Chapter 56
Lucien’s POV
“Everyone to your stations and bring your tools! We got a high quality corpse to disassemble!” I shouted as we lugged the corpse of the Sky Master into the workshop. Benches cleared in record time as the apprentices used the built in storage devices to save what they were working on. Within seconds, everyone was arrayed around the central table where we put the larger monsters. Those that required large teams to reap the maximum benefits.
“Ok, medium bird sized monster, I’ll get into specifics later. Junior apprentices are to rotate around using your Harvest skill on the main body feathers. For every ten feathers you harvest that comes out as quill grade, you will get a bonus. Senior apprentices are to focus on the primary flight and tail feathers. Again, we are looking for quill quality feathers. Same deal, ten gets you a bonus. Giana, you get the rough job. Come here by the head, make sure you have your boning tools. This head covering is actually a bone spur that grows out from just above the beak. Gently break the seal with the skin and work your way down, cutting through the connection. While you work on that, I’ll fill everyone in on what we are doing and why while you work. Now, get to it.”
I watched for a minute as everyone got organized. The older apprentices of each branch went first, as they had larger mana pools and could regenerate faster. Everyone seemed to be taking care of things, so I decided it was time to lecture. Those that were actively using skills would work with those taking notes to get the full picture, switching as the mana started running out. Some shops like to promote competition, but I liked cooperation. Even I couldn’t completely harvest everything from a monster this sized, and it wasn’t even one of the largest on the continent.
“Alright. This is called a Sky Master, a second evolution tree from the Skyhawk line. Once it consumes a large source of air energy, the Skyhawk evolves into an Aeroking. It keeps its size small to get the most from its agility. The second evolution comes when it consumes a thunder stone. The only part we are missing is the middle tail feather, and I’ll show everyone what it looks like when harvesting is done. Unlike many monsters, the central tail feather is concentrated in lightning energy and acts as a reverse lightning rod. Between that and the growing horns on the central beak, it can accurately target directed lightning discharges in nearly any direction. The only safe point is to attack within a fifteen degree cone extending outward along each outstretched wing.”
“Now, on to the stuff we all care about as craftsmen. What can we do with these monster parts? Quills made from such a beast can strengthen air and electric attacks. There is a gland in the tail that also produces an oil that can be used to make an ink that can handle higher tier electric spells. The lightning core of this creature should be in the base of the beak covering that Giana is removing. It’s just a normal monster core, nothing too special about that. While the meat can help slowly build up lightning energy in a monster, that’s a rather slow process. The liver and heart have slightly higher concentrations of energy, but taking them in through diet is the slowest process towards harvesting this energy. However, they do make for some rather tasty dishes in the hands of a competent chef.”
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Sean’s POV
“You’re looking better than I thought.” D’Vorak said as I hobbled into the dining area of the inn early the next morning.
“Funny. Not my fault you guys don’t have the right stuff to make a damn pair of crutches.” I grumbled in reply. I had tried my best, but I just couldn’t find a substitute for a perfect rubber foot. Stone would slip around, not to mention made a hell of a screech.
“I believe you when you say that you have something that can help people walk, but what do you think Elendria would say to you hobbling about? You are supposed to be taking it easy.”
“I know.” I groaned as I slumped into a seat. “I’ll tell you one thing. Having a girlfriend that has a mastery over ice magic is amazing when it comes to numbing painful injuries.”
“HAHAHAHA! Oh, that’s grand. I’ll bet it just works out great, doesn’t it?” He struggled not to bellow, so as not to wake any other patrons.
“I see another has joined this crazy lunker, up before dawn. I can’t get you much, but I can scramble up some eggs for your breakfast hun. How’s that sound?” The inn keeper asked.
“Can you mix those eggs with some diced potatoes and a pit of spicy seasoning? Maybe toss in a bit of cheese to finish it off?” I asked, in the mood for a breakfast scramble even if it didn’t have any meat.
“Sounds a bit odd, but yeah. I’ll be right back.” She said, heading back to the kitchen.
“Eggs, potatoes and cheese?” D’Vorak asked.
“Don’t knock it ‘till ya try it.” I answered. “So. How’s the new body feel?”
He leaned back with a grin on his face. “Amazing. I don’t need much sleep, and it doesn’t seem to matter how uncomfortable the mattress I sleep on, I’m always as limber as if I was well rested. I even slept on the wooden floor last night to test it. Not even a cramp.”
“Heh, I haven’t been that crazy to test the rumors, but I can agree the lack of needing 8 hours of sleep is kind of refreshing. I could get more if I forced myself, but why bother?” I nodded. “By the way, where’s your brother? I figured he would be up having a good time last night.”
“Heh. Normally he would, but he said he wasn’t feeling it. He waited until just after midnight before heading to the tower and starting his evolution. For as outgoing as he is, sometimes he gets oddly shy.” He explained as my food arrived, smelling heavenly. They had used a goat cheese, but that was fine with me. I dug in while D’Vorak smiled at my enthusiasm.
“This actually looks pretty good. Mind if I get a bowl of that?” D’Vorak asked.
“Sure thing, be right out hun.” She said, turning back to add, “I might have made my own bowl of it back there. Not bad kid, but it could use a bit of meat in it. What do you call it?”
“Breakfast scramble, and you’re right. Adding a bit of whatever meat you have on hand is great. It’s an awesome dish for when you have a bunch of leftovers, just mix it all up. Onions, peppers, you name it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip hun.” She said, sauntering away.
“So. Aside from improving the local cuisine, what do you have on your plate for today?”
I leaned back with a dramatic sigh. “Well. I figured on training a new move, and in the process hope to right something I consider a major flaw in a story from back home.”
“Right a major flaw?”
“Yeah. Let me run this move by you. The guy has an energy source that is similar to mana, or close enough for this explanation. In his hand, he makes a bunch of different spinning rings of this energy, but they don’t line up so that he ends with basically a sphere. He compresses it down, and slams it into his opponent. It then sort of explodes and sends the opponent flying. Off the top of your head, what do you think?”
“Well, two things. It’s going to be harder than hell to keep that many rings of energy spinning, and at most he is only going to have one ring to a direct hit. Everything else is going to be wasted.”
“THANK YOU!” I quietly cried, glad someone else saw the weaknesses. “You immediately saw the same issues I did! Not to mention the explosion part. I’m sorry, but exploding a weapon that is in your hand just seems like such a stupid idea. It’s damn lucky in the story the guy has supernatural healing, or else he wouldn’t have a damn hand.”
D’Vorak chuckled, shaking his head at my rant. “I get that man, but it’s just a story. Hell, I doubt you could find a story that doesn’t have some sort of flaw in it. Besides, what are you going to do to make it better?”
“Heh, wanna go find out? Hurry and eat your breakfast. Let’s head down to the practice yard and make sure Brian takes a quick peek to make sure things don’t get out of hand.” I said, getting excited. Judging from the speed D’Vorak tore into his breakfast, he was excited as well.
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We arrived at the training grounds to find it oddly busy. Most of it was the twins training their subordinates in shielding techniques, but there were quite a few rogues taking advantage of the obstacle course.
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“Ah, I was wondering when you two would show up.” We turned to see Brian heading our way, his eyes flashing purple for a second, freezing him in his tracks. “Oh. Oooooh! This is gonna be good!”
“Um, Brian?” I asked.
“Go ahead and start training, and don’t worry. I do this all the time. Ground rules for your spells: Until I bring out Bruce, no more than 10% power. For the physical stuff, you will be testing it outside the city. We can use it to clear a bit more land, so head to the south if you don’t mind. DORIAN! BELOR! STOP TORTURING THE TRAINEES AND GET OVER HERE! I NEED YOUR HELP BRINGING UP BRUCE!” As soon as Brian mentioned Bruce, all work on the field stopped. It was rather unnerving to see a rogue on the third level balancing on one hand on a swinging log as his head swiveled to stare at the guild master.
“We’re getting out Bruce? What’s the occasion?” Dorian asked as the brothers sauntered over.
Brian nodded, “Stars here is going to come up with a new spell. We might actually see just how powerful Bruce is.” He turned to me, explaining, “Bruce is the epitome of enchanted golems. The ones we train on are equivalent to basic humans in steel armor. If your spell can pierce them, then it can work against the majority of an army. If it can pierce Bruce, you might be able to take on a dragon. We don’t know for sure, as nobody has managed to give Bruce anything more than a few scratches.”
“Heh, I’m sure Star’s’ll have him in pieces by the end of the day. But why are you wanting to make a new spell Stars?” Belor asked.
“Well, I need a finishing spell for something big. I’ve got plenty of spells for human sized targets, but there are plenty of creatures out there that are simply big enough to shrug off most things that would kill a human. I have a few high mana spells, but I don’t like leaving nothing in reserve. I’m hoping to fix this.”
“That, and not break your leg again?” Dorian chuckled, getting a glare from me.
“Actually, I’m fine with the broken bone. I just don’t want to face the,” I paused to look around in mock terror, “The wrath of Elendria.”
“BWAHAHAHAHA!” Everyone around me started laughing, a few slapping me on the back like I knew they would. While they split off to do what training they would do, I headed over to start building the basics of the spell I wanted.
“Right. Let’s improve the spell. Why make rings of compressed energy, when I can just compress the energy in a sphere? Easier on the mind, and probably just as effective. Plus, I can throw or shoot it off with minimal difficulty.” I murmured to myself, creating a small sphere the size of my fist and shooting it at the target twenty feet away. It struck, bounced off and hit the ground before it exploded.
“Trial one, dud. Problem: I need to make the shield thin enough to break on contact, but thick enough to contain the energy.” I again fell into the habit of talking my way through my problems. Deciding that protection might be a good idea, I went ahead and activated my own mana armor before proceeding with trial two. I started thinning out the mana shield around the condensed energy, stopping when I could feel it was right on the cusp of shattering. Taking aim, I tried flicking it toward the target with a bit of gravity magic. Unfortunately, this was too much for the sphere and it exploded in my hand. Luckily I was only using about 20 mana per sphere, and that I had put up the shielding.
“Trial two, premature. Shield has to withstand the forces that fire it.” I muttered, taking several times to get it down just right. It took about an hour, but I was finally comfortable forming and firing the sphere within a second. The explosions were barely powerful enough to rock the dummies backward, but that was fine. They were intentionally weak, and this was simply the base form. I had grand designs here.
“Right. Next bit, armor piercing.” I muttered. This I already had a bit of practice with, and made a simple bullet. I extended the cone and made it come to more of a point, and made it rather solid with mana. Give it a bit of spin for ballistic trajectory and accuracy, and fire it off. The results were exactly as I had hoped, piercing deep into the body of the dummy before exhausting its energy.
“Not a bad bit of spellwork there. Piercing mana arrow?” A mage asked as he took the lane next to me.
“Something similar, but sized up. Arrows are great for people sized. I’m looking to hunt things a bit bigger.” I nodded.
“Interesting. Can I see the form so far?”
“Sure.” I said, creating the form for him to copy. “Give it a bit of spin to help fly true, and you should be good.”
He surprisingly got it on the first attempt, blasting through the dummy. “Interesting. The mana cost in increased, but the damage is much higher. Plus the piercing effect leaves a gaping hole. What do you call this spell?”
“This is piercing mana bullet I guess. I’m still working on the improvement.” I shrugged.
“Ah yes. Well I’ll let you get back to it. If you don’t mind, can I watch? I would like to learn the finished spell if I could.”
“Sure.” I said, turning back. “Right. Next step, combination. Let the bullet swirl to encase the sphere.” I muttered. The resulting construct looked like an odd teardrop, coming to a point at the front end and a rounded sphere in the back. I stopped the thick mana of the head at the halfway point of the sphere, hoping that when it exploded it would burst out to the sides, straight into the soft tissue of the target.
With a boom, the attack smashed into the dummy. Even at low power, the results were amazing. Unfortunately, it wasn’t exactly how I had envisioned it.
“Hmmm, seems a bit of that explosion was wasted.” The mage muttered as he levitated the dummy towards us.
“Yeah.” I agreed, noting that the explosion had left a conic hole through the center of the dummy. Oh, it was for sure lethal, as a human that was missing a watermelon sized hole in the center of their torso wasn’t going to live long, but I was still a bit disappointed.
“Damnit.” I growled. “The explosion took the path of least resistance, and went right back out the entrance wound. Sure, it widened it a bit, but that’s just wasteful.”
“Agreed. Too bad you don’t have a way to seal up that back end.” The mage said, and I froze.
Slowly turning to face him, I asked, “What did you say?”
“I said it’s a pity you don’t have a way to seal up the back end. Then the explosion will head out sideways, maximizing the damage.”
“Effing brilliant!” I said. “Quickly, put the dummy back. I got an idea.” As he moved the dummy back, I reformed the spell. On the back end, I made a flat plate with a curved portion to fit snugly with the sphere. Four strands of mana equidistant from each other connected the plate to the front piercing portion, and the spell was complete.
“Front piece pierces the target, protecting the sphere for a split second. As it penetrates, the sphere releases the contained energy. The back plate sandwiches the explosion, forcing it out perpendicular to the path of travel, maximizing the damage. What’d’ya say we test this thing?” I asked with a grin, turning to see the mage next to me with the same smile on his face.
“Test one. Sphere contains twenty mana. Fire in the hole!” I chuckled as I shot the improved bullet into the dummy.
BOOM!
“YEEEAHAHA!” I yelled, thrilled with the results. I had hit the dummy in the solar plexus, but it was basically destroyed from the waist up. The arms had shot off to the sides and slammed into the barriers, and it took another three seconds for the head to thunk to the ground rather dramatically.
New skill created!
You have created a skill never before seen in Vitae. Please name your skill.
“Woo hoo! That was fantastic! Let’s see, exploding mana bullet sounds like a good spell name.”
“Holy shit!” The mage cried out. “I got a new title!”
“Sage?” I asked, smiling at him.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“Comes with creating a new spell. Congrats!”
“Hey-oh!” We both turned to see Brian leading the way towards us with a golden dummy between the two Lunar Brothers.
I quickly turned back to the mage who had helped me, saying, “I would keep the title a secret if you can. But congrats, and welcome to the club.”
“Uh, thanks?”
“Hey guys, I see we are just in time. Let’s see, put the target at fifty feet. That should be good enough. Did you get the skill?”
“Yep.” I said. “Exploding mana bullet. Now, twenty mana is more than enough to kill a human. Shall we see what it takes to scratch Bruce? And can you tell me a bit about his defenses?”
“Sure. Bruce is an enhanced combat dummy, specially created to withstand insane forces from high tier spells. His body is an electrum and titatium alloy, giving it high defensive properties. The electrum weakens spells that impact it, and it is further enchanted to have a high resistance to piercing attacks. It self repairs, though it takes quite a bit of mana for that. Oh, they have it in place. Before you go attacking, let me warn everyone.” He said, walking over to a control panel. “MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION PLEASE!” He said, voice amplifying. Everyone got to a place where they could stop, and turned their full attention to the guildmaster.
“Thank you. We are undergoing a new spell testing regime. Pleae leave at least a fifty-foot buffer between yourself and the mana testing range. I am turning the shields up to their maximum value. We also have a new challenger for Bruce. Feel free to start placing bets.”
As chaos descended on the training yards, I saw Brian tapping a few mana gems on the console. The barriers around the range increased in thickness, until they were almost opaque. “Whenever you are ready.” He said.
“Alright, for those betting, here’s how we are going to do it. I’ll start off at a hundred mana. Then two-fifty, five hundred, and a thousand. After that, we might have to do a few more tweaks.” I gave them a few minutes to start placing bets, then stepped forward.
“Test one: Exploding mana bullet vs. Bruce. Mana level 100.” The sphere inside was the size of an apple, and I smiled as I launched it. The explosion rocked the dummy backward, but didn’t quite do anything else.
“Not bad. Test two: Exploding mana bullet vs Bruce. Mana level 250.” This sphere was the size of a small cantaloupe, and the explosion slid the dummy backward a few inches and left a small indent in the chest. The crowd cheered and booed, and I knew money was changing hands.
“Test three. Mana level, 500.” This one wasn’t quite soccer ball sized, and I had a feeling that it was going to ruin almost anything’s day. The impact was incredible, and when the dust cleared from the explosion I could see a large divot in the dummy. It was as if someone had taken half a cantaloupe and scooped it out of the stomach.
“Last test everyone.” I called out after a few minutes. It was odd watching the dummy slowly fill in the gap. “One thousand mana.” The sphere inside was the size of a watermelon, and I had shaped it so that it was slightly oblong and the long end was along the path of the bullet. This let me keep the front end thinner, and the results didn’t disappoint. At all.
There was a bit of a grinding as the bullet dug through the armor of the dummy, but that was expected. I had strengthened all the shields, hoping that it would delay the explosion long enough for the hardened tip to pierce through. As the dust settled, I saw my aim was slightly off, though it didn’t matter much. Bruce had started out around eight feet tall, and was as wide as a professional lineman. His left arm was held on by a few strands, and the majority of his chest and stomach had been obliterated. There was the thinnest portion of metal holding the left leg to the right side of the body, and that slowly gave way as the imbalanced weight put incredible strain on it. With a screeching groan, it fell to the ground amid cheers from the audience.