Phila, the 8th, 10,391
Ravna had completed Six’s next commission by the end of his near week-long enchanting binge.
It was beautiful, exactly what Six requested. It was not as elegant as something he would have access to in his world but Six was amazed she created something so intricate and precise with just smith’s tools and some poorly drawn designs.
Before Six was a chainsaw. Almost a chainsword.
It was simple, functional, and direct. Its lines were square and straight and made to his design specifications. He had spent much time speaking with her and had tweaked the design into something even simpler when he had acquired the Rune of Rotation. No chainbreak, no engine.
The saws components were already assembled. It wasn’t a top handle saw, it rather had a long hilt to allow for a wide two handed grip. A crossguard that held biting teeth towards the blade, also known as the dogs of the saw. Then there was the massive blade, four feet of bar and over a hundred teeth.
It was a beast.
Six looked to Ravna who looked on in triumph, she nodded for him to go ahead.
Six picked it up and hefted it, playing around with its weight. He marvelled at the craftsmanship and sturdyness of the item.
He applied his mana to it and began to enchant. He elected to not use one of his precious reagents to alter it as he wanted a control chainsaw to develop forth from. This would be the first, it was a prototype that he would test and hopefully move on from quickly.
He inscribed the rotation rune on the sprocket of the saw and the control rune on the hilt. Pushing the enchantments to their limits in an effort to create the highest rpms on that saw he could and then completed his work.
Enchantment Successful.
You have successfully enchanted an Immortal Steel Greatsaw with a Rune of Rotation with an efficiency rating of 73% creating an
- Immortal Steel Greatsaw of Rotation -
Rank: Enhanced
Rarity: Rare
Weight: 12.2 KG
Durability: 1080/1080
Traits:
Saw: User can activate to rotate the sprocket of the saw, spinning the chain. Uses 1 charge per 5 minutes of activation. Charges 15/15.
Sovereign Restoration: Passively regains durability and charges at a rate of 31% per day.
Six admired this fusion of skills and craftsmanship. He applied the magical intent and the rune flared into life, spinning the chain as intended. It worked. It screamed in a wail of hungering metal. His intent was absolute and the chain stopped as his mana and will infused the rune of control.
It seemed strange without the rhythmic chug of the engine, without the roar of sound when you gave it gas. It sounded more like an electric saw, a high pitched screech.
Six was happy, this was basically everything he wanted out of this new tool. They had created something that he hadn’t felt right without, a link to something reliable. “Genius, genius, genius! Anything give you any trouble?”
Ravna thought for a moment. “Those ball bearings. Understanding what you wanted was more difficult than actually making them though.”
“I do have a way with words.” Six said with a cheesy amount of passion.
“You’re silly.”
“I do try.”
There was a moment of silence as they stared at each other.
Ravna motioned to the saw. “This and that armor pushed me along in my smithing skill. A few more projects like this chainsaw thing and I’ll be master rank very soon. Maybe in the next month or so.”
The Emperor Tree was already paying out great returns in the zeal of the citizens' skill advancement. An extra 10% didn’t seem like much but Six knew that the elites of the world competed by margins of a sliver of a percentage point, and they needed to be elite to live the way Six envisioned. “Oh yea? Nice, eh. What are you planning to do then?”
She must have heard something in Six’s voice because she went to reassure him. “I’m not going anywhere. I just got a new smithy, my friends are here, this is my life. I just want to help and receive some praise for my work.”
“Well, cool. Glad you’re staying, thank you.”
She smiled and Six melted. He had to make a move.
He cleared his throat. “Ravna, I’ve never been good at flirting and I’m kinda your boss so-”
“Milord,” she snickered.
He continued rolling his eyes, “-that makes this a bit weird but I would like to date you and pursue you romantically. I like you.”
She continued to snicker before making an impression of him. “I would like to pursue you, romantically.”
Six stood there and took the teasing.
She seemed so pleased, looking up at him with an exaggerated doe eyed expression. “I would love to be courted by you Six.” Then her face fell, serious and downcast. “But we can’t be together.”
“What? Why?”
She gazed at him and gently explained. “Things have changed now that you are the lord of the village. I am a half-aelf. Our children would never be recognized as your children and I want my children to have a father. And don’t you tell me that we are not the empire, I know that. I also know that wars have been fought over less. It is not worth the danger.”
He shook his head, no. “This is not a place that will sneak by unnoticed. There is only one way to freedom, to trade for it. I do not care what outsiders think, I do not care what the people think. There will always be someone or something that will attempt to confine us. The entire purpose of this place is to reject as many confines as I deem possible. I reject the idea that the nature of one's birth should dictate their life.”
He cleared his throat. “I like you but, respectfully, resisting imperial law is bigger than you.” Six felt like he was being selfish, pursuing a potentially inflammatory partner, but if it wasn’t this it would be something else.
She hesitated, thinking, then she nodded. “I would like that. Spending more time with you I mean.”
Six smiled. “Yay.”
They brought each other in for a nuzzling hug. Enjoying the simple joy of touch and connection.
Nibbler then interrupted by clawing her way up Six and inserting herself in the warmest spot. Right between the two hugging people.
Ravna screeched. “Aaah! By Kynairos! You little shit!”
Six groaned, “Nibbler!”
They made plans for a date that night and Six left with a spring in his step and a new chainsaw.
He made his way through Mountain’s End and people watched on his way out. There was industry everywhere, industry that was slowly being augmented by a growing presence of automation.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
Six had made sure to summon as many ley workers as he could in the intervening moments and he saw them floating about the village, assisting with everything from transporting water to hauling materials.
Then there were the new golems that were being introduced and utilized by the villagers. Mostly golems of earth but Six saw a few rolling balls of liquid, or squalls of air. Their combat abilities were insignificant but the automatons essentially doubled the amount of labour a person could accomplish at once. Most needed to be fed a slow supply of mana cores to continue to run but the overall increase in production made it worth it.
Most of these simple golems were made by Charles, Tavi, and Biggo, with Six having made a few specialized earth golems for digging. Already, it was his student's practice pieces that were paying the most dividends in terms of golems.
But mere golems were simply not enough, more and more people were being trained on finding affinities and soon the people would know what their time would be best spent on. Not that there would be any forcing or compulsion to pursue your affinities but the knowledge would greatly serve anyone should they choose to pursue some sort of mastery.
Much of his constitution had healed and he knew what he needed to spend his time doing next. It was time to test this new weapon.
He left Mountain’s End with Nibbler and his golems, intent on growing.
Six tested his greatsaw against the first creature he saw. An alpha bristlehound. The wolf-like creature bounded towards Six and was met with the screaming blade of Six’s saw. The saw sunk into the monster and slowed before the spinning chain pulled the bristlehound in towards Six.
That's what most people didn’t understand, the push and pull of the teeth of the chain. Striking with the bottom of the bar the wolf was pulled into the cut before it bottomed out on the hefty crossguard. That's when the teeth began to actually cut. Perhaps cut was not the right word, the saw removed material, ejecting it parallel the crossguard. Six levered the saw into the cut and the panicked animal pushed forward and scratched him but it couldn’t escape the bite of the saw.
Once the dogs of the saw butted up on the creature, it parted like water as the teeth of the saw ripped through its flesh. It ended up in two halves, edged with ragged bits of flesh. Then the entire hound pack came running through the forest and for a few intense moments the saw sang with chain and blood.
Poh Doh crushed the bristle hounds that sought Six’s back and Nibbler and Lump unleashed a flurry of projectiles so thick it melted the lines of hounds that encroached. It was simple work and both Poh Doh and Lump received enough experience to level. They only received stats for leveling but Six was the one who got to assign them. From the enchanting knowledge he’d received Six knew that they would receive another trait every ten levels and were capable of evolving every twenty, although twice evolved golems had been extremely rare back in Kytaligan’s time.
The pack was quickly brought down and Six looted everything, checking his prompts.
Skill gained: Chainsaw - Initiate - 1
Skill increase: Chainsaw - Initiate - 3
Level three already? Not that Six was complaining but that seemed fast. He chalked it up to his everyday chainsaw use in his previous life.
Six grinded through boars, bristlehounds, stags, and bears. Strange monsters of plant and flesh. He cut through them all with magic and saw.
He learned to use his new armor, empowering his abilities to leap through the air and rain down arcane might, before landing and turning into a whirling dervish of carnage.
It was the day after that he encountered trouble.
He smelled them first, it was a familiar scent. Something that caused him to almost retch. Trolls.
Six slowed his advance and waited. He cast Shadow Veil becoming shrouded in darkness and hid amongst the brush of the forest. It didn’t take long for the huge monster to lumber into view. Easily ten in height the giant troll loomed over Six, its thick grey hide pitted and rippled with pockmarks and pustules. It was humanoid in form and clearly male, long lanky arms almost touched the ground. Yellowed eyes stared above yellowed tusks. It wore no clothes and dragged a large stick behind it, basically a small log. A dangerous weapon, but that was no matter.
Six burst from hiding and lashed out at the beast. His saw screamed as he slashed it out wide at the troll’s leg. It cut through easily enough until it encountered bone, the resistance pulled Six into the larger mass and Six let it, lifting his feet and sliding closer to the monster. Six applied more throttle and the dogs bit into the thigh. Bone slowed the saw slightly but not enough to prevent Six from cutting the leg right off.
The troll roared in agony as black blood spilled from its new stump and it wheeled about as it lost balance. Falling.
Six slashed about with Double Strike and opened its side up before it hit the ground.
The troll let out a rage filled wail and lashed out on it back, swinging the club wildly. Six easily dodged that with a quick back step before casting Stone Spike several times. The spikes erupting from the floor and piercing through the creature at opposing angles, making it impossible to free itself.
Six jumped back in with a massive leap and sliced the troll’s weapon arm off. The troll tried to feebly grab at Six but the enchanter just brought his weapon up, catching the palm of the troll and with a rev of his saw, he tore the arm in twain. Six stepped over the helpless beast and decapitated it with a quick buck of the neck.
This was a troll though and Six knew enough about trolls to not rely on it seeming dead, he double checked his kill notifications and saw nothing. He began to cast Ember Spark. Fire was the counter to trolls so this might push it over to true death.
But there was no time. Four more trolls came slinking out of the forest and Six had to change priorities. He was too far away from the town to utilize its Tempered By Flame buff so he just dropped the Ember Spark on the troll’s head, before he danced away from the incoming projectiles that the approaching trolls threw. He quickly cast a Zephyr’s Embrace, increasing his movement speed by a small amount then activated his Ring of Stone Skin, increasing his natural defense by a significant margin.
There were four new trolls. One of them was the size of a small house, perhaps eighteen, twenty feet tall. Its ridged and bumpy skin was a dark slate grey with patches of coarse white hair crinkling down from above its squashed face. In its right hand was a log of deep crimson. It had Six’s other blood log.
There was some wear to the log but Six could feel a large amount of power sloshing around in the thing, it must have been bathed in blood and battle.
Six analyzed them and received a mixed success.
Ryjvink
Troll
Level 13
Grlnult
Troll
Level 16
Drrgnuk
Troll
Level 12
The biggest one was of a high level or perhaps just extremely strong as it managed to resist Six’s skill. There was no more time to consider, Six danced backwards and called up Poh Doh. The golem stood up from its simple disguise of a boulder. It trudged forward and joined Six in the engagement, tackling one troll and bearing it down to the ground.
Six looked at the one he had almost defeated and saw its wound closing quickly, with a weak movement coming to it, pinned on the ground as is.
Nibbler stayed on the outside and peppered the one that Poh Doh fought, adding where she could with the damage from her lunar blade.
Six took the other three.
Six leapt in with a whirling spin, revving his chainsaw and taking one in the leg. This time the chain speed was perfect and it parted the bone easily. It fell just like the last one but from then Six had to dodge. The big one had an extreme reach and the other one was still quite fast for its size. Avoiding the smashing clubs was all he could do. He brought up Stone Walls to block their swings and slow their movement but the giant trolls cared little about such impediments bursting through the rock constructs.
They were enough distraction to give Six a chance to lay a few Stone Spikes into the midsection of the normal troll. They erupted forth and blasted into the meat of the monster, pushing its heft back a few feet. It roared in pain and wriggled on the spikes, still quite alive. Six took a glance to the one he disabled and saw it trying to bring its severed leg to its bloody stump. Poh Doh struggled against their foe but Nibbler’s sustained lunar bombardment was beginning to wear down the fourth.
Six backed up a bit as the big one surged forward, slamming the blood log down with abandon. Six dodged with superhuman rolls, flips, and pivots made only possible with the Slypheon Greaves. He began to smile despite the worry building in his chest.
“Juking and jiving,” he wheezed under his breath. His constitution, while much better, wasn't fully healed and his stamina regen suffered as a result, he was starting to feel the pressure.
He made distance from the giant troll and blasted it with a few Stone Spikes and Ember Sparks, both of which broke against the tough hide of the clearly evolved creature. He tried again with an activation of Prismatic Amplification, rainbow light dancing and damaging the belly of the beast but not enough to burn more charges. His magic still wasn’t strong enough.
He gripped his chainsaw tight and ran towards the big one. Watching the bloodlog Six dodged into the big one's guard and let loose with his weapon. He moved into a Double Strike, eviscerating the thing’s paunch, ribbons of intestines dropping to the dirt. He activated his Ring of Triple Strike and slashed away, ending the flurry with the amputation of the forearm that held the bloodlog.
Six’s heart sang with triumph, but it was extinguished as a massive hand clapped down from behind, slamming him into the earth.
Six bounced from the thunderous hit, his entire torso compressed and crushed.
His health dropped but only by 173, he still had over 300. It was the broken condition that made him panic. He struggled to his feet but he was broken, and it limited his movement and breathing. He barely managed to cast a Vital Surge before he caught sight of the incoming blow.
The bloodlog swept at Six, held by the troll’s remaining arm. The arm pulsated, empowered by the glowing bloodwood as it drew the spilled blood of the trolls and turned the black blood mists into physical might. The troll smiled in triumph as bloodwood and man collided.
Six was launched into the forest. He flew through the air, ricocheting off trees and tumbling through the brush.
He spat out blood and grunted in pain.
It took a moment for Six to struggle to his feet, picking up his greatsaw he gazed upon the multiple trolls slowly advancing on him. They had recovered from the wounds he had given them.
Poh Doh and Nibbler were still occupied with theirs and it didn’t look like they would kill it anytime soon.
Six needed to regroup and prepare for this fight in a different way. It would most likely be a combination of specialized gear and increased manpower. Until then he needed to retreat.
The three trolls closed in, almost surrounding Six. He needed distance so he gathered as much force mana as he could before activating his Furious Spiral Exertion. At the same time as a severe force abruptly spun everything in a sphere around Six, he also released a massive Force Wave, the ripple of reality fractures pushing out and stacking with the spinning force.
The combined forces threw the trolls back, the smaller ones falling entire, with the big one only falling to one knee.
That was all Six needed to create some distance and chew on some rootbust. He released localized life waves in small pulses, his vambraces provided increased healing along, and there was his trusty Earthen Endurance. This overall health regen was quickly filling his health pool but it was the broken condition that Six was trying to drop.
And sure enough, his limp soon became a stride with the broken condition ending due to his tremendous sustain.
Six ordered Poh Doh to disengage, sink into the earth and make its way back to Mountain’s End. Nibbler looked for Six when Poh Doh melted into the ground and she quickly bounded over to him as he circled around to her.
When she was safely on his shoulders he began to pull the trolls to the east, along the river.
He wanted these things as far away from Mountain’s End as possible and as he retreated eastward he made sure to never truly lose them.
When he began to tire, Six turned towards the river and just before the edge, he jumped.
Six sailed with the empowered distance of his greaves, which he activated to cloud jump all six times, each time a small puff of cloud appearing below his feet, and just barely landing in the shallows of the opposite side of the river. Nibbler clinging onto his neck and hissing at getting splashed from his landing. He left the water before any koatl got any stupid ideas.
He looked at the four trolls as they stared at him with hate and stupidity. They refused to cross the water, instead hurling river rock at him. He flipped them a rude gesture and trudged off into the forest taking a wide circuitous route back to Mountain’s End. He didn’t want them to follow him back to the village, he doubted the trolls would attack the village but it could be an issue for his hunters and patrols. So best keep the trolls as far away as he could.
This was a high priority problem and he was reminded with a prompt he had ignored a long while ago.
You have been offered a quest: Remove the Trolls
The leadership of the settlers have determined that the trolls in the immediate area pose a threat. Remove the threat that the trolls pose.
Rewards for Accepting: None
Rewards for Completion: Voluntary Spiritual Energy
Relationship
Fame
Clout
Time Limit: None
Penalty for Failure: Loss of relationship with the settlers
Do you Accept? Yes or No?