ATTUNED WITH BLOOD
“We were all quite worried,” Vanis said as the hug broke up, “despite Healer Tasi’s insistence you would recover.”
“Thank you. All of you,” Callie said sheepishly. “I’m fine now. I just need to take it easy for the rest of the day.”
Vanis appeared about to say something lecturing, and Callie raised a hand to stop him. “And before anyone says anything, yes, I’ve learned my lesson about mana drain. That is not something I want to go through again.”
“I am most glad you are recovered,” Xin said, the relief actually evident on her scaly face. “It would not be the same around here if you had melted your own brain.”
“Xin!” Lena snapped, while most everyone else laughed at the Lizardkin’s casually direct remarks.
Callie actually felt a sudden connection with Xin, in spite of her words. She and the Shaman had never quite warmed up to each other like she had with the others. Sure, they got along and were even quite friendly, but the familial closeness she felt with the remainder in Ogre House was absent. Callie wasn’t sure if it was just a personality quirk of Xin, something cultural, or if it might be partly to do with the fact that Xin was affected little, if not immune, to her Childlike Charm. Xin expressing her concerns for Callie’s well-being, even if in a slightly backhanded way, seemed to break down some of those barriers.
“Must not run out of mana ale,” Tazrok warned. “No ale is bad.” Vanis had shared the analogy he’d used with Tazrok in the shower, so Callie quickly picked up on what the Ogre was getting at.
“Yeah. Nothing is worse than running out of ale,” Callie agreed, “magic or real.”
Tazrok grunted with a nod, pleased he had said the right thing.
Relief evident in everyone, the group began to break up, most wanting to go find lunch. Callie grabbed Lhawni as she passed. “Hey, Tasi told me what you did. Casting your new spell, that is. She said it was your first time. Thank you! You saved me.”
Even with her dark green skin, you could see the little Goblin blush. “I just reached Bronze this morning when I woke up. After I recovered from the reveals, I heard all the booming sounds from the training field and saw the lights. I arrived just as you fell, and just instinctively cast my Rejuvenation spell. I was amazed it even worked!“
Callie pulled the little Goblin into a hug. “You were great. Thank you again!”
Lhawni awkwardly returned the embrace. “You Gnomes and all your hugging,” she said, with a giggle. “I’m glad I could help,” she added sheepishly. The little Goblin meekly walked away and Callie turned to Vanis, who had remained behind.
“I said, ‘no lectures’!” Callie snapped, jabbing her finger towards her friend, hoping to cut off anything before it started. “I’ve already gotten them from Tasi, Reynard and Pixyl!”
Vanis shook his head. “None needed from me, and I’m quite sure you’ll receive several more before the day is over. Master Trainer Thorn was quite concerned, as was the Commandant and the Major. They each followed along as they brought you in, quite fearful in fact, and then even came by at least once to check on you later in the morning.”
“Great,” Callie deadpanned, now fully expecting a stern talking-to from each of the officers.
“Given the circumstances, Thorn said you could reschedule your conversation this afternoon to another time.”
“That’s good, at least.” Callie had not been particularly enthusiastic about sitting down with Thorn given how muddled her head was right now. He’d already hinted he had a thousand questions about Earth, and Callie had had a feeling it was going to be a whirlwind, albeit friendly, interrogation, and not really a casual discussion, if only because of his eagerness. Given how awful she felt right now, putting it off for another day was definitely a good thing.
“Also, Fizzlebek came by when you missed your appointment with him and Pama. Once informed what had happened, he also suggested rescheduling for later in the week or next Homeday.”
Callie sighed. “That sucks. I really wanted to learn more about Culinar magic, and I think Pama was eager to show me. I feel bad now.”
“They completely understand,” Vanis comforted. “However, Fizzlebek did ask us to send you to Crafting as soon as possible, once you were released. He apparently needs your presence very briefly; something to do with the enchantments for your bow.”
“Should I go now?”
Vanis nodded. “It doesn’t sound like he needs you for long, but he was quite insistent you visit by early-afternoon. I think it’s best to get the task completed lest you are distracted by the day, or decide to sleep. If you’d like, I can take your muddy clothing back to the house.”
“That would be great. Let the others know I’ll find them after I’m done with Fizzlebek.” Callie handed her dirty bundle to Vanis, along with the two Rejuvenation potions. “I’m supposed to take these later, so can you bring them back as well?”
“Absolutely,” the Elf said with a gracious nod.
“Vanis?”
“Yes, Little One?”
“Thank you. To you and to everyone else. Walking out and seeing all of you waiting and worrying for me was so …” Callie trailed off as she simply ran out of words.
The Elf smiled, kneeling down to Callie’s height. He embraced her, adding a simple, “Any time, Little One.”
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Upon arriving at the Crafting area, Callie sought out Fizzlebek. She finally found the blue-haired Gnome by the now-familiar sparring ring, playing with a contraption of some kind. It was approximately the height of a normal person, twice that of the two Gnomes, and roughly person-shaped, with two arms and two legs, but sporting no head. It walked around the ring with stiff, jerky movements as Fizzlebek stood outside the ring, eyes focused in serious concentration.
Not wanting to interrupt, Callie stood quietly to the side to wait until she was noticed. Looking around, the entire crafting area was nearly empty, everyone off for the weekend Homeday. One lone Dwarf was in the workshop area, head down and working on something tiny, but he was otherwise alone. Even the fire of the forge had gone out, and without its roar and the background clanking of hammer on metal, the entire area was eerily silent.
“Callie!” Fizzlebek called, eventually noticing her. The mechanical contraption stopped its staggering walk, drooping down into a resting position as the Enchanter removed a metal circlet from his forehead.
“Hi, Fizzlebek,” Callie said, smiling at her fellow Gnome. “What is that?”
Almost about to give Callie a hug, Fizzlebek stopped and looked back at the sparring ring. “Oh, that? One of my weekend side projects. It’s a mechanical Golem.”
“Mechanical? Like a robot?”
Fizzlebek gave Callie a strange look, not recognizing the word.
“A machine?” Callie suggested with a shrug.
“Oh, a contraption, yes. You control it with this,” the Gnome said, holding up the metal headband. “I’ve been trying to invent a wholly mechanical Golem that wouldn’t need magic to work. Well, it wouldn’t need much magic beyond a manastone to power it, that is. If I can make it work, it might provide a combat option that wouldn’t require Golemancers to control them.”
None of that really made sense to Callie, who had no idea what a Golem was. But, from context, she put a few pieces together, deducing that a Golemancer was some kind of a specialist Wizard or Scholar class that controlled these robot things. “So, how does it work?”
“Only the best of Gnomish engineering!” Fizzlebek said excitedly, as he grinned. “Come, let me show you.”
Leading Callie over to the Golem, he excitedly gestured towards it and unhooked a plate from its torso. Immediately evident inside was a glowing blue object, which Callie presumed was the manastone Fizzlebek mentioned as a power source. Surrounding that were various metal gears and sprockets, levers and springs, and assorted other clockwork gadgetry. Unlike the Egg-sploder, the complexity of the workings were beyond immediate comprehension.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
“Whoa,” Callie gasped. “This is really complex.”
“I know,” Fizzlebek said sadly. “It’s too complex, honestly. But this is just a prototype, so I hope to simplify it in time.”
As she stared at the mechanisms, a few started to make sense. Her Tinkering kicking in, Callie could see where the power of the manastone was converted into the energy needed, before being transferred outward towards the limbs. It was an engineering marvel for this world and absolutely fascinating to look at.
“Would you like to try?” Fizzlebek asked, holding the metal circlet out.
“Uh, sure,” Callie said. With direction, she removed her hat and set the controller in place. “What do I do now?”
“Just think about what you want it to do.”
Callie concentrated, mentally telling the Golem to raise its arms, which it dutifully did with the soft sounds of clickity clockworks.
“Whoa! This is neat! You can make it walk and stuff, too?”
“For some definition of walking,” Fizzlebeck chuckled. “I’ve mostly mastered limb movements, especially the arms and hands. It’s really uncoordinated for walking, though, let alone any faster movement.”
Focusing again, Callie had the construct raise each of its arms, flex the digits of each hand, and then slam one fist into the open hand of the other arm. The movements were fluid and complete. Continuing, she sent the construct forward one step, where it promptly lost its balance and staggered awkwardly, lashing one leg out to catch itself before it could tumble.
“See?” Fizzlebek chuckled. “I have a couple thoughts, but I’m trying to minimize how much Golemancy magic I’d have to use in it. If I can produce and make these controllable in mass numbers, it’s like having soldiers on the field one could control away from the lines. Fizzlebek gestured towards the controller, and Callie removed it. She swapped it for her hat as the Golem returned to a standby resting position.
“That’s really neat,” Callie said. “Kinda like a drone, if you can make it work.”
“Thanks,” Fizzlebek said proudly, then made a thinking face. “Drone. I like that. Sort of like insect hives. I think it’s a good term, if I can figure out the problems.” Changing the subject he asked, “How are you feeling? I heard about what happened.”
Callie took a deep breath and sighed. “Better than I was earlier, I guess. But tired and still nursing a bit of a headache. I guess it was pretty bad, though.”
The Enchanter chuckled. “When I first learned my Imbue skill, I was so eager. I was reckless and burned myself out for almost a month! A good lesson and one I vowed never to repeat again. Most casters have a similar story, I think, although we don’t like to talk about it. Consider yourself lucky you had Rejuvenation potions in ready supply. We’re overflowing with them now, thanks to your Black Lotus bloom.”
Learning that Fizzlebek had been foolishly hurt by mana drain at some point in the past actually made Callie feel slightly less ashamed by what had happened. Still, she knew she’d been reckless and cocky and stupid, and reminded herself harshly once more to never do something like that again.
“We all learn from mistakes,” Fizzlebek said with a smile. “But enough about such things, I do need you for just a few minutes. I want to attune your bow enchantments.”
“What does that mean?”
“An attuned enchantment is special and only usable by you. Since your bow is being custom crafted for you, I thought it made sense for maximum effectiveness.”
“Uh, okay. What do you need from me?”
“I’ll show you,” Fizzlebek said, walking off towards his workshop area. He led the way towards a small subsection with various glass flasks and chemistry equipment neatly arranged on several tables. Next to one was a shelf broken into several small partitions, and five were neatly labeled with the names of each Ranger recruit. The writing was strange to Callie, yet still clearly readable. The Enchanter removed two glass containers about ten centimeters in diameter and about five tall, covered with a tightly-fitting wood lid. Each contained a thick liquid goo of some kind. Two others were left alone.
“These are the two I wish to attune to you,” Fizzlebek said.
“What about those?” Callie asked, pointing to the others left in place.
“Those are for your Endless Arrows and Self Repair enchantments. They don’t need to be attuned as they wouldn’t gain any additional capabilities if they were.”
“You’re going to be able to put four enchantments on the bow?” Callie asked, surprised. “Vonn had suggested that the Heartwood might hold three, but would it really hold four?”
“Attuned enchantments take up less integrity, so I think so. I’ll know for sure once Vonn finishes putting the runes on, so I’m making four just in case.”
“What do these other two do?”
“I’m not telling you,” Fizzlebek said slyly. “You asked Vonn and I to surprise all of you, so that’s what we’re going to do. You’ll love it, though.”
Callie chuckled. “Yeah, I guess we did say that. I’ll look forward to it then, and I’m sure the others will, too. What do I need to do for this attunement thing?”
“I just need some of your blood for each,” Fizzlebek said casually, removing the lid on each enchantment.
“What? My blood?”
Fizzlebek nodded, reaching for one of several small knives standing upright in an empty flask.
Callie was suddenly unsure, seeing the knife in her friend’s hand.
“Well, it’s that or you can urinate into it. It needs an internal bodily fluid. Saliva won’t work, unfortunately; it’s not strong enough.”
“Yeah, I’m not peeing into them,” Callie said flatly, giving the Enchanter a hard stare of side-eye.
“I have a healing tincture you can use after,” Fizzlebek assured Callie, quickly taking her hand. He expertly sliced across her index finger, causing Callie to yelp and suck air in through her teeth in surprise and pain. Holding the bleeding digit over each bowl, he casually let about a dozen drops of blood fall into each before giving Callie’s hand back to her. “Hold that away from your body so you don’t get any blood on your clothes,” Fizzlebek said casually. Apparently, slicing people open was common enough to not be a big deal to him.
Callie did so, silently cursing at Fizzlebek for not giving her any warning. Callie squeezed her finger while he opened a drawer and pulled out a tiny glass vial perhaps one-fifth the size of a normal potion.
“Let me spread this on the wound,” he said, pulling the stopper off, which had a brush attached to it. “It’s concentrated, and brewed specifically for small wounds.” Using the brush, Fizzlebek painted the tincture over Callie’s bleeding forefinger.
As soon as the magical liquid hit, it spread an immediate warmth throughout her finger and hand. Fascinated, she watched the end of her finger, and within moments the free-flowing wound slowed and stopped. Fizzlebek handed Callie a damp cloth and she wiped the blood off her hands, once again amazed that there was no longer a cut, or any indication there had even been one. While she cleaned up, he swished the brush around in a jar of clear liquid, cleaning it, before stoppering the vial again.
“You could have warned me!” Callie growled.
“Best to do it without warning, so you don’t twitch,” Fizzlebek said casually, firmly returning the lids to each container. He gently shook each before returning them to the little cubby holding Callie’s other two enchantments.
“Is there anything else you need me for?” Callie snapped, still a little irritated with the lack of warning before being sliced open.
Absently, Fizzlebek shook his head. “No, that’s all. The enchantments just needed to have this done today, or we would have missed the opportunity to attune them. It’s a very small window.”
“Are you going to need the others to donate blood, too?” Callie asked, still wiping her hands with the damp rag.
“Uh huh,” Fizzlebek said. “I need them all to visit tomorrow. I’ve timed their enchantments so they can come immediately after training ends for the day, before the evening meal.”
“Do you need me to pass word to them?”
Fizzlebek shook his head. “I was going to come by in the morning to let them know. I’ll also be honest, I heard about your melded Turret skill, the one based on Tinker, and I’d really like to see it in action. If you would be alright with that, that is.”
Callie shrugged. “Sure. It’s actually a really fascinating mechanism that runs the whole thing. I didn’t have much time to really dig into it, though.”
“Interesting!”
Callie gave it some thought for a moment. “I wonder if it might be adaptable into something real.” Seeing a perplexed look on Fizzlebek’s face, she added, “Something not summoned, that is. It seemed like it used something similar to your Golem’s manastone to power it, and lots of gears and stuff, so maybe …”
Fizzlebek’s eyes had widened as Callie had been speaking. “Maybe some of my Golem research could be used to replicate a non-summoned version! Yes! I definitely want to see your skill in action now! If my new ‘drones’, as you call them, could be made to shoot arrows, or if I could invent a gadget you could throw down to summon one of your turrets, that would be most-fascinating!”
“Come on by,” Callie chuckled. “You’ll just need to clear everything through Reynard while training is in session.” Callie thought some more. “You know my new melded perk is based on Tinker too, right?”
“I heard you blew up the Ranger range with a new perk, but not much more,” Fizzlebek said, his eyes growing even more excited. “Tell me everything! It’s really based on Tinker?”
“I don’t have much time as I promised to meet everyone for lunch, but here it is in a nutshell.” Callie quickly relayed the query information for the Effect Layering perk, before summarizing how she used it to combine her various Ranger skills together. After explaining how each layer seemed to significantly increase the overall mana cost, Fizzlebek quickly saw the problem when Callie reviewed her final four-layer carpet bombing shot.
“It’s no wonder you suffered mana exhaustion!” the Enchanter gasped. “If the mana usage multiplied with each layer, it would quickly consume all your mana at once, or worse. I wonder what the math is on how the mana usage scales up.”
“Exactly! That’s what I told Reynard!” Callie said cheerily, gesturing towards Fizzlebek and glad someone else immediately saw the same numerical issue that she had. “I need to spend more time researching it and figuring out the numbers before I try anything too complex again, and also get better with my new Bronze skills.”
Fizzlebek nodded, rubbing his chin, a smile gradually creeping onto his face. “I never would have imagined our Tinker melding with Ranger abilities. You being the first Gnome Ranger may have big impacts someday. We just need to figure out how best to take advantage of these new powers.”
Callie put her hand on her friend’s shoulder. “We will. I know everyone has a lot of hopes for me, and I’m going to do everything I can to succeed as both a Ranger and as a Gnome.”
Fizzlebek grinned again. “This could be fun!”
Nodding eagerly in agreement, Callie quickly added, “As long as I can keep from melting my brain, that is.”