“Yep! I was a mechanic before I was a mage and I don’t intend to stop now,” Emily says proudly, gauging Oscar’s reaction as she does.

He nods thoughtfully, pausing for a moment before asking:

“Why would you reveal this to me? The state you left Jeremy and Kyle in suggests you would rather not tell others.”

“For one, you didn’t come and threaten me to find out. Also, your reaction to seeing my talent was to try and entice me with benefits, which interests me. I’m in need of money and contribution points to keep my studies and crafting going, for that I’m willing to sell some of my creations and you seem like the best choice for that.”

Her answer brings a smile to his face as he considers her implied offer.

“I see, so you want to sell items to me but have it remain secret that you were my source. You’ll gain resources and get rid of some unwanted attention because people will believe I know the source of these new weapons too.”

“Exactly,” Emily responds with a smirk while walking away to set up her makeshift explosives.

Placing the can containing fire crystal powder down next to a pillar, she looks back to Oscar.

“Get behind a pillar. If this works as intended, it will be a lot more dangerous than before.”

He nods and quickly ducks behind the closest pillar. Seeing this, Emily does the same and peeks out, pointing at the cloth fuse with a finger and casting her spell. After the cloth catches alight, she quickly ducks back and listens for the detonation. A few seconds later, she hears a loud pop.

Looking around the pillar, she finds the can broken apart in molten shards that are spread a few metres around the point of detonation.

Disappointing, it seems to have just melted the can, not built-up pressure.

Frowning, she moves on and places the can with just black powder on the other side of the same pillar. Lighting it with low expectations, she sits with her back to the stone and waits. This time, she hears a loud bang and sees several shards of metal fly past her, bouncing off the surrounding pillars and even embedding in a few places.

That’s better.

With a grin, she moves around to inspect the can’s remains and finds the base of the can scorched and cracked but mostly intact, with the walls blown apart.

Make the final product round.

She adds to her notes and starts placing down the third can as Oscar approaches.

“If you’re willing, I would like to buy whatever you’re making from these tests. That was similar to the military’s hand grenades, but I feel mana from it! It will definitely be helpful against low-level beasts.”

Emily nods.

“Sure, I’ll need a few days to refine them though, then I’ll show you some of the finished products. Now, on to the last few tests.”

She places down the mixed can with high expectations, moving to the other side of the pillar again with Oscar following her. Igniting the fuse, she waits with bated breath. Another bang rings out, and she sees several pieces of molten metal fly past. Moving out to inspect the wreckage, she notes that the metal didn’t travel as far as with pure black powder, and several pieces were heated so much they just splattered against the floor. However, each piece still contains a small trace of fire element mana.

Perfect, all I need to do is tweak the ratios a bit and I’ll have a magical explosion in a can! Maybe I can test mixing in different metal powders to see if they affect it? And switching out the fire powder for light should achieve the flash I want.

Satisfied with her tests, for now, she stands up and turns to Oscar.

“That was all I wanted to test today. I’ll come knock on your door once I have some finished products to sell.”

“Sure, I look forward to it.”

***

Back in her room, Emily puts aside her weapon tests for a moment to pull out her new spell scroll. Unfurling the parchment, she’s met with a magic circle far more complicated than any she has seen before.

Wow, that’s a pretty big difficulty jump from first circle spells.

With a slight frown, she sets about memorising the complicated twisting of shapes and runes on the page before her. After a few minutes of focus, the spell is safely tucked away into the storage within her mind and a system message appears to confirm her efforts.

¯¯¯¯¯

Spell memorised: Wind Barrier

[Wind Barrier]

[Circle:] Second

[Cost:] 20 Mana/second

[Description:] Summon a dome of wind to protect the caster.

_____

She stands up and moves to sit in the centre of her bed, the only spot in the room with enough space around it to cast the spell without interfering with loose materials and tools. Closing her eyes, she pictures a twisting dome of sharp gusts on one thread as the complex magic circle is formed by another. Pale green runes fill the air around her as arching lines of mana trace the space in a complex three-dimensional weave. Finishing the spell after a dozen seconds of focus, the runes and shapes come to life, twisting around each other and joining smoothly to form a nearly imperceptible barrier of shimmering wind around her.

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Emily reaches out to touch the barrier and finds her hand easily able to pass through it with no resistance. To test, she quickly grabs a pillow beside her and tosses it across the room.

Good, it doesn’t impede anything leaving the barrier.

With a satisfied nod, she cuts off the spell’s mana supply and watches the winds dissipate.

I’ll have to do some other tests later to work out how well it deflects spells and projectiles.

Moving back to her desk, she files away the spell for further testing later and returns to her explosive creations.

Now, let’s try making a few powder mixes to test. I want to use as little crystal powder as possible in each to save contribution point cost...

***

After passing the rest of the day with experiments and prototyping, Emily sits on her bed ready to perform one final test.

Time to see if this will really work. Core two enable internal monologue. Core one sleep.

Instantly, she feels a strange uncomfortable buzzing in her mind as something changes. The feeling disappears after a few seconds and she’s left sitting on her bed without feeling much different. Looking inward, she finds half of her cortex lying dormant.

Perfect! My primary consciousness smoothly switched cores and I can still function fine with only one.

Pleased with her test’s success, she settles into meditation to pass the time till her offline core is fully rested.

Six hours later, Emily is pulled out of her meditation by a light buzzing.

It looks like six hours are needed to fully rest one core. Core two sleep. That’s a little annoying, I’ll need to go for a few hours where everyone’s awake with only one core. It may be a little dangerous to walk around The Glade while not at full performance, but I can always rewind if we hit trouble.

With a light shrug, she gets up to continue working on her other preparations before breakfast, happy to have ticked off one of the items on her list already.

***

A few days later, Emily takes a morning trip alone into the depths of the city. Exiting the train at the furthest eastern station she can, she steps into the quiet station with barely any people around. Taking the almost empty elevator down ten layers, she steps out onto the ground-level streets and pulls her hood down over her face.

She quickly walks away from the station, not making eye contact with the groups of vagrants gathered on street corners, nor the people in rags begging for change. She frowns as she looks at the wretched state of the city’s less fortunate dwellings; the buildings falling apart yet still in a better state than those outside Eimdon’s walls.

After walking along the quiet streets for half an hour, winding further into the depths of the slums, she ducks into a side street and approaches a heavy wrought iron door. Raising her hand, she slams it against the metal in a rhythmic beat.

Four fast taps.

A three-second pause.

Two beats.

Half a second pause.

Two beats.

A two-second pause.

Three fast taps.

Stepping away from the door after the final tap, she watches as a small peep-door slides open in the middle.

“The black oak’s roots spread far and wide,” a gruff voice on the other side of the door states clearly.

“The shade of its branches can’t hide the rot within,” Emily answers quickly.

The peep-door slides shut with a clang, and she hears a series of clicks and grinding gears before the door slowly slides inwards. She quickly steps forward, moving past the guard without a word and walking down the long flight of stairs that greets her. The passageway is narrow with low ceilings, and the walls around her are made of smooth black bricks without any discerning features other than the torches fixed every few metres.

Descending for a few minutes, the passage eventually opens up to reveal a vast hall, with bright burning lights hanging high above. Filling the room are several tented stalls and small buildings, with cloaked figures quietly ducking in and out of the entrances, careful not to draw any unwanted attention.

Emily smoothly joins them, following a remembered path through the crowded alleys. She soon reaches a small building with guns and blades proudly displayed in the windows. Stepping in through the threshold, she’s met with a strong aroma of smoke and booze. She walks past the racks of weaponry and approaches the man slumped at the counter.

“Hello,” she calls lightly in an attempt to gain his attention.

Receiving no response after a few seconds, she kicks the counter jolting the man awake.

“What?” he asks with obvious displeasure.

I wouldn’t come here either if Ed had given me any other options for buying black powder. Shame it’s not legal to sell it in Machineworks.

Keeping her own displeasure off her face, Emily responds in a neutral tone.

“I’d like to buy a barrel of black powder.”

“Oh, it’s you again,” he says with a creepy grin. “Sure, give me thirty silver and I’ll throw in some helpful information for free.”

Emily frowns at his suggestion, his grin giving her a bad feeling. She silently produces thirty small silver coins from within her robes and drops them onto the counter. The man turns to a door behind him, unlocking it with a small key from his belt and walking in. A few moments later he returns with a large barrel held on his shoulder. Moving around the counter, he places it down next to Emily.

“Before you leave the market, check out the tent of The Crystal Skull.”

Emily listens to his cryptic advice as she easily picks up the barrel and begins to leave.

“I’ll have a look.”

“Good luck,” he says with an unsettling laugh as she leaves.

She starts wandering through the market looking around with a mixture of caution and curiosity.

What on Ulea was that about? A crystal skull? I’d rather not spend a second longer here than I have to. If I don’t find it after one trip around, I’m leaving.

Slowly traversing the stuffy underground streets, Emily observes every tent she passes, looking for the so-called crystal skull. As she’s about to give up, she spots an odd structure in the corner of her vision. Moving closer, she finds a white tent with black embroidery above the entrance, showing a crystalline skull with a dagger through the top.

“I guess this is it,” she mutters to herself unsurely as she parts the entrance and steps in.

As she enters the tent, she smells a strange, sweet scent that sends an uncomfortable chill up her spine. Sitting in the middle of the tent is a gentle-looking woman with long wavy brown hair and piercing green eyes. On the small table in front of her are several incense burners and a small collection of noble crests. Seeing the crests, the majority bronze with a few in silver, immediately sets warning sirens blaring in her mind.

“Hello cutie, what would a young mage like yourself need from my little store?” the lady asks with a kind smile, her words confirming Emily’s fears.

“What would an unawakened like yourself need with those crests?” Emily asks back while reaching up to take The Clock into her free hand.

“These little things?” the lady says, tilting her head like a fox watching its prey. “Nothing much. They’re just a few hunting trophies.”

With a calm nod, Emily steps back through the tent’s entrance and quickly moves towards one of the stairwells out of the market.

That dick set me up.

She reaches the base of a stairwell without issue and rushes up the narrow passage. Listening carefully as she climbs, she soon hears slightly off-beat steps echoing her own, causing the hairs on the back of her neck to stand up. As she reaches the top of the stairs, she finds the guard missing and the door locked shut. Placing The Clock back into her pocket, she reaches out to cast a spell but finds her mana movement sluggish.

With a frown, Emily shuts her eyes and looks inward, finding her mana flow hindered by the remnants of the incense from the tent.

Sneaky bitch.

She clicks her tongue as she floods her system with machina, burning out the contaminant. Opening her eyes after the momentary pause, she casts her spell, creating a magic circle with a mixture of burning orange and frigid pale blue that appears against the door’s locks. The circle glows and rotates as the mechanisms inside the door momentarily glow scorching hot before being rapidly cooled back to room temperature. A harsh crack rings out before Emily slides the metal bar out of the way and pulls the door open without resistance.

With the footsteps now loud and hurried, no longer trying to cover their advance, Emily quickly exits the stairwell and closes the door behind her. Placing the barrel down off her shoulder, she raises both palms and quickly casts burning hands. She moves both hands to the edges of the door and melts the edge till it fuses shut.

Good luck following me now.

She grins in triumph as she picks up her barrel and runs off into the slums.