Chapter 24: Spirit Caller

Chapter 23

Spirit Caller

 

June stood and sauntered out of her room, she had more than one goal planned for today. Reaching this new milestone had given her a new morsel to chase after, to devour.

But first, she needed to prepare. A new set of gear being forged was at the top of her list. She had gotten lucky, very lucky, and June knew she couldn’t continue to rely on dumb luck and the element of surprise for too long.

June wondered if Bullin had thought of that, and hoped he had. She had seen some incredible pieces of gear on those players, and she wanted her own little treasures. She wanted to be safe. June was tired of having to constantly walk around in tattered leather. “It’s embarrassing,” she thought.

June stepped into the private forge chamber with purpose, her heart singing with anticipation.

June thought about what she could do to improve the design. A cleaning enchantment sounded nice right about now. The crusty leather had already had patches adorning its surface, but it really wasn’t holding together that well. Fresh holes burned through at various parts, where the material itself sat lifeless, melted, and singed.

With a careful eye, she noted the rivets here and there, the layering of strips to make the whole assembly hold together. The Infusion Oil had hardened during the boiling process, holding the slabs of leather together quite well. “Between the layers could be a good place for runes,” she thought, recalling how Bullin destroyed the rune weeks ago.

June knew she’d need materials, but wondered how Bullin would feel about her rummaging through his stuff. He had been pretty helpful in teaching her, but the image of his massively overpowered character sheet gave her pause. It was a dangerous thought, but she ignored it. Bullin’s rage at Kotor messing with the forge had been hot and terrible, but June figured she could diffuse him. What with showing him a successful crafting endeavor.

As June searched through the various crates, sacks, and other containers in the shop, she gathered a small mountain of different items. It turned out that despite her initial assumption that this place was a nightmare of disorganization, things did kind of make sense. Everything from Infusion Oil to parchment, and basic tools, were found relatively easily. The one thing June lacked was a batch of good quality leather.

June pulled a piece of parchment, noting down various items that she needed. Hands shaking with nervous energy, June also scratched out the steps to her project. The skeleton’s mind ran, she even began sketching out various rough designs for her new leather armor.

With a backpack slung over her bare, boney shoulder, June made a quick trip to the main forge on this level, skulking around for a few needed materials. Higher quality Mana Crystals would have been nice, but she had that stash of Tier 1 crystals that she thought should work. She still needed a few other things, though, so off she went.

 

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June strode through the door, past several skeletons and zombies working tirelessly in the light of multiple lit forges. The green and red hues whirled around the room like dancers to a song only they could hear.

The undead crafters around her worked in a flurry of motion. Hammers rose and fell, knives twanged and cried out as they were used to slice leather and other materials being cut to proper sizes. The forging floor was an absolute madhouse. Sneaking around like a mouse, June snooped out the various materials she needed. Buckles, rivets, metal strips, and finally the one thing she’d come in search of: a huge roll of Primal Leather. A large ceramic pot of Infusion Oil was also a clutch discovery.

As she walked back to the private forge with her haul, she lost herself in a maze of thoughts.

Her next problem was a more difficult one, what to inscribe. Sure, runes would do the job fine for basic enchantments, but June desperately wanted to experiment. She felt the push to create. By referring to her various tomes, she discovered a few ideas that might work. The sting of those lightning bolts from her previous combat fresh on her mind, June decided that elemental resistance was a good thing to have. Another option would be mana reservation, or at least an attempt at one. If those jewels can help store mana, maybe I can turn my entire armor set into one big battery. As she flipped through the pages of her books on runes, June noted several runes that might work. She jotted them onto a piece of parchment in an arrangement she felt comfortable with. By mixing Imprison, Arcane and Mind runes, she figured she could create the core of her battery. Time and Focus runes helped form the outer ring, with runes for different metals like gold and iron mixed in, helping to refine and tune the mana flow to a form her magic could make use of.

June moved on to cutting the leather into the sizes and shapes that she needed. Strips to act as buckles, longer strips to brace important areas. Using her original armor as a visual guide, she guessed at lengths, erring on the side of caution, cutting a few larger pieces; the straps and buckles could take care of any cinching that would need to be done.

As June cut each strip, she pictured her previous combat encounters, wincing at her own idiocy. She’d charged recklessly into too many fights. She recalled each feint, failed blow, spell that struck home. With a newly appraising eye, she considered her own technique, how sloppy it was. Should have waited for that opening. Shouldn’t have gone that way. June considered where this new knowledge was coming from. 

It’s possible this is what XP is like in this ‘real’ world.

Then came the first of her major failures. The painful infliction of her reincarnation still stung. The frosty air, shadowy memories and gaping maw. It all cut deeply, burrowing into the summoner as she tried to focus. A gut punch of remembrance and fear blossomed within her at the memories; though she didn’t let it stop her progress now, she couldn’t. She wouldn’t let her anxiety morph into a weapon against her, dividing her from her agency. Within the fortified form of her new body, protected by this renewed armor, she would feel like a stone giant.

She began her work carefully, starting with the runes on the inside layers of the armor. June felt the Jovian pressure of a thousand invisible eyes on her as she worked. She knew she was alone, but the nervousness that racked her bones remained in place despite internal attempts to jar it loose.

Rolling the tool back and forth, June found a comfortable spot in her hand, and set to tapping out her desired shapes. Brief pulses of death mana leapt from her finger bones to the tool as she worked, before being sucked into the crevices in the leather—taking root. She watched carefully as each thread slotted into place. June could swear she could almost see the individual threads of mana flow into place, welcomed by its kin with open arms.

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As June worked, her pace grew quicker, more insistent. With a light touch, she went through the next process of dipping the tool in powdered mana crystal, before placing each dose into the previously carved formations. Her eyes glinted like orbs of ice as her Mana Vision guided her path.

Each stroke of the hammer onto the tiny metallic tool was precise, as was her mental focus. With each strike, her mana flowed like trickles of water, freezing over the runes as each part of the construction went into place. Tendrils of mana gripped onto the leather, spreading like bluish veins over its surface. Each strike sent a pulse of power through the leather, hardening on its surface before dissipating into tiny bits of arcane power.

Each time June brought the hammer down, she poured her heart into each blow. The anger and resentment at being sent here, against her will, bound itself to her hammer, hanging on like an angry serpent, striking at the runes like a predator to prey. Her hatred marched on like a thousand angry warriors, intent on destroying all opposition. June’s eyes blazed blue with dark, hellish power. Like ancient shadows stirring on a moonlit night, her very being seemed alive with eldritch magic. Brackish death mana flowed out and around her in waves, pulsing in rings across the floor. Her Nexus sang amid the chaos, pulling the spent mana back in, and reconfiguring it to best respond to her emotional state. Like some infernal machine, her magic churned and chewed through its fuel, pouring its energy into June’s work.

With careful strokes and liberal applications of Infusion Oil, June began by binding the larger sheets of leather together, completing the basic form of the chest piece. The stench remained strong as she worked, as the adhesive and magical influences lingered over the chamber like a foggy cloud.

 

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The giant metal box used for her previous armor creation was still tucked away in a corner, but she wasn’t quite sure how to go about finishing the project. With some effort, June scooted it across the floor, heaving the empty frame into the barely lit forge. “Damn, that big blue bastard made it look easy,” June thought in frustration.

As she filled the giant box with water, June thought through various issues plaguing her mind. The gibbering nightmares of death mana danced in the edges of her vision. Like fruit flies, the little black specks buzzed at her. She unleashed her hungering Nexus on the little punks, content in the notion that they would be consumed and obliterated from existence, used for her own purposes. She turned that flow of power into fuel, pushing it into the jewel that powered the forge. Angry and hot, the giant red gemstone drank in her magic, pulsing the green flames to renewed life.

June placed the armor form, and all into the box as the water bubbled away. Spitting up at her, the violent reaction took shape. June wondered what to do next, and just winged it. She started feeding portions of both fire and death life force into the box, as runes on its surface began flaring to life. Over the next few minutes, June boiled the armor before plucking it out with a pair of heavy iron tongs, placing it to cool on the table. She was thankful that bones couldn’t get burned by water, as boiling-hot water splashed all over.

June let the form cool,  then slogged the armor off with substantial effort. The final missing component was a set of runes on the outside of the armor, designed to focus mana. That simple matter would then allow her to set gemstones for a new glamour.

With a final, booming, hammer blow, June finished the last piece of the runes, a wash of sparks flowed around her in red, blue and black swirls of powerful magic.

 

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