Joe had stopped Kerras before he unlocked the Reading skill since the Spell Conduit skill would also improve Intelligence and have more usefulness if good conduits were specifically tailored for him, like the staff Joe made. It meant Joe would need to teach Kerras the Stonecutting and Masonry techniques himself, but that wouldn't be too hard.
The fire toad harvesting didn't have any unusual results. He again took raw but cured hides to train his Leatherworking skill, but the actual tanning would have to wait, so he used Preservation to keep them fresh until he was ready to work on them. That finally brought the spell's level up to 2.
Joe spent two weeks transporting the different townspeople for training and helping to guide Kerras in unlocking his skills. The Meditation skill would have to wait until Kerras got the Sense Manachlorians ability, of course. Kerras got the Stonemason profession during the second week.
The combat training was going well for the town, except for the newest Mage who was still being kept from getting into combat. Joe had a conversation with Ferric one evening after he and Lester had fought some swamplings for a day about something that had been on his mind for a while.
“So, Ferric, I'm curious. If everyone is forced to acquire a combat class at the age of 18, why are so few people advanced in their combat levels? It's not just here, but in the other towns I've been to, as well.”
Ferric leaned back in his chair and took a large swig of his current mug of ale before responding, “Most people gain one or two levels in their combat class when they're young and foolhardy. After that the reality of the life-and-death struggle gets to them and we give it up. Killing animals is fine to most people, but killing monsters is really difficult.”
Having reared children of his own, Joe recognized the haunted look on Ferric's face as he said that last part. “What was it for you?”
“A lightning bug. They live in the jungles to the west of the area where you found those fire toads. They're like horned beetles the size of this table here, but they fire lightning from the horns on their face. And they're fast, too. If I had Speed Boost rather than Boost Strength I think I might have been able to handle it better, but I barely survived it. I came back home and avoided every fight I could along the way.”
“With the gains you've had recently, how do you think you'd fare against a lightning bug now?”
“I've improved a lot of skills since then, of course, and my combat skills only just this week, but I'm overall a lot better than I have been. I could take one by myself. I had thought about the lightning bugs from the speed of the swamplings we'd fought, but I forced myself to face them anyway.” Ferric sighed and smiled, “And I'm glad I did. Thanks for making me face a fear from my younger days.”
- - - - -
The Fighter and Scout classes don't get nearly as many spells as the Mage class, and most of the ones gained by the level increases the training produced were repeats among the townspeople, but there were a couple of new ones for Sally and Tess respectively, along with the Launch spell from Kerras.
Silence (Level 1). This spell prevents the target from making any verbal utterances. The spell can be resisted by the target's wisdom compared to the Agility of the caster and the spell's level. The spell lasts for 1 minute per spell level.
Stamina cost: 50 stamina
Vine Strike (Level 1). This spell produces a whip-like vine that extends from the caster and attacks the target. The damage of the spell is the caster's Wisdom multiplied by the spell's level.
Mana cost: 10 mana
Launch (Level 1). This spell causes a small hand-held object to go flying off towards a target, the damage caused by its new velocity. The speed of the object is one-fifth of the caster's Intelligence multiplied by the spell's level.
Mana cost: 12 mana
In those two weeks Joe also trained several of his skills while working with Kerras on his new workshop: Chemistry to 7, Mathematics to 5, Schematic Drafting to 9, Carpentry to 9, Stonecutting to 4, and Masonry to 3. Other skills were trained by normal usage: Animal Husbandry to 6, Mana Channeling to 23, Focus to 21, and Meditation to 21.
His spellcasting also produced some results. Tending to his greenhouse crop got his Speed Plant Growth spell up to level 5, and working on the workshop got his Levitation to level 13 and his Illusory Rendering to level 6.
Speed Plant Growth (Level 5). This spell allows the caster to bolster the growing rate of the affected plants. One type of plant can be affected by each casting, affecting all plants of that type growing in an area up to one square meter per ten points in the caster's Vitality.
A single plant can be targeted instead with even faster growth for four times the stamina cost.
Stamina cost: 50 stamina per casting for the crop version or 200 per casting for the single target version
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With this new version of Speed Plant Growth Joe knew he could finally plant the Northern Steelwood seeds he had gained so many months ago when spring came.
With the workshop nearly completed and Kerras having gained a lot of attribute points, it was time for him to practice with his class in combat. Just like when Melanie was new, Joe would continually cast Karmic Bond on himself and Kerras, and took Kerras out into the forest north of town to hunt a wolf. Belstak only had a few animal forms he could shift into at the moment, and wolf was not yet one of them.
Kerras carried his spell staff along with a travel-sized arcane heater to ward away the winter cold and prevent him from unnecessarily gaining the Cold Tolerance skill. When they were deep enough in the woods Joe cast the personal version of Deflection Field on Kerras and then took a bundle of raw boar meat from his pack.
Joe had to recast Deflection Field and Karmic Bond a few times before the growls were heard. There were 4 wolves. Joe cast Paralyze on one of them and Blind on another, making it easier for Kerras. Kerras didn't even hesitate, a rock flew from his staff and immediately dazed the lead wolf. Before it had a chance to recover Kerras put another rock in the staff's scoop and Launched it at the wolf again.
The second rock seemed to do the trick, the wolf fell when it got hit in the head again. Instead of a rock, this time he took out a knife. Instead of throwing it, he cast Launch to send it zooming towards the next wolf. The blade struck into the wolf's chest, and it began to wheeze indicating that he had punctured a lung. The blind wolf tried to run from the carnage and ran straight into a tree trunk.
The three castings of Launch were all Kerras could do with his current pool of mana, but he took a quick swig from a waterskin of the water from the mana spring bubbling next to the mana diamond under the mines. He then finished off the three remaining wolves with more knives Launched.
“Well, how do you feel after that?” Joe asked Kerras.
“I think I handled it well, but I think I need to work on getting more Intelligence before I do more. My Launch is too slow right now, if it was faster it would do more damage to them. Plus I could cast it more often.”
“That's a good observation. So, how will you tackle that?”
“I'll focus on my profession. I get 3 unassigned points with each level, so if I put them into Intelligence, that will help increase it along with the Focus, Chemistry, and Mana Channeling I'll be training.”
“Sounds good. Now, grab one of those wolves for your Portering skill and let's get back to town.”
Kerras picked up a wolf while the other three were all picked up by a Levitation spell cast by Joe as they went back to town.
- - - - -
The combat training cooled down as Joe became focused on his next big project: armor. Kerras helped him complete his new workshop, which he quickly populated with arcane versions of the different equipment he enjoyed in the multi-purpose workshops available for rent in Trenos. He also added his own arcane smelting furnace, so he wouldn't have to bother Teril for his ingot needs. Joe popped over to Trenos to buy some raw copper and tin ores and started making his own bronze, steel, and magisteel with his furnace. That unlocked the Smelting skill for him.
Smelting (Level 1). This skill is for converting raw ore into purified metals or alloys. Higher skill allows you to create stronger alloys with more efficient fuel usage. To train this skill create more metals and allows from raw ore.
Key Attribute: Toughness
Joe got to level 3 in Smelting before he figured he had enough ingots for his project. He also improved his Schematic Drafting to 11 from working on the designs for his armor. He wanted to include as many class-based spells as he could, with maybe a few others for good measure. It would be a perfect blend of armor and spell conduit.
When Joe watched Davis make a set of armor with magisteel wire inlay, it took a week. Joe's armor took more than three weeks. He didn't expect to be as fast as a skilled smith like Davis, but most of the time was working out the spell forms in the armor. He used three different Imbue spells in the process: Metallic Object, Spell Conduit, and Leather Object. The inside of the armor was covered in leather to prevent chafing, so that was enough to qualify under his new Advanced Imbuing rank.
He worked to not only include all the spells he knew to fit as a conduit for them, but also include the concept of Meditation itself to continually channel ambient manachlorians back to his system. He also included the Extra Storage patterns in different spots in his armor. That gave him pockets in his armor, which wouldn't work without magic, among some other storage spaces.
All the work gave him Smithing up to 16, Stamina Growth up to 20, Endurance up to 18, Mana Channeling up to 25, Focus up to 24, Meditation up to 25, and his Leatherworking got to 4. In addition to his skills, his spells improved as well: Imbue Metallic Object, Imbue Spell Conduit, Imbue Leather Object, and Illusory Rendering all went up by 2 to 5, 3, 3, and 8, respectively.
Imbue Metallic Object (Level 5). This spell is used to permanently enchant an object made up of at least 50% metal with a magical effect. The spell must be used the during the entire creation of the object or it will fail. Breaks of no longer than 10 hours can be taken or the magical matrix formed by the spell will fail. Non-metallic parts need not be created while this spell is active or even created by the caster, although the more the spell is active during the creation process, the stronger the result will be.
The caster can funnel their intent into creation process to try to shape an enchantment they are unfamiliar with.
Stamina cost: 10 stamina per minute
Mana cost: The caster's entire mana pool, including everything that would refill while the spell is active.
The result of the process was better than Joe had hoped for.
Joe's Strengthened Plate Armor of Arcane Supremacy (Mythical). This armor is both a protective shield against damage as well as a conduit to improve spellcasting for Joe Pinkerton. Spells cast while wearing this armor are five times stronger than normal. Active Regeneration, Stamina Growth, and Mana Channeling efforts are doubled while wearing this armor. Numerous locations in the armor have Extra Storage spaces to provide an inventory system which will connect to Joe's CGS HUD. The materials that have been used to create this armor are much stronger than normal due to both the creator's skills as well as the magic of the armor.