Tec Mage Chapter Thirty: Quartermaster's Trial
"Looking at my leg... or the lack of it" said the quartermaster
"WHY.. WHY DON'T YOU HAVE A LEG" asked Mary, each word was spoken louder than the last
The quartermaster sat down back on his chair with the seal stamp in his hand, with his free hand he pulled the ink towards him self and printed the ink on to the seal stamp
"If you must know i was cursed by a lich" answered the quartermaster
Mary didn't understand and just stared
"No healing magic will work and potions don't have an effect either in fact both causes a huge amount of pain, when the pain first started it was in my foot but with more healing it spread up my leg, each time healing was used it caused the curse to spread and i had to have that part chopped off because off the pain, this happen several times until you see what you see now, i just don't have enough leg for another failed healing experiment and if it spreads any further it will start to hit my vitals" with the explanation complete the quartermaster stamped the promise note and handed it to Mary
Mary just held the note in her hand, the fear she felt about this curse had made her stock still
"Don't worry it's not contagious" said the quartermaster as he got back to his work
Mary left quickly and breathed in a lung full of air, she had stopped breathing when she had heard of the curse, sweating slightly she felt worried and shameful, shame at the way she acted
"What would Atlas have done" thought Mary
Atlas was Mary go to guy, if there was some thing that she needed or didn't understand that is where she got her info and morels from
"I can't tell Atlas about this" thought Mary, the disappointed look in Atlas eye at the way Mary behaved would greatly hurt her, the look of a father who felt let down
"I will deal with this" she thought but not knowing any healing magic or Alchemy how was she going to do it
Slamming her fist in to her hand Mary nodded "i will do it my way" in her heart was a mix of emotions, fear in letting down Atlas, shame in letting her self down and pity for the man known as quartermaster
The quartermaster had said that healing magic didn't work on him and nether did potions but the best place that she could think of for gaining knowledge for the human body would be the church but after visiting the holy place she had learned that the church frowned on books and study that involved the human body, apparently it was too close to necromancers teachings, in the end Mary bought some books from the assassin guild, there knowledge in making instant kill possible meant they had to know about the human body better than the healers who relied on magic and potions
With her books Mary drove the horse and cart back into the forest to start her work at the gnolls home, after giving the password to the gnolls Mary handed over the reins of the horse and cart to the gnoll children who looked after the animals, Mary made her way to the earth table that Atlas would spend his nights reading at, the table was placed next to the forge and just opposite to the exit, this was so Atlas could keep Forge warm and see who was entering and exiting the home of the gnolls
Placing the books on the table Mary thumbed though the pages until she came across the workings of the legs, down under the table Midnight the black wolf curled up and rested against Mary's feet, being the size of a massive dog midnight took up most of the space under the table, Back on top of the table Mary started to read, thankfully the assassins had detailed drawings and diagrams showing exactly what was what, Mary poured over the book but was still having some difficulty, she didn't have the modern day education behind her that real people had and so even though she understood the words she couldn't understand the actions of a real leg
Just then Sophie was passing while playing with the gnoll children and walked over to see why Mary had a confused look on her face
"Whatcha doing" asked Sophie in that annoying way children ask when adults are concentrating
Mary looked up from the book into the staring eyes of Sophie, instead of being annoyed Mary saw hope, Sophie was a necromancer and specialized in animating bones
Without a sense of pride Mary asked Sophie for help
"Little sister could you help me understand the workings of a human leg" said Mary
Mary was a little over 16 years old and ever since Sophie joined the family of gnolls Mary had seen her as a little sister
Blushing with a grin Sophie sat next to Mary and started to tutor her in the workings of a human leg, Sophie even pulled out some human and fishmen leg bones to show how they would work together
With the help of a tutor who new the subject Mary quickly understood the workings of the bones, Mary found that human bones were solid and strong but had a heaviness that the fishmen bones didn't have even though the fishmen bones were thicker and bigger they weighed much less, Sophie explained that it was due to what was inside the bones, a human was packed with marrow while the fishmen bones had a sponge like texture inside that made the bones 40% hollow
Sophie went on to explain the workings of joints, cartilage, muscles and everything she knew about the leg, Mary was surprised how much this little girl of ten knew and at the same time she also felt hopeless about if she really could help the quartermaster, looking at her forge Mary realised she was no ware near to the task of healing the quartermaster, the only thing she was truly good at was blacksmithing and this was because her family was a blacksmith crafting family and the huge amount of effort she put into the craft
"What would Atlas do" Mary thought to her self
In the pass when Atlas was ask to do something passed his level he would think and make a great invention to fit perfectly with the situation
Mary stood up sharply "THAT'S IT, if i can't heal his leg then i can make him a leg"
Midnight came rushing out from under the table confused and bearing his teeth, he had fallen asleep and was awaken by his master shouts, fearing that his master was in trouble he had sprang in to action totally forgetting where he was , the gnolls protecting the front door just glared at him, they had excepted him as one with Atlas group but still saw the black wolf like the black sheep of the family, a dirty uncle that brought shame to the family, sensing this Midnight quickly trotted behind Mary as she moved to her forge
Mary heated up the forge, melted the steel and prepared her self to make a new leg, all in all the progress of the leg went smoothly, a couple of mistakes here and their but in total she worked fast and clean, this was down to having a great knowledge in blacksmithing and the materials she used, if there was some thing she needed like small pins and spring she made them her self with ease due to her basic elemental control, with earth all around her she could make moulds of the most delicate things as easy as raising her hand to activate the spell, Atlas had a much higher skill in basic elemental control, if he wanted to he could even compress sand so it turned in to rock and crumbled rock in to sand with a wave of his hand but Mary was at the level she needed to make her blacksmithing much easier, all four of the elements were used when blacksmithing, earth was used to make moulds and extract the small impurities from molten metals, water was purified so when the metal was quenched no impurities were added, fire was easy to control and so easily placed were Mary needed it to be and air was the most complicated, according to Atlas air was made from many different parts like oxygen and nitrogen, when Atlas demonstrated the different parts of air he had shown Mary what oxygen could do, Mary's elemental control was still low level and so she was unable to control the air like Atlas or Dracken, the skill at first didn't level up unless Mary had changed her class from blacksmith to mage but now that she had integrated elemental control in to blacksmithing it slowly grew, on the other hand Mary's blacksmith skill grew even when she was preparing moulds using magic or distilling water for quenching
Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Mary started with the bones, the bones of the leg were like the foundation of a building, with out it the building would fall and so would the leg, long hollow metal tubes were made using moulds, each piece of metal was drilled in to and smaller pieces of metal were placed and welded in the metal bone, this was to make it hollow and light yet strong enough to support a lot of weight, at the end of the metal bone was a metal ball that was fixed into place, the 2nd metal bone was like the first but in stead of metal balls at the end there was a curved metal shield looking thing at the end, this was the knee cap, the lower metal bone that had a ball on it was pushed in to the knee cap and quenched, the cooling metal constricted and made a very tight fit around the two pieces of metal bones but still aloud movement like a leg
Mary was able to achieve all of this because of many factors like the books she had bought and the instructions from Sophie who had great knowledge in the field of human bones, even Atlas who wasn't with her at this time help her, Mary had seen the advance scarecrow he had made and there almost human like movement but it was mostly down to her imagination
Springs and pins was added to the leg so when the metal leg was bending it would spring back to a straight leg and give some kick off from the ground when walking, by adjusting the pins and spring a more powerful kick off could be achieved and the leg could be changed due to the users weight and size
Mary had finished her side of making the metal leg, there was now the side in making straps and a wooden foot to attach to the leg, she had left those details to the gnolls, even though they didn't have any skills in sowing or crafting neither did Mary, at lest many hands make light work
Collecting all the pieces Mary placed them down, for a prototype it wasn't bad, the straps of leather that would tighten and grip on to the leg were rough but uniformed and the foot piece was a piece of squared wood, Mary put the wooded foot on the leg with the same springs and pins as before as well as some screws
Mary was looking forwards to giving the quartermaster his new leg
The quartermaster was about to finish his shift at the city watch when Mary with her flaming red hair opened his door, the quartermaster narrowed his eyes and rubbed them, it had been a long day not helped with Mary running away in fright but now he was looking at a smiling young women, the different between the two was like the moon and the sun, a woman smile could truly blow the tiredness away and she looked completely different than before
"Mister quartermaster I'm sorry, i only realised how i treated you when i had left, please accept this small gift that i made" explained Mary
"What?" the quartermaster was dumbfounded, he was used to how people saw him, being the only person with a leg missing made people look at him with disgust and fear
Mary handed a cloth covered present over to the quartermaster though the bars that protected the city watches armour and weapons, the quartermaster received it with trembling hands and unwrapped it
"IS THIS A JOKE" shouted the quartermaster
In the world of instant heals there were no fake limbs and so when he saw the metal leg it felt like a slap to the face, he had guessed that Mary was making a joke at his expense, taking a persons weakness in not having a leg and rubbing there face in it by making a toy leg
"SLAP" Mary had slammed her open palm down on the worktop, "I wouldn't do that, let me explain" all Mary could do was show her sincerity
The quartermaster was taking back but just nodded at the fierce gaze Mary had, Mary went on to explain that she couldn't help with healing but as a blacksmith she had tired to make a new leg for him
Mary beckoned the quartermaster out from behind the bars, with a little force Mary had attached and adjusted the leg to the quartermaster
Now on his new leg the quartermaster gently put weight on his metal leg, the knees bent a little and the ankle area pushed back, the quartermaster could fell the leg working and pushing against his body, with more weight the leg and the springs would push back, this gave a little bend in the metal leg but also allowed for a step to be gain if timed correctly
"Not bad, not bad, your balance is top notch, you must of been a high class warrior, now I'm guessing that it will take a long time for you to get used to it but..." Mary had stopped talking because of the sight that was in front of her
The quartermaster was crying, the contrast of this well dressed man with giant tears running down his cheeks strange
"Please sit" Mary went to hold the quartermaster arm
"NO, i will stand" the quartermaster hadn't been on his own two feet for years and with the pain of being alone with no one truly understanding and the scared looks in the everyday people he saw made him fall deeper in to loneliness, if it wasn't for his work and his one true friend he didn't know where he would be now
Mary stood there with the quartermaster just talking, talking about the misery that the quartermaster went though and the hard times of being almost completely alone, about the difficulty of adjusting and finding a job after losing his leg, Mary just listened to the man's pain, sometimes a person doesn't want to hear how you understand and can relate but instead they want to know that a person was there just to listen and not look at them in fear
Mary and the quartermaster had talked for hours, by now the quartermasters tears of happiness had dried up or been wiped away
"You say that you made this" said the quartermaster
"Yep, and if you have problems fill free to tell me about it, i will adjust it for you" answered Mary
"I will but i only ask because it hasn't even been a day, you have what my friend says you need to be a great crafter, imagination" the quartermaster pulled a piece of paper towards him and wrote a letter "this is a letter of introduction to my friend, i think you will get along with her very well, she does the same crafting as you"
"Mmmm she's a blacksmith too" asked Mary
"Well, yes and no, she is an elemental blacksmith" answered the quartermaster
"Ding"
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Note of introduction to the elemental blacksmith
Healing doesn't just involve the body but also the spirit by helping the the quartermaster it brings it's own rewards, he has given a note of introduction so that you may visit the elemental blacksmith
Difficulty: E
Quest Requirement:Move the heart of the quartermaster
Be a crafter class
Heal the wounds of the quartermasters soul
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Mary hadn't realised it but she had discovered a chain quest
End Of Chapter Thirty