I leave the batteries and SPC out to charge and walk back into the workshop. To find Flynt looking at the giant body. Tsk. Should have stored that in my Component Warehouse. I shake my head and walk over to him. "Hello again. Surprised to see you here so early. Do you need something?"

"This is a right big one. Not many Races are this big, even in their evolved states. Pretty brutal face too." He steps away from it and walks over to me. "But yeah. Ye'see, I got inspired by watching you lot and decided I'd try my hand at it too."

"Pardon? Try your hand at what, exactly?" He holds up a hand, seemingly telling me to wait a moment. Then he pulls something out of his Wood Warehouse. A series of wooden plates similar to my own armored surface layer, though judging by the size and proportions, meant for a dwarf sized body. "Aaah, so that's what you're up to? I take it you need help figuring out the rest?" 

Looking through the plates, he has managed to recreate the outer look quite well. Even for areas he couldn't have seen because of my robe. I pick up one of the plates and turn it over in my hands. First problem, they don't have anchor points for the cords I used to attach mine. Makes sense, he couldn't have seen those from the outside. "And getting what you've made so far straightened out." I pause to identify the piece I'm holding. Looks like the top portion of the forearm.

I extend my mana into the strands holding my arm plates together and detach them. Then I lift up the metal plate, hold it up next to the wooden one, and flip both over for him to see. "For starters, you'll need some way to connect the plates to a body. I'd guess at this point it'd be easiest to drill small holes through the plates? Unless you want to start over. Also, you'll need a skeleton for it. I could make a set out of metal pretty easily. But I imagine you'd like wood for that too?"

"O'course. If you show me what I need I'll carve em right away!" He takes a log out of his Warehouse and grabs several tools from his bag. It looks like he's using the Napalm Balm for this. I sigh softly, and reattach my arm plate.

"Fiiine~ I'll make a set of bones as an example for you, but while I'm doing that, how about you carve Sapph and I's staves?" Sapph pops her head up out of the pouch after I say her name. Then I grab the branch from my back and hold it out to Flynt. Once she realizes what's going on, Sapph grabs her twig out of the pouch and holds it up with both hands. "And then, when you're carving the wooden bones, I'll finish the staves myself. I'd say I remember the book on the subject well enough. After that, I'll help finish up your project."

He puts the tools he had ahold of back in the bag, then uses one hand to grab hold of the branch, and holds up the other carefully in front of Sapph, who sets the twig in his palm. "Matching as close as possible, right?" I nod, a gesture that he returns. He walks over to a work bench and takes out a small carving knife to get to work on the twig.

I walk over to the forge. Alright, Artificer, could you make a set of Bones for the Dwarf model Automaton? The skill takes over and I decide to practice my mana control a bit while it works. I suppose I'll try to reabsorb mana I let flow into my body?

I set mana to flowing in a circuit around my heart, then once it's settled into the motion I focus on moving it back into my heart. It just flows through the heart and into the pattern again instead of going back to my MP pool. Next, I try releasing a tiny bit of mana into the flow moving through my heart, then draw it back before it actually moves out.

I feel a sensation a bit like taking too big a gulp of water, but I did manage to pull back the ten points I was halfway through releasing, and reclaim about five points from the flow. Not very practical for anything. At least, not that I can tell. Might as well keep trying, to see if the skill levels up.

This time, I keep mana flowing out in a small trickle from my MP pool, and lead it through a long circuit around my heart a few times before leading the end back to the point where the MP is emerging. I connect it back to the initial flow, then reverse the direction to get it cycling back into the pool. It still feels wrong. Like trying to swallow air without burping. Though at least the sensation doesn't get worse as I keep doing it.

Once I've adjusted to the feeling, I increase the flow until I'm exchanging about ten points per second. Now it feels like a river of energy flowing around inside my body. [Mana Control(Internal)3›4] Once I get the notification, I ease up on my control and watch what the river does when left on its own.

The flow seems to keep going at the rate I started it at, but, after a while I notice it gradually dipping. Perhaps from the mana in the river diffusing as it moves, gradually shaving down how much goes back into the pool, which in turn reduces the amount that comes out. Can it be that MP is just a rough measurement of Mana? The only explanation here is that it's losing decimal points worth of MP as it moves. As it runs through the circuit too quickly to lose full points. Like pouring water back and forth between two cups and losing a few drops each time.

I hijack the flow and quickly decrease the amount headed out while trying to keep the reclaimed MP stable. Then once the flow is down to about a point per second I let go again and watch to see how long it takes to cut off entirely. If I'm right in my idea and observations, I'm losing about one twentieth of a point of MP per second. Interesting. I'll have to think of how to use that. Maybe I can cast tiny spells for less than one MP? . . For that matter, can I cast spells without an attribute using base Mana?

I look around and realize that my skill is already done creating the skeleton. No idea how long I have been standing here focused on my Mana Control, but it looks like Flynt is still carving the staves. Specifically he has moved on to the larger branch. I can't say for sure, but I think he's about done with the basic shape, and just needs to finish the detail work.

I move the skeleton over next to the log he left on the floor. "I'm stepping outside for a minute to try something. I should be back shortly." He doesn't do anything to acknowledge my statement, but I'm sure he'll find the example. I walk out of the building and once again head to the side facing the forest.

I spare a moment to extend one of my mana threads out of a small gap in my armor to connect to one of the batteries I left out to charge. I think it's about half full, so I adjust the position of the SPC to face the sun at the new angle and retract my threads. Then I walk several meters out from the building.

I ponder the idea of what spell I'll use and immediately think of a classic. I dream up a chant along the same lines as I've used before, then draw out five points of mana and condense it to a point smaller than a golf ball. I point towards the distance, once more aiming away from the forest, unsure of how far it'll go. "O Mana hear my call, become an arrow and fly forth. Magic Missile!" 

The Mana changes into a visible golden ball and shoots forward in the direction I'm pointing. It flies far enough that I lose track of it. Maybe I should go a little bigger to test the distance? Or I could move on to testing the power. Just, whip up a target with Earth Magic and fire away.

I gather fifty points of mana and convert it to earth. "O Earth hear my call, turn soil to clay, take the shape of man, and turn clay to stone." The mana strikes the ground twenty meters away, the ground distorts, then swells up and reshapes into a crude humanoid shape which then hardens into a simple statue which looks like it's comprised of limestone.

I draw out twenty points of mana, which I split into four small orbs. I point at the statue. "O Mana hear my call, become arrows and fly forth. Magic Missiles." 

Four golden bolts streak towards the statue, three of them hit the target, with the fourth aimed a little too high. The three that were on course land with a loud cracking noise. The stone crumbles in small patches and one of the statue's arms falls off. At a closer look I'd guess the damage of each Magic Missile shot is similar to a sledgehammer blow.

"Not bad. I'll have to try that in a fight soon. Maybe I could add extra features by changing the chant. Armor penetrating, tracking, explosive, and so on. Might as well try that too." I emit ten points of mana and condense it as small as I can, a point about the size of a BB gun pellet. "O Mana hear my call, become a piercing arrow and burst inside the target. Rupture Missile."

The tiny golden light shoots forward directly into the statue's head. A couple seconds later there is a popping noise, like the sound a soda can makes when you open it. Then cracks shoot across the statue's head. Large pieces slowly fall away, revealing that much of the stone under the surface has been powderized.

"That's, a bit of a frightening prospect. Brain scrambler. Yeeaah." I shake my head, push over the statue, then walk back into the building. Flynt has wrapped up carving the staves, as he is looking over the metal skeleton and taking measurements.

I approach the staves and look over them a moment to make sure they're ready, then walk over to the storage room to grab the components I need. Looking through the available gemstones, my gaze naturally lands on a pair of Sapphires, though I hesitate. "What do you think Sapph, would it be weird to make your staff with a Sapphire?"

She flies up and looks down at the collection of gems. The feeling she gives off is rather, perplexed? Maybe she doesn't get what I mean. "Well, I'm not sure I could explain it to you. How about you just pick one you like?" She nods and flies down to the pile. She flits over it a few times, then digs something out and hands it over to me.

A light blue gem, Topaz I think? My first impression is, it's similar to the metal that coats my surface plates. Ah, such a cute daughter. "Well, if that's what you want, I'll go with a Sapphire for mine, so we match." Though now I might have to always use Water Iron for the coloration of any future bodies. I suppose, as long as the underlying metal improves it'll be fine.

I pick up a dark blue gem from the pile, as well as grabbing two random magic stones from that bin, then head back into the workshop. I set the magic stones on the workbench, then think a moment on how to cut and polish the gems. Should I just use magic again? Feels like I'm using that for too much. But I don't have sandpaper, let alone different grits of it. Wait, is sandpaper even a thing here? Uhhhh. They've probably got their own methods, but. Magic it is.

I gather a mass of mana, and split it into three parts, then convert those parts into Wind, Earth, and Water attributes, and pool them back together. I set specific sizes in my mind and hope the magic will take care of the shape. "O Elements hear my call, Cut, Grind, and Polish. Wear down these gems and give them beautiful facets. Gem Cutting." The gems rise up from my palm and a cloud of fine wet sand appears around them. The sand cloud starts whirling and shifting, seemingly at random.

After about a minute the sand dips down to my hand, then spreads out and fades away leaving a large square cut sapphire and a pile of tiny princess cut pieces of topaz. I carefully set the cut gemstones down on the workbench. Not sure what I'll do with all the extra topazes.

"You'll need to do the next part for yours, okay Sapph?" She looks up at me curiously. "Don't worry, I'll show you what to do when I make mine." She nods and lands on the counter top. "It's pretty simple, really." I grab the larger staff and one of the magic stones. I set the bottom of the staff against the floor, holding the top up high enough for Sapph to see from the counter.

I focus my mana around the stone and condense its magical aura until it breaks down into magic dust. Then I pour the magic dust into an opening at the top that leads into a thin tunnel drilled through the core of the staff. Sapph repeats the process of breaking a magic stone, then scoops up a handful of the magic dust to pour into the far smaller hollowed core of her own staff.

"See why I couldn't do yours?" I point towards her tiny staff. She looks between the staves, then smiles in understanding. I laugh once softly, then grab the sapphire for the staff's cap. I wedge it into place over the hole as well as it'll go. Sapph does the same with one of the topaz pieces. "Alright, now you just flow mana from the bottom of the staff to the top."

I move mana down through my body and release it from a foot next to the staff's base, then sink it in and pull it upwards through the magic dust filled core. Magic dust seems to react to mana much differently than intact magic stones do. Most of it absorbs mana and clings to the inside of the staff, fusing into a tube like shape. The rest flows up into the gemstone at the top.

When magic dust fuses into the gemstone, the stone itself almost seems to grow roots down into the tube inside the staff, as my mana continues to pour in, the gem's roots keep growing down, filling out the hollow magic dust tube. The gem's own mass doesn't seem to change, so most of the extra material must be converted mana, though it seems completely different from using the Star Obsidian to print mana based items.

"Come to think of it, this seems really similar to my experiments with my sword. . . Could I use that as a focus for magic?" I shake my head and look over the staff. It's only about a meter long, so on the short side I think. The wood is a dark reddish brown which contrasts quite a bit with the even darker blue of the sapphire. The shape is a fairly simple cylinder for most of the length, but the end has a four point split surrounding the square cut gem.

When I glance over to Sapph she has finished her staff as well. I hold mine up next to her to show off, and after glancing over it, she hops up on top of it to show me hers. "Yep, looks good." Then I look over to Flynt, his wooden set of bones is already carved, but he seems to be trying to connect them with woven bark fibers or something? "We'll try using magic with these later. For now, I'm gonna have to help him finish his wood automaton."

Sapph flies up to put her staff in the pouch, then flies higher to land on my head. I put the staff on my back the same way the branch had been before. I walk over to the Heart Spinner to grab the Star Obsidian then head over to Flynt. "I usually connect those with Mana Threads personally. Not sure how long those plant fibers would last by comparison, but if you think it'll work, then go ahead."

"Well, I wanna use materials from the tree for as many things as possible! And you can repair it if it breaks right?" He holds up a cord of the stuff and shows how flexible it is. Then points to the spots he has already tied together. "I'm also wondering what else might work. The eyes? The plant muscles the tree had on its branches? Maybe use some of the bark as an external armor on top of the wood plates?"

Plant muscles? I guess that could be what those were, but that is a damn weird thing to call them. "I don't think we can reuse the eyes or muscles. Those would need to be preserved somehow, not to mention connected differently from what I'm used to using. Plus the eyes are too big. Probably wouldn't even fit in the head." I shake my head. Then turn and shout. "Goibniu, could you bring us a brain, heart, pair of eyes, voice box, and, let's go with a Goblin Shaman's magic stone?"

He shouts back an affirmation. Then Flynt nods and finishes tying the bones together with his bark fiber cords. By the time he is done with that Goibniu has brought over the requisite parts. I help add the parts to the body, then hold up the Star Obsidian. "Don't suppose you have the Mana Control External skill at a decent level do you?" He shakes his head. "Kinda figured. I'll handle the muscles then."

I decide to try something a little different this time, though from what I've seen it might not change anything. Simply put, using Fire Mana for the Synthetic Muscle. Plus the bright red will go well with the dark red of the wood, I think. And of course, I lay the muscles on thick to account for the extra bulk of a dwarf. Once I'm done with the muscles I step back and look to Flynt. "So, what'd you decide to do for the surface plates?"

"Like you said, I just added some holes to connect them. I can put em on now if the body is done otherwise. Got more of my bark cords to connect everything." I nod, and he starts tying the plates on. I'm rather impressed that he manages to do so though. He has to thread the cords through the mounting point on the bone, then up through the pairs of holes on the plates and tie them down firmly enough to keep them in place. He wraps it up fairly quickly, all told. "Now what?"

"Now I just need to put a piece of my soul in it to animate it." I say that, but for now I'm just looking over it carefully to make sure everything is in order.

"That sounds kinda like how dwarves reproduce." I pause and look over at him, my head tilted. "Eh? You didn't know? When a dwarf or a dwarvish couple wants to have a son, they carve a babe out of stone, then anoint the little statue with their own blood. Cuts down on our max HP for a while if we do it, but still, seems similar to your soul thing. Say, could you use a piece of my soul instead?"

How did I not find that in any of the books I read?! "I uhh. Yes, I think so. But, does that mean there are no dwarf women? Guess I hadn't seen any, but still. Did not expect that. Wait, is that why dwarves don't use stone in construction?"

He grins and nods. "Mostly that's true, but sometimes we do when we need a real sturdy fortress and don't have some extra strong wood to work with." He lifts the wooden body up to a standing position and grins even more broadly. "Now then, lets wake him up, yeah?"

"Eha haaaa. Sure sure." I reach a spectral hand out to him, then when my hand touches his soul, I pause. His eyes go wide a moment, then he nods and I feel a wisp of his spirit come free. Which I drag over to the wooden figure and let go of. The body jolts after a moment, then takes a step forward before turning to face Flynt. "Seems like it worked. I'd guess, since they were made with a part of your soul, they'll listen to you over me. Little surprising they were aware enough to move on their own though." . . . Scan.

"FIFTY POINTS?! I only meant to grab five! . . ." I look over to Flynt. "Erm, you okay?" He's breathing heavily, and seems unsteady, but he manages a nod. "Weeell. If you say so. That aside, interestingly, they are a Mannequin instead of an Automaton. Specifically a Napalm Wood Mannequin. And they have magic skills, not to mention the Fire Resistance you would expect, so they should be a good compliment to your melee focus."

"Sure thing. Lemme just take a little breather here." Right, we don't have any chairs in the workshop. I look down to the Star Obsidian still in my hand, then shrug and print out a futon like mattress at about the right size for a dwarf using Light and Wind mana and help him lie down.

"I, think I'll go get the Guildmaster, or town Doctor? Probably have to talk to Granzine first in that case too, cause I wouldn't know who. . . Ah well. Uh, Goibniu, could you keep an eye on him? And take this?" I hand over the Star Obsidian, then walk quickly out of the building.

Chaos_Sinner777

I tried talking to somebody I've commissioned some art from before, but they didn't want to do pics for my two MCs cause I didn't have any reference images. Which, logically I understand is reasonable. But emotionally, I'm feeling a little worn out by that. All the effort to work myself up to approach somebody, for nothing.