"What the--" I mumbled. Marie rushed forward and grabbed hold of the waistguard. Immediately, the three hexagons snapped together as if magnetized. With the loop complete, each of the hexes vibrated until a red magnolia seed sprouted from the center one. It was small, but as I watched another formed on one of the main trio followed by a third and fourth before the waistguard slipped from her hands.

"It was getting heavier," she whispered. She spun, fire in her eyes. "This is amazing Mr. Ronan!"

"You are telling me kid," I said, chuckling. The bright red seeds on the belt seemed to wither before our very eyes in the reverse order in which they'd formed. The implications for that were clear-- the more mana, the more weight. If the Seeding Ballast Trait worked like a fancier version of mine then Billy's blows were about to get a lot harder than 'cloud soft'. I also didn't miss the qualifier at the front of the Item name. Despite not using the Deepening Technique, Marie had controlled the Item perfectly to get exactly what she wanted. A natural, if there ever was one. "Why didn't we get you in the Crafting Hall from day one!"

"My mom didn't think it would be good to be around such... rough spoken individuals," Marie said, blushing slightly at the praise.

"Well, you've got a partner now! I expect some awesome creations from you two," I said, smiling as the two girls shared a giddy look. As much as I don't want to, I think I better hedge my bets with a compliment sandwich. "But don't get complacent. The higher a Material and Infusion, the more temperamental they become. Not to mention, you won't always have an elemental Domain to help stabilize the specific Infusion you are working with."

The added comment seemed to dim their enthusiasm slightly, so I deemed it enough of a warning before turning to a positive to close out. "Which is why you'll have me in the evenings for the next two days I'm in the Outpost. You both have more potential than many of the crafters I've seen and, honestly, it takes some imagination to go beyond plain functionality. And that, I think you girls have in spades."

It took several minutes for the girls to settle down enough from their frantic plans and concocted designs, and yet another fifteen to answer part of the questions they had regarding what had happened. Of course, I didn't have all the answers. It was an unprecedented development for Infusion Artisanry. My somewhat educated opinion, which the two took as gospel despite my warnings, was that Marie had created a second tier Item. Much like how grew to , or Limestone Skin developed into Striated Dermis, gaining additional functionality with the upgrade was expected. Why couldn't that happen for an Item's Trait?

Before the two could devolve into further crafting-centered chaos, I cleared my throat loudly. "As the evening is around the corner, I think it would be best if we wrap up our work."

What my words implied seemed to remind them that I'd left the best for last. As eager as they'd been the whole time, they started to ask what my plan for the hummingbird plumage was going to be. Keeping some of my aura of mysterious teacher, I removed my necklace and laid it onto the work table. The shining tortoise eyes of my Amulet seemed to twinkle as if it could read my intent. Considering what I'd learned about magic and Totems, it wouldn't even be that surprising. With the 'template' established, Madeline seemed to buzz with expectation.

"You are going to make another Amplitude accessory!" she shouted, unable to keep her thoughts to herself.

"Yep. As strong as my Skills are, they tend to lack in the range department. While it's not guaranteed that Augmenting them with Air spell chains will change that, I am willing to bet on it. Plus, no reason for me to turn down more versatility," I said. Which reminds me... I need to pick that Skill. With everything so overloaded on my plate, what's one more thing?

The girls turned to each other, whispering further plans and theorizing how my next accessory was going to turn out.

I tuned everything out as I laid the plumage gently on the work table beside my necklace. It wasn't quite as high Level as the tortoise claw had been, but it was a higher rarity. What would come of it, I couldn't guess. The idea that it stirred in my mind, however, set a grin on my face that even the prospect of the boosted Containment headache that would follow couldn't shake. If I had Earth and Air Amplitude Items... what was stopping me from gathering them all. The Materials themselves were a limitation, but I had abilities and connections to leverage. A long term project, to be sure, but... Huck owes me a good trade. I'll have to get in touch with him after this hurricane stuff is dealt with.

"No sense delaying," I mumbled, cracking my neck as I channeled mana into my Tortoise Amulet. Immediately, I felt the borders of my mind expand, capable of keeping everything I hoped to visualize for the process within grasp. It wasn't a particularly complex plan, but I wanted to have every advantage possible. The first step was to Infuse the material. The fact that it was nothing more than an arrangement of feathers held together by paper-thin skin and a beak didn't give me high hopes for its durability-- not that hummingbirds themselves had a reputation for that to begin with.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

So, I started with the first initial risky bit of the Infusion process. Infusing the Material with the Q3 Earth Infusion. Instead of letting the plumage suffer under the constricting force that the element usually leant itself to when filling something with Pith, I hoped to grow the volume of the structure. With crystal, if I was successful.

Before I pulled the Pith Thread, I leveraged my intent into followed immediately by . I hoped that the permanent nature of my Foundational Hemisphere Skill would counteract the transient state of my Turbulent Skill. Once more, instinct was the only thing guiding me but I was realizing that was a magic in and of itself. As my fingers neared, the ringing I'd heard from the Material seemed to grow louder even as muted as it was thanks to the disappearing imprint of the Nash Shaman's power.

My expanded will locked the spell chains in place until I fed the umber Infusion into the gap between them. The Thread turned to motes before passing , but once they were past I could seem them become... sharper. I didn't have long to process that, as the motes passed into before zipping into the plumage like tiny daggers. Each that struck the ruby and green feathers disintegrated it instantly. My mouth dropped open, but I didn't dare let my focus waver; I hadn't had a magical reversal from the Deepening Technique and I didn't want it to happen with the girls in harm’s way.

Already grimacing at the loss of the Material and Infusion, I flicked the rest of the Pith Thread into the spell chains. The steady trickle of crystallized motes of energy turned into a torrent. As if I'd sandblasted the bird to bits, it blew away in the wind. A gasp from behind me caused me to take a second look from where I'd been wincing in anticipation of the loss. Where there had once been feathers there were now tiny polyhedrons. Peridot, aquamarine and foggy quartz as fine as I'd ever imagined glistened on the once-wings of the hummingbird to replace the green-grey hues it had in life. The gradient continued, leaving its once orange throat a burning citrine that left spots in my vision even without a strong light to reflect. What had once been the skull was more akin to a mask of obsidian crowned in yet more flakes of peridot. The sockets remained empty.

Beyond visible changes, there was much more heft to the once frail construction as evident by how the vibrations in the room were swallowed up in it. Whether it was because of some other metaphysical feature or the greater density I'd been hoping for I wasn't sure. I'd just been hoping to stuff it with crystal, not replace it like it had happened. I wasn't going to complain, especially when the girls ooh-ed and ahh-ed at it as if it had been my intention all along. Nevertheless, I opted to be a good teacher and described how the result had merely been adjacent to my intent. Madeline thought that was a resounding success while Marie seemed entranced by the idea that such a large change had occurred largely on its own.

After spending a few minutes getting the girls' thoughts on what they had seen, I retrieved several Air Infusions to use. Once again, I was hoping the unexpected change didn't skew my intent for the Material but there was nothing but to move forward. Perhaps it would be possible to un-Infuse something in the future but it wasn't now. With a deep breath, and maintaining the same spell chains I'd selected, I released all three Infusions I expected would be needed for the Item.

The sharpened motes once more formed, but this time I watched as they struck the gemstone surface unobstructed. Each sunk, giving yet more mass without affecting the shape. It wasn't until each individual shard had been struck at least once that the largest changes occurred. As if it were preparing to take flight once more, the whole thing started to vibrate. A tinkling not dissimilar to the sound Madeline's hair made filled the workroom as the wings shook fast enough to give the Material lift. As if the hummingbird had come back to life it started to drift in the air, not quite as synchronized as I recalled from videos of the speedy birds, but certainly containing a shadow of its original grace. I watched as citrine grew out of the sockets of the skull, restoring 'sight' to the strange construct.

The moment that was completed, it dove with purpose towards me. I shouted in alarm, dissipating the spell chains I'd been controlling and stumbling back a step. In my surprise, I'd attempted to swat my creation from the air. I immediately regretted the action, considering the potential of causing the strange process that was happening to fail. It didn't laugh, but the crystalline construct took my attempted defense as laughable as it buzzed to the side before striking me full on the chest with enough force to send me into the stone shelves lining the back wall. Crates, scattered tools and a number of knickknacks clattered on top of me and released small bursts of Tremor Frame through my feet and back when the offenders clattered to the floor.

When I finally managed to get to my feet, somewhat poised for a fight against the strange magical product, all I spotted was the two girls staring at me in awe.

"What? Where did that thing go? I didn't particularly like how fast its hit-and-run was, it could hurt someone else," I said, grimacing at the bruise on my chest. When I rubbed at the spot where the crystal plumage had hit, I found that it wasn't empty. While there was a hole in my shirt from where Tremor Frame had sought retribution against the hefty blow, the construct had attached itself to my necklace all on its own. Astounded, I removed the whole thing from my neck and stared in awe as its information appeared in my vision.