Grey was true to his word, leading Azarus and I to his tent so we could get to work. On the way, I happened to see Renauld hanging out with a group of Sculpted soldiers, regaling them with a story of some kind around a morning campfire. It must have been a good one, as the soldiers were laughing. Renauld saw our group as we passed them, and shot me a wink. I smiled back and shook my head.

Once we had reached Grey’s much larger than mine tent, he dragged out a bundle of writing material and opened it. He spread the contents across the large desk.

“To start, will not be actually constructing a Sculpted,” He told Azarus and I. “Instead, I’ll walk you through the process of enchanting one of them. These,” He said, pointing to twelve separate sheets of parchment he had set into two separate man shapes. “Will represent the front and back of the six segments that I divide the enchantments into. Head, torso, each arm, and each leg. We will not be combining these papers together at the end, or else we risk actually creating a sapient being. I’ve never heard of or personally created a Sculpted made from parchment, but it’s theoretically not impossible. Do be careful.”

Azarus and I exchanged a glance at that. My dwarven friend cleared his throat. “That’s interestin’ and all,” He said slowly. “But, uh, do I got to be here for this? I’m not real keen on learnin’ how to make a Sculpted.”

“As I said,” Grey said patiently. “I’d like your knowledge of metallurgical design in drafting Nathan’s new limb. If you’re uninterested in this part of the process, you are free to begin work on that aspect.”

Azarus let out a small sigh of relief and started moving towards another desk in Grey’s room. I stopped him by clearing my throat, however. Azarus turned to look at me curiously.

“If you don’t mind,” I said carefully. “Could you go grab the…gold that you helped Woodrick smelt? From my tent?”

Azarus’s brow furrowed for a moment, before realization stole across his broad features. “Ya want to use that?” He blurted out.

Grey was blinking at me in surprise as well, obviously having deduced what I was talking about.

“I do,” I nodded my head. “From what I understand, that gold is likely to be pretty potent mystically. And I get it,” I added hastily. “Maybe it’s a bit morbid, but…it just feels like a good idea.”

Azarus stared at me for a moment, baffled. Eventually, he shook his head and took a deep breath before nodding. “Alright then. I’ll, uh, have to change the design a bit, if we’re goin’ with a majority gold. It’s a softer metal, and even if it’s goin’ to be more durable because of the Aether in it, it ain’t gonna be the same as it was for Aurum. It’ll need shorin’ up,” As he walked past me to exit the tent, I heard him muttering to himself. “…maybe some steel…”

When I turned back to Grey, I saw him looking at me consideringly. Before I could ask him what was on his mind, he spoke. “We’ll incorporate the mystical properties of gold into the enchantment,” He said evenly. “It’s not quite Mithril, but there’s a reason the metal is so highly valued beyond its luster. Gold makes for an excellent conductor of Aether. For a mystical prosthetic that’s intended to be connected to your soul, and thus your Status…” He cupped his chin in his hand in thought, before nodding slowly. “Perhaps too conductive.”

I moved over to stand over the table, still filled with blank sheets of parchment. “What do you mean?”

“Think of it as this,” Grey said patiently. “The gold will work wonders to channel Aether, and eventually Mana. However, connected to your soul as it’s intended, the arm might function as if it were a spigot. All of the mystical energy inherent to your soul could come pouring out like wine from a barrel. Assuming the surgery was a success, you would begin to gradually weaken from the loss of energy, and then promptly die. Obviously, we’d like to avoid this.”

“Yeah. I think I’d like to avoid that, Grey,” I said, deadpan. “So, is the gold a no-go then?”

Maybe it had been a mistake to go ask Azarus to get it.

However, Grey shook his head. “No, it just needs a counterpart material. Something that can act as a resistor to the gold of the limb. Rather than allow your soul-born Aether to flow freely, perhaps something to allow the Aether to be re-absorbed…”

I crossed my arms and frowned. “Steel, maybe? I heard Azarus mention that on the way out.”

“Gods no,” Grey said, shaking his head again. “Steel is far too mystically dead. Azarus may know how to shape the metal, but I’m not sure if he’s aware of the interaction that would cause. Steel is such a poor conductor of mystical energy that it would cause the arm to become completely non-functional from even a fragment.”

“Wait,” I said, furrowing my brow. “But my spears are made from steel. I have no problem enchanting them when I’m done with the forging.”

Grey snorted. “To be perfectly honest Nathan, the enchantments you’ve placed on your spears are incredibly simple. I believe you’ve only included basic hardening and sharpening arrays?”

Hey. I was pretty proud of those spears.

But he wasn’t wrong. When I’d been initially drafting the idea of my collapsible spears, I’d focused more on the mechanism. It had been a real pain getting the quick extend and contract features down. Maybe it was time to expand on the enchantment side of the design?

First, though, I wanted my new arm. I couldn’t even imagine how much of a pain in the ass it would be to get all the little gears and mechanisms right with just one.

“Besides, that’s an entirely separate matter from much more complex enchantment work like your theoretical arm,” Grey continued. “No, we’ll need a much more mystically reactive material than steel to act as a counterbalance to the gold. One moment.” Grey walked past me to the door of his tent. Sticking his head out, I saw him extend his arm and wave it off to his left, before backing up. Shortly thereafter, a Sculpted soldier hewn from brown stone stepped into the tent and snapped off a salute at Grey.

“Grand Marshall!” He nearly shouted, in a gravelly voice. “How may I serve!”

Grey’s eyes flickered over the rank pips on the front breast of the soldier’s tabard. “Corporal…?”

“Rockheed, Grand Marshal! Corporal Rockheed, at your service!” The Sculpted said in a loud tone.

Rockheed…?

Don’t laugh, Nate.

Do. Not. Laugh.

Grey’s smile flickered as well, as if he was suppressing something. “Corporal Rockheed, I need you to ferry a message to the logistics officer,” He said, turning around and striding over to the table with all of the paper on it. Picking up the fountain pen he was going to use for sketching runes for me, he wrote out a quick message and blew on it, presumably so the ink dried quicker. He then folded up the missive, and turned to give it to Rockheed. “Do inform them that I will finance the procurement of these materials out of my own personal accounts.”

The soldier accepted the folded piece of parchment, and then saluted again with his free hand. “At once, Grand Marshal!” Rockheed then pivoted in place and marched out of the tent. Once he was out of sight, however, I heard the clang of his armor as he raced away.

Once he was out of sight, I exchanged a mutually amused glance with Grey.

You know, I was starting to notice a pattern with Sculpted naming conventions. Well, whatever. If they liked it, more power to them.

I shook my head to clear it of useless thoughts. “So, what did you ask them to find for you?”

“Well,” Grey said thoughtfully, leaning against the drafting table. “It’s almost fortuitous timing that we’re attempting this project now, just outside of Silvercrest. As a mining town, it’s likely one of the best places on the continent to procure mystically reactive metal. We won’t find the best that money can buy here, of course, but we’ll likely find the best that can pair with your gold.”

“And what’s that?”

“Why, Mithril of course,” Grey’s lips stretched into a mischievous smile. “As you can imagine, I’m quite used to working with the metal, after forging my own daughter from its gleam. It will complement the Gold quite well in the construction of your new limb.”

Huh. Nice.

I think I liked the idea of a gold and silver-looking arm. It…probably wouldn’t be great for stealth work, but I could just cover it in a leather glove or something.

I think I'd seen a movie like that once.

Our conversation was interrupted by Azarus returning with a wrapped bundle held in his arms. That was probably my portion of the gold hewn from our fallen comrade.

“Ah! Azarus,” Grey said, pushing off of the table. Said dwarf stopped in place, blinking in surprise. “Hold onto that for now. I’ve sent away for an amount of Mithril to be included in the design. You can get started on the physical design, while Nathan and I work on the mystical part.”

Azarus sighed, reaching up to massage his brow. “Mithril,” He muttered. “All right, yeah. I can see how that’d work. I don’t got much experience working Mithril, though, so ye’ll need to walk me through it when it comes time for the hammerin’.”

“Of course, of course,” Grey nodded enthusiastically. “This can be a learning experience for you as well, since you’re uninterested in the enchantment. Now! Let’s get started, Nathan. Come over here.” He said, waving me closer.

I did as Grey asked, walking over to stand next to Grey at the drafting table.

My mentor picked up his pen once more and began sketching runes onto the topmost piece of parchment. “We start with the head. Now, I call this an accumulation array…”

The rest of the day, the only thing that we finished was the base enchantment design for a Sculpted. We didn’t even get anywhere on the actual enchantment design for the arm itself. I don’t even think Azarus got very far on the physical design, judging by the mutters and cursing that would float our way from his bench. Well, that and the growing mountain of crumpled-up parchment next to him.

Near dusk, Coporal Rockheed returned, this time carrying a large sack in his arms. With a thank you and a dismissal, Grey took it to see what the logistical officer of this camp had been able to find for us.

Inside were about a dozen hunks of raw ore, dark grey in color. Tilted in the light, I could see a silvery reflection in the stone. Grey let out a satisfied noise at the sight, while Azarus cursed again.

I was a bit confused by the different reactions.

An amused Grey filled me in, though. “Smelted Mithril is notoriously hard to extract from the raw ore. From this entire hefty sack,” Grey held it up, letting me see that it was larger than my torso. “We’ll likely only recover, oh, perhaps two bars worth of usable metal. This part, at least, Azarus won’t need my assistance with.”

“Yeah, yer right,” Azarus grumbled. “Me old master had me doin’ this all the time. I’ll go get started on this, and come back to the draftin’ later.” At that, Azarus took the hefty sack and left to find a forge suitable for his purposes. I doubt the little portable one he had bought back in Hollow Hill was good enough for this.

“Well!” Grey said, clapping his hands once Azarus was gone. “I think that’s enough for now. I trust you have to work with now, Nathan? You were primarily interested in the Sculpted enchantment arrays as the basis for your new limb.”

I nodded slowly. Yeah, I had some ideas. I already had my middle and core thought rings working on it.

But…

Well, whatever. No reason to bring it up yet.

“I’ll think about it tonight,” I said to Grey.

“Marvelous,” He said, striding towards the exit of his tent. “In that case, I’m quite eager to see how Sylvia and Honoka are coming along. It’s entirely possible that they’ve finished the design for my dear daughter’s Ascension Ritual.”

I hurried to catch up with him. “Ascension Ritual, huh?” I said, looking at Grey from the corner of my eye.

Grey nodded at a passing group of soldiers, causing them to salute him. He then turned back to me. “Yes, that’s what we call the Rite needed to break through the breakpoints. Things will change quite dramatically for her once she’s completed the first one. As I’ve told you, that’s the point at which you can begin to generate your own Mana or Ki from the raw Aether of your soul,” Grey gave me a considering look. “I’m curious, Nathan. How close are you to the one hundred mark?”

I felt a sliver of unease down my spine, but didn’t let it show on my face. “What, don’t want to Observe me?” I teased, causing Grey to roll his eyes. Still, I decided to be at least a little honest. “I’m currently level sixty-three.”

Grey stopped in place, blinking rapidly. “Sixty-three?” He said, disbelief thick in his voice. “We haven’t encountered nearly enough monsters on our journey, nor did I think you were crafting enough. How have you reached such a point…?”

I took a deep breath, trying to tamp down on old anxieties. Still, I…didn’t answer him. I couldn’t get the words out, about how I could just kill people and get levels.

Grey must have seen something on my face, because he gave me a considering look. “Later,” He promised, dropping the subject for now. He smiled at me. “Let’s go check in with the girls, eh?”

Yeah…

That sounded…fine.

I followed Grey to the private dining tent from earlier, where we were most likely to find Sylvia and Honoka.

I’d rather see them than talk about my murderous growth.