Journeyman
Time: 1 week (RR) after entering RR. 1 year (Real World) before defense of Attica.
Corbeau (Corvus) in Royal Road, Ivaldi City
Before I went to go roust Sindri and ask him to talk to the rest of the city Elders, the most respected craftsmen, soldier and politicians for me, I needed to collect my reward from Kabin. When I approached him, he grabbed me a bone-cracking hug, smelling of smoke and stale sweat.
“Corbeau, my friend, thank you so much! I can never repay you properly for helping me, and protecting my daughter. Any time you want to, come over to my pub and you’ll eat for free. Furthermore, when Sindri finally gives you some spare time, come over and I’ll give you cooking lessons. After all, you are what you eat! And I’ll tell everyone in the area who’s responsible for getting rid of those nasty Bloodbirds, so the merchants should be more favorably inclined. How about that? I know it isn’t much, but it’s all I can give.” While that didn’t seem like much, and would cost Kabin next to nothing, it would be seriously useful to me. Well-cooked food, and Kabin was a good cook, had serious bonuses and tasted way better. Cooking training from a good chef would help me improve that skill far quicker than experimenting on my own, and teach me some good recipes. And the fame wouldn’t hurt, especially the local reputation increase. But being too well known wouldn’t help when I went against Serpentshead in case I wanted to disguise myself for an infiltration.
“That sounds great Kabin. Except for one thing. When you and your friends tell this story, I want you to say that Merlin never leaves my side while I’m fighting, OK?”
“Sure thing!”
You have accepted Kabin’s Reward
+50 Fame.
+100 Reputation: Ivaldi Docklands
Offer for Cooking Training
Free meals at the Dancing Mermaid
“Alright,” I said, “now I need to go find Sindri.” I left the area, and started asking people on the street around Sindri’s warehouse where he might be. Eventually I tracked him down to the “Dainty Dwarf,” apparently a bawdyhouse. It would have been much nicer if the girls weren’t all dwarves. Short, stocky, and very hairy isn’t really my type. Unfortunately, my looks: 6’2” tall, with pointed ears from my elven blood, skin a deep gold resulting from the mix of brown- dwarf- and pale gold –elf-, seemed to be pretty exotic and I had to dodge the hands of several of the girls as well as not a few of the drunk dwarven men. Spotting Sindri sitting in the corner, a girl in each arm, I made my way over to him.
“Sindri!” I shouted over the din. “We need to talk!”
“What?” he bellowed. I was starting the think Sindri might be a little deaf from all the hammering in his workshops.
“We need to talk!” I said, slower and even louder this time. “Let’s go outside!”
“I can’t hear you! Come outside!” he thundered. Shrugging and grinning at the inanity, I followed him outside where it was much quieter.
“What trouble are you in now, boy? Apart from having disrupted my evening, that is?”
“Well, Sindri, it’s like this,” I said, before telling him the whole story of the evening. “…and then I thought, who should I bring these letters to? And immediately thought of you, Master Sindri,” I finished, laying on the flattery.
“Harrumph. Well, it looks like I can’t punish you for disturbing me. You did a good job with that Eagle; I’d heard of him. How did you kill him? I’d think the difference in strength was too high?”
“Ah, well, Sindri, it would be except for three things. First, Eagle was a mage, so his personal strength and defense weren’t too high. Second, we took him by surprise. Third, Tsende, the earth mage, actually broke through his defenses, though I helped a little. I just stabbed him a few times.”
“Well, good job either way. And these letters indicate a serious campaign in the near future. I’ll have to accelerate your training over the next couple weeks and try and get you up to Journeyman Rune-Smith so you can come along; it’ll be good experience for you to be attached to a squad as their armorer, and you’ve done well enough in your training that I think you can do it. It’ll be difficult though, not like the gentle work you’ve been doing till now. We’ll double the number of swords to make next week. The week after that, you’ll make a complete suit of enchanted chainmail, as well as plate greaves, gauntlets, helmet and shield. The third week, you’ll craft your own tools and complete a Journeyman piece to prove your worth as a smith.”
Quest Completed: Inform an Elder
Relationship with Sindri has improved.
Relationship with Sivaldi Elders has improved slightly.
New Quest: Class Progression Quest: Journeyman
Sindri, impressed with you, is accelerating your training. If you can make 200 swords with his help, finish a complete suit of enchanted armor, make a set of smithing tools, and complete an acceptable Journeyman piece, you will become a Journeyman Ivaldi Rune-Smith. Journeymen are full members of the Rune-Smith’s guild, and have access to the guild library. They are also allowed to create and sell their own work.
“Thanks, Sindri!”
“Alright, now let’s head back. I need to show you how to make a Damascus core so I can go talk to the other Elders in the morning.” We headed back to the workshops, and Sindri went over to the wall, throwing a lever which turned on the water-powered bellows. Next he walked over to the sorted piles of stock metal in the corner, and selected two steel bars marked “Wootz-Hard” and three steel bars marked “Wootz-Medium”. I knew from some smithing I’d done years ago as part of my industrial production training that modern billet welded steel, known as modern-Damascus, used a combination of high and medium carbon rods that were then beaten and folded to produce the patterned steel.
“Always take two of the hard Wootz and three of the medium Wootz. Then, tie them together using a wire around the outside, sandwiching the hard inside the medium,” he said while doing so. “Next, bring it over to the forge and heat it until it’s red hot. Make sure to always use the fine charcoal,” he said, adding a scoop of charcoal to the fire.
“Once it’s red hot, take it out and cover it with this stuff, borax. When that’s white, you hammer the bar until it’s twice as long as it started, heating as you need. Then, refold the billet back on itself, and repeat. Do this for a total of six refoldings to get 300 layers. That’ll make a good Damascus steel core. I’ll do most of the shaping of the blades when I get back from the emergency Elder’s meeting.
“So you know how to make your own blades in the future, you hammer the billet to the right shape for the blade, then heat to orange red and wait for the blade to cool in the air. Next, grind the blade as necessary and sand it up until this middle grit, and engrave the runes for the enchantments. Normalize the blade by heating until it’s bright red, then allow to cool in air before you move onto the final heat treatment. Heat the blade until it’s orange-red, then quench in oil. If you’re being fancy, you can cover everything other than the edge of the blade in this white clay, then heat a bit hotter before quenching in brine. That’ll make the edge harder, but keep the core soft, so the blade can be sharper without breaking. Either way, temper the blade for two hours by heating it until the blade is almost hot enough to burn paper.”
“Finally, clean the blade, add the final edge, and polish it up until 1200 grit. Put the blade in this acid, then polish the blade with the fine polishing grit and charge the runes. Finally, add a handle. And there you have it! Although one blade takes a long time to make, you can make several at the same time. You can also use this technique with metals other than steel, combining harder and softer materials together. You can even use it to combine different materials together, but they have to be able to weld. Although we only have orders for a hundred short-swords for the city guard right now, I bet they’ll double it because of Serpentshead, so you’ll have to work hard tomorrow. Now, get some sleep!”
You have received an advanced crafting diagram: Damascened Metal
Damascened metals, most commonly steel, are an advanced form used in swords. Capable of holding a very sharp edge yet still malleable enough not to break in combat, every warrior dreams of owning a Damascus blade.
You have received an advanced crafting diagram: Damascus Steel Rune-Sword
You have been taught how to create a Damascus Steel Rune-Sword.
I went to bed and woke up far too early after a shock from Merlin. Groaning, I stumbled into the dining room and ate some bread and beer, before going to the forge. Adding some charcoal to the fire, I increased the speed of the bellows and got to work. Seven hours later, by noontime, I had 5 Damascus billets done, and was halfway done with four more. It was exhausting work hammering the steel, and I continued to focus on Rune Meditation as well as actively using Eihwaz and Dagaz. As the day went on, I received plenty of announcements.
+1 Strength
+1 Strength
+1 Stamina
Rune Meditation Beginner Level 4
Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 7
Smithing Beginner Level 3
+1 Strength
New Skill: Multitasking (Level 1)
You are used to focusing on several different tasks at once. Reduces penalty for dual-casting spells or working on different crafting projects simultaneously. Reduces chance of being distracted or deceived by spells.
Sindri finally came back around 7 pm, grumbling about the useless morons on the council. Thank god he was happy with my progress, or at least what passes for happy with Sindri.
“Only 9 billets made, boy! Have to work harder! No sleep till we’re done, we’ll both worship at the Smith-God’s alter! Two hundred swords by Monday, let’s build some character!” he bellowed, cheery at the idea of another smithing hell-week even worse than the one previous. Have I mentioned how much I hate the phrase “character building?” It’s about up there with “I’m from the IRS, and have some questions about your taxes.”
As the night progressed and turned into the next day, Sindri still wouldn’t let us sleep, and even went so far as to have other apprentices bring us food at water in the forge. I was so focused I didn’t notice the updates as my Strength, Stamina, and skills improved. I even managed to tune out the horrible sound of Sindri singing to his swords. Life became the fire and hammer and steel. By Wednesday evening, I was so tired I couldn’t see straight. By Thursday, I was too tired to even cast Eihwaz or Dagaz and my health began to gradually decline. As I finished the last of the billets at 9am on Friday after 100 hours of straight smithing, I passed out, Sindri still finishing shaping the swords. I woke up when Sindri threw a bucket of water in my face; checking the system only three hours had passed.
“Enough rest, Boy!” he roared. “These swords won’t enchant themselves!” Rising, I checked my stats. I’d made huge gains:
Strength +8
Stamina +14
Intelligence +3
Wisdom +3
Rune Magic Beginner Level 6
Rune Meditation Beginner Level 6
Magic Mastery Beginner Level 4
Smithing Beginner Level 6
Smith Stoicism Beginner Level 9
Lab Safety Beginner Level 4
Continuous Casting Beginner Level 4
Multitasking Level 3
Still, I decided I needed to be more careful in the future. I’d almost died and if I did I’d be stuck in the game, watching a black screen, for four horrifically boring days.
“Well done, boy, well done! You hung in there like a true smith; many masters can’t keep up with me. Furthermore, those Damascus patterns are even acceptable! You’ve made me proud, and must have been a great smith in a previous life. Now, watch carefully as I show you the rune-patterns for “No-Rust, Keep-Sharp, Never-Break and Cut-Deep”. These are what we call permanent runes; they may wear out eventually with a lot of use, and they can be overcome, but if the user maintains the sword properly, they can last forever. The greater the Rune-Magic of the caster, and the better they are at Rune-Scribing, the stronger the effect of the runes. There are other enchantments, powered runes, which might need to be recharged or channel energy; they are more like those gauntlets of mine, and tend to have stronger, if temporary, effects.”
Relationship with Sindri has improved.
New Skill: Rune-Scribing Level 1.
Rune Scribing is the act of writing rune enchantments. Higher levels help make clearer, more effective runes which can be written smaller, allowing for more runes per object.
You have received Rune-Magic Enchantments:
No Rust, Keep Sharp, Never Break, Cut Deep.
“Your job now, boy, is to grind an edge onto these blades and engrave those runes. Put the Deep-Cut on the tip; that rune doesn’t extend that far, and it’s most useful for stabbing. Keep Sharp is pretty long and should be oriented along the forward edge. Never break and No Rust go in the center. Alright, enough lollygagging, get to work!”
Obeying his order, I quickly took an armful of the blades and brought them to the grinding wheels. Since Sindri was such a masterful smith, they already had pretty good edges and shapes just from the hammering. Still, he was working quickly, and had made the blades slightly larger than they should be, anticipating a final grind. By 2am Saturday morning, I had finally finished sharpening the swords; I was still absolutely exhausted, my arms and hands aching from the vibrations imparted by the grinding wheels. I had, however, gained some level:
+2 Wisdom
Sharpening Level 4
Rune Meditation Beginner Level 7
I picked up one of the sets of engraving tools to start scribing the runes anyways; I was young and tough, and determined to push through and beat the sword-making challenge. I carefully cut the runes into the blades, continuing until my hands were cramped from holding the tools, my head was aching from squinting and concentrating and I was entirely exhausted. As my skill improved, each successive sword was slightly easier, slightly faster to complete, the demand on my concentration and energy slightly lower. Eventually, it was very restful, as I meditated on Eihwaz, Dagaz, and rune-scribing. Finally, Sunday morning around 7 am I finished.
+3 Wisdom
+2 Intelligence
+3 Dexterity
Rune Meditation Beginner Level 8
Rune Scribing Level 4
“Sindri, I’m done!” I yelled at him over the sounds of the forge, as he completed the final heat treatments.
“Excellent! Come over here and I’ll show you how to charge the runes. Do it just like this: focus on the rune in your mind and it’s meaning, and imagine sending your mana into it. I want you to charge all the runes you made for practice; I’ll strengthen them afterwards. Off you go then!” I don’t think he’d slept yet, how he was still going was beyond me. I was ready to pass out, and at least I’d gotten three hours of sleep. Still, I kept going, and after dozens of failures managed to charge the runes on the swords by Sunday afternoon.
+2 Intelligence
Rune Magic Beginner Level 7
Without my noticing, Sindri had come over to watch over my shoulder. It would have been fine, except his only voice seemed to be a booming roar.
“Congratulations, lad! You’ve finished, and even have some spare time before midnight!” he shouted in my ear, startling me. I jumped sideways, fell down, and then stood up as he laughed. “And, since it’d be a shame to have made so many fine blades but not have one of your own, I made this for you,” he said while still chuckling, showing me a sword significantly longer than the short swords we’d been making. It was a little over three feet long, with a slightly narrower than usual leaf shaped blade, weighted towards the front to improve chopping while still being narrow enough to stab with, and would be perfect as a bastard sword; given my relatively high strength I could use it either one handed or, slightly more devastating, two handed as well. Sindri continued to say: “you’re becoming a proper rune-smith, so you should enchant the blade yourself. It still needs to be grinded, have the first runes cut onto it, be normalized, heat treated, treated with acid and get that final sharpening. You should also bind the sword to you, which is something only a rune-smith can do. To do so, you’ll have to put some of your blood on the blade while it’s hot, put some more into the quenching brine for the heat treatment, and give it a name. I’ll leave you until dinner time to work on the runes and set up the normalization heating, and you can finish it next week as you work on the armor.”
Item Received: Unfinished Sword
Despite my exhaustion, I was elated with my new toy, and immediately ground an edge before I began scribing runes as small and carefully as I could. I put Deep Cut runes on the tip and all the way down to the midpoint of the blade, leaving spaces for Keep Sharp runes as well as future runes I might learn. I put No Rust near where the guard would go on both sides of the blade, and Never Break runes near the tip, halfway, and nearer the guard on both sides, then heated the blade before leaving it overnight to cool and normalize. Finally able to sleep, I passed out, knowing I’d be up again early in the morning.
The next morning I was again woken early, Sindri apparently not affected by exhaustion. Stumbling and cursing, I managed to get to the dining room and eat before following him into the forge. This week, we were making a helmet, greaves (leg armor), gauntlets (hand/ lower arm armor) and a suit of chain mail. Making the armor was significantly easier than the swords. First, Sindri gave me patterns and calculation tables for the gauntlets, helmet, and greaves.
Crafting Diagrams Received:
Articulated Gauntlets, Close Fit Heavy Helmet, Dwarven Greaves
The gauntlets were articulated plate around the fingers, made by cutting and shaping small pieces of steel sheet, then attaching the sections with rivets and lining the interior with leather. The hand section was attached to the bracers to protect the lower arms. Each piece received a Never-Break and a No-Rust enchantment, so the greatest work was in scribing all the runes. When complete, the gauntlets were surprisingly light, but still very solid; a punch with these could be deadly. I finished the gauntlets on the first day.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The helmet required some more advanced shaping. First, we made a mold of my head, so we’d have something to fit the helmet to. Then, we added the leather padding around my head that would help prevent concussions, then fit the helmet around that. The helmet consisted of a solid, mostly bowl-shaped chunk to protect the head from the eyebrows up as well as the side of the head and neck, and included an articulated section made flexible with small pieces of chain-mail to protect the neck. A bracing section that extended onto the back helped support the weight of the helmet. There was also a facemask, which covered everything other than some small holes for the eyes and nose; it included hinges to move with the jaw so there wasn’t anything to cover the mouth and get in the way. Everything was padded with comfortable leather, and Sindri taught me another pair of runes to enhance the leather pieces so they wouldn’t smell or need to be replaced as frequently from wear and tear.
You have received Rune-Magic enchantments:
Never Smell, Never Tear
The helmet was further enhanced using the Never-Break and Never-Rust enchantments, then I went back and improved the leather gloves for the gauntlets too. While it normally would take days or weeks to make these in real life, the game’s assistance and Sindri’s helping skills meant that I was finishing the armor incredibly rapidly. On Wednesday, I built the greaves, which protected the front and sides of the legs from the shin up to around the knees. With a sharp, but not cutting edge on front and a point at the top, they could be used as a weapon as well as armor.
Finally, it was time to make the chainmail on Thursday. Normally, chainmail is an absolute pain to make. Although lighter than plate armor and flexible, it can take a long time to attach all the rings with rivets, which reduces the chance of penetration by a piercing attack. Properly made chain mail was almost impenetrable by medieval weaponry in the real world, but very difficult to make. Sindri claimed no proper Rune-Smith wears anything other than mail, since it’s lighter than plate and each ring can be enchanted. Of course, considering a single suit might have thousands of links, true Rune-Mail was ridiculously difficult to make or buy. Of course, Sindri had a solution to this problem; I was surprised to find out it wasn’t hard work.
“Alright, boy,” he said, “it’s time for you to craft your mail. Here’re the diagrams you need. Now, since you’ll keep this mail for a long time and it’s hard as hell to change once it’s made, I’ll help you out a little. Each link of the chain should have five enchantments. Near the rivet, should be a Never-Break. You can put a No-Rust anywhere you like. Meanwhile there are two basic runes that any mail coming out of my shop has: “Algiz,” for defense, particularly against magic, and “Uruz” for physical power, so the user is stronger and faster and the armor doesn’t slow them down. You’ll also need Afli. They look like so, and need to be linked thusly” he said as he drew the runes. As he spoke, I saw several announcements:
You have received a crafting diagram: Long-sleeve Riveted Chain Mail Hauberk
Chain mail is the flexible defense of choice. This hauberk covers you from neck to knee, and has long sleeves to protect your arms. Lighter chain is used at the joints for flexibility.
New Rune Magic Ability: Linked Runes:
You are now aware of how to link written runes to increase their power.
You have learned some Runes:
Algiz (Basic Rune)- Defense, especially against magic.
Uruz (Basic Rune)- Physical Power, increases strength and dexterity.
Afli (Complementary Rune)- Power, stores rune power and acts as battery.
“Now,” he continued, “both Algiz and Uruz are powered runes. They can store some MP themselves, but not too much. Meanwhile, Afli isn’t really useful on its own, but it can store a whole lot of MP. Since each Algiz or Uruz rune should only be using a little energy, the suit can last for hours of combat if fully charged, or days of regular use. Nonetheless, you shouldn’t be lazy and rely on the enchantments, but build the strength to wear this armor yourself. Now, normally you might think of writing and charging tens of thousands of runes and cry: don’t! Even I got so bored of making chain links that I designed a machine to do so for me. It does require MP to operate though, and needs to be fed steel wire, so that’s your job for the next few days.” And so, for three days and two nights straight I fed this machine every scrap of available mana I had, until finally the mail was complete, and then attached it with string to the leather jacket worn as padding underneath. Saturday night, I showed it to Sindri; after he approved, I finally went to sleep, and woke up Sunday around noon.
Sunday, I finally had enough time to work on my sword. Having normalized the steel, I heated it and blooded it, quenched it with oil mixed in blood, and while tempering it tried to think of it’s name. Finally, I said aloud “what should I call you?” and thought I heard “Colada”. I etched Colada with acid, added the fine edge, and polished the blade, then finally charged the runes. Before adding the guard and handle, I added linked runes of Eihwaz, Dagaz, Uruz and several Afli runes to the tang; the Dagaz would hopefully, through our bond, increase my experience gain, while Uruz would help if I needed to do a power-attach with Colada. Eihwaz would strengthen the runes and hopefully the sword as well, while I could charge the Afli runes to increase the duration of these effects in battle. Along the edge, I started linking Algiz runes to the Deep-Cut enchantments so that the sword would be able to cut through magic, adding dozens of small Afli runes a little further from the edge, then charged Colada. Finished, I decided I’d get some rest then find Sindri and show him my work on Monday. I also saw an announcement:
Smithing Beginner Level 7
Monday morning, I was actually allowed to sleep in until 6am; this was a minor miracle for Sindri. I woke on my own (or rather by Merlin shocking me, but what’s the difference?) and dressed in my armor so I’d get used to wearing it. I then went to get some breakfast in the dining room. Sindri was also there, looking a bit hung over from his weekend escapades.
“Sindri, take a look at this! I finished the sword and called her Colada!” I enthused.
“That’s some decent work, and makes me more comfortable ending your apprenticeship so quickly,” he said, unusually not chewing me out. “ Before you can become a journeyman though, you need to do two things. First, you need to have your own set of tools. It’s traditional for the master to give you a travelling forge, grinding wheel and anvil, so here you are. You’ll also need to make and enchant three hammers: a 1 pound ball-peen, a 3 pound cross-peen and a 4 pounder. You’ll need a pair of metal shears, tongs, a punch, centerpunch and a set of chisels. Lastly, you’ll need a set of engraving tools for rune-scribing; you’re the most promising apprentice to come through in a long while, and I’d like you to take my own journeyman engraving tools. The second thing you need to do is complete a Journeyman piece. This should be something impressive and interesting, demonstrating your experience in the craft and ability to work runes. I’ll give you access to my library, so you can look at the more advanced runes there. It’s the locked room just to the right of the stockroom. Now, get to work! It’s already 7am and I expect you to be done with the greatest journeyman piece I’ve ever seen by Sunday!”
Items Received:
Travelling Forge, Grinding Wheel and Anvil
Sindri’s Engraving Tools
Sindri’s Library Key.
The tools were relatively easy to make, and I was finished by the end of the day. Tuesday morning I went into the library, and began to read and take notes in an empty journal I found. Being scarily genius smart and a speed reader, it went quite quickly. I read and slept and ate for three days, until on Friday I finally had the knowledge to attempt my project.
You have completed a book: Basics of Rune-Magic.
Better understanding of Rune-Magic and it’s possibilities
You have completed a book: 24 Basic Runes.
+1 Intelligence, provides theoretical knowledge of all Basic Runes.
You have completed a book: Basic Enchantments.
Provides theoretical knowledge of many basic enchantment runes.
You have completed a book: Introduction to Rune Diagrams.
+1 Wisdom, provides theoretical understanding of how to make written rune-spells.
You have completed a book: Basic Rune Diagrams.
+1 Intelligence, contains many basic rune diagrams.
You have completed a book: Rune Diagram Theory Through the Ages.
Contains information regarding different Rune Diagram theories and discoveries.
You have completed a book: Rune Diagram Theory Vol. 1
Contains theory on designing rune diagrams
You have completed a book: Rune Diagram Theory Vol. 2
+1 Wisdom, contains theory on designing rune diagrams
You have completed a book: Southern Runes
Contains a number of runes from Dwarves in Southern countries
You have completed a book: Unified Rune Theory by Sindri
+1 Intelligence, contains information on converting between spoken runes, rune diagrams and enchantments.
From these, I learned some important theory. Some rune combinations, especially the weaker effects, could be permanent or semi-permanent. Stronger effects needed to be powered. Depending on how a rune was drawn, it could be either a permanent rune, a triggered rune, or a active rune. Permanent runes I already covered. Triggered runes required someone skilled in Rune-Smithing to activate them. Active runes would instantly activate whenever possible.
Thursday night I stayed up late, working on the plans for my journeyman project. I was trying to re-create a gun inside the game. Starting early Friday morning, I first constructed all the parts needed to make an AK 47; it’s not that I have a fetish for them as so many people seem to do, it’s that they have a design so robust that even communist workers, not exactly the most motivated in the world, couldn’t fuck it up. Later on, I would switch to an acceleration rather than explosion driven device. Since Merlin could project the devices I needed to cut and form, and since my smithing skill was already pretty decent, it wasn’t that difficult to make everything; I had the gun assembled and enchanted against rust or breaking by Saturday noontime, and all I had to do was avoid sleep. The really complicated thing to do would be designing the cartridges to fire without gunpowder.
The way the cartridge worked was pretty ingenious. The main challenge was to have something burn as fast as gunpowder and evolve a similar amount of gas; this meant I needed something around the same density. I first planned on using finely powdered rune-processed charcoal derived from sugar. To make it, I would sugar, then process it in a special chamber covered in runes to make pure carbon charcoal. Then, I could take the carbon and put it into a cartridge with a pair of runes to speed up the burning and increase the force of the explosion, powered by an Afli rune. Experimentation with the amount of Afli power until the charcoal burned completely at the right rate would yield a cartridge.
After thinking about the problem for a couple more minutes though, I realized there was an easier method: water. I put an amount of distilled water (so it wouldn’t corrode anything) in the cartridge so that it would create the right amount of gas when boiled, and scribed an active Bruni, or “heat/fire” rune on the back of the cartridge to produce heat as well as well as a Festa, or “strengthen/accelerate” rune to increase the power of the gas, both driven by Afli runes. Experimentation with the charge and number of Afli runes yielded a useable result: four small Afli runes charged with a total of 80 MP would power one shot. The hammer, instead of igniting the primer, would instead complete the rune-linkage between the Afli and Bruni, triggering the shot. The bullets were stamped on their nose with a small “Leita” or “seek” rune to improve accuracy, powered with a 20 MP Afli rune. As the bullet passed through some rifling, the scratching would connect it to the Afli rune scribed on the base of the bullet. Saturday night I made a mold for the cartridges and stamp for the runes then feverishly produced rounds. By Sunday evening I had just over 360 rounds of 7.62x39 completed in a variety of metals: 60 advanced rounds made of Never-Break and No-Cut enhanced steel for armored enemies, 60 rounds of silver for undead with the same enhancements as the advanced rounds, and 240 rounds of standard rounds for normal enemies. In the process of making and powering all the runes, I gained:
Continuous Casting Beginner Level 5
Magic Mastery Beginner Level 5
Rune Magic Beginner Level 8
Smithing Beginner Level 8
Tired and worn out, I went to sleep on the floor of the workshop, next to the AK and waited for Sindri to come in and inspect my Journeyman’s piece.
Sometime close to midnight, Merlin shocked me awake just before Sindri entered. Yawning, I stood up just in time as he came in, shouting as usual.
“Alright, Boy,” he said, “Let’s see it! What have you prepared for your journeyman’s piece?”
“Well Master Sindri, I’ve got something pretty interesting for you. I call it the Journeyman’s AC, or Automatic-Corbeau. It takes these cartridges, flash boiling the water and causing these small bullets to fly out the front travelling at almost a thousand meters a second. Shall I give a demonstration in the testing range?”
“Please do,” he said, looking interested. We left the workshop, going into the firing range where crossbows would normally be tested. At the end of the range, about 60 meters away, was a target dummy wearing a somewhat holed breastplate. Switching the fire selector to full auto, I put ten controlled, three round bursts into the dummy, pretty much finishing it off.
Now looking very impressed, Sindri asked “can I try?”
“Of course,” I showed him how to load the magazine, and flipped the selector to single fire. “Just pull the trigger, keeping the sights aimed at the dummy. After you’ve tried single shot, you can adjust to automatic.” Sindri, grinning, began firing the gun. After a handful of shots, he switched to automatic and empty the clip in one long burst. Now smiling wider than I I’d ever seen before, he turned back to me and grabbed me in a bone-crushing hug (literally, I took 60 points of damage).
“I knew it! I knew you’d be a great Rune-Smith! But this, this is amazing! Wonderful! I heartily approve your promotion to Journeyman. In fact, if you make many more inventions like these, you’ll qualify as not just a journeyman rune-smith, but as a rune-artificer, which gives you access to some of the secret and restricted guild research libraries. Congratulations, Corbeau! I’d like you to feel at home in my workshop anytime, though of course you are now capable of doing as you like. Would you mind letting me have the diagram for the runes and device you used? I’d like to work on them and make some improvements and variations.”
You have created a new crafting diagram: Journeyman’s AC
By designing a device and having it accepted by a master of the rune-smithing art, your Journeyman’s AC is now an official crafting diagram.
Smithing Beginner Level 9
You have completed the class progression quest: Ivaldi Journeyman Rune-Smith
As a Journeyman Rune-Smith, you are allowed to create and sell your smithing works in any guild town. You are also allowed access to the general library and workspaces in any affiliated guild. Relationship with Ivaldi Rune-Smiths Guild Improved.
Smithing Intermediate Level 1
Level Up
Level Up
All runes are now 10% more effective and cost 10% less MP.
“Of course you can have a copy of my crafting diagram, Sindri!” I replied, grinning at finally being called something other than “boy”. “But I have two conditions: One, don’t share this diagram or the results of our future research with anyone else without my agreement. These weapons could be incredibly dangerous if used against us. Two, we share any crafting diagrams we make based on this idea with each other. Do you agree?”
“Alright. I’d like to improve your ammunition first, maybe get it to fire faster and more accurately, and then maybe move onto some other variants of gun as well as ways of making enough of these bullets to last a long fight. Now, I don’t expect to see much of you over the next couple of weeks; you’re a Journeyman, so you should go on some journeys, get some experience, have some adventures. Remember though, in 5 weeks the first Ivaldi Legion is moving to the front to attack Serpentshead, and I hope you’ll be back by then to go along and help the troops. Here’re the three gold and sixty silvers I owe you, less 1 gold for materials to make your journeyman’s piece leaves you with two gold sixty, and I’ve got a present for you; this backpack uses some new space-folding runes so it fits twenty times as much as you’d think, and makes it weigh twenty times less. Alright, now I’m sure you’ve got a big day ahead of you tomorrow; you should get some rest.”
You Received Sindri’s Backpack:
A huge backpack to begin with, holds 20 times as much space inside as it seems. Makes objects weigh 20 times less.
In the morning I packed the four gold and handful of silver I’d collected over my first month playing along with everything else I needed into my new backpack. I put on my armor, slung Colada, my sword, at my left hip and placed Sindri’s knife on my right. I placed two magazines containing regular ammunition, as well as one magazine each of advanced and silver, in pouches on my belt so they’d be easily accessible. Finally, I slung my Journeyman’s AC, or JAC, across my chest and was finally able to leave the city and train. After all, I’d need to be much stronger before I could think of taking on Serpentshead, even with all the nasty tricks I was thinking of.