Teleportation Center: The Room Requested by Anthony
Preparations were all set and done: The group's luggage was piled up and accounted for, the magic circle was perfectly drawn with Risabeel's Demonic being taken to mind, and the soon-to-be teleported began stepping into the circle per the orders of the headmage. Once inside, the circle's markings let off a magical glow that shifted in color with each person who entered.
"Hmm? Okay, okay...everything is looking good on this side," The headmage nodded to themselves after giving everything a once over then gave a nod of approval to their group of mages, who in turn gathered around the magic circle. "How are things in there for you all?"
"Weird, kind of floaty?" Blake answered for the group while waving his hands through the lights. "This isn't really anything like a Port-Stone?" He thought out loud as he remembered those times when he saw and/or was a part of teleportation magic. Those being when Nathan flashed away back in one of Los' dungeons while the other times were moving across the city in a lightning bolt from Magnus and walking through paintings at Le Fay.
The headmage nodded to Blake's words while crossing Anthony's name off a checkboard. "Good to hear! And to throw out a bit of knowledge, this type of teleportation magic is a bit on the old side compared to say? The stuff that Witch Of Gaps can pull off."
*Beep, Beep, Beep*
"How so?" Risabeel's curiosity got to her and pulled her eyes off the magic circle and to the head mage.
"Well, it's kind of like this..." They held two fingers with a bit of mana on the tip of one of them. "...the spell we're gonna use on you is called Warp and goes like so..." The mana on one finger disappeared and reappeared on the other digit. "...instantly moving from one spot to another." Next, the mana on their finger stretched to meet the finger where it came from. "Gateway magic like portals is a bit different, same idea; get somewhere with ease but a path is created between two spots and you actually have to move a bit."
*Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep*
"So why bother making portals or turning into lightning if you can just pop out somewhere?" Blake followed along with Risabeel's questioning and didn't see any real benefit from the other means of magical teleportation.
"Not everyone is attuned to using teleportation magic, friend..." The headmage scoffed at the question and continued "...some are even stuck with legging it everywhere like the non-magical folk." They held up one finger this time. "But gateway magic has its perks..." The mana on their finger branched out like a tree, splitting off this way and that. "...it's easier to go to places if you're in charge of the paths. Instead of A to B, you get A to whatever letter you can think of and any spot between them." They smirked as the mana came back to their finger. "I could go on longer but that beeping might just get stuck in my head."
*Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep Beep, Beep*
The warning from Anthony's glove hadn't stopped for a moment, the constant and timely reminder that its wearer should hurry up instead of finding ways to drag things out any longer in hopes of ensuring everything they wanted to do was done meaningfully. But instead, sadly most of this added fluff merely wastes the precious time of others who wish to move on with this current affair and continue onward to something far more interesting.
"Uh, uhmm, yes! Right away! Now in fact!" Anthony tried his best to wrap the thing up in his coat to keep the noise from getting any more out of hand.
"Righty-o! Paying customers!" The headmage clasped their hands together followed by the other mages and in turn with the light from the magic circle grew stronger.
"Allow one to go where they wish..." The spellcasters began to chant slowly increasing the intensity of the circle's light, now rising like a veil around Blake and the others. "...let it be done in an instant, without the need to move a finger..." With the next part, the veil had reached the glass dome up above. "...Now go forth in a grand flash! Warp!" The spell was finally cast and the veil coalesced into a single beam of light that blocked out the inside of the circle.
"Hey, everyone, make sure your everything is in he-" Blake tried to warn the others before something unfortunate happened to someone's limb. "Why?" Only for everyone but Saffire and Anthony to cling to him like he was a lifeline. The worst of them was Gram, who just walked up and slapped both of his paws on Blake's shoulders. "Huh?" In the middle of lifting an arm currently held by Mari to make some space for himself, he noticed that his feet were slowly getting covered by magical light. "Hey, Antho-"
When the smith turned to ask the tinker what that was about. "Oh, why isn't this quicker!" Anthony grimaced with his legs a complete light show of colors that were then fluttered away like dandelion seeds in the wind.
"Ugh?" Now the questioning look Blake once had was replaced with fear as Anthony was literally blown away and that meant Blake would be getting the same treatment soon.
"Oh don't worr-" In the middle of trying to lighten any fears Blake had, Anthony's head was gone.
"What are you looking at?" Then it was Saffire's turn, who crossed her arms and blew some smoke at Blake just before she got turned into a cloud of colorful light.
"Magic is weird." Blake thought since his mouth was already gone. "Huh?" The last thing his eyes saw before getting washed over by the endless colors was the doors of the teleportation room getting thrown open.
"ANTHONY!" Deller roared after kicking the door open and slammed his boot down with the force of an army commander ready for war. "GET! BACK! HERE! BOY!" With his eyes glared and tusk bared he threw his iron arm forward then held on to it with his other arm so tightly that his knuckles turned neo-green. "FIRE: LEFT!" The next thing that happened was Deller's iron arm blasting off his elbow via a burst of green flames.
"I'm sorry bu-!" The headmage at first turned around with a bored expression and was expecting to see the usual enraged face of someone unable to stop a teleportation job. "Oh?" However, this was the first time they saw an iron arm flying at their face. "AAAAH!" Not even having it in their mind to set up a Mana Barrier they and the other mages all hit the floor with their hands over their heads.
As for the iron arm, it flew over the downed mages, into the magic circle only to blow away the remaining magical light and finally came to a stop when it crashed into a wall. The impact of which left cracks spiderwebbing out from where the arm landed with smoke coming from the elbow joint. "Grrr! Not enough force!" Deller growled and snapped his tusks at the air, about as frustrated with his 'rocket arm's' performance as he was with not being able to stop Anthony from going to the Valley Of Los. "You!" Then marched over to the headmage on the floor.
"Eeek!" Who was torn from the safety of the floor and into the air by Deller's remaining arm. "Why is it an Orc this time?" They asked the Goddess on high when Deller brought their face to his. "Ahh? Yes?" A short one-sided contest of staring played out between them where the spellcaster readied themselves to be tossed aside.
"How long will it take you to get me to where that boy went?" Deller asked in a slow, rough, and of course, demanding tone that only wished to hear 'now' as an answer and while waiting for the right and only answer from the mage, the Orc went over to the now crumbling wall to reattach his arm. "Do I need to repeat myself?" The craftsmaster asked before jamming his left stump into the elbow joint of his iron arm.
The act of doing so broke the last of the wall's strength as the whole thing came crumbling down in large chunks of stone at his feet. "Huh?" On the other side was another teleportation room with someone just returning from a trip. "Ugh, excuse me..." They made their best effort at not drawing attention as they made their way out of Deller's sight.
"Hmph, I'll need to take another look at this place once I'm back," Deller grumbled, tapping an iron knuckle on some of the bits of wall that were left hanging. The place was one of his first builds as Craftsmaster Of Gorz so while he had gotten better over the years it was still a bit of a stab at his pride that something he made was damaged by none other than himself. "Then again you magic folk always want your things made out of the worst of materials." His gaze went to the headmage still held in the air. "Now, are you done thinking?"
"Would you mind letting go of the mage, Craftsmaster Deller?" Came the voice of Nathalie of all people, causing Deller to turn around to see the Witch Of The Gaps standing behind him. "I got a message saying that the Craftsmaster was making a ruckus at the Teleportation Center..." She crossed her arms as a portal appeared under the held mage's feet and crawled up their person to force Deller to loosen his grasp on them. "...considering your rank and the fact that I am the head of magical transportation within this kingdom I came to ensure you were...'handled' with the utmost respect." A short bow of her head came after her words, along with the headmage appearing next to her. "Away with you, I will be dealing with Craftmaster Deller."
"Yes! Ma'am! And thank you! Craftsmaster Deller! Good day to you!" The headmage took a deep bow and filtered out of the room with their group of mages in tow.
Once all of them were gone Nathalie stood firm while looking up at Deller. "Now then what is it that has you so worked up, Craftmaster Deller?" Her questioning began after a nod. "And I doubt it was any kind of upkeep since your methods are not as crude as that." A finger was pointed at the pile of stone, that was slowly being removed by a few of her portals.
"My student went off on his own behind my back and was teleported away by the ones you sent away." Deller's answer was short and to the point then without giving Nathalie time to respond, he continued. "So I would like it if you could arrange for my travel to where he went." He demanded while giving Nathalie his back, not out of disrespect but to look over the destroyed wall and was already making plans in his head to repair and improve it or maybe make it into an archway. "That would need a redo of the two rooms but..." He trailed off with a sheet of paper being pulled out of his jacket and a finger pen coming from his iron hand.
"That all depends on where he went..." Nathalie informed Deller with the checklist used by the headmage being dropped out of a portal and into her hands. "...hmm?" A slight amount of surprise came to her face when the description of those who went along with Anthony matched some of those people in her brother's guild. "...the Valley Of Los is it? Well, then you'll have to wait at least ten days before getting your hands on that student of yours."
Deller's finger pen was jabbed right through the paper he was writing/drawing on which was mostly finished as an elegantly designed archway was drawn up. He wheeled around to face Nathalie with a stoic gaze pinned on the witch. "And why is that?" The Orc's eyes narrowed and brought his head down to Nathalie's level.
"You're needed here, in the city, more than you think," Nathalie answered with a respectful bow under Deller's gaze. "I hope that I don't need to remind you of that special project the king has you working on, now do I?" She added when her eye met with Deller's gaze.
The Orc's face gave birth to a scowl and he let out a low growl. "So be it...the king's word is law as they say." He grumbled more to himself than Nathalie then crumbled the blueprint up and tossed it aside. Despite how much he wanted to go after Anthony at this very moment, following the orders of his king was absolute and by the Goddess on high it was far more than 'special' as this witch put it. "Hmm?" He rolled his iron hand around when his now useless blueprint was swallowed up by a portal and dropped into Nathalie's hands. "It would be a simple task if you took me there, yourself no."
"Teleporting to a place that is not completely within Gorz's borders would lead to other kingdoms' becoming more curious about the worrisome actions we have been committing..." Warned Nathalie, mostly going over Deller's work. "...so you will wait this out and not make another scene, Craftmaster Deller," She eyed Deller for his reaction to that.
"I will repeat myself then; So be it..." Deller simply held his face in shadow, while what Anorhty was doing would cause him a headache later on any setbacks on the king's project could very likely put an entire kingdom in danger. "All that matters is which one?"
"As an apology for your actions, I believe getting this done free of change will do." Nathalie broke some of the tension between them with a partly destroyed blueprint held up.
"Just make sure that when my student comes back, that he is brought right to me post haste, yes?" Deller made his demand and before getting an answer made his way out. "And you can throw that away, I already have something better in here." He tapped an iron knuckle to his temple and disappeared behind a door.
Nathalie did as she was told and tossed the blueprint into a waiting portal with a puff of fire and smoke coming out of it. "And your kind calls us picky," She muttered to herself, and with a flick of a finger, the hole in the wall was now replaced with another of her portals. "Hmm? But that Smith-Knight's relations are beginning to pique my interest, hmm, hmm, hmm!"
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
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Valley Of Los
Out near the borders of the Laudonian kingdom and the Tenno Empire was a wide and deep canyon that stretched for miles upon miles as if marking the line between the two kingdoms. This was the home to the Valley Of Los, a vast network of ruins that seemed to be placed around the canyon at random where some parts matched up nicely while others seemed to be made like a maze.
Even grander and more wonderous was the wealth of knowledge that came from studies done at the Valley Of Los which improved the art of crafting by leaps and bounds with the crowning jewel being the method of creating magical items from Monster Ore that had been a godsend to many throughout the world be it for war or peace.
And it was all thanks to the God Crafting Los, who made sure to mark everything in their name as any proud crafter would, and with just that name such an unbelievable place once thought impossible to create even with magic and the divine at work was easily thought possible by that one name alone.
Coming down on this place of wonder and majesty was a beam of mana that made its stop at the Teleportation Center near the Valley's center. "Oh good the group from Gorz has arrived." The mage in charge of greeting the group looked up from their spellbook when the beam came from the glass dome and hit a magic circle marked on the floor. "Alright, people! Let's make this smooth for them!" He called out to a few other mages as they began to wave some mana around to keep the beam fixed on the circle as a storm of colors whirled around and silhouettes started to appear.
The first one to come together was Anthony. "Oh good we're here!" Who cheered loudly with great relief now that there was no way for Deller to get to him. "Until I go back that is?" He grimaced soon after and then looked to the others popping in one after the other. "Ah, I see everyone has safely gotten here well."
"Not all ugh!" Blake groaned with a hand to his mouth as he leaned on Gram. "Goddess! I hate tel-ugh!" His nausea only got worse when he started talking and just let Gram carry him around for now.
"Oh, he has a bad case of tele-sickness." The headmage came over to give Blake a look over then dug a hand into a side bag on their waist. "We chew on this for a bit." They pulled out a small bite-sized purple ball that gave off a sweet smell, from what Gram was getting. "This is a stomach soother should fix you up in a few minutes."
"Th-thanks..." Blake just opened his mouth and let the mage drop the ball in there. "...tastes like fish?" He muttered while chewing on the ball. "No, you can't have any." He held a hand to Moco when he saw her drooling at him. "Nibble on my arm for a bit if you're hungry." Then offered left his arm to her, which she gladly latched onto. "Where to now, Tinker?" Black asked looking over at Anthony.
"There!" Who just got done signing some papers and gave some instructions to the baggage handlers about his things. "To the research department! My friends! That's where the one in charge of the valley mainly works and I'd like to get their approval so we can go around ourselves. Oooh? Hopefully, they can also provide us with the locations of those 'Storage House' for you to crack open." Anothny explained as they made their way out of the valley's Teleportation Center.
And were greeted by a world of masterfully designed buildings and creations made of stone, metal, marble, wood, and many other materials. There were windmills, waterwheels, cranes, and lifts, all in constant motion as work around the valley seemingly never stopped for a moment.
That was just the ground floor while going up the sides of the valley and to the very top of it were what looked like temples, houses, and forges, in the styles of different cultures and building methods. While back on the ground were entrances to mines that showed even deep underground there was still more of the valley to be seen with a network of rail tracks running from the mines that even went up the walls of the valley.
Most of which was marked with a stylized L in front of a hammer and smithing tongs crossed together. That being the brand of the Crafting God, Los, the creator of this grand place without a doubt to those who knew of their work and wanted nothing more to understand and hopefully mimic it to the best of their abilities.
"This is...this is..." Blake took all of it in and was shocked right down to his core, not just the wonder and curiosity that he felt from everything he looked at but also.. "...home?" This sense of nostalgia as if he had finally remembered some long-lost memory locked away for so long that it felt like it wasn't even his own but he knew it was right. "So that Research Department place is over there right?" He pointed to a large building out in the distance which other than its size did not stick out much from any other place around the valley.
"Ah? Yes, that is it...?" Anthony was pulled out of his own starstruck gaze and pulled out a map of the valley that he had prepared before coming here. "How...did you know?" He asked, looking at the map a few times to make sure Blake was right and he was.
Blake just shrugged earning him some confused looks from the others. "I don't...just...felt right?" He wasn't sure how he knew that either and now he got the feeling that there were a few other places he should check out while here. "Is this Smith-Knight stuff acting up?" He wondered while getting a hit of nostalgia coming over him again as they moved around the valley.
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Valley Of Los Research Department
The Research Department was a large but dull-looking building that was somewhat busier than the ever-moving workforce in the valley as workers and carts were carrying material in and out of the place non-stop. The only remarkable thing about it was that some parts of it were a lot bigger than they needed to be like giant steps and doorways that Saffire would have an easy time getting through in her Dragon form. There was even some overly large furniture and tools here and there as the group entered a large lobby area.
"Oh hello there! Newcomers, I take it?" Came the voice of a cheery Elf woman at one of the many booths around the lobby. "Anything I can inform you of? Or do you have an appointment? Or need one made?" She offered after waving the group over to her booth.
"Ah yes, I do have an appointment with the Craftsmaster of the valley," Anthony spoke for the group as he pulled out an envelope with Deller's brand of a Phoenix holding hammers stamped on it. "This should do and I hope they are in today." He handed the envelope off to the woman.
She looked over it with a magical glow in her eyes and then pulled out a book that was filled with pages of different brands and symbols that she flipped through a few times until Deller's came up. "Oh? The Craftsmaster of Gorz? Now that's big!" She looked up at Anthony in amazement after making sure the stamp was the real deal. While it wasn't rare for the Craftsmaster of Los' Valley to get appointments and meetings offered to them by many who wanted insight into the valley's findings, it was rare that any of them were accepted. Most were often pushed to those under the Craftsmaster to handle. The ones they spoke to in person were on a short list of rulers and crafters they approved which Deller was a part of. "I'll get this to him in a second." The Elf turned around to a wall of pipes and tubes that branched off as they went up the wall with a dusty one marked as 'Boss' office'. "Off we go now!" After placing the envelope in a metal cylinder she fitted it to the tube and held out a hand. "Gust!" A blast of air shot out of her hand and sent the cylinder speeding off into the pipes. "Now if you would just wait a few moments he'll be here in a bit."
"Hmm? Does the Craftsmaster not have an office where meetings take place or is it not here?" Anthony asked as he was expecting to be told to move to some waiting room or the Craftsmaster's own office.
"Oh, the Craftsmaster is very hands-on in most of the things he does, and setting up a meeting room is a bit hard given his needs." The Elf answered right before this low rumble shook the lobby. "Oh wow, he's fast for this one?" She muttered and caused some of the things at her booth to float in the air before they fell when another rumble came by and they were getting quicker and stronger each second.
"The hell is that?" Blake and others looked around confused while everyone else in the room was not all that bothered by the earthquake going on. "Why is this happening again?" He groaned when Risabeel, Mari, Baba, and Moco latched on to him for safety.
Gram's nose twitched and made him look down a hallway leading to the lobby. "Something big is coming."
"I could have told you that one, furball." Saffire with her arms crossed muttered. "And why are you over here? You can float!" She glared at Baba currently holding onto her shoulders.
"Sometimes I like Hubby other times it's you, hothead," Baba answered with a smirk being the only one in the group who wasn't bothered by the shaking.
"DELLER! YOU SON OF A SHIT PILE! YOU COME HERE! AFTER ALL THIS TIME!?!" A voice like a raging storm roared out of the hallway as a literal giant of a man appeared running down it. He was somewhere around 4 stories tall and just as wide as a house with a bald head and thick white beard. His skin was a stone grey and large veins appeared around his muscular body as he ran at full speed. He wore a pair of sandals with leather leg straps going up to his knees and a white tunic with metal plates covering most of it, finally a large cart-sized hammer was on the side of his golden belt.
"Wait a tick? You ain't that shit of brains Orc?" The giant man gazed at the group with eyes of pure white after coming to a stop by slamming his foot down to kick up a dust storm in front of them. "Hmm?" He pulled at his brushy beard then zoned in on Blake, Bread, and Anthony, mainly the hammers and tools on them. "You three! Hands! On the double!" He snapped at them with one of his tree-sized fingers and crouched down to get a little closer and also put the group in his shadow.
"Yes, sir!" The three crafters all held out their hands under the giant's gaze.
The giant looked at their hands with great care and interest. "This one's Deller's work..." He started with Anthony then next up was Bread. "...a bit of Reiner in there but definitely someone else's style..." Finally, it was Blake's turn and he took the longest as the giant's pools of white widened and then sharpened when looking at Blake's hand. "This kid yours?" He asked Blake while pointing at Bread.
"If you mean student, yeah?" Blake answered, not too sure how looking at their hands got that much info on them. "If you wanna know Reiner was my master before I left home."
"Ah, that makes sense...those asshats went and got themselves some student? Good, they're carrying on my work." The giant muttered while rubbing his beard with a bit of a smirk coming to his face.
"H-h-hey?" Bread spoke up and got the giant to look at him and the boy hopped behind Blake. "How could you tell?" He asked in a whisper.
The giant man put on a toothy grin. "Once you get as good as me! You can tell the skills taught by other crafters by the look of their students' hands. Every nick, cut, and blister tells a story of hard work and hard lessons...granted for Smith-Knights it's a bit harder since their hands are always nice and clean like a baby's bum." He answered, turning to Blake as he finished up. The mention of Smith-Knight gave Blake a slight shock but if anyone knew about them it should be the person in charge of the Valley Of Los. "Can't believe the slacker of my boys taught one. How is he? I got word of him and Deller hammering it out in Gorz and then nothing after he won and fucked off to the countryside?"
"He lives in a town called Fairmaw, he's loud, rude, and bald. Also got married and had two kids, that being me and her..." Blake answered and motioned for Mari to come over. "...Adopted son." He added when the giant man switched between him and Mari a few times.
"Hi! This is Os! My Slime!" Mari cheered while waving Os' jar at the giant man.
"Oh? So he got hitched to that firey gladiator girl didn't he?" A gravelly chuckle escaped the giant's lips when Blake nodded after he took a closer look at Mari and found some of her mother in her looks. "Well then lucky you all!" He clapped his hands together and with it came the sound of cannon fire. "When I saw Deller's brand I was about ready to put him through the forge for some hammering but that's his job for you carrot top." He looked over at Anthony then stood up tall. "Ah, I've been getting ahead of myself let me be official for a tick..." He grabbed his hammer and held it at the ready. "...Greetings to all, I am Pius, Craftsmaster of the Valley Of Los, May imagination guide you." As he finished giving his name and title glowing lines appeared around his arms and face along with a pair of holy wings behind him.
"Ah!" This caused awe and wonder in everyone but a certain Demon girl as Risabeel hid behind Blake when a slight bit of pain came to her when the light hit her and stayed there until the Pius' wings went away.
"Ugh, sorry about that! I thought you were just a witch?" Pius crouched down again and bowed his head to Risabeel. "Those are your items yeah?" He asked Blake after looking at the rest of the group.
"Yeah, but what was with the light show there?" Blake answered after making sure Risabeel was alright.
"I'm a Nephilim boy, as holy as they come, on my father's side anyhow, mother's a Stone Giant if you couldn't tell." Pius pushed some of his beard out of the way to show a rosary belonging to the Order Of Elyon around his neck. "I take it my asshats were very hush-hush about anything on me, yeah?"
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Subcategory of Hybrid Monsters Heavenly Being, Nephilim: The hybrid offspring of Angels and a mortal man from a time when beings of divine nature interacted more closely with those of the earthly realm, finding love and kinship with them which resulted in the birth of this race. However, this was the very reason why the Heavenly Planes and those from it were cut off from the mortal world as the Goddess Elyon saw her servants forsake their duties in favor of their families, while righteous in their own right those of her order were to guide and protect the many and not the few.
While the Nephilim were barred from the Heavenly Planes and left to themselves by her order they still held the Goddess in their hearts and were blessed with divine power usually manifesting as a pair of wings or halo, not as strong as a true Angel but great enough to act as a frontline force if Demons were ever to act out.
Items made out of the Ore of these beings are usually the same as their other half with divine powers.
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"Only thing we got was that you're big and an asshole." Blake turned to Anthony to get a nod out of him.
"Hmm? Good enough, I'd said." Pius nodded as well in agreement. He put those men through the worst of it when he trained or rather crafted them into the best pieces of work he could do and now he's looking at their work in front of them. "Now what can I do for ya? I doubt you all came here to do a bit of sightseeing or did you?"
"Right!" Anthony came up quickly. "We were planning on investigating the Valley for unopenable areas..." He paused to hold a hand Blake. "...which our good Smith-Knight here is able to open rather easily."
"But we already have one working on that? But more help is good." Pius muttered in a matter-of-fact tone and a tilt of his head.
"Wait, there's another one of me in here, right now?" Blake pointed to himself as everyone else in the group looked at him. While he knew that being a Smith-Knight wasn't something completely unique to him, he didn't think he'd meet one so soon. "I wonder what they're like? What items do they have? Are they human like me?" Those and other such questions started to fill his head. "Where are they?" He asked one of those questions that got out of him.
To that question, Pius rose up again and shook his shoulders a bit. "I'll personally take you there! I was about to go check on the kid." He offered as he stepped over the group. "If anything gets sent my way have the correct section head handle it while I'm gone." He called out to the lobby and all of the attendants gave him a nod. "That'll give me about an hour or two...so shall I give you all a tour while we're at it?" He held a head out to Valley in all its glory.
Chapter End