Battlefield Reclaimer, Ch 24: Hammers of the Earth (Patreon)

Sam had murder on his mind as he looked at the two hammers in front of him.

That marauder had nearly killed his dad. He was going to make sure that when they faced the gnomes again, they were as strong as possible.

It wasn’t going to be easy to deal with the village, but they had to do it if they wanted to get home. Even if they just tried exploring the other direction, the gnomes could chase them.

They had to get stronger.

They had barely been able to kill one marauder. What if there were more of them in there, or something even worse?

Sam pushed the problem of the nine-pointed star off for another day as he focused on what he was good at.

Enchanting.

It was a new thing to be able to say that, but his class said he was an Enchanter and a Smith, so...he might as well decide to be good at it.

He glanced at the star on his hand, just to make sure it was still quiet.

It wasn’t doing anything.

The Guardian had said he needed to get stronger in order to help, so maybe it wouldn’t bother him for a while?

He pushed it out of his mind and turned his attention to his new project.

His stylus hovered over the head of the first hammer as he debated what to do with it.

The Aura of Basalt should be an Earth aura..., so it wasn’t too different from the spears he’d made before.

The shape of the hammers was going to require a different pattern though. He could put a spiral down the handle..., and runic braiding along the face of the hammer, with the bands near the ends....

After a minute, he switched out the stylus for a piece of chalk and began to experiment with designs.

He only had the basic rune structures for spell scrolls, which seemed to work well enough for enchantments, but he had the feeling that he’d also lucked out with that.

Or at least his class instincts had helped a lot.

The simple rune structures might be the same between scrolls and enchantments, or similar enough for it to work, but what about the more advanced ones?

There had to be other patterns out there for temporary and permanent enchantments, and maybe ones streamlined for different weapon shapes.

There should be a way to control the outcome, to enhance or limit elemental effects, and so on....

It didn’t seem like the best idea to just slap a rune on one and go, but that was basically what he was doing.

He wasn't sure what the result would be with anything he did.

He also didn't know what would work for him and what wouldn't. It was like how he was an Essence Scribe, not an Arcane Scribe. Those two professions sounded similar and it was working so far, but...would it always?

He had the feeling that his version of Enchanting might be similar.

Should he call himself an Essence Enchanter then, ...or an Aura Imbuer?

He shook his head.

It was simpler to stick to the same word. It was also what his class used, but the difference in his skills was making him wonder how similar he was to the Enchanters who were already out there.

The Guardian had saved him so he could work for it. That was linked to his class...

And his class was unique.

Despite his plans to visit an Enchanters’ guild in the future, he had the feeling he might be spending a lot of time developing his own way to do things.

Who knew if their ways would even work for him?

Especially at the more advanced stages.

Still, he would get all of the information he could. Then he could experiment with it.

Sam’s chalk designs on the hammer gradually became more complex as the swirling bands of runes turned into a pattern that covered the surface.

As he worked, crystal blue flames swirled around Sam and poured into the hammer, preparing it for the final enchantment as they removed flaws in the base material and attuned it to mana and aura.

Now and then, he’d have a new idea and draw it out, testing to see how it linked to the other runes around it. Sometimes, he would erase it and start over, and other times he would leave it and move on.

Every time he created a connection or a branch that wasn’t familiar to him, he could feel it settling into his memory. There were starting to be quite a few runic patterns there.

He was still using the basic support structure from spell scrolls, but it was becoming more ornate as he practiced. The tie-ins between the bands, the durability runes on the corners....

Sam hummed happily to himself as he continued to draw.

He connected two bands together and created a connection symbol that he thought would work. He studied it for a moment, then erased part of it and redrew it.

It was similar to a rune he already knew, but it had two more branching points.

He didn’t notice the notification that popped up, telling him he’d learned a new rune, or the brief surge of experience that followed.

Time stretched out as he focused on the work.

---

The bright, silver chime of a notification popped up in Sam’s mind and little bubbles of delight hit his bloodstream, startling him into a pleasant awakening.

You have gained 250 class experience for creating a Basic Enchantment.

...

Congratulations, Defiant. You have gained a Level.

You are now a Level 8 Battlefield Reclaimer.

Experience to Next: 1500

You gain +1 Intelligence, +1 Aura, and have one free status point to assign.

The chime faded away in a musical cascade.

For a moment, Sam blinked, his mind still focused on his work, as he wondered why the World Law sounded happy.

Then he wondered why he was thinking that.

It was true though.

He hadn’t put it together until now, but the World Law definitely sounded more cheerful in its notifications when he got a level.

Maybe it liked people leveling.

That raised questions about the world and the seal, and why it would like leveling, but Sam shook his head as he cleared it of random thoughts.

The design for the first hammer was mostly done. He just needed to add the center runes now.

The experience notification was unexpected, since he’d only finished the basic support structure for the hammer. He hadn’t thought he would get a notification until it was done.

It had to be because the hammer’s design was the most complicated thing he’d made so far.

He’d spent quite a while working on this one, reforming the support structure several times until it felt right. It also looked a lot better than the early draft he’d started with.

The runic pattern swept across the surface of the hammer in thick bands that followed the edges, leaving the face on each side open for the focus runes. At the corners, there were ornate swirls of transfer and durability runes.

A spiral pattern swept down the handle and connected it to the head, binding it all together.

For the final touches, on the empty face on each side of the hammer, he added an Earth focus rune.

The one on the bottom was the most complicated, since he had to work around the handle, but he managed it.

A final Earth rune went on the butt of the handle itself, on the flat end, which was where the swirling design ended.

There were seven Earth runes in total now.

That was a lot of focusing power, and when he imbued it with an Earth-aligned aura and that Earth mana....

If it went as he predicted..., this hammer would be even stronger than the spears.

Sam grinned as he thought about it.

The hammer almost looked like something a dwarf would make!

...Even if that was a bit too large of a compliment to himself.

Dwarves were superb craftsmen and the duration of their apprenticeships was legendary.

Sam had only ever seen one dwarven-worked item in his life. It was a dagger in the hands of a travelling merchant.

The fellow had been down on his luck and tried to sell it in the village, and then been laughed out of it again.

No one there could afford something like that.

Still, it had stuck in Sam’s memory as the most beautifully crafted item he had ever seen.

The hammer wasn’t that handsome..., but it was pretty good.

Sam hummed again as he switched to his stylus and began to engrave the lines properly, now that the design was finished.

Enchanting was relaxing.

For the last few hours, he’d been able to forget all about the star on his hand and the difficulty of getting home.

While he was working on the hammer, his dad was busy reconstructing the deadfall, turning it into a much more complicated and efficient device.

It looked like he was trying to make two thin support pillars for it, rather than the spears. These would have to be knocked out with a hammer, instead.

But that...

The old hammer blurred in Jeric’s hand as it slammed into a boulder, reducing it to fragments.

...wasn’t going to be a problem.

---

Engraving the lines on the hammer took Sam a couple of hours, as he used the stylus to etch them more deeply into the surface than he had for the spears.

He had to infuse the tool with a bit of his essence, until it glowed with a crystal blue flame, but then it cut right into the stone.

The hammer was made of the same dark basalt as the daggers and spear points that the gnomes used, or maybe a variant of it. It was heavy, smooth, and had black highlights with a nearly invisible grain.

It was extremely heavy and looked almost like metal.

Now that he’d reached the final step, Sam let out a slow breath as he pulled out the first Aura of Basalt.

The misty grey sphere undulated in his hand, rippling with a slow movement like waves as the taste of stone filled his mind.

Sam bit his lip as he slowly brought the aura closer, until it was just touching the runic lines. He could feel a drawing sensation from the runes as it got closer.

Grey wisps of energy began to rise off of the aura and flowed down towards the hammer.

Slowly, as if he were painting the runes, he began to imbue them with the aura, drawing the sphere across the surface as he traced the lines.

Bit by bit, the sphere in his hand shrank as wisps flowed off of it and entered the runes.

The hammer wasn’t that large, but it did have a lot of runework on it. The sphere made it through about sixty percent of the hammer before it finally dissipated.

He switched to his stylus and went to gather Earth mana from the pool.

He was thinking more about the connection between elements, and this particular item was much too obvious in that regard.

He hoped the combination of a stone base, Earth mana, and multiple Earth runes worked out, but he wasn't sure what the result would be.

As he moved towards the mana pool, he paused, remembering that he’d earned a level earlier and had a free point still.

That level had brought him up to 23 in both Intelligence and Aura.

What should he do with the free one?

His dad had told him to focus on Charisma a bit, but...there were so many other things he needed to do.

They still hadn’t fought the gnomes.

He sent his dad a stealthy look as he stuck the point into Constitution.

They might get injured...and his regeneration was still terrible. He had to be able to recover. There would be plenty of time for Charisma later.

It’s not like they were going to meet anyone down here.

He pushed it out of his mind as he turned his attention back to his work.

Over the course of the preparation, he’d already infused close to thirty points of his Aura into the hammer, and he continued to do so as he returned to it.

It took another couple of hours to finish imbuing the lines with mana. The mix of misty grey aura and silver-white mana swirled across the surface of the hammer, filling the runic structure.

With a careful flick, Sam’s stylus connected the final line and activated the runes.

Instantly, the runic bands began to surge as the energies inside reacted.

Connecting the runes was like injecting lightning into them. One by one, the aura and mana swelled inside the lines, increasing in brightness as their strength was unleashed.

Waves of almost liquid energy washed through the runes as the misty grey aura began to grow. It surged upwards, expanding as it consumed the mana.

At first, it was just the edge of the silver-white mana that grew darker, and then it was a finger’s width.

The brilliant Earth mana was swiftly consumed as the Aura of Basalt spread across the surface of the hammer, spiraling down the handle.

The seven focus runes lit up, one by one, with a deep, resonant thhrrummm as the aura hit them. It was an almost happy sound.

Each of the runes created a note that was just a touch different than the others around it, like voices in different octaves as they sang together in a chorus.

THHrrRRRuuuuUUUUmmMMM.

The misty grey light surged upwards as the entire hammer let out a deep song.

A brilliant silver chime sang in Sam’s mind at the same time, resonating with the hammer, as information on it appeared.

Hammer of Seven Earths.

[Enchantment of Seven Earths: Adds Aura-Based Elemental Damage (Earth, Basic) to Attacks. Adds +2 Con and +2 Str to Wielder. Estimated Duration: 4 Months.

Added Effect: Song of Seven Earths.

Repeated blows of this hammer against a hard surface will add increasing resonance as the hammer sings, stacking minor sonic damage over time.]

The notification faded away, replaced by the shimmering chime of experience.

You have created an Enchanted Item (Basic).

You gain 400 Class experience.

As this item has an Added Effect, you receive bonus experience.

You gain 100 Class experience.

Experience to Next: 1,000.

The chime of Enchanter rising to Level 8 sounded in his mind, but it wasn’t too important.

Sam focused on the hammer he’d just made, lifting it off the stone table as he examined it. His eyes were wide.

He’d expected something to happen when he lined up that much Earth affinity, but this was awesome.

Now, whenever his dad hit something with it..., and the more he hit it..., the more damage he would do.

He wondered if the effect would help with digging through the walls..., but increasing the vibrations in a stone wall could cause all sorts of trouble, so he pushed the idea aside.

Anyway, it was great!

“Dad!” Sam shouted as he held it up, eager to show it off. “I made you a new hammer!”

Jeric looked over from the deadfall, where his bulging muscles were shining with sweat. His red eyes glowed in the cave as a smile broke out across his face.

---

“Sam, I think you should accept that subclass,” Jeric announced, as he walked over to where Sam was working on the second hammer.

The deadfall was coming along well as he rebuilt it, and he’d been thinking about the topic for a while, ever since Sam told him what had happened.

After giving him the first hammer, Sam had remembered to tell him about getting the subclass, and how the Guardian had said he’d already proved it in battle.

The fact that he’d gotten experience for using his crystal flame on the gnomes....

Jeric shook his head in disbelief.

Sam didn’t know how lucky he was that using his Aura of Crystal Flame in battle added to his class experience.

It solved one of the major dilemmas that people faced in the world, which was how to get experience for their main class for everything they did.

Since Sam could use his Enchanting skills in battle to accomplish that, ...it was going to make things a lot easier for him.

Normally, combat classes leveled the fastest and were the highest level of all, as long as they were willing to fight constantly. Crafting also gave experience, and it was safer, but it was a slower trickle over time, even if it was very reliable.

The problem was that not everyone had a class and profession combination that worked well. For example, if a Warrior wanted to subclass as a Smith and spend his time on that instead..., his general level would increase, but he'd never level his main class, and that meant he would never Evolve.

Or if a Smith wanted to fight instead of crafting..., he could subclass as a Warrior, and he would get the abilities for it, but all the experience from battle would only go to his general level.

His Smith class wouldn't get any of it.

Most people planned for their entire lives, or had their families plan it for them, just to line up everything to maximize class experience and push them toward higher Evolutions. It was easier for combat classes, but not everyone wanted to fight all the time to Evolve.

Before this, they hadn’t been sure how to use combat experience to level Sam’s class, but it seemed taking Aura of Crystal Flames had brought everything together.

A Racial Class Ability.... Apparently, it allowed his racial traits to count as part of his class, in terms of experience gain.

Now, Sam could just use his crystal flame in battle and get experience for Battlefield Reclaimer.

“Scion of the Crystal Flame,” Jeric repeated the name again, slowly, thinking about what it could be as he waited for Sam to notice that he'd come over.

His son was working on the second hammer, adding another series of intricate runic swirls to it, and Jeric just shook his head.

He'd taught Sam some of that, but...the connections he was making between those runes were already beyond what he'd given him.

Eventually, Jeric coughed, which got Sam to look up from the hammer.

“I’m proud of you for waiting to take the subclass, Sam,” Jeric announced, “and for talking it out with me. But I think you should take it.”

Subclasses were extremely important, and it was nearly impossible to change them once selected. You only got a chance to do that during an Evolution.

Still, he’d given the matter a lot of thought, and he didn’t think there was anything else available to Sam.

“Right now, especially, you and I both need to select our subclasses before we hit 20,” Jeric added.

It was extremely important to do that, since a subclass couldn't level on its own. If he had it now, when he hit 20, he would get the option to upgrade one ability from Basic to Advanced.

If he missed it, or added the subclass after 20, there was no way to get that opportunity back.

That was why he wanted Sam to take the class and also why he needed to choose something for himself.

He was just stuck on what he should take.

He didn't have a lot of options right now, since all of his old proficiencies and professions had been wiped away.

He'd gotten a few from working on the deadfall and such, like Miner, but that one wasn't something that interested him.

He needed something that would help out Sam and their family.

Maybe...Merchant?

He frowned as he thought about it.

If Sam was going to be a craftsman, he needed someone to sell his products, and it could help support them all.

Merchant was also a very easy subclass to take, and popular throughout the world.

Its paths were well known.

He had a combat main class now, and one of the oddities of Merchant made it work well with that combination.

If he won a negotiation or persuaded someone to trade with him..., some of that experience would go to his class for it. He wasn't sure what it would be for Earthen Marauder, but it should be around 20%.

There were other subclasses he would have considered, if he weren't so limited by the current surroundings, but right now..., that one might be the best to get.

One of a Merchant's abilities was Persuade. That could be important to convince the villagers that Sam's current appearance was not something to worry about.

Healing would have been nice too. Healers were always in demand and it would secure their family's place in the village, or even in the city, but there was no chance of getting that subclass down here.

To do that, he would have to demonstrate some type of proficiency with magical healing first. That was the basic requirement to set it as a subclass.

If a subclass had a crafting focus, you also needed to set it as a profession, like Enchanter for Sam.... Otherwise, you wouldn't get profession experience for it and it would be hard to get the skills past Basic.

He could try to be an Illusionist perhaps, to hide Sam's appearance...?

Jeric pushed the thoughts away as he looked at what his son was making. He didn't know how to get that either.

There were only so many options.

Sam was staring at the hammer again, probably planning his next step, so he patted him on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Oh, right...,” Sam struggled to pull himself away from the hammer to focus on what his dad was saying. The runic lines were swirling through his mind like dragons curling through the clouds.

It was...nice.

“You remember how a subclass works?” Jeric prompted him, calling him back to the present. “This one should be connected to your Aura of the Crystal Flame, right?”

“I think so, but I still don’t know what it does,” Sam protested, as he gave his dad his full attention.

Sam was trying to be prudent when it came to the subclass, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to wait any longer.

He wanted to find out.

Sam’s attention wandered away again, as the name of the subclass resonated in his mind.

Scion of the Crystal Flame.

His mind traveled down a very cool path filled with explosive blue energy and lots...and lots...of dead gnomes.

He was not going to forgive them for hurting his dad.

---

Meanwhile, in a not-too-distant part of the tunnels...

"Ugh!" The wizardess grumbled as she peeled a chunk of tunnel boar off of her arm. "I can't stand tunnel boars. Disgusting things."

Ayala and Krana exchanged a look, but then wisely decided to keep their silence.

The wizardess was the one who had just blown the tunnel boar apart with a Kinetic Force spell.... It was her own fault.

As soon as Ayala had noticed what the woman was casting, she ducked behind one of the guards, which blocked most of the spray.

Krana, on the other hand, just summoned a bright yellow shield in front of herself as she shook her head. The chunks of the boar splattered against it.

The dwarf muttered something to herself that sounded like "A darned shame," but only Ayala and the guard were close enough to hear. The wizardess had already continued forward.

In Krana's opinion, it was just wasteful to blow apart a tunnel boar like that. It was much better to eat them.

The wizardess probably wouldn't have waited for her to cook it. The last week of moving through the tunnels had only made her more irritated than she had been at first.

The Earth mana pool was still clear and bright in Krana's senses.

It wasn't very far away at all.

In the beginning, she'd sensed it in a straight line and hadn't thought it would take them too long to get here, but the impression had been a bit deceptive.

These tunnels wound around a lot and it was taking them a while to close the distance.

"It's just ahead of us now." She smiled as she reassured Ayala that it was still there. "Let me lead the way."

Krana moved past the wizardess and took the lead again, her eyes bright.

A pool of Earth mana....

It was practically a legend.

Even if you were able to find a location where such a sacred thing could form..., it took almost a thousand years to get enough to fill a cup.

Krana shook her head as she thought about it.

She had never heard of a class that required bathing in the stuff, like Ayala's did, but she knew one thing for sure.

After coming into contact with a substance like that, no one would ever be the same.

She was very much looking forward to her friend's transformation.

Ayala came up to walk with her, towering head and shoulders over the dwarf.

"Ismela is just angry because she's not the one leading," Ayala laughed as she whispered in Krana's ear. "The guards are a bit happier though. They've picked up a level already, and that's on top of their pay, so they're in no real rush. I know you'll find it."

"Tunnels take time," Krana said as reached up and patted her friend on the shoulder. "There's no point in rushing the Earth. If you do, you only end up stumbling over your own feet."

The dwarf was the most relaxed of them all.

"You have to respect her," Krana added, smiling up at Ayala. "If you do, you never know what you may find the next time you go into a mine. You might even hear her sing."

The two friends fell silent for a while as the party of five continued on.

"You'll see, when you get your class," Krana added. The powers of her Earth Seer class activated as her eyes turned silver. Her expression was distant and thoughtful.

"I get the feeling that once we find the pool, nothing will ever be the same."