bent grass straightening back up to reach for the sky. Within two days, there would be no evidence of Sam and her friends. Such was the magic of the Beastlands, the extent of which was known to only a few venerable individuals who closely guarded the secret.
***
“This is awesome!” Sam screamed over the sound of the wind buffeting her ears. She completely ignored their chat function because flying on the back of a giant wolf nearly three kilometers in the air deserved a vocal expression of pure joy and happiness.
Nul portaled them straight up the maximum distance it could without causing physical harm to the small void slime.
Lupie formed her blood gliders to slow their fall as soon as they were in the air. Then Sam spread her mana threads out behind them and released a constant jet of magic from each of them, propelling them forward.
So, they were now flying over the landscape.
"Fun," Nul said, summing up Sam's feelings in one word.
It wasn't perfect and was highly mana-intensive, but after consulting with Lupie, they determined they could stay airborne for just under thirty minutes before having to land and recover their mana. They decided to stay in the air for only ten to fifteen minutes, just in case they ran into trouble right when they landed. They were in the Beastlands, after all, where dangerous creatures supposedly lurked.
Sam started examining the land below them after ensuring she could maintain her thrusters without losing focus. Her auto map was filling in nicely from this elevation. A quick check showed them to be nearly a hundred kilometers from where they exited the cave when fleeing the Kingdom of Orlina. She laughed at their winding path while following Lupie’s nose.
Lupie shook off her initial trepidation as they flew and started doing aerial maneuvers. She began with slight back-and-forth motions, banking only a little. Once comfortable, she became more adventurous, even trying to flip upside down.
That particular maneuver did not go as planned, and the three of them plummeted from the sky when Lupie lost momentum while inverted. Her blood gliders managed to catch them after a few seconds. Sam had to admit that the short skydive had been exhilarating—terrifying, to be sure, but exhilarating.
Their first landing could have gone worse, but not by much. Lupie hit the ground, going much faster than expected. In hindsight, she should have activated her Final Push skill. Since she failed to anticipate the speed of their impact, the three of them tumbled across the plains for what seemed like minutes. Banged up but alive, Sam suggested that Nul should open a portal and deposit them on the ground gently, if possible. After a little trial and error, they figured out that if Nul opened a portal with the exit facing up from the ground, it would launch them only a short distance into the air. Lupie and Sam would both deploy blood and arcane parachutes, which would, in turn, allow them to float gently to the ground. Sam’s initial plan of crashing into one of her Kinetic Dampeners was worse than their first landing when the spell shattered upon impact, sending pain spikes into Sam's brain and smacking them to the ground so hard they bounced.
After the initial landing, they landed and took off three more times, traveling nearly sixty kilometers before anything interesting happened.
It was Lupie who noticed it first. They were about two kilometers up and slowly gliding down to land again when she asked, “Why are those trees darker than the others?”
Sam looked to where her companion indicated with her nose and saw what Lupie was talking about. Growing from the side of a large hill was a grove of trees that looked utterly foreign to the occasional copse dotting the landscape. In truth, they were different than any she had yet seen in this world. Their leaves were dark green and looked like the leaves of a palm tree, but the canopy was more like that of a white oak. The trees looked more like they would be found in a jungle than an open grassy plain.
Sam’s best estimate was that the grove was around fifty meters across and contained dozens of trees. She nearly dismissed it as nothing, but the tag Secret Grove was displayed over the area when she checked her map. Curiosity got the better of her, and she shared the information with her friends, asking, “What do y’all think? Should we check it out?”
“Yes, maybe have monsters to kill and eat. Grow stronger!” Nul said enthusiastically.
Lupie agreed with Nul and banked a little to direct them closer to the grove of out-of-place trees.
They landed a few hundred meters away from the grove so as not to attract the attention of any monsters lurking inside. To their surprise, the trees were gone when they landed and started toward the hill on which the grove was located.
“Did we have a collective hallucination?” Sam thought, looking at the side of the hill, now covered in grass and rocks like the rest of the area. But just as she thought it, she saw a shimmer in the air like a heat wave radiating off hot asphalt where the grove was supposed to be. According to her map, the grove was still there. When turning on Mana Sight revealed nothing, Sam knew a concealment spell protected the location. Wondering why they could see the trees from the air, Sam told her companions her theory. They accepted her explanation, just as confused as she was at the sudden disappearance of a stand of giant green trees.
"Something is protecting that place, which likely means danger," Sam warned her companions. She checked the sun's location and said, "I think we should move away from here for the night and come back first thing in the morning after breakfast. And with all our energies fully charged." Sam had another reason to delay one more night; she was nearly finished repairing the Technogog Arcana figurine and desperately wanted to retreat back into her soul to finish the job. She felt a little more whole every time she worked on the figurine. Although Sam couldn't quite put her finger on it, she knew deep inside that repairing the figurines and exploring without any particular destination somehow healed her soul. Regardless of the reason, Sam knew she was healing and loved it.
When Sam’s companions agreed with her logic, they retreated about a kilometer from the Secret Grove and set up camp. They all settled in after enjoying a delicious meal of leftover stew and raptor steaks. Sam tasked Lupie with keeping the mana crystal charged throughout the night while she was soul-diving.
After a few minutes, Lupie realized she could attach a blood tentacle to the node and keep enough mana flowing into the tent's defenses to keep them active. Apparently, she could do this while she slept, which Lupie proved by falling asleep almost immediately with a tentacle attached to the node.
Sam made sure Lupie was indeed charging the crystal, and when she confirmed it, she lay back against the snoring Bloodmorph, who was still in her wolf form. Once she was cozy, Sam entered her mind core and used a link to transport her consciousness into her soul.