Sunny took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.
"It will become a Memory?"
Master Alice nodded.
"Yes! In fact, that is how most Memories produced by the forgemasters of Valor are made. A mundane weapon is forged, augmented by an Infuser, enchanted by a Scribe, and then turned into a Memory by a Forger. Of course, there are a million variations of the process, with different enchanters possessing different powers and strengths. But the basics are the same. And even if some Forgers can't copy the [Memory] quality, those who can pick up the slack."
She paused for a moment, then added with a sigh:
"There are more elaborate methods of Forgery, as well. Some of us can simply duplicate Memories, some can transfer particular enchantments — and so on. More powerful of the forged Memories are the result of carefully collecting suitable enchantments and transferring them to a single vessel, almost like assembling a perfect weapon from building blocks. Well, I won't bore you with details... suffice it to say that there is space for artistry in this process, too."
With that, Alice activated her Aspect once more. As Sunny watched, bewildered, the steel arrowhead in her right hand was suddenly enveloped by emerald light. Some time later, weak wisps of similar light started to shine from beneath the surface of the bone arrowhead, which she was holding in her left hand, as well.
Soon, the similar filigree of runes started to reveal itself on the ivory surface of the bone, as if burned into it from within by the emerald light.
Shifting his vision, Sunny peered beneath the surface of the bone arrowhead and held his breath.
Something miraculous was happening there, right in front of his eyes.
A storm of soul essence poured into the black abyss contained within the small piece of bone, drowning it in soft radiance. The cloud of essence drifted in the darkness, shining like a vast nebula... but then, its contours changed, becoming sharper and more defined.
Then, empty spaces revealed themselves between the wisps of shining gas, slowly growing as the strands of essence were compressed tighter and tighter. Turning into strings.
A spellweave was being born.
Sunny suppressed a sincere desire to applaud and simply put on an admiring smile.
"This is... amazing."
Master Alice sighed.
"Is it? Well... I guess so. The first few times — maybe a few dozen times — I was amazed, as well. However, there is certainly room for improvement. For example, it is usually too difficult for me to replicate Transcendent enchantments. I also spend too much essence on each attempt — this one is my first for the day, but starting from around the third, I'll have to substitute my own essence with soul shards. It costs quite a penny."
Sunny shook his head.
"Still."
Internally, he was thinking about something else.
So far... what both Infusers and Forgers did sounded a lot like the early stages of his own journey as a sorcerer, only built on a different foundation.
The petite woman shook her head energetically and picked up a second bone arrowhead.
"Oh, of course! By all means. Anything you want, Master Sunless... I mean... no, n—not anything! I didn't mean it that way..."
Sunny stared at her for a moment while considering his words.
"Forgemasters can also create Echoes, can't they? I've seen a few."
Master Alice nodded with relief.
"Y—yes — in theory. And we do, sometimes. Forgers can create very crude automatons, while Spellsmiths can create true artificial Echoes. The process is not much different from forging Memories, just... way more time-consuming. It can take a senior Spellsmith an entire year or more to craft a single Echo. By comparison, dozens of Memories can be crafted in the same span of time. So, artificial Echoes are quite rare. They are mostly forged out of curiosity, for research, or to test yourself."
Sunny nodded. It made sense, somewhat. Echoes were never equal to the original, so arming Awakened elites well was a more efficient way of spending resources.
And then, finally, the last question... not the most important of them, but one of great interest to Sunny personally.
"And... the names. Who comes up with the names for the forged Memories? And the descriptions?"
Master Alice seemed a little surprised by the question.
"Uh... excuse me?"
Sunny leaned forward.
"Well, you know. This bone arrowhead you made into a Memory. Did you give it a name? Something like, I don't know... [Bonehead]? [Bone and Arrow]?"
The petite woman gave him a strange look, then shook his head.
"Oh, no... the Spell names them for me. Some of the Spellsmiths have the ability to name and describe their creations personally, but most don't."
She lingered for a moment, then added politely:
"If you are curious, Master Sunless, I can check..."
The petite woman turned her head and stared into the air, clearly studying the runes.
"Huh. That's strange..."
For a moment, Master Alice had an incredulous expression on her face. Then, she shook her head with a hint of bafflement.
"The Spell seemed to have named it... [All Aboard]? What does it even mean? How... embarrassing..."