“Hopefully not much.” Kaleb said. “We will use Shaping magic once my two batteries come back from their couple's retreat.”
“Batteries?” Roy asked.
But Kaleb waved him off, waving a hand at the pieces of Ifirt skin laying about the place. “Although, you could get a start on Mass’ cestus.”
Roy looked even more confused. “What’s a cestus?”
Kaleb shrugged. “Leather boxing glove with metal plates or spikes on it. Although in our case we will use Ifirt bone.”
“How big should I make them? I have seen his hands. They aren’t small.”
“You are right. They aren’t. Just eyeball the size for now the Resizing Rune should take care of the rest.” Kaleb explained.
Roy looked like he wanted to ask about the Resizing Rune. But the young man just shook his head and took out some Ifirt skin to work with. Kaleb went back to assembling and disassembling his new revolver. After a few more cycles he felt like he knew the gun inside and out. He leaned back on his stool and not for the first time, decided to buy a chair with a back.
Daivor walked over and stared up at Kaleb’s face. “You got it? Is it all saved in that big head of yours? Because when your batteries get back you will have to Shape one of these. So the clearer the image is in your head, the easier it will be.”
Kaleb nodded his understanding. Mentally he went over the different pieces of the gun as he absently watched Roy work. The young Nova was cutting strips from the Ifrit skin and layering them over a large tube of metal. The metal tube served as a stand-in for Mass’ massive fist. As he stared Kaleb had an errant thought.
“Daivor, do you know how to cut or shave pieces off the Ifirt bone? So we can have plates for Mass’ cestus. Even Jar-lock’s armor needs the plates attached.”
Daivor nodded quickly and then jerked his head upwards toward Kaleb’s pocket. “That little pen cutter you got should do the trick just fine. I was waiting for you to ask. You have to get into the habit of asking these things when you think of them.”
Kaleb just sighed and shook his head. “Wouldn’t the heat makes the bones brittle?”
“HA! These are the bones of a Greater Ifirt from the FIRE realm. Any piddly amount of flame in this realm wouldn’t even scorch those bones. If anything, they might get tougher when they are heated.” Daivor chortled.
Shaking his head and his Gnome friend’s amusement, Kaleb grabbed one of the smaller Ifirt bones. He set the length of his cutter to just wider than the bone and made the laser as thin as possible. Placing the bone vertical to the floor Kaleb shaved downward along the length of the bone. It took a few seconds for the red hot laser to cut through the bone once he completed the cut there was an odd blue flash.
Kaleb shot a curious look at Daivor, who nodded knowingly. “That’s normal. Magical discharge from whatever left over magic is in the bones.”
Kaleb shrugged and went back to shaving plates off of the bone. It was easy, considering how hard the bones were. He stopped when he had several bones plates off different sizes and lengths. He still had over half the bone left over and he wasn’t sure he would need that much honestly. He was thinking about Imprinting Protection Runes on the plates when Varlin stuck his head in.
“Food’s ready.”
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Kaleb scooped up Daivor and walked into the kitchen followed by Roy. The lasagna was just as tasty as anything else he had eaten since logging into the game. Kaleb tried not to think about how he was being fed by a nutrient solution in real life. The pod was an amazing device but some things could be off-putting for people. The nutrient solutions and shocks to keep your muscles from atrophying were the top of most people’s list.
Half-way through their meal Jar-lock and Vivienne showed back up. The pair didn’t look different, but there was an obvious air around the two. Something in the deliberateness of how they stood or the way they way they wouldn’t meet his eye. Kaleb shrugged it off, they were back and that meant one thing: Shaping Magic time.
Daivor also seemed to have the same idea as he wiped his beard and stood on the kitchen table. “Well, let’s see if this works.”
Kaleb nodded as he told the others. Varlin still seemed hesitant, but he followed Kaleb and the others into The Pit. Roy came along, interests obvious in his eyes. Kaleb set Daivor down on the workbench where the Gnome gathered up several wires. Kaleb, meanwhile, grabbed another Ifrit bone and set it down in front of him. If he had to guess, Kaleb thought it was a finger bone. It was just big enough for his needs.
Kaleb rubbed his hands. “So how do I do this?”
Daivor tightened the wires around himself and the table clamp before he answered. “It works like imprinting, except you have to visualize the change happening. So picture the bone as it is and then slowly transform it into the pieces of the gun. DO NOT form the gun whole.”
Kaleb nodded as he felt the others lay their hands on his back. Breathing deeply, he asked. “We all ready?”
A chorus of affirmation came from behind him so Kaleb dug deep and poured their combined Mana into the bone. He held the image of the bone transforming in his head. He let that image replay over and over until he felt a sudden a sharp pain between his eyes. Ignoring the pain he let the image again as the pain grew and grew until it was almost unbearable. Then Kaleb felt himself slip into unconsciousness.
“Professor!”
The next thing Kaleb knew he was staring up at the ceiling of his garage. His friends were hovering nearby with Daivor looking on from the workbench. The headache from the Mana withdrawal was still present and accounted for. His temples seemed to pulse angrily at him. As he went to stand Roy and Jar-lock gave him an arm up. As he stood he got a notification.
*Enchanting Skill Level up*
5 SP granted
Mana increased by 10
Kaleb smiled wide as he stood and asked. “Did it work?”
Daivor sighed loudly. “Yeah it worked. But you and your friends are in rough shape.”
Kaleb looked around to see the others all touching or rubbing their heads. He would have to pay them back somehow. They didn’t have to help him and now they probably had the same mother of all headaches he did. Something of his thoughts must have shown on his face because Jar-lock shook his head.
“Don’t worry about it, dude. We were ready for this, it comes with the territory. But I don’t think we’ll be doing this again soon.”
“Yeah, that’s understandable.” Kaleb nodded wincing at the pain.
Roy looked between the four worried before Kaleb waved him off. “It’s a Magic thing, Roy. Use too much and it feels like your heads in a vise. Just get back to forming those leather cestus. I will have to Rune those up later too.”
Roy nodded as he glanced between everyone. Kaleb was feeling a little better as he looked at the bone white revolver pieces laid out on the table. Daivor was already going over them looking at the pieces critically.
“Not bad, Boss. Looks like everything is here, all you have to do now is put it all together.”
“Yeah, but I don’t think I am ready to do that again. I guess I’m stuck with the lathe for now.” Kaleb said rubbing his forehead.
“Sorry, boss. If I was stronger, I’d be able to replicate something like this.” Daivor said sadly.
Kaleb nodded absently. “That’s o… Wait, what?!”
Daivor gave Kaleb a weird look. “Yeah, Replication Magic is the specialty of Builder Gnomes. Allows us to help those we serve by replicating small little bits. Screws, nails, small springs, things like that. But my granddad could replicate great big things, they said he was so powerful that the God of the Gnomes came down and blessed him with a wish. Of course, then he spent that wish on an eternal supply of sausage and beer. Dumbass.”
Kaleb stared wide-eyed at Daivor before turning to Vivienne and, pointing at the Gnome, asking. “WHAT?!”
Vivienne looked taken aback by the forcefulness of his question. “What?”
Kaleb just shook his head and gulped down a lungful of air before asking Daivor. “How do you get stronger?”
“What do you mean? It’s just a matter of experience, isn’t it? I’ll get there someday, with time.” Daivor said confused.
“Gah!” Kaleb grumbled before turning back to Vivienne, making the poor wizard jump in surprise. “How do you level up a Familiar!?”