Mythshaper

I worked on commissions I'd taken from the guild during the brief reprieve from my main project. Eran's armour would have been completed days ago if I had not bothered to innovate something new into it. Well, not particularly new, as the main thing I was attempting to implement was levitation. The only fresh thing about it was that I sought to have it steered neither by essence threads nor aura.

The goal was to make the kinetic thruster react to particular muscle twitches and gestures. If all worked as I hoped, then even common folk would be able to fly with it, although very few would be able to afford it.

Now, all that sounded simple—and it was simple—only that it required a lot of trial and error, as well as practical use, to make sure I was following the correct path. There was also the concern for safety. All that together consumed a large amount of time, but I deemed it all worth it, imagining Eran's face when I got him his complete set into his hands.

Needless to say, I had quite the time between experiments to complete the other commissions. Still, I delayed just enough that I'd be ready to deliver it along with my Journeyman assessment.

The rented house was no larger than our home, especially since Diana and her mother were staying with us. But at least it kept the place active. Perhaps I was too accustomed to the peaceful life in Karmel, for the bustling city grated on me on more than a few occasions once the novelty of the experience wore itself out.

It was mostly when I had to stand in a queue or found people gawking at me for no particular reason. And don't mention the number of times some peddler stopped me to sell something. Additionally, just because it was a big city did not mean everyone here lived their best life. The sheer number of beggars I encountered on the streets of the outer circle was unreasonable.

Yes, there were some picturesque places in Klearon, and a number of people lived in lavish mansions, but on the opposite side, there were some godawful wastes as well, spanning over a few kilometres easily. People dumped whatever they did not need there, uncaring whether the place stood out like a sore thumb. Worst of all, people lived in the waste.

The disparity of wealth was beyond my imagination.

Everyone decided to tag along with me this time to the guild. They might have to hit the shops after for a few essentials they still missed, but they all waited for me to get my badge first, even though the proctor did not let anyone stay during the actual assessment. And who knew how long the actual would take.

For all my imagination, the assessment was simple. Then again, the recognition of the Artisan guild was way less significant than the accolade from the Spell.

At first, I was asked to refine some raw ores and rare woods. Mostly common materials like iron, copper, silver, or a hundred-year-old hardwood. I had not particularly prepared for that, but it proved to be less of a problem, as the materials had few essence-based qualities that might prove problematic during refinement.

"Well done," the proctor said, observing the moulded metals and shafts of wood I refined. "Efficient without compromising the work. You get full marks in this test. Now, if you don't fail utterly during the actual forging, we'll have another young journeyman artisan among us."

The middle-aged man smiled kindly. I did not know his actual position in the guild, but I guessed it was quite high, assuming the golden robe draped over him marked him as a Master Artisan. The attendant who brought me to the chamber addressed him as Master Luc, and I did the same.

"So I have to craft something of the Prestigious class?" I asked.

Master Luc nodded. "Yes, and you may choose other materials from our inventory, along with the materials you have just refined."

I cocked my head, considering. There was nothing extravagant among the materials I refined. I could still make something of the Prestigious class with them if I played it safe, but then I remembered I lacked a fancy sword. The long sabre was good in the hands, but I deemed it was time I got myself something like that lightning blade.

The woods would not be highly efficient at transferring lightning charge, nor were the copper and tin any good at essence-efficient. I guessed I had to say goodbye to anything lightning-elemental, but flame could work. Slowly but surely, a design began to form in my mind, when a final concern tugged at the back of it.

"I own anything I craft during the assessment, right?" I asked.

The middle-aged man shot me a look. "No."

I kind of guessed that. "Can I buy it?"

"You may try your luck with the Guild Master," he said with a chuckle. "Just so you know, we at the Klearon branch have a tradition of showcasing the journeyman crafts in our emporium. The Guild Master—she thought it would be encouraging for aspiring artisans."

Well, now that changed everything. If my creation was to be displayed where everyone could see, it needed to be something grandiose.

"What kind of material can I get?"

The pendant on the man's neck gleamed with purple light, and out came a stack of parchments, each listing the available materials. He handed them to me to peruse.

"You may ask for anything, but the cost of it should not go beyond a hundred credits."

"And that counts the designs you have here as well?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the list. There were not just materials, but various schemata for Prestigious-class fabricators as well.

"Yes," Master Luc said. "You're allowed to use any other design of your choice. I'm assuming you came prepared with something in mind.

Not exactly. "I can use my own tools, correct?"

"Naturally."

Given an inch, I pushed for a yard. "Can I use my own materials too?"

"You will not."

I figured as much. Certain materials could be used to push the class of a fabricator to Prestigious, perhaps even Fabled class. I certainly had some of them from the Ashhound materials. The catalogue had a few listed as well—mostly elemental stains, which could be used to brand an element to the fabricator. All of them were priced at a hundred credits. I guessed that was the cost to get a usual Noble-class fabricator to advance to Prestigious class without much work.

I could not help but think it was a trap. After all, the elemental stains were Prestigious-class materials, and the assessment could not be that easy. No, this was likely meant to filter out all the unfit artisans.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Not going to fall for that. My gaze swept over all the materials in the list as I crossed out the things I could make.

Decidedly, if an artisan wanted to flex their artificing capabilities, they would craft something small, because engraving runes becomes tougher the less surface area you have to work with. Normally, I would have gone for something on the smaller side as well. However, an idea occurred to me all of a sudden—one that went completely in the opposite direction.

"I want eight hundred grams of Steller Silver," I said, returning the papers.

"That would be eighty-eight credits. Anything else?"

"Unrefined aluminium," I said without a hitch.

The Steller Silver came as no surprise to the master artisan, but now he raised an eyebrow, wondering if he'd heard right. "Aluminium?"

"It's cheap, right? I could get, like, a couple of hundred kilograms with the twelve points?"

"A lot more than that, actually," he said, a line creasing his brow. "Enough that I'm not sure if we have enough of it in stock in the guild inventory. We'll probably need to send someone to the warehouse."

I tilted my head. "Well, I only need about two hundred kilograms."

That cost me only two and a half credits. It was almost criminal how cheap it was compared to Steller Silver, but then again, Steller Silver was arguably the most essence-efficient material in this price range. Not only could it transmit essence as fast as a Prestigious Class shaper, but only a fraction of the essence was lost to friction. If you wanted to make a weapon, Steller Silver was among the best of materials—be it for a blade, a lance, an armour set, or a flamethrower.

I asked for a few more essentials—some chunks of copper and onyx enamel—while still saving a bit of credit for security. The materials were delivered about a quarter of an hour later, and by that time, I had begun to draw out a rough schema of what I had in mind. There was much to think of before I could move into the actual forging process. But even before that, I needed to get done with the refinement.

"What are you planning to make?" Master Luc asked, peeking over my shoulder to look at what I had drawn.

I guessed the scribbles were not comprehensible enough for him to figure it out.

"For starters," I said, carrying the aluminium slabs all the way to the hearth, "I will make duralumin."

"Duralumin?" he repeated.

"It's an alloy of aluminium, copper, magnesium, and bits of other matter. Quite durable for such cheap materials."

"I know what duralumin is, boy," the man scoffed. "I asked what you are planning to make of it?"

I wanted to answer him in detail, but looking at everything before me, there was a lot of work that needed to be done. And telling him what I would make might prompt him to pose more questions, which would waste even more time. And who said I had answers to all of them? The way I worked was by figuring out the answers during the actual process. I could imagine Mum's derision if she saw me working like this. Good thing she wasn't allowed inside.

"I suppose you'll see once I'm done with it," I said after a while. "Master Luc, my family is waiting in the guild. Can you send someone to tell them that it will take me a while to complete my assessment?"

The middle-aged man gave me one last glance before striding away. "I can."

"Thank you."

Honestly, I had never actually smelted duralumin before. I could have bought it with the credits, but that would have cost a lot, as much as five times what I paid for the raw materials.

Regardless, despite having no experience with it, blending metals was not supposed to be difficult. The theory was simple; the details lay in the precision. The most significant component in ensuring success was accurately measuring the materials to achieve the correct ratio. Then my refinement and reinforcement would do the magic.

Before advancing to this Noble class, my essence threads were incapable of pushing through the heat to succeed at reinforcing the component. The essence would always burn away in the flames. However, here, I felt no such problem at all. Not only did it save me from air bubbles and oxidation, but the process also raised the integrity of the alloy so that it was tougher than tier-I steel while being significantly lighter.

Only, the reinforcement took close to an hour to complete. I could not complain. After all, I was working with over a couple of hundred kilograms of materials, and I needed to ensure the merging was perfect. Split Focus worked as my saving grace, constantly helping me revise the design in my mind.

I would still say I had not reached a hundred per cent. There was something about putting ideas on paper—whatever huge issues I thought I had could be dispelled so easily once I could look at them in physical form.

There was much to consider for enchantments. I could make three separate formations working in isolation, which would be rather easier and more plausible with such a large surface area to work with. Or I could implement all three into a larger formation, making the fabricator work more efficiently. It would also give me a chance to flex my capabilities—not that it was my main concern.

However, as I began to put the ideas on paper, I found both of those approaches quite improbable with what I had to work with. I needed to strike a balance somewhere between them. Even so, I brought out a couple of books and began to study before proceeding with the design. I had studied most of the relevant subjects when I crafted the levitation boots, but that design had been mostly a copy of Mum's work. The considerations for aerodynamics grew far larger with the size of the fabricator I now had in mind.

Hmm, I can have the balance and defence mechanisms work as subsidiaries to the levitation formation. The efficiency will still be near perfect.

A couple of hours passed as I came to that conclusion.

Finally done with most of the preparation, I moulded the duralumin into a flat surface before crafting it into a platform. To my surprise, the materials I had could only be crafted into a small aircraft, holding barely a couple of people. Three if we were stretching it.

Yeah, I needed it to be more spacious than that. But I would not own this one that I could use it to travel with my family. Besides, to carry a heavier weight, the main formation needed to be beefier as well.

"Looks like you have a long night ahead of you."

I almost jumped to my feet, finding Master Luc standing behind me.

"For what it's worth," he said, taking out a stool to sit on the other side of the worktable, "it's been some time since I've seen someone working on an air-carrier. First, during a journeyman assessment, for that matter."

I shot him an inquisitive glance. "Is that good or bad?"

"Normally, we don't see artisans wasting effort on such a fruitless endeavour."

"Fruitless?" I frowned. "Nobody could make it work?"

"They could," Master Luc said, dragging my design towards him with a telekinetic pull. "Usually, the fruit isn't worth the cost."

"If it works, it works," I muttered, now a little unsure myself.

"The design seems functional, at least," he said, laying all eight pages before his eyes. "So you've come prepared."

I suppressed a chuckle, scratching my chin idly.

"Well, don't come crying to change your project once you can't finish the formation even after a couple of nights."

Crying? A couple of nights? Look at me go, old man, I'll finish it tonight.

*****

Master Luc was quite correct in assuming it would take a long time to complete the aircraft. Well, it still wasn't two nights, but from what I was seeing, even if I pulled an all-nighter, there would still be some work left for tomorrow. I had little to regret. As far as I was concerned, my craft was on the way to success.

It turned out there were mechanisms to be put in place other than the rune formations. For example, the lever to steer the craft in the air, and such.

It was quite laughable how terrible I was at judging how long a project would take. It was something I had been bad at since my early days and seemed not to have improved at all, even after becoming a Journeyman artisan. The problem was in my planning—or the lack thereof in most cases. Be it Eran's armour set or this aircraft now.

"Working hard, I see," Mum's melodic voice woke me from my work.

I raised my head to see her following behind Master Luc, a lunch box hanging from her hand. She had probably come to deliver my supper.

"I thought family members were not allowed entry during the assessment," I said.

"They aren't," Master Luc said. "It was a precaution put in place to keep artisans from cheating. We have no fear of that since I am here."

"So, the way I see it," Mum said, drawing near to open the meal, "Arilyn is allowed to tell me all about this thing he's making, but I'm forbidden to give a hint."

"Ehh, I'd preferred if you hadn't interfered at all." The proctor sized up the formation I'd engraved. "But then again, I have no more doubts about his qualification." He clicked his tongue. "I'd have given him a pass if he'd drawn half that formation on a metal disc and said it's finished, but the kid seems to be here for the long haul."

"Sorry for your inconvenience," Mum said, before gesturing for me to sit.

Well, I wanted to finish another component of the formation, but the delectable aroma literally pushed me towards her. It was rare to get red meat in Karmel, but I assumed it was quite a daily commodity in Klearon. I guessed there were still good things about the city.

"Eat, and do tell me all about what possessed you to forge a full aircraft for your assessment test?"

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