Chapter 95: The 'Hammer' is My...

Chapter 95: The 'Hammer' is My...

“Your Blunt skill is too low,” said Khigra. “It wouldn’t be worth my time to make a hammer for you.”

We stood before a rack of weapons the dream forger had made, each with requirements more substantial than the last.

“Makes sense,” I said. “You wouldn’t hire Michaelangelo to paint your house.”

I brought up the item description for a sword that floated in the air, its edges fading in and out of being. Varrin might have been able to use that one, but only because his Sword Prodigy passive lowered the required stats for any sword he held.

Khigra walked over to me and gripped my shoulder then went lower and squeezed my upper arm. Her grip was very firm.

“What’s your Strength score?” she asked.

“Ten.”

She crossed her arms, then leaned against a post.

“Why do you want to wield a hammer?”

“Would you object to the answer ‘because hammers are cool’?”

She gave me another mildly entertained look.

“No,” she said. “I enjoy all the weapons I make. It’s why I do this.” She gestured around the shop.

“It’s good to like what you do. How high would my Blunt skill need to be?”

She looked up at the tarp above us, pursing her lips in thought.

“I have some ideas for using Intelligence as the main stat,” she said. “Fortitude would be better, but I don’t think it fits with the way you want to use it. In a perfect world, your Blunt skill would be equal.”

“Twenty-one,” I said. “That means I’d need to go up another nine levels.” She nodded. I dismissed the item screen for the sword I was inspecting. “Well, I guess I’ll come back in a couple of months.”

Her eyebrows went up.

“Just like that?” she said.

“What do you mean?”

“I tell you I won’t make it and you’re willing to walk away?”

“I mean, I’ll come back. Training is always at the top of my List, so it’s not like you’re asking me to do anything I wouldn’t already be doing.”

“Patriarch Drel’gethed commissioned me himself,” she said. “He told me to make you whatever you asked for.”

“And that was very generous of him. What, uh, what’s your point?”

She popped off the post and looked me up and down.

“You could insist that I do it,” she said. “Right now, even with your low skill level.”

“Seems like a waste,” I said. “Besides, forcing someone to work against their wishes is a bit dumb for a couple of reasons. One, asshole move. Two, and not to doubt your integrity, but what if they did a shit job out of spite?”

She nodded and looked thoughtful.

“Anyway, It was nice meeting you,” I said. “I’ll come ba-”

“Do you have a trainer?”

“No. Xim’s Blunt is more than double mine, so I thought-”

Khigra waved a hand dismissively.

“Sparring with a party member is fine for sharpening skills,” she said. “It’s no good for building fundamentals.”

“Do you... have someone in mind?”

She looked me over again, drumming her fingers along a biceps.

“I’ll train you,” she said.

“Really?” I said, confused. “I won’t assume how long it takes you to make a hammer but if you’re worried about wasting time, training me up nine levels will take weeks, at the least.”

She smiled again. This time it was a little feral.

“I would learn nothing from making a bad hammer,” she said. “There is always something to be learned from training.”

Somncres

War Hammer

This is an evolving item.

Requirements

STR 10, INT 21, Blunt 21, Dimensional Magic 20, Mystical Magic 10

Effects:

1) Somncres can be summoned and dismissed at will.

2) Somncres’s size and form can be adjusted at will, so long as you would normally be able to wield such a hammer.

3) Whenever you make a thrown weapon attack with Somncres you may create up to X copies, where X is your INT/10. Each copy costs 2 mana to create. These copies possess all qualities imbued into Somncres at the moment the copies are created.

4) Khigra may imbue this item with an additional effect once you reach your next Intelligence evolution.

The haft and handle of Somncres were black and the head was emerald green. All along the length of the weapon were points of light that shifted and moved as I turned the hammer, evoking a sense of cosmic space like both Drel’s body and my own irises. All in, it was pretty damn cool and I couldn’t wait to throw it at a motherfucker.

“Growth was a good choice,” said Khigra, looking over the item with me. “It is less powerful than the weapons I normally make, but it may be worth boasting about one day.”

“Thank you,” I said, holding the hammer reverently. Khigra gave me a gentle pinch on the ribs.

“It’s not a baby,” she said. “Stop cradling it like one.”

“Right,” I said. “That tickles, you know.”

“Would you rather it hurt?”

“Both are good.”

She smiled and squeezed my shoulder, then I took a few steps away from everyone and gave Somncres a couple of practice swings. It was a little over three feet in length in its current form. I focused and the weapon grew until it was comfortable to hold in two hands. I went through a few practice motions, then willed the hammer down to a form that mimicked my throwing hammers. I wasn’t about to go tossing it around with everyone milling about, so I looked it over and gave it a flip. The weight and balance were perfect for me in each form it took. I turned to the tribe members who were gathered and gave a bow.

“Thank you all for this greeting,” I said. “It is my honor to be a part of the Xor’Drel tribe.”

“Thank us at the tavern!” someone yelled, which got a few chuckles.

The group broke up and several members approached to give me their well wishes. Afterward, the casks of ale were opened and the spiritsflowed. Xim and Drel eventually wore me down and convinced me to try some of the fabled liquor brewed from the sap of the Irgriana tree.

Unlike normal First Layer denizens, I did not go into a coma. Instead, I got to take my hammer for its first test drive fighting the hallucination demons that I accidentally spawned. I’m pretty sure the others were helping the manifestation along, as I doubted I had learned enough about manipulating the fabric of the Third Layer to summon Grade Two monsters without assistance.

The evening passed, I set my Checkpoint within the Irgriana tree and then spent the night with Khigra. The next morning Xim and I said our farewells to the tribe and returned to the First Layer, setting out for Ravvenblaq.

When we arrived, Varrin was cutting down training dummies with a sword that was as long as a giraffe was tall, from hoof to head. It was also so thin that there was no way physics was letting that thing exist without a whole lot of magic devilry going on.

“That’s a big fucking sword!” I yelled from a good, safe distance. I wasn’t willing to get within a hundred feet of the man while he held the thing. Varrin paused and turned to see us, then the sword collapsed down on itself until it was the length of a normal longsword.

“We’ve got a lot to discuss,” he said as he made his way toward us.

“Yep!” said Xim, trotting forward and peering over the sword. “Arlo got laid.”

Varrin raised an eyebrow and looked at me.

“Good for him,” he said. “But that’s not what I meant.”

“Have you gotten laid recently?” Xim asked. Varrin opened his mouth to reply but snapped it shut without answering. Xim patted him on the arm. “Don’t worry, me either.”

“Not for the lack of trying by your parents,” I said, and she scowled.

“Why are we talking about sex?” said Varrin. “Let’s not.”

“Ok,” said Xim. “We can move on to Arlo’s new mystery technique. Sam’lia taught it to him herself.”

“She didn’t really teach it to me,” I said. “More like she guided me to it. It’s called Gravity Anchor.”

Varrin held up a hand, his expression growing serious.

“I’ll be happy to see it later,” he said. “The crown has called a meeting of all high-profile Delvers. That includes my entire family and our associated party members.”

“What happened?” I asked.

“Three days ago,” he said, expression going from serious to dark, “Timagrin’s third largest city, Canotha, was destroyed.”