Mythshaper-Chapter 30: Artifact

Chapter 30: Artifact

“Why a gift now?” I asked, weighing the small box in my palm. “My birthday's still a month away.”

“It’s tradition,” Mum said. “We give a newly awakened child a gift soon after their awakening to congratulate them. Besides, can’t I give my son a gift for accomplishing a noble honour?”

“I guess,” I said, unable to hide my excitement.

Sucking in a deep breath, I opened the box and found a jade-green ornate pen inside. It looked ornamental, adorned with delicate designs, something one might carry for official business. The heavier feel confirmed the same, though it was only heavier compared to a regular quill or pen—nothing substantial compared to my runic engraving pen. And considering Mum had been working on it behind my back, there was a good chance it was something more than a mere writing tool.

“It’s been a pain to perfect it,” Mum said, “but it was all worth it. Your pen of never-ending ink. Well, for your information, its ink does end eventually. It might take decades or centuries, depending on how much you write.”

As I drew my Fractal Sight on it, most of its secrets lay bare before me, while the Spell revealed the pen’s overview features:

[Artifact: Aetherbound Quillpen]

A master artisan’s craftsmanship and a mother’s love have created a product of artistic excellence.

Grade: Elite

Enchantment:

Ink Reservoir: Transforms raw essence into ink, creating a near-endless supply.

Rune Engraver: Engraves runes as well as any engraving pen.

Aether Link: Stores every detail ever written with this pen.]

“This is… perfect,” I said, marvelling at the intricate craftsmanship. My Fractal Sight allowed me to see how complex and delicate its design was, though I was still too early in my path to fully understand it. There were eight threads of essence within the pen, none weaker than mine, and they almost seemed alive, though not alike.

“At least you know how to appreciate it,” she said fondly.

I hugged her, tearing my eyes away from its intricate design. “Why did you make it an artifact?”

And how did you make it? I was sure she could have settled for the Endless Ink Reservoir, which would have been more than sufficient, but now it had turned into an expensive ornament I’d rather store away than use regularly.

“As I was designing it, I thought," --she titled her head, a palm on her cheek-- "‘Hmm, if Pumpkin is going to use it for the rest of his life, wouldn’t it be better to add some more utilitarian features?’”

Well, she was right in her assessment because I absolutely loved it, especially the last enchantment.

“How does Aether Link work?” I asked, testing the artifact in the air.

“Essentially like most artifacts,” Mum explained, “this one, too, has a faux Aether root and essence threads, but unlike a weapon, this one uses the link to host the data.”

My eyes widened sharply. “How did you create those faux Aether roots? And even the threads?”

That felt like something far more significant, considering how crucial Aether roots were for one’s growth on the path. According to her, I would need to form seven more Aether roots before I could advance to Noble Class.

Mum shook her head. “The process is quite nerve-wracking and advanced, so much so that it's a waste of time for you to think about it right now. You shouldn’t even attempt to create them before you advance to Prestigious Class.”

'Should not' sounded a lot better than 'cannot,' but I didn’t question her, knowing where that would lead.

“Now, don’t bind it to your essence threads right away,” Mum advised. “You might want to wait until your threads grow.”

“Why?” I furrowed my brows, but as I asked, the answer came to me. “Because it would leave me with fewer or no essence threads to practise my shaping skills?”

Mum nodded. “So you won’t be able to access the Aether Link enchantment for now, but it will still store anything you write with it.”

That was good to know.

The difference between a normal fabricator and an artifact was that an artifact had the feature to be bound to an awakened individual. The binding process was simple too. All I had to do was use my essence threads to connect them to the faux essence threads of the Aetherbound Quillpen. This would give me complete authority over the object, but in doing so, it would also make the essence threads I bound to it unusable for any other shaping skill. Those threads would only be able to perform telekinesis, and that too only on the artifact itself.

At the first step of Common Class, I had one genuine Aether root, which produced eight essence threads for my use. I wouldn’t want to have four of them locked away right now, or even when I had sixteen, twenty-four, or thirty-two of them.

I turned my gaze to the jade pen. Looks like it will be some time before I can fully utilise your full capacity.

“Now, go to your practice,” she said, patting my shoulder.

I did, though only after trying out my handwriting and engraving with the new pen. Normal writing was as smooth as with any metal or wooden pen, but rune engraving felt difficult at first. As it turned out, the Aetherbound Quillpen could engrave as well as any engraving pen, but its capacity was far beyond the novice engraving pen I was so used to.

The essence strokes were much thinner, practically invisible to the naked eye. But since I was already approaching intermediate and advanced studies, I decided to keep practising with it.

Intermediate engraving required runes to be minuscule, arranged in octagonal forms side by side with perfect symmetry.

I tried some complex runes, like Concealment Runes, Light Runes, and others that combined multiple types. There were more hiccups in proficiency than I had faced at the Elementary rank.

My other shaping skills progressed smoothly. I wasn’t sure how much of this was due to my elementary-level proficiency, but I was certain my affinity for the elements played a role.

The first layer of Fire Shaping was completed within a total of two hours of practice. The same went for Kinetic Force, though the latter was more difficult to grasp at first.

[Congratulations! Way of Fire Shaping I (10/10) is complete.]

[+2 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Fire Shaping II (10/25) is now accessible.]

[Congratulations! Way of Weight Distribution I (10/10) is complete.]

This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

[+2 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Weight Distribution II (10/25) is now accessible.]

[Congratulations! Way of Kinetic Force Shaping I (10/10) is complete.]

[+2 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Kinetic Force Shaping II (10/25) is now accessible.]

[Congratulations! Way of Telekinesis I (10/10) is complete.]

[+2 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Telekinesis II (10/25) is now accessible.]

For the elements, I was sure they didn’t count the hours spent on the practice. Perhaps it measured mastery. If that was so, then I wasn’t having a bad time with it.

With elements, there was always the problem of spreading yourself too thin, but I still tried my hands at Earth. There was a good practical reason for that. Earth was easy to get hold of. I didn’t need to transform my essence into soil to practise it.

Shaping Earth was essentially like practising Telekinesis. To my pleasant surprise, it turned out the Spell thought that too.

Wind was a difficult element to grasp, at least that was true for the ambient wind. It was an arduous task to bend my Will around them when I couldn't even see them. I did have to spend those ten hours, approximately, to complete the first layer of the Way.

[Congratulations! Way of Earth Shaping I (10/10) is complete.]

[+2 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Earth Shaping II (10/25) is now accessible.]

[Congratulations! Way of Wind Shaping I (10/10) is complete.]

[+2 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Wind Shaping II (10/25) is now accessible.]

[Congratulations! Way of Telekinesis II (25/25) is complete.]

[+2 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Telekinesis III (25/50) is now accessible.]

“Huh, who thought gaining unallocated points would be so easy,” I muttered, picking myself up. I had racked up so much that I could finally invest some without caring too much about the future.

Mum seemed to approve of that as well, though she advised me once again to consider everything—how many points I would invest and in which attribute—before spending them. Considering my Shaper build, I wouldn’t lose much by investing as many points as I wanted in Arcane Acuity.

“Since you are already investing your time into all kinds of elements,” Mum asked me, “why leave behind Water? It is by no means a weaker element compared to the others.”

“Really?” I arched an eyebrow.

Mum nodded. “It is important that you learn the first three or four layers of most elements—not just because of the points they give… You’ll never know when they will be useful. There are many wise Shapers who made it a custom to complete the first four layers of the elements. Only the fighters among the Shapers and those born with a specific affinity specialised in one or two elements.”

I frowned, deep in thought. I had read stories about many Shapers of Thera who simply used shaping skills to make life easier. For years, they trained simply to form drinkable water. The task was more difficult than it sounded, considering they had to study Earth Shaping in great detail to ensure all the minerals in the water were in the right amount.

With naturally drinkable water being the rarest of commodities, those Shapers were rich and influential among the masses.

But Mum wasn’t finished. “Besides, something pleasant might happen if you manage to complete the first two layers of the four elementary elements.”

That brought me out of my thoughts, and I peered at her. “And you’re not going to tell me what that surprise will be?”

Mum shot an iconic smile, ruffling my hair. “Isn’t it more fun to find out on your own?”

It was; not to mention, the anticipation motivated me to push on with my practice. I could see it being another new advanced Attribute, or the chance to evolve one. Besides, it wouldn’t take long. At least, that was true for Fire, Kinetic Force, Earth, and, as it turned out, Water.

[Congratulations! Way of Water Shaping I (10/10) is complete.]

[+2 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Water Shaping II (10/25) is now accessible.]

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[Congratulations! Way of Essence Weaving II (25/25) is complete.]

[+2 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Essence Weaving III (25/50) is now accessible.]

[Congratulations! Way of Perseverance III (50/50) is complete.]

[+8 Unallocated Points.]

[Way of Perseverance IV (52/100) is now accessible.]

I could not begin to think how I’d ever complete ten thousand layers of the Ways. When I asked Mum that question, she finally gave an answer that soothed me.

“You don’t have to,” Mum said. “The tenth layer of Perseverance likely ends at 1,000 points.”

“Likely?” I cocked my eyebrow.

“I haven’t confirmed it yet,” she said with a shake of her head. “And I’ve never met anyone who ever did, just like the Way of Self-Mastery.”

I guessed a thousand layers was no joke either, but it still seemed plausible. If you get to live a long life and remain motivated to improve yourself, that is.

“What about Self-Mastery?” I asked. “How far does it go?”

“It is likely ten points per layer,” Mum said. “Again, it’s a speculation. I have not met anyone who went past the fifth layer.”

“How far did you go?” I asked, curious.

“The third layer. It will be a decade before I make any headway in this Way.” She shook her head. “Anyhow, I came to tell you that people are already finding out about your awakening.”

“What? How?” I never practised any of my shaping skills outdoors. Eran knew about it, but throughout the weeks since my awakening, he had shown how tight-lipped he could be. Additionally, he was thoroughly invested in training and barely had time to play with the other kids.

“Don’t worry, I never asked you to hide it,” Mum said, quelling any worry that crept into my heart. “It’s only inconvenient if they figure out how young you are… Anyway, as it turns out, the headmaster of the academy saw you the other day practising archery and noticed the signs of essence.

"You see, it is pretty easy for a seasoned Shaper to tell if one has awakened. You don't need Fractal Soul or a similar gift for that."

The headmaster was a shaper? I didn't even know the man, much less this one fact about it.

“He was asking if I wanted to admit you into the institution."

“The institution,” I repeated. Right, I had forgotten about that. After awakening, the institution offered every child a couple of years of free training. “Can I join?”

“If you like, why not?” she smiled. “Though it would be better to admit you during the new term. Eran’s awakening is coming, so you two can join together.”

There was still half a season until his awakening, though my friend didn't seem like he wanted to wait that long.

Eran had thrown himself into training non-stop since my awakening. When we weren’t practising together under my father, he was off training alone. It was doing more harm than good. He’d show up exhausted in the mornings for swordsmanship practice, and pushed himself until he couldn’t move another muscle.

“Can I teach Eran the method of essence unification?” I asked Mum.

Eran could finally sense traces of essence in his body. Although he probably couldn’t draw it proficiently yet, I could lend him a hand by showing him how Mum had taught me.

“The process is simple enough,” I added. “I think he could learn it.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Pumpkin,” she said, shaking her head. “You have an immense advantage in perceiving essence—you can literally see it. Your friend, for all his effort, cannot. Even if he can perceive it, there is no time for him to become proficient. Unification doesn’t come naturally to non-Shaper paths.”

Her words made me frown. I knew only the Shapers had the freedom to wield essence outside their bodies, while all the other paths had their essence threads preset to a gift. For example, Priam’s gift was Celerity, which let him move beyond common speed, and his red essence could only help him with some physical enhancement.

“That doesn’t mean you can never teach him,” Mum said, gently patting my shoulder. “Essence unification isn’t just for Shapers, after all. Eran will eventually need to pick it up if he wants to advance past the Common class, but he would need an Essence Seed just to meet the minimum requirement.”

She paused, peering at him. Perhaps she saw the worry in and added, “Pumpkin, you and Eran are on different paths. And, as often happens while growing up, early friends drift apart as time goes on. If you don’t want that to happen, you have to work at it. Friendships aren’t so different from the skills you practise. You have to put in the effort. Both of you.”