Chapter 173: The Art of Artifice (1/2)
By the time Mike got back to the dorm, Sera and Tal had gone to bed, leaving him alone in the study. Brenden was still out from the looks of it, but he figured that the beastman might not come back for the rest of the night, at the very least.
[Alright, let's see what I can do in the meantime.]
He broke out the book on Artifice, and began reading through it. The skill seemed like his best bet of creating potent magic items for both himself and his friends. Unfortunately, he could already tell that it was going to be time consuming and expensive to master.
Artifice worked by encoding arcane runes into an object in such a way that they create a magical effect by drawing in ambient mana. As powerful as that sounded, there were several limitations that needed to be overcome before he could really make use of it. The most difficult was, once again, the quality of materials.
Apparently, virtually all forms of matter on Ea had some level of mana conductivity, but only a few substances were usable from a crafting standpoint. Mana cores pulled from dungeon monsters were the most prevalent, with higher grades being more useful than lower. Their involvement in the item crafting industry was the major reason why dungeon delving was such a profitable occupation, despite its dangers.
However, mana cores alone were not enough to create magic items with Artifice. They also required special materials that would assist the runes in forming the intended effect. These could come from a number of sources including monsters, particularly magical plants, mined minerals, and even alchemically crafted goods. The type of material needed depended a great deal on the kind of magic item the user is looking to create. Attempting to use materials that weren't well suited could lead to an unusable item or even a complete failure, wasting the ingredients.
For instance, the Mosswood Deer hide he'd collected as part of a guild request would work well in the creation of items designed to improve stealth skills, but it would be ineffective if used to enhance strength or resist fire.
So it seemed like he would need to first identify what items he wanted to make, research the required materials, acquire them, and finally craft the thing.
[This might be tough.]
However, he was getting ahead of himself. First he needed to acquire the skill itself.
He pulled out a few strips of troll hide he'd pocketed the night after the Tennundian attack. According to Appraise, they could be used in the creation of minor magic items related to healing. He wasn't expecting anything really impressive, but it might be a good place to start. Using a careful application of Fire Magic, he cut the untreated skin into three long strips.
”Now let's see here. It looks like I need to use one of several methods to embed the runes into the object…..The most effective is through mana carving, an ability gained by Tier 3 Artificers…well that's not an option for me.”
Mike had stated talking to himself unconsciously, and the sound of his voice evidently woke Audra. In a rare act of independence, she flopped out onto the table, sniffed the strange leather strips, and started chewing on one.
Sighing, Mike pulled the troll hide away from the little dragon and then picked her up. ”That's not for you.”
He set her down on another part of the desk, and figuring that she was hungry, placed a peach-like fruit he'd picked up the market next to her. It didn't take much effort to encourage her to start eating, and the fruit swiftly disappeared into her black hole of a stomach, pit and all. Of course, it wasn't long before she started eyeing the strip of hide again.
With another sigh, Mike passed her the piece she'd already been chewing on, figuring that it would buy him a few minutes of concentration at the very least. Although, watching Audra gnaw on the tough strip of skin was distracting in a different way.
Making himself focus, he continued his reading. The other usable methods involved painting the runes on with a mana infused ink in a manner similar to Scrivening, or carving them in by hand. These options only worked well if the material itself was durable enough to hold the symbols without warping them, which was why most junior artificers working primarily in wood and stone.
Frowning, Mike looked down at the leathery skin he was planning on using. Figuring that this was merely an attempt at acquiring the skill, he decided to roll with it. Taking out a brick of charcoal and a fresh low-grade mana core, he used his alchemy mortar and pestle to grind them into a fine, black powder. Mixing in a little mana-infused water, he broke out his Scrivening pen and prepared to try his hand at Artifice.
According to the book, it was recommended to use a brush when painting runes, which gave expert artificers a finer level of control on the thickness, width, and intensity of certain runes as they related to the finished spell matrix. Frowning once more, he put the pen away, and after scrounging through the study for a while, he came across a neglected calligraphy brush at the back of one of the desk's drawers.
Dipping his newfound writing utensil in the ink, he began painting runes related to healing on the first scrap of troll hide with the aid of his Communication Magic as a translator for his intentions. It was proving to quite difficult. The hide itself refused to remain still long enough for him to make much headway, the brush was hard to control properly, and he was having a tough time maintaining a steady flow of mana to the project.
[Maybe I should go find some kind of stone to work on. At the rate its going, this is going to end up a failure.]
After nearly an hour of painstaking effort, he finished the crude work. A dim flash of mana ran along the painted lines, signaling the item's completion. He'd evidently succeeded despite the difficulties he'd encountered up to this point. However, a quick Appraise showed him the disappointing results.
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{Flawed Trollhide Bandage}
Magic Item (Tier 1, Rank 0)
A shoddy creation of an amateur Artificer using the most rudimentary materials. Ordinarily, such an item would assist in the passive healing rate of injuries wrapped by them. However, the poor craftsmanship has drastically reduced the intended effect, making this item effectively useless.
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This was just further evidence that the System had a twisted sense of humor. If he ever met its creators, he was going to have a long chat with them about taking their job seriously.
[Hardly an auspicious start. Let's see if I at least unlocked the skill.]
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- Basic Artifice (Tier 2, Rank 1) -
Through a comprehensive mastery of one of the runic languages, the user of this skill is capable of creating rune-inscribed magic items. The effect and potency of these items are directly related to the quality of the composite materials, the skill of the crafter in question, and the synergy of all components working towards the intended effect. Higher levels of skill improve understanding and memorization of runes as they apply to crafting, enhance the potency and efficiency of crafted items, and reduces mana resistance in component materials.
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[Alright, time for try number two.]
Repeating the same process proved simpler, as his understanding of each of the component steps improved dramatically with the successful acquisition of the skill. In a short span of time, he'd completed another of the bandages, and used Appraise in the hopes that his efforts had borne fruit.
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{Trollhide Bandage}
Magic Item (Tier 1, Rank 2)
Created from strips of untreated troll hide, these bandages enhance the natural healing rate of injuries they are used to bind. Moderate increase to the healing rate of covered injury. Can be used for a total of three hours before being expended.