The number of Clockwork types who can use mana in a conscious way can be counted on two hands. The Goliath is one of them. Another is the Broodmother, a rare Clockwork type that carries hundreds of Fulcrums in its body. The last sighting of a Broodmother was over five hundred years ago, but we have not forgotten it.
Other than the larger Clockworks, there are also smaller Clockworks that can use magic, though they have not been seen since before gunpowder was invented and their names were lost to history.
-Excerpt from ‘The Clockwork Foe,’ written by Ul’gard the Orc-kin
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“Oh yeah, Dessy, I’ve got some good news…” Jel suddenly said as they walked through the cave, eyes tracking every flickering shadow on the walls and ground cast by the glowing stone held in Aetra’s hands. Something Mori noticed about her, as well as her undead’s, vision was that they could still see shadows, despite their vision being unaffected by darkness. It made everything feel real, but became annoying when they were jumping at said shadows.
Desire glanced at a shadow retreating back as the light came closer, “What’s that?” she asked.
“I figured out that mana type I was working on! It’s still in the test phase, but I think it’ll work wonderfully for you and Eva. Do you want me to test it on you?” she asked, giving innocent doe-eyes to Desire.
Before she could reply, Mori cut in, “Jel, I know you would never hurt your sister,” Mori said without turning around, “But can you please tell me what you’re planning on doing with the mana type? I would feel better if I knew.” As Mori spoke, she remembered how she felt all the way back when her death knights were exploring the reliquary with her. She was feeling like a mom back then and she felt something similar at that moment.
“Don’t worry, mom, I’ll tell you,” Jel laughed, smiles on the faces of Desire and Aetra, “I wanted them to be better as they got closer, right? So… well… I kinda took some influence from you…” she hesitantly said, eyeing Aetra, speaking in a childish voice, “Sorry, miss, but mom told me not to talk about secrets with strangers!”
Mori laughed, nearly stumbling as the woman pouted at the undead, “Well, she’s got a point. Like I said before: trade secret.” Mori ‘winked,’ which was really just molding her skull to close over one eye socket but she thought the message was sent.
Aetra crossed her arms, “I know… but are you sure you won’t tell me? I can give you some cutting-edge sigil structure blueprints in exchange! You’re so strange that just knowing this can be invaluable!”
“Odd compliment,” Mori said, “But I’m flattered.”
“Ah…” Aetra vocalized, giving a blank stare for a second, “Sorry, that came out mean, didn’t it?”
“For someone else,” Pride said, cutting Mori off, “It would have been.”
Mori gave a loud cough to cut her pseudo-child, “What he means to say,” she began, shooting him a glare that had no effect, “Is that I am under no illusion that I am out of the norm. But… Sorry. I still can’t tell you. Well, if what I’m thinking she took influence from is right… Desire, you’re talking about that, right? Not this?” she asked, pointing to her left ring finger.
Desire nodded, “Yep. You were explaining that a while back and it gave me some ideas!” she cheered, “It was really interesting.”
“Okay, so it’s that. Yeah, I can’t say anything about that,” Mori said with finality.
Raising her hands, Aetra sighed, “Fine, fine, I won’t say anything. But… Can you at least tell me why you won’t share? I’ll keep it a secret! Promise!”
Mori thought for a few moments and considered her options. She could either tell her that the psychic powers were off-limits because of the gods, or she could simply say nothing. Lying was technically an option, but it would leave a bad taste in her mouth if she did that.
She eventually remembered that her connection to the gods was well known— or at least well known by her true allies if not by raving dukes. “Let’s just say that it’s a secret between me and the gods. And I mean that literally.” Aetra stared for a moment before giving a sharp nod and continuing on her way.
“Anyway,” Jel finally said, “My plan was to be able to draw power from each other through that. Though, I could only do it if they were Connected by that so… can you help me with it, mom?”
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Mori nodded without hesitation, “Of course I will. That sounds pretty interesting, and something I might want to learn at some point, so just come to me when you want help. Now then… Pride, what have you been working on?” Mori asked with no little amount of teasing in her voice.
“Me?” he asked, barely stopping as he spoke, “I have been working on making the barrier mana better, as well as streamlining a complicated spell that should be able to strengthen it by a great amount. The work was apparently hard enough for the system to give me two levels.”
“Oh, me too! I got two levels from my work too!” Jel cut in.
“Same here,” Desire said, “It was horn-pullingly frustrating to get the clumsy ones to dig tunnels straight. I even put them in the center of the little formation and they still screw it up!”
Mori nodded, pulling her own Status Page up for a quick glance.
[Name: Mori Athanatos
Species: Lich
Variant: Bargain Lich*
Level: 19(83%)
Traits:
Physical: (Mechanical Integration), (Mechanical Skeletal Manipulation VII [+1]), (Mana Rib V), (Emotive Skull), (Slinger Ape Bone Plates III), (Free Slot)
Spiritual: (Multi-rune Casting), (Mechanical Affinity), (Multi-sigil Casting), (Enhanced Mind VI), (Psychic Affinity V), (Psychic Conduit II), (Psychic Flail II), (Free Slot)
Granted Traits: (Universal Soul Language), (Adaptive Physiology), (Effeminate Skeleton)]
“I got a single level from my work…You’re catching up to me!” Mori said, slightly dismayed at her slowing progress.
“Don’t be upset. By level fifteen, most stop leveling and can only do so by killing things or constantly improving their craft. It’s pretty disheartening to see for most people, but that’s just how it works,” Aetra comforted, “Personally, I’m only in my early twenties, but I’m young for someone of my position, so I’ve got plenty of time to grow.”
Mori’s eye-flames widened, “Really? I wouldn’t have thought you were so close to me.”
“Well, the only ones in the higher levels are the ones who spend every waking moment challenging themselves, not to mention they all have some sort of lifespan extension Trait. It’s not uncommon for some to even try to find a new Species they can transform into, just to extend their life. Most don’t work, though,” the lycant explained.
“Huh… That’s pretty cool.” She suddenly paused as she heard a noise that was so familiar to her. “Shh. Do you hear that?”
They paused for a moment, her death knights and Aetra nodding, “Clicking. Clockworks, then,” Aetra agreed. Immediately, they fell into formation, Mori in the front with a shield spell ready at a moment’s notice and the other three behind her. She inched forward slowly, pausing whenever the clicking stopped and continuing when it began to echo off the walls once more. The soft metal clanking of her armor was easily drowned out by the repetitive clacking, but she was still careful nonetheless.
Before long, they began to see the glow of daytime show all around the cave. Aetra snuffed the glowstone out and continued behind Mori as she continued forward. Eventually, they reached the entrance to the cave and found what was making the noise. Two infiltrators stood in small pods, lined up against the wall while a third stood near the entrance to the cave. Assessing the weapons they had, she noticed that they were much wielding much more powerful weapons than her first infiltrator kill. One had a sword and shield while the other two had long lances attached to their arms. They were also much more heavily armored than the one she had fought before.
She spared a glance at Aetra, who was staring at the Clockworks with a confused gaze, as if she was not expecting something. Mori disregarded her confused glare and switched her spell, firing off a beam of light at the Clockwork standing near the entrance to the cave.
As expected, the beam slammed into the Clockwork and sent its head flying. During her breaks between the warcasket project and the psychic integration project, she decided to test a few more mana types for her beam weapons. One of the most interesting ones she found was using ‘force’ mana, which was simple for her earthborn mind to recreate using knowledge of physics. Using ‘force’ mana allowed her to puncture something in a pinch or simply push something hard enough to break.
The head flew and landed somewhere beyond the cave, the body falling in little time. Before Mori had a chance to refocus, a clocksteel spear slammed into a barrier in front of her, one conjured by Pride, she noticed. She barely jumped back, preparing another beam, but backed away as the barrier began snarling, fighting against an icy mist. Before she could back away, the spear broke the shield and tore towards her chest, only to be met by a golden mana shield.
Mori sighed, annoyed that the shield decided not to work when she was being shot in the head, and grabbed the spear-wielding Clockwork’s arm, pulling it closer and sticking a clawed pair of fingers into its head. There were no screams, just an end to the clicking.
Just as she tossed the body to the side, a torrent of fire from Jel rushed by her and directly at the other infiltrator. An icy shield sprang up in front of the machine, splitting the torrent in two and leaving the Clockwork unharmed. Just as the shield fell, another two torrents rushed at it.
Stuck on the defensive, the Clockwork began falling back, step by step, and Mori added a steady stream of beams to the assault. Cracks began to show on the shield, widening into fissures that allowed fire and light to seep through the frosty defense. The whole thing shattered a second later, pushing the scorched machine into the wall.
The fire died down and Mori paused as something stood out to her. The Clockwork was not there. She heard a grunt of effort and a scuffle behind her. Whipping her head around, she charged the offending Clockwork as it pushed its spear even as Desire held it with both hands.
Without thought, she tore into the Clockwork, tearing scraps of metal from its body and from its head. Before long, the last infiltrator was dead. “Alright… That was odd,” Aetra said just as she caught her breath, “This… isn’t right.”
“Oh? Why’s that?” Mori asked.
Aetra stared at the husk for a long while, “Infiltrators aren’t supposed to be able to do magic…”