Apocalypse Knights 2: A LitRPG Fantasy, page 11
“Alright, Max,” Flora agreed, before striding a few steps clear of the cohort and casting her gaze outward and upward, in the direction where monsters would most likely materialize.
“Inscribe? Oh, right.” Felix nodded. “You have that magic hammer of yours that doesn’t need a forge or a metal piece smelter.”
Max withdrew Turanos. An anvil of white light materialized at his feet.
“That’s right. Let’s actually start with you first, Felix,” Max said, beckoning for the Infiltrator to remove his leather cuirass, bracers, and shin guards and stack the whole lot in front of the anvil. “Marina, you and Felix have been picking up most of the metal pieces so far. Take a look through our cohort link and see how many we’ve accrued. Do the same with our Victory Shards.”
“Yes, sir!” Marina did a mock salute that would have seen then-Master-Sergeant Corvis Tober scream her off the parade square. The Elementalist opened a Soul Lens screen. “Let’s start with the metal pieces. I’m just going to show what we’ve all picked up since coming to the Apocalypse Horizon.”
Copper pieces x886
Silver pieces x86
Felix whistled at the sight. “That’s a fair bit of money. What we have here is probably a few times more than what most cohorts make in a year of attacking Dungeons.”
“We all get an even share of it,” Max said.
“Even with what we have now, a quarter-share will allow us to retire!” Marina laughed. “Well, not really, but it’ll allow us to live large for a little while at least. I can’t wait to… uh… sorry, Max. We’ll help you sort this whole mess out before thinking about vacations.”
“If Jonn’s efforts yielded any fruit at all, we should have a sizable pool of Knights-Errant willing to accompany me into the Apocalypse Horizon by the time we get back to Hisktown,” Max said. “It’s been a long few days, and the next few will be even longer. If you two feel like you need a break, then take it, by all means.”
“What about you?” Felix asked. “You don’t get to take a break.”
“No, I don’t.” Max sat down and pulled out Weyland’s Primer on Runic Inscription from his ring of holding. He opened the book, flipped to the pages where a collection of minor runes had been transcribed, and ran his finger down a brief summative list. “Alright, Felix, what do you think will help most? I can make your armor a bit sturdier or lighter. Wait. This rune can allow you to jump higher. That might help you reach airborne monsters with your blades.”
“Let’s go with that one,” Felix said.
Max flipped to the page containing the transcription for a minor rune of hurdling. According to the primer, some parts of the rune had to be inscribed on Felix’s shin guards while the remaining sections needed to be placed on his cuirass for the enchantment to function. Max placed the corresponding armor pieces on the anvil and tapped each of them with Turanos in turn.
Runic inscriptions available
Minor rune of hurdling (not memorized) selected
Commence Flux Fabrication?
Max willed his assent.
Ready for Fabrication
Runic inscription underway
Arcanum: 30
Fabricate skill Level 2: 600 seconds remaining to complete inscription
Max flipped Turanos around, so that he held its chisel tip like a pen. When he’d tried to inscribe the minor rune of sturdiness on his bow a few days ago, the experience had been a challenging one. He’d nearly run out of time before he could complete the runic inscription.
Now, the swirling edges and curves of the rune of hurdling manifested readily beneath Turano’s chisel tip. Max completed his work on one shin guard, then the other.
260 seconds remaining to complete inscription
The rune sections meant to go onto the cuirass were significantly more complex. Max raced against time to complete its corners and edges.
60 seconds remaining to complete inscription
Just a nick here, and a curve beneath this line, he thought, finishing his work and lifting his chisel from the cuirass.
Runic inscription successful
Hurdling brigandine +1: crafted item
Minor hurdling
“It’s done,” he announced, wiping the sweat from his forehead with the back of his hand.
Felix picked up his armor and gaped in awe at the glowing runic script upon their surfaces.
“Wow. These look pretty authentic, Max,” Marina commented. “I’ve definitely seen worse items in some of the shops at the Errantry Mansion.”
“Can’t compare to anything you can find at the Truesteel outlet though,” Max said, casting an appreciative nod at Flora, who’d been keeping an ear on their discussion.
“True, but the Truesteel craftsmen have dozens of assistants and work within dedicated forges that take up entire floors of the Errantry Mansions.” Marina helped Felix buckle his armor back on. “They also use Dungeon metal pieces and have undergone decades of training. And here you are, cutting out minor runes in a matter of minutes.”
“Maybe we can go into business when we sort the Apocalypse Horizon out,” Max joked, allowing the ghost of a smile to pull at the corner of his mouth. “It’ll definitely be safer than risking our lives in a Dungeon.”
“True, but it wouldn’t be as fun,” Nesura said. “You’re out of Arcanum, by the way.”
Arcanum: 0/30
“I know you wanted to work on the ice girl’s armor next, so don’t worry, you can use my Arcanum, Max,” the familiar continued, her voice laden with smugness. “She gets to wear my cosmic energy all over her.”
Marina reached down, and to Nesura’s obvious affront, pinched the bat’s cheek fondly.
“That’s not going to bother me at all, Nessy,” she said, grinning. “Thank you so much!”
“Wait. I rescind my permission. Max, stop—” Nesura began, but Max had already reached into her soul, drawn upon her Arcanum reserves, and used it to replenish his.
“Alright. Put your armor on the anvil, Marina,” Max said, pointedly ignoring Nesura as she fumed. He turned his attention back to the primer’s summary. “I’m thinking a basic sturdiness rune would be a good idea. There’s a rune of elemental efficiency listed here. It reduces your Mana costs by one point every time you cast a spell. Each spell still has a minimum casting cost of one Mana point though.”
“Mana is our biggest limiting factor here, and in most Dungeons,” Marina said. “I already have a few items that reduce my Mana costs, but the more the better, I suppose. What about a Mana recuperation rune? That would be helpful too.”
“This primer lists a few intermediate runes that do just that,” Max said, flipping to the relevant pages. “But they’re quite difficult. Bewildering, in fact. I don’t want to risk a Fabrication Failure on your armor and ruin it.”
“This old thing?” Marina laughed as she slipped out of her gambeson with Felix’s assistance. “I was already thinking of getting it replaced. I’d say give it a shot, Max. It’s not like I’m the one getting hit by monsters all the time anyway. That usually happens to you and Flora. And sometimes Felix, since he’s got to get so close to monsters, and they sometimes spot him. My armor isn’t very important, and like I said, I’ve already got a few Mana cost reduction items, and my Icebolt and Icelance spells can’t cost any less. Another one would only affect my Icicle Burst spell, and I don’t really care to use it here, not when it might accidentally reach an ice disc monster.”
“Sure.” Max twirled Turanos in his fingers. An item that has undergone a Fabrication Failure wasn’t literally ruined or broken. It simply couldn’t accept any runic inscriptions anymore. Whatever the outcome, Marina would still have her armor. “Let’s take a look. There’s one that increases your normal Mana regeneration rate by one point per hour. Here’s another that gives a flat ten-point boost to your Mana point reserves.”
“Neither of those are very exciting.” Marina sighed as she put her gambeson upon the anvil of light. “I’ll take the flat boost.”
“Let’s do it.” Max raised Turanos and tapped the cloth armor with the hammer.
Runic inscriptions available
Intermediate rune of Mana (not memorized) selected
Commence Flux Fabrication?
Max gathered his will and began the process.
Ready for Fabrication
Runic inscription underway
Arcanum: 30
Fabricate skill Level 2: 600 seconds remaining to complete inscription
The rune of Mana was far more complex than the rune of hurdling. Max’s head spun as he tried to inscribe it on the left lapel of Marina’s gambeson. Sweat poured down his temples and stung his eyes as he worked furiously. He managed to complete just over a third of the rune before the time ran out.
Flux Fabrication failed
Item can no longer accept runes nor be the subject of Flux Fabrication
“Sorry, Marina,” he said, shaking his head as he passed the armor back to her. “This is a bit beyond me. Maybe I need to improve my Flux Fabrication skill before I try something like that again.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Marina replied. “You need to pull off ten more successful Flux Fabrications to do that, right?”
Max checked his Soul Lens screen.
Progress to Level 3 Flux Fabrication skill: 1/10
“Nine more,” he said, putting Turanos back into his ring of holding and causing the anvil of light to wink out of existence.
“That’s a shame.” Felix pointed to each of his shin guards and his cuirass in turn. “You’d think this would count as three.”
“The different sections comprise a single rune, so inscribing it only counts as a single successful inscription,” Nesura explained, before turning up at Max. “If you’re really set on improving your Flux Fabrication skill Level, you might want to think about setting aside some actual practice time. I don’t know if that’s something you can afford.”
“Probably not,” Max admitted. “I’ll just have to see what I can do. Or find a Knight-Errant who has an Artificer Classification and leave such things to him or her.” Not that there were any, of course, since the Artificer was a Classification that had only appeared to Max when he was first given his own choice of Classification, and he was unique in that regard.
“Or we can simply buy stuff from the Truesteel outlet,” Marina pointed out. “We’ve got a fair bit of money now, and I do love my shopping!”
“You definitely do,” Felix said, giving her a sidelong hug. “Let’s get some done when we’re finished with this Dungeon.”
“Victory Shards.” Max pulled out a packet of provisions from his ring of holding. “How’re we doing on that front?”
“Here’s what I’ve pulled from our cohort link.” Marina presented a Soul Lens screen.
Maximo Strident, Level 3 Arcanist
Victory Shards: 6,130.8
Flora Truesteel, Level 3 Defender
Victory Shards: 9,289.4
Felix Straya, Level 3 Infiltrator
Victory Shards: 3,012.5
Marina Trist, Level 3 Elementalist
Victory Shards: 3,627.5
“Quite frankly, the rate at which we’ve been accruing Victory Shards in the Apocalypse Horizon is quite astounding,” Marina said. “I wonder if that Saga of yours is also affecting us.”
“No,” Nesura said. “The effects of Sagas are exclusive to their possessors. You’re acquiring Victory Shards at such an accelerated rate simply because you’ve been killing monsters en-masse. Just over the last two days, the four of you have put down hundreds of Level 2 and Level 3 monsters. You’re able to do this largely in part due to Max’s personal combat prowess, along with his support spells and tactical leadership, both of which greatly amplify your effectiveness.”
“I don’t think flattery works on Max, Nessy,” Felix said.
“I never flatter,” the familiar hissed in reply. “This is a cold, factual analysis, which is entirely consistent with the Arcanist Classification. A cohort member who can shift readily into any role at any given moment provides boundless tactical flexibility and acts as a force amplifier. Combine this with his personal, pre-Knight-Errant expertise and experience, and you have quite possibly the best field commander you can ask for.”
“Enough with the flattery, Nessy,” Marina said, before turning to Max. “But I suppose that makes sense. You are the Hero of Fristar Valley after all. Children will learn about you in history books.”
“If there’s anyone left to record history in case we fail,” Max said. “Regarding our Victory Shards, I’m guessing all those acquisition rate boosts we’ve activated in this Dungeon account for a fair bit of how far we’ve come in so short a time.”
“They definitely have,” Felix said. “I say we stand a very fair chance of reaching Level 4 by the time we reach the Warden.”
“Those rate boosts are also a reason why we’ve been expending more Mana than we need,” Max said. “We see the Soul Lens screen appear, and we are driven to exploit its conditions. I say we disregard them moving forward. Let them unfold incidentally, but not pursue them.”
“You and I are the only ones capable of meeting the conditions, Max,” Marina said. “But I get your point. Fire discs are still best dealt with by my spells, but I’ll focus on simply killing them now instead of trying to trigger the Victory Shard acquisition rate boosts and keep them going as long as I can.”
“Greed is good,” Max said. “As long as it doesn’t kill you.”
Chapter 13
The cohort resumed the climb, but now with Mana-efficiency at the forefront of their minds rather than Victory Shard acquisition. Not that they abandoned any attempts to trigger the boosts, of course. One of the monster types they encountered was called a thunder shrike, a metallic birdlike entity as large as a full-grown man. The thunder shrikes used an ability similar to the kobold hero’s Magisword spell, which allowed them to imbue their scimitar-like beaks with electricity, making them equally deadly in melee as from afar.
It didn’t take Max too long to cast Arcane Flux and discover that the Knight-Errant version of that ability was Elemental Imbuement, which was the exact same one he’d gotten from the kobold hero.
Elemental Imbuement
Flux spell: not ready
Enchantment spell
Level 1
Imbue target weapon with 10% elemental damage from chosen elemental spell
Mana Cost: 10 Mana per 5 minutes
From there, he did several things. First, he used his Flux Conjunction to combine Elemental Imbuement with each of his elemental spells. Every time he performed a Flux Conjunction, the Flux spells involved vanished from his repertoire, but within Graywind Mage Dungeon, it was a simple matter to reacquire them again from the array of monsters with elemental abilities.
This exercise gave him an arsenal of elemental imbuement spells he could cast on Stridentsong. He proceeded to combine each imbuement with a spell of its corresponding element, optimizing them and increasing their Level. Before he’d entered Graywind Mage Tower, his Jolting Arc and Icelance spells were at Level 2. He optimized those spells too, bringing them to Level 3. By the middle of the second day, Max had the tools needed to both trigger the Victory Shard acquisition rate boosts and conserve his Mana point reserves.
Flux Spells: 8/8 readiness
Double Shield: Level 2; Active; 8 Mana per 10 seconds READY
Earthen Wrath (optimized x2): Level 3; Enchantment, 4 Mana per 30 minutes READY
Firebolt (optimized x2): Level 3; Instant, 0 seconds; 4 Mana READY
Flame Strike (optimized x2): Level 3; Enchantment, 4 Mana per 30 minutes READY
Frost Blade (optimized x2): Level 3; Enchantment, 4 Mana per 30 minutes READY
Jolting Arc (optimized x2): Level 3; Instant, 0 seconds; 3 Mana initial cast, 4 Mana per second READY
Lightning Edge (optimized x2): Level 3; Enchantment, 4 Mana per 30 minutes READY
Stone Spear (optimized x2): Level 3; Instant, 0 seconds; 6 Mana READY
Optimizing a spell also improved its utility, and Max found that after casting a particular elemental imbuement on Stridentsong, he could then temporarily suppress its effects and cast another. He would cast Flame Strike on Stridentsong, use the imbued blade to strike down an ice disc and trigger the Victory Shard acquisition rate boost, then suppress the elemental imbuement and cast Frost Blade. With his sword now wreathed in ice, he would then hack down a fire disc. The Flame Strike would still be in effect, allowing him to now suppress Frost Blade, send flames roaring down the length of his blade, and go after ice discs.
Switching from one element to another allowed Max to continually amplify the effects of the rate boost and prolong its duration, all the while allowing the rest of the cohort to fight as efficiently and effectively as the circumstances dictated and not need to worry about maximizing their rewards.
The second day saw them nearly quadruple their progress and cut their way through hundreds of monsters. At several points, Max managed to get the rate boost multiplier so high they were essentially tripling the amount of Victory Shards they acquired. By the time Max called for the cohort to stop, the summit of Graywind Mage Tower was within sight, and Flora had arrived at Level 4.
“I’d never thought I would attain this so quickly,” the Defender said as she threw her hands into the air and cried out in glee. “Thanks, Max!”
