IM1: Chapter #44 (Patreon)

“But this won’t work. The space won’t stabilize,” Thorn said, pointing at a cluster of runes on the paper he was holding.

Deflating at his words, Levandi nodded glumly and took the paper back from Thorn.

“I know. And it isn’t only the stabilization issue. There is the problem of power routing, void tunnel generation, and spatial coordinate locking.”

“But it's a good start,” Thorn said, patting the gaudily dressed Master Artificer on the shoulder. “I think the way you are determining the initial spatial coordinates is pretty ingenious. Plus, it looks like you’re able to pass information back and forth, right? Through the color coding of the runes?”

Seeing Levandi turn and stare at him, Thorn paused, his expression growing wary.

“What?”

Pointing a shaking finger at Thorn, the passion that had just died out of Levandi’s eyes returned full force.

“You… you understand it! I have been trying to convince that old lady for the last two years but she says that these are nothing but the scribbles of a madman! Hahaha! You actually understand it!”

Watching as Master Artificer Levandi began dancing in place, Thorn suddenly had a sinking feeling that he had just created a lot of trouble for himself. He was not sure what brought the feeling on, but his intuition was telling him that he was watching a man obsessed. The complex tangle of runes that Levandi had shown him was not something that could have been hastily thrown together, and even though it did not actually work, whoever had created it was clearly working in the right direction. Grasping Thorn’s hand in his, the Master Artificer shook Thorn’s large hand, happiness practically bursting from his face.

“You have no idea how excited I am to meet with a like-minded individual! This enchantment will transform the world! They told me I was insane to think something like cross-strata transposition was possible, but you’ve seen it too! The possibility! We should go speak to the Guild Master! You can convince her with me! Then she’ll have no choice but to believe us!”

“Whoa, hold on,” Thorn said, extracting his hand from Levandi’s grasp. “Let’s slow down for a moment. Remember, Master Assal is right, the idea is crazy.”

“What do you mean?” Levandi said, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

“I mean that we need to demonstrate real progress if we are going to convince her that this isn’t just a figment of our imagination. Which means I need to study what you have already done, and then we need to push this research even further.”

“Ah! That’s right! The best way to shut up the foolish unbelievers is to bring them irrefutable proof!”

Spinning, Levandi began pacing around the room, his golden robe billowing as he walked. Mumbling under his breath for a moment he suddenly stopped and rushed to the bookshelf, returning with a thick book.

“These are my notes! I’ll lend this to you so that you can study what I’ve developed so far. Once you are up to speed, we can begin to push the boundary even further!”

Taking the book from him, Thorn flipped it open, his eyes scanning the neatly written words filling it. After a moment of silence, he snapped the book shut and looked at Master Levandi.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Master Levandi, what makes you so confident that I can help your research?”

A sly grin stretched across the Master Artificer's lips at Thorn’s question and he turned to sit down behind his desk.

“You have a rune that can increase stability. I got a chance to examine Arbiter Silentleaf’s spear at a party recently, and he mentioned that you were the one that enchanted it. A skilled job. Truly excellent work. And even better, a rune that I had never seen before. What my rune construct needs is stability, so I immediately thought of you. The fact that you can understand what I am trying to accomplish with a single glance just proves that I was right about you!”

“I see. Thank you for your vote of confidence and entrusting me with your notes. It will likely take me a few weeks, but I will return them when I have finished going through them.”

“A few weeks? Hmm, I guess that is fine. That’s a bit slow, but I imagine you have a number of commissions still. You really should stop bothering with commissions, you know. Get a patron, like me. It's practically free money.”

Just then, a sound at the door distracted Levandi and his head snapped around. Seeing Zelix, he waved the apprentice in, smiling widely.

“Ah, Zelix! Come in, come in. Haha, I was actually just on my way to see your master, to ask her about how the development of the spatial lock rune is going, but I got distracted when I met Master Smith in the hallway. Have you been introduced? Master Smith, this is Apprentice Zelix, one of Master Assal’s apprentices. Anyway, I have to go and speak to Master Assal, but I’m looking forward to cooperating with you, Smith.”

Standing up, Levandi shooed everyone out of his office, locking it up with a tap on a rune pattern above the handle. With a nod to Thorn, he swept down the hall, his golden robe billowing, soon vanishing out of sight around the corner. Completely lost for words, Thorn stared at Zelix, who looked almost sick.

“Some explanation is in order, I think.”

Hearing the edge of anger in Thorn’s voice, Zelix swallowed and nodded.

“Ah, yes. Master Levandi is, um, special. There is no doubt that he is a genius, but he is obsessed with a, uh, peculiar project.”

“Cross-strata transposition, he mentioned it.”

“Ah, of course. His obsession is, shall we say, all consuming? Furthermore, his understanding of the world is a bit, uh, lacking. He was sent here some years ago and ever since then, he has operated under the assumption that the primary goal of the guild is to help him complete his project. The problem is that his project is impossible. The rune construct he has created makes no sense, even to my master. While he is not particularly dangerous, his apprentices have been using this opportunity to create all sorts of conflicts as they try to seize power.”

Frowning slightly, Thorn tried to get his head around what Zelix was saying. It appeared that, while their master was largely oblivious, Levandi’s apprentices were borrowing his authority and power to create trouble, both inside and outside of the artificer’s guild, but Master Assal was hesitant to do anything about it since Levandi was rather unpredictable, and his backing was incredibly strong. What surprised Thorn the most, however, was how certain Zelix was that cross-strata teleportation was impossible. Realizing that the gap between his knowledge and the knowledge of artificers in this world was larger than he realized, Thorn decided to think carefully over his options before taking action.

“I do not mind being used as a shield by your master, but my time is quite valuable,” Thorn said, once Zelix had finished explaining the situation. “I was meaning to see if the guild had a number of specialized materials on hand for some personal projects. Maybe you could ask your master about them.”

Relieved that Thorn was not angry, Zelix happily took the list that Thorn had prepared and tucked it into his pocket, not even opening it to look at it.

“Master Levandi has, uh, consulted with my master every day for the last five years, I am sure that she would be happy to help you with these materials.”

“Thank you. In return, I’ll send Master Levandi a message tomorrow that should occupy his time for at least a few weeks. I find his research fascinating and I’m excited to work with him on it.”

Bowing, Zelix could not help but smile at Thorn’s words.

“I’m sure my master will be quite pleased to hear it.”

“You better tell her now, especially if Master Levandi is there to hear it,” Thorn said, nodding. “I’ll be returning to my workshop, but the sooner I can get those goods, the better.”

“Of course, Master Thorn. Thank you.”

“None of that master stuff, Zelix. Otherwise you’ll make me feel like we aren’t friends.”

A gratified look flashed across the artificer’s face and he bowed his head again, silently expressing his thanks before he turned to carry the message to Master Assal. Watching him go, Thorn’s mind spun with calculations. Not privy to his thoughts, Eve could not help but voice her doubt.

[Why are you distracting yourself with that idiot? You have a lot to do already without adding another project.]

“Can I have a quest for helping him create a stable teleportation circle?”

[Are you going to explain why you are bothering?] Eve asked.

Despite her grumbling, Thorn got a notification a moment later.

*ding*

“Thanks. I have a feeling that we are going to need some backing soon, and what better thigh to grab onto than this one? Clearly, someone with a lot of power cares deeply for Levandi, and is funding his crazy project. If I can help his project become less crazy, and turn it into a reality, I can potentially make myself indispensable to whoever that is. Just think of it as developing another lifeline.”

Eve was quiet as Thorn left the artificer’s guild and headed back toward the forge, only speaking when they stepped into the yard.

[I think you may need to change your timeline, Thorn, and take at least one commission from the Great Forge. If you are right, you’ll need at least a few Destiny Points.]

Nodding grimly, Thorn couldn’t help but agree.

“Yeah, I think you are right.”

The forge was as warm as it had ever been, but for some reason, Thorn felt like it was cold. It was certainly emptier, and a hint of loneliness crept into his heart. Sitting down on a stool, he let his mental sense sink into his body to examine his connection with Akira. Every time he thought about her situation his emotions would begin to surge but he did his best to keep himself calm. Getting upset about how things had turned out would not help anyone. Instead, Thorn checked the soul brand carefully, looking for signs that Akira was hurt. Not finding any, he resolutely pulled back and began to plot his next move.

By the time the lights came on in the city the next morning, Thorn had already begun to work, starting with forging himself a new weapon. The bone blade he had been using had been chewed up by the plant monster, and he was not about to head back into the ruins without replacing it. Instead of creating another sword, however, he decided to take up his master’s advice and had begun to work on a mage’s staff.

He had already spent two hours submerged in the Codex of the Mountain, practicing his spells with his master. High Mage Keadore had been surprised to see that he had suddenly gained an affinity for darkness attributed mana, but that had not stopped him from putting Thorn through a grueling spell combat training session. Though it was impossible for him to get physically tired in the Codex of the Mountain, Thorn’s spirit and mind felt like they had been wrung dry.

The results, however, spoke for themselves. Even with only a single session, Thorn found himself gaining new insights into how to use magic in a high pressure situation. Even more importantly, by the time he was done, he realized that his mental sense had completely recovered, stretching out beyond where it had originally been to one hundred and ten feet. Stunned by the change, he asked his master what was going on.

“You broke the boundary of your mental sense, right? The Codex of the Mountain is a world made of pure mental energy, so you might think of it as a tonic for your damaged mental sense. Just being here will heal the damage you’ve taken, and besides, you’ve been using it heavily to cast your spells, so it is only natural that as it reformed, it also grew.”

“So, you’re saying that every time I break my mental sense and then come train in here, it will grow?”

Hearing the slightly crazy edge to Thorn’s question, High Mage Keadore frowned. He could tell that even if he told Thorn how dangerous it was to purposely destroy his mental sense, his apprentice was in no state to listen to him. He had known Thorn for quite a while, and thanks to the intense tests that he had put the Titan through, knew him better than most. He could tell that there was a budding drive in Thorn’s soul that had not existed before he had gone to the ruins. Little by little, this world was stripping away the things Thorn had built up in Angoril, and the result was both intriguing and frightening. Resolving to keep a closer eye on Thorn, the elven High Mage simply nodded.

As excited as he was that he could start expanding his mental sense, Thorn was not so foolish as to rush into it. He would take it one step at a time, using his new Soul Forging Technique to empower the weapons and armor that he was creating before rebuilding his mental sense in the Codex of the Mountain. Looking at the plans he had drawn up for his staff, Thorn did one final check before he began to form the outer shell.

Since he had begun accepting commissions he had been gathering bits and pieces of extra metal and he had just enough mithril and dusk silver. High Mage Keadore had recommended a metal called arcanite, whose structure naturally amplified mana, but Thorn had not been able to find it at the market. To his relief, the artificer’s guild had a good sized piece, enough for Thorn to make the core of his staff from it. The rest of the staff would be mithril for hardness with threads of dusk silver for conductivity and the entire thing would be topped by the Codex of the Mountain, further enhancing the earth attributed spells that he cast.

Making a few minor adjustments to the wolf head that would hold the round Codex of the Mountain in its mouth, he added obsidian eyes and sat back. The handle of the staff would be four inches thick, and it would contain both a three step totem and a spirit. For the totem, he was planning on adding three runes, Ved which meant power, Aupo which meant devour, and Náitrazao, meaning seal. The inclusion of the runes would not only allow him to use the runes to empower his spells, but would also give him options when he could not cast. As for the spirit, Thorn had been intending to imbue a spirit of power into the staff, but when he started to think about what he actually wanted, a thought had appeared in his head that refused to be shaken.