Girshan licked his lips clean of oily fat, patting his belly in contentment. Here on the ridge with their arrays active, they were about as safe as they could be in the astral space. A space split by districts, where the mana dimmed at the border between zones, making monster sightings very rare. Backed up against the ridge like that, they were likely to have a full nights sleep. Maybe a day or two of rest. “Why do you keep monster corpses in your dimensional ring?” He asked, looking at Tyr. It was odd to see an adventurer doing that.
Tyr shrugged. “Suppose they looked edible. Pretty similar anatomically to regular boars – just larger. They take up more of my dimensional ring than they should based on their size – so I was about to dump them.”
“You should.” Abe commented, not looking away from his crouched position, mortar and pestle between his legs as he prepared the base for some kind of potion or another. They'd camped here, preparing before moving into the more mountainous terrain that contained more threats in both quality and quantity. “If you tried to take the corpses outside, your finger would be ripped right off. They scan dimensional rings on the way out, not the way in. For contraband, of which there are many examples, anything foreign. You'll be inoculated as well, foreign environments mean foreign pathogens.”
“Really? Why is that? It's pretty common in the successor states to take our kills back to the association to be harvested for additional pay. Or to be used by a craftsman. And now that you mention it, weren't you all storing monsters in your rings? I've never seen you 'harvest' one.”
“Their mana is foreign, and tainted. I'm not sure about you, but if a normal person tried to eat the flesh of a monster born in the astral space... Might die, it should be poisonous. Not like many people are going around and testing those theories.” Girshan chuckled. “You just do your harvesting here. Monsters born inside the astral space can cause strange things to happen on the other end. Or, just explode. Something that has happened before, they don't want to take any chances.”
Abe nodded. It wasn't just the tainted flesh or mana, or the pathogens they might carry. It was also due to the fact that the 'rules' of these spaces didn't follow the same structure as their own world. Sometimes. If a creature was brought back to the other side, even its corpse, any of these rules or systems by which it had evolved could cause some unfortunate side-effects. There were rituals to contain it, but only very rarely were those things done.
“Do you know how to skin mountain boar?” Tyr wasn't quite following. What was the difference of harvesting inside the astral space versus the outside? It would do nothing to remove the mana in them. The idea that dimensional rings could be 'peeked' into at all was quite revelation as well. Certainly not the most confusing thing he'd heard in recent days, though.
Abe dumped a pile of crushed herbs into a clay amphora and began to frantically shake it about while Xavier held the top down. “Sometimes we forget that you weren't properly instructed, apologies. Girshan, if you would.”
“We don't harvest them, because we can't. Neal had access to that function of his badge, but we do not. You should, however.”
“If I can...” Tyr asked. “Why not ask me to harvest them for you?”
“Because you take all the loot. And we can't steal it back from you, even if we wanted to.” Jura commented. “We haven't known you long enough to trust you like that, and we'd prefer to sort it out ourselves. At some point another overseer will be sent here and he will do it for us, someone bound to a proper contract.”
“Rude, but okay.” Tyr frowned, but he could understand. It wasn't as if he'd ever been big on taking leaps of faith, and didn't trust them either. The thing was, they couldn't
As Abe explained, apologizing for Jura's suddenly territorial stance on things, it wasn't that they mistrusted him. It was more complex than that. Something he'd only be able to see once he followed their instructions and did it himself.
“Sorry.” Jura said. “I didn't mean to insinuate that you'd rob us, it's just...”
“Our lives are dependent on the artifacts we recover here.” Yana said. “We live or die by the haul, and I don't mean that figuratively, we have a quota to meet and can't risk it. I heard your promise, and I'll hold you to it, but our master is our master until he relinquishes us. We cannot run or fight our way out of the republic as fugitives. Even if we did...” Tyr nodded, he understood what she meant. Escaped slaves often ended up dead or mysteriously disappeared. No nation, not even an empire, could pay that much attention to a small demographic. Protected or not. The capital city of Haran might be the only place they'd truly be safe on the entire continent.
Other than an astral space, he supposed. Samson was escaped, but he was a bit of an outlier considering that Tyr had found him only a few days after he'd arrived in the city, and once he was given a position as a knight-adept he was no longer anything but an imperial knight. His pension documents ensured he'd remain that way, just 'retired'.
“Wait...” Tyr tilted his head again, watching as another coin passed between hands and glaring at the two girls just long enough to make his point. “What do you mean artifacts? Do you mean the crystals and small bits of metal that come out of monsters sometimes? I've gotten a few in dungeons, and while they are novel, they are usually worthless...”
“If this were a dungeon.” Abe nodded. “You'd be absolutely right. Or rather, for the smaller dungeons you must've visited. Mana crystallizes in a variety of ways, strange ways that nobody has ever been able to explain. Go ahead and extend your hand toward the corpse of that boar.”
Tyr did as he was asked.
“Now, infuse your badge with a steady stream of mana. Good. Focus on the boar, and say 'loot'.”
“Loot?” Tyr asked, confused by the bizarre choice of words. Confused. Until it happened. The boar swiftly dissolved into a pile of shimmering ashes, purple and green chromatic dust that blew off into the wind over the ridge, twinkling in the bright violet light coming from above. “Oi! My boar! That looked to be the fattiest one, too...” He moped, kicking at the pile of ash and yelping as his foot lit up with pain. His mothers armor was still tattered beyond repair. He kept it in a pack on his back so as to allow for it to repair itself, it wouldn't return to his bracelet. Thus, he only wore simple leather boots. His right foot cut in half down the middle, an unexpected weight in the pile of ash that hadn't yet been dispersed by the mountain winds.
Xavier cackled as Tyr fell back on his rear, spraying blood and clamping down on his food with a clenched hand, gradually aiding the healing process with sacred flame. He hadn't used it much, despite Abe's constant requests to 'see it'. The old man went back to fervently mumbling and scribbling furiously at the pages of his revealed grimoire. Tyr didn't understand how interesting watching someone cauterize and heal a wound could be, it didn't do much beyond numb the pain.
“Must be nice.” Yana sighed wistfully. “Not needing potions or other people to heal you...”
“Loot.” Abe repeated absentmindedly. “A phenomena of crystallized mana that produces all manner of things. Mostly, it's appropriate to the monster killed, but your own mana and that of the surrounding atmosphere can influence it, or so they say. Take a look and show us what you've got.”
Tyr reached, gingerly this time, into the ash. Tracing his fingers down an edge sharp enough to split his skin until he found some kind of haft. Realizing his stupidity, a bit of wind magic blew the rest of the ash away to reveal a small collection of items. A parcel wrapped in wax paper, a tightly bound roll of thick hide, a small orb, and a heavy spear of gray-black metal that twinkled under the light. A six and a half foot haft and a collection of runes mottling its entire surface. All carved into the metal with the runes Abaddon had taught him to read. Sharpness, a heft modulator, piercing, durability, and the wind rune derivative for lightning. Whatever metal composed the spear, it wasn't steel or iron. Else wise it wouldn't be able to handle such and impressive collection of enchantments.
“Wow...” Was all Xavier could say, staring down at the spear with a glitter in his eyes. Tyr lifted the weapon, twirling it to let the light fall on its dark surface. It felt right in his hands, razor sharp blade whistling through the air.
“Not bad.” Tyr observed. “Shame it didn't come with a proper repair rune. Or even a rune of whetting.” With that being said, it might not need them. Whatever metal it was cast of was flexible and strong, and the blade was sharper than his auronite by the looks of it.
“...Not bad.” Jura agreed, a flicker of greed in her eyes.
“Want it?” He asked, offering to hand it over freely to the half-orc. “I like a good spear, but this isn't really to my taste. Aesthetics are everything, y'know?”
“You'd give this to us?” Jura's eyes became slits. “Do you know how much an artifact like this is worth?”
“Thirty...” Tyr shrugged. “Fifty gold? Sovereigns or credits. Maybe seventy marks? The exchange rate confuses me, considering the republic uses common iron coins. And then you have Krieg marks, Republic marks, Harani sovereigns, Varian marks, Milanese dollars, Successor credits... It's a mess, I don't understand why they don't just decide on one central currency...” He continued on, offering his thoughts on how much better the global economy would be if it was all centralized. Even digitized, they possessed credit chits or 'wallets' in Amistad that could trade balances with no need for bank notes, though he didn't use one himself.
Abe looked up from his grimoire and paused, pursing his lips and squinting his eyes. “Draconic runes....” He breathed. “How did you do that?”
Stolen novel; please report.
Tyr paused. “Uh... What do you mean, how did I do it? I know these runes, but get real. Dragons are a myth.”
“He knows draconic. That's normal.” Girshan snorted in amusement. “Whether they are a myth or not, their language exists. The crown blade of Sinea is the only example of them that I've ever seen – and it was a national treasure. Shattered, now, though. Rusting somewhere in your fathers vaults, probably. Not that dragon forged weapons are capable of rusting, but you get the point.”
Tyr didn't much care about the weapon. He understood the basic concept, handing it to Jura and looking down at the other items. Monsters were capable of manifesting specific resources, even in the outside world. Some metals could only come from specific kinds of monsters. Scarletite for example, could not be mined, it only came from the gut of a monster that lived in an area of heavy fire mana. Something about the rocks or other monsters they ate condensing in their intestines, sometimes refined from the bodies of wild elementals. “Well, you can have it.” He said.
“You'll need to identify it first...” Abe whispered, unable to take his eyes off the spear. Tyr didn't see what he saw. The weapon itself was irrelevant. It was the runes. Granted, the artifact was fairly impressive. If it were inscribed with any other runic language known to him, Tyr would've been right. Fifty gold, at most, from a fair trade. Multiply that by twenty, and you'd easily find a buyer for an item with draconic runes. If they understood how rare such a thing was. Tyr looked at him with a raised eyebrow. Abe had caught on well enough to understand the young mans ignorance to these things. “Tap the edge of your tablet to the spear and say 'identify'.”
Tyr did as he was asked, feeling a familiar sensation enter his brain. Similar to what he'd felt in the exam chamber, but cooler. More relaxing. Not painful, but still unfamiliar. Enough to cause him some discomfort, like lowering himself into a pool of cool water after a days work under the hot sun. A pulled thread of his mana funneled into the tablet device and infusing the whole length of the spear.
It took a moment, about thirty seconds before the furiously circulating dots and lines settled into a page containing a wire frame diagram of the weapon, as well as a description.
Artifact: [(Spear) Ilharg's Charge]
Rank: Silver~Gold (growth) Class-5 Artifact (?)
ERROR – UNKNOWN RUNES
A boar spear forged from the tusk of a nature spirit slain by Heru, god of the hunt. It's power is currently sealed, but may see an awakening should certain conditions be met. Data inconclusive, archiving for future reference. Adventurer's Association reward for data pertaining to an unknown class of artifact: +850 contribution points.
Craftsman unknown. Despite being a weapon blessed with divine energy, it is not a divine artifact. Likely an ancient weapon lost in the morass of the astral, crystallized over time in the body of a monster sired by the nature spirit of a foreign world. Enchantments unremarkable, based on signature, but we cannot read the inscriptions. Pending inquiry. Further rewards may arrive in your balance should this lead to a breakthrough.
Effect: Runes for increasing the piercing force of the item identified. Will aid in the aim of the weapon, leaving wounds behind beyond the shape of the visible head. Likely to produce a bleed effect. Upon using this weapon in combat, you will be rewarded +150 contribution points for every relevant examination of runic influence. Maximum threshold for these rewards is (3) rune synergies to allow for further study.
Effect: Can adjust weight and length. The range of which amounts to roughly 15% of the artifacts length, and 250% of its weight.
*All runes passive. No release runes, though this item should work fine as a conduit for lightning magic due to its wind attribute, metallic construction assuredly doubles as a focus for all other elements.
*COMPOSITION UNKNOWN. Darksteel derivative or alloy, but not identical in its molecular structure. Cataloging. Reward: +25 contribution points.
*Please note. The United Adventurer's Association would like to inform you that all information regarding this artifact is an estimate based on its mana signature. Unknown runes, possibly ancient in origin. Draconic, likely, but a derivative of it not recognized by the archive. Any injury incurred by improper use of the artifact are not covered by pension, insurance, or remuneration. USE WITH CAUTION. All effects are hypothetical, unknown artifacts are dangerous! Be safe, we care about you!
*Please sell this to us. Price negotiable upon delivery. Delivery point: KRIEGSTAD, ADVENTURER'S GUILD HALL. Would you like to accept this quest?
[YES / NO]
“Hells no.”
“Understood. Quest denied. Have a nice day!” A voice rang from the tablet, startling Tyr – but not the others – unwilling to speak after staring at the information on his tablet. They had heard that voice plenty of times, noting its cheery and metallic tones.
“What the hell is this thing...” Tyr breathed, taking in the information presented. “Why don't they have these everywhere else? It's sort of irritating. Any runesmith could tell you the same thing, even the apprentices. But do you know how useful this would be for people looking to purchase artifacts? This could change the industry!” And, notably, lead to an incredible burst of innovation. It could take a professional assessor an entire day to work on a complex artifact and properly identify it, whereas this tool had done it instantly.
“Republic trademark, that's what they say.” Girshan had never seen anything like that come out of a monster so common as a mountain boar, but Tyr seemed unimpressed. The tablet readout for it was long, but ultimately – it wasn't complicated. If Tyr was aware of how to read the runes, and a runesmith, it would do well to side with his take on the matter. The once-prince had discarded the item so easily, after all, perhaps it wasn't so special. “But ultimately, it has a lot to do with astral spaces. The Krieg has similar devices, and some other countries do too – but they are by no means common.”
Abe added onto this. Information that would leave Tyr even more confused.. “Long ago, there was a man. Someone found in an astral space, a human like any other. I'd say like you, but human is just an easy identifier. It's quite clear that you're not a common man, even biologically, considering the fact that you eat but do not... Excrete. In any case, he claimed to be from another world, lost in a desert environment. Taken back, he eventually developed this technology for the nascent republic. That was about... Two hundred years or so ago. His name was Varinn.”
“Varinn...?” Tyr asked, suddenly very interested. “Do you know this man?”
“No... How could I know someone who probably died a century or longer ago? Telurian's aren't dwarves or alfen, we've a similar lifespan to humans.”
I wonder... No, probably not. Varinn is a name I'd never heard before, but he can't be two centuries old. Humans don't just suddenly become immortal, and he wasn't 'that' powerful. And he didn't have magic to make up the gap. Spira and mana were different, but they should be a good identifier of relative power. Hastur's mana was like a sun, whereas Varinn's spira in comparison was a bonfire. Definitely impressive, for a man. The strongest Tyr had ever seen, still above that of his own, but it wasn't so incredible as to boggle the mind. Tyr had nearly tripled his capacity for energy. It had to be a different Varinn. Perhaps Varinn was even the son or relative of this enchanter, the old man certainly didn't seem interested in the magical vocations.
“In any case. This technology was perfected by republic artisans and made into the form it takes these days. Kriegstad's own devices are a bit more crude, but they work the same. Acting as a catalyst to shape the crystallized mana into something potentially useful. Things that happen naturally in a common dungeon, but won't happen here unless stimulated by the energies of our own world. It's complicated, I know, and I'm no expert in this discipline.” Abe said.
“And the other items?” Tyr asked, pointing at the pile again. “What are those? Where did that paper come from, and how did the boar skin itself?”
“Same thing, roughly. The relationship of the tablet and badge are symbiotic. Tablet feeds the information to Navi, the voice you heard, a pseudo-intelligent mana construct. It determines the form items take and provides the impetus to generate phenomena. Like the wax paper, things like that come from the device – not the reaction. Meat and hides are very common, so twine and proper packaging are provided for free. Cheaper products, not like that spear. The orb, on the other hand, is a monster essence.”
“Mon--” Tyr didn't have the question to begin forming his answer. Abe was sharp, and he knew exactly what he was about to ask.
“It's another crystallization of mana. Can be used for summoning rituals. Not so common, but definitely not unheard of. Using that, ritualists and conjurers can summon a familiar in the rough form of the monster that it came from. Otherwise, if it's not an appropriate source of that particular magic, it can be used for other things. Powdered to be used in potions, crafting, or a reagent for other spells. It can also be ingested for what some believe to be an increase in strength, but to do so is to invite alien toxins and mana into the body. It won't kill you, but I wouldn't suggest it. It has a rather negative effect on the ability to progress your own strength via combat. I hear it's also quite painful, but not every adventurer is what I'd call smart. Being that this astral space is so rich in mana, it's not surprising. Some classes of monster essence are illegal everywhere in the known world, they can even change your biology and make you a monster if you go too far with them.”
In essence, the republic in particular knew of the ability to increase their power by slaughter. Tyr could see it, on a second glance. It was pure mana in a form that could be metabolized. Enough to force the spira in ones body to grow, lest the subject die from the imbalance. In a lesser monster, death was unlikely, however. The problem lay in the fact that the foreign mana would eventually be expelled, forcing artificial cultivation of a sort. On its way out, it would likely damage mana pathways and make it harder to absorb energy in the future, maybe forever.
They didn't know it all, but the decades following their use of these devices had certainly set them on the right track. The only question was how they had arrived at that understanding, without doing much of anything about it. Or, alternatively, the fact that this information was widely known.