Closed A Swing of Steel Part II

[Clyde Sullins]

39 Winter 515

Clyde rose early on the second day of his work, ready to push onwards.

Before his task had been to simply begin the change. The first step was never overly complicated, and because of this the effect it made on the item was not too large. It was a subtle thing, telling the difference between a non-enhanced item and one with one step enhanced to a property.

It wasn't until two steps in one thing that the change began to become noticeable, adding onto the effect of one step. At three though, that was the big jump, where the real change came about and where the use of the item truly was enhanced. Of course, this was also when a catalyst had to be used, which made sense as so much change was added to one nuance of the item.

Here though he wasn't going that far. He had completed the first step the day before, enhancing the durability of the sword. With that alone the weapon was much finer. With normal use it wouldn't likely dull or need to be sharpened or repaired. It could still be damaged or broken by force, but most normal use wouldn't so much as scratch it...

Now though he pushed beyond this much subtler change, deepening and broadening it. Now a much more noticeable, though still not drastic, change would take place. Clearing the sleep from his eyes, Clyde walked carefully over his glyphs, Cha in one hand and a hammer in the other.

He had infused the diamond's properties into the sword. Now he would deepen that connection to that property.

Now he began the second step of durability enhancement.

Extending out his aura sight from Cha, he latched onto the items aura. Over night the sword and its djed had subtly changed since the last time he had looked at it. A change which he would take into account in his work. Fresh djed being infused was like raw molten lead, swimming and flowing about. Overnight though some of the djed had slowed and cooled, attaching and moving through the given pathways it occupied or created.

It was still liquid, still hot and not firmly laid upon the item, but neither was it as red hot as the night before. Which made for a firmer foundation to build his next step upon.

Spending a moment analyzing the djed and flows of movement within the aura, Clyde canted his hammer, picturing the sword in his mind. Except not this sword, but a magnified and enhanced version of the sword. A diamond in the shape of a sword, as if someone had made a mold using the weapon and had in turn poured in molten diamond which had solidified into the form of a sword.

Focused on this intent, on this image of hardiness, Clyde struck the hammer lightly to the sword, releasing the djed it held and flowing it into the pathways of the weapon.

It was the first motion of many such strikes and movements Clyde would make that day in his work.

WC: 512

[Clyde Sullins]

As it often did during the long and somewhat tedious task of Magecrafting, his mind began to wander. Clyde focused of course on the task at hand when he was doing something actively taking his attention. He always spent a moment centering his mind and focusing, breathing and syncing with the intent he was imparting on the item before injecting the djed by hammer strike.

However much of the work was monotonous and didn't take skill or focus. Moving back and force between the pedestal and his tools. Charging the hammers one after another with fresh djed captured from various items and materials with unusual or potent djed. Even the simple application of Auristics he was applying to keep aware of the reaction and process taking place in the item was more or less secondary, and didn't take his direct attention and concentrated focus. He had examined the aura of an item during Magecrafting so many times now that the process was well worn into his mind. He knew what to look for, what to see, what not to see, and what various things meant. It was all rather simple to him after years spent Magecrafting.

The only thing that got his attention now was the active infusion and guidance of djed into the item, the planning and preparation beforehand, and pondering and thinking on how to make items work, of the effects this step or that step might make or how that effect might be made.

Things he did not often do while working for the knights. They mostly wanted more or less straightforward items, ones he had made before. Stronger and more hardy weapons and armor. Blades that moved faster or with more force. All rather straightforward and things he had done before.

Even the weapon he made now was but a variation and watered down version of a item he had made before. That would be a MC 5 cold iron mace he had made, which had 3 steps to increase movement speed and 2 to increase durability. Testing it out after he had finished had made him aware of something new about speed with weapons, particularly blunt force.

Speed was a factor beyond just the obvious. If your weapon could move faster than your foes they would have more trouble blocking you and you would have an easier time getting within their guard, all other things being equal. However another factor was striking speed. With swords and cutting weapons this was less of a factor, as it was the cutting edge doing most of the work. However the weight of the blade did factor in.

This was even more true with blunt force weapons such as maces or hammers. The first time he had used one of his greater enhanced speed weapons he'd discovered this. He had moved a bladed weapon, lost his grip, and sent it flying across the room, where it had embedded itself in a wall. A dagger in a stone wall. The mace in turn had been quite powerful, and was able to strike with much greater force than normal as it was moving so much faster.

As he hammered another infusion of djed into the sword, he focused once more on the hardy diamond nature. However his mind quickly faded back to speed. Apt as a lesser enhancement to just that would be his next task. His mind was lost for several chimes as he recharged hammers, tapping them on various ingredients and taking their djed to be infused later. His mind flashed about thinking of speed, and the possibilities of a weapon even further enhanced with that property. With enough speed a hammer or mace could level a wall with one blow, with little more effort than knocking through a paper screen.

An intriguing application he would one day have to test.

WC: 642

[Clyde Sullins]

Now that he had firmly ingrained the process of the durability enhancement, Clyde was ready to press on to the next step. Speed.

The natural behavior of the weapon, the longsword in this case, was to move at a set speed. However if he increased its natural speed, loosened the limits set upon it by reality, he could change the way it interacted with the world and allow it to move faster than such a weapon should be able too.

Reaching through Cha in his hand, Clyde felt out for the bit of glassbeak scale lying on the table. Hefting a charging hammer in his other hand, he spent a moment examining its aura.

In and of itself it had not changed much since he had inspected it the day before. He could feel the stiff smooth texture of the scale, see how it glistened, and see its clear nature. He was not sure how glassbeaks did that, though as he thought on it he realized it could be a useful thing for a skilled morpher to learn. Clyde wasn't anywhere near the ability to conceal himself as a glassbeak could, but its camouflage ability could be of use.

That and any number of other additions to the human body and its set abilities that other creatures had.

Focusing back on the task at hand, Clyde canted the hammer, tapping it against the scale. A bit of its djed was taken in by the hammer, its qualities ready to be set upon the item. The speed of a glassbeak.

Heading to the pedestal, Clyde stood over the sword, latching onto its aura and feeling out the expanding waves of fresh hot djed coiling within it. Through these the pathways of djed within the item were expanded, or in some cases made anew and opened. He could see by looking at the sword where the prior djed laid, and where he needed to put this fresh djed so as to not conflict.

After a moment planning out and plotting the djed pathways and the point of insertion that was optimum, Clyde swung his hammer down at the sword and its blade, stopping just before hitting it and ending with a gentle tap.

The djed surged forth from the hammer, infusing and running through the sword.

Heading back to the scale on the work table, he got another fresh hammer and tapped the second to the first. Once more there was a surge of djed, though admittedly this time it was less potent. As the qualities of the item were leeched away and infused into the item through the enchantment, those same qualities were taken away from the item.

From the time where he had made the first strike to now the scale had grown visibly lesser. Its luster and shine in the light had lessened, settling as a dullness akin to light hitting a stone wall. Its color had darkened from clear to a foggy grey, a thicker and heavier presence about it, as if the hollow clear scale had solidified and been filled with lead.

Going once more to the pedestal, Clyde spent a moment preparing, watching for the spot where the prior djed from the scale had been inserted, and working out a route for it to be freshly infused in tandem for a greater effect.

With another mighty swing ending in a gentle tap Clyde infused the last bit of the glassbeak essence. Now he just needed to guide that essence into its new direction deeper into the sword.

WC: 591

[Clyde Sullins]

40 Winter 515

Rising on the third and final day of his enchantment, Clyde let a gladdened smile cross his lips.

He was always excited to do his work, to do more Magecrafting, but at the same time he was gladdened to see a piece of work reach fruition. The sense of accomplishment, the sense of success, the feeling of having learned something new and having peeled back the strictures of reality a bit more.

As he headed into his lab he looked about, checking that everything was in order. His trained eyes took in the complex warding indecipherable to a non-glypher, and so complex as to have its fullness lost on all but the most skilled in that particular area of expertise. He saw one or two small bits lost, a marred glyph, a single symbol in one place that had been used up.

However as always he had multiple layers of redundancy built in. He had redundancy for his redundancies redundancy, on to the point of almost being ridiculously overcautious. Even then he regularly repaired his warding, other times expanding upon it, making it stronger and deeper and thicker till eventually he'd have the entire lab floor warded.

Taking up another hammer, Clyde began the work of charging them one by one. That was one task having an assistant would help in, though he had yet to find anyone to fill such a role. The knights had tried to press a squire or two on him, had tried to lean him in that direction, but so far he had avoided taking on one. He did not doubt though that if he did not find one soon they would not so nicely request that he take one on as a means of them training someone else in the rare magic.

The bits and things which he drained of their djed for the reactions were at times interesting. He found one odd bit of vine that he thought might have come from a Vinumia. A bit of leathery wing from a creature he had no idea of. Along with that was a bit of the carapace of some insect, a odd bit of parchment, a dark stone, and many other things of more or less interest.

Once that bit of drudgery was done Clyde grabbed a few hammers and headed over to the pedestal to begin the act of enhancing the items speed. The sword was already a smooth and cleanly worked bit of metal. Expanding upon its base sleekness, how it slid through the air, bending the rules of reality that ordered it to move in set ways, that was his task.

He pictured in his mind a sword sliding through air, except not air. He imagined the air had the thickness of water, saw it swinging about slowly, held back by the force and pressure. Then he imagined that pressure lessening, imagined and focused on its breaking free of the water-air and swinging freely without being slowed through the newly freed air-air. He focused on this intent, on this free and lessening of thickness of restriction as he prepared anther hammer to release its pent load.

Taking in a breath, Clyde pictured the air-air and slammed the hammer down, ending with a tiny tap. The release of djed into the sword sent a tingle up his arm from Cha, the gentle release of djed pouring forth playing against his aura.

WC: 569

[Clyde Sullins]

Through the rest of the day Clyde continued increasing the items speed, pressing on at the enhancement and change upon the item.

Each time his hammer struck, another bit of djed was released and channeled along the tasking of djed imparted by the scale of the glassbeak. Its fleet feet and fast nature was being used as a means to copy that effect onto the sword.

Each insertion of djed was slightyl different, guiding the focus of the effect through a different aspect of the sword. Each of these expanded and opened pathways and connections was woven into a overall effect upon the item, magnifying and working together to create more of something than they were as the sum of their parts.

Finally by midday he was done, finished infusing djed. All of the items had been leeched of their potent djeds, all of the hammers had in turn had that djed discharged into the item.

It was done. All that was left was to cap it off, to cool the reaction and let the effects set. If it had all been done properly then when the cooling process was completed the items effects would begin to take effect and display themselves through the items existence.

Heading over to one of the water basins set against the wall for just such a use, Clyde marked a small bit of ward in the bottom. He mixed a bit of ink with some mineral power, and scrawled it upon the center of the basin. Once the water was let in the ward would be leeched away, soaking in and diffusing.

After that he hauled water over, filling the basin half full, and adding another pinch of mineral powder to it. The metalic powder floated through it, spreading outward, just as the glyph set in the bottom diffused upward.

With a sense of finality Clyde crossed his wards for the last time, picked up the sword, and brought it back to the basin. As soon as it left the pedestal it was done, nothing further could be done. Slowly Clyde let the sword drop into the water, watched as it sank to the bottom. As soon as sword touched the waters they began to froth and churn, heating up and being burnt away to steam in some cases as they were used to cool the item off. The mighty djed's churning about inside hotly were cooling in tandem with the heating of the water.

It would be a few bells at least, but when they waters calmed and finished the item would be done, ready to be pulled out of the basin and used for its purpose for which it was made.

WC: 449

[Samuel Longwell]

Grading Complete Please edit your grade request thread so that it's obvious that it's been graded. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions/problems with your grade. Name: Clyde XP Award: Meditation 3 Planning 3 Logic 1 Organisation 1 Lore: Morphing: Copying a glassbeak's camouflage? Magecrafting: Speed from a glassbeak scale Notes: Enjoy your grades.