Dwargon

[Bloodedge]

Ambra's explanation began as Kou caught the piece of iron she threw him, and continued as he stared into that very same iron. He'd at least made the right choice in ores; that much was a plus. The mechanics of this form of enchanting were very different from how it was legitimized in Age of Eternity's lore, yet not a far cry from what he imagined it would be when translated to this place. "Iron's low value, high versatility. Sou ka..." he said, voicing his understanding as Ambra carried on. He was soon allowed to witness the technique in use by the female Dwarf, and in doing so, he saw the massive change in the iron's quality for himself. He could even sense an inkling of Mana radiating from the piece she held, and he didn't even have to try to do so. "You're definitely a master, alright. I'll give it a shot..."

The dingy piece of iron in Kou's hand could be something, and he'd seen the literally shining proof. He couldn't quite focus himself while holding it this way though, so he stepped toward the workbench Ambra previously had the ores placed on, and put the iron there. Kou then brought his right hand up to hover it over the ore, and focused his Mana from there. "Not too much to control... not too little to make a difference," he told himself aloud. Over time, the golden glow of Kou's Mana began to enshroud the iron, and the passage of more time allowed it to sink into its home. The dingy chunk of iron he once held gained its own shimmer and rose in quality by two tiers, rising from E to C. It wasn't the greatest compared to what he could once do in Age of Eternity, but he'd managed to accomplish at least something.

[Apollymi]

Ambra got a verbal confirmation of Kou's understanding of her statements. She could at the very least, respect that the lad was keeping up with what she was saying and that he understood it as a more than simple bit of information. Still his praise and acknowledging her as a Master of her craft left her feigning ignorance and even shyness as she held a hand up to her mouth and waved him off. "Oh-hohohoho~ I don't don't what would give you that idea. You'll make me blush~" she chimed, still there was the matter of what the boy had to do for himself. He took it upon himself to try it out like she'd said, and though he didn't clasp it between his hands, he managed to pour quite a bit of mana into changing the ore for the better. After he did this, he managed an increase of quality she'd not seen in a beginner in quite a while. She picked up the piece of ore and looked it over with a surprisingly scrutinizing gaze. "Hm... I didn't expect such an increase. It's two tiers of quality... if you concentrated your mana on a smaller area, you'd be able to push it a bit higher with no extra output," she murmured deep in thought as she looked over the piece. "Still, it's really impressive... nice job, kid." she said aloud.

After a moment or two she reached beneath her table once more and removed a small cylinder which didn't seem to be a tool of any sort and put it beside the lad's piece of improved iron ore. "Crafting is a matter of magic and understanding. That's a multi-tool... its a good piece to have, it takes on the properties of your mana and allows you to shape metal. You can have that one... I've never had an apprentice before so I don't mind passing that one along..." she mentioned in a strange show of good faith, but she saw in this lad a great deal of promise and she wished to see what he'd become. "The greats can look at a piece of metal and know exactly what it should be... strike it one time with a multi-tool hammer and make it happen..." she said pulling out another one she stared at her own. "But... that kind of showing off isn't really impressive. Multiple strikes will allow the piece to take the shape it wishes to be, but your mana influences that... the more mana you put into it, the more your conscious thoughts and all that, will influence it, the better the base enchantment of your piece. They tend to do simple things... increase stats by tiers, or even just be straight additions. Gem cuts will do something similar but different, they can vary a lot more too, so keep that in mind..." she mentioned. Her own piece of metal made her hold her hammer out in her hand, a small bit of pink mana filled it turning it into a tiny working hammer. She looked at the small piece of metal and struck it three times creating a chiming sound which resonated multiple times with both mana and audible sound. Once she was done though it created a high tier ring, silver in color with an enchantment that increased the luck of the wearer. It also had two sockets big enough for small gems. "Take a look at that one and tell me what you think," she said to the lad. He needed to understand that when using magic to craft, shapes were determined by mind and heart and it was something one could only really get a feel for in the moment.

[Bloodedge]

When Ambra took on the guise of shyness, Kou raised a brow and bore a quizzical expression. "Oh... right," he said, content to move on from this matter as soon as possible. Luckily, Ambra herself moved on and assessed his Mana infusion. She claimed it was a slightly abnormal amount of increase for a beginner. Strangely, she then referred to him as 'kid' when complimenting his work, confusing him quite a bit. "Wait... how old are you?" he asked of this Dwarf who looked to be somewhere in his age group, as far as he was concerned.

Upon receiving a new tool for this craft, Kou was given an additional explanation alongside an example of the tool's working. He saw its method, and saw it in action while receiving the knowledge he needed to perform the act of crafting jewelry. When he viewed his multi-tool though, he wasn't quite satisfied with its form. "Could I maybe... borrow yours for a minute?" he asked. If permitted, he would go on to use Ambra's multi-tool on his own, producing a ball-point hammer from it to tap his device repeatedly. Many small, meticulously-placed strikes would occur over the course of several minutes, but he would eventually reforge his own multi-tool into a ring. While this was being done, he took a few glances at the ring made by Ambra. "I think it's great. I'm not good with holding onto stuff like this though, so..." Without bothering to finish his statement, Kou would reveal the ring of his own creation, made from - or of - his multi-tool. "I didn't break it by doing this, right?"

[Apollymi]

Apparently being called kid, didn't really sit very well with Kou who went on to question Ambra's age. The female dwarf looked at him with a coy smile crossing her face, and she couldn't keep the teasing from her voice. "That's a really bad question. Never ask ladies their age... older ones really freak out... trust me~" she mused. "But I'm thirty----" there was a long pause before she gave the finalization to her age. "Four. Yep, Thirty-four. I am bad at keeping up with that kind of stuff..." she mentioned in a haphazard way but none of this made much of a difference. After she demonstrated the use of a multi-tool and offered the boy his own, he asked to use hers. There was much curiosity in the face of this dwarf, but she waited it out to see what he would do. "Sure, knock yourself out, kid..."

And much to her surprise, she watched as the lad used her multi-tool to change the nature of his own. It was an enchanted piece of metal and pretty high-tier for a beginner to work with. Even so, each strike of the metal sounded true and even without knowing what he was going for, she could tell he was succeeding in his endeavor. 'Hm, that kid is a true blue craftsman... I wonder how good he'll be~' she mused internally. She would soon be asked about his craft and she'd look the ring over holding it in the palm of her hand and scrutinizing it the same way she had his ore. Upon looking it over she gave her honest opinion. "I don't think I've ever seen anyone do anything like that before," she said calmly. "A tool is a sign of a craftsman's dedication. How you care for what you use to make your product is a sign of the kind of person you are. The older craftsman would call this an abomination..." she stated as she pulsed her own mana into the ring creating another hammer from it even in the palm of her hand. "But I'm not them and this... this is fucking awesome!~" she said with untold excitement. "It's innovative. It has functionality. It's a great accessory and it fully maintains its original purpose, while being a perfect fit for you. I am honestly impressed..." she said calmly handing the boy his ring back and giving him a smile. "Come on then, I'll finish teaching you the basics... I'm sure you'll be able to do something great even without me interfering too much..." she said, offering the lad more of her time, but being sure he understood he'd be more than capable. Unlike runes or things that were learned as order... crafting was about creativity and the goodness of it, after the basics was in the eye of the beholder. And she could already see something very promising on the horizon from this young lad.

[Bloodedge]

Ambra claimed she was thirty-four years of age, but the way she said this was somewhat suspicious. He looked at her curiously and scanned her statistics via the Nexus, but he never saw the Alter Ego Special Class that he understood to belong to those of his world. 'Is she actually thirty-four? There's no way!' he thought. Further suspicion came when Ambra reacted to his multi-tool ring, referring to it as a 'fucking awesome' creation. Kou's thoughts aside, the tool worked as it was meant to after the alteration, so he was clear to continue his training. With a grin and a nod, he slipped the ring onto his left middle finger and committed to focusing on all Ambra intended to teach him.

Several hours later, Kou returned to where he'd parted with Miki. He bore his Ring of Jewelcrafting - as he called it - on his finger still, but now also had on his person a few new items. There was an additional ring with a jewel slot on his right middle finger, but most prominent was the addition of two golden magatama attached to his upper left sleeve by a purple rope not unlike the one on his sword. Between this fixture and the sleeve itself now was a small cape-like attachment, and his pauldrons seemed to have been discarded.

[Apollymi]

Whether Ambra was actually thirty-four or not, she had all the knowledge of a Jewelcrafting Master and she passed as much of that along as she could. She couldn't give him innovation nor creativity, but he seemed to have those things all on his own and that was fine. When they made their way back to the place they'd left before, her apprentice would be dressed with some major alterations to his wardrobe. Miki was still within this room, several hours later leaned up against a wall, almost completely exhausted. But what hadn't changed about her physically had changed in her outright magical prowess. As she was sitting within a small barrier of several combined runes having the effect of bolstering her regeneration and making her less tired. And beyond that though her eyes were closed, she didn't seem to be too much worse for ware, in fact she was aware that someone else had entered the room. "Hm, it seems our time is coming to an end. Anything else I need to know before I go?" she asked of Endros opening her eyes. While this happened Ambra commented in the only way she knew how, seeing this was something she'd never really considered. "Aww, Endie, you could have taken it easier on her... she looks worn out~" she said chiding the man for being too gruff with his apprentice given the state she could be found in.

[Bloodedge]

"You've learned all you should for now. Go on your adventures and put it all to practice," Endros replied to the young Adventurer. He had faith that she could manage to learn and understand other Runes in her own time, though as he leaned against a nearby pillar with his arms crossed, he looked toward the next meeting with this apprentice. Endros wouldn't speak again, aside from a few words which came along with a scoff toward Ambra. "Not everyone can have it as easy as you do, swinging around a child's plaything to make arts and crafts. Some skills require actual work."

Kou saw the state Miki was left in after her own training, and he sensed it as well. He had managed to become decent enough as a Jeweler, but in doing so, he had also made enough use of his Mana to fine-tune his senses. He had considered this to be her destiny if she ever relied too heavily on Runes, but he hadn't expected such a thing from the first day of training. "I have something for you. It should help what you're going through right now," he said as he went digging through his things, producing for Miki a pair of earrings in the shape of infinity symbols. He'd made them for this exact eventuality, having given them the property of enhanced Mana regeneration when worn. "I spent a couple of hours tuning these. They didn't end up being infinite Mana like I wanted, but it'll keep you from ever being too low."

[Apollymi]

"Hai hai... I'll make sure to do that. Arigatou gouzaimasu~" she said, though she was a bit exhausted she could at least say that she was quite knowledgeable in runes and their general usage. And even right at the moment she could appreciate the hardships she'd gone through so far in order to be a good fit for her partner. "Oi! One day you're gonna respect the hell outta my skills. Just you wait, Endie!" and just like that the female Dwarf ran off... where was she going? One couldn't know but probably to try and make something the male dwarf would respect as useful. "Dwarves are really intense..." Miki murmured after witnessing such a thing having gained enough energy within her barrier to at least chuckle at the childishness of one of the two tutors. Regardless of this, Kou seemed to have something for her, and Miki looked at him strangely as he explained, he'd spent a few hours fine-tuning a pair of earrings for her to keep her mana regeneration high. 'Why... would he do something like that for me?' the girl managed to look embarrassed but they were very nice earrings, in addition to knowing that the lad had spent a great deal of his time and forethought making them for her. "They're gorgeous!~" Miki mentioned, she quite liked the look of the item beyond that their functionality made them even more worthwhile, she couldn't believe that only a short while ago, both of them had been very fresh on to their trades. "You really didn't have to... but thank you! I really appreciate it," Miki expressed managing to have a gentle blush creep up onto her face. To avoid feeling too embarrassed she went to put on the jewelry easily sliding them into her earring holes in place of a pair of small studs. She flicked with with her fingers and instantly felt a great deal better than she had a few moments before. She felt much better and moved into a more proper seating position before looking to the lad with a smile on her face. "I learned a couple of things really good for you too... but I think I can only do one right now.. so you choose sword or accessory..." the girl offered sitting up straighter and facing the lad directly. She fully intended to do something for him, and her own forward thinking let her know a couple of runes he could benefit from in general situations.

[Bloodedge]

"... Yeah, probably not happening," said Endros while Ambra ran off to craft whatever it was she had in mind. At about the same time, Miki accepted the jewelry Kou had taken the time to craft, seeming to have been made better by it right away. Kou had tested these earrings and managed to refill his own Magical Energy reserves, but because he had access to them at the time, he never got quite so low. Seeing Miki's appreciation of the items, Kou wasn't quite sure how to react. As such, he merely scratched the back of his head. "Uhh... yeah. Well, I figured it would help us the next time we have to do something like we did yesterday. It's no big deal," he said with an averted gaze. Miki allegedly learned some skills that would be useful to him as well. She offered the example of this in an interesting way, questioning whether he preferred she use his sword or his accessories. As a Saber, he had a great deal of faith in his sword. He could say with near-certainty that it would never fail him unless he were up against a more experienced fighter of the same Class, or something else beyond him. It was for this reason though, that he decided against a Rune being applied to his weapon. "Err... accessory? I think my sword'll do fine."

[Apollymi]

Ambra had left and it seemed that the final words of Endros weren't heard by her. In the meantime it seemed that Kou was just as bad at accepting praise for his gift. Still she felt nothing but happy. She hadn't received a gift she'd enjoyed both in look and functionality in quite a long time. Because of this she was more than happy to give him something good in return. What she had in mind for this was two things but she could only offer one, when the lad stated he wished for something with his accessory she stared at the new magatama on his shoulder and smiled. "Hai!~" and with that said she reached out easily with a finger and wrote a rune which looked a bit like the letter 'Y' with an extra prong in the middle. Once it was settled this rune began to glow that sage green color of Miki's applied runes but would only do so briefly before it simply became part of the lad's person. This rune was Algiz and had a very specific purpose in mind when applied by Miki in such a way. "That will help... in case you find yourself in a situation like yesterday. The rune is called Algiz, and it will offer you protection in the face of an attack. It will dissipate a while after that... but you can use the time you have it effectively," she explained modestly. In all honesty the nature of the rune was one which offered the protection of an impassable shield for a few moments when active, but it was magical and wouldn't stop things from leaving it, just things from entering it, granting the person it is applied to a few moments of safety to deal a massive blow. It was a short offering of the worlds magical protection for just a few moments, a part of the balance of the universe which Miki had a unique understanding of now.

[Bloodedge]

Miki took Kou's acceptance of her offer and showed her ability with Runes by applying one to the accessory he'd created for himself. The item had a passive ability of increasing his mana by its own merit, but her Rune made it so he now had a method of defense that didn't require his Mana. "Algiz, huh," he spoke while watching the Rune disappear into the magatama. "A... Arigatou," he said to Miki directly. Moving on, it was clear that there wasn't much at all left for them to do here at the moment. Kou was at the very least ready to get moving toward the Fairy Forest whenever Miki was also ready. "So uhh... yeah. We ready to head out?"

[Apollymi]

The rune passed on to the lad was one which he seemed fully able to appreciate. He even thanked her for it and she again managed to look a tad embarrassed. "Iia, don't mention it..." she said knowing that by her own approximation she didn't think she'd done much but be a bit helpful to the lad who already seemed to have himself together. With this and their general work within this kingdom taken care of, he asked if she was ready to depart to their next location. What was left on their agenda was visiting the Fairy Forest to talk to the Fairy Queen and get the items needed to upgrade Miki's weapon. Since Kou's side of this had already been taken care of, and they were pretty well off, she nodded her agreement. "I'm good to go, whenever you are... so to the Fairy Forest?" she asked beginning to walk already out of this castle and towards the main gates of the city so they could leave and travel by mount.

"Finally. I mean I understand getting your worth out of your reward but did both of you need to learn two of the most intensive skills around from the Dwarves?" these were the words spoken from behind this pair of young adventures who appeared in a small ball of light only to have a short set of feathered wings carry her to floating just above the ground. "It's about time is all I am saying..." these were the words of the Fairy Queen Dakini, who had never left the Dwarven Kingdom of Dwargon but instead stayed to watch the exploits of the young adventurers. She even cheered them on the previous night at their party... not that they would have recognized her. "So I am giving you two a lift or are you taking the long way 'round?"

[Bloodedge]

"Yeah, to the forest," Kou said, suddenly realizing he had no earthly idea what sort of path to take if he wanted to get there. "Err... how exactly do we get there?" he wondered aloud. Just as he said this though, the problem solved itself by Dakini herself appearing before the group. It became apparent that she hadn't actually left Dwargon when they last parted ways. She'd been waiting for them to complete their task all along, rather impatiently to boot. "You really waited around here for us to finish doing all that? It's been a whole day," he stated. Regardless of his thoughts on this matter, they were offered passage to the Fairy Queen's Forest, and Kou thought this to be a grand idea whether he knew how to get there or not. "I think we should take the short path. Miki?"

[Apollymi]

As they walked it was questioned by Kou if Miki had any idea how to get to the Fairy Forest. "Well according to Endros-sensei..." Miki would have said something which led the Kou to know that she would have some idea of where to go. But their quandary was soon solved by none other than the Fairy Queen Dakini who claimed to have been waiting for them to finish their other tasks. Beyond this she didn't seem to be patiently waiting a question was asked of her. "Well of course I waited, I had to make sure you were keeping our deal in mind..." she said as if it made the most sense in the world. "Besides, I had to find out what Gowther was thinking trying to hold me hostage, and decide if I was coming back with a Fairy Army or not. And... seeing what you two did, and what you were helping him out with... I decided that under the circumstances he didn't have any better ideas. Lizardmen knocking on all his doors he probably thought arming up was the best possible idea... whatever I am not really upset..." she said seeming to have taken a logical standpoint on everything. As for her offer to transport both the adventurers directly to the Fairy Forest Miki did have something to say. "The short path is best, the only other way I heard to get there, was to climb down into that ravine and hope the fairies let you in when you get to the point of crossing which apparently sometimes doesn't happen," said Miki in explanation of the thing she had avoided explaining. "Yosh! then come along both of you! I will show you the world of the fairies!" she said a golden globe of light would appear around both of them and spread out before rising and allowing the trio to travel to the Fairy Forest.

Continue the Adventure Here.