I sit in boredom watching the scenery change from grassy plains to grassy mountains. I manage to see a couple of towns in the distance but we don't stop at any. I shift around in my and try to get comfortable. Are all trips like this? I need something to occupy my time with.
“Is there anything I can do to pass the time?”
Devonte cracks open his eyes and awakes from his meditation, “Have you bonded to the artifact I’ve given you?”
“Yeah, it’s pretty useful,” I say.
He looks like I’ve grown two heads and pulls a long piece of wrapped-up cloth. Unwrapping it, inside lies a large sword with a beautiful blue hilt and scabbard, “It’s way more than just useful.”
He unsheathes the sword showing the most gorgeous spatha I’ve seen. I stare at the intricate runes and wonder what they do.
“Once that artifact reaches D-grade, you’ll be able to replicate a weapon and the runes that were drawn on it, making it your personal weapon,” he says.
“Theoretically, let’s say I had already done so, how would I go about permanently replicating something? And would I be able to replace my permanent item,”
“You enhanced it to D-grade already,” I hear the disbelief in his voice, “How?”
I shrug my shoulders in response, “So back to my questions. What would be my next steps.”
“Your next steps would be to practice creating constructs of varying complexity until you become proficient at it and to increase your mind stat. Once you’ve done that, you would copy any weapon or item you take a liking to as long as it’s Gear. And yes, your permanent construct is changeable but only after enhancing the Water Construct to C-grade. You also won't be able to change the entire permanent construct but you can alter its appearance and add or remove runes,” He responds.
“What is Gear though? Is it a type of artifact?”
He shakes his head and states, “It's an item a human makes that has runes and is imbued with Mana. They’re mainly utility items, but it’s not uncommon to find some armour or weapons that people make. And artifacts are impossible to replicate with an ability. At least to the extent of my knowledge.”
“I’m going to assume that’s why there are so many smiths, leathersmiths and other crafters. To make Gear,” My statement causes him to nod, so I continue, “Is there a limit on Gear and how does one go about creating some?”
“There isn’t any limit which is what makes Gear so useful and there’s a certain secondary artifact that allows you to be able to imbue Mana, Force or Chi into items, creating Gear. There’s also the fact that you need to be able to create or acquire the product you’re going to imbue the Mana in. Anyway, that’s enough questions for now. I’m surprised you managed to get your hands on a D-grade stone so fast, but now you have a way to pass the time. Catch, ” he throws a small blade at me, “Imbue your mana into that artifact.”
I do as he says and the blade retracts into the handle. I hear a ding and see a notification minimized in the corner of my vision.
“Create a water construct of that including the runes. Have some fun while doing it and leave me alone,” he returns to his meditation.
I won’t be able to increase my Mind stat because of the binding process between Void’s pact and Cosmic sense. I glance at Devonte and grimace. I clear my throat to get his attention but he doesn’t open his eyes so I do it louder. I hear an annoyed sigh and he glares at me.
“I have one last question. Is there a way to increase my other stats excluding level-ups?”
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He nods and closes his eyes.
“How? Is it by a secondary artifact?” I say quickly.
“Potions and artifacts can help you? But I wouldn’t hold hope on either of those. Potions only give you a small number of stat points and you can use only one at each grade. As for the artifacts, their nearly impossible to find and they only give you the ability to increase your stats by a small percentage for a limited amount of time. It’s easier to just invest some points into other categories after levelling up some more,” he explains with a huff.
“How about if I can’t put any points into anything except Mana,” I say guiltily.
I have no reason to feel so bad for constantly interrupting his meditation or whatever he’s doing, yet I still do. I push down my feelings and stare at him without showing hesitation. He looks at me with an impassive face and I can’t help but grimace.
“If you actually can’t, then we have a very huge problem on our hands. We’ll talk about this later. For now, I have something I need to finish and you need to try to copy that switchblade. Also, don’t interrupt me again,” He stops talking and shuts his eyes.
Well, that was fun. I hold the blade up and try to get a better look at the runes. It’s just a semi-circle with some type of letter inside. It shouldn’t be too hard. Let me see what the notification was and I’ll start. I pull up the notification I ignored before.
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Retractable Switchblade - Gear
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Well that’s cool. I use the Water construct and conjure a rectangular block the same size as the switchblade and mentally hold it in front of me. Well, what to do now? I start by willing the construct to shave off a part of the bottom of the construct to create the handle but nothing happens. I should’ve expected that.
I touch the construct and will it into shape causing the entire rectangular block to start changing into the switchblade. A huge pressure forms in my mind and I immediately lose control of the mana causing it to splash onto the floor. Damn, I don’t think that’s how I was supposed to do it. I see Devonte’s eye twitch. I summon another rectangular block and this time physically hold it in my left hand. I grab the knife and press down with all my might to skim over a corner of the block causing that part to fall off and turn into water. I do so again and with every carve I make, the pressure on my head mounts. I eventually make the carve out the outline of the hilt and it takes all my effort to keep it in that form.
Do I go for it? I try to inscribe the hilt with the rune on the switchblade and fall unconscious from mental exertion.
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“Y’know, you’re really something,” I hear Devonte say as I stir awake.
“How long was I out for?” I croak.
“A couple of hours,” he says with a smile.
“You're in an awfully good mood now. What happened?”
“Finished what I needed to do. Anyway, you're using your Water Construct wrong but we can fix that later. I’m more interested in what you said before. Why can you not allocate your points?” he says in interest, leaning forward.
I gulp and try to think of an excuse. Not being able to think of anything plausible, I go with the truth.
“It’s because my core is different from everyone else. All my points get automatically stored into mana but for some reason, it doesn’t affect my core capacity at all. I think it's also because of my primary artifact,” I say, twisting the truth.
He nods and scrunches his eyebrows thoughtfully.
“I think we’ll have to get to the Capitol faster and meet with my team leader. After that, we’ll probably have to go request help from Cedric,” he grimaces.
“The Paragon?” I ask dumbfounded, causing him to nod.
I don’t understand why he’s helping me so much. What’s his end goal? I sigh and shake my head. I might as well take the help. It’s not like he wants anything from me except help with clearing the tower, which I want to do anyway.
“You’re a very difficult person, Elijah. I hope you know that,” he says with a laugh, “Get up, we’ll need to get to the Capital faster if we want to achieve my goal.”
“Which is?” I question.
“You’ll find out one day. I wish you no harm, Elijah. Please remember that,” he says.
He looks through his bag and pulls out a small whistle. He opens the window and blows in it, creating a sharp noise.