The Way Ahead, page 15
Edwin’s last glimpse of the dwarf as he was turned around and dragged off showed him looking unbearably smug.
CHAPTER 17
The Time of Our Limes
Edwin fumed in his cell, peeved about his “meeting.” He wasn’t a miracle worker; he didn’t even know what Blackstone was made of! It was presumably some variant of concrete, but that was still a colossal assumption. For all he knew, it was magically transmuted water or something. Or cooled magma. It did look vaguely igneous in nature, but Edwin didn’t even know how to begin determining that sort of thing. Its being volcanic in nature would actually make a lot of sense …
Escaping had become a much higher priority now, but he was still nowhere close to managing that. He needed more Skill levels, more experience, more materials … More everything, really. The dwarves all probably had Skills of their own, and he’d need to combat that somehow. What might he even be dealing with? Darksight, Iron Teeth, probably weapon and armor Skills. … And he’d have to somehow figure out how do it while only able to really focus on Blackstone/Concrete. That was fine. Some experimentation with lime would probably yield impressive results.
Edwin moved back to his lab bench. He’d have to keep working to make his Task-compulsion lord happy, and it sounded like trying to defy him might cost Edwin his life. Rashin’s earlier words had suggested that Edwin was still under some level of protection from the host, but Edwin wasn’t about to risk his life by calling a bluff. Besides, if the actions of the dwarven lord so far were anything to judge him by, the lord probably didn’t care much for hospitality rules, at least not in spirit. Maybe in letter? Who knows. Someone with a more complete picture of the forces at play and a grasp on dwarven psychology might manage it, but not Edwin. All he knew was he needed to be on his toes and at least pretend to play nice.
So that meant work. Lots of work. They didn’t micromanage him, at least. Small mercies and all. He had a system down, which was also nice. Still doesn’t make it easy, though, he thought as he brought his sledgehammer down, crushing another chunk of limestone into rubble.
That rubble was loaded into his kiln, heated for a couple hours, pulled out (putting in a new set of limestone), and pounded into dust. Mix the powder with a bit of water (carefully, trying not to make it into a paste) and repeat.
Another batch of plaster was produced.
Another day passed; more lime was made and pounded into dust.
More experiments had their results jotted down.
Edwin practically ran on autopilot as the days turned into weeks, interrupted only once every few days to be dragged out to Lord S’Fishkill, yelled at for a few minutes about his lack of results, told his Task was to make Blackstone (or concrete, which was added later), and returned to his cell. After a few times of returning to find his notebook or other tools decidedly not where he had left them, Edwin realized that his workshop was being searched, presumably for any “weapons,” like the limelight, he might be creating to try to escape.
Sure, having his only real “human” contact be a self-important dwarf with anger management issues probably wasn’t healthy in the long run, but Edwin could just stay silent in the meetings and it wouldn’t make a difference. So, he tuned out all of S’ … S’ineedbetterinsults’s ranting and it all worked out.
Rashin started making an appearance at one point, coming in as Edwin was summoned from his cell, walking alongside him to the court, where Rashin stood off to the side, and escorting Edwin back. The scholar tried striking up a conversation a few times, asking Edwin more about himself, but his charge never obliged.
Edwin’s Logbook, Day 24
Notes on plaster creation: Infusing small amounts of mana (rate of 1 second of infusion per estimated 10 kilos) into lime prior to mixing in 5 kilos of (nonmagical) water would give the reaction just enough energy to seemingly completely react while still leaving no excess moisture in the plaster. This powder form seems to be stable and nonmagical.
No noticeable variation between plaster made of Infused powder and that made of nonmagical powder Infused after mixing it with water. Namely, higher mana content stiffens the plaster slurry, allowing it to be set quickly. Mana can be removed from this set plaster to return it to uncured form. However, over several hours, this latter aspect fades as the plaster sets via the natural method.
Mixing magical water into nonmagical plaster resulted in a very watery slurry that solidified via crystallization, curing in patches rather than all at once. The process seems to mimic freezing.
Using magical water and magical plaster resulted in a magically saturated plaster that automatically cured at a rate comparable to mundane water and mundane plaster.
Notes on mana infusion: It seems as though mana is infused at the atomic or subatomic level, but the effect of said mana is variable depending on what molecule said atom is bound into. Some mana is released during a chemical change. Some experiments seem to contradict one another. Further research is required once I have proper measurement tools.
On mortar creation: Mixing sand into plaster creates a mortar mixture much more structurally sound than mere plaster (which is hard but breaks under sustained force).
N-N-N: A nonmagical mixture of plaster, sand, and water creates a basic mortar mixture. Functions basically as my memories of mortar on Earth, just not as high-quality. Infusing it with mana causes instant curing.
N-N-M: When using nonmagical plaster and sand but magical water, the sand seems to slide out of plaster mix as it cures, condensing at the bottom into a form of sandstone.
N-M-N: Using nonmagical plaster and water but magical sand results in the sand refusing to interact with the plaster and water, sliding directly off. Resulting mixture is just plaster mix.
M-N-N: Depending on the ratio of magical plaster to nonmagical sand used, this can result in making something like permanent sand structures (such as sandcastles), which can be sculpted and harden without gaining much strength, or by Infusing it once set but before cured, it can mimic M-M-N mortar (below).
M-N-M: Creates a very sticky mortar, which readily adheres to almost anything. When cured, it remains attached to whatever it was in contact with but loses its stickiness.
N-M-M: Creates a substance when cured that looks and acts similarly to wet sandstone in most respects but has a very low coefficient of friction (lab equipment not precise enough to properly measure, but its comparable to ice). M-N-M does not adhere but does not slide freely across it either.
M-M-N: Seems to function as standard magical mortar, being supernaturally tough, capable of supporting at least twice the weight a comparable amount of N-N-N mortar is capable of holding.
M-M-M: Cures slowly into a substance resembling concrete. Is difficult to shape properly but much stronger than M-N-N, with the current best sample withstanding an additional 50% additional force before breaking.
I need a better naming scheme, Edwin thought as he updated his notes with his latest test, the cracked M-M-M cement. Gah, it’s even bad in my head, resting on the tabletop in front of him. Maybe slipstone for N-M-M? Supermortar for M-M-M and magical mortar for M-N-M? M-M-N isn’t distinct enough for its own name, and maybe sandsculpt for M-N-N? I’m no good at this. Still, at least the way it currently is doesn’t take many characters.
Edwin sighed, removing his gloves and setting his notebook to the side. It was getting late, and he was hungry. That was enough work for today. As he settled into his chair, eating the food provided for him, he decided that he’d look over his Skill level-ups today. It had been about three weeks since he had last done so, after all. At first it was just because he was too mad at Lord S’tupid to want to give himself a distraction, then it was a way to make the days go by faster. Regardless! It was time to change that.
Level Up!
Alchemy Level 1→15
Research Level 29→32
Outsider’s Almanac Level 28→34
Mana Infusion Level 14→26
Basic Mana Sense Level 24→29
Identify Level 15→27
Athletics Level 18→21
Nutrition Level 9→14
Language Level 4→12
Walking Level 19→20
Firestarting Level 21→23
Sleeping Level 11→16
Breathing Level 11→13
Throwing Weapons Level 5→8
Mathematics Level 31→35
Visualization Level 18→23
Whew. That was a lot. It put him at 97 Skill Points, which was enough to fill out almost any of his Paths, but Edwin held back on assigning them right away. He’d need to think about what he wanted next, and what would help him in his current predicament.
Still, that was practically all his Skills getting in on the action there. Apparently, he had been walking around enough just in his tiny workshop to get a level in Walking, and breaking enough rocks for three levels in Athletics. Throwing Weapons would probably have leveled up with that one incident last week that he didn’t want to think about, Language from studying his Dwarven dictionary regularly, and the others probably just from routine use. Sleeping must have slowed down somewhat, though. That was a shame, though if it hadn’t it might have been too easy a source of Skill Points.
Edwin was getting close to the end of his time here. After nearly a month of work, he had fairly good ratios for his strongest mortar, though it still wasn’t Blackstone. He was still nowhere close to understanding the stuff, and despite constant reminders from Mr. “Give Me Blackstone” telling Edwin he had better hurry up if he wanted to live, it was too alien a stone for Edwin to even have a clue where to start. Honestly, he wasn’t sure why the dwarf was so convinced that Edwin could provide. Simple denial, perhaps?
Edwin’s Alchemy instincts only helpfully provided that it didn’t seem Alchemy related in the slightest but was more likely the strange product of some form of highly evolved Skill. In other words, he wasn’t going to replicate it this way, using the sort of alchemy he knew. Well, at least not the kind he knew so far.
So he wasn’t getting out that way. Which only left fighting his way out, not that he’d ever really anticipated otherwise. His weapons were limited basically to whatever was closely related enough to cement and concrete for him to focus on for more than an hour, so only things he could make out of limestone. Still, that meant he had limelight, slipstone, quick-drying mortar, steam grenades, and powdered lime, which would absolutely cause chemical burns if it got on someone, especially if it were Infused.
But if he were to escape, he’d still need to get somewhere. Which brought up what he was going to spend his Skill Points on. He pulled up his Paths to check his options.
Very Much Yes-Eventually
Micro-Biomancer 0/90, Path Less Traveled 0/90, Realm Traveler 0/120, Scientist 0/60
Promising
Stonehide Vanquisher 0/60, Titan Slayer 0/90, World Traveler 0/60, Researcher 0/60, Explorer 0/60, Outsider 0/60, Linguist 0/60, Bomber 0/60
Maybe One Day
Survivor 0/60, Athlete 0/60, Daredevil 0/60, Pioneer 0/60, Novice Pyromancer 0/60
Meh
Lumberjack 0/60, Way of the Empty Hand 0/60, Trapper 0/60
Micro-Biomancer probably wasn’t going to be helpful either in combat or helping him get away without being recaptured unless he made some sort of bioweapon, which Edwin was not keen on doing even if he somehow got that kind of Skill. Path Less Traveled and Realm Traveler were wildcards. He had no idea what they would do (teleportation, maybe? That would definitely be cool, if unlikely), though they might at least help him survive the wilderness better this time. Scientist was cool, but again, he wasn’t sure how much it would help.
Stonehide Vanquisher was apparently a Trophy Path, from what Rashin had said, and would give him a cool item of some sort, possibly a cloak made of the train-sized beast’s eponymous hide. Titan Slayer would probably give him some kind of combat-based Skill, so it went on the shortlist.
World Traveler and Explorer did as well, as they would help him after he escaped. Researcher was discarded for the time being accordingly, and he was about to do the same to Linguist when he reconsidered. If Rashin hadn’t been lying—and would he have been lying?—it was likely to give Edwin the Polyglot Skill, which would be really useful when interacting with anyone.
Outsider might do any number of things, so it was similarly too risky to try. Survivor and Athlete … were both possible. Either would most likely help him in some way after he got out, and maybe even in the meantime depending on what they did.
Way of the Empty Hand, then? Ehhh … Edwin was no master of martial arts, and even on Earth there was a reason that unarmed fighters weren’t really a thing. He might get some sort of unarmed combat Skill, sure, but he’d be against armed foes who also had Skills. He didn’t like those odds.
Bomber, though … Bomber would probably be the most beneficial overall. It would most likely make his steam grenades, his most potent weapon, more effective, evolving either Firestarting or Throwing Weapons to do so. That would help him get out, and then he’d need some way to survive once he did.
The Blackstone road leading down the mountain would keep him from getting lost, so whatever benefit Explorer or Survivor would have once provided would probably be redundant, so long as he brought along enough food. It would be risky traveling in such open space should the dwarves try to pursue him, but Edwin was more focused on not getting lost in the wilderness again. If he did get lost in the wilderness somehow, he could always just complete the Path then. Not like he’d get much chance to level up a wilderness-survival Skill while he was in here.
Still, he couldn’t just stay away from civilization forever. Some people might enjoy making everything they used from absolute scratch, but not Edwin. So that meant it was inevitable that he would want to interact with other people eventually. Plus, if dwarves were chasing him, he’d need to … be able to persuade other people that they were in the wrong and they should help him instead of them. That meant communication, which meant Polyglot, which in turn meant the Linguist Path. Also, he totally wasn’t just desperate for meaningful human interaction with people who weren’t trying to exploit him. It would be just like the first few weeks of college again, but now he had better social skills and knew once again what not to do.
Nope … That definitely didn’t factor into his calculations at all.
Bomber and Linguist combined took 120 Skill Points, so he wasn’t quite there yet. Also, with how low his Throwing Weapons Skill was, he should probably try to get a few more levels in that before taking a chance with Bomber advancing it and wasting his chance for easier Skill Points. How to level it, though, was the question. Hmm … Following his gut, Edwin picked up a piece of relatively smooth limestone that fit into his hand and threw it at the corner of the room. It hit slightly off-target and clattered across the floor. With a slight groan of exertion—he’d been sitting down for too long—Edwin picked himself up and went to retrieve it. A dozen tries and a quick diversion working on cement production later, and he had what he was looking for.
Level Up!
Throwing Weapons Level 8→9
Perfect. Twenty-two levels to go.
He’d be out of here in no time.
CHAPTER 18
What’s Left of Bare Arms
It took Edwin three days of throwing rocks at the wall whenever he could and five levels in the Skill before his complete lack of talent was offset by whatever bonus he was receiving from Throwing Weapons and he was able to start juggling. Once he did so, he swiftly confirmed his suspicion that constantly keeping three balls in the air did help him level up his Throwing Weapons Skill, and the near-constant use of his Skill (juggling was fun when you could actually do it!) meant it rose steadily. By the time he hit level 24, he could keep four rocks in the air or juggle two one-handed. That wasn’t the only benefit, either.
Congratulations! For reaching level 12 in Throwing Weapons you have unlocked the Warrior Path!
Attempting to juggle rocks while working hadn’t gone well at all, which slowed his practice down some, but Edwin found that he could toss things from one hand to the other without his attention getting mad at him. Integrating his Skill training into his every movement had paid dividends.
After several weeks, Throwing Weapons, once his lowest-leveled Skill, was now at level 47, which, while not quite as high as Almanac—which had hit level 61 two days ago—was nonetheless quite respectable. Yes, his initial idea had been to just raise it high enough to afford the Bomber and Linguist Paths with it, but further reflection had him doubting if that was a good idea. It was, after all, easier to improve a lower-leveled Skill’s level, and if he wanted to evolve all his Skills eventually, that meant he would similarly want to level all his Skills to the 60–90 range.
That realization made him want to bang his head against the wall for trying to advance Basic Mana Manipulation at level 9, when he had only been at level 14 and 22 for his other evolved Skills. Gah!
Well, that was all in the past and there was nothing he could do about it now. At least he kept the benefits of the base Skills so he technically didn’t lose anything beyond some easy Skill Points and additional System power.
Hopefully, Edwin would be able to get Throwing Weapons and Language up to half-decent levels before he had to break out. His last audience with Lord S’fashkchlil (hitting level 24 in Language had gotten him to the point of being able to barely pronounce the tongue-twister of the name, though most of the time Edwin still preferred to use whatever insult came to mind when thinking about his captor) had been even rougher than usual, and overhearing the chatter of other dwarves made him realize S’tinker was under pressure due to … something. Edwin hadn’t caught the details. Research seemed to combine well with his Language practice, and he was able to at least catch the gist of what was being said in Dwarven most of the time, even if his ability to speak it was rudimentary at best.
