Brockton Bay's Marvelous Mage - Chapter 120

The rest of our meeting went relatively well. Piggot was tight-lipped about what she thought, simply repeating that this was above her pay grade and that she would work on getting the people together who needed to see my presentation. I had a feeling that this was likely a group of her peers, or just Chief Director Costa-Brown, but she refused to confirm.

Armsmaster, on the other hand, was happy to provide me with some feedback on the particular combination of equipment I had selected. During that time, he unknowingly highlighted exactly why I was looking forward to having people with a better grasp of power dynamics advise me. 

"I understand that flight might not work with your particular tinker specialty, at least not on a mass scale," He had said, his usually stoic voice colored slightly by an understanding empathy. "Most tinkers struggle with limits like that. However, the people you are giving this equipment to will have a considerable brute rating, and will be deployed in places where collateral damage is a foregone conclusion. Even if they are restricted to flinging themselves in crude cardinal directions, crashing into buildings and cars, that is still a significant mover rating."

The experience hero and tinker was absolutely correct, and I felt silly for not seeing it before. I had been so focused on creating perfect precision flight, I didn't stop to realize the utility of simple directional velocity. 

Even better, combining normal human learning abilities with the existing equipment buffs to "agility" and the stable foot and spider climb boots, anyone using the fling equipment would likely become quite adept at landing on their feet. 

To say I was eager to go back to the drawing board as soon as possible was an understatement. 

A few days passed after my report, and I continued to fine-tune the equipment. Director Piggot was working on setting up a new meeting, a live demonstration for people who could make decisions about my offer. It was frustrating to have done all this work, then to get stopped by the nearly impenetrable wall that is bureaucracy, but I did my best to remain calm. I was pretty sure she wasn't dragging her feet or anything like that, so I would just need to be patient.

My waiting brought me all the way through to the final night of the charge cycle. As usual, as midnight approached, I sat down in my usual relaxing spot and waited for my charges to refill. I was already pretty sure I knew what I was investing in, the only thing that could change that at this point was an incredible "random" subject.

When the cycle finally ticked over, I watched the charges refill. I still had a spare charge, which had been hanging around for quite some time now. I had been saving it to use as a sort of test charge, just in case I chose a subject that didn't really fill what I was looking for, but thankfully, so far, I had been pretty lucky. That went double for now, since the spare charge would let me take my plan a step further than I would have been able to normally.

As usual, not long after the charges filled, I could feel the "random" subject slotting into place after my charges filled. As the first level was confirmed, the knowledge of Alchemy filled my head, stunning me for a moment as the information for a whole new concept flooded my mind.

Alchemy was, above all else, a magic involving the conversion and refinement of materials. Most of the focus was on two primary ideas, infusing and transmutation. The latter, transmutation, was pretty simple. Take one thing and turn it into another, albeit at an incredibly high conversion rate. I could turn low-quality steel into gold, silver, platinum, or any other metal I wanted, or granite into coal, or water into glass. The process would be incredibly resource and energy-intensive, but it was possible. 

Thankfully, the second level of understanding alleviated some of that steep cost, though it was still incredibly inefficient. At the first level, the transformation I had access to was interesting, but ultimately too inefficient to be of practical use. At the second level, I gained the knowledge of slightly more effective methods. Transmutation at that level was still wildly inefficient, but it was just barely at a usable level, and only if you had a large amount of suitable material available.

Along with a less ridiculous conversion rate, the second level of knowledge included the creation of infused metals. I had gotten a glimpse at the possibility from the first level, but as I learned how to actually do it and what it was for, I couldn't help but laugh. Infusing mundane metals with magic was a relatively straightforward process, at least for most metals, and had two primary purposes. One, infusing a metal could enhance its primary properties. Iron could be made stronger, titanium could be made more flexible, and aluminum could be made lighter. It also made them much more powerful reagents for almost all magical uses, including as sacrificial materials for rituals. 

This was useful for almost every single use of metal I had, everything from golem crafting to geomancy. Even the chalk I used to make my ritual circles, the electrum or iron versions, would be of better and more powerful quality. 

Geomancy in particular was receiving a double buff, since not only would the metal used in the process be of better magical potential, but the facets I wanted the metals to embody would be stronger, making the resulting enhancements stronger as well.

My arsenal was about to receive a significant upgrade. I just needed to set up a proper infusion station. 

   For a moment, I considered dedicating some points to upping my Alchemy levels, but I ultimately held back. My most important project was still the mass-produced equipment, and in order to confirm that I could complete every aspect, I needed more levels of annihilation magic. So, after a moment of hesitation, I focused on annihilation and invested all seven of my points, six new charges and the single saved charge, into levels three and four. 

The blast of information came in quickly, almost overwhelming me. Four was now officially the highest level of investment I had, and it did not disappoint, even with such a dense, complicated subject.

I now knew dozens of spells, multiple enchantments and rituals, all about causing annihilation effects. Where before I was restricted to a simple sphere at the end of a wand, I now had a whole arsenal of alternatives and potential. Of course, the moment I was finished investing, connections began to form across multiple subjects, including spell and ritual crafting. The two lower-level topics were just able to keep up with the now higher-level broad subject, but I could tell, even from a cursory examination, that pushing it beyond level four would pull it out of their range.

Thankfully, as I slowly worked my way through the new information, it became clear that I had gotten what I needed. I had a slew of new ideas for a new, improved version of my annihilation wand. 

As always, with all of the new knowledge in my head, I couldn't help but set straight to work. I cleared any residual tiredness in my body with a quick spell, before grabbing a few enhanced acorns, the same I used to build the rest of my forest home. I walked through my home, picked a path, and began to create a new walkway from it, my growth in druidcraft making the process considerably easier than it had been before. I didn't even need to kill any plants to clear space, I just slowly worked my magic into the surrounding vegetation, walking them away until I had enough space. From there, I grew a platform very similar to the ritual platform, a nice flat surface with two massive trees beside it. I then added a few smaller workstations, essentially just wide countertop space, before clearing more space around the woods for storage. 

While I was eager to begin working on the wands, I first needed to prepare a mass metal infusion platform. If there was anything I had learned throughout my months here in this world, it was that you should start by securing your resources, then move on to the fun stuff. If you didn't, you risked running out of resources while still in the process of building.

The process of infusing mundane metals was actually pretty simple, though it required a large permanent array, which was basically a ritual, but in what amounted to a different language, specific to alchemy. You fed that array a slight amount of magic to start, before about twenty percent of the metal was basically burned away. The process was one-step amplification through sacrifice and one part purification, achieved through the removal of lesser materials, corruption, and other impurities.

Technically, this was not the standard, usual way that the two levels of alchemy would have done it. That process involved a less complex, non-permanent array and involved my own magic. However, this alternative "burning" method was what my magical mass production levels suggested. Basically, you form something with extra metal, toss it into the infusion array, spark it with a bit of mana, then let the "burning" metal fuel the purification and amplification. No extra parts, no lengthy mana infusion, only one step, all of which meant it was easily repeatable without a mage's full attention. 

Of course, this new array would not be inexpensive, especially since it was designed to be permanent. I would need around a dozen large gemstones and a significant amount of precious metals, primarily gold and silver. 

Thankfully, I now had a way to make those materials, albeit at a steep cost. I even had a handy stash of ready-to-sacrifice metal just sitting in the ocean, a single teleport away.

On one of the work surfaces, I carefully transcribed the most efficient transmutation array I knew. I then teleported away from the base and out to one of the many wrecked boats in the Boat Graveyard. Over the span of an hour and a half, I repeatedly used my control metal spell to carve large chunks out of one of the boats, compact them into cubes, and then ferry them back to the compound, stacking them like multi-ton Jenga blocks near the newest addition to my home. After claiming a not insignificant portion of a massive boat, I started to convert the salvaged metal into useful materials. 

My first goal was to make permanent transmutation arrays for gold, silver, diamonds, emeralds, rubies, and several other essential materials by building them into the various counters around the large, flat space at the center of the alchemy area. With the horrible conversion rate, that alone took nearly three-fourths of the salvaged metal. Now, a lot of that metal had been poor quality, rusted, tainted, and covered in crap, but it was still literal dozens of tons of metal for not even a single ton of final product.

If I were ever blessed with higher levels of Alchemy, I would have to redo all of this, but it would be well worth it for better conversion rates.

With a now endless, if hard-gained, source of precious materials, I started preparing for the metal infusion array. The first step was to sit down and design a spell that controls stone. I looked through my spell tome twice, searching for one I had already made, only to finally give up and accept that I had, somehow, never actually done that before.

Thankfully, it didn't take too long, and after an hour of crunching numbers and angles, I was able to successfully cast a spell that let me manipulate stone.

Lapidem circum me ducam, in quamcumque formam mihi placuerit eum tractabo, instar aquae fluere sinam, meo iussu moveri sinam.” I shouted, holding my staff in the air.

Slowly, as I waved my staff, a brown circle grew out from around my feet, several symbols appearing with it. Suddenly, it expanded rapidly before defusing into the ground. A slight rumble vibrated the compound, before several large boulders around the clearing crumbled to gravel and covered the platform. I then slammed the bit of my staff down, and the gravel solidified into a single flat chunk of stone about three inches thick, perfect for carving and inlaying. 

Once the surface was prepared, I carefully carved out the infusion array, including spots for several precious stones. Once the array was prepared, I made half a dozen more trips to the Boat Graveyard before transmuting enough silver, gold, and precious stones to complete the project, using my trusty metal control spell to mix and inlay the gold, before setting the dozen precious stones as well. 

When everything was finally done, I called one of the golems over with a whistle, the metal amalgam standing in the center of the array. Once I was sure it was standing stable enough, I carefully removed its core. As soon as I did, the golem went rigid, now just a metal frame. 

After carefully placing the core on one of the few counters, I kneeled down by the array and fed it just a single spark of magic, enough to jumpstart the "burning." 

The array lit up, glowing brightly, especially the precious stones. The golem frame also began to glow, growing brighter as the outer layers of metal burned away, the magical essence of the metal seeping into the layers underneath. At the same time, sparks of impurities, both physical and conceptual, began to spark away from the frame, little cracks of flickering embers that glowed in the air but soon fizzled out. The infusion continued for a full five minutes before the glow faded, and the golem frame was revealed.

Now, the original golem shape was rather… chunky. The metal was basically free, and I knew I was basically making metal brutes, sacrificial pawns to throw at dangerous things until they stopped being dangerous. 

The new frame, now twenty percent smaller, no longer looked like a hunchback with tree trunks for limbs. In fact, it actually looked vaguely more human-proportioned, though it still didn't have a head. The metal itself also had a certain… shine to it. It wasn't generating light, and it wasn't a polished finish or anything like that. And yet, the metal still looked… more. It wasn't a glaring difference, but upon closer inspection, it was definitely noticeable. 

After investigating it thoroughly, I stepped back and carefully inserted the golem core back into the frame. Immediately, the golem stood upright, moving with a fluidity that the originals lacked. Sure, they could jump and dodge and move, but this golem was clearly no longer just a brute to smash things.

"Yeah, okay, everything is getting this treatment," I said to myself, ordering the finished golem way, whistling for the next one to approach. "Guardians included." 

Unfortunately, I would likely have to build each guardian a new frame in order to infuse them correctly, since their mass was already pretty refined. If a guardian lost twenty percent of their mass, they would look emaciated and skeletal, and that was not the look I was going for. Either way, I could already tell that the time spent would be well worth the cost, especially considering I could probably get Kali to run the infusion array, since all it really required was a spark of magic to start the process.

I took a moment to breathe, looking over what I had managed to complete, sunlight just starting to break through the leaves above the newest addition to my home. After a few minutes, I clapped my hands, rubbing them together.  

"Alright! What's next?"