I Need A Drink

 

    Sloane was determined. She was currently sitting at her desk in her room, progressing in her crafting of the falcon. Earlier in the day, Ernald helped her bring everything she needed to finish it up from her workbench. She had wanted to be a tad lazy and not worry about climbing any stairs.

It was getting late in the evening and Sloane was currently laser-focused as she engraved the feathered wings made from stainless steel. Her channeling of mana stretched her concentration, yet kept her focused on her runic knowledge. Smoothing out the rifts, she dove into the metal. Her eyes traced each movement as her hand worked, steady and precise. The lines she was working on now would bind with the [Lighten] rune. Of course, something made of steel with no method for flight other than magic is going to need to be lightened in order to fly. Pretty self-explanatory.

As her proficiency with runes strengthened, her ability to decipher or even know the runic language increased. It was almost as if mana was helping her with the knowledge itself, as if it had always been an innate part of her. She placed the wing and her engraver down and examined her project. She needed to focus on the work, but between her continued steady work and her accompanying mana use, Sloane felt nothing but drained. The drain then caused her to distract herself.

Sloane leaned back in her chair, thinking. Maybe a snack? No. Wait… She got up and went to the other room. Sitting there on the table was the container of the glowing tea. With a shrug, she grabbed the kettle, filled it with water, and hooked it to the rod over the fire to boil. The merchant did say it would help with my focus. 

While waiting, she mulled over everything she’d done so far. Sloane had been working on the feathers for the last two bells. They were hard work, but she got it done. The most complex part of the puzzle was setting up the pathways through which mana would circulate. She concluded that mana flowed through stainless steel with sufficient effectiveness, which was good because silver and steel did not mix. It definitely worked better than carbon steel, which was another benefit to doing the outer shell in the stainless variety.

Before that, Sloane had been working on the runic chains of the falcon in her notebook for another two bells. She sat and reviewed her work while waiting on the water, marking several changes she could make. The bird had multiple black diamonds arranged inside that would act as data storage. [Store: (Intent: Knowledge)] seemed like such a simple and broad runic chain, but that was the point. It was open-ended and combined with the sapphires and blue core, would allow the falcon to draw on the underlying Mana to heavy-lift a lot of its functionality. Essentially, it allowed her to distribute most of the bird’s cerebral processing to Mana itself. The only problem is it would increase the upkeep and maintenance of the bird. The rune would degrade faster, as there would be a constant channel requirement. Practically, however, that simply meant she would need to renew the runes once a year, rather than every five to ten.

When her water was ready, she started brewing her tea, letting it sit for about five minutes in a strainer. The tea was a green tea, which she wasn’t a huge fan of, but she would drink it. After it was ready, she stirred in some honey she had purchased at the market. It reminded her a bit of wildflower honey, which both she and Gwyn loved. 

There was none of the glow that the plant had when she had seen it. Which was good, because she vaguely recalled bioluminescent algae was toxic to humans. She took a small sip, hoping it wasn’t going to kill her or‌ something. Stop being a wuss. He was selling it to all kinds of people. The taste… wasn’t bad. It was good that she had put honey in it, as it was exceptionally bitter and caffeinated. “Eh, I’ve had better.”

Thirty-ish minutes later, Sloane was at it again. The tea pot was nearly empty, and she felt focused. The tea clearly had energy drink levels of caffeine in it, because she was sure there would be no sleep for her anytime soon. She was hard at work on the bird and was ready to attach the wings. Grabbing the wing, she moved the joint to the shoulder area of the torso and used her Alter to attach it. Rotating the bird so that she could access the opposite side, she moved to work on the other wing, only to realize the location she had set up on the torso was slightly too big. Damn it! 

Manipulating the structure of the torso to accommodate the joint properly, she then realigned the slot for the wing. Slowly pushing the wing into the torso, Sloane completed the connection and was satisfied that both wings were serviceable and able to articulate as designed.

Sloane reached for the first leg and twitched. She suddenly felt really… weird. Her head was feeling a bit loopy, so she took a moment to gather herself. With a couple of deep breaths and a shake of her head, she felt well enough to continue. The legs were much easier to attach, and the joints for those were not as complex as the wing’s skeletal structure. 

With that done, she went back to the torso. There was one thing she wanted to do. She drew on her mana and focused on her Runic Knowledge, searching for what was required. Knowing what she needed, she slowly etched a key runic chain: [Trigger] > [Detect: (Damage: Self)].

This would allow the bird to detect any damage to itself. Next, she needed to tell the bird what to do with that knowledge. She had an arrangement of three mana crystals in the bird, along with the core. Each crystal had a dedicated pink sapphire that managed its power and distributed it for use. The reason she had installed so many of the gems was due to the next runic chain. 

Sloane pressed down to start the engraving, but then she had to pause. She felt lightheaded. Way too much caffeine, especially without any for so long. The feeling was worse than the first time and she felt a lot of pressure on her head. The focus she had felt before was gone, so she took a few deep breaths to try to relax. I’ll just do this last chain for the night.

With one last deep breath and determination, she started the last set of runework. The chain she was working on would check for two different parameters. The first would utilize a less power hungry version based on [Repair]. Otherwise, the instruction would detect if the damage to the falcon was extensive. Any damage that was at least a quarter of the total structure would trigger a more power and mana-intensive repair instruction that was centered on an amplified [Alter]. The difference was simple: repair would try to reattach things or rearrange, but the alter would manipulate metal as… if it… were–

 

* * *

 

Sloane jerked herself awake. Shit. What the hell? She looked down at the runic chain she was working on. Just in case, she carefully read through it one more time to ensure everything was done correctly. [Detect: Trigger] -- [Draw: (Power) - (Mana: Blue)] -- [Detect: (Durability: <MINIMAL>)] - [Alter: (Element: Metal)] - [Amplify] • [Detect: (Durability: <25%>)] - [Repair: (Element: Metal)]

Satisfied that nothing seemed amiss, she started to pick up her tools, but then noticed her pen wasn’t where she had put it just a moment ago. Hmm. That’s weird. I must be really tired. She… She shook her head and looked down at the teacup. Okay, I don’t feel well. What the hell was wrong with that tea? I’m just going to–

 

* * *

 

Sloane felt pressure on her chest, then something moved, grazing her right breast. She rubbed at her chest and felt something cold touching her. She jerked awake and saw a beak in her face. The head tilted and then the beak opened.

“Wryaat? wryyyaat!”

 “Aaah!” She clawed at her chest, then shoved herself backward as she did everything she could to escape the thing on top of her. A… bird… took off and flew up as her sudden movements startled it. The headboard blocked her way from going further in reverse, and with heavy, panicked breaths she looked around, trying to find whatever the hell was in her room.

“Wryaat!”

A sudden screech from her right caused Sloane to scream and throw herself to the side, where the lack of a bed caused her to crash onto the floor. She scrambled away and pushed herself against the wall. She looked around, trying to find her sword, and saw it on the opposite side of the room near the desk. 

Sloane shook her head and channeled a Mana Bolt, letting it hover in front of her hand. Another soft cry alerted her to the thing on her bed, but then it hopped from where it had been perched onto the bed itself. It was at that moment that Sloane got a good look at it. Holy shit. It’s my falcon. What? The? Hell?

The falcon took off and flew over to her, and landed a bit awkwardly near her feet. It hunched over and did a little shuffle walk up toward her. When it reached next to where she sat, it looked up and–“Wryaat!”

How are you alive? The answer likely lay in the chest that glowed a bright blue from where its core sat in the cradle. The blue gaseous-looking mana inside flickered almost like the hard drive led on a computer during any read or write activity.

“How are you… finished?” 

The bird tilted its head, and of course, did not respond. 

 

* * *

 

Sloane sat at the table in her sitting room, locked in a staring match with her falcon. The bird sat there, judging her, because of course it was. She had no idea what had happened or how she had finished the thing. She only remembered that before falling asleep, the only things with an external covering were the head and wings. The last she recalled was that the entire torso had been exposed, nor was the core even fully seated, let alone finished. 

The falcon tilted its head and opened its beak slightly. “Brrpt?” 

Sloane narrowed her eyes. “No. That is not a sound you make. You’re a fierce predator. Not a cute little hummingbird.”

The head tilted to the opposite side. “Wryaat?”

Sloane nodded. “Good.” Wait… “Actually, how are you making sounds?” She racked her brain.  I really do not remember doing this. What the hell? Her mind boggled at the situation, then bent forward, scrutinizing the falcon. “How were you made?” 

The falcon looked around before it took off and flew into the other room. Sloane sat there, confused. “Do I… uh… follow it?” 

A moment later, the bird flew back out, a teacup in its claw. It flew to her, flapped hard to gain a bit of altitude, then dropped the cup into her hand. Sloane looked down at the cup, noticing it was definitely the cup she had used. The falcon landed on the table next to her, then watched as she examined the remnants of the tea. Actually… Now that she thought of it, the bird seemingly knowing what happened to her was mindboggling. “Did I tell you it was the tea?”

“Wrrryat!”

“I have no idea what that means. I don’t speak bird.”

It chirped at her, a quick, fierce sound that gave a distinctly sassy impression. 

Sloane sighed. She needed a drink. It was late, but not late enough that the bar would be closed. “Fine. I have no idea at the moment, so we’re just going to go for now.”

She grabbed her cloak and slung it over her shoulders. The Autumn weather outside starting to get a bit chilly. If she wanted to go out after her drink, she wanted to be warm. Opening the door, she looked back at the falcon that was staring at her from where it perched on her desk. 

“You coming?”

“Wryaatt!”

The falcon flew to her, landing on her shoulder and ready to go. Good thing I engraved the lighten rune. 

 

* * *

 

The two of them walked downstairs and into the tavern that was, thankfully, empty of patrons. She pulled her cloak tighter around herself as the draft in the area caused her to shiver. Wearing a cloak was a sound decision. As she approached, the bartender gave her a side eye, before gesturing toward the falcon with his head as she sat down.

“Whatever that thing is, it better not cause any damage,” He said.

Sloane felt confused. Really? That’s it? “Just no damage? Nothing else to say?”

The telv turned and grabbed a bottle of some liquor, poured it into two tall but skinny shot glasses, and handed her one. He picked one up and lifted it, so she copied his gesture. With a nod, they took their shots. Sloane set down her shot glass, no less confused. “I… I have no idea what that was for.”

The man laughed. “The name’s Kurst. Really, I just wanted a shot… I have heard all about you terrans and all the ruckus you personally are causing. Your little metal balls that burst, the magic that you can do. People talk. Especially when they know there’s a famous… or should I say, an infamous person in the same building as them. That metal bird there? Just adds to the stories.”

“Wryaat!”

Kurst jumped in surprise and screamed. “It’s alive!?”

Sloane looked at her bird, who before had kept perfectly still. “That was mean, you tricked him. Apologize.”

The bird faced the bartender.

“Wryatt, wryyyatt.”

Sloane nodded. “I think he apologized. I really have no idea, but let’s go with it.”

The bartender didn’t reply.

“You okay there, Kurst?” She asked.

Kurst nodded frantically, but his eyes never left the falcon. “Y-Yes. T-Thank you.”

“Can I get another one of those shots?”

Kurst grabbed the bottle and shoved it toward her. “I–I have something to do in the back,” he said. With that, he quickly retreated from the room.

With a shrug, Sloane poured herself another shot and drained it. She was just about to take another when a voice spoke from behind her.

“Mind if I have one of those shots, My Lady? I could use a drink.”

Sloane and the falcon turned toward the voice and saw a moon elf standing a few steps away. She nearly gasped. The first thing she saw was his heterochromatic eyes and the striking contrast between the light pink and the other eye's nearly black-colored irises. The man was wearing a black coat and pants with some high leather boots. In fact, the only thing that he wore that wasn’t black was his hat, which was a yellow color. It struck Sloane as such an odd choice, especially since it didn’t seem to match his look. He seemed around her age, if not a bit older, with his light grey skin showing some minor blemishes on his cheeks. 

“Wryaaat!”

Sloane jerked, causing the falcon to grip tighter to not fall. She looked down at the half-filled bottle of liquor, then back at the moon elf, and shrugged.

“Sure, why not,” Sloane said.

The moon elf smiled and sat next to her. Ignoring the bird on her shoulder, surprisingly enough. She poured him a shot, and he threw it back. 

“Thank you, My Lady. It was a long day at the Academy.”