Lassim awoke before the first light of dawn once more, a deep sense of satisfaction lingering from last night’s breakthrough. Though he’d barely slept, his mind was buzzing with energy as he rose to get ready.
He quickly gathered his things and his notes from last night’s success at elemental fusion and memorized array sheet.
Going down the stairs and stepping out of the house, he followed the path in the quiet courtyard with a distracted gaze, his thoughts momentarily drifting back to the crackling orb of fused energy he had managed to form last night. The feeling of holding lightning and water mana blended together in harmony, however brief, had been exciting.
He entered the workshop to find Rlyis already at her bench, carefully arranging her tools and preparing them for today’s work.
She looked up as he approached, her brows lifting slightly as she took in his bright expression. "You look… remarkably awake and happy for someone who was up working on assignments last night," she noted, gesturing toward a nearby workbench. "I assume you completed sheet #4 as I asked?"
Lassim smiled, handing her the parchment where he’d completed the problems. "Finished it last night, just like you said," he replied, trying to contain his eagerness.
She gave a nod, quickly scanning over his work before setting it aside. "Good. It seems you’re keeping up with the theory, at least. Today, we’ll move onto something far more intricate and practical for your element compared to Eno’s work yesterday," she said. "Array embedding."
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He leaned forward, "Array embedding?"
"Yes," Rlyis continued, retrieving a few tools from her bench and placing them on the table in front of her. "Yesterday, Eno showed you the importance of material composition and the act of combining them with the base construct. Today, we’ll cover how to embed arrays directly into that newly placed metal. It’s what we call the process of engraving arrays not just on the surface, but of setting them within the layers of the material itself as well. This method allows for smoother mana flow and greater durability in constructs as purely external engravings don’t hold up well to weathering and damage over long use. It’s also a bit of a challenge, especially with materials like thundersteel."
As she prepared the tool to engrave the construct, now cooled and settled from Eno’s alloy adjustments, Rlyis glanced at Lassim again. "You’re in a really good mood, aren’t you?" she commented, "Did something happen last night to cause this… or are you just that excited to be learning arrays?"
Lassim thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "I managed to make a bit of progress on something I’d been working on. In addition to helping with this mission, my unofficial reason for visiting here on Master Volten’s recommendation is so that I can figure out my own fighting style," he said. "It’s just a small insight with my lightning and water elements, though. Nothing fully formed, but promising."
Rlyis raised an eyebrow, "Well, keep that focus, because today’s work will surely test your patience," she said, setting a blank piece of thundersteel in front of him.
She picked up a delicate engraving tool, pointing to the tip. "After I show you the first steps on the actual construct, I want you to try it yourself with this. This tool is what you’ll use for engraving. It’s precise, but requires a steady hand. Array embedding demands precision in both the engraving itself and the mana flow. If you’re even slightly off, the array may weaken or fail entirely."
Carefully, she began to demonstrate on the construct, using the tool to trace out a faint rune symbol on the metal. With practiced ease, she etched each line and curve, moving steadily and deliberately, her mana flowing into the engraving tool in small bursts to shape and stabilize the symbol as she worked. The array seemed to sink into the thundersteel rather than sit on top of it, becoming part of the metal itself.
"The key," she explained, her focus never wavering from the delicate work, "is controlling your mana density in each stroke. You have to adjust the pressure and density to align with the construct’s pathways, ensuring a perfect match with the surrounding material. It’s not enough to simply engrave a rune and pump mana into it. Each line must be attuned to the metal, bonded in such a way that it becomes a part of the construct."
She finished the initial rune and set down her tool, flexing her hand before gesturing to the thin square plate of thundersteel she had set in front of him. "Did you take note of how I adjusted the mana density with each line? That’s the foundation of array embedding. It’s a slow process and to replace all of the lines lost with the changing of materials will take me the next day or two. Now, during that time, I want you to practice creating a basic embedded array on this blank piece of thundersteel. Use one of the designs from sheet #4 that you completed last night so I can check your skill level. If you make any mistakes, realize what you did wrong and then pass it back to Eno. He can reset the sheet for you."
Lassim examined the piece of thundersteel in front of him, then picked up the engraving tool.
He pulled out the sheet, looking and using it as a reference as he first traced the simplest of the designs in the air just above the sheet for practice.
Once he felt confident enough after a few times, he took a steadying breath as he focused his lightning mana into the tip of the tool, pressing it to the metal and starting his first line.
Almost immediately, he felt the resistance of the thundersteel, far more challenging to etch than gently inserting mana into the special parchment paper he’d been working with before.
The tool wavered, and the line ended up too deep, the mana flow released a shower of sparks, obviously disrupted and not ideal.
He stopped, frowning as he saw the imperfection in his work.
"Don’t rush it," Rlyis advised, watching him closely. "Your hand must move with intention, and your mana must align with the engraving. Thundersteel doesn’t forgive hesitation, nor does it tolerate impatience."
Nodding, Lassim tried again, adjusting his grip and slowing his pace.
He let his mana flow gradually, trying to feel for the balance Rlyis had described. The line grew steadier, more controlled, but halfway through, the density faltered, and the rune wobbled.
He clicked his tongue, frustrated, but kept his focus, only for the tool to slip at the last second, the rune snapping out of alignment.
"Here," Eno’s voice broke in, as he too had been observing in the middle of his work, taking the sheet for a moment and quickly heating the piece of thundersteel to remove his effort so far. "When you make mistakes, the best thing is to reset and try again from the start." He dipped the piece in a vat of water to cool it, the steam rising in soft wisps as he set it down in front of Lassim once more.
This became the rhythm of his day. Lassim focused on the metal. Whenever he made a mistake, Eno would melt down the metal, reheat it, and cool it in water before Lassim resumed his work. Each failed attempt, each misaligned rune, was a progress and showed that mastery didn’t come easily with this profession, and that this was a skill that would demand more than raw power or clever techniques that destroyed swaths of abyssal enemies.
By midday, his hand was aching from the unnatural position of holding the tool between his fingers, leaving a bump on his middle finger as if a reminder of the times he held a quill for long hours during his lessons as a child with Sir Ian. Yet he pushed on, determined to make progress. With each attempt, he felt himself getting closer, his control sharpening, the motions feeling less foreign.
Finally, after hours of concentrated effort, he watched as the last stroke was added to the final rune in the sequence and the lines of the runes managed to slowly sink themselves into the thin metal sheet. He embedded a single sequence without error, the line smooth and flowing with the initial mana residuals left in it. The mana density was balanced too.
"That’s more like it," Rlyis said, nodding as she examined his work. "You’re beginning to grasp the basics. This skill will take time to perfect, but you’ve made a great start. Heck, I don’t think I even managed my first full line being finished in an entire week… Though, I was at Spirit Transformation stage when I first started. You’ve got a lot more of a head start with such dense mana to rely on." She handed him a fresh piece of thundersteel, gesturing for him to continue. "Keep practicing. Do the next design in the sequence; one of the harder ones. Eno, how many resets did that take?"
"89 in total." He calmly replied as he was working on creating the frames of tens of the same thick-body constructs in the background.
"Alright. We’ll move on when you’re able to embed an entire array without needing a reset. Keep at it." She replied before focusing back on the construct in front of her, leaving Lassim to begin on the new plate.
The day continued in this steady rhythm, Lassim gradually learning the intricacies of array embedding under Rlyis and Eno’s eyes as they’d review and reset his plate each time there was an error. By the time evening arrived, he had managed to complete several more lines in a row, not yet quite completing a full simple array. However, there was improvement as the runes were cleanly embedded and the mana channels stable.
As the workshop began to quiet, Rlyis dismissed him, giving him an approving nod. "Good work today. Tomorrow, we’ll test the construct with the alloy adjustments Eno made and see if the new embedded arrays hold up under activation. I’ll need your mana to power it on while I see if there’s any issues." She glanced at him with a faint smirk. "Get some rest, but feel free to practice as much as you can on the sheet before you need to reset it. Leave it until the morning for Eno when it gets to that point and then you can do whatever else you wish."
Thanking them both, Lassim left the workshop. He followed the path out into the courtyard and then returned to his room, setting down his tools from the satchel and loosening his sore fingers. Despite the day’s exhaustion, he felt happy about the progress he’d made. Now, how could today’s knowledge be added to what he was working on the night before?
After a quick meal, he spent some time working on the sheet some more for at least another hour or two until the sheet was completely covered with mistakes and ready for another reset.
With a quick shower to ease the stress of his hands and fingers, he then dressed comfortably before he returned to the quiet of the courtyard in the space he was at last night, his mind buzzing with ideas.
Taking his halberd in hand, he settled into a meditative stance, letting his awareness sink into his mana pathways. The night air was cool, the courtyard silent save for the faint hum of energy around him as he began channeling water and lightning mana in tandem, as he had done before.
This time, he was more conscious of each element’s unique properties—the fluidity of water, the sharp intensity of lightning. He allowed them to flow side by side, feeling for the points where their energies intersected.
Perhaps part of the key was to see if he could somehow embed the mana within each other? Like how the runes became ethereal and sank into the corporeal metal during the embedding process.
Drawing on the insights he’d gained, Lassim searched for a natural alignment, a place where the two energies might find a balance without clashing. He held his focus steady, letting the energies approach each other with the same patience he’d practiced with the engraving tool.
Slowly, he felt a faint connection form, the same as before, the energies intertwining at the edges, merging ever so slightly. As he concentrated, the fusion deepened as it naturally began swirling and creating a small orb of energy in his palm—a twisting sphere of water laced with lightning, the two elements dancing together in a fragile harmony, but yet there was still lots of separation between the elements.
He held the orb steady, marveling at it. The fusion was slightly more stable than his earlier attempt from yesterday, yet it still wasn’t where it needed to be for the full fusion he envisioned. The lightning crackled through the water, illuminating it with a faint glow, while the water kept the lightning contained, shaping it, grounding it.
As he watched and maintained the focus to keep it contained and still fusing, he began to wonder about the practical applications of this new energy, "Can this be channeled into a weapon technique? Or perhaps used to enhance my halberd? It all feels too simple still…" He muttered as he spoke out loud to himself absentmindedly of his surroundings.
Lost in thought, he didn’t notice Eno approaching until the older man spoke. "That’s an interesting trick you’ve got there," Eno observed, folding his arms as he looked down at the orb of fused energy in Lassim’s hand.