Magic_Smithing
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Ch: 118.5
🕑 Added 2023-04-29 08:02:35 +0000 UTCI always enjoyed working around other people, even if I was the only one doing the work. There was just something about having somebody watching me that always made me want to do my best.
This was not one of those times.
I could deal with Tabitha giving me advice on any number of subjects, but smithing was not one of them.
“Are you sure you’re not going to ruin it?” Tabitha anxiously asks over my shoulder.
"I'm trying not to," I growl. I had already asked her to back up multiple times, and while she listened to me for a second, it didn't take long before she was hovering over me again, which was impressive, seeing how she was shorter than me.
"It's just my armor is essential to me and cost me quite a lot of money,” Tabitha reminds me for the dozenth time.
"I don't think I can do anything to make it worse," I reply snarkily, but we both know that isn't exactly true. Sure, Tabitha's armor had a massive dent in it, but the enchantments were still holding firm, and as long as they were still functioning correctly, the armor wasn’t technically destroyed. But if I did anything to accidentally compromise the many crisscrossing runes on the inside of the breastplate, I could do just that.
Tabitha looks at me with pleading eyes, making me sigh in defeat. "Fine, come over here,” I wave her next to me. “If you’re going to hover so closely, you might as well help me. Hold your breastplate steadily,” I instruct her. In truth, I was going to have to ask her to help me anyways, but it was better to make her think she wore me down.
Tabitha nods happily and moves as I direct her. I was stronger now and could probably swing my hammer with one hand, but I wouldn’t have much control. If I was going to fix Tabitha’s armor, it was better for me to have access to both my hands, and considering I didn't have any tools to secure her breastplate to the stone bench I was using as a workstation, she was going to need to hold her armor in place for me.
“No, like this,” I adjust Tabitha’s grip so her hand is as far away from the spot I'm working on to be safe. After all, Tabitha only had one working arm at the moment, and I didn't want to make things worse.
“Like this?” Tabitha asks inquisitively.
“Yeah, like that; just keep it as still as you can,” I anchor myself to the ground using Magic Threads and bring my hammer up.
Tabitha visibly flinches as I swing my hammer down. I’ve seen her caught off guard multiple times, most recently with the winged serpent, but she rarely flinches and never because she’s scared. Well, now, she looked terrified. I wanted to chastise her for having so little faith in me, but I was too busy focusing on my swing. That and I felt bad for her.
I wish I could've had the chance to heat her breastplate before trying to hammer the dent out, but I didn’t have the supplies to do so or the knowledge to heat something already enchanted. Plus, there was very little to burn down here, and even if I could find and gather enough scrap wood to make a fire, it wouldn’t be hot enough to affect the metal in the first place. And I couldn't heat it with magic either, as Tabitha’s breastplate had an enchantment to resist such things. So, the only thing I could do, was hammer the dent as is.
Using a combination of Precise Strike and Weighted Strike, I slam my hammer down with everything I have. The sound of ringing metal fills the room as I swing my hammer repeatedly, trying to fix the dent. But Tabitha’s tier 4 armor refuses to make my life easy.
After four full-powered swings, the metal barely moves an inch, but I don’t give up. Even if it's only slightly, I am making a difference. And seeing how my Stamina was full and I had nothing else to use it on, I might as well go until my arms gave out.
Slowly and agonizingly, I sweat over the piece of armor, only pausing momentarily to ask Tabitha if she was holding out okay. "Can you go on?" I wheeze halfway through, pounding out the dent.
Tabitha was sweating too, but not for the same reason. “I can go on,” she groans. I was sweating because I was using multiple skills simultaneously back-to-back, but she was sweating because she was holding onto her armor. Each of my swings sent powerful shockwaves through her armor and subsequently into her.
“Are you sure; we can pause for a bit?” I offer. Tabitha’s armor and the bench absorbed most of the kinetic energy but not all of it. I was worried all the vibrations might be aggravating her wounds too much.
“Hurry up and fix my armor because once you stop, I’m putting it back on, and I’m not taking it off again,” Tabitha threatens. Of course, I knew she was only partially serious, but if that was how she felt, who was I to stop her?
“Alright,” I’ll try to hurry. I lift my hammer over my shoulder again.
“Just do it right,” Tabitha says nervously, her tough exterior cracking momentarily, betraying how she truly felt.
I pretend not to notice how uncomfortable she is, choosing to simply nod and continue working.
The winged serpent did a number on Tabitha's armor. It took all my strength to move the metal barely, and the lesser dragon obliterated Tabitha’s shield and dented her chest piece almost on a whim. I’ll be able to straighten the dent out, but how will we deal with a monster that can hit that hard?
Tabitha's shield was gone, and just because I was pounding out the dent didn't mean her breastplate would be magically back to the way it was. Without properly reforging it, Tabitha’s armor will be forever weaker where it was dented. I haven't told her yet, as that conversation was sure to be painful, but Tabitha would have to be extra careful in the future. The only thing I could do was make it so it was no longer painful for her to wear.
Honestly, though, I'm surprised how much the armor took and how well it was still holding up, specifically the runes. I tried studying their 3D structures whenever Tabitha let me, so I was familiar with how complicated they were. And yet, even though multiple runes were stretched with the metal, the enchantment still functioned properly.
The basic runes I knew were extremely fragile, so seeing the much more intricate versions withstand not only the snake's strike but my hammer blows left me curious if there was something different about these or were higher tier runes just stronger than basic ones. I want to meet the artisan who enchanted it, but first, we must make it out of here alive.
“Almost. And there,” I swing my hammer for the last time. Wiping the dripping sweat from my face, I examine my work. It’s only a patch job, and I could only make it as flat as I did because the metal only deformed under the snake’s strength and was never torn, but considering my lack of tools, I was proud of my work.
“Can you help me put it on?” Tabitha asks in a monotone voice, but her eyes practically plead for me to help her.
“Of course,” I smile reassuringly. But while I'm helping her secure her Amor, I decide to suck it up and rip the band-aid off before I chicken out further. “I patched your armor, but" I struggle to deliver the bad news.
“But my armor will need to be replaced,” Tabitha finishes my thought for me, catching me off-guard.
“You knew?” My eyes widen, and I step back in shock.
“This isn’t the first time I’ve been forced to replace a piece of armor,” Tabitha lets out a long sigh and, with her right hand, rubs the spot where the dent used to be. The spot stood out as the metal was now a lighter shade than the rest of it, another sign that its structure was compromised.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” I hang my head apologetically.
“Why must you blame everything on yourself?” Tabitha rolls her eyes. "You did what you could; it was my inadequacies that led us to where we are now. We can blame ourselves all we want, or we can move on. Just like the potions, my armor did its job. Of course, I'll need to replace it, but that's a task for later." Tabitha said everything without emotion but was still affectionately rubbing her armor with a slight frown.
“I’ll do my best to help you get new armor, even if I have to make it myself,” I say, not as her student but as a friend.
“I look forward to it,” Tabitha's lips curl up and treat me to a rare smile that had nothing to do with battle. But, sadly, it doesn't last long. “Well, we ate most of our food, and you fixed up my armor, ready to check out the chamber you told me about?”
While eating, I told Tabitha about the death-filled chamber I sensed below us. She wanted to check it out, but why did it feel like she was deflecting? It was almost like she was trying to distract herself, which was okay, but I had two more things I wanted to do before we went down.
“Can we actually rest here for one more day?” I hesitantly ask.
“Really, I thought you would want to explore the most?” Tabitha is surprised by my request.
“Trust me, I do,” I stress. “But I gained a lot of skill levels I didn't have when practicing around the crater. So, if it's okay with you, I want to try and break through Mana Skin's test while everything is still relatively fresh in my mind. I wanted to try earlier, but I only now have the mana to spare, and if we go down, I have no idea if that will still be the case.”
It was left unsaid that we might encounter danger down there, and while we were more prepared for it, I wanted to improve my defenses before we ran into the next hurdle.
“I understand," Tabitha sighs. "If you need time, we can stay here for a day.” She slowly lowers herself and sits on the stone bench we used to fix her armor. "It's probably best I finish healing anyways,” she lazily comments before closing her eyes.
Again, Tabitha was putting my needs above what she wanted to do. I briefly considered putting my training off until later, but that would be thinking with my heart rather than my brain. It sucked seeing Tabitha down in the dumps, and I could only imagine how bored she must be after the last three days, but there was simply no better time for me to improve one of my most valuable skills.
So, before I give in to my emotions, I turn away from a seemingly resting Tabitha. Her light spell was still hovering over her shoulder, illuminating the room, so I knew she wasn’t really asleep. Instead, she probably just closed her eyes to give me a sense of privacy.
Moving a few feet away, I sat on one of the other intact stone benches in the room, and surprisingly, it was pretty comfortable. Like everything else, it was made from force-absorbing stone, so even though I was sitting on a stone, it felt softer, almost like wood. The bench was the perfect place to meditate, but before I did that, I shook out my legs and rolled my shoulders.
Most likely, I won’t be moving for an extended period, and I didn't want my still-healing body to lock up from the lack of movement.
While stretching, I steal one last glance at Tabitha, who still hasn’t opened her eyes again. It’s hard for her to sit there and do nothing, but it's crucial she heals properly.
Besides a few strips of jerky and a quarter of a waterskin left, we were out of supplies, so the countdown had officially begun. We had at max three days to prepare ourselves before our hunger pains returned and our fighting potential started detreating. But if I were to be any help in the coming battle, I would need to strengthen my defenses.
Closing my eyes, I sink into a meditative state. I could easily jump into trying to improve my skill, but I didn't want to rush this. I mean, I did, but I wasn't.
First things first, I regulate my breathing and examine Mana's Skin's existing barriers. After resting for three days, my skill was back to 100%, and all three layers were going strong. In between the barriers were small gaps, which I had filled with varying degrees of the death mana. It was a little funny because after absorbing the soul horrors, the toxic mana down here had started to clear up, and now the mana held between the layers of Mana Skin was more toxic than the stuff around us.
Creating a channel between my barriers, I let out all the compressed ambient mana as it would complicate things. I then reabsorb barriers two and three and am left with only a single barrier protecting me from the high levels of ambient mana.
Now that I think about it, I should see how bad it is without my skill now that I’ve gained seven levels. Reabsorbing the last barrier protecting me, I suddenly feel the total weight of the ambient mana around me. It felt like it was trying to rush into me, but my natural resistance kept the high mana levels at bay. I’m absorbing more ambient mana than I would like, so I quickly reactivated my skill, but it was nice knowing I could survive without it if I absolutely needed to.
Now for step two; while leaving a single barrier active, I mold my mana into threads. One by one, I knit my mana into hundreds of threads. This was where I previously started having problems, but it felt different this time. When I was practicing outside the crater, I could form the threads just fine, but now it felt like I had much greater control over them, so I continued confidently.
Very carefully, I start overlapping the threads. Usually, they would break down and meld together, but after using them to stitch Tabitha’s arm back together, keeping them separate felt like child’s play.
From a numbers perspective, I only gained two levels in Mana Manipulation and four in Magic Threads, but those six levels made all the difference. Mana Manipulation was tier 3, and Magic Threads was tier 4; sometimes, I forget because I have so many strong skills, but both were extremely powerful, and it was almost unheard of to gain that many skill levels at once.
I’d already passed two tests in Mana Manipulation, and after each one, my skill became harder to level, yet I earned not one but two levels for what I did. Because of the jump, I could feel the difference in how I could control my mana, and it was much easier to get it to do what I wanted.
Leveling Magic Threads also helped, and at the rate it was improving, it wouldn't be long before it reached level 40 and its first test. And as I think that, I sense a slight shift in my soul, and the threads become even easier to manipulate. I don’t even need to pull up my status page to know, Magic Threads leveled again, and hopefully, it wasn’t the last time.
It’s painstaking work, but I slowly conjure more threads of mana and continue to weave them together. I start small with a washcloth-sized piece of mana fabric, but it slowly grows as I add more mana to it. What I'm doing is quite mana intensive, but once I get it to the correct size and merge it with Mana Skin, it will be worth it.
After what feels like hours of molding and weaving my mana, eventually, I have a blanket of mana wrapped around me. I was tired beyond belief and sweating up a storm, but I couldn’t stop now. Controlling the blanket, I start squeezing it around me. I needed the weave to be as tight as possible if I wanted it to protect me.
The blanket feels like it’s crushing me more than the ambient mana in the crater did, but I push on. The threads threaten to give and meld into one another, but I don’t let them. Instead, I keep compressing everything until my mind and body are screaming for me to stop, and that's when I do it. I forcefully bind the tight fabric-like magic to my existing Mana Skin barrier.
The skills don’t mesh immediately and try to repel one another, but I refused to let that happen. I use all my magic skills to hold everything together through sheer force of will. And then it happens.
Finally, my skills stop fighting each other and lock together, and I feel a small explosion of experience in my soul. My eyes snap open, and I suck in a large breath of air. Through the sweat dripping into my eyes, I see Tabitha watching me with a smile on her face. “I take it you succeeded,” she beams at me.
“Was there any doubt?” I cockily reply.
“Not even for a second,” Tabitha replies without missing a beat.
Bringing my hands up, I slowly flex them, testing how everything feels. Luckily, there was no difference between my new type of barrier and the old one. The weave barrier took more concentration to keep up, so I couldn't form a third regular barrier on top of it, but that was okay for now.
It would require some testing, but I was confident my new two-barrier system would outperform my old three-barrier system many times over. Even now, I note one significant difference between the two. Mana Skin's old barriers were excellent at regulating how much ambient mana came into contact with me, but there was always a steady trickle, whether I liked it or not. But now, that trickle was cut off.
The only mana my weave barrier let through was what I purposely let in. It couldn't penetrate my new defenses even in this high mana environment. This was a game-changer.
I was practically vibrating with excitement. I wanted nothing more than to suggest we rush down to the weird mana anomaly I sensed, but my better judgment kept me from doing so. I finally leveled Mana Skin, but it wasn’t without cost.
My mana levels were down to about 40%; nothing that would affect my regain rate, but it will take some time to rectify it.
“You look happy,” Tabitha nods approvingly at me.
“I’ll need to test it, but I’m hoping I’ll finally be able to help you against the winged serpent,” I try to project my resolve.
“We’ll see about that.” Tabitha doesn’t immediately reject my offer, which makes me happy, but I know I'll need to prove myself before she lets me put myself at risk. “I take it you need some time to regain your mana?”
“I could probably be back to full in ten hours," I stretched my arms as they felt a little sore. "How long did I take?”
“You’ve been sitting still for the past four hours,” Tabitha quirks an eyebrow.
"Sounds about right," I'm not surprised. Weaving countless threads of mana took time, after all.
“Are you done?” Tabitha asks, shifting on her bench.
“Mostly, but there’s one more thing I want to check,” I tell her. “But I can do it while I’m recovering. The only problem is, it will require even more focus, so I’ll need you to continue watching over me if that’s okay with you.”
“More focus?” Tabitha tilts her head to the side in confusion.
“Yeah, technically, I’ll be asleep. Do you remember what I told you about using your new skill on your soul? I'm doing that," I don't hold back explaining what I'm doing, as I already told Tabitha what her skill is capable of.
"You want to go into your soul!" Tabitha's calm persona shatters and her eyes widen in shock. "Why would you want to do that?”
“Well, it’s a great place to rest,” I rub the back of my head awkwardly. “But mostly, I want to check the state of my soul. So many things happened these last few days, and I want to ensure everything is okay. In here," I tap my chest.
“Oh,” Tabitha looks like she isn’t sure how to react. “And you’ll be safe?”
“Yes,” I nod. “You just won’t be able to wake me up easily. I still don’t sense anything around us, even around the creepy room below us, but you never know. Will you be okay by yourself?"
"Who is the master here, and who is the student?" Tabitha gives me an incredulous look. “I can guard you; do your thing.”
“You’re sure," I ask for clarification, knowing it will annoy Tabitha.
“Go,” Tabitha’s eyes narrow menacingly, but I just smile at her.
“You're awesome,” I give Tabitha one last thanks before I sprawl out on the bench and close my eyes.
This was the last thing I needed to do before we explored the rest of the ruins. After this, we could finally start our preparations.
It was time to check on my soul.
**********
3,650 words.
My original plan was to drag out fixing their gear and unlocking the next level of Mana Skin over a few chapters, but I think this was better than that. I was going to try fitting Aaliyah’s soul stuff in here too, but the chapter was already getting quite long, and I wanted to have this out tonight.
The soul stuff won't take up a lot next chapter, and Tabitha and Aaliyah will continue with their adventure along with another status page reveal.
Please give me your honest opinions, and as always, stay safe.
Comments
Samantha Lane
and our fighting potential started detreating. => deteriorating
Valderan
Solid chapter, recovery, growth, bit of interaction, increase of tensioning related to their supplies situation. It's pretty balanced.
Rosy Bramble
I cant wait to see pacore's reaction to the new manaweave armor.
Kristian Kanding
Why are you using levels to determine her rate of stats training? Leveling from 36 to 58 took her about five years so roughly 7 points a year, while 58 to 82 is about one year meaning the rate per year has increased significantly. She has been powerleveling over the last year, it would be ludicrous to expect her to be able to train the same amount of stats in one year compared to five.
Derek Walker
Another annoying thing if they escape, or were planning to escape, was there was no reason for Aaliyah to assign her stat points the way she did. She could’ve saved them, and if she truly felt they only way to survive was more STR and DEX she could’ve distributed them there, or if they got away she could’ve added them to more useful and underinvested stats
Michael Maor
While you're right they could try escape without fighting the Dragon (and when they first escaped underground that's what I expected them to do), the last several chapters made it clear that's not what they are planning on doing.
Michael Maor
It's already been established that high vitality means they can't be affected by regular alcoholic drinks, I expect poison resistance will compound the effect.
Penguin Glutton
It's impossible to learn tier 4 skills?
Hamfist
She has made all of her own armor. During training with Tabitha in the rock quarry it was constantly getting torn apart so she simplified it over time since it wasn't worth putting in too much effort.
Display Name
Honestly, they dont need to fight the dragon at this point, they could excape and it could be an arc later in the story to show her growth as she solos the lessor dragon
Display Name
Pretty sure her T5 skill, isn't as useful in combat so she might not need the change in gear as it was meant to be the game changer for those over level 100. she is going to have to learn a new T5 skill if possible, but we know outside of our MC its almost impossible for anyone to learn even T4 skills.
Penguin Glutton
What about flying cities! Think that's a possibility?
Penguin Glutton
https://discord.gg/95a8jENf sorry I forgot to add the link ots not as active tho didn't have wifi while I was out
Jon Oliphant
Yeah let me know when you start your repair business using Three Stooges Logic. If you can hit it once and it doesn't break, it's fine to hit it again.
Derek Walker
One thing, which I thought at first, and what everyone is kind of assuming, is that assigning points to those stats now cuts off their natural stat growth. Has that ever been stated directly? An alternative is that Aaliyah can naturally add say about 20 points to each stat, no matter what the baseline is. If the latter is true, nothing is really holding her back from adding them now, as it wouldn't affect her natural gains, as those would just run out when they run out. Her original justification seemed only to be, I cant train my STR or DEX anymore but I see mind/magic/clarity/senses marginally increasing so I shouldn't add stats there. Not, if I add stats there I stop my natural gains. I could be wrong though on this point
Ironwolf
I think you’re right that for most people it would make sense to start investing status points in magic stats, but it’s possible the high mana zone/ancient ruins are what Aaliyah needs to train* her magic related stats. I think Pacore’s rumoured strategy of only investing in vitality is the best investment for total stat gains per level, but it’s possible for maximizing stat gain over a short time period, it’s best to train for a bit, assign a couple of stats, and then train again, making sure to kill as many things as possible in between. I’d like stat training to be something that Aaliyah continues to innovate with like other things in this world, but it might become cumbersome to keep track of and essentially become useless after level 100, which I think would be unfortunate.
Ruben Skjelbred
Well it hasn’t been easy to find, do you perhaps have a link to it or did you just wanna say it exists without providing any way to access it?
Ironwolf
I will say that her trained stat points slowed down significantly, from 35 points lvl36 to 58(22 levels), to 13 points from lvl 58 to 82(24 levels). I think the next 5-10 trained stat points will be her last trained stats ever, discounting an extra 1 or 2 at level 200, unless her method of training stat points changes significantly. Data in previous comment.
Penguin Glutton
There is a discord server
Derek Walker
The main difference between level 58 and level 82, is that in those 13 extra bonus stats, 7-7.5 of those came from her encounter with soul eater, and roughly another point came from the magic forest. So really not repeatable events as she won't be living in the magic forest. Leaving only 4.5 bonus stats gained in any repeatable fashion. And even there, she was noting the diminishing returns, so it's likely going forward that number will decrease to 4 or fewer points a year.
Ironwolf
More info: before assigning any stats at level 36, Aaliyah had 178 bonus stats. At level 58 after blacksmithing training, Aaliyah had 213 bonus stats before assigning nearly 300 stat points. At level 82, she has 226 bonus stats. I think if she can farm up a couple dozen magic/mental stats before sinking points into them, she should, because that’s probably the last time she’s getting ‘easy’ bonus stats. This data is assuming all humans are usually born with 8 stat points at level 1, +10 stat points per level, and bonus stats are (total stats-(levelling stats+8))
Derek Walker
When a circuit board can get smashed by a dragon bent in and still work, let me know. If the runes were that fragile I would consider this a much more impressive feat. Because if they were, she would have to almost totally understand the runes to fix it. By her own admission she’s not entirely sure how they work or why they are so durable. She’s operating with a large amount guesswork here. She can use some guess work because the runes can take some damage and still work. Like when a big dragon whacked them. And it’s all relative. Aaliyah is a level 75 blacksmith, it should be within her base capabilities to not wreck these very durable enchantments.
Jon Oliphant
You're right I forgot the arrowhead, of course that was a material she alloyed just the way she wanted and was virgin material, as opposed to someone else's alloy that she has no idea what it is. That's been damaged, enchanted and runs the risk of metal fatigue on being repaired. You are wrong about the hammer. The ball peen design went away awhile ago. Having Tabitha assist actually makes this more likely to be her break through. Now going back to your endlessly repeated point, that successfully working on a T4 Magic item isn't a big deal, what world are you living in? I surmise you were in front of a computer when you typed that statement? Why can I be certain if I handed you a hacksaw you would be completely incapable of cutting up the motherboard so it would be still be functional but rearranged to a different shape, after all it's just plated copper traces arranged in a 3d pattern on flat phenolic resin. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaFtGraZego That was a popular thing awhile back, people cutting up old electronics and turning them into art.
Ruben Skjelbred
i would recommend making a discord server for your novel so you can more easily keep your readers updated on your novel and any potential delays, but either way i'm just really glad this series is back, honestly top 3 novels i've ever read on Royalroad.
Derek Walker
Ch. 58: the arrowhead was the first time working with a tier 4 material, the arrowhead for the Pitz On the improvised tool, her hammer was specifically designed to mimic her smithing hammers, so her skills transfer over, it's just a bigger version (ch. 78) and she had tabitha take the place of the straps, so as far improvisation goes, she's not that far out here. Unlikely as a smith that she has never worked anything cold before That leaves working on an item with 3d runes, which goes back to my original point that not merely breaking them should not be enough to pass a level 75 test, given how robust the runes seem to be. Worth a level or two <75, but not of the same feats as her other skill tests. If she had fixed the armor through interpretive dance, I'd be very impressed and say she should pass her level 75 test for that
MikeL
Since comparing stats was mentioned. I checked Aaliyah (level 82: 1274 stats) vs. Tabitha (level 105: 1170 stats) so the 1274 + 230 (23 missing levels) would put her at least 1274. So 104 stats higher without any additional growth.
Jon Oliphant
1st time working with t4 materials 1st time working with an item with a 3d rune 1st time doing a field repair 1st time using an improvised tool to smith Possibly 1st time working cold nope not very impressive at all. Given that adapting mana threads and sense mana to heal bones didn't produce surges this is a 50/50 on passing the test for blacksmithing. But Seeing as you described this as just hitting something with a hammer just what do you think 99% of smithing is? Interpretive dance?
Derek Walker
Right not impossible for her to break it but she has a lot of leeway… “Honestly, though, I'm surprised how much the armor took and how well it was still holding up, specifically the runes. I tried studying their 3D structures whenever Tabitha let me, so I was familiar with how complicated they were. And yet, even though multiple runes were stretched with the metal, the enchantment still functioned properly. The basic runes I knew were extremely fragile, so seeing the much more intricate versions withstand not only the snake's strike but my hammer blows left me curious if there was something different about these or were higher tier runes just stronger than basic ones.” If she were below level 75, I would say this worth a level or even two. But she’s at her level 75 test. She’s passed 7 second skills test so far 3: sense mana, meditation and mana manipulation all came when she learned sense soul Running passed by running on air Mana skin passed it test by weaving mana Kevlar Mental resistance passed it test by popping her brain staring at an elemental And sense soul passed its second test by sensing a fragment of the goddesses’ power Compared to those, this seems underwhelming for passing a second skills test.
Jon Oliphant
Your engine computer will thank you. Especially about not banging it with a hammer. key graph ""I don't think I can do anything to make it worse," I reply snarkily, but we both know that isn't exactly true. Sure, Tabitha's armor had a massive dent in it, but the enchantments were still holding firm, and as long as they were still functioning correctly, the armor wasn’t technically destroyed. But if I did anything to accidentally compromise the many crisscrossing runes on the inside of the breastplate, I could do just that." It's not the armor belt of an Iowa Class but more the reactive armor of an M1
Hamfist
I don't remember if it has been stated in this story, but it is common in this type of fiction to say that since alcohol is intentionally taken for recreation/enjoyment that the system does not treat it as a poison. The intention that is associated with the substance makes a difference.
Derek Walker
I thought I was making a relatively simple observation that if a dragon, which dented the armor in a single blow, did not destroy or mess up the enchantments, it seemed unlikely Aaliyah would. But you're right, I don't know much here so when my car needs its tier 4 enchantments replaced I'll be sure to bring it to someone instead of fixing it myself.
Derek Walker
One other point is that for the people in the genius category, they are leveling 2-3 a year at level 82. To go from 75-100 in about 10 years means an average of 2.5 a year.
Derek Walker
Mentioned in another reply comment but senses and mind didn’t get a single point in the 5 year time skip. Magic and clarity went up 2.8/1.8 a year respectively but she has already noted those have started to slow down significantly as well. Only the soul devourer and her trip to the forest gave her “natural” stat growth but those are not repeatable events. Magic and related stats are where she gets the most bang for her buck so to speak, given her skill set. The real advantage is that by putting stats there allows her to train more and beat higher leveled folks, allowing her to level faster. With that extra leveling she can siphon off a point or two to strength since she is leveling so fast.
PaperMache7
It was much better to do this in a single chapters, nothing would have been gained from doing it over multiple ones.
Derek Walker
Another thing that seemed a little odd, I actually thought something like mana mail would be enough to pass the test, and the Kevlar like armor she had would be what it looked like around level 80 and then she would need something new (those hexagon panels) to pass her level 80 test
Derek Walker
Lubos, that was kind of my point. She didn’t even assign them to increase her mana pool. I went back and looked. On senses and mind, she gained no additional stats from her status update when she was 10 to the time jump when she was 15. Magic and Clarity went up 14/9 respectively, so about 2.8/1.8 a year. The soul devourer encounter did give give those stats a roughly +3 boost later on. At least for me, those number still seem way to low to justify putting no points there (except, the one time she distributed her large pool of status points)
Håvard
" I hang my head" recomend checking how ofthen you have used that sentence latley. It doesn't help that I don't understand why she started in the first place.
Jon Oliphant
If you live long enough to enjoy it. She has had the bandits, the devourer, just now with tabitha, and then there is the slow on her advancement from not being able to practice. All where she needs the resource
Jon Oliphant
Do yourself a favor never work on your car, get a professional. You're in the dilbert zone where if you don't understand something it must be easy
Nathan Sto
Okay, I'ma be honest, I don't actually think the way that she refused to spend points in her magic stats is stupid. I think that for most people, it'd be rather smart. Suppose that she gains 0.75 of a point a year, and keeps her 4 main magic/mind stats open. It only takes 3 years for her to hit an entire level above her own. in 30 years, she's got a nine level advantage on anyone else. Now, for MC, this is slow. Suuuuper slow. She's 18 at level 82, after all. However, most people at level 82 don't level up once a year. They level once every couple of years. Postponing putting stats into magic is reasonable for the small but permanent advantage she'll get once it finally ticks over to additional points. On the other hand, I'd agree that for MC, it would be wiser to continue grinding stats through training with her physical stats, rather than her magic ones. But that's an argument for the future - it's not an argument to let the two whole stat points she's got in decimal form go to waste now.
Penguin Glutton
Question can you get poison resistance by drinking to much alcohol? Like a high poison resistance get you less drunk?
Ironwolf
It’s also probably best for long-term growth to try and increase stats before putting points in them. I do agree, however, that she appears to be hitting a limit or soft cap on increasing her mental stats. I think that overcoming those limits should give her significant levels in mental resistance/ her stats, so I think there is some merit regardless of whether she bites the bullet or sticks with her decision. I’d be interested in her total stats compared to others her level, as I’m wondering if her stat growth is as impossible as her levelling speed. I’d imagine so, but am unsure.
Luboš Hemala
I wonder if she ever manages to weave stable mana threads to share. Even as a temporary boost to defenses could be important. Also, will she ever manage to assign partial stat points? Sure would solve her woes ;-)
Luboš Hemala
Assigning the points to mana restored her regeneration speed, thus probably saving her a few days of slow recovery. The increase in mana pool is marginal.
Kyfe
Mail is fairly loose rings. This is Mana Kevlar, lol
Justin
Thanks for the chapter! It was the right amount of progress IMO. Looking forward to see if digging into the exp changed anything. Glad to see her gain more experience and wonder what this means for threads, mana skin, and blend of the two?
Nickie Schmiers
I can't wait to see what's in the dark room. I also wonder if she could handle the magic in that lightning tree from forever ago and if it would give her insight into higher tier enchantments.
MikeL
With her increased strength I’m guessing she can use stronger (will that make it heavier?) armor.
Ironwolf
I think that tidbit was based on the available funds a person has and the amount of money they should be spending on their gear, and is probably more accurate to archers. I suspect Tabitha is hitting above her weight class quite a bit for her to be sad about breaking her armour (I.e. it was very expensive for her level and therefore would last for more than 5 levels). I suspect that getting armour to last ten levels above your own is usually a waste of time for people trying to ‘power level’ and for weapons it’s probably even worse (can’t get the full worth out of the weapon). It’s probably less bad to get armour better than your level than a weapon, at least.
MikeL
General Pitz earlier stated “Every five levels or so, a person above level 100 need to replace their equipment.” So Tabitha is going to probably need new armor soon anyway since she so far has gone up at least 8 levels since she got the armor.
Penguin Glutton
She had to repair or male new armor for herself after sparring with Tabitha
Derek Walker
Those enchantments survived getting thrashed by the dragon so it’s not actually that impressive that Aaliyah didn’t break them.
Jon Oliphant
She did it without harming the enchantments. Think of fixing a V8 while it's running
Derek Walker
All she ultimately did was repair the armor, fundamentally it was just banging her hammer harder for a longer period of time then she was used to so this shouldn’t have been a breakthrough for blacksmithing
Err
I've heard good things about the Wandering Inn but I am too old to walk a journey of ?millions of words so instead I read through the (many) tags on tvtropes, think about it a bit to unfold a world within, then try to fill in the spoiler blanks with my bets and track surprises. so yeah why use many word when few word do trick? wololo!
Undead Writer
True. I agree
Undead Writer
Thanks for the chapter!!
Derek Walker
One other small thing, but this really feels like it should’ve been the breakthrough for magic threads, literally weaving mana threads is a step above what’s she’s done before, which makes this feel premature to do, or her earlier leveling should’ve been high enough to gain a level or two here to get to 40, then breakthrough. Relatedly, she got 2 levels of mana manipulation just from training a few days last time, so it also doesn’t feel like 2 more levels here should make that much of a difference unless magic threads was much higher (at level 40)
Captdeth
3hr
Derek Walker
Maybe other stats like senses, etc aren’t that helpful (I’m extremely doubtful. Like here she can’t sense the dragon, maybe if her senses were better she could tell) but whatever, she’s never investing them at this point, instead she’ll take her natural .75 points a year growth rate for those. But with how much she uses mana for everything it’s an unconscionable choice not to put stats there
John Growcott
This has bothered me more than once as well
Derek Walker
I liked this chapter, but I couldn’t help but think the following: Aaliyah doing any training, fighting, enchanting, even smithing: man I’m almost out of mana Aaliyah assigning stat points: it’s an absolute shame and a waste for me to assign even 3 points to increase my mana pool
Quinn
Shes worked on armor for the village before, and i think shes made her own armor.
Alphafenrir401
You know reading the chapter made me notice she hasn't really done make armor has she or am I forgetting some? It be interesting to see her work on armor stuff and try to make Tabitha new armor
Jon Oliphant
That should be great, of course this dark room tease has been building up nicely as well.
Erriballon
❤️🥰👍
Michael Maor
I'm glad you decided not to drag out the repair, if anything I think the sequence you have since they escaped the Dragon has been dragging on too long, I'm really looking forward to the rematch with the Dragon.
Michael Maor
When she was with the gods not only didn't she have time to check anything, she did a bunch of stuff that could have damaged her (manipulating the god shards, absorbing huge amounts of experience, digging through a layer of experience to get to Tabitha, a new tier 6 skill... Checking on what changed makes sense.
Endymion2314
So Mana Mail? I wonder if these ruins are going to be reflected in her soul.
Penguin Glutton
Thanks for the chap!
heh
Very very glad this was compressed into one chapter imo
Jon Oliphant
Thanks for the chapter, it fits quite well IMNSHO. Seemed like working on Tabitha's T4 gear should have pushed blacksmithing past its test, from the sound of it there wasn't much magic involved. Not sure why she needs to check out her soul, wasn't she just in there with the gods? But there's hardly anything amiss with her doing so. I am surprised Tabitha isn't more interested in her soul and her new T5 ability, but she has always been the more phlegmatic of the two. Really looking forward to where all this setup is going, thanks again for your efforts. P.S. I wanted to get this in. A few chapters back she was talking about redoing her hammer so it was more effective. https://youtu.be/R5N6qsAnOlY?t=1505 Here are armored knights fighting at the Royal Armory at Leeds, with war hammers.
Nick
Tftc. I think you made the right choice moving it along. They are injured but had a couple days to rest and at least partially recover, time to get on with it. (whatever it is)
Some Total Kretin
IMO you made a right choice in moving things along, they've been dealing with the aftermath of the dragon battle for a few chapters now, and it's time to move along to something more dynamic again, so we don't feel stuck theory/crafting ;)
Ethan Prince
First
