- 83 -

Damien paid a few people some silver for damages. Dylar and his dad slipped away with Kirtus and her mom to avoid anymore blame.

What’s his deal? I could have talked to those villagers.

Everyone keeps thinking I’m a demon, clearly I’m not like that Forge Sprite.

Damien and Drew passed another cross street. The crowd behind them had completely dispersed.

The mercenaries get me. I can show people that I’m not a monster. My combat logs would have convinced them I was telling the truth.

Drew and Damien made it to the smithy unmolested. Damien had walked in silence so Drew had flown along without speaking.

They stopped before the large sliding door to the smithy and Drew finally spoke up.

“Damien what happened back there with the villagers? I could have handle-“

The large door slid open and heat poured out.

“Whoooose yapping ‘en frund ‘a my forge?”

A man stood before them backlit by the light of his forge. Stark naked.

And Drunk? Seriously? Is this a sauna or a smithy?

He was apparently human, his stout proportions hinted at some dwarven heritage a couple generations back. He glistened with sweat and was armed with a hammer held in one hand and a ceramic jug in the other.

Damien averted his eyes and shouted at the man. With his naturally wide field of vision, Drew had to turn completely around to face the street to avoid the man’s nudity.

“By Bella’s virtue. Please put on some clothes!” Damien shouted. “We spoke two days ago about metal bracing and bands for a wagon.”

“Eh? Yoh the old ‘toff.” The black smith slurred. “Pain ‘en edvance, didn’ yew.”

The blacksmith turned and walked to set down his hammer on his anvil.

“I did pay up front. The full sum. And I requested everything be completed today.” Damien said. “Yet I see you somehow more intoxicated than before.”

The blacksmith crossed his smithy and pulled a leather apron off the wall and tied it around his waist.

“Yer ord’her is done.” He said as he took another swig from his jug. “‘nd I ben paid, so ‘m drunk.”

Damien stared at the smith incredulously. The blacksmith shrugged.

He gestured with the jug to a couple open crates off to the side. Drew flew over to land of the closest crate and peek inside.

I guess he can work tipsy.

The crate was filled with brackets and hinges and hardware that they need to furnish the wagon. In particular, there were reinforcements for the wheels and axles with a few spares in the crate also.

“We require the use of your workspace.” Damien said. “This one in the corner will be sufficient.”

At a nod from the blacksmith, Damien used [Mage Hand] twice to summon two hands and sweep beside the tools and materials scattered across the large workbench into a nearby barrel. The drunk smith went to lay on the ground against the wall out of the way.

Damien got to work, moving all the metal brackets and fixtures and laying them on the table. He got out a folio with schematics for [Harden Metal] and [Resist Shatter].

“We will be applying strengthening enchantments to these so they don’t break down on the road.” Damien said. “You can start with these and I’ll work on the rest.”

”Okay,” Drew said and hopped over. “Can we talk about that mob?”

Damien looked at the blacksmith before whispering back.

“It can wait. He will hear us.” Damien said.

Okay sure. Just get to work and save our problems for later I guess.

The two enchantments were simple and worked together well.

Drew started applying them to the metalwork.

Makes sense that these would need to be hardened, but the reinforcements for the wheels would break down slower if they were flexible, kind of like a rubber tire. Might even help smooth out the ride.

“Damien?” Drew asked. “Is there a way to make the wheels more flexible?”

“Flexible how? If they aren’t stable enough, they won’t hold up the wagon.” Damien said.

“Okay not flexible, elastic. Or stretchy. Do you have an enchantment for bows? That make them flex and recover?” Drew asked.

That clicked for Damien and he flipped through his folio until he got to the page for [Limber].

“This enchantment is for wood and helps it stay flexible after repeated flexing actions, and encourages it return to its ready shape.” Damien said. “With a couple modifications we could adapt it to work with metal.”

“Wait, it would be better to have a hard layer over a limber layer then the sturdy wooden wheels. It would pad the wheels and distribute the impacts of the road out.” Drew said.

The blacksmith spoke up from his spot on the ground. The man had rolled halfway over and had his arm propped up behind his head and legs splayed akimbo.

“‘er pet birb ess pret’ee smart fella.” He said.

Damien scowled back at the man’s condition.

“I’ve a sp-“ he got queasy for a moment, recovered and continued. “spare wheelie or d’ere, ‘ave at it.”

It took them the better part of half an hour to enchant the wagon wheel and banding then assemble the wheel. All three enchantments worked seamlessly together.

“This is fantastic.“ Damien said to himself, careful to not be overheard by the blacksmith. “The scholars in Valoira will be amazed. I could sell this to the royal guard, its application could drastically improve the mobility of the army.”

He was striking the enchanted wheel with a hammer and watching the enchantment work through his [Mana Lens].

The old enchanter had copied down the schematic and notes for its application in his folio.

“I will be able to push for a meeting with a chairman with this.” Damien said.

They had spoken very little in the last hour and Drew had been keeping his own council. Drew looked over at Damien scribbling away in his notes while he flew around cleaning up the work bench and returning the materials from the barrel back to the table.

“Damien. I know I don’t tell you everything, Or, well I don’t remember everything. I think that we can work together and find more applications for enchantments like this one.” Drew said.

“What’s that?” he asked, looking up from his notes.

I don’t actually care. I don’t need to be some famous inventor from another world in a crow’s body. But…

“What’s that Drew? Something else to change about the way this is built?” Damien asked.

Damien raised an eyebrow towards the blacksmith, he had roused from his nap and dragged himself over to a cabinet with another bottle of booze in it.

“Sure. Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing I guess.” Drew said.

“We will be on our way.” Damien looked out a nearby window to see the sky darkening. “Damn, it will be time for dinner then too dark for any more work on the wagons tonight.”

He stepped out of the smithy and turned to scowl at the blacksmith. “I expect these parts delivered tomorrow first thing.”

“Aye, I’ll ‘ave one of dug, lads drop t’off fore the sun.” The blacksmith said before turning his nude back on them and closing the door in their faces.

Damien hurried away with his folio under his arm. He made a beeline for their cross street.

Probably going back to his tent to rewrite his notes on his new enchantments before dinner.

Drew flew to catch up to the man and called out.

“Hey, I could have handled that crowd. You didn’t need to pay all that silver.” Drew said.

Damien kept walking with his nose in his folio. He dismissed Drew with a shake of his hand.

“It’s worth it to pay them off, otherwise they come back complaining again and again.”

“They think I’m a demon. I can show them my combat log. They would have believed me, you did once you saw my name.”

Damien whirled around and Drew had to pull back sharply to avoid flying into him.

“What? No! You can’t. Never show anyone your stat screen.” He shouted.

Damien took a breath and calmed himself.

“Certainly not, they wouldn’t understand. A mob of bumpkins like those folks wouldn’t see the evidence for what it is.”

“Well I can’t just act like a dumb bird. An inkling of any amount of capability and they jump to calling me a demon.” Drew shouted. “If I could just explain-“

“Don’t waste your time Drew. They will not understand. These frontier villagers see monsters and demons everywhere. That’s how they survive. Even elves are shunned here, more so than in the capital.” Damien said.

“I won’t give up on them. They are worth fighting for, even if it’s thankless and impossible, it’s worth showing them a better way to accept people and learn from elves or even skurr.” Drew said.

Damien tried to rebut but Drew flew off.

One of the Johns came around the corner sheepishly with one arm draped across Seraphina’s shoulders.

“Did you two break up?” She asked.

- 84 -

The town was starting to quiet down. It wasn’t quite dusk but a few homes here and there were starting to cook their evening meals. Another family was harvesting what they needed from their small garden behind their home.

As Drew flew where the wind took him. He saw leather workers, candlemakers, brewers, and carpenters wrapping up their work for the day and closing up their shops.

I bet I could help any one of these professions with knowledge from earth. Even if it’s just ways to speed up the process. Does the carpenter have a lathe? Or is sandpaper a thing here?

He circled around the carpenters shop and saw the man use a wand to summon wind to gather up the sawdust and wood shavings around his shop and hurl them out into his yard.

More likely, they use magic to shape wood and the tools are secondary. A lathe would only save them mana.

He followed the wind until they took him to the palisade circling the town.

Why does it bother me so much if Damien thinks I’m just a curiosity? I haven’t told him the truth. But I’m not a pet. I’m not his familiar. He’s supposed to be my friend.l not my master.

He flew past some of the wards he had repaired the other day and landed to check on them again.

I chose this race, sure it was a discount, but that’s all I could afford. And this is what I’ve got to overcome if I want to be a hero. At least I’m not on the menu, nobody here eats crows.

He passed several wards, deep in thought until he came to the wards he hadn’t worked on yet.

I’ve got ideas. Good ideas, great ones even. How about a carriage that flattens and paves the road as you travel?

“First thing I’ll do is finish these wards. Last time I got distracted by those kids.“ Drew said.

I’ll make them run leaner, and not tell Damien. That way, some other enchanter will find them and take the credit. That will show him.

He started to remove a mana stone from a corroded ward, but realized he didn’t have his toolkit.

Without the tool kit he wouldn’t be able to repair them, the most he could do is inspect them and come back tomorrow to fix them.

Im not going back to grab it now. Not after I stormed off and everything. Damien will be there and say something.

He was looking over the palisade and saw horned rabbits grazing on the grass outside of town.

Their horns are much shorter than back in Rottervale.

Of the next 12 medallions 4 needed attention. He made a point to remember where they were so he could return to them with his toolkit.

Rottervale really was a tough place to start. At least Skurr were common there and I didn’t stand out so much. There don’t seem to be any birds here at all. Would it be better if I completed the racial upgrade?

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Or it could make things worse. The first humanoid crow would definitely look like a demon to everyone.” Drew sighed to himself.

The sound of children talking reached his ears. He reflexively ducked away from flying stones. But there weren’t any stones he peaked over the wall. The two straw-haired brothers and Dylar were outside the walls. They were sneaking through some grass and planning to attack some horned rabbits.

Drew flew over to talk to them. He made a point to call out from a safe distance.

“Hey kids! Forget about attacking any monsters. You guys are super weak and it’s nearly dinner time.” Drew said just loud enough for the kids to hear.

The rabbit’s ears twitched but it went back to digging up some grass.

The younger brother jolted and turned with a hushed shriek when he saw Drew. “What? Ahh! It’s that Demon Skurr!” The younger brother said.

“Shut it. He’s just a smart Skurr, I told you. He helped me fight off that demon today.” Dyler said.

Dyler stood and turned to face Drew.

“The three of us can handle a rabbit. I’ve got a knife now.” Dylar said proudly holding it up. He had drawn it from a loop on his belt. It was a sturdy knife about as long as his palm. It had a well worn grip and had been sharpened end oiled well over the years.

“But can you win against 3? Because from up here I can see three rabbits just right over there.” Drew said as he turned in a lazy circle on the breeze above the boys.

The kids looked towards each other, none of them were as confident anymore.

“He don’t even know how to use a knife anyways.” The older brother said. “I bet you stole it didn’t you.”

“Shut up Calvin!” Dylar said then he turned to shut up the younger brother before he could say anything. “You too Victor. My dad gave it to me after I defeated the demon today.”

At least kids are bickering the same as earth kids. Well if you account for the whole demon slaying rpg stuff actually being real.

“Thank you. Ya know? Well you vouched for me. Ya know.” Dyler said to Drew.

“It was the right thing to do. You were telling the truth and I had the means to help you.” Drew said.

He circled above the boys and Dylar kicked a small rock while he looked away.

“If you could hold off on attacking monsters for now, there’s some training you could do to increase your odds of survival.”

Calvin snorted and looked up at the gliding Skurr.

“Bah, what kind of training can a bird teach us? We can’t fly or eat garbage.” Calvin said.

“Shut up Calvin!” Dyler said and kicked the boy in the back. “This guy has fought demons and can use magic. He knows more than your dumb ass.”

The younger brother looked up at Drew and then back to his brother.

“Calvin let’s hear him out.” Victor said.

Calvin grumbled, and dusted off his back side, but accepted.

“Let’s head back to the walls where it’s safer.” Drew said.

He circled into the wind. He kept one eye on the kids and the other eye on the nearest horned rabbits until they reached the palisade.

“Now, I learned this method of training from the guild in Rottervale, and I added in some things I learned from their city guards, as well as the mercenaries I’ve been traveling with. Let’s start with Stamina training…”

Stamina +1

Strength +1

Agility +1

Skill Upgrade: Stamina Recovery lvl 4

Skill Upgrade: Flying lvl 9

Skill Upgrade: Parry lvl 3

Skill Upgrade: Basic Heal lvl 5

Drew put the tree boys through general calisthenics, running sprints, push ups, squats, light unarmed sparring, and they found a water trough to dunk their heads in to practice holding their breath.

Drew made a point to let them push their own limits, then encouraged them to go back to do another set of which ever exercise they struggled with the most.

After 30 minutes the first boy lit up with a stat point gain. Then the other two got their gains shortly after.

Drew hung from a fence board upside down by his claws and did some chin ups. He also tried a few practice swings with Calvin’s stick but it was too cumbersome to swing with his claws.

Anytime the boys were injured, Drew would heal them up and they would keep going.

Dusk came quickly an hour and a half later and Drew and Dylar were were sparring slowly with their knives as the light faded to dusk.

“You tired yet?” Drew taunted as he swooped in low to strike at the boy’s knife.

“Not even close bird breath.” Dyler teased back and sliced at the Skurr haphazardly.

“Then keep moving your feet!” Drew pushed in close putting the boy off balance as his knees banged into eachother. He sliced at the boy’s knife leaving a generous gap for the boy to dodge away.

Got to give Jeff credit, it’s hard to push someone to their limits without hurting them.

Dyler tripped and fell, the two brothers Calvin and Victor cheered.

“Another point for Drew! Go kiss rocks Dyler!” Victor shouted. The younger boy had gained a point in proficiency with Slings and had been slinging stones non-stop for the last 30 minutes trying to level it again.

Drew stowed his knife and flew down to heal the boy.

“That’s great progress for a short amount of time.” Drew said. “And think about which non-combat skills you want to work on. It should be something you have materials for, like making arrows. You get experience for completing them and you can spend the exp on your attributes.”

“Or just sell them and throw stones.” Victor said.

“Exactly, or if you learn to use a bow you can save money by stocking up on arrows you made your self.” Drew said. “And Calvin, I don’t know how to make one, but get a shield to go with that wooden stick. Trust me you will need it.”

“Yeah yeah, and keep my feet moving. You’ve been saying that this whole time.”

“I’m serious, you can fight longer if you aren’t hurt. Agility and having a shield to block with are far better than planning to kill with one big slash of your sword.” Drew said.

For all their bravado they are taking this seriously. It’s life and death. And they realize that.

“I got to head back, I’m late for dinner as it is and I want to make a couple new wands before I turn in for the night.” Drew said.

And I need to talk to Damien. Making wands may be an olive branch to get him in a good mood.

“Are you going to be training tomorrow?” Victor asked.

“I might. I’ll be working on a few wards on this side of town. If you have some bread, or other food to bring me then I could train you guys again.” Drew said.

“It’s a Deal.” Dyler said and gave a thumbs up.

Drew flew off towards the corral and left the three boys alone.

“Did we just make a deal with a Demon?” Calvin asked.

“He’s a good demon.” Victor said. “Do you think he likes sweat bread?”

- 85 -

Drew arrived in time for dinner. Two Johns were setting out a second plate for Krag and had started cleaning up their kitchen gear.

Thrain and Damien were sitting off to the side at Thrain’s personal folding table set. They were drinking ale from large glass flutes.

He flew in a wide circle, gliding on the wind, aiming to come in for a landing with the cook table as his runway.

Eagle 1 to ground control, requesting clearance to land.

“…standing there, nearly wielding pitchforks! And He was planning to talk them down.” Damien was sloshing his beer.

He’s talking about me.

Drew pulled up to circle around again before anyone noticed him. He heard most of what they said and could guess the rest.

“He’s a young bird, surely you’ve made a similar mistake once or twice before.” Thrain said.

“Thats not the issue… you can’t trust small town folk. They don’t understand mages.”

“I doubt mages understand other mages very much. Some of them are like Fire and Water.”

“That old adage is more apt than you know. Smothering each other or blowing up in a cloud of steam.” Damien took another deep pull on his ale and glowered at the little that remained.

“Drew is too transparent. He’s too quick to see the best in people.” Damien said.

“He is, but that’s how you build trust. You believe the best in people and then they live up to your expectations.” Thrain said.

The third John and the ice elf Seraphina strolled up to the corral. They were laughing and holding each other close.

“John, Seraphina?” One of the Johns stopped cleaning to call out to the couple. “Have you eaten? We can set out two new plates.”

“Or you two could share a plate.” The other John jokingly set out a single plate of dinner.

“You won’t ruin our evening with your jealousy, brothers.” John Smiled to Seraphina.

“We already ate.” She said. “I thought we could retire early John?”

Even from his vantage point far above the conversation Drew caught the look she gave him.

“Certainly, I’m quite tired.”

“No too tired I hope?” Seraphina asked and caressed his chest before rushing to her tent.

“Brothers, farewell!” John sang. He sprinted into the tent after the ice elf.

“Now that’s the steam I was talking about.” Thrain said with a laugh.

The tension broke and the two Johns found somewhere else to be.

Drew landed beside the hot plate of food. It was something like a porch with mashed potatoes, and steamed leafy vegetables like spinach.

“Welcome to dinner Drew.” I heard you had an exciting day.” Thrain said.

Damien sat quietly with his ale as the dwarf strode over to join Drew at his table.

Him and Damien are drinking buddies. I bet Thrain hears all about Damien’s side of the story.

Drew pecked at his food and swallowed before speaking.

“I did. I defeated a Forge Sprite. One of the kids in town had been feeding it until it got out of control and attacked her and her friends.”

“Oh ho! Busy day indeed. Gives you a fine appetite.” Thrain said. He stroked his beard thoughtfully and looked back at Damien for a moment.

“Do you have any plans for the evening? Care for a few rounds of Cabal?” Thrain waggled his eyebrows at Drew.

“Actually, I was hoping to enchant a few new wands. Especially something that can help me put out fires.” Drew said loud enough for Damien to hear.

The old enchanter perked up at the mention of enchantments. But stubbornly turned the other way to sip his ale.

“Well I do have some wands for sale, but I imagine you will want the experience of crafting them your self. I could sell you some mana enriched lumber that would hold an enchantment well.” Thrain said. “For a fair price of course.”

Thrain nodded towards Damien’s back with a questioning eyebrow.

Drew shrugged.

What’s he trying to say to me?

“Do you know what kind of wood ye would need? Which spells are ye thinking of? I’ve got plenty of sicklewood if you don’t mind the grain curving dramatically.” Thrain said.

I guess that should be fine. Sounds cool enough. I should get enough for several wands.

“Sounds good to me. Let’s see it. Have you got enough for four or five wands? I’d like to make them for multiple affects.”

“Stop! Stop! You can’t use sicklewood for wands it would ruin the mana core’s sympathy with the materials and you would have to calculate for the grain when carving the enchantments.” Damien came rushing over, ale forgotten.

“I mean really, a renowned Merchant like you not knowing this simple fact.” Damien said to Thrain causing the dwarf to laugh things off.

“Drew it seems like we could use Damien’s help in this.” Thrain said.

What’s Thrain thinking? Does he have the same idea I do about cheering Damien up?

“Well if you aren’t busy Damien, I do have some ideas on how to apply the enchantments using the new system we thought up today. I could use your help.”

The old enchanter smiled and downed the last of his Ale.

“Of course you do, I’m a master enchanter.” Damien turned to Thrain a little loose on his feet. “You better have some aspected wood after all this talk of sicklewood.”

They marched over to the cart and Thrain pulled a few levers causing the shelves and crates on the cart to reorganize themselves. After a few seconds the card reached its new configuration and an array of fine planks and boards were on display.

Damien ruled out many of the softwoods, then selected only the boards that are from the heart of the tree. Where the grain is tightest.

Damien pulled out his mana lens and looked at the remaining options closely.

He offered the lens to Drew.

“See here? how the mana is locked into the tight grain of the wood? Much like your Mana Reinforcement ability. There is quite a selection here, what are you planning to create?” Damien said.

“I want to make a wand like [fire bolt], but for each element.” Drew said.

“Ah yes, a water bolt, stone bolt, wind bolt, light bolt, dark bolt. Simple enchantments we can do with the tools I have in the tent.”

He looked around at the wood available and frowned.

“Those last two will be tricky. I don’t see any pieces here with those affinities.”

“These are all I have in stock right now. As you can imagine dark aspected dungeons are impossible to find.” Thrain said. “Sadly, I have yet to meet an Enlightened that would part with any of their light aspected materials for a fair price.”

“We could create them with Alchemy once we reach Valoria. That would be a good milestone for you to aim for as you learn the Skill.” Damien said.

“Sounds good to me. Let’s get enough of each type to make two wands. I may make a mistake, or we could use them for something else.” Drew said.

Damien marked 4 boards, each about a 14 inch length near one end of the board.

“I’ve only got 15 gold left. How much will this all cost?” Drew asked Thrain.

Thrain jumped in at that moment.

“For all this here, 15 gold would be a fair price.”

Damien did some math and nodded in agreement.

“That’s almost generous. Thank you. I did not expect the friends and family rate.” Drew said.

Thrain laughed and waved off his words. “This is my returning customers rate. Got to maintain my repeat business. Krag! Come help our customers portion off the best of these boards here.”

As the Orc cut the lengths of wood with a fine toothed saw Damien shuffled quietly between his feet.

“Thrain, I have your gold back in the tent. Return in just a moment.” Drew said.

“Grab my [Enchanters Kit] while you are there. We will need it.” Damien said.

As if I could I forget?

As the skurr flew to the tent and back he missed when Damien passed Thrain a few gold coins and pointed out a couple things on the cart.

Drew returned a minute later with the heavy tool kit held aloft with [Mage Hand] and dropped it at Damien’s feet.

He reached out and placed 15 gold coins on the cart as payment for the wood and scooped them up.

Damien lifted his [Enchanters Kit] easily and brought it to the table. The Johns had cleared it in a few minutes and trekked off to find a drink.

Damien set out his folio and turned to the schematic for [Stone bolt].

“Stone Bolt would the the best wand to create first. Take a look at the schematic to get an understanding of the defining terms and action phrases. Then we can look at adapting the new efficiency phrases to the wand.”

Drew copied down the enchantment onto some paper and underlined the key phrases.

These turn the mana into earth aspected mana, then shape that into the bolt. Setting the cost against the velocity and distance, and force factors. Looks like this portion defines where the magic originates.

“Stone bolt is a great first combat enchantment. It’s a stable element to work with, unlike fire, wind, and water.” Damien said.

“It’s your favorite elemental affinity. Is that why you use it so much in combat?” Drew asked, he was turning the page to compare the relative size of the bolt form across the stone bolt and fire bolt enchantments.

“What? Why do you say that?” Damien asked. He rolled out a thick leather mat that was enchanted to regulate the mana within its borders for precise mana manipulations.

“Well it’s so versatile when you use it. You make those walls, and boulders and stone bulletts. It makes sense?” Drew said.

“Stone Bolts, but yes. I guess I do use the element often.” Damien said quickly.

Drew turned to the next page in the folio expecting to see [Wind Bolt] but instead there was a different kind of enchantment.

What’s [Channel Earth Affinity]?

Damien looked up from the work mat he had laid out. He’d just attuned it to the current ambient mana levels. He froze when he saw Drew had searched so far ahead.

“Oh! See this makes much more sense. And it would work much better with our new ambient mana phrases since it’s channeling.” Drew said.

Damien was silent.

“I thought you had multiple wands for the stone affinity, but with your mana channeling proficiency you can visualize what you want the [Channel Earth Affinity] enchantment to do.” Drew said.

“Well yes, of course it does.” Damien said with a sigh. “Great observation. You passed that little test.”

Ha! I bet he didn’t think I was ready for enchantments at this level. They would actually be easier to adapt to be self charging than the bolt style enchantments.

“With these Channel Affinity enchantments you save on mana costs but need to exert more focus. The enchantment won’t have a predetermined form or function. You will need to maintain your intention for the spell while you are channeling it.” Damien said.

Drew was already sketching out the [Channel Earth Affinity] enchantment and working backwards until he got to the part where he could supplement his mana capacity formula.

It will likely cost extra mana, time or both to cast, but I think I can stop it from failing so often while I’m distracted in combat.

The enchantment is simple. It waits for an ignition spark of mana, then it checks for a charge from its internal mana supply, then casts the enchantment, asking for the parameters of the affect. (Form, velocity, density, origin point) The enchantment utilizes ambient mana or channeled mana to sustain the enchantment. Converts mana to Earth Aligned mana. Then it channels the spell until canceled.

“Alright let’s test it out. [Stone Bullet]!” Drew shouted.

A small stone pellet 1/4 the size of a stone bolt, coalesced in a second and then shot up at an incredible speed.

Skill upgrade: [Enchantment] level 7.

Wow! That worked almost too well.

Damien slid over to see what Drew had created.

Oh man, this variant of the spell would be really effective at making lots of little bullets.

“Drew how small and fast did you make that bolt? The standard size stone bolt is set at one sonne because anything smaller causes cohesion to fail and it would not reach its target.”

“I condensed it to 25% the size of a bolt and 4 times as fast. It may not have the stopping power of a [Stone Bolt], but it can penetrate. Hopefully steel armor.”

Damien looked over the enchantment. And made some notes.

“Let’s test it even smaller, at 20% the size and five times the density. You won’t add on much casting time and the mana cost should only increase by 5%.” Damien said.

“Do you think we could get away with condensing it more?” Drew asked.

“Yes, it’s possible but your mana cost and casting time will go up dramatically.” Damien said and jotted down some rough calculations.

“[Fire Bolt] works so well because all of the parameters are calculated and balanced.” Damien said. “But it lacks versatility, you cannot channel the spell to make it larger, or shorten the casting time. It’s fixed and set in stone.”

Because I can channel this enchantment, I could cue up two or three bullets at once then fire them off. As long as I can anticipate the casting time it should work.

The next test with increased casting time went exactly as planned. The stone bullet formed in 2 seconds, it was smaller and denser than a stone bolt. Drew struggled to keep the parameters for size and density and velocity in his mind as the spell resolved.

As it neared completion the spell started to pull on his mana harder, storing up potential velocity.

“Fire in the hole!” Drew shouted.

“This spell is not for fire-“

The stone bullet cracked through the air interrupting Damien’s statement. The projectile disappeared up into the sky faster than Drew could track it. It was so loud it startled the Garnts and Thrain and Krag jumped up with their weapons drawn.

MP: 25%

“That might have been a little too loud…” Drew said. “And way too mana intensive.”

“This is amazing Drew. We can work with this.” Damien said.

New item: Crystalized Mana Rod x 6

New item: Mana Infused Dowel x7

New item: [Wand of Channel Earth]

New item: [Wand of Channel Water]

New item: [Wand of Channel Air]

New item: [Wand of Channel Flame]

Mana channeling lvl 6

Enchanting lvl 8

Mana recovery lvl 7

Carving lvl 6