Battlefield Reclaimer, Ch 39: Flaws in the Seal (Patreon)

Somewhere...

The two Outsiders were sitting across from each other inside their dimensional bubble, looking gravely at the orange spell sphere in front of them. Their efforts to pierce into the World Core were encountering new difficulties now that the Core was aware of their interference.

“The World Core isn’t able to access the interior of the prison, but it is actively working to limit our connection with it,” the man glanced across the sphere as his fingers brushed the surface. It looked like he was waving away a speck of dust. “It will make it harder to proceed.”

“It doesn’t matter,” the woman replied, shaking her head as she also studied the sphere. It was smaller than before, but the intensity had increased. “The flaws are increasing now. Soon, the Core won’t have time to pay attention to us.”

“It is a powerful relic, but also an ancient one.” The man chuckled, his eyes creasing at the corners as he looked at something in the sphere. “The original negotiations created some very interesting things. It’s a shame that they eventually fell apart.”

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, waving her hand dismissively. It was a favorite habit of hers. “We are making progress, even if we did create that unexpected class....” She frowned as she considered it.

“How was a World Forger born here? That class has only ever existed once.”

“You know the legends as well as I do,” he replied, glancing towards her. His voice was indifferent. “In the very beginning, our people and the Astrals worked together. The World Core was one of the first things they created together.”

“That old story? You’re much older than I am, so perhaps you know more about it. It didn’t work out, did it?”

“When does anything ever work out, when the two sides want the same thing?” The man shook his head. “The early creations showed excellent promise. In the beginning, the World Core was only a proof of concept to show what can happen when you combine our essence with their class system. It was originally assigned to govern the flow of energy at the nexus point between galaxies.”

He paused as old memories passed through his mind, his attention drifting away again. It almost looked like he’d fallen asleep until the woman’s words drew him back.

“They created the World Forger after that, didn’t they? The second creation?”

“Not the second thing, but it was the next big project..., an attempt to create an Astral Class that operates on principles of essence. They chose a crafting class, so that it wouldn’t be too damaging if it went wrong. The project was never finished and only the original prototype was formed before the First War. To create that one, it also required the infusion of life essence from one of our people.”

“That must have killed them....”

“I believe they used a prisoner, so it didn’t matter much. As you can see, it was an effective combination. She was placed in charge of the World Core back then, the only individual with full access. It is regrettable that she sided with the Astrals during the war.”

“What happened to her? She was half part of us, after all. How could we lose track of her?”

“She went missing during the creation of the seal, which brought an end to the war. Now, no one is capable of managing the World Core or the seal directly. The Astrals can only observe from the outside or they risk breaking the world, the same as us.”

“Then this new World Forger has the capability to change the balance.”

“It’s unlikely that he will survive. Where is he going to find an infusion of life essence to stabilize the class? Without that, he’s only a half-formed shell.” The man paused as he thought, his eyes flashing with an intense orange light as he tried to see deeper into the spell sphere.

“Just by having essence, he is also a flaw in the seal.” The woman laughed as she thought of the irony. The sound was rare for her and it held an edge of delight. “The World Core will not approve of him.”

“On top of that, our interference has resulted in more breakthrough points, and things with essence will be attracted to one another.” The man smiled slightly, clearly pleased with the idea. “You know how essence loves to consume other sources.”

“You mean they’ll be attracted to the World Forger too?” the woman asked, her fangs flashing as her laughter continued. “That would be lovely.”

“Indeed. The rifts are still small for now, but perhaps they will solve the problem for us, cutting him down before he can bloom. The first one caused enough trouble.” The man’s eyes drifted closed as he returned to his meditations.

---

Beneath the Abyssinian Plains

Sam looked up as the last of the silver message formation faded away, hoping that it had reached his mother. Across from him, Jeric heaved a sigh of relief as he wished it well. It looked like it had worked, so at least Aemilia would know they were alive.

It was a big weight off of Jeric’s chest. He still needed to get home to help take care of things, but she should be alright for a little while longer.

The two of them watched the place where it had disappeared, their thoughts far away. Eventually, Sam spoke up, bringing their attention back to the present.

“We just need one more acid worm amulet and then the illusion amulet. Let’s do the easier one first, and then we can try the illusion amulet together.” He nodded at Krana as he pulled out one of the current acid worm amulets.

Krana came closer to examine it, while his father went back to guarding the door, keeping a careful eye on the guards outside.

“Does anyone have some silver coins to melt down?” Sam asked, as he addressed the main problem. “We’re going to need to make a new blank for the base.”

There were ten or so silvers in his pouch now, and about the same in his father’s, but he didn’t want to use them if he didn’t have to. They were too important at home and he might need his own for the illusion amulet next, which was even larger and more ornate.

“It should take about five silvers to do it,” Krana suggested as she looked down at the amulet in his hands. “A bit more if the quality of the coins is low, since we’ll lose some in the refining.”

“That part is not a problem,” Ayala offered as she pulled her attention from her new abilities. The idea of going home had caught her attention and she walked over, pulling a handful of silver coins from her pouch.

“Here.” There were six silver coins in her hand. She held them out to Sam.

He just nodded as he took them, pleased that he didn’t have to spend his own silver. After half an instant, his Charisma kicked in and prompted him to say, “Thank you.”

He supposed the amulets had originally been hers, and even if he claimed Ismela’s as justified loot, that left him one short to use for himself and his father..., but he wasn’t going to admit it.

“The amulets originally cost three gold, so if you can make one for five or six silver, it’s a good bargain,” she replied. She hesitated a moment as she looked at him, more closely than she ever had before. “You can sell it when you return.”

It was an offhand generosity, something offered to a person who had nothing. A moment later, she returned to her corner and her meditations, but the coins sat heavily in his hand. She’d seen more than he wanted her to and it made him a bit angry.

The silvers didn’t mean much to her, but they did to him. A gold was ten silver. Two silvers was a month’s rent on their house.... He frowned down at the silvers in his hand as he shook his head, adjusting his view of the world.

She had handed over the silvers as if they were nothing. He knew that his village was small, but it was uncomfortable to realize the difference between their backgrounds.

It was only one example, but it also gave him some information on the value of enchantments. If the medallion cost five or six silvers, and the completed amulet was three gold, it meant they sold for around six times the base cost.

“Let’s get started then,” he said, as he pushed the thoughts away. Life was changing and perhaps one day he would also be able to hand out six silvers without worrying about it.

“I’ll help you with the smithing,” Krana offered with a smile. “I may be an Earth Seer, but I’m also a dwarf. I grew up in smithies and working on crafts.”

Sam looked at Krana and the thoughts about the silvers faded away as an answering smile spread across his face. He had always admired dwarven craftsmanship and now he was going to get to work with one on a smithing project.

Perhaps he could learn a few things.

---

The silver coins melted into a puddle as the heat in their small crucible intensified. Krana had a miniature forge in her dimensional pouch, which made the task of shaping this amulet much easier than when he and his father had made his stylus. He needed to get one.

He’d also discovered that Krana had several different dimensional bags. There were a couple of large ones on her belt, but she also had a series of pouches in the pockets of her vest. As she pulled out one tool after another, Sam’s eyes grew wider. He also needed one of those.

He was taking the lead in the crafting, so that he would get the experience for it, but Krana was guiding him from the side. As she did, she explained some of the techniques that the dwarves used for their crafting.

“There are common techniques, which I don’t mind sharing,” Krana offered easily, in between showing him what to do. “There are also heritage techniques that are unique to particular families, which are more closely guarded. My family has many Smiths in it, but it is not my strongest skill and I don’t have the ability to use most of those arts. The common ones are enough for this.”

She was doing her best to help him out and to convince him that she was a friend. Showing him a few smithing skills was an easy thing for her.

“Do dwarven Smiths take an Enchanting subclass?” Sam asked curiously. It was an idea that occured to him as he watched the silver melt. His class was a combination of Enchanter and Smith, so he wanted to know how common it was. His crystal blue flames were swirling through the metal at the same time, burning away the impurities as he attuned it.

“Some do,” Krana agreed, nodding as she watched the silver carefully. “There are more specialized racial subclasses as well, like Dwarven Armorsmith, which includes enchantments that work best for armor, but Enchanter by itself is a good combination.”

“What abilities come with Enchanter?” Sam asked half-distractedly. His old theory on how enchanting worked differently for him was at the front of his mind.

“Aren’t you...,” Krana turned to look at him with some surprise. “Ahh, right, you have a unique class. The abilities for those are different sometimes. An Enchanter usually gets four abilities: Enchantment, Stabilize Enchantment, Mana Control, and Meditation. It’s similar to being a Wizard in the last two abilities. As you gain higher tiers, a new ability comes with every 20 levels usually, just like with most classes. That includes things like Strengthen Enchantment, Model Enchantment, and so on. Some are enhancement abilities and others are for utility or design purposes.”

“Stabilize Enchantment is what lets you extend the duration?” He wanted to confirm if that was the skill to infuse aura into things.

“Yes, it allows an enchantment to be renewed,” Krana agreed. “It’s the only way to add aura to one. Even other classes with aura skills are not able to do that.”

Except for him, he thought automatically. He wasn’t going to mention that though, even when Krana was trying to help him. There was no reason to make her wonder about what he could do.

Essence Control gave him the same functionality as Stabilize Enchantment, but it was more direct, without having to rely on class abilities. It seemed like he had the more foundational skill, while Enchanters were using something less effective to accomplish the same thing.

“Strengthen Enchantment is what it sounds like,” Krana continued, “a way of strengthening an enchantment over time, either by adding a new layer or perfecting what’s already there. Model Enchantment allows you to create a pattern visually before applying it and also to remember all the patterns you’ve used before. That’s why you don’t find many enchantment patterns around. Enchanters tend to only share them directly with apprentices or as a trade with colleagues.”

Sam nodded. The last two abilities would be useful, but he could accomplish the same thing with Intensify Aura and his imagination. All of the runes he’d learned so far were preserved in his memory, outlined in crystal flames. He wasn’t sure if it was a class feature or something that came with his transformation, but it was useful.

“It’s about time to cast it,” Krana suggested, as she drew his attention back to the pool of molten silver. “Once you’re done infusing, the mold is ready.”

They had constructed a simple mold out of stone. It was similar to what his father had made for the stylus, but the surface of this one was much smoother. Krana had good tools and he had more control over his aura than in the past.

His crystal flames swirled through the silver a final time, searching for any other impurities, but there were none. The silver had shrunk slightly and it was glowing with a soft light. His hands were lined with crystal flame as he picked up the crucible. Then he turned towards the mold and poured the liquid metal in.

While it was setting, his aura swirled through it again. This time, the silver began to change color, taking on a crystal blue tint. Krana had suggested using Mana Refinement on it while it was still cooling, to help shape it to the desired goal, so he was following her advice.

Actually, he was going a bit further and using both parts of his essence: mana for strength and aura for durability. It felt like his essence was doing something else as well, as it resonated with a unique energy signature that was his, but he wasn’t quite able to pin down what was happening. It felt like some type of attunement.

He was planning to use this amulet himself, which would solve the complaints from anyone who didn’t trust it. As for the other amulets, he would just infuse some more aura into them, so they could last until they got across the plains. If they used them in the current state, he would be surprised if they made it out in one piece.

Maybe that was another reason people avoided the Abyssinian Plains. Did the amulets come with a warning for how long they lasted or did you just have to guess? Not everyone could identify them and see the duration.

The amulet hardened as it began to cool. When it was ready, he poured more of his essence into it, shaping it into a simple, blank disc. It didn’t take long, and when it was done, the silver chimed with a high-pitched tone. The crystal blue tint was spread evenly throughout.

A notification sounded, playing in four oddly-spaced tones on instruments he couldn’t identify. When it opened, it was written in the World Law’s ornate, archaic script.

Congratulations, Battlefield Reclaimer. You have gained a new Skill for your Class.

Essence Refinement.

Your previous skill of Mana Refinement has been merged into it.

That was all it said. This time, there was no reward accompanying it, like there’d been when he gained Essence Control early. A moment later, the notification was replaced by another one. This one was more modern and reverberated with a sound like a hammer striking an anvil.

Congratulations, Smith. You have created a Basic item.

You gain 100 Class experience (100% Contribution from Smith).

You are now a Level 4 Smith.

Sam turned his attention to the blank amulet in his hands as the notifications faded away. The amulet was still silver, but his crystal flame was definitely imbued into it somehow. It shimmered in his eyes with a soft light, as if something of the flame had been left behind.

“That’s interesting...,” Krana said, as she looked over at it. “You just infused your mana into it? It’s clearly taken on some qualities from you, but I can’t tell what they are.”

He gave her the amulet to examine, but Krana just turned it over in her hands and then  shook her head. The connection between the color of the amulet and his crystal flame was obvious, but she didn’t know what to make of it.

“You’ve changed the structure of the silver somehow. It’s not a lot, but it’s not entirely blank anymore either. It’s almost like you’ve attuned it to an elemental alignment. My uncle would be interested, but I can’t tell what the effect will be, so the only thing to do is to try the next step.”

Sam was already pulling out his stylus as he sat down at his work table and placed the amulet in front of him. He put the original amulet above it as an example and then began to inscribe the new one. The pattern was simple, so it wouldn’t take too long.

His crystal flame continued to swirl around him, pouring into the amulet and the stylus. The tip bit easily into the silver, leaving a trail of runes behind it.

It was tempting to improve on the amulet, but it wasn’t wise to mess with something that worked. Instead, he just made sure that the lines were as accurate as possible. The original amulet looked like something a lazy apprentice had made, with lines that were barely straight.

Maybe that was the truth, but it didn’t bode well for the helpless adventurers who were stuck using them.

The inscription didn’t take long, and when it was finished, he moved on to imbuing it with mana from the Earth pool, humming to himself as he made the trip back and forth. It was simple work, but it was good. It was progress.

Things were looking up again.

As he was adding the last lines, thoughts of the illusion amulet began to intrude on his concentration. It was going to take a lot more silver, perhaps all of the silvers in his pouch. He rubbed his chin as he started to plan out what he needed to do. As soon as this one was finished....

Click...ting...

A strange noise reached his ears, like the sound of metal tapping against stone, but he pushed it aside and connected the last lines of the amulet. Someone had probably leaned against a wall. As the mana began to surge through the runic lines, he continued humming to himself.

A moment later, the chime of a notification filled his mind.

Congratulations, Enchanter. You have created a Basic enchanted item.

You gain 300 Class experience.

As the experience became part of him, he turned the amulet from side to side, admiring it. If he could find more things like this, he’d be able to make all sorts of useful things to sell.

Between amulets and message scrolls, along with some weapons, there would be a good source of income once they got home. He would just have to find a few other patterns, like a ward from rain, or how to make dimensional bags....

He was feeling optimistic about the future, not thinking much about the Guardian’s words, when the star on his hand suddenly flickered, sending a pulse of sharp warning through his body. A voice appeared in his mind, similar to the World Law, but not.

A Flaw has been detected in your vicinity.

It was followed a moment later by the World Law itself, which echoed through the minds of everyone in the cavern as each of them received a unique message.

All Authorities of Law Are Summoned to Defend Aster Fall from Outsider Invasion.

An Outsider breakthrough has been identified in your location. As the closest combatants, you are required to assist. Refusing to do so will mark you as Defiant.

You are currently Defiant. Assisting in the sealing of ten Flaws will remove this Trait.

Failure to assist will result in Greater Defiance.

Estimated Outsider Threat Level: Unknown.

Time until the Flaw is Sealed: Unknown.

At the same time, a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the tunnels, accompanied by the unsettling sound of jaws crunching through bone.