Chapter 124: E-spirit smithing

Chapter 124: E-spirit smithing

“Daaaamn,” Perry muttered, spinning and gawking at the changes Natalie had wrought on the spirit forge.

The shiny blue reflective crystals that lined the entire dome were fluttering gently, almost like a breeze was rolling through them.

Perry stepped closer and marveled as the crystals turned their reflective surfaces away from him as he waved his hand in front of it.

“So I gave the crystals some articulation and connected it to a central AI. It guides the crystals to make sure the reflected essence of the original object perfectly matches the shape of the original. I’m sure a lot of leakage was caused because of that.”

Before Perry could respond, Natalie grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the forge itself, pointing out the changes.

The biggest one: The entire thing had been replaced with a larger, high-tech block of steel.

“It’s still got the clay on the inside, but I coated the outside in an essence-transparent metal for stability. It was necessary because I found that the nanotubes in the clay that absorbed magical essence most efficiently were horribly crumbly.”

“There’s the polarity inverter,” Natalie said, pointing to a metal pedal on the floor. “It’s digital rather than analogue now, but the button is on a spring-loaded switch to give it that feel. The pulse goes through a carefully calibrated circuit to make sure the entire forge reverses polarity at the exact same instant.”

“Damn,” Perry muttered, a little jealous of Natalie’s magitech. He knew he shouldn’t be jealous, but magitech always felt like Perry’s thing. For the first time in his career, he felt like he had to step up his game.

“Over here!” Natalie dragged him around to the other side of the massive steel forge.

Andre Demetre looked on with amusement as Natalie dragged Perry around to a massive computer.

“And check this out!” Nat said, pointing at a crystal-studded satellite dish pointed directly at the forge. “It-“

“Gives you real-time visuals on exactly what’s going on in the forge?”L1tLagoon witnessed the first publication of this chapter on Ñøv€l--B1n.

Natalie gave him a slightly miffed expression for stealing a bit of her thunder.

“Yes...” She suddenly brightened. “Now check this out!” Nat dragged him to the next spot.

“She’s going to be the best Spirit Smith either world has ever seen,” Andre Demetre said quietly, surveying the room with reverential awe.

“And now for your surprise!” Natalie said, her heart visibly pounding in the hollow of her neck.

She fished around in her pocket for a moment before she held out a silver chain to him, her entire body stiff.

Perry took it, inspecting the locket at the end of the chain. A hinged silver oval about half the size of his palm.

“Open it,” Nat said, shifting nervously from foot to foot.

Perry found the seam with his thumbnail and popped it open, revealing an incredibly detailed figurine of Natalie cast in silver. It almost looked like it was breathing.

He studied it for a moment before asking the first question that came to mind.

“Why doesn’t it have any clothes on?”

Nat went crimson, avoiding his gaze.

“Because clothes don’t have souls, and I couldn’t figure out how to – if you don’t like it-” She reached out to take it away, but Perry held it out of her grasp.

“I absolutely did not say that,” Perry said, before noticing movement out of the corner of his eye.

The metal figurine waved at him.

“I used vivant root and areonite to bring a tiny bit of myself to life,” Natalie said, peering down at the animated figurine along with him.

“That must’ve cost a lot,” Perry murmured as the figurine motioned for him to come closer.

He gave her his finger, and the tiny metal Natalie wrapped her arms around it in a hug that radiated warmth through his entire body.

“Is she...aware?” Perry didn’t think he could keep a sentient thing trapped in a locket 99% of the time.

“Not really, more like a snapshot of my emotions at the time,” Natalie said. “She’ll never stop being infatuated with you.” She looked up at him with upturned eyes in a way that nearly made his heart stop.

“Are we still talking about the locket?” Perry asked.

“Do you...like it?”

“Emphatically,” Perry said before picking up the little Tinker and kissing her.

“Andre, pull the machine back, Perry, help me pull it off the tube.”

Perry grabbed a pair of leather gloves and grabbed the roll of foil, pulling it off the roller while the machine slowly eased back.

“Hold it perpendicular to the ground,” Nat commanded, arriving in front of Perry with a pair of runed steel caps. She placed one on the top and hammered it into place with a wooden mallet, creating a friction fit that those in the Tinkering world referred to as ‘crazy-tight’.

“Flip.” Natalie commanded.

Perry flipped the roll of form-steel and Natalie repeated the process on the other side, before returning with a pair of bolt-cutters and snipping off the metal bands cinching the roll closed.

The whole thing was about a foot and a half from end to end and weighed about fifteen pounds. The roll itself was about as wide as his forearm.

For a technomagical component, Perry had expected it to be a bit smaller, but it definitely had the look, with the shimmering lines of runes exposed on the outside of the foil, and the two caps keep the whole thing tight.

Natalie took off her gloves and tentatively touched the caps.

“Okay, it’s good to touch,” She said, picking up the component with her bare hands.

She turned over to Perry and said something crazy.

“I’m sorry, what?” Perry asked her to repeat herself, not quite understanding what she’d just said.

“I want you to punch me in the face. The roll should protect any complex system touching both ends of the roll from damage of any kind, turning kinetic force into rust. I am touching both ends, so it should work.”

That’s what I thought you said.

“I...don’t wanna do that?” Perry said.

“Don’t you trust me?” Natalie pouted.

“Is there any way we can test it on something that’s...not you?”

Natalie blinked.

“Oh yeah, that would-“

Fwooomph!

Natalie’s face was engulfed by a firebolt emanating from Andre Demetre’s fingertips, causing Perry’s heartrate to skyrocket.

“Nat!”

“What was that!?” Natalie started as the fire around her head was snuffed out. She was completely unharmed, not a single hair singed.

Perry glanced over at Mr. Demetre.

“It works,” Andre said with a shrug. “Oh, don’t look at me like that, I’ve got some of the best healing spells in the world after your grandmother. She was never in any danger.”

“Whoah, check this out.” Natalie said, motioning them over.

“Oh, cool,” Perry murmured, momentarily forgetting to be angry at the old man.

“Interesting.” Andre said, peering over Nat’s shoulder.

A small area of off-color tarnish was receding from the center of the sacrificial anode, disappearing like a breath of fog on a mirror.

“It seems to be able to fix itself.” Natalie said, breaking out into a grin. “As long as the damage isn’t too much at once, it should be able to keep any complex system running indefinitely.”

“Remarkable. I’ve never seen a protective enchantment that’s so... elegant in its simplicity. Most protective amulets require a bit of blood to attune them to their bearer, and a specific form of damage to be warded against, in very precise terms, and will break rather quickly, but this... works for anyone, and stops anything. I’ve never seen it’s like. ” Andre said, rubbing his chin. “Do you think it would be able to stop aging?”

“A large portion of aging is damage to DNA from free-radicals and radiation, it’s true,” Perry said, gaining Andre’s attention. “The sacrificial anode would probably protect from those forms of aging by it’s very nature, but...another portion of aging is telomerase shortening from excessive copying, so if I had to guess, I would say it might slow down aging and prevent excessive mutations, like liver spots and cancer. So the wearer might age slower and more...gracefully than they might otherwise.”

“Hmm...” Andre rubbed his chin, glancing at Nat. “I’ll pay you five million dollars for an earring or bracelet that uses this technique. Each, if you feel inspired to make more than one.”

“Buh...” Natalie’s jaw dropped.

“Hey, you’re gonna be richer than me in a week,” Perry said, elbowing Nat.

“But...I can’t,” Natalie protested. “I used up the smudges I got from Perry. I’m empty right now.”

“I’d be happy to fill you up again,” Perry said, shortly before Nat punched him in the shoulder.