Chapter 47: Ch. 41: Arthur’s Journal

Far removed from our Occidanian origins, we do not suffer the rule of Marches, Dukes, or Kings, or any of the nobility that serves under them. We came to Alkerd to get away from those precocious oafs who like to parade their flatulent bellies so big they cannot see what is right in front of them. Imagine, [Peasant] as a class? No, we were simply so tired of their ways that we braved the Straits to get here. Though much was lost, we gained new classes and new rulers who were more in tune with the needs of their people, like [War Lords] who protected their people, Merchant Ladies who made sure their people’s livelihoods were great…”- A Narration by an Old Settler, Circa 1245 AC

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Arthur’s Log, Antecian Calendar Year 1527, Date Unknown.

I don't know how many days have passed since reuniting with Nora. Might be five, might be three, the Faerie magic hereabouts has no regard for day or night. It seems as though the Sylvani are always doing something 25/8 and, honestly speaking, my circadian rhythm has been out of whack since I arrived. My guesstimate is that, outside of this Faerie magic temporal bubble, 5 normal days have passed. But the Sylvani seem just fine with going for days without sleep―

Regardless, the frenetic events of the past several days have been like recovering from jet lag and a bad hangover. My thoughts are in a muddle and every waking moment feels like a bout of melancholia I can’t seem to get rid of. I fear it might be the onset of depression and I just don’t know it yet; the perpetual blues do not exactly care for propriety when they take up residence in your head. I think I need a therapist to unpack everything that has happened so far.

Frankly, I didn’t know what I expected to gain from reclaiming my memories, but I regret that I couldn't have done that sooner. It took coming close to death back in the dungeon for me to realise that I have somewhat of a stubborn streak. Uncle would have been the first to knock me one over the head and say, ‘the gift of the foolish is that they are unaware of it themselves’, or ‘there are only two kinds of people in this world; the clever, and the walking dead.’

A chuckle escaped him as he continued to jot down his thoughts. It was a rueful sound as Arthur reminisced about his uncle, the grizzled ex-military man with the build of a lumberjack. He remembered his cologne smelling like cold metal and intoxicating freon, his burnt crepes and the empty cans of beer he and his sister had to clean up after him. The man, for all his flaws, was nothing but a gentle giant once you got to know him.

Uncle Rembrandt was like the half-sober slob of a father Arthur never had—as for his parents, Arthur wondered what they must have been like. Memories of his childhood were a fever dream whose details were just that, dream-like. Arthur had nothing to go on but the stories from his Uncle Brandy, the nickname he and his sister gave him because of his love of the drink.

So far, my memories are still bleeding into my consciousness, occurring as though epiphanies and answers to why I am the way I am. Rather than the illusion of flipping a switch, regaining my memories was like opening a tap and letting them trickle back into the vast enigma that has been my own mind. In a way, it is euphoric, like rediscovering childhood or parts of yourself you never thought you knew.

But, the immensity of knowing I might not be the only Earth human on Eryth still weighs on my psyche. It feels like a noose that is slowly tightening around my throat with one end tied to a millstone of doubt and fear of the unknown. I have a building itch to get out there and start searching for my sister and probably my uncle as well. But… there is a load of what ifs that I might be too late to save the rest of them.

Where would I even begin? Alkerd is a vast continent, as big as Africa and Eurasia mashed together, and that is saying nothing of the rest of Eryth. People don’t seem to care much about the shape of their planet either. Who knows what’s beyond the next horizon? continents? An ocean? What if the rest of the plane went down in the ocean?

Even the implication that I have been discovered to be from Earth does not compare. In hindsight, I suppose that is to be expected. It was rather anticlimactic when I talked with Nora; without a frame of reference, it felt as though I was explaining colours to a blind person.

Only the Elder understood what my existence meant but he has been rather scarce and tight-lipped on the subject. I would have expected him to be the first to fish me for technology, culture and such things, but reality has been far from the truth. I dreaded the fact that he would've asked for knowledge of weapons —but who needs bombs when you have a tier 5 artillery spell that can be just as devastating?

In the spur of the moment, it finally came back to me; a reason why I thought to use finger guns back at the dungeon. The truth is that I know the rifle assembly of a Winchester from a Remington like the back of my hand. And all that is because Uncle made us clean them after hunts. Uncle Brandy also used to take us to gun ranges.

While I wasn't a decent shot at marksmanship, my attention to detail was enviable when it came to assembly and disassembly. Forget air rifles, Uncle Brandy’s penchant for old Westerns had me learn how to clean, use, and maintain a revolver.

Hunting animals with rifles back then seemed like a fun pastime—the only constructive bonding time when Uncle was sober. I guess that is why my memories of it are so clear. It is only the killing that makes me uneasy; those were just wild hogs. And now that I know how to make a rifle or a revolver by bypassing the more intricate mechanisms with magic—what about people?

I think we've already been here before, I guess that Pandora's box had already been opened the moment I thought about rifles and revolvers. Now that's a project for my immediate future.

Fortunately, the only thing the Elder seems to have taken a fancy to is the magier engine. I have a hunch that his uncanny prescience lets him know more than he lets on. He was unfazed when I stumbled into his study, and I still cannot shake off the feeling that we were fated to meet.

Maybe he has some sort of precognitive skills? It is hard to get a read on the old man, but it’s there at the tip of my tongue. There is something about him that explains everything, but I just can’t seem to put it together. Oh well,

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Speaking of the Elder, I haven’t seen him for a while; as befitting his status as a Court Elder, he is one busy sylvani. However, there's this Sylvani [Runic Arboursmith] who has been contracted to teach me. I think his class is a consolidation of [Arbourmancer] and [Runesmith].

I never realised how much having proper teaching from a master crafter could make a difference in gaining levels. Even then, by the standards of Eryth, gaining 4 more levels in Magitech Aercrafter is practically cheating.

I should reiterate that, and unless I am mistaken, it's barely been a nundine since Master Kolvar started teaching me like an apprentice. I guess learning about mana imbuement, crafting obfuscation enchantments and a whole new paradigm of runecraft can do that to someone.

Yeah, that’s right... I am a level 18 [Magitech Aercrafter]. I gained [Adroit Handicraft] and, to my surprise, I can do sleight of hand tricks now; I guess I have magic fingers now. Nifty Eh? It has broader applications than [Swift Inscription], which most runecrafters use to quickly and steadily etch runes without messing up the matrices.

Then there’s [Delay Matrix] which is like a delay timer for triggering rune matrices; it seems to work in increments of 3 heartbeats (kardions). Timed rune triggers are everything; it opens up a host of possibilities.

Additionally, I also gained [Mimetic Inscription] which lets me translate spell matrices into rune matrices. The prerequisite is that if I can understand how their matrices work, it seems to synergise with [Eidetic Memory]. I have to remember every single element of the matrix and its behaviour. I think that it’s only possible if I catch the spell matrix with [Draconic Sight]; spell matrices are not exactly visible unless you use magical perception like [Mana Sight].

I also have [Affinity Augmentation] which lets me imbue transient elemental effects from the main affinities. The effects are transient because they only last as long as I empower the rune.

As simple as that sounds it is not child’s play. I still have to parse the aetheroglyphic concepts and break them down into runes I can use.

For instance, one aetheroglyph for an affinity like Aer is a broad concept with many facets. It is easier to confuse a rune of [Levitation] with one of [Lightening] or [Aeration] than one might think.

Do you know how hard it is to encapsulate a concept in its entirety? Decoding an aetheroglyph is a painstaking process of putting together 3D puzzle pieces, which are themselves made of Rubik shapes. And the process is complicated enough without the experience of synthesia one gets from interacting with aetheroglyphs.

Whichever civilization made aetheroglyphs solved the problem of capturing concepts by storing them as something that could be experienced by all five senses. You can either see colour, texture, taste or sound from mere symbols—genius right? I doubt my words can convey just how groundbreaking that is.

Also, failed translations are not a joke, because…backlash. Wrong translations are not like bad strings code where it might just fail to execute. But

with [Phantasmal Blueprint], which helps me visualise matrices, makes that a cinch. Visualising entire rune workings, which is what they call the rune circuits by the way, is like lucid dreaming the entire process in slow motion. However, it had a cost too. I can’t describe how draining it is after using the skill.

I also have a feeling [Phantasmal Blueprint] is way too powerful for its own good. [Phantasmal Blueprint] is like a magical sandbox I can use for potentially dangerous simulations or emulations. I can also temporarily conjure what I am visualising for other people to see as well, which makes it a valuable tool for more than just dry runs for new runes.

Inscribing new workings on the fly and visualising dummy tests of rune workings would make me a formidable rune worker for sure. I imagine I would be tantamount to a combat engineer if I were so inclined.

Also worth mentioning is that my other class, [Stormdragon’s Scion] seems to have budged a little. Level 3! Hoorah for me. I acquired [Chain Lightning], an AOE offensive spell that has been long overdue. I’d allegedly cast it the second time when I went critical back in the Shallow Wealds. The first time was just pure improv back in the Dust.

(Sigh) I didn’t know that it would be so hard to level; it’s like a blank slate. Turns out Aeskyre wasn’t kidding about being what I wanted to be. What should I be?

Anyway, a summary of my spells and skills; I have managed to take down the tiers. I haven’t measured the range and magnitude yet, but I’ll get around to that later I guess.

 

Current Classes & Affinities	Current Skills ,Spellcraft & Swordcraft
[Storm Dragon's Scion] Level 3	Tier 0 &1: [Light]; [Aqua];[Spark]; [Cleanse]
	Tier 2: [Gale];[ Spark Bolt]
	Tier 3: [Gust Shield]; [Thunder Bolt] ;[Chain Lightning]
[Magitech Aercrafter] Level 18	Tier 1: [Detect Flaw]; [Basic Rune Lore]; [Basic Repair]
	Tier 2: [Diagnostics]; [Null Field]; [Intermediate Runelore];[Delay Matrix]; [Repair]
	Tier 3: [Phantasmal Blueprint]; [Affinity Augmentation];[Mimetic Inscription]; [Adroit Handicraft]
Affinities; [Aer]; [Fulgur]; [Locus]	Multitier & Untiered: [Eidetic Memory]; [Inventory Chest]; [Aer Mastery]; [Fulgur Mastery]; [Regeneration]; [Draconic Sight]

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My current plan seems to be trying to force-merge [Detect Flaw] and [Diagnostics] into [Appraisal] at tier 3 and learning Augeo magic for movement and combat. That is easier said than done; I can tell from my memories that I wasn’t exactly a jock back on Earth.

I was more like an average whizz who had to bleed sweat and tears to get my Python programs to run right. Thank the gods I had a tinkerer’s knack though.

In that vein, Master Kolvar had me spend a pretty obol to preorder an Appraiser’s Loupe as a stand-in for the lack of the [Appraisal] skill; I am still to have the artefact delivered. Its price is all the tell I need to discern its rarity.

All said, it is apparent that another prerequisite of the skill seems to be experience in interacting with artefacts, artifices, and magical items. Or just plain luck.

Master Kolvar says it might take a few months or even a couple of years, time which I do not have. I mean, before I handed the Pendant of Verwandeln off to Nora, I had to struggle with [Diagnostics] just to trigger its enchantments.

I certified it safe for use, but beyond the cosmetic alterations of its glamour enchantments, I have yet to glean the full extent of its abilities. To imagine I might encounter artefacts whose abilities I might be ignorant of is a disservice to my class. I still have questions about the workings of my ring of obfuscation.

I spent a whopping 100 gold on the appraisal loupe alone. My consolation is that, either way, updating my tool chest has been long overdue.

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I also needed some reagents for my private projects, so I went ahead and spent another four obols buying gems, crystals, scribers, and other enchanting sundries. Enchanting is an expensive profession! That is 500 gold gone just like that―a whopping half a mil in dollars.

Even if I accounted for the difference in purchasing power parity because gold is not that scarce, it’s still a lot― don’t come at me, I am not an economist.

By the way, Master Kolvar’s second class is [Shipwright]. In contrast to Dwarven aerships which require some knowledge of metals and steam engines and therefore[Aersmiths], Sylvani ships are mostly wood and sails. At most, only a [Shipwright] is needed to put a Sylvani ship together; that other class of his is for arcane wood shaping.

Frankly speaking, Sylvani longships are a thing of beauty, and there is always an effort to use natural materials. Their glass canopies are not actually glass but the elytra of giant glassback beetles; you know the see-through material that protects the actual wings?

Their air frames are tough as metal yet flexible even though they are made from petrified wood. Their hulls are smooth enough to rival modern military aircraft.

I wonder if Ascal Cornierva’s aership is the same way. The [Runesmith] is rumoured to have disappeared 25 years ago, but his property in Aldmoor has been left untouched under the custody of the Aldmoorian council.

Ascal must have truly hidden it well if the Dwarves haven't gotten to it; not like it would be easy to nose around the place with the Council watching the place like hawks. Sovereign city-states guard their turf jealousy.

Supposedly, his aership was also the first non-dwarven made aership and laid the groundwork for Sylvani long-ships. Kolvar is teaching me all about shipbuilding so that if it comes to it, I can modify the keel to accommodate the Aer-Pyr thaumic fusion magier engine. I have already given him schematics for a mock-up using an existing aership being made for an Aer only magier engine built to the scale of the Mark III.

I shall be including a hydraulics system for the rudders, wing sails and potentially, landing gear. I know that I might have overheating problems with the Mark III, so I have also started on blueprints for a heat-exchanger which will also provide the motive power for the hydraulic pump.

There is also a battery of resilience tests that will take place in a few days that will see the Mark III subjected to water, snow, sleet, and all manner of magical phenomena to see how it stacks up against Erythean conditions. That has [Arbour Runesmith] Kolvar intrigued as well.

Ultimately, when it comes to the actual task, it is a tall order to worm my way into the graces of the Aldmoorian council. I do not have much in the way of political acumen to stand up to a council. It makes me uneasy just to have a run-in with the power figures of this world. I just want to be left alone, but that's a tall glass, eh? Uncle Brandy always said power attracts power.

Nonetheless, the Elder seems to think that since I am human with an unorthodox capability to do enchantments, they would readily accept me if I get on their good side. In the same vein, Nora has been a help as she studies the profiles of the five Titled families we're likely to interact with. Nora has an uncanny ability to summarise people’s biographical information.

I know she has done this before in a line of work she does not want to remember. I think she has [Eidetic Memory] like me. From what I can tell, the Lalilabs seem like the good sort, while the Phylandirs sound like snake oil sales people I should keep away from.

Each of the five Titled families seems to have a niche and industry they specialise in. In addition, there happens to be a dwarven [Aersmith] who has been marked as a person of interest—those pseudo mission briefs just keep getting better and better.

(Sigh) I don’t know how I keep finding myself in these sorts of situations where I have to get chummy with people in power. It is tiring, but if it helps me get an aership faster, then so be it. The sooner I get a working aership the quicker I can bring my own big guns—

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The pen clattered onto the table as Arthur groaned at the three pages he’d already written; there was more yet to write. Maybe he could have been typing it on his phone but it just didn’t feel right to keep a journal that way.

Picking up his pen again, he paused in introspection, underlining the word ‘big guns’ several times before his hand moved onto another page—

‘So—weapons; cannons, ballistae, and artillery spells.

Despite the prominence of cannons I am unsurprised they don't have muskets. It is understandable, the stocky builds of Dwarves make that a moot point, because why use a twig when you can tote the biggest stick in the yard?

Again, in terms of practicality, enchanting musket balls to pierce enchanted armour or natural armour of some monsters seems like an expensive undertaking. Maybe they actually have muskets but not as widespread.

I should mention that the smallest mobile cannon that a [Cannoneer] dwarf seems capable of using so far is the arcane carronade; small, light, expensive to use, but nonetheless deadly.

Most of the arcane carronades are pure mana based while a few use the elemental manifestations of spells like [Pyro Bolt], [Cryo Blast], [Cryo Bolt], which are tier 3 Pyr and Nivalis spells, respectively. The nomenclature seems to change for artillery spells used in cannons. The three are allegedly translated versions of [ Fire Bolt], [Hail Stone] and [ Frost Bolt].

So far I have not come across an equivalent for any Ter Spells, Aer Spells or their derivative affinities in use. I think I’ll do some research into that. For example, the Ter affinity seems like it would make some very explosive shrapnel munitions. There is already tier 2 [Pebble Shot] and [Stone Dart] so what happens at tier 3 and beyond? For one, I can foresee using [Pebble Shot] as some form of buckshot.

There are also alchemical cannons, which supposedly use an alchemical mixture, as well as steam-powered cannons. Most old generation cannons fall into either type and are used in old dwarven ships. Arcane carronades are a recent addition but are favoured on fast aerships and small escorts.

A strange world this Eryth is, steam and magic existing side by side. Were it literature, I couldn’t begin to classify what genre it could fall into. I mean, if Lysfall is Solarpunk or its magic equivalent, because of lots of green and all that shebang about being with nature, what do the cities of the Dwar look like? Arcane Steampunk perhaps? My preconceptions are colouring again—what would a dwarven city with magic and mechanised suits even look like?

Yes—the dwarves have mechanised suits powered by steam and magic! A pity, though, that they don't have teleporting aerships.

Arthur had asked his liason what the dwarmaid's leathers of a spacesuit-meets-antique divers-rig style set-up was all about. The response, to say the least, had been the most shocking reveal―the Gandrs.

Gandrs are dwarven magitech equivalents of exoframes that are used for mining in dangerous environments. As I came to learn, the [Gandritter] had been contracted for a salvage mission. That’s a punny class name if I’ve ever heard one.

Galaeron's description of their Gandrs was rather lacklustre, and all I had to go on was, as I quote verbatim,’ A giant chrysalis of metal with long arms like a troll and three toed digitigrade legs.’

‘The description truly doesn't do it justice; I’d love to see one of those with my own eyes,’ Arthur thought. He stretched out to soothe some soreness in his shoulders and cast [Repair] on the pen to refill the ink. After [Basic Runelore] became [Intermediate Runelore], [Repair] seemed to have overwritten [Basic Repair] as well.

Flicking the pen to ensure the ink had settled in, Arthur continued to put pen to paper.

Gandrs were the brainchild of Zinoberro Tuftler, a dragon-touched dwarf who could manipulate fire like no one’s business well enough to melt even mithril. Allegedly, Zinoberro was not his real name. Dwarves changed their names when they wanted to make new clans or were alleged to have broken oaths. I think Zinoberro fell into the latter category.

Initially, the Gandr, which translates to Witcher’s Steed, started as person sized toys for the eccentric Lord of Inferno, Dearg the Flame Dragon. However, the dwarf saw their potential beyond such frivolities.

‘Gandr’ also means ‘Vitja’ a declension of old Dwar for Vitalis; It translates to ‘give power, or to give a magic might to’.

The use of Gandrs as exoskeletal powersuits arose because Zinoberro sought to empower his augeo leaning brethren to give them an edge over something; something that the book fails to mention. Nonetheless, Gandrs, alongside Golems, were crucial during the Fiendish wars.

I think it was serendipitous that I even found the volume on the dragon-touched and the faerie-born and to imagine it was lying around in plain sight―

That only means that the two archetypes are not easily gotten and therefore, it is common knowledge and not state secrets as I had thought. Or perhaps, someone intentionally left the book where I would find it and I do not need to mention who that might be.

Speaking of archetypes, the assortment of persons who wielded similar powers to mine tends to lean towards their predispositions. That further corroborates the way Aeskyre said about my class.

Alongside Zinoberro were such dragon-touched scions and faerie-born avatars;

• Qurmiziu Fayridian, also known as the [Witch of Viridian]. She was another dragon-touched of fire whose green flames could eat through anything. It was rumoured that she had a dark green mane of fiery hair. She was an Ossyrian witch.

• Vinter Vandrer was known as the [Winter Walker]. He was a Jhordic warrior renowned for the Sword Craft of Eistir, school of frost. He could use frost and glacial ice to great effect. He was a dragon-touched and once froze a volcano that later became Lake Myrrthea, the Lake of Mirrors.

• Wachter de Erde was an Occidanian [General of the Citadel], could turn into metal and break through enemy fortresses. He never lost a siege during the intercontinental wars with the seven kings. Supposedly that is where the City of Kingsfell got its name.

• Seinneadair Uisge was the [Siren of Water], rumoured to charm water out of thin air. The Sylvani was among the most powerful faerie-born because they could polymorph, taking any likeness, even gender, just like water. One could almost say they were gender-fluid (chuckles).

• Finally, there was Rigire Grian-Stad, a knight templar of the Order of the Dawn Break, a [Knight of the Radiant]. Legends say he used a greatsword made of light to slay Dorch Eagallach, the Bringer of Dark, a mad dragon-touched gone rogue with greed for power. There was an eclipse when they fought. Their battle was legendary; Rigire died a few months later by turning into motes of light, or so it is said. He is one of the saints of the Order of Claritas. The list goes on—

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At the end of it all, Arthur realised that he’d never break even if he did not find something that came easily to him. Something like destiny, because it was so hard to become a swordsman. He just had to find something he was great at and finesse the most out of it.

“If only it was that simple,” Arthur murmured.

Just then, a knock resounded at the doorway, startling him as he inadvertently spirited away his journal.

“Yes?” he called out.

“Arthur?” Nora said. Her crimson irises were visible as she peeked from the doorway.

“Uh...Nora?” Arthur responded. Save for the modified chromastone lamp stand he’d tinkered with to clamp on a desk, the rest of the study was dark. Two claps of his hands brought up the main lights as Nora stepped into the room.

The dhampir pulled back the hoodie’s top and let her platinum blonde hair loose; the inactive Pendant of Verwandeln shimmered briefly on her chest before fading away.

'Ah, I lost sleep for nothing. She seems to have it well in hand—lucky girl,’ Arthur mused. Since they learnt to trigger the glamour enchantments on the pendant, never mind that [Diagnostics] still came up short, the dhampir had tried all sorts of disguises for her eyes and her hair.

“Breakfast’s ready,” she said, pulling the earbuds out of her ears. It seemed more unreal to see the dhampir taken by modern conveniences; she even wore a black hoodie that had ‘Aeronautics’ across the chest and the name of Arthur’s former college right below it.

Sometimes Nora pulled the likeness straight out of fictional characters from the pictures on Arthur’s phone; she seemed to prefer the almost garish cyberpunk aesthetics of inverted bob cuts and neon highlights in her hair. Arthur had once lost it when he’d seen her with hot pink and then with cyberpunk yellow hair. However, if she asked, an ombre rainbow bob complemented her pale skin.

“I have also received communication that Szephia intends to visit,” she added. A grimace flitted past Nora's face so fast that Arthur would have missed it if he wasn't looking. Something about the sylvmaid caused friction with the dhampir.

Arthur shook his head as he looked at the woman. She'd become hooked on his phone after only a few days with his phone—

“What?” her one-arched-eyebrow look seemed to say.

“Music addict,” he muttered under his breath, as he got up from his chair. ‘ I wonder what Szephia wants; I thought we had training yesterday.’ Arthur groaned.

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