Quest Academy: Scavengers, page 41
Upgrade smiled as she joined them at the table. “You’re selling yourself short there, Blathnaid. Construct is a lot more powerful than that.”
Sal looked between them and realized that this information was also news to Blathnaid, who stared at Upgrade in confusion. It wasn’t that she was being modest; she genuinely didn’t understand what the Crafting lecturer was talking about.
When Upgrade met Blathnaid’s eyes, she frowned in disbelief. “You know that you can just create things with raw materials when you have the pattern, right? There’s no need to create the individual components.”
Blathnaid’s first instinct was to laugh, but it died away when she realized that Upgrade wasn’t joking. Her brow furrowed as she shook her head. “I think you’re confusing it with another ability, maybe? If I have the pattern and the right cuts of material, I can assemble it. I couldn’t just put my hands on a bolt of cloth and turn it into a jacket. That would be crazy!”
Upgrade’s expression softened. “Have you ever tried?”
Blathnaid’s last remnants of composure withered away. She looked to Sal for backup, but he shrugged uselessly.
“Why don’t you try?”
Blathnaid was about to say something when Upgrade raised a hand to interrupt her. “Nope. Whatever misbelief you’re about to spout, I don’t want to hear it. Crafters learn things by experimentation, so wait here.” Upgrade pointed at her as she spoke. “I’m going to get a few things for us to test this out, understood?”
Blathnaid nodded and stood awkwardly as Upgrade tapped her card against the door and exited the room.
A moment of silence passed before Blathnaid whispered in Sal’s direction. “Is she usually this scary?”
Sal snorted. “This is nothing. You never want to see her when she’s scary.”
Blathnaid laughed as she sat on one of the nearby stools. Putting her hand on the edge of the table, she pulled at it and spun herself around on the top of the stool.
“So, did you find a team yet? There’s not much time left before we have to submit them.” She reached into her trouser pocket to produce her tablet. “I can never remember their names, but they seem pretty competent. I’m their Support, obviously.”
Blathnaid’s expression crunched as she squinted at the text on the screen. “Juan Clarke is our Offense. He’s super strong and apparently just punches the shit out of things. Seemed like a nice guy, but everything around him breaks. He sat down in the canteen and you’d swear the chair reacted like it was an attack.”
Sal couldn’t imagine what it would be like to try to control a physical-based ability like that. Speed was one thing, but strength…you’d probably end up mangling every door handle you tried to pull.
Blathnaid continued with her list. “Our Defense is another guy, from the Purple cohort, and his name was weird…ah, Richdolphus Ironblood! Goes by Rich, which is thankfully much easier to remember. Same for Saccade Croix…goes by Cade. He’s super nice and is our Healer from the Black cohort.”
Sal didn’t recognize any of the names and really hoped that Blathnaid had managed to find a decent team. If they dragged her down, there wouldn’t be much he could do to keep her from relegation at the end of the semester.
“What about your Controller? Anyone good?”
Blathnaid nodded, a wry grin tugging at her lips. “Yeah, he’s the one who put the team together. Body Manipulator called Darren Lenihan, but everyone calls him Dazzler. His team was at the top of the tournament, and he had already picked out most of the team. I’m super lucky they even considered me, to be honest. You should have seen my face when they approached me! I thought they wanted Barry.”
A knot formed in Sal’s stomach. Darren Lenihan was the name of the Controller Bastion was looking to recruit, and he had been at a couple of meetings with them already. The question was whether Darren was a threat to Blathnaid right now, or whether it would be fine going forward. Blathnaid didn’t know anything about the Bastion threat at the academy.
Dragging her finger along the screen, Blathnaid read out more names. “Barry’s team also managed to get a Healer. Girl called Graya Moon, think she’s in a relationship with my Healer, Cade.” She stopped abruptly as though she had an epiphany. “Two Healers in a relationship…do you think their kids would become super-Healers?”
Sal laughed, which was enough for Blathnaid to dismiss the thought and return to the list.
“Kellen Balistae from the Black cohort. Barry referred to him as a walking human shield, but I think Kellen is down as their Offense class? There was a guy with a crafted guitar, Ogden. No idea what he does, but he’s apparently a Support. Barry didn’t look too fond of him. Their Defense is a guy called Neb Ursa—he has an ability similar to Sinclair, where he can turn into a bear!”
Sal shook his head at hearing all the names. Blathnaid’s team sounded more promising if the names were anything to go by, and it was good that both teams had a dedicated Healer. Sal was also happy that Barry managed to get the Controller role on his team. If that Ogden guy was down as their Support, Barry had secured Controller.
“Hope I’m not interrupting?” Upgrade proclaimed from the door as she carried half a dozen wound bolts of fabric under one arm and a small container of metal studs and zippers in the other.
Blathnaid looked up from her tablet, and Sal got to see in real time how her eyes lit up in excitement at the materials, and how the anxiety crashed through as she realized what was about to happen.
Upgrade laughed. “Don’t go making faces like that or I’ll end up thinking I’m the bad guy here.”
Blathnaid nodded and got to her feet, stepping back so Upgrade could deposit the materials on the blueprint table.
Sal was happy to see that Upgrade placed everything around his sketch, rather than dumping it directly on top of it.
When everything was arranged, Upgrade smiled at Blathnaid. “I want you to look at the blueprint, or pattern. Whatever you want to call it. Focus on it and imagine that the materials here are the exact components you need. Don’t think about anything else, okay?”
Blathnaid looked at them apprehensively as she took a step forward, but Upgrade shook her head and moved in front of her. Blathnaid was clearly unprepared for Upgrade to grasp her shoulders, as she gasped.
Upgrade gave her a reassuring smile. “Trust me, I overthink everything too. I always need to make everything perfect, so I understand exactly what gears are turning in your brain right now. If nothing happens, then at least we’ll know and I’ll drop the topic. Sound good?”
Blathnaid nodded and a small smile found its way onto her lips. She shot a look over to Sal, who gave her a thumbs-up in response. Upgrade released Blathnaid’s shoulders and moved around the table to give her more space. There was still an element of hesitation, but Blathnaid did as she was instructed and focused her ability.
Sal activated his Skill Master ability and watched as Blathnaid’s weave ignited with essence. He almost had to do a double take when he saw the absolute clusterfuck of knots in her ability. It was practically impossible to see a single straight line that wasn’t somehow mangled. Sal desperately wished he had his visor on to see how many of them could be undone safely. He couldn’t imagine how Blathnaid had been managing to live with her ability in such a state.
The inspection that he had done on her before was much more impressive now that he had the context of what it looked like. It also felt like an important lesson in a way, that if he had trusted in the visor, he likely would have assumed that Blathnaid had no real shot of getting much stronger. Sal sighed as he deactivated his ability. He needed to find a way to calibrate the visor to his Skill Master ability, to get a better representation of what could be improved with his power.
Blathnaid winced as she drew her hands back from the materials. Sal was going to say something encouraging, but Upgrade stopped him by giving him a slight nudge with her elbow. Without a word from them, Blathnaid tried again. Her expression was one of hyper-focus, and Sal saw a slight shake in her arms as she gave it her all.
The moment stretched on forever, with Sal realizing how much time had passed when he saw the beads of sweat trickling down Blathnaid’s forehead. He glanced at Upgrade as if to ask permission to stop Blathnaid from continuing, but Upgrade shook her head.
Then, slowly but surely, a dull light appeared at the center of the table. Sal looked at Blathnaid, but there were no emotions present, only focus.
Upgrade smiled broadly as she leaned in close to Sal, her voice a barely audible whisper. “Best. Lecturer. Ever.”
Sal smiled but was mostly interested in what was happening on the desk. He couldn’t see clearly because the blueprint desks were angled upward on the side farthest from the seat. It gave easier access when sketching larger projects. All they could see was a light illuminating Blathnaid.
Another few moments of awkward silence followed before Blathnaid’s hands moved. She was still in a state of complete focus, and Sal wondered whether that was how he looked when he had the monocle equipped. Sal walked quietly to one side of the desk to get a better vantage point and Upgrade did the same on the other side, both being careful not to disrupt Blathnaid’s flow.
Sal was surprised to see that the entirety of the materials was glowing and that Blathnaid pulled tufts of the illuminated cloth and massaged it between her hands. She pulled it in different directions and stretched it out, but Sal couldn’t make out any of the details. It looked like she was constantly pawing at a ball of light. It went on for another five to ten minutes before Sal could discern some of the shapes.
No matter what way he tried to imagine it, the balls of light weren’t big enough to be a piece of equipment. Did that mean she had failed? He looked over to Upgrade to see whether she had any idea what was going on, and to his surprise, she was beaming at Blathnaid’s progress. Sal tried to understand what it was that he wasn’t seeing, but even activating his Appraisal ability gave him no suggestions. Mythcrafter also had nothing to report, and without his visor equipped, Sal was left to wait for the final verdict.
That verdict ended up taking close to an hour to arrive, but Sal didn’t mind. It was genuinely fascinating to watch Blathnaid work. The downside was how much of an impact it was having on her body. There were times she had to stop mid-process to catch her breath, or when her hands shook uncontrollably. Sal was certain that tears were forming at the edges of her eyes, and it killed him to watch her suffer in pain. As soon as he got the visor back from her, he would find a way to alleviate some of the pressure from her ability. With what looked like a hundred knots in that tangled ball of a weave, he’d find something that would make her life easier.
And then, Blathnaid finished. With a step back, she looked at the glowing cube in front of her and staggered back onto the awaiting stool. She missed the seat and lurched to the right, but Upgrade caught her before she fell.
Sal was at a complete loss for words as the glowing stopped and his eyes appraised her results.
Chapter 58 – Pioneer
Sal’s eyes went haywire as they tried to pick apart the materials to Appraise them. He glanced at Blathnaid to see how she was doing and it seemed like she was on the verge of passing out, with Upgrade cradling her. When Sal made eye contact with Upgrade, she gave a slight shake of her head.
“She’s pushed herself too hard. Judging by how she’s still conscious, she’s no stranger to the dregs.” Upgrade’s voice was strained as she gently rubbed Blathnaid’s shoulder.
“She’ll be fine with some rest. We should have done this in Room 17 and put her on the couch. I don’t want to move her from here while there are students milling about outside. Lock that, will you?” She jutted her chin toward the door, careful not to disrupt Blathnaid in her arms.
Sal didn’t need to be told twice and rushed over to the door and tapped the lock option on the terminal. When he turned around, he could see that there wasn’t really a way to remove the visor from Blathnaid without moving her head. He’d leave it until later to get it back.
“Should we have given her a core to use?” he asked lamely.
Upgrade shook her head. “I doubt she has the control required to tap into a core. How she managed to make something with such a trickle of essence is absolutely beyond me, but it’s a testament to her grit. With proper development and training, she’ll become a hell of a Crafter.”
Upgrade rubbed Blathnaid’s shoulder a little more. “You hear that? You’re going to have to train extra hard to keep up.”
Sal laughed as he shook his head. “Your bedside manner is atrocious.”
He moved out of range of Upgrade’s swatting hand and stood to the side of the reshaped materials. Sal frowned as he realized that it wasn’t just a cube of fabric: it was folded layers. Lifting the first piece up, he was surprised to see that it was a hooded cowl in a deep-red fabric. Turning it over in his hands, he saw glowing threads were embroidered into the material, making the shape of the evolutionary rune. He dropped it and picked up the next piece, which was a long trench coat, made with the same deep-red color. The shoulders were squared, with a folded lapel and black buttons running down one side. It was incredibly light to hold, and when Sal turned it around, he froze at the sight of the evolutionary rune. It was embroidered in black threading, which pulsated softly as though reflecting light from an unknown source.
Next was a set of trousers made with the same red material and black runes. True to her word, Blathnaid had created pockets in the coat and trousers. The hood looked particularly menacing, and the black and red contrast made it look like it would be worn by some kind of regal assassin.
“Need…” Blathnaid’s voice was bleary as she tried to get out of Upgrade’s arms. “Shoes. Need to finish…the shoes.”
Upgrade stood with her and helped her maintain balance. When Upgrade’s gaze fell on the completed gear on the table, her eyes widened, and she looked at Sal in shock.
“She actually completed them?”
Sal nodded as he moved the cloth equipment off the blueprint. Checking them off the list, he smiled. “Three out of four pieces. Shoes aren’t done, but she started them. I don’t know how she managed to do it, but it looks like the embroidery is infused with essence?” Sal held up the trousers to show Upgrade, who almost dropped Blathnaid by reaching for them.
With a sigh of frustration, Upgrade tore her eyes away from the equipment and focused on getting Blathnaid back into a seated position. She used a gentle and reassuring voice that Sal hadn’t heard before.
“Just rest up here for a moment. You don’t need to worry about the shoes. I’ll finish them off for you, okay?” Upgrade waited until Blathnaid nodded in agreement before continuing. “Do you feel like this every time you use your ability?”
Blathnaid nodded slowly, wincing at whatever discomfort it caused.
Upgrade reached up to her head and gently took off the visor, pulling away at the strands of hair that had intertwined with it. Without looking, she held it out for Sal to take, which he gratefully accepted. Upgrade crouched so she was eye level with the seated Blathnaid.
“Do you avoid using your ability because it feels like this?”
Blathnaid shook her head slightly, and Upgrade smiled.
“Stubborn…I like it. Do you think you can stay awake for a little longer?”
When Blathnaid bobbed her head, Upgrade patted her knee before standing back up and moving to Sal. Her voice was quiet as she spoke, none of the amusement from earlier on her face.
“Remember what you did for Martin, Gosia, and myself?” She wriggled her fingers as though she was undoing a knot. “I know Quest said that you couldn’t do it, but I think you need to make an exception with that girl. She’s more determined than she is capable, which is dangerous.”
Sal nodded. “The visor can tell me which knots are safe to undo, but it has to be kept a secret. I can’t talk about it much, but Quest was super annoyed about how I can interact with weaves. I don’t want to get on his bad side.”
Upgrade’s smile widened as she gave Sal a playful nudge. “Look at you! I don’t see you for a week, and you turn into a little rebel.” Her eyes eventually fell onto the clothes draped across the table.
“The workmanship is actually incredible on these. I’d go so far as to say that they’re on par with Gosia.” Upgrade inspected each of the seams and marveled at the result. “The seams are purely aesthetic—it’s fused with essence! Who the fuck goes so far as to add detail and style to something that just needs to be functional?”
Sal clipped the visor over his ear and activated his Mythcrafter ability. He decided that it would be best to wait for Blathnaid to recover before he undid the knots in her weave. If she wasn’t able to communicate with him about how she was feeling, then he’d potentially risk harming her. So instead, he worked on the appraisal to see how Blathnaid did in the end.
His visor flashed as he activated his ability, and a detailed breakdown was presented to him, with more information than usual. He had to thank Analysis for bolstering the Appraisal ability.
Name Hunter’s Trench (Set 1/4)
Origin Crafted
Age New
Current Grade
Common (Low)
Restored Grade Common (Low)
Potential Grade Unique (Upper)
Dimensions 46.8” Length | 20.8” Chest | 20.8” Hip | 28.3” Sleeve
Materials Void Metal | Twill-Woven Cotton | Refined Construct Essence
Runes Evolutionary Rune: Essence Absorption will result in an increase of Item Grade over time.
Self-Replenishment Rune: Slight increase in Essence Absorption.
Attributes Resistant: Increases toughness of the material, protecting the wearer from external attacks.
