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Chp4 vol3
The Concert in Greyfell
In the third floor of the west building of the Artificer’s College of Greyfell was a lab whose primary use was for students. In this lab were four students, each working on their own project. A young gnome was working on artifact that could generate a magic barrier, though with little success. A pair of students, both female humans, were assembling the components for mechanical bird that could act as a long distance scout. The fourth was an elf, sitting in front of a blank sheet of paper meant to be his blueprints for the final project for his graduation.
In order for students to receive a Artificer’s License and be able to sell their creations to general stores, they must pass the College’s graduation test. The test itself is quite simple, build something innovative that the college can sell for a profit. This test serves several purposes. The point of an Artificer was to advance the science of Artificing, if a student could not come up with something new, he did not have the right to become an Artificer. The point of selling the creation to test if a profit could be made was that the College had a reputation, and those who received a license from them had a responsibility to hold up that reputation. If a student made an item that could not sell, then they were not to the standards of the College. That and the profits obtained from the graduation testing was used to fund the college itself.
Don, the elf in the corner, could draw no more than a blank on what to make. Through fortunate circumstances he obtained a journal with advanced ideas and designs unknown to the general public, any of these could grant him a passing grade. But he refused to use another’s ideas as his own. Don was a person who walked down a path with a single rule, be a man. His definition of which, was to do the opposite of whatever a coward would do, and a coward would take the easy way out and use an idea from the journal as his own. This however left him with a problem. He had gone over almost every design within it, and the subjects ranged from every field, every idea one could think of. This meant that if he wanted to create an original idea, he had to think of something the genius who wrote the journal did not.
The door to the lab opened and in stepped a dwarf. He came over to Don's table and observed the blank page. "Writer's block is it?"
Don replied, "Something like that."
The dwarf nodded. When Don first came to the college, he asked for the opportunity to get an artificer's license. He had already obtained the skill, but it would advance no further than beginner level 10, because his class was not artificer. Acquisition of a license would allow him to further the skill to the stage of master. Don's assigned instructor was this dwarf, an aloof character who always seemed lost in thought and was amused by everything.
The dwarf continued, "If you wish, I could let you into the archives, and you could see what others have done to graduate, maybe that could provide you with some inspiration.
Don looked back to his teacher and asked, "Is such a thing allowed?"
"Such a thing is not un-allowed, hehe. It is at the desecration of the teacher to decide such things. Besides, I have seen first hand that your skills are excellent. I wish you to get your license because I know you will make great contributions to the science. I only ask that you pass on your knowledge when the time comes."
Don thanked his teacher and accepted his offer to see the projects other students had used to pass the graduation test.
It took less than five minutes of perusing through the creations of fresh artificers for Don to realize that artificers in general, were an eccentric bunch. The passing ideas ranged from bracers that continually cast stone skin on the wearer to helmets that increased the user's mana by 10%. Considering that most students who took the test either had the artifice skill at beginner 10 or even didn't have it at all, the designs were most impressive. The craziest designs however were among the failures. Designs such as a small robot drone with a bomb strapped to it that would approach the enemy and detonate. Ideas like that could bring the science of artificing a bad reputation were immediately failed. (It was decided that the people on the receiving end of such a drone would develop a disdain for artificing and spread it.) Other ideas that failed did so because the final product could not be made successfully by anyone but the original creator, so the college could not mass produce and sell them.
The only person Don knew who took and passed the graduation test was the gnome Bob. Out of curiosity Don looked up his device. The blueprints were for a clay disc that cast chain lightning on whoever stepped on it. Before that, magic trap artifacts were common, but Bob's chained together the power of every trap within a certain radius of the one that was activated. So if twenty were set around an area and someone stepped on one, that one and all the ones within a few meters would activate and damage the trespasser with the accumulative lightning. The college still sold those to people who ordered them for 80 gold pieces a disc.
Bob was a user who owned a unique wagon he traveled everywhere with. For him, such an artifact could be used to protect it in times he logged out. It was something that was very useful to him as a player.
Don considered this. Instead of thinking, 'What to make?' think, 'What do I need for my playing style?' The answer was not any simpler. e had made dozens of artifacts that were useful in combat, but he had been making objects for personal use for some time, and even showed a few of his better ones to his teacher. However such items were already sold by the college, he had to come up with something more original.
He thought about the problems he faced due to his unusual combat class. His class was Blade Dancer, and although he had his reservations about it at first, he had grown fond of it overtime. The answer came to him in a massive epiphany. There was something he needed that he might be able to make, something that was not in the journal of advanced ideas, something that was not in the catalogue of items one could order from the college. Don was a blade dancer, and to make the most of his class, what he needed was music.
Creating a device to store music was of course not an original concept, not even in Royal Road. Recording devices were uncommon but not rare, but few if any used them to record music. The main reason was that any such recording was of low quality. The recorded sound of any buff giving music would not grant the same buff, or any buff really. That and there was little practical commercial value. Copies made of recordings were greatly degraded, and no one would buy them. Therefore any recording of a song would be nothing more than an amusing bobble.
Don spent the next two days examining a prototype of the current model of a sound recorder. All of the parts and sygs, or magic sygals required to make them were within his abilities to craft. He made a model for himself and tried to record some music, but the sound wasn't clear or distinct. This was the point most artificers would give up, but this was only the first step for Don, for he could see how magic and artifacts affected mana using Mana sight, a natural ability he gained when his affinity to the divine reached a certain point. Using it he could fine tune his artifacts and witness the effects in the mana.
Songs that gave buffs did so through the mana. They affected the mana around them and through that affected the people within a certain distance. After that distance the mana projection became distorted and lost its effect. Don observed something similar in the mana around the sound recorder. It was like the music was being heard at distance too great for the buff to be acquired.
Don got to work at the most tedious part of all inventing, trial and error. Thanks to mana sight though, this part took significantly less time for Don.
After two weeks, he called in his teacher.
“Yes? You have something?”
Don answered, “Yes, right here.” He showed what appeared to be a complex mechanical device the size of a mini-fridge.
The dwarf examined it thoroughly for a few minutes before saying, “Alright, I give up, what does it do?”
Don smiled, got out his lute, and flipped a switch on the device. Next he played The Sound of Battle, a fast, upbeat sound that got one’s blood pumping and make one seek out a fight. When finished he flipped the previous switch.
“Here is where it gets good.” Don placed a small orb into the machine and pulled a lever. The machine opened the orb and inscribed something into it. When finished, Don removed the orb, set it on a table, and tapped it twice.The song he had just played reverberated out. It wasn’t of the same masterful clarity that was given by the lute, and it gave no buff, but it was still a high quality musical recording.
The dwarf hesitantly stepped up to the orb and tapped it twice. When the music stopped, he laughed himself silly. “Ha, to think you would go in this direction. So, the main piece records the song, and imprints it onto these,” he said, holding up the music sphere. “How did you do this?”
“This trick is to not try to carry over the buffs created by music. The influence of the buffs is changed in a different way through recording that the actual sound is, so the recording of a song and its buff will conflict with one another. All you have to do to counter this is filter out the buff.”
“I see.. How long does the music hold on the sphere?”
“I haven’t tested it out completely, but I believe it will be able to play for about two hundred hours.”
“Oh? How did you manage such efficiency?”
“I’m quite good with efficiency.” He had his mana sight to thank for that.
The dwarf said, “Hmm, I recommend making them a bit more inefficient. 20 or 30 hours would do. Then then would have to buy more often. How many of these spheres can the main part copy the music onto before degradation?”
“Again, not something I was able to test. Depends on the quality of the piece used for the master frame that the original is copied onto. The piece for this one is a simple silver and nickel alloy, it will probably be able to make about 80 or so. A better one could make up to 300, or more. I’ll need to do more experiments.”
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“Hmm. I will recommend one other thing. Were you aware that, although the college sells graduation projects for a profit, the graduate still gets 10%?”
“No. I did not.”
“Hmm. Well, you do now. Since you will be making a profit in this, I recommend advertisement.”
At this point, the dwarf had completely lost him. “Wait. What do you mean advertise?”
The dwarf smiled.
-----------------------------------
In a circumstance that could not have been foreseen by the greatest prophet of the times, Don’s graduation project ended up requiring him to play his lute in the streets to attract the attention of others. At first he thought it wouldn’t work, but the dwarf took into account something Don had not, and that was Don’s appearance. Don was a Lunar elf, a less than common race whose beauty could only be matched by the likes of princes and princesses. Through a strange turn of circumstance the he had acquired and heightened (unwillingly so) the stats Charisma and Charm, both of which have a strong effect on the appearance of a dancer. His face almost glowed with beauty, and with his face to see and music to hear, the crowd of people who gathered around him grew to a massive audience.
Don however, was uncomfortable with attention, especially from attractive females. In this situation, he played the part not of a User, but of a humble Non player character of the Bard class. In this mindset he was able to handle the stares and attention.
Don’s teacher had gone over every inch of the blueprints to the Music Inscriber and Music Orbs, he told Don to advertise for a week so the college could make more inscribers. Don played for two hours, three times a day, in completely random areas he chose for no particular reason. By the end of which, his Lute Playing skill had reached beginner level 9.
On the second to last day, a gnome found Don just before he was going to start playing. “Hey, Bard, I got a proposition for you.”
Don replied, “Yes?”
“Three days ago you played in the walkway of Silver Alley. That is where me and a few others have set up our shops. If you play there, we’ll pay you.”
Don thought about it. No matter where he played, a large group eventually formed. Don took out an orb and gave it to the gnome. “There is something I think we should talk about.”
The next day, Don announced to the people who always gathered around him he would be playing in a concert near Silver Street. The shop vendors, after having seen Don’s Music Orb, ordered all the MOs they could from the Artificer’s college. The plan was to do one concert there, then have that street sell the MOs the next day. Plans however, rarely go off without a hitch.
The vendors paid for all of the equipment for the concert. They even bought magic loudspeakers from the college. Don had already made a few dozen high quality master plates for the Inscribers the college built to mass produce the MOs of every song he had. Today he would play them all.
From the side of the stands was a little girl with white hair and a hood covering most of her. She was Don’s biggest fan, though she was actually the smallest. She also considered him her big brother, despite the fact that she was actually a very young, very powerful dragon, disguised as a half-elf. Like Don, her appearance (as a half-elf) was very eye catching, so she elected to wear a cloak to avoid unwanted attention.
The curtains of the stage opened up, and Don saw what appeared to be over a thousand people. He was not aware that the shop owners had stands built to accommodate more people, and since Don was very popular, and the show was free, it seemed almost every person in the city came to see him.
At some level, Don thought this would be a great time to go train in some of the better dungeons around Greyfell, since they would probably be empty right now. But mostly, Don was terrified, like a mouse with a broken leg in front of an army of cats.
Don closed his eyes, took in a few deep breathes, and said to himself, “You’re an NPC, You’re an NPC.” This mantra helped get him into the right state of mind. He pretended he was a NPC program who had not been programed to feel stage fright, or get intimidated by an audience.
With that, Don started playing. Since gaining the skill Lute Playing, he had come up with a dozen songs, nine of which had been labeled by the game and songs he created, thus generated a few stats and some fame for him. He played each one in sequence, with last being his personal favorite, a song entitled, ‘Melody of Adventure.’
Lute Playing has advanced to beginner level 10. Upgrades to Intermediate level 1
Others can now learn and play songs you’ve created. When song’s you’ve created become popular, your fame will rise.
+150 Fame
+5 All statsYou have gained the title: Music Star
Fame +200
Charisma +10
Charm +10
The effects of songs you play will be increased by 15% and last 30% longer.
Don noticed at song point that his teacher had walked up to Thessa, talked to her, and retreated back.
After the last song was done, people shouted for an encore. Don never really spoke while playing, he thought of his NPC identity as the silent type, but that wasn’t really helping. He said, “People of Greyfell, please remain silent for one moment.”
With that, the group became still. Don took out a bag of MOs. He picked up one and gave it a double tap. The sound of his ‘Melody of Adventure rang out.’
Don said, “I give these to you freely, these will soon be available in store, but the ones here are limited edition.” He threw the orbs out into the audience, but then things went south. An audience member climbed up onto the stage to get an orb, but this was the signal for the floodgates to open. Dozens, then hundreds of people climbed onto the stage. Don threw the bag with the orbs into the audience, but that didn’t work, they rushed him.
Don ran towards Thessa and the two climbed the nearest roof to escape the sea of fans. Thessa seemed to be enjoying herself, but Don was a bit fidgety. They ran along rooftops with the mass of half the people of Greyfell in tow. It took half an hour, but eventually he lost them.
“Thessa, can you do me a favor?” Don asked.
She was still peering over a roof at the large volume of people. You couldn’t say that they were looking for him, but if one saw him, the group would likely reassemble..
“Yes big brother?”
“I need you to go back to the dorm and get our stuff. Also, remember that gnome we met at the entrance?”
“The thief? Yes.”
“After you get our stuff, please bring him to me. Tell him I’ll pay him to get me out of the city.”
“Ok.” And with that, she jumped off the roof.
It took less than an hour for Thessa to return, she remembered the smell of the gnome and could find him anywhere in the city.
The gnome said, “Got yourself in a bit of a pickle huh? Never give free stuff to a giant mob. It’s a bad idea.”
Don nodded, “So I’ve learned. Were you there?”
“Yep. I giant distraction and a thousand pockets to pick. Thanks to you, my skill level has risen four times this week.”
That implied he was likely in the group every time Don had been playing.
Don said, “So do you know of a discreet way out of the city?”
“Of course. It will be a shame to see you go, but I’ll lead you to it for 35 gold.”
Don didn’t even bother to negotiate.
The gnome lead them up some pipes that lead up the wall of the underground city. He explained that the pipes brought in rainwater, and that the openings around them were large enough for them to slip through.
After a few months underground, seeing the sun for the first time took a while to adjust to.
Don regretted that he would not be able to get his license for a while, but he hoped the college would be able to mail it to him.
Almost as if she knew what he was thinking, Thessa said, “Big brother, this is for you.”
She handed him an envelope with his name on it.
Inside was a letter and a card. When he picked up the card he received a message.
Artifice has upgraded from beginner level 10 to intermediate level 1
+5 All stats
The letter read
-Dear Don,
From the pre-orders alone, the amount necessary to pass your graduation has been reached. You are no longer an apprentice artificer. I look forward to your works in the future.
P.S. At the end of each year, the total sum of 10% of all profits made from the sales of your artifacts will be deposited in an account in your name. You can withdraw it from any Artificer College in Versailles.
Don let out a deep sigh. The end of the year passed two weeks after he got to Greyfell, meaning he would have to wait some time before he actually got any money. But in a way, that didn’t really matter, he now had a license and could sell his works. He could also make artifacts that required his artifice skill to be intermediate now and even raise the skill to advance.
Thessa asked, “So where are we gonna go now?”
Don looked around, he inhaled deeply and said, “There is a fresh breeze blowing in from the east. That sound good?”
“Ok!” Thessa smiled and the two walked off into distance.
About thirty minutes laters.
DING*
A Urgent Message has been sent from the Church of Leu!
Don looked at the message bar and said, “Figures.”
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By the way, if anyone was wondering, I'm not gonna stop writing Chronicles of the Blade or Tales of Adventure. (In fact Imma write and release a ToA chapter next)