High Artificer, Ch 12: Artifice

Three days passed as Rolen tried to assemble a working ice golem. 

For the first few attempts, Sam only told him to study the example and try again. He was letting Rolen demonstrate everything he knew about runes, forge his own theories, and try until he reached his limits.

It was critical for his skill development.

It also ensured that when he did look to Sam for advice, he had no arrogance left about being able to do it himself.

When the boy exhausted his ideas and began to fumble with what to do next, Sam started to give him advice bit by bit.

“Connect those two runes on the core to the first inner plate,” he said. “They’re the base for the stabilizing enchantment.” 

He pointed at two runes on the core and then the corresponding ones on a piece of inner plating that Rolen had tried to install backwards. 

A little while later, he shook his head.

“That’s part of the outer defensive plating,” he explained as he switched out a piece that Rolen had picked up. “It needs to be linked in sequence, starting at the core and working outward. Set the inner plating first.” 

Rolen continued assembling the golem, this time getting the arms on the correct way. He was trying to add the spear with the same style of rough enchantment when Sam stopped him again.

“The spear and shield have special enchantments,” Sam said as he pointed at the enchantments that spiraled around their edges. “Look here. You need a delicate touch. They draw on both the core and ambient mana.”

As Sam pointed him in the right direction, the boy’s attempts became faster and his motions more adept. He got better at attaching the plates and forming the rune connections. 

Soon, he was testing a golem every four hours and then every two. 

They still exploded as he tried to activate them, sending a cascade of parts across the worktable, but the frequency was less and none of the failures were as intense as the first few. 

Normally, Sam would have inscribed failsafes into the core to prevent explosions, but in this case it was a learning moment, so that was what he showed Rolen how to do next. 

It was critical for an artificer to be able to control failed experiments and the basic failsafe was a fairly simple set of enchantments to stop the mana flow as soon as it exceeded a certain level.

Soon, the golems only glowed with poorly circulating mana and shut down.

He noted the development of a Rune Scribe skill in Rolen’s aura as they continued, as well as the boy’s weariness.

“Time for another elixir,” Sam said as he set down a mug of softly glowing blue liquid. 

It wasn’t the first he’d given him, or Rolen would never have been able to keep up the speed he was showing.

Rolen drank it without asking any questions. His skin turned silver-blue for a moment and then it returned to his normal color. His aura had a greater weight to it when he set the mug down.

This elixir was different from the Astral Ice mead he’d had the boy drink at first. It had an extremely potent effect on aura development and it worked best after Rolen had exhausted all of his energy. 

As it restored him, it was also altering his constitution, bolstering his Ice affinity, and strengthening his aura. 

While Rolen continued to work, Altey trained her new class abilities off to the side, fighting against some constructs that Sam made for her. It kept her busy and she was happy to test out everything she could do now. 

The sound of exploding ice, smashed metal, and her occasional fierce shout blended into the background of the workshop.

Bit by bit, Rolen’s golems became more adept as he followed Sam’s instructions, until finally he finished assembling one with only minor errors, most of which were caused by his clumsy aura control.

That was something that could only be fixed with long training. He would get better as he continued working with runes.

“It’s time to test that one,” Sam said as he stood off to the side. “Tell it to walk across the table.”

Rolen didn’t hesitate. He reached out and touched the golem as he sent a pulse of mana to activate it.

The golem glowed with icy blue light as the core came to life. A small flurry of snow appeared around it as mana leaked, but it was less than before. Its plating separated and then pulled together, sealing small gaps between the parts. 

Its joints rotated as its spear and shield rose into a ready position, and its head turned a full circle on its neck before it looked forward. Twin blue sparks ignited in its eyes.

Then it stepped forward. Its movements were a little jerky, but it raised one leg and set it down, and then the other. 

Slowly, it marched across the table. 

“Not too bad,” Sam said approvingly as he watched it. “You’ve done more in the last few days than most apprentices do in weeks, or even months. You can be proud of that.”

Rolen looked up and started to smile, and Sam gave him a nod of recognition, which made the smile grow wider.

“But you still have a long way to go,” Sam added, his voice still calm. “You need to work on balancing the mana in your rune sequences and the finesse of your aura infusion if you want it to move smoothly.

“This was with a pre-built golem where the rune sequences were already carved for you, but you’ve damaged about 40% of their structure, which interrupts the mana flow. It’s like leaving boulders in a stream. Each of them hinders its operation. 

“Eventually, you’ll be able to fix that type of mana scar and extend the life of your artifacts instead of shortening it.” He paused as Rolen silently absorbed the critique. 

The boy just nodded as he watched the golem walk back across the table. Then he let out a deep breath as he straightened his shoulders.

“Another one now?” he asked, looking determined. “I can do better.”

“It’s a good instinct,” Sam agreed with a smile, “but there will be time for it later.”

He’d been studying Rolen’s aura as the boy worked. Thanks to hard work and a lot of elixirs, his nascent abilities had reached the necessary level.

“This is enough for now,” he said. “It’s time to unlock your main class and see what subclasses you have available. You should have developed the right skills now. Are you ready?”

“Definitely!” Rolen agreed. A flame of excitement ignited in his eyes and he no longer looked as tired. 

“What do I do?”

“First, you need to complete your Class Quest,” Sam explained. “Use a shield or a magical barrier to defend against one physical and one magical attack.”

He held out a hand and a swirl of astral ice gathered above it. It swiftly turned into a slightly curved wall shield, one that would cover almost all of Rolen’s body. 

It was wide enough to completely hide him and tall enough that if he set it on the ground and stood behind it, only his eyes would be visible.

“Use this,” he said as he handed it to him. 

When Rolen took it, the base instantly hit the ground with a ring of ice on stone. The boy staggered. He was barely able to hold himself up by leaning against the shield. Sam ignored  it.

“Your class is defined by warding and defense,” he explained as he tapped his finger on the shield. “You should be able to develop it in either a more physical or a more magical direction by your First Evolution, but for now, try both.”

He let Rolen hold the shield as he gathered a swirl of icy runes and engraved them into the shield’s surface. Once he was done, they glowed with a soft and protective blue light.

“This is a basic Ice Shield enchantment,” he said. “Infuse it with your mana and the defense of this shield will increase. It will also create a magical barrier just in front of the shield. For this unlocking, you can do one physical block and then use that for one magical block.”

Then Sam turned to where Altey was standing nearby and watching. Her training area was behind her, filled with scattered enemies. Shards of ice and metal were scattered across the floor.

“Mind helping him?” Sam asked with a grin. “Let him get ready and then attack. One dagger throw, one ice bolt.”

Altey grinned as she walked forward, one of her hands already reaching for her dagger.

Rolen, on the other hand, looked nervous as he peered out above his shield and then ducked back.

“Light attacks,” Sam clarified with a laugh. “You’re several times stronger than he is currently. He’ll catch up a bit soon.”

Then he stepped out of the way, leaving a clear line of sight for Altey to Rolen and his new shield.

“Ready?” Altey asked. When she heard an affirmative from Rolen, she didn’t hesitate at all.

Her arm blurred and a dagger whistled toward the shield. A streak of icy moonlight accompanied it, reflecting off the dark surface, but she hadn’t activated the enchantments.

The dagger struck home with a clear ring, its tip bouncing off the shield as it spun away. Before it flew more than a couple of feet, it faded away and reappeared in Altey’s hand.

Rolen looked out from behind the shield as he checked it for damage, and then he hid behind it again.

“Activate the enchantment this time,” Sam said. “Then an ice bolt.”

A moment later, a light blue field sprang into existence in front of Rolen’s shield.

Altey raised her hand and a swirling aura of moonlight-tinted icy light appeared around her hand. She pointed at Rolen and a shard of lunar ice that was a fair replica of her dagger shot toward him. It was silent as it cut through the air.

The bolt struck the barrier around the shield with a cold crack of sound as it shattered into a rain of icy moonlight. The fragments dissolved as they fell toward the ground.

Sam nodded at his sister and then his attention focused on Rolen, watching the boy’s connection to the World Core as the notifications arrived.

A flare of silver light surrounded Rolen, covering him in a shimmering field, the same as Altey had experienced a few days before.

Congratulations, Icerune Warder!

You have completed your Class Quest!

Your Class Abilities have been unlocked.

You gain the following Class Abilities:

Icerune Ward (Basic).

Ice Rift (Basic).

Warder’s Aura (Basic).

Runic Revenge (Basic).

As Rolen was distracted by the new information pouring into his mind, Sam studied his abilities.

The first one was a shield ability, as expected for the class, but it was flexible. Its primary use was as a ward to enhance a shield, wall, or other barrier, but it could also create a magical shield on its own at an increased mana cost. 

The Ice Rift ability was his attack. It was intended for multiple enemies, but it could be used against a single target too. At the basic tier, created a series of ice spikes in front of him. With some effort, he could learn to fire them out and increase their number. At higher tiers, it would also allow him to tear apart the ground in front of him and drop his enemies into a spiked chasm.

Warder’s Aura was an enhancement ability, which strengthened his physical attributes, defense, and stability. It would be hard for a like-level enemy to knock him over. It also acted as a taunt ability, gathering attention from his enemies to draw them to him instead of someone else.

The last ability was a type of damage shield, reflecting some of the damage dealt to his shield or Icerune Ward back onto the enemy who dealt it. Right now, it was about 10% reflected, but at higher tiers, it would increase.

It was a good combination of abilities and Sam nodded in approval. Then he watched as the next notifications came in. 

Subclasses are now available to you.

Congratulations, Rolen Galeis!

You have met the requirements for multiple subclasses. 

I am now assessing your accomplishments and assigning Traits and Abilities that are able to influence this choice.

You have gained the following Innate Abilities:

Astral Ice Affinity (Special)

Ice Manipulation (Basic)

Analyze (Basic)

Rune Scribe (Basic)

Perfect Recall (Basic)

Golem Assembly (Basic)

Mana Control (Basic)

Aura Control (Basic. Limited to the Ice element.)

Some of his abilities came from the elixirs Sam gave him, while others were from his aura development, but the World Core had merged some of the abilities and eliminated duplicates, giving him a clear path to progress for each of them. 

The notifications continued as the core moved on to the next part.

You have gained the following Traits:

Apprentice Crafter: 

You have stepped onto the path of a true art and shown your dedication to pursuing it. +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, +2 Wisdom. 

Dedicated:

You have worked for days without sleep to chase a goal, pushing past the limits of your body and mind. You will find it easier to recover your strength and willpower in the future. +2 Constitution, +2 Aura. +10% to mana regeneration.

Student of the High Artificer: 

You have studied under the High Artificer, the Lord of Elements. A fraction of his aura has influenced yours. You have seen some of the secrets of Astral Ice, which has accelerated your affinity to the element. +5 Intelligence, +5 Aura. 

Runic Experimenter: 

You have attempted to piece together runic knowledge that is far beyond your level, repeatedly exposing your spirit to runes that damage it. This has strengthened your willpower and improved your resistance to the energy of high-level runes. +3 Intelligence, +3 Wisdom.

You have gained the following Skills:

Rune Theory (Basic)

Meditation (Basic)

Artificing (Basic)

There was a pause and then the World Core spoke up again.

You have several subclasses available to you:

Runecrafter.

Golem Assembler.

Runic Scribe.

Student of the High Artificer.

Ice Artificer.

Make your choice now.

Rolen staggered as the World Core paused, unbalanced from all the changes. When he recovered, he looked toward Sam, clearly wanting some advice.

Sam sent him a mental message, drawing his attention to one of the choices. Then he waited.

Rolen nodded and a moment later, he confirmed the choice with the World Core.

Congratulations, Rolen Galeis!

You have gained the Subclass: Ice Artificer.

Subclass Abilities:

Ice Artificing (Basic)

Summon Artifice (Basic)

Enhance Artifice (Basic)

Artificer’s Repair (Basic)

Then the notifications finished, leaving Rolen looking dazed.

Sam scanned his status sheet, noting the changes now that everything was unlocked.

Attributes:

STR: 11

CON: 15

AGI: 9

WIS: 17

INT: 22

AUR: 17

CHA: 10

His attributes weren’t too bad, although they were nowhere close to Altey’s level. 

The elixirs had helped to enhance his physique, but there hadn’t been enough time to make really dramatic changes. Most of their effect went toward granting him all the affinities and abilities.

Even so, he was better off at Level 0 than Sam had been.

“Good work,” Sam said with a laugh, pleased by the results. “Congratulations on your new class and subclass. That’s the best that can be expected after just a few days and a handful of elixirs. This is what you needed to get!”

“I owe it to you, sir,” Rolen looked tired, but at that, he smiled. “Thank you.”

With this subclass, it was clear that he could get started on the path Sam had laid out for him, using golems as part of his strength. There was a long road to get there, but he’d stepped foot on it.

His subclass abilities would allow him to put his Ice Manipulation to use in creating golems and other artifacts. It would take a lot of preparation and study before he could do that, but once the ability developed, he would have a good future with it.

Artificing was one of the rarer crafting skills. It covered a lot of domains from forging to enchanting. Along with his abilities as a Runic Scribe and Golem Assembly, he could put it to good use.

His Ice Manipulation ability would let him create materials to practice along the way, as well as to repair his golems. He would need some rarer materials for a while, but he should develop a better ability to create those in time.

“That is really nice, but why not Astral Ice Artificer?” Altey asked curiously from the side. Her words could have been interpreted as a critique, but it was clear that she was just interested. 

“This one is good too, but I thought that he would get that, based on his affinity.”

“Maybe at the Second Evolution,” Sam said with a smile as he shook his head. “Astral Ice is too powerful for him to handle until then, even with an affinity for it. I didn’t start to deal with it until around the same time.”

He looked at both of them as he considered their training.

“This is good. We’ll sort out your professions later to support your work. Rolen, you’ll probably need Artificing, Runic Scribe, and a Forging profession, which should contribute more or less to your main class for experience. Any variant of those would be fine, like Ice Forger or Golem Engineer.”

Then he looked over at Altey.

“And like we mentioned before, since you have an interest in runes and scrolls, you’ll want Lunar Scribe or Ice Enchanter, a Healing profession to go with your Lunar Regeneration ability, and then perhaps Ice Alchemist, whichever lets you capitalize on your abilities. That might work well with the healing or possibly replace it.”

He paused as he looked between the two of them, noting how tired they both were. Rolen was utterly exhausted, but even Altey hadn’t slept that well with just a stone chair as a bed.

“Both of you should search for those more unique profession variants, since they will be more effective for you than the general ones. But for now, you’re both tired and you should head back. Let me send you home. 

“I’ll see you back here in a few days for the first crafting class. We can work on your professions. Until then, try to familiarize yourself with the academy and the other students.”

He gave them both a nod. Then after a few more words, a wave of silver light washed through the hall. When it passed, they were both gone. 

He’d sent Altey back to the island and Rolen to his apartment.

He looked down at the mess that Rolen’s explosions had left across the work bench and shook his head, still smiling.

Then he turned to look out past the entrance, finally paying attention to the messages that had been building up. His hall had captured all the message spells and diverted them for later, but they’d come with increasing frequency the last couple of days.

He should probably see what Asperio wanted, and it looked like the Winged Fury faction backing Jasperi wasn’t going to give up that easily. 

They were already demanding that he release her from her bet and from the look of things, they were about to cause even more trouble.

“This should be fun,” he said as a trace of amusement flickered across his features. 

A wave of silver thunder echoed in the Void as he cracked his knuckles.