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Vol2 chapter 4
The Artificer's Will
Poison tipped vines shot out from the tops of nearby trees only to be cut to shreds by Don’s fiery dance. Cutting them with normal movements was possible too, but the vines quickly grew back if the edges of the cuts weren’t seared. Rose and Tolan were back to back, keeping the onslaught of vines from ensnaring each other. They each slowly moved closer to the red barked tree, the forest god, Entrent.
Since planting its roots in the world below, Entrent had taken over this forest. Wood elves of the forest found the tree which gave them blessings if they worshiped it, but only in return for offerings of life. Since then the amount of people going missing in the forest skyrocketed, as the cult of the blood tree grew.
Don, Rose, and Talon found the main sect of the wood elves that worshiped Entrent and was able to finish them off with some strategy and home made artifact traps, but not all of them. Wood elves that have no reason to, never leave the woods, and even with fire traps that directed them to an ambush, many got away. Because Entrent still had dozens of worshippers that still lived, it was much stronger than the group’s usual prey.
Roots sprung up from ground beneath Tolan and Rose’s feet, binding them to the soil. Roots also sprouted up beneath Don, but his dancing didn’t allow him to stay still long enough to be captured.
Tolan called out, “Righteous fury, burn away the wicked and deceitful, Holy Flame!” White flames erupted from his sword which he plunged into the earth. The flames seemed to travel beneath the soil, and after a moment the roots that ensnared the pair were enveloped in white embers.
At almost the same moment, Don and Tolan reached the trunk of the red tree and plunged their flaming swords into it.
Don yelled, “Scan.”
Divine Tree Entrent
Level- Cannot be determined
Health -5300
-4800
-4300
Its health dropped so fast it was visible during the second long scan. Don yelled, “Just a little bit more!.”
Hundreds of vines came at the group only to be blocked by the mana shield put up by Rose. As long as they were stationary a shield could be put up, but it was cracking every few seconds requiring Rose to recast. She said, “Almost out of mana here.”
Tolan shouted as the white flames that enveloped his sword burst with power, driving the sword deeper into the tree’s trunk.
A giant crack appeared on the tree and within it erupted a light that slowly dimmed.
Quest Update: Slay the Gods
Lu, the god of Light has requested that you kill the lower gods that have encroached upon his territory. Accept and he will offer assistance.
Progress 06/19You have gained a level!
Skill level up: Fiery Dance has reached level 10 and is now intermediate
Mana cost reduced by half.
Can now use Flame extension while performing Fiery dance
Flame extension-
The fire that envelops your swords can extend beyond the length of the swords.
Mana Cost: 15 per second
Don smiled. Gale dance’s gale blade was decent for long range but this looked like a good skill for mid range combat. Though it meant he had more he needed to practice.
Don picked up the loot dropped by the tree, starting with the tree’s spirit.
You have obtained the spirit of Entrent!
Affinity to Nature increased by 40 (+40 AtN)
Wisdom Increased by 10 (+10 WIS)
Your divine affinity has increased
Don chuckled that until now he had no affinity to nature. As an elf that was usually the first thing that was raised. Affinity to nature affected the power of spirit and nature magic, something Don had no use for it.
The tree’s japtem drop was a pile of wood, likely something that had amazing properties, but it also dropped what looked to be a scroll. Don picked it up, unrolled it and said, “Identify.”
Map to the Hall of Actos
An ancient map that shows the location of the lost workshop of Actos, one of the greatest Artificers in history.
Ding*
Actos’ Legacy
The head of the Artificer’s Guild has offered a reward for any information discovered about Actos. Explore the workshop and bring whatever secrets you find to Luthur, in the gnomish city of Greyfell
Difficulty: C
Reward: Unknown
Quest Restrictions: Must have some connection with artificing. The quest can be shared with others as long as at least one person satisfies the first condition.
This quest does not count toward the three quest limit.
Don’s eye’s widened. He had heard of artifact quests, but never had one before. He learned long before he got his capsule that throughout the continent were items that gave quests upon examination. Don felt almost giddy.
“Rose, Tolan, take a look at this.” The pair came over to check out what Don was yelling over as he handed Tolan the map. The paladin looked it over and said, “Ok, what about it?”
Don wasn’t sure if he was hiding his enthusiasm, or he genuinely didn’t care. “Wanna go explore it? It has probably never been touched.”
Tolan handed Don back the map and said, “I have no interest.”
“What? Why? It’s a C rank quest, I’m sure you’ll get great experience.”
Rose shook her head. “If we want to grind, there are plenty of dungeons that we have free access to as members of the church of Lu. And as members of the church of Lu it’s our duty to assist you until the quest Lu gave you is complete. But for any pursuit other than the quest, we have no obligation to come.”
Don looked slightly upset. He had no delusions about being friends with the pair, they had been hunting gods for a month (real world time), and had not once sent a friend request his way. But he still thought that they had some adventurer spirit in them.
Tolan saw Don mopping a bit and said, “If you want to go explore the ruins until the double experience is over, that is fine. We’ll assist in church matters until you’re finished. After that you can go to the closest church of Lu and wait for us to return.”
Don sighed and agreed. The group left the forest and returned to the town they used as base camp. After parting ways, Don found a place where sculptures were sold.
“Excuse me, did you make these sculptures?” Don asked the man at the counter.
“Yes, I am no master, but these works are mine.”
Don noticed that when it came to NPC craftsmen, the humble ones tended to be far more skillful than the ones who boasted. This NPC seemed to follow that rule, the sculptures evoked emotion at their majesty and beauty. Don set the pile of Entrent’s wood on the counter and said, “What do you think of this?”
At first the sculptor seemed annoyed that some adventurer off the street thought they could sell firewood to a sculptor, but out of curiosity he picked up a piece of the wood and started examining it. Don kept close watch on the change in expressions he made.
“What is this? I have never seen wood with such a beautiful scarlet color. Hmm, it seems to be ash, but ash is white. Where did you come across such wood?”
Don noticed how tightly he was holding the wood, the sculptor was suspicious but also anxious, he really wanted it. Don said, “This tree grew under unique circumstances. I guarantee you will never find another like this, it possesses amazing properties that will only reveal themselves after it has been worked.”
Don didn’t know that for sure, but it was true for most of the god drop japtem so far.
The sculptor took in a deep breath to compose himself, his instincts told him what Don said was true. “Ok, how much do you want for it?”
Don answered, “You can have it all under one circumstance.”
Without breathing the sculptor waited for Don to elaborate.
“I’ve seen sculptures before that give stats when you look at them. If you use this wood to make a sculpture like that small enough for me to carry around, I’ll give you the rest minus the cost of the sculpture. The better the effect, the less you’ll pay. If it blows me away, I won’t charge you a single copper.”
The man left out a breath. The time of a sculptor was valuable, (or so they said), but this deal was worth it. The pile of wood Don brought in was almost ten kilograms, enough for many small sculptures that could be sold for hundreds of gold a piece. The man stuck out his hand for Don to shake. After agreeing to the deal, the sculptor asked, “What do you want it to be?”
Don thought about it for a moment and realized he had no idea what he wanted it to be. The wood was red and he couldn’t think of any red things that he wanted a statue of. He figured anything would do, so he used the first red thing that came to mind, the beard of an old friend.
“Can you carve an artificer? A gnomish one with a wise looking beard.”
At this the sculptor smiled, “I know just what you’re talking about. I’ll start right away. You can stay and watch if you want but even at a small size, it won’t be finished until morning.”
Don nodded and left the shop to find where he could buy craft supplies. But before that he opened his friend list and clicked whisper.
-Bob, you there?
-Ah, hello Don. How’s the affinity coming along?
-Ok, got a quest that rewards divine affinity. But I have question, have you heard of Actos?
-Of course! He was a hero and pioneer artificer. He created the first soul gem, he discovered over a thousand new formulas that could be used to inscribe magic that were thought beyond replication. Overall, he quite famous you know.
-I see, I found a map that may lead to the Acto’s workshop.
-You what? Where is it?!
Don could tell Bob was jealous, but that was no reason not to share. Bob always paid back what was given, even if it was information.
-On the southern outskirts of Sairei Kingdom, the entrance seems to be on the edge of the Tessher mountain’s east tip.
-I see. I’m currently in west. It would take me months to get to the central kingdoms, and months more to get to that southeast kingdom.
Don had no intention of waiting what was likely to be a month and a half of real world time for Bob to explore the ruins with him. But he didn’t want Bob to be depressed.
-Bob, I promise to show you whatever I find in there the next time we meet. Ok?
-Alright. Good luck. Oh, do you remember what you learned about automatons from me?
-If someone with the artifice skill uses repair on their head, their armor unlocks. And they will obey the commands of someone wearing the Mark of Knowledge.
-Yes, unless ordered otherwise by their master. Automaton guardians within a dungeon are usually ordered to attack on sight so they won’t respond to your commands. The command to release the outer shell should still work, but using repair right on the forehead is difficult in combat, and using it anywhere else will heal it.
-Duly noted.
After spending the night making magnetized electro grenades for any automatons he may have to fight, Don made his way to the sculptor’s shop.
“Welcome back.” The sculptor seemed pleased with himself, on the counter was a figure 15cm tall covered in a red cloth. “You’ll be giving me all of the wood for free. To be perfectly honest if you subtract the cost of this beauty from the value of the wood, you’re the one who comes up short, but a deal’s a deal.” With great fanfare he removed the cloth revealing a small red bearded gnome in a intricately carved outfit.
You have seen the Statue of an ArtificerHealth and Mana regeneration with increase by 15% for a day.
Wisdom +10
Intellect +10
Artifacts will have 30% increased effect
Artifice skill increased by 10%
Repair skill increased by 10%
Effects do not stack with other sculptures
The statue was carved in great detail, it seemed almost alive. The wrinkles in its eyes smiled and the red beard extended down to the chest. It was definitely a gnome artificer, but it didn’t look like Bob, and Don had never seen Bob in such attire. Don asked, “Do you know an artificer?”
“Yes, an old friend of the family. Very old. The gown is actually the uniform worn by teachers. So, what do you think?”
“It’s amazing. But I still don’t think I’ll come up short on my end. As I’ve said, the wood gains attributes after being worked. Of course I’ll still give the wood for free, the effects of this statue are excellent.”
The sculptor handed the small gnome to Don and said, “Not sure about any additional effects. Nothing surprising came up anyways. But it is still excellent wood, this piece came out as a masterpiece after a night’s work. I’ll make good use of the rest.”
Don thanked the man and left. Afterwards he used Identify.
Statue of an Artificer
Artistic Value 850
A gnome carved of a blood soaked sacred ash tree. This statue embodies the quest for knowledge and the satisfaction of knowledged gained.
Special Options
Health and Mana regeneration with increase by 15% for a day.
Wisdom +10
Intellect +10
Artifacts will have 30% increased effect
Artifice skill increased by 10%
Repair skill increased by 10%
Effects do not stack with other sculpturesA property of the wood has been affected by the statue’s image. Knowledge has been gained through understanding of artificing.
Learned the Syg, Blood Empower
Adds the property of being strengthen by blood
A small symbol appeared on the message. It seemed that this divine japtem only had a hidden property under the right circumstances. Perhaps if he had a swordsman sculpted he could have gained a blood related sword skill. Don was tempted to go back and request such a thing be carved, but then he decided against it. It was not guaranteed and depending on what he did with this syg, it was unnecessary. Don took out Folren’s journal and added the symbol on the message to the syg index in the back, along with a small description.
Don bought supplies and traveled for the next four days to the entrance to the Hall of Actos. However when he arrived at the town that was closest to it, he logged out. It was sunday night and he had school in the morning, and three days of work after that, he decided he would spend the next weekend exploring and grinding.
---------------------------------
Don logged in Friday morning. He stood before what appeared to be a large boulder off the path, nestled at the very base of the Tessher mountain. Of course it would only appear to be a boulder to other people. Don, while wearing the mark of knowledge, saw through the camouflage to the stairway that lead into the mountain.
Don entered without fanfare, and was disappointed that the first explorer message did not pop up. The ground of the hall was made up of steel plates. Columns made of an unknown metal held up the roof. The area opened into a well lit, enormous hallway that ended at a great golden door.
Don walked down the great length of the hall and pushed against the door, but it didn’t budge. To his left he noticed a golden lever. As Don reached for it, he became very suspicious. He had a bad experience with doors that open by levers once. “Detect.”
The ground beneath him shimmered dimly, barely noticeable in the well lit room. Don looked down to see that the center of the floor beneath the door had an almost imperceptible line down the middle. Don’s eyes traveled back, following it along the length of the hallway. The entire hallway room floor was a trap door. Don looked back up at the door, it was huge, shiny, and very eye catching. Likely meant to keep people staring up so as not to look down at the crack in the floor. It probably didn’t open, just a wall carved out to look like a door. Don wandered around using detect. He searched for half an hour before giving up. His detect skill was not quite level 5 yet and in such a bright room, the dim glow of any hidden things revealed by the low level Detect would be difficult to spot. Don decided he had nothing better to do, so he found a spot on the other side of the lever that was not over the trap door and pulled it.
Soundlessly the floor fell, revealing a gaping chasm. Don took out one of his artifacts and squeezed it, activating the glass sphere within which lit up brighter than floodlight before throwing it down. He saw the light fall about five stories before smashing against the bottom in what Don saw as a spiked pit. “Seems this place does not like visitors.”
This trap was designed to kill, a small army could fit in this hallway, ready to raid the place of its secrets only to be skewered on the rocks below. Don turned around and saw to his surprise a small open door. It had opened just as silently as the trapdoor, but was on the side wall next to the safe spot near the lever. Don saw it start to close, just as the pit door started to close.
Don entered through the discreet passage. The hallway was far less opulent than the entrance, Don figured the builder didn’t expect company to come this way. The passage opened up into something so unbelievable, Don couldn’t breath.
It was a city, an enormous, golden city, built into the cavern. The light that came from the room illuminated further back than the eye could see. Don realized with a shudder that the city likely extended the whole length of the Tessher mountain range, beneath the surface. However the entire city was empty. The city buildings extended up from the center all the way into the roof and up along the sides. Don walked around the area, exploring various rooms and buildings, however all were empty. Don got out a blank sheet of paper and started mapping the place out. The paper filled in automatically as he wandered around. It took a full twelve hours to walk the length of the cavern and map the complete city.
You have completed Unnamed City map for the first time.
Your Fame has increased by 350 (+350 Fame)
New Stat: InsightSkill level up: Automapping has reached level 10 and is now intermediate
Maps show hidden details.
After completing the map, the newly empowered skill caused the map to glowed a bit, a large area he had not explored showed up. Don found the entrance and went inside.
Dungeon: You are the first players to discover the Workshop of Actos
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Reward 250 Fame
Double experience, 2x item drop rate.
The first monster killed will drop a good quality item.
Don had finally found the dungeon area. After walking for a few minutes, the sound of gears and clockwork started coming from the walls. A sections of the wall opened up, revealing a human formed robot. “Scan.”
Warrior Guardian
Level- 185
Health -8575
The robot was far above his level. Don ran towards it to touch its forehead, but the warrior’s sword didn’t let him approach. Don whipped his hand out, throwing a magnetized grenade. It stuck to the robot’s armor and began to discharge, stunning the robot. Don didn’t have time to wait so he stuck his hand to the still high voltage robot head and said, “Repair.”
He pulled his hand back but was still slightly damaged from the shock. The warrior’s armor plating clicked and fell off as the grenade’s charge wore off. Don hacked away at the delicate parts of the inner workings.
Critical Hit!
The warrior slashed Don twice, taking most of his life and decreasing the durability of his armor. The thing had lost its defense but became faster.
Suddenly six more panels on the walls opened up, revealing more warrior guardians. Don decided on a tactical retreat.
He ran faster than the warriors could chase him, then he turned around, “Repair.” By using illusion step to go backwards without looking like it, he could touch the forehead of the one’s chasing him, before dealing a small slash to their leg and running again. Like this, he eventually had 7 naked robots chasing him. He eventually reached a choke point too small for more than one robot to fit through at a time, and fought the first, holding it there while the rest stayed behind it. Don slashed away at the sensitive looking parts until it finally collapsed, Don repeated with the other 6.
You have gained a level!
Don had eight more levels to go until 160, soon he would be able to equip his moonlight blades.
Don repeated the previous strategy for the rest of the day, the guardians always came in groups to overwhelm you, so he had to take drastic steps to survive. Although tiresome, by the end of the first day he gained three levels. However he had difficulty exploring. The spawn points were on the walls, some assembly line fed into them, no matter how many he destroyed in an area, after returning there a while later more robots would appear. If he wasn’t careful, he could go too and have robots spawning all around him, surrounding him with endless waves. He spent another three days in the initial area of the dungeon, finally reaching level 160.
Dual Blades of Moonlight.
Durability 120/120
Damage 55~60 (Each)
This sword was crafted by a specialist from the light of a full moon along with its twin. When used together they strengthen each other. Other properties unknown.
Restriction:
Level 160
Strength 200
Agility 200
Wisdom 50
Equips:
+10 All stats
+15% Magic resistance
+ Additional increase in resistance to curses and black magic
+ Grants Light based Magic Damage dependent on the phase of the moon.
+ Restores itself in the light of the moon, rate of restoration is dependent on the phase of the moon. Cannot be repaired otherwise.
+ Additional Light based magic damage when the pair used together.
Additional options Unknown.
Don equipped the glowing blades, pocketed his charged mag-electro-grenades, repaired all his equipment, and headed out.
Don had learned the movement patterns of the warrior robots a while ago, he could remove its armor without getting struck, but after that was the hard part. Don struck the robot’s exposed parts with his moonlight swords, each strike left a small glow on the area. To his surprise, he had finished off the robot faster than the next could respawn. The synchronizing effect of the swords strengthened each other when used together, granting higher total damage. When compared to the ordinary damage his previous swords dealt, the difference was in orders of magnitude.
Don made his way deeper into the dungeon. Larger robots with heavier armor and sleeker robots who seemed to be managing a factory of some sorts were all over the place. Don realized that the factory floor had been making the warrior robots he had spent the last four days fighting. Don decided it was time for payback. You only needed to disrupt one part of an assembly line to break the whole thing. Don threw two charged electro grenades at the control panel the sleek robot was operating. The jolt not only shocked the nearby robot, it magnetized the control panel as well. Don learned from experience that these clockwork robots were stunned by electricity, but not damaged by it. Their parts were all conductive and allowed the charge to pass through them. Unlike modern computers, these guys didn’t have any delicate parts that were destroyed so easily. However if any part of them were magnetized, they would become slow, and their operational functions would decline.
The same seemed to hold true for the control panel, after being magnetized the machinery in front of it started going haywire. This caught the attention of every robot in the room, attracting them all to attack Don. Don however leisurely stood on a slightly elevated platform with his hand hanging over the edge. To get up to him required going up a ramp that passed under him, and none of the robots were smart enough to duck. “Repair. Repair. Repair. Repair...” The first naked robot made it up the ramp, only to step on a powerful magnet trap Don had made. The robot behind it walked into it, getting magnetized as well and sticking to each other. “Repair. Repair. Repair.” Don had removed the last of their armor by the time the mag trap wore off and began hacking away at the pile of robots until they were a pile of robot parts.
When that room was clear Don moved onto the next and repeated. The factory was enormous and seemed to have an endless supply of stored robots, but after another five days Don’s level was 172 and the endless waves of robots were easy pickings.
Don eventually found his way to a locked room. There were no spawn points around so he got out the master lock pick set that a thief had ‘donated’ to him. Don occasionally used spared parts left over from his artificing projects to create locks or traps. Doing so increased his unlock and disarm trap skill proficiency, and with this set, his unlock skill was even higher, though for this lock he would still have to manually pick it.
After raising the last tumbler he used the tension wrench to turn the lock, opening the room. There he found several disassembled robots, and a small (relatively speaking, it is life sized) robot gnome in the corner. Don went over and knocked the gnome on the head, but nothing happened. He put his hand on its chest and said, "Repair." After a moment it began to stir.
“What? Did they get in? Wher-.. An elf? How’d you get in here?”
The robot gnome’s voice sounded like a tape recording. “My name is Don, I picked the lock and let myself in.”
“Picked the lock huh.” The little robot seemed upset. “Well what are you doing here, no, how did you make it all the way down here in the first place?”
“Let’s see. I pulled the lever while not standing over the pitfall. I found the entrance to this workshop beneath that empty city, and I fought my way through the robots, and here I am.”
“Is that right. Well then you can do me a favor, there is a master control panel in the back of this place. It will turn off the whole assembly line. Deactivate it and no more guardians will be made. After that you can empty the place of the remaining automatons.”
Stop the Machines
A robot gnome has asked you to disable the workshop's ability to create more robots and destroy the remaining automatons
Difficulty C
Reward: Unknown
Don wanted to ask more but figured the little bot would be more likely to answer after Don finished the quest.
“Alright, you can leave it to me.”
You have accepted the quest.
The shiny little gnome gave Don a complex key and said, “You’ll need this.” After he took it the bot walked over to a corner and deactivated.
Don had explored and mapped out the whole place already so he knew where the switch the key fit in was located. He had already cleared most of the place out, including the bots between the two areas so this would be a piece of cake.
Or so he thought. Upon approaching the back room, an enormous automaton Don first thought was nonfunctional came to life. Apparently this boss didn’t attack until you had the key in your possession.
Above the five meter tall robot was the name, “Rotos.” As it came to life, gears that first seemed like decoration on its arms legs and hands begun spinning at a frightening rate. The head of the bot was beyond Don’s reach, meaning he wouldn’t be able to remove its thick armor. Don decided to make a run for it before Rotos got warmed up. He had already opened the door beforehand and it had stayed open. Don ran past the giant robot’s leg just as it was bending down to smash Don.
He made into the control room with Rotos too large to get more than an arm through the door. Don took out the key, REPLACEed it into the slot on the panel and turned it. The sound of gears that came from the panel slowed down and stopped. But this had no effect on the active robots, Rotos was still out there and to complete the quest, Don needed to kill it.
Don took out the Artificer statue to gain its buff, as well as a pile of parts. One of the best parts of this place was that he could make artifacts from the scraps of the robots and he had collected a great deal. Don spent the next three hours with a tool kit and syg imprinting equipment. Don wished in the back of his mind there was a place to get rope around here, but he had to use what he had.
Don built two flat plates that held magnetism. If attached to a small (relatively speaking) robot it would magnetize the parts and slow it down, but Rotos was too large for such a small amount of magnetism to have an effect. Don bolted leather straps to the backs of the plates, and through trial and error found a way to set the magnetic plates to gain and lose their magnetism with a switch.
Skill level up: Artifice [6]
Don charged out the door way and jumped onto Rotos’s back, attaching himself with the magnets on his hands. He quickly deactivated one, moved it higher, reactivated and did the same with the other one. Rotos started up again, enormous gears spinning faster and faster. Don climbed like his life depended on it, which it did.
Rotos figured out what Don was doing and backed up against wall to smash Don between a wall and a hard place, Don quickly moved to the side and started up the arm pit. Rotis tried but didn’t have to mobility to reach Don, it started swinging its arms violently and bucking wildly. “Repair!”
Don made it to the head and had jumped onto the forehead. The instant he said it, he felt a dozen clicks beneath himself. The armor slid and fell away, almost crushing Don.
However the new sight was not a good one. The spinning gears and bulky armor fell off, leaving a sleek, robot whose fragile parts were beneath a mesh cage that seemed to be locked closed. Don couldn’t attack the weak points.
Rotos smashed the ground and Don dodged to the side. He threw all the eletrogranades and magnetizers at it but nothing affected it. Don decided to go for broke and try to overheat it.
He started his fiery dance and used flame extension. The length of the moonlight blades were coated in fire and from the tip was about a foot of fire that moved like a rope. Don attacked the hydraulic piston that was Rotos’s ankle and circled around as the robot spun so he could attack it again. In response Rotos lifted the foot and smashed it down, sending a shockwave that threw Don a few feet back. He got up and went back to attacking the foot.
After a strange dance of dodging and jumping and loud stomps, Don’s attack caused the heel to burst, the hydraulic fluid had expanded due to the heat and caused a small explosion. Rotos started limping like man with a broken leg before falling down. Don quickly climbed onto its back and stabbed his blades into through the mesh wrap into the gear area. Rotos got up but Don was still hanging on to the handles. Rotos seemed to try falling onto its back, but before it could move enough, the chest area exploded with shredded gears and loose couplings. The great automaton fell and slowly died.
You have gained a level!
Don collected some of the more valuable parts that he didn’t destroy from the wreckage and moved on to kill everything else.
Quest Complete: Stop the Machines
Return to the robot gnome for your reward.
Don returned to the room thankful that it wasn’t locked and knocked on the gnome’s metal head again.
“What, what, I’m up.” He looked up to see that Don was still in one piece then approached the door to see that the factory outside was deactivated.
“Hmm, good job elf.”
You have gained a level!You have gained a level!You have gained a level!
Don asked, “What is this place? I noticed it doesn’t have a name.”
“Yea, it doesn’t. I built this place a while back.”
Don asked, “On your own?”
“Of course not! I had lots of automaton workers. I made this place to be a city whose citizens were only robots. I wanted them to evolve, to create better robots to replace themselves, and so on and so forth. But there’s a problem. Making robots capable of building robots better than themselves is more difficult than it sounds.”
Don thought it sounded plenty difficult.
“So to figure out a way around that I turned myself into a robot. That way I could gain a bit of insight into the mind of a robot that builds robots."
Don asked, “Wait what? You turned yourself into a robot? How?”
“Simple, made a super soul gear that I could store the entirety of my being in then put it in this robot. But guess what happened next.”
Don wasn’t sure so he just said, “All hell broke loose?”
“Well, yes. Not all at once of course. My first breakthrough in artificial intelligence made from scratch, went a bit crazy. He reformatted the assembly line I made to create the citizens of the city into one that makes soldiers. I don’t know what happened to him afterwards, He might have been destroyed, or he might have escaped. Anyways, because I was not the primary designer of the warrior guardians, I was not set as their master. They whole lot destroyed all of my prototype citizens and I could do nothing but lock myself away.”
Suddenly an obvious question came to Don’s mind. Who alone has the skill necessary to do all of this? Don asked, “Excuse me, I forgot to ask for your name.”
“Huh? Oh yea, I am-, or I was, Actos.”
Don nodded, not entirely surprised, though he was happy to meet such an extraordinary gnome. Bob would explode once he found out.
Don said, “Did you know that the current head of the Artificer’s guild is offering a reward for any information about you?”
“That so? And that’s why you came down here?”
“No, that would be a bonus, but I came down here because I enjoy adventuring.”
“HA! That right?”
“Well, I may have also been curious. Imma ametuer artificer.”
This time the gnome seemed genuinely surprised. “There are no amatuer artificers elf. You’re either a professional one or not one at all. No imbetween.”
Don realized that Bob may have done something bad in teaching him the skill, but it was too late to take it back, Actos was looking over him carefully.
“Hmm.. you are an ametuer artificer... ... ... AH Ha Hahahaha HA!”
To hear a robot gnome laugh out loud is a strange thing.
“Way to go kid, you beat the system. I always hated that artificing was so regulated. I didn’t learn it at the university either, self taught all the way. Hmm.. I got an idea.”
Actos got out a pair of journals. “You ever seen one of these kid?”
Don nodded and explained about the one that was given to him.
Actos said, “That right? I’d like to meet this Floren and Bob. Anyways, these are personal journals, every artificer has one. You should start one as well. We’re taught not to give them away but I don’t care about that. So as thanks for helping me out, you can have these.”
Don took the journals and said, “Why two?”
“One is my old journal, centuries old. But there are still some original ideas in there. Give that to whoever put a bounty on info about me. The second one is for you. It is quite a bit more recent. I has all the sygs I’ve discovered and some secrets to imprinting high quality spells into artifacts that I think you'd be able to use despite your low proficiency.”
Don bowed and said, “Thankyou master Actos for these. I have two final questions. What are you going to do now?”
“Well, Imma repair the workshop and build some new security. Stuff that Will do what I say. Then I’ll get back to my research on the self improving AI.”
“Ok, and would you mind if I told Bob how to get here? I know he’d love to meet you.”
“Sure, I’ll keep the new guardians from attacking on site in case he drops by.”
Don thanked Actos again and left. He had gotten to almost level 180 over the weekend and had learned some new tricks. The weekend was almost over but he would spend what time he had left experimenting with new gadgets and artifacts.
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