Lonely Mountains
In the first few minutes, Delica wasn't able to use any of her spells or chants. The miasma inside her core was already at its limit. Absorbing that much dark mana was taking a toll on her, afterall, the undead army were created primarily with the help of the Serpent Vent's mana. Her [Undead Familiars] however were from her own miasma. So if she hasn't depleted her miasma from creating so much familiars, she wouldn't have room to spare! Even creating a small opening for her to activate magic stones would cause an outbreak of her power.
She continued in her path and could almost reach the destination, when suddenly a nine-feet Elven appeared infront of her with knees bent in prostate, "Mistress, I have come," it said.
If she wasn't able to note of her presence earlier, she might have bumped to the Elven. Recognizing her instantly, Delica exclaimed, "Maxilla! You're here! That was fast." She continued, looking up and down at the black armored undead Elven with greenish hair and the some rough patches of skin on her arms and legs that were achingly similar to a tree's bark. The trait of a Forest Elven.
"I have come as quickly as possible when I heard the explosion."
"Ah yes, I see. So um, since you were here, please protect me!" She declared. Her senses were sharp but she's used in knowing what lies within a 200 chain radius, which was the normal range for Aiven. Right now she could only see 10 chains (200 meters) ahead of her. Practically a blind! She feels like she was groping around the forest for the possible 'surprises' that might come after her. This strain on her mind was not really helping her especially since she was alone and without any spell available for her to use.
"Of course, my Mistress." Maxilla answered with no change in her voice at all.
"I'll now summon the others, so be vigilant." Since she has a meatshield, more like a tree-shield, she could go on with the magic casting without worrying of her surroundings. But before she could start, Maxilla spoke to her again.
"Master Aiven had just sent part of the brethren towards the Rust-Irons. It would be best not to summon the others at this moment."
"Eh? What do you mean?" What was Aiven planning to do with her babies!? And without her permission at that!
"Acromion's units were dispatch to cut and circumnavigate the Lonely Mountains. At most they will reach the enemies before they reach the summit. Ulna and the others have continued on the determined vantage point."
"A pincer." Delica sighed. She was given full reign over the battle between the Bronze and yet Aiven was still pulling the strings. She was grateful for the help, but seriously, these were her babies they were talking about! She should be the one commanding, though she did kinda messed up a little at the onset, but it did go well, didn't it? They didn't lost anyone so it was a plus on their side. Even if it was a great plan and Aiven was just taking over since she put herself in a difficult situation, she can't help but feel anxious over her adorable familiars.
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"Yosh! I'll go with his plan, but I forbid anyone to perish!"
"Understood. Your message shall be conveyed." Maxilla said, raising to her feet as Delica motioned for her go to her.
"Now carry me. We shall meet with Ulna at the summit." If it's a complete [Familiar Beckoning] Spell then she could let her dark mana loose, but if she only has to strategically pinpoint just a number of her familiars, it'll take more on her mana than what was necessary. The explosion earlier has already decreased her supply, slashing a fraction of the possible Undead Army she could have summoned again.
"Oh and by way, don't drop me no matter what, okay?"
"Yes, my mistress."
Maxilla stoically placed Delica on her broad shoulders, which started to deform and branch out to accommodate her mistress. And with a powerful leap, they were off. Delica started releasing her miasma and they were covered by it at once.
"And don't stop running." She added while smiling mischievously. Delica placed her hand over Maxilla's nape and started accumulating spells on Maxilla's body. Runes started to appear on the Undead's body.
Going on foot while creating circles would be too much of a hassle and since she needed her staff to be on contact with the ground, she might burdened Maxilla's speed when time was already against them. Using her staff, she made Maxilla an extension of her magic casting. Her staff was made of Adlewood which was a special type of tree that propagates in cemeteries and battlefield since it flourish on sentient' remains. Using an Undead, an earth-affinity undead, that has the same constitution would greatly help here conjure her spell. This method would allow her to multi-task. At each step of the Undead, a magic circle appear on Maxilla's footstep creating a trail of magic circles. Delica continued chanting and after minutes, undead started to emerge from those circles.
Delica could feel the hesitation from Maxilla. Almost sensing her concern, Maxilla voiced out. "Mistress Delica, we would be easily spotted with these tracks." The moaning of the summoned already filling the forest with dreaded atmosphere.
But Delica only let go an exuberant laugh, "let them come! We will show those humans why the living should not fight with the dead!"
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Command Center
Aiven watched as Delica made her way to the summit, tearing away the forest with her summoning. The South team, made of Left Arm Unit was halfway towards the Bronze Army. Headed by Acromion, the unit was divided by 7 troops of three, making a total of about twenty-one familiars in the whole unit. A far cry from the hundreds that marched earlier, but these were purely devoted familiars and each one was 2nd-3rd class Undead even with their low levels. If only Delica didn't cancelled her summons, but that was in the past now. At least nothing weighs down the movement of Acromion's unit.
The Left Arm specialized in surveillance and speed attributes which was wholly represented by the Beastial Tiger-kin Acromion as he moved onwards, his followers not falling behind. They also specialized on one-on-one combat making them good for any covert preparations.
No Frearean would even imagine these races that hated each other could form in such synchronized formation. Observing the mismatched of races--a Dwarven with an Elven, a Beastial with a Seafolk, Aiven can't help but think that it was truly only in death do man find equal.
He ordered them to stand down until further instructions. The Northern with Ulna, has still a long way to go even with the rate they're going. That means Delica still has time to summon back the army before Ulna meet with her on top. This also made them cover more grounds compared to their enemies but it also thinned their offenses. They have the advantage of number (once Delica summoned the skeletons back successfully) so hopefully it will not be a problem. Let's be positive.
On the other hand, Simos was making Aiven's head hurt.
"Simos, finish?"
"N-not...gaaaargghhh...yet!" Simos screeched behind closed teeth as he received a blow from Illium's tail. Gasp can be heard from the survivors who were still glued on the ongoing battle.
Ugh! They were still at it! They have a timeline! Half an hour, and the dragon exits. Amazingly, Ilium was very easy to deal with. For a Draconic, he was very amiable. If only he could pull off a more realistic defeat but overall, its very satisfying. That is, until Simos blabbered. Why does he have to make his stupid warrior speech! Sprouting nonsense about honor, bravery and the weight of swords...crap! Was that even a thing? Before anyone knows it, the defeated dragon had raised up, much stronger, and this time, he was obviously pissed. There was sweat dropping behind Aiven's back as he observed the battle. Support magic and buffs started to cover Simos' body. The useless bystander suddenly went into offensive, trying to help their "savior" as he battle with the dragon. Even the knights which was under Simos' late Father's command were following his bidding.
Simos's head was focused on the knights, probably shouting some orders but since he didn't activated the rune communicator, none of his voice can be heard in the command center. But there was more semblance of solidarity in the knights’ attack now, barriers were also being raised. In a split second, after Simos' tedious ranting, the people who heard were suddenly ready for war. He doesn't get it at all. But since that was the whole plan from the beginning, he isn't complaining.
The ones with him, Ponytail and Shorty was still looking at the Disc where the battle was happening and they were both gaping in silence.
"Impossible," Shorty said, "Is he really a classless?" Simos physical attribute can't be underestimated since his been training with Musre, the Head Knight of the Canary. With that, he has already surpassed a 2nd Tier in terms of swordsmanship, a broken skill if you ask him. Didn't Simos just fought Musre and his father at the same time? His battle prowess should have been apparent from the start. The only reason the blonde's levels was still low was because he never prioritized levelling or killing monsters to gain essence. Not to mention the heirloom sets of armor and weapons that he was wielding now greatly boost his overall performance in battle.
He could overhear them gossiping about Simos, saying how it's very unlikely a manchild could overcome a superior existence like a dragon, an undead dragon at that! But he left them alone. It won't do to waste his mana explaining Simos' cheat-like behavior. Afterall, knowing Simos, Aiven was even amazed it took him so long before the blonde was able to slay a dragon. Hopefully he won't slay Ilium because that'll be really wasteful.
Watching Simos fight, unnecessarily that it was almost irritating, and seeing Delica plundered on with her army growing and her magic dissipating, Aiven can't help but feel useless again.
Just like before, he was placed on the sideline, watching.
Self-deprecating shits were common for him but he stopped himself. He know he has no role if he fought alongside Delica, and going with Simos would end up with him standing out too much and doing nothing in the process but give more questions. A disadvantage since they need to make the Sila-ir accept Simos so the whole thing runs smoothly.
Right now, he needed clarity, he needed to think. So far, no one has taken noticed of their communication magic but that won't be long. Continuing on the work he laid bare on the table, Aiven started inking the magic circles he has been scribbling for the past hour. Taking out the book he placed from the beginning of the meeting, he skimmed the book bind and pressed the etched calligraphy. Words [La Librarie] appeared then checking its magic script, he imagined and got hold of a set of words and tried to materialized it in the cover. Within seconds, [Magic Interference] were written. The [Librarie] was a special item that stores multitude of books. By activating it, you could choose the book you want and once you open the insides, the contents would change depending on the one you pulled out. Saying this, it was a very useful item.
The scrolls that were put out and collapsed into orbs for [Spell Barrier], [Noise Canceller], and some [Reflect Casement] have served its purpose. Each circling on the corner of the room like some miniature planets in orbit. Hopefully with this they can't be tracked.
As mentioned before, communication magic were two way magic that could easily become a Trojan horse. Since he has limited mana before, he immersed himself in runes and magic circles. The preparation was hard and very meticulous but he could make Delica or Simos activate it for him. So far that has been his way of survival so he could keep up with them without as much as being a burden, together with specializing in any passive skill he could put his hands on.
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Right now he was working on countering the enemy's communication network.
Anyway, placing runes in magic circles could provide variety of possible magic. People call it runes but it was actually just simple Babel Language scripted in the parchment. It was like writing a contract with the help of mana. The contract, should have the following: object (spirit, gods, etc); expected output (action); expected input (mana exchange); clauses (other details); and logic (restrictions). A magic script where the contract worked can be considered as successful were then called glyphs. Impossible, unfair, ridiculous glyphs either do not work or will need more input and subsequent restrictions. With the help of simple discharge of mana that covers the mana exchange, anyone could activate the circle.
Magic Theory was hard to explain to those who has no knowledge on the Babel Language. You see, this language was the basis for magic. And since everyone has this gift from birth, everyone could use them. Simple, right? No, far from it. When the gods gifted the world with this language, it automatically translate words from person to person. Since it's a system generated, there was no way for people to know how it was actually spoken or written.
A known alphabet do exist that was universally used but it was just man-made symbols. Let's just say, if you write 'dog', the 'dog' word could be read by most people as d-o-g, but once spoken, it changes meaning depending on what people has on their mind. You could say 'dog' but the people will hear 'Chihuahua' or 'St. Bernard' depending on the image you have of a dog.
Rune Theory, a sub-branch of Spell Theory, was writing down these words, granting it a physical form to be used even without incantations. Easier to use, but harder to recreate. Humans cannot read it since it could only be understood by gods. A simple runic inscription for a dog could contain all the meanings of the 'dog' in the universe. That was why it was called 'origin". Scholars were able to preserve these inscriptions but to visualize the rune itself needed many years of training and discipline because just one wrong stroke and it'll be defective...in a very dangerous and unpredictable way.
Another branch was Chant Theory (under the same category), but that was saying the origin runes in its phonetic form. That was why it could bend and evoke nature and objects since you were calling their very existence.
When he tried to learn it, it was mostly for survival purposes. And he could hardly pronounce the words properly because apparently, you needed to cut your tongue into two and got surgically experimented with the world's ephemerae for it to work (damn that Yuusha, well he was still thankful).
But since he was kinda self-thought on the Babel Language and he could hear, speak and read it in its raw form, Aiven could grasp the fundamentals easily. Sometimes Aiven thinks he could meet the gods and he wouldn't have any hard time talking to them. That's how fluent he is.
Who knew he could have so many benefits from just learning a new language?
Years of experimenting made him noticed something odd though. And that is, there were too many unnecessary words in a magic sequence of the script! Since each rune exhausts mana, the more complex the glyph is, the more mana you use. He was thankful to all scholars and grand maesters who passed down their knowledge, but most of the invocations were trash. No not trash really, just unnecessary. Imagine saying Shakespeare. That's how painfully mouthful it was. And because mages don't actually know the runes they were speaking, they just preserve it as is. If you want a simple fire spell, you have to write, "Oh Holy Spirit of Fire that revels on Hell, I humbly offer thee my mana in exchange of...blah blah blah."
Sheesh, just write "Fire Spirit, I give you 100 mana for Fire Blaze, 10ft radius 300C." If the spirits agree, then you're all good. If the spirit likes you, he'll give bonus. That's the gist but it's actually more complicated than that.
So a shortcut was made in the form of magic circles. Just placing the main runes and intertwining them with each other with the help of lines could lessen activation mana consumption. It's how the mana flows from one character to another with the guide of magic circuit (just fancy words for lines that could be ran by mana) that would give you the efficiency that was why designs vary from each spell. But it’s more dangerous if it flop.
Since 100 MP=Flame (10ft 300C), a fire-spirit rune character at the center was placed, then make one point be the input gauge where you place your staff or hand to insert mana. Other runes were placed, variations may vary from =Flame (5ft 1000C) or =Flame (30ft 100C). The typical design were circles due to its natural smooth closed system. As a result though, activation mana consumption was placed on the circuit instead of runes. 100MP for the spell, 50 MP for the magic circle (could lessen depending how good the circle was designed). But since you don't need to learn and say the spell itself and you cut down the activation time from minutes to seconds, the scrolls' pros outweighs the cons for those who has the money for it.
Aiven was already done laying down the magic circuit, he just needs to place the script and it'll be all set. What he created was a diagram with simple design, the result was a pentagram with two circles overlapping and intricate symbols. This circle was the typical detection spell of any ongoing communication link via mana, but instead of finding the links, its more like attracting the link to curve in the user's direction and he could eavesdrop without touching the link itself or giving away their location. He named it, [Wiretapping Scroll].
It's a pain to explain, but technically, the ink he used has crushed magic stones. Creating a powdered texture. Afterall Mana conservation has been his creed from the very beginning. He also added marble-sized magic stones to act as transistors. Normally, directly placing mana, you will have to continuously sustain it until it reach the whole script. But with runestones, just place the bare minimum and it'll flow on its own. The efficiency became greater the more script there was in the rune circle. But if there were only few rune characters, just use direct application, it'll lessen cost in the the scroll creation. (It's the difference of Direct current and Alternating current in his old world.) And since he could shorten it further with tinkering with the circuit schematics, he'll be able to create a circle with just 20% of the normal consumption.
Ah mana! With his current aggravated mana pool, he could produce as many rune circles and activate it himself! Sorry for being repetitive but he really can't help but celebrate his freedom from using mana! Let's try it.
But just when he finally finished one, a status window appeared.
Ding
Congratulations!
You have unlocked Job Skill: Patternmaker
Due to displaying undeniable skill in creating complex designs, you are now able to create your own tailoring templates.
Skill Set II: Drafting
Clothing Templates designing can now be achieved
Base Tier: Level 1
Ding
Congratulations!
You have just unlocked Job Skill: Dressmaker
Due to displaying undeniable skill in imbedding ornaments, you are now able to imbued enchantments to your Clothing Templates
Skill Set I: Runic Embroidery
Enchantments through integrating glyphs has been achieved
Base Tier: Level 5
Skill Set II: Elemental Rhinestones
Enchantments through integrating magic stones has been achieved
Base Tier: Level 3
What? Tailoring skills? But Aiven hasn't even touched any...wait. He raised the parchment on his hand that was lined with glowing glyphs and studded with magic stones. A colorful piece, anyone could consider it an art. Parchments were made of animal hide, same material as leathers. If we go in that line of thought, then that means he does look like practicing his job class. Discovering his tailoring skill tree, he didn't know it has this neat trick of enchantments though it should make sense. [Runic Embroidery] and [Elemental Rhinestones] description says integrating runes and magic stones. So there was no specific method of 'integrating' stated. So even if he didn't actually know anything about embroidering, as long as he use glyphs on clothes, it works?
But what if..? Unable to resist his curiousity, Aiven took a piece of paper, the normal one, not some magical beast hide, and started to draw a single rune and so far he was able to finish without any problem. His scribe skills does not interfere with his tailoring skill, that was a relief. Then he proceeded making a Grade-C Runic Communicator Scroll while activating his [Scribe Skill Set III: Rune Calligraphy], his speed and quality has increased, but when he shifted to [Dressmaker Skill Set I: Runic Embroidery], the skill didn't activated. Hah, so the type of material was a factor.
Then an idea, he toyed with his status menu and expanded his skill tree. Fiddling with the setting, he made his scribe skills fall under his embroidery skills. Satisfied, he set off for another scroll.
With a command spell, his [Runic Embroidery] and [Elemental Rhinestone] activated and he started working. And he was fast! No, not actually fast, more like, he could see the pattern already imprinted on the parchment before he began. His passive skill [Drafting] guides his hands, his [Calligraphy Skill] ensures flow of scripts, while his [Embroidery] added a more fixed and clean circuits, little adjustments on line placements appeared. When he started placing the magic stones, additional patterns shows and [Rhinestone Skill] calculations were made to show which part of the rune circle would be most conducive for amplifying the mana input.
It took him 15 minutes to finish, when the previous one needed an hour! One hour was already fast, but 15 minutes was unheard of! Sweat pouring, not because of exhaustion but because of too much excitement, he looked at the two girls who were now rooted in place and watching him instead of observing the discs assigned to them. Smiling ominously, he handed the two scrolls to Ponytail and said, "Use this." Ponytail, trembling, reached for the parchments. And like a devil possessed, he continued making rune circles, making dark aura and creepy noises that can make even Undead shiver.
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