Chapter 340: Craftswoman (1/2)

One silver. They really don’t want outsiders in here. She thought, walking towards the big house of the smith. Her bone boots left behind deep tracks in the snow, the crunching sound overshadowed by the chickens and pigs in the nearby pen. She wondered if they weren’t too cold but looking through her sphere, she realized there was more than one enchantment placed on the area. Iana doing her due? She wondered, not sure if normal villages could afford or provide something like that. Remembering barns in more than one place she had visited spoke against it.

The sturdy door shook, Ilea’s fist pounding against it thrice. She heard grumbling from within, curses uttered in a deep and heavy voice.

The door swung open and Balduur was greeted with a chuckling Ilea.

“Hi Balduur.” She said, “Still angry at every visitor?”

He grumbled and shook his head, “Girl. I didn’t expect you today. You’re still alive?” The question at least sounded sincere, as if he was glad to see her among the living.

[Smith – lvl 183]

“Hey, you leveled again.” She said, stepping closer and shaking his hand, her strength overwhelming him without effort. “Not as much as I did.”

He chuckled, the sound like a deep rumble, “It seems you are right.” The man eyed her armor, moving a hand through his beard, “You found that? No… it’s too well fitting. A smith then.” He shook his head in disapproval, “I did not expect you to cheat on me, Ilea.”

She smiled, the armor vanishing into her necklace, “I just don’t want to travel every time I need something done. Not that I really need armor anymore.” She said, “May I come in?”

He stepped aside and waved her inside, “Of course, I understand. The craftsmanship is exquisite as well. At least you found someone matching my level.”

“He’s higher actually, above two hundred and a Dark One. Thousands of years of experience too.” She kind of regretted the mention, seeing his eyes widen and a big smile form on his face.

“I will want to meet them.” He said, a statement, no room for argumentation.

Ilea glanced at him, hearing noise from below, “Good for you, Balduur.”

“So.” He said, “What do you need from me?”

“I’m mostly here for Iana to be honest. Though I’m sure you’ll be interested in our talk as well. There is something I will want to discuss with you too.”

The smith wanted to answer something when she heard an excited voice.

“Is that Ilea?!” Iana exclaimed, the girl bursting into the room with a big smile, “By the gods, it is.”

Ilea smiled back, hugging the woman who had grown a bit since last time, not just in height.

[Enchantress – lvl 162]

“Hey Iana. Nice to meet you too.” Ilea said, the girl separating quickly with an embarrassed look on her face.

“I… sorry.” She said, “Happy you’re still alive, that’s all. With the war and all…,”

“It’s alright. Is Aki still alive?” Ilea asked.

Iana nodded, rushing towards the basement.

Balduur looked at her and shrugged, following his daughter to their work area.

They had expanded since last time, more tables and tools. Machines whose purpose Ilea could only guess at. The air was hot, then cool, then hot again. Enchantments glowed in her magic sight, more than she had ever seen in her sphere. The workshop of two prodigies. She joined Iana near the big work bench.

“Ilea? Truly… she has returned. I never would have expected it.” Aki’s voice came from somewhere on the crowded desk.

She couldn’t quite place where he was, looking at Iana for help.

The girl smiled, her deep blue eyes staring back at her with nearly runic designs sparkling within. She grabbed something off the table and held it out to her. A spike with a tiny handle, four guard like protrusions extending from its center.

“You reforged him? Hey, Aki. You remember me?” Ilea asked, looking at the thing that most of all reminded her of a steel face hugger.

“Of course I remember you. How did you survive for a whole year?” He asked.

She glanced at Iana, “Are you kidding me? No trust, Aki.”

“He’s been talking about you much nicer before. I don’t know what he’s going on about now. Did you not sleep well?” Iana asked the face hugging spike, petting its steel form.

“You’re not supposed to say that.” Aki simply said.

Ilea laughed, shaking her head, “Well, I’m glad you’re doing alright. What’s that form? Do you plan to plant dagger eggs into some poor human?”

“I figured out the enchantments, most of them at least.” Iana said, “They are Taleen in nature I believe, very very old. Aki isn’t a soul bound to the dagger as I had suspected initially. He’s a complex array of interchanging and ever evolving magical circuits powered by ambient mana alone. The dwarves figured out how to harvest it, though it’s not enough to power the complexity of Aki.”

“He uses mana from the wielder. Is that also why you change your personality after a while?” Ilea asked.

Iana nodded happily, “Exactly, yet I tinkered with that part, solidifying his current self. His request of course.”

“You’re sharing personal information.” Aki informed her.

She just smiled and patted him again, “I have learned so much from studying him, Ilea. I can’t thank you enough.”

Ilea tapped the table and nodded, “Sure. So he’s an A.I basically? An artificial intelligence?”

“Hmm… maybe. I’m not sure the dwarfs really made him. Perhaps the core was born out of mana, yet I’m not sure. It’s been too long, too much has changed in him and neither does he remember anything from back then.” Iana said, “Yet if anybody could succeed with such a task, then it would be the Taleen.”

“I can be more useful now, by the way.” Aki said, “I just need a machine I can control.”

Iana looked at the dagger, “It might not work, Aki.” She looked at Ilea, “We tried with things Balduur and I created but I don’t have any Taleen machines to study other than him. That’s why I was so excited to see you, maybe you could help me out there.”

Ilea frowned, “I don’t have any of them with me.” She said, “Maybe Maro…, yea. I’ll ask a friend but he’s currently in Ravenhall. Speaking of, I have a couple suggestions for you two.”

Iana raised her eyebrows and Balduur frowned, a caricature of their respective openness for change in their respective age.

She laughed and shook her head, “I would like to hire you two. And Balduur, hear me out first.” She said, pointing at the man who was already shaking his head, “I’m level three hundred now and I own a big chunk of Ravenhall as well as some investments in other cities. I plan to form some sort of healer organization and for that I will need gear and enchantments.”

“I trust the two of you. And I hope you’ll keep all this to yourselves.” She warned, “Iana, I found a Taleen gate key. A knowledgeable rune mage and enchanter is currently working to develop a long range teleportation gate for the Shadow’s Hand and for me.” She was happy to see the girl’s reaction, her eyes going wide and her mouth opening slightly, “I would like you to work on that. As well as something else we found. Ancient runes that I’d like someone capable to study.”

The girl looked towards Balduur with a complicated expression.

“It’s your decision, Iana. As we discussed before, I don’t think working for the Shadow’s Hand is the best idea.” The smith said.

Ilea tilted her head to the side, “You’d be working for me directly, Iana. Both for my healing order as well as on the teleportation gate. I’m a part of the Hand but you would not be associated with them, not that I agree with Balduur. Management has changed since we retook the city and I trust all of them.”