Chapter 306: Gifts That Keep on Giving

Chapter 306: Gifts That Keep on Giving

*****

SYSTEM ADDENDUM ADDED BY USER NAME: [BIG PAPA]

ADDENDUM NOTE: Can’t beat the taste of a 1,000,000 K sear. Leviathan meat barely cooks at a temperature any lower.

*****

Papa Junior spent the rest of the day working with Varrin. The epiphany brought on by witnessing Kazandak’s soul drove the old smith to new connections, new possibilities and methods.

The lad’s preening party leader had come and gone a couple of times, watching Ealdric work with a keen eye, but only after liberal applications of some kind of fireproofing oil for his hair and beard. Junior had scoffed at that. At first. Then he’d run a hand over his bald head, the victim of the prior day’s explosive adventures, and asked if he could buy some.

The kid told him he had gallons of the stuff in his inventory. He was happy to hand over a couple of jugs to prevent Papa Junior from having any further “coiffure” mishaps.

Decent guy, overall. A bit foppish, but Ealdric understood that for what it was–honesty deployed as misdirection. The kid had a fair talent for Smithing as well, although he and Varrin showed aptitudes for completely different things. Junior’s grandson took to crafting anything sharp, whereas the kid preferred the art of heavy metal, especially when it was meant to halt an enemy’s blow.

A shame that Arlo had to cut his lessons short and head north to Foundation to do something with… some other thing. Anchors were involved, but the kid had made it clear it had nothing to do with boats. After that, there were plans to visit a vineyard out in Bluewren territory. Junior was distracted by what he’d learned from Varrin’s display with Kazandak, and when he realized the kid’s tasks had nothing to do with Smithing, he’d tuned him out.

Junior had asked what had caused the damage. Understanding whether there were weaknesses in the shield’s design would help him improve it for the next go-round.

There were no weaknesses in the design.

The kid had blocked a thousand feet worth of magically reinforced tree swung by a giant. Gracorvus hadn’t been meant to stand up to that kind of trouble, especially since it had been designed for a Delver under Level 5. Junior didn’t expect to make something that could stand up to a city-buster until the client was Level 25 at the earliest.

Papa Junior shrugged and decided that he should pat himself on the back. The shield had performed way beyond any reasonable expectation, given its specs. Besides, Mr. Handsome and his feather boa weren’t Level 5 anymore, so now there was room for a little extra oil in this lantern.

The only problem was that the kid’s gear was already pushing the limits of his attributes. Junior could massage the primary stats on Gracorvus a little, but the real payout would come from some high-end essence work.

He started with a quick materials overview. Each slab that made up Gracorvus had a c’thonic bone core. The material had fair durability, but its appeal came from its flex and resilience. The bone had some solid springiness to it, but didn’t do great against direct impact. That’s why it was wrapped up in Atrocidile leather and buried in the middle of a plate of Junior’s specialty ‘scorched’ Madrin.

The shield already had two essences involved in its construction, one Atrocidile essence and one c’thon essence. Both gave their matched material a subtle ‘life’, allowing them to slowly regrow from minor damage. Not enough to count as a proper self-repair affix, but it was a nice luxury feature that those who knew a thing or two liked to pay a little extra for.

Aside from that, the essences added a couple of active features to the shield, namely some limited telekinesis and a basic taunt. The latter wasn’t pulling a lot of weight these days with the kid’s current build. The Atrocidile roar was a solid trait at low levels, but against monsters that weighed a half million tons, it was more of a novelty.

No, the Atrocidile essence was a prime target for a rework into a passive effect.

As for the shield’s inherent telekinesis… Junior grabbed a crumpled note from his pocket and brushed away some iron filings.

“‘Flying on it costs too much mana’,” Junior muttered, reading the feedback the kid had given him. He lowered the scrap of paper and looked at the shield’s busted-up slabs. “It’s not s’posed to make you fly, ya damn git.”

Junior knew how Arlo could use it to fly, but he usually ignored a client complaining about a problem, when the problem came from the client blatantly misusing their item. Then again, the kid wasn’t really a client. Gracorvus had been a gift–one that helped settle a life debt, in Junior’s view. He lifted the note again, to see if the complaint had a specific request attached to it. “‘Doesn’t matter much though cuz I can fly on my own now.’” Junior narrowed his eyes. “Then why’d he mention it in the first place?” he grumbled, then tossed the note into the forge. It burned merrily into ash.

Junior set about repairing the shield’s physical form first. He drilled one-millimeter holes into the Madrin, giving him access to the bone and leather layers beneath at equidistant points. Given the item’s state, there were more than a few places where he used the holes that were already there.

Junior reached for the second drawer down on his tool chest and grabbed a biomelder without looking. He spun it open while he kicked a few bins near his feet until he heard the thunk he was looking for. Junior bent over and tossed the lid aside, grabbing a fistful of c’thonic bone shards. He dropped them into the biomelder’s reservoir and got to work shaping the cracked and broken bones within the slabs, fusing them back together. He worked through the tiny pinholes he’d made, his vision phasing through the outer material as he spotted and fixed each flaw with ease.

With that step done he hunted down some spare Atrocidile leather hidden away in an overhead shelf. He emptied the leftover bone scraps back into their bin and replaced them with the leather, then got to work on the shield’s second internal layer. Once the internals were squared away, Junior sat back and considered the bent and broken exterior layer of specialty Madrin.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Most of the material was still there, but the damage was more than could be fixed by some flattening and grinding, followed by some spot-welding. Junior could do some limited forge welding for the rest, although to avoid weakened seams he’d need to rework large sections of the mana weaves. The heat might also play hell on the internal materials. Fortunately, both c’thon and Atrocidile materials were physically resilient. A little forge heat probably wouldn’t hurt ‘em.

Junior grabbed a fig tart from a platter his wife had brought him as he ran the math on forge temperature versus material tolerance, double checking his calculations with Big Six. He chewed on the treat appreciatively while he flipped one of the shield’s slabs over in his hands, planning his approach to the rest of the repairs and satisfying himself that this would be the path of least resistance. After another tart and a few more minutes of contemplation, he stood and made his way to the forge. He brushed his hand on his apron, dislodging the tart crumbs, and snagged an ingot of Madrin from a wall rack, then got to work.

Time flew as he manipulated the metal, returning the exterior of each slab to a smooth, flawless state. He left the last slab to cool while he went to his drafting station and pulled out the old diagrams he’d drawn up for the shield. He flipped through the stack of vellum, sliding out the weave schematics. All it took was a glance to overlay the damage he’d observed to the original weaves, highlighting the areas that’d need fixes.

He rolled the schematics back up and stored them away, grabbed another tart, and walked toward the mana weaving station. As he was chewing the treat, he stopped and backtracked to pick up the entire plate of tarts, then brought it along with him. Mana weaving was hungry work.

Junior grabbed the first slab he’d worked, now entirely cooled, and set it beneath his glowstone array. The surface hummed as Big Six purged it of all contaminants, and the ghost adjusted the bright white light until it allowed for perfect vision on the slab’s surface. With a few blinks, Junior cranked up his mana sight until the complex web of runes he’d carved into the slab years before began to glow.

He took up a stylus and began the careful work of replacing the sections that had been destroyed by his repairs and touching up areas where the weave had otherwise been damaged. The detailed work put Junior into a meditative mood, time passing quickly as he pressed the stylus into the metal, carving into the material’s identity, rather than its surface.

Six hours zipped by as he worked through the slabs, and his stomach rumbled by the time he was done. He realized he’d completely forgotten about the tarts! Looking over to where he’d left the plate, he found them gone. But rather than despair over the missing pastries, Junior smiled wide at the shepherd’s pie that had taken their place. He scooched closer to the meal–still warm!–and picked up a fork. Before he dug in, he said a prayer to Nephithaya, thanking her for sending him such a wonderful, thoughtful woman to share his life with.

After finishing with his food, Junior mapped out the modifications he wanted to make to Gracorvus. The shield was now back in a pristine shape, although he’d not yet powered the weaves, given he expected to alter them to his client’s current needs.

First, he reviewed the matrix pathways that synced the shield’s effects up to the wielder’s attributes. Gracorvus was pulling 10 Strength, 10 Intelligence, and 10 Wisdom. It also had a Dimensional attunement requirement, which was a finicky bit of weaving that Junior was proud of. Great for squeezing gold from silver notes, but with the kid’s current Level, Junior could do more, with a whole lot less work.

He then checked the links between each of the shield’s affixes and the relevant matrix pathways.

The shield’s ability to fly, float, and have its slabs divided up into independent arrangements came from the c’thon essence and pulled from Intelligence, along with the Dimensional attunement. He scrapped the attunement requirement and drafted up a full map to the kid’s Dimensional Magic skill. That eliminated the INT requirement, freeing up room to pump something else.

This would also improve the shield’s flight capabilities. The kid may not need to use the shield as a hang glider anymore, but the shield would have an easier time keeping up with Mr. Handsome when it was moving on its own.

The Atrocidile essence gave the shield its weak taunt, and that effect pulled from Wisdom. Junior could scrap the entire section, but it would be a waste of an essence. He mentally reviewed the kid’s intrinsic skills, considering how the essence would interact with each one. Ideally, he’d rework the roar into something else.

After a minute of thought, inspiration struck, and Junior grinned as he remapped the requirement to pull from the Arlo’s Physical Magic skill. This let him drop the Wisdom requirement, and the whole thing would add some flavor to the kid’s Explosion! spell.

Junior had been reviewing the System text for each affix as he worked, and he glanced over the shield’s inherent defensive value next. He stopped to scratch his jaw as he read through some kind of nonsense.

Armor Rating: High. This item will halt even the fangs of the mighty Chihuarberus, although it will fall short of mitigating the slavering maw of the Demihuahua.

“Chihua… Chihuar… arberus… How do you pronounce this?” he grumbled. “And the bloody hells is a Demi… hoo-ah hoo-ah?”

Junior didn’t have any recollection of this description appearing when he’d originally crafted the shield. He also tsked at the vague armor value. System Insight prodded him, offering context for the ‘flavor’ text, but he’d had more than enough pointless information dumped on him from flavor text before. Junior simply shook his head at the System’s antics and continued working on ways to improve the weave.

Durability and defense pulled from Strength. Since the INT and WIS requirements had been dropped in favor of skill requirements, Junior could pump the Strength requirement without pushing the kid over his total attribute draw from his gear. In fact, Junior would be freeing up a little room. Instead of having 30 total attribute requirements, which is what Gracorvus had before, the shield would be leagues better while only requiring 25. Why 25? Because that was the kid’s entire Strength score.

Junior could always pump it higher once the fellow got a few more levels under his belt.

Satisfied with his plan, Junior took a moment to stretch. He found a hot cup of tea patiently waiting for him to take a break, and he sipped it contentedly as he worked the stiffness from his back. Refreshed and rejuvenated, Papa Junior got to work altering the weaves. He was halfway done before he considered the number of mana chips this design was going to take.

Ealdric briefly thought about how much this shield would fetch if he were to sell it at auction. He smiled at the useless thought. Junior hadn’t let a grubby auction sell any work of his in decades. He much preferred working directly with interesting clients, and it wasn’t like he was going to charge Arlo.

A gift was a gift, and if it was one bestowed by Ealdric Ravvenblaq Junior, it came with a lifetime warranty.

And upgrades!

He did take a moment to make a note in his ledger, writing off the small fortune in mana chips he’d be using as materials, then got back to work.

He was more than satisfied with the final product.

Gracorvus

Unique Shield

Made with the gratitude of the Ravvenblaq family for use by Esquire Arlo Xor’Drel, this modular shield has been crafted from the essences of an Atrocidile abomination and the c’thon known as Ihbriobrixilas by the renowned smith and mana-weaver Ealdric Ravvenblaq Junior. The shield was meticulously forged and woven to custom-serve the unusual needs and abilities of the recipient. It is the first and only shield of its kind.

Requirements: STR 25, Dimensional Magic 40, Physical Magic 40

+25 Block Value

+57 additional Physical Block Value

The 19 modular slabs of Gracorvus can be rearranged into a new configuration at will. Gracorvus can divide, float in place, or move independently at the command of the wielder. Gracorvus’s movement speed is equal to the wielder’s. Cost: 20 mana reserved

All Sonic attacks made by the wielder are empowered with an Atrocidile’s mighty roar, granting them Penetration.

The shield was a work of art, more than good enough for even the most discerning, or spoiled, Delver of Aro’s level. But Junior had never been satisfied by creating something at the pinnacle of his current technique. No, he wanted, needed, to go even further beyond.

Junior thought there was room for one more layer on Gracorvus, which is where Varrin’s display with Kazandak came in. He grinned wickedly as he pulled up his designs for the Grillmaster spatula, then got back to work. After hours more labor, Junior checked Gracorvus one last time. This was the culmination of years of work, years worth of blood, sweat, and a part of his literal soul.

Papa Junior found a single additional property on the final line of the shield’s description, and he bellowed his success to the empty smithy, laughter echoing through the cool spring night beyond its walls.

This item is Indestructible.