PreCursive

  Grey was true to his word, leading Azarus and I to his tent so we could get to work. On the way, I happeo see Renauld hanging out with a group of Sculpted soldiers, regaling them with a story of some kind around a m campfire. It must have been a good one, as the soldiers were ughing. Renauld saw roup as we passed them, and shot me a wink. I smiled bad shook my head.

  Once we had reached Grey’s much rger than mi, he dragged out a bundle of writing material and ope. He spread the tents across the rge desk.

  “To start, will not be actually strug a Sculpted,” He told Azarus and I. “Instead, I’ll walk you through the process of enting one of them. These,” He said, pointing to twelve separate sheets of part he had set into two separate man shapes. “Will represent the front and back of the six segments that I divide the entments into. Head, torso, each arm, and each leg. We will not be bining these papers together at the end, or else we risk actually creating a sapient being. I’ve never heard of or personally created a Sculpted made from part, but it’s theoretically not impossible. Do be careful.”

  Azarus and I exged a g that. My dwarven friend cleared his throat. “That’s iin’ and all,” He said slowly. “But, uh, do I got to be here for this? I’m not real keen on learnin’ how to make a Sculpted.”

  “As I said,” Grey said patiently. “I’d like your knowledge of metallurgical design in drafting Nathan’s new limb. If you’re ued in this part of the process, you are free to begin work on that aspect.”

  Azarus let out a small sigh of relief and started moving towards another desk in Grey’s room. I stopped him by clearing my throat, however. Azarus turo look at me curiously.

  “If you don’t mind,” I said carefully. “Could you go grab the…gold that you helped Woodrick smelt? From my tent?”

  Azarus’s brow furrowed for a moment, before realization stole across his broad features. “Ya want to use that?” He blurted out.

  Grey was blinking at me in surprise as well, obviously having deduced what I was talking about.

  “I do,” I nodded my head. “From what I uand, that gold is likely to be pretty potent mystically. And I get it,” I added hastily. “Maybe it’s a bit morbid, but…it just feels like a good idea.”

  Azarus stared at me for a moment, baffled. Eventually, he shook his head and took a deep breath before nodding. “Alright then. I’ll, uh, have to ge the design a bit, if we’re goin’ with a majority gold. It’s a softer metal, and even if it’s goin’ to be more durable because of the Aether in it, it ain’t gonhe same as it was for Aurum. It’ll need shorin’ up,” As he walked past me to exit the tent, I heard him muttering to himself. “…maybe some steel…”

  When I turned back to Grey, I saw him looking at me sideringly. Before I could ask him what was on his mind, he spoke. “We’ll incorporate the mystical properties of gold into the entment,” He said evenly. “It’s not quite Mithril, but there’s a reasoal is so highly valued beyond its luster. Gold makes for an excellent ductor of Aether. For a mystical prosthetic that’s inteo be ected to your soul, and thus your Status…” He cupped his in his hand in thought, before nodding slowly. “Perhaps too ductive.”

  I moved over to stand over the table, still filled with bnk sheets of part. “What do you mean?”

  “Think of it as this,” Grey said patiently. “The gold will work woo el Aether, aually Mana. However, ected to your soul as it’s intehe arm might fun as if it were a spigot. All of the mystical energy io your soul could e p out like wine from a barrel. Assuming the surgery was a success, you would begin to gradually weaken from the loss of energy, and then promptly die. Obviously, we’d like to avoid this.”

  “Yeah. I think I’d like to avoid that, Grey,” I said, deadpan. “So, is the gold a no-go then?”

  Maybe it had been a mistake to go ask Azarus to get it.

  However, Grey shook his head. “No, it just needs a terpart material. Something that act as a resistor to the gold of the limb. Rather than allow your soul-borher to flow freely, perhaps something to allow the Aether to be re-absorbed…”

  I crossed my arms and frowned. “Steel, maybe? I heard Azarus mention that on the way out.”

  “Gods no,” Grey said, shaking his head again. “Steel is far too mystically dead. Azarus may know how to shape the metal, but I’m not sure if he’s aware of the iion that would cause. Steel is such a poor ductor of mystical energy that it would cause the arm to bee pletely non-funal from even a fragment.”

  “Wait,” I said, furrowing my brow. “But my spears are made from steel. I have no problem enting them when I’m doh the f.”

  Grey snorted. “To be perfectly ho Nathan, the entments you’ve pced on your spears are incredibly simple. I believe you’ve only included basic hardening and sharpening arrays?”

  Hey. I retty proud of those spears.

  But he wasn’t wrong. When I’d been initially drafting the idea of my colpsible spears, I’d focused more on the meism. It had been a real paiing the quick extend and tract features down. Maybe it was time to expand on the entment side of the design?

  First, though, I wanted my new arm. I couldn’t even imagine how much of a pain in the ass it would be to get all the little gears and meisms right with just one.

  “Besides, that’s airely separate matter from much more plex entment work like your theoretical arm,” Grey tinued. “No, we’ll need a muystically reactive material thao act as a terbao the gold. One moment.” Grey walked past me to the door of his tent. Stig his head out, I saw him extend his arm and wave it off to his left, before bag up. Shortly thereafter, a Sculpted soldier hewn from brown stoepped into the tent and snapped off a salute at Grey.

  “Grand Marshall!” He nearly shouted, in a gravelly voice. “How may I serve!”

  Grey’s eyes flickered over the rank pips on the front breast of the soldier’s tabard. “Corporal…?”

  “Rockheed, Grand Marshal! Corporal Rockheed, at your service!” The Sculpted said in a loud tone.

  Rockheed…?

  Don’t ugh, Nate.

  Do. Not. Laugh.

  Grey’s smile flickered as well, as if he was suppressing something. “Corporal Rockheed, I need you to ferry a message to the logistics officer,” He said, turning around and striding over to the table with all of the paper on it. Pig up the fountain pen he was going to use for sketg runes for me, he wrote out a quick message and blew on it, presumably so the ink dried quicker. He then folded up the missive, and turo give it to Rockheed. “Do inform them that I will fihe procurement of these materials out of my own personal ats.”

  The soldier accepted the folded piece of part, and then saluted again with his free hand. “At once, Grand Marshal!” Rockheed then pivoted in pd marched out of the tent. Once he was out of sight, however, I heard the g of his armor as he raced away.

  Once he was out of sight, I exged a mutually amused gh Grey.

  You know, I was starting to notice a pattern with Sculpted naming ventions. Well, whatever. If they liked it, more power to them.

  I shook my head to clear it of useless thoughts. “So, what did you ask them to find for you?”

  “Well,” Grey said thoughtfully, leaning against the drafting table. “It’s almost fortuitous timing that we’re attempting this projeow, just outside of Silvercrest. As a mining town, it’s likely one of the best pces on the tio procure mystically reactive metal. We won’t find the best that money buy here, of course, but we’ll likely find the best that pair with yold.”

  “And what’s that?”

  “Why, Mithril of course,” Grey’s lips stretched into a mischievous smile. “As you imagine, I’m quite used t with the metal, after f my own daughter from its gleam. It will plement the Gold quite well in the stru of your new limb.”

  Huh. Nice.

  I think I liked the idea of a gold and silver-looking arm. It…probably wouldn’t be great for stealth work, but I could just cover it in a leather glove or something.

  I think I'd seen a movie like that once.

  Our versation was interrupted by Azarus returning with a ed bundle held in his arms. That robably my portion of the gold hewn from our fallen rade.

  “Ah! Azarus,” Grey said, pushing off of the table. Said dwarf stopped in pce, blinking in surprise. “Hold onto that for now. I’ve sent away for an amount of Mithril to be included in the design. You get started on the physical design, while Nathan and I work on the mystical part.”

  Azarus sighed, reag up to massage his brow. “Mithril,” He muttered. “All right, yeah. I see how that’d work. I don’t got much experience w Mithril, though, so ye’ll o walk me through it when it es time for the hammerin’.”

  “Of course, of course,” Grey nodded enthusiastically. “This be a learning experience for you as well, since you’re ued in the entment. Now! Let’s get started, Nathan. e over here.” He said, waving me closer.

  I did as Grey asked, walking over to stao Grey at the drafting table.

  My mentor picked up his pen once more and begag runes onto the topmost piece of part. “We start with the head. Now, I call this an accumution array…”

  The rest of the day, the only thing that we finished was the base entment design for a Sculpted. We didn’t eve anywhere oual entment design for the arm itself. I don’t even think Azarus got very far on the physical design, judging by the mutters and cursing that would float our way from his bench. Well, that and the growing mountain of crumpled-up part o him.

  Near dusk, Coporal Rockheed returhis time carrying a rge sa his arms. With a thank you and a dismissal, Grey took it to see what the logistical officer of this camp had been able to find for us.

  Inside were about a dozen hunks of raw ore, dark grey in color. Tilted in the light, I could see a silvery refle ione. Grey let out a satisfied the sight, while Azarus cursed again.

  I was a bit fused by the differeions.

  An amused Grey filled me in, though. “Smelted Mithril is notoriously hard to extract from the raw ore. From this entire hefty sack,” Grey held it up, letting me see that it was rger than my torso. “We’ll likely only recover, oh, perhaps two bars worth of usable metal. This part, at least, Azarus won’t need my assistah.”

  “Yeah, yer right,” Azarus grumbled. “Me old master had me doin’ this all the time. I’ll go get started on this, and e back to the draftin’ ter.” At that, Azarus took the hefty sad left to find a fe suitable for his purposes. I doubt the little portable one he had bought ba Hollow Hill was good enough for this.

  “Well!” Grey said, g his hands once Azarus was gone. “I think that’s enough for now. I trust you have to work with now, Nathan? You were primarily ied in the Sculpted entment arrays as the basis for your new limb.”

  I nodded slowly. Yeah, I had some ideas. I already had my middle and core thought rings w on it.

  But…

  Well, whatever. No reason t it up yet.

  “I’ll think about it tonight,” I said to Grey.

  “Marvelous,” He said, striding towards the exit of his tent. “In that case, I’m quite eager to see how Sylvia and Honoka are ing along. It’s entirely possible that they’ve fihe design for my dear daughter’s Assion Ritual.”

  I hurried to catch up with him. “Assion Ritual, huh?” I said, looking at Grey from the er of my eye.

  Grey a passing group of soldiers, causing them to salute him. He then turned bae. “Yes, that’s what we call the Rite o break through the breakpoints. Things will ge quite dramatically for her once she’s pleted the first one. As I’ve told you, that’s the point at which you begin to gee your own Mana or Ki from the raw Aether of your soul,” Grey gave me a sidering look. “I’m curious, Nathan. How close are you to the one hundred mark?”

  I felt a sliver of unease down my spine, but didn’t let it show on my face. “What, don’t want to Observe me?” I teased, causing Grey to roll his eyes. Still, I decided to be at least a little ho. “I’m currently level sixty-three.”

  Grey stopped in pce, blinking rapidly. “Sixty-three?” He said, disbelief thi his voice. “We haven’t entered nearly enough monsters on our journey, nor did I think you were crafting enough. How have you reached such a point…?”

  I took a deep breath, trying to tamp down on old aies. Still, I…didn’t answer him. I couldn’t get the words out, about how I could just kill people a levels.

  Grey must have seen something on my face, because he gave me a sidering look. “Later,” He promised, dropping the subject for now. He smiled at me. “Let’s go che with the girls, eh?”

  Yeah…

  That sounded…fine.

  I followed Grey to the private dini from earlier, where we were most likely to find Sylvia and Honoka.

  I’d rather see them than talk about my murderous growth.