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Chapter 2046: Spellsmiths of Valor
Shadow Slave

The forge Sunny and Nephis had entered was not the only space that the enchanters of Clan Valor used in the warcamp of the Sword Army. If anything, it was the less important of them — but he did not mind.

There was a small courtyard behind the outer wall, with harvested remains of the Nightmare Creatures piled neatly on the ground. Most of them had already been cleaned and processed, but there was still a heavy smell of blood lingering in the air.

Sunny studied the piles of hides, scales, bones, fangs, claws, tendons, and talons for a moment.

'Makes sense.'

Somehow, he had imagined this place to be full of metal and steel. But during the conquest of an untamed region of the Dream Realm, the main materials Awakened artisans would use were the corpses of the Nightmare Creatures — after all, they were readily available as a byproduct of the conquest itself, and often possessed amazing qualities as well.

Behind the material storage were the entrances to several crafting halls. Nephis led him to the central door, smiling softly in response to the reverent bows from the workers present in the courtyard.

"We are going to be visiting a pair of enchanters today. They are not the most senior, but also not without status… both are Masters, so you might want to treat them with some respect."

Sunny nodded.

Nephis knocked on the door, waited for a few moments, and then entered.

He could hear two voices coming from the inside:

"...Huh? What is it now?"

The first voice was female, hiding a hint of irritation.

"Oh, right. I forgot to mention. We have visitors today."

The second voice was male and quite nonchalant.

Sunny studied the two enchanters, a bit surprised. In his head, the forgemasters were all wizened, grey-haired old men. But these two look no different from most Masters he had met.

The first enchanter was a beautiful, petite woman wearing an emerald robe, with her hair gathered neatly into a bun.

The second enchanter was a seemingly absentminded man with messy black hair, dressed in peculiar patchwork garments. He wore plenty of accessories, too — both the clothes and the accessories seemed to be enchanted and self-made, making Sunny wonder what function each element was meant to play.

Nephis nodded.

"Master Snow. Master Alice."

The men responded with a nonchalant bow, while the woman suddenly froze.

Her eyes widened slightly.

A moment later, she seemed to regain her composure and bowed elegantly.

"Lady Changing Star, Master Sunless. It's an honor."

Despite her refined manners, Sunny couldn't help but feel like the gazes she threw at them were a little… heated.

'Is this the ally Neph mentioned, perhaps?'

He wasn't sure, but there was something familiar about these glances.

They were strangely similar to how mundane people usually looked at Kai, back in NQSC…

Sunny coughed.

"Pleasure to meet you."

The petite woman did not respond immediately.

Master Snow, meanwhile, studied him for a moment.

"So, is it true?"

Sunny raised an eyebrow.

"What is?"

The man scratched the back of his head.

"That you are an enchanter."

'Ah.'

Initially, Sunny had wanted to hide the fact that he could create Memories — and it was still hidden, somewhat. However, once he started modifying Memories from the Fire Keepers and sending Aiko out to gather samples for him to study, it was hard not to reveal the fact that he could at least change their enchantments.

He nodded.

"I am indeed somewhat capable of enchanting. Look — I made it myself."

With that, he threw the silver knife to the forgemaster.

Master Snow caught it with a motion that betrayed more than a modest amount of battle experience, studied it for a few moments, then grimaced.

"Well… at least you are a decent blacksmith."

Forging the silver knife was an arduous process, but it only possessed the rudimentary enchantments shared by all Memories. By presenting it to the experienced spellsmith, Sunny painted himself as someone barely passing as an enchanter.

His little deception seemed to work quite well.

Master Alice gave her male colleague a scathing look.

"Don't say that! Yes, this thing can barely be called a Memory… and yes, I would have died of embarrassment if I showed it to anyone... but Master Sunless has many redeeming qualities!"

With that, she glanced at Nephis and smiled.

"Am I right, Lady Changing Star?"

Nephis raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yes. He is outstanding in many regards."

'That's right!'

Sunny struggled to maintain a polite smile on his lips.

Master Snow stared at him skeptically for a few moments, then sighed.

"Well, no matter. You are just here to observe, correct? We are not doing anything revolutionary today, but it still requires absolute focus. So… make yourself at home. But not too at home. Just… moderately at home, I guess."

The other enchanter nodded.

"Yes, yes… Lady Nephis, you can stand over there. The lighting there is the best… I mean, the view from there is the best. Oh, and Master Sunless, you stand next to her. Gods, they are so… I mean, I hope you are comfortable! We'll continue working, then."

As Sunny and Nephis moved to the wall opposite the entrance, the two enchanters continued what they had been doing while trying not to pay them too much attention.

Sunny was curious to see the process of enchantment, but for now, both were simply preparing the materials. From what he could tell, Master Snow was in the process of crafting a suit of scale armor. Master Alice, meanwhile, was carving something out of bone. It looked like... the hull of a toy ship? No, it had to be an elaborate arrowhead.

He lingered for a few moments, then asked:

"Are you both members of Clan Valor?"

The petite woman looked at him with surprise.

"Goodness, no. Well, he is — from a minor branch family. But I am a retainer… actually, I used to work for the government before the Chain of Nightmares. Later, I ended up in Bastion, and two Nightmares later, here I am."

The man, meanwhile, was fully consumed by his work. Sunny was not sure if the enchanter had even heard the question. He seemed like the kind of guy who would even forget to eat when obsessing over an interesting challenge.

So, Sunny looked back to Master Alice.

"Two Nightmares in four years… you must be quite impressive."

It used to be that people spent no less than a decade preparing to challenge the Second Nightmare. This timeline had shortened somewhat in recent years, but not to that degree.

The petite woman looked at him with a mortified expression.

"M—master Sunless… what are you... Lady Nephis is right here!"

He blinked, not catching her meaning.

Nephis seemed similarly confused.

'What? What did I say?'

Sunny forced out a polite smile.

"Please forgive me. Then, if you don't mind me asking… how, exactly, do the enchanters of Clan Valor create Memories?"

Shadow Slave
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    2047 : Infusers and Forgers


    Alice gave him a curious glance, then continued to carve arrowheads with a small smile. The enchanted knife she was holding moved nimbly, slicing the bones of Corrupted abominations like butter.

    "There is no single method we use to enchant items — all Aspects are unique, after all. However, over the decades, a sort of unified classification was developed to make sense of it all. Well… or so I've been told. I have only joined Valor a few years ago."

    She glanced at Master Snow, as if expecting him to pitch in, but then sighed and continued herself:

    "Warriors of Valor are not the only ones who get to have fancy titles, you know? Sir Sunless. Just like you guys are called Squires, Knights, and Paladins, we enchanters have a hierarchy consisting of three ranks, as well. Granted, ours have nothing to do with the actual Soul Rank of a person, but are instead based on the nature of one's Aspect."

    Sunny scratched the back of his head.

    "I am already a Knight of Valor, though. If I were to receive an enchanter title from the royal clan, what would people call me?"

    Master Alice suddenly let out a laugh, then covered her mouth with a hand and glanced at Sunny with wide eyes.

    A few moments later, she forced out an apologetic smile.

    "Ah yes… of course! You are a brave and valiant Knight, Sir Sunless. No doubt about it. Still — enchanters are much rarer than warriors. So, we are held in high regard. There are many of us who feel at home on a battlefield, actually, but our duty in the forge is more important. Therefore, the titles we receive in the forge technically take precedence. We don't use them much, though."

    Sunny smiled and turned his head to look at Nephis.

    "Did you hear? Enchanters seem to be more valuable than warriors."

    She glanced at him evenly, then asked in a neutral tone:

    "What about healers, Master Alice?"

    The petite woman raised an eyebrow.

    "Oh… well, healers are the most precious, of course! A talented enchanter might be worth their own weight in gold, but a powerful healer is simply priceless."

    Nephis continued to stare at Sunny with an aloof expression.

    The corner of her lips, however, curled upward ever-so-slightly, betraying a hint of smugness.

    '...Cute.'

    Master Alice, meanwhile, continued:

    "In any case, our version of the Squire, the Knight, and the Paladin is the Infuser, the Forger, and the Spellsmith. I mentioned these titles from the least prestigious to the most venerated — however, they are not mutually exclusive. A person can be both an Infuser and a Forger, for example. Oh, there are also Scribes — those who have mastered the Runes. That guy over there…"

    She pointed her carving knife at Master Snow:

    "...is technically a Scribe Knight, as well as a Spellsmith. I, on the other hand, am both an Infuser and a Forger — but since all these titles are a bit convoluted, we are simply called Forgemaster Snow and Forgemaster Alice. Now, you might have already guessed the meaning of these titles, but let me explain."

    Sunny was listening to the petite woman intently. This was not exactly vital information, but he was still quite interested to learn about the inner workings of the storied Clan Valor. There was no other group quite like it anywhere out there, after all, and no force as fearsome among the human factions.

    It was fascinating that the true strength of Valor lay not in their martial prowess, but in their technology and craft.

    Master Alice continued to carve an arrowhead out of Transcendent bone as she explained:

    "Infusers make up the bulk of the enchanters of Valor. Most of them are retainers like me, too… our power comes in many forms, but at its core lies the ability to permanently enhance and augment inanimate objects. Make weapons sharper, armor more durable, walls less likely to crumble. Or, alternatively, infuse inanimate objects with special qualities — for example, infuse an arrowhead with the quality of exploding on impact."

    She waved the half-carved arrowhead in the air and smiled.

    Sunny nodded.

    He understood the concept… Samara of his Evacuation Army cohort had been somewhat of an Infuser, in a sense — that was why her bullets could slay powerful Nightmare Creatures. Only, in her case, the infusion of charged essence had not been permanent, lasting only a few days.

    He sighed.

    Maybe that would have changed if Samara had been given a chance to become a Master.

    "That does not make these enhanced items into Memories, though."

    Master Alice nodded.

    "I'm getting to it! Right… the work we Infusers do might not seem as impressive as that of Forgers and Spellsmiths, but it is still very important. Not the least of all because infused items often endure the Runes better, and can therefore be augmented even further by the Scribes."

    That also made complete sense to Sunny. He already knew that different materials possessed different arcane capacity — some could withstand immense spellweaves crafted from powerful soul shards and potent essence, some were so mundane that they would disintegrate under the strain of the simplest enchantment.

    "So what do the Forgers do?"

    The petite woman looked at him with a smile.

    "Just what the name suggests, of course! We are masters of forgery."

    Finishing carving the arrowhead, she raised it in one palm, and took an uncut fragment of bone with another hand. Sunny sensed a subtle flow of soul essence, and then both of the woman's hands ignited with a soft emerald glow.

    Bathed in that glow, the rough fragment of bone slowly melted and changed shape, turning into a perfect copy of the carved arrowhead.

    Master Alice compared the two with a discerning eye, nodded in satisfaction, and picked up another arrowhead — this one forged from lustrous metal and engraved with a beautiful filigree of runes.

    "Forgers possess Abilities that allow them to copy or replicate items — either in their entirety or only certain traits. Some can duplicate weapons, for example, some can copy a quality of one weapon to another. There are far fewer Forgers than there are Infusers, and many of them come from the minor branches of the Valor family."

    She lingered for a moment, and then added:

    "That said, Forgers are not at all as powerful and precious as Spellsmiths… and yet, they are perhaps the most important cog in this miraculous machine. Do you understand why?"

    Nephis tilted her head in confusion, but Sunny's eyes suddenly glistened.

    "Members of the Valor family can transfer a quality of one item to another?"

    The petite woman nodded and let out a chuckle.

    "Indeed. So, if a suitable Forger takes a Memory weapon and transfers the quality of [being a Memory] to an ordinary weapon that had been prepared by an Infuser and a Scribe… guess what happens?"
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      2048 : Different Foundations


      Sunny took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly.

      "It will become a Memory?"

      Master Alice nodded.

      "Yes! In fact, that is how most Memories produced by the forgemasters of Valor are made. A mundane weapon is forged, augmented by an Infuser, enchanted by a Scribe, and then turned into a Memory by a Forger. Of course, there are a million variations of the process, with different enchanters possessing different powers and strengths. But the basics are the same. And even if some Forgers can't copy the [Memory] quality, those who can pick up the slack."

      She paused for a moment, then added with a sigh:

      "There are more elaborate methods of Forgery, as well. Some of us can simply duplicate Memories, some can transfer particular enchantments — and so on. More powerful of the forged Memories are the result of carefully collecting suitable enchantments and transferring them to a single vessel, almost like assembling a perfect weapon from building blocks. Well, I won't bore you with details… suffice it to say that there is space for artistry in this process, too."

      With that, Alice activated her Aspect once more. As Sunny watched, bewildered, the steel arrowhead in her right hand was suddenly enveloped by emerald light. Some time later, weak wisps of similar light started to shine from beneath the surface of the bone arrowhead, which she was holding in her left hand, as well.

      Soon, the similar filigree of runes started to reveal itself on the ivory surface of the bone, as if burned into it from within by the emerald light.

      Shifting his vision, Sunny peered beneath the surface of the bone arrowhead and held his breath.

      Something miraculous was happening there, right in front of his eyes.

      A storm of soul essence poured into the black abyss contained within the small piece of bone, drowning it in soft radiance. The cloud of essence drifted in the darkness, shining like a vast nebula… but then, its contours changed, becoming sharper and more defined.

      Then, empty spaces revealed themselves between the wisps of shining gas, slowly growing as the strands of essence were compressed tighter and tighter. Turning into strings.

      A spellweave was being born.

      Sunny suppressed a sincere desire to applaud and simply put on an admiring smile.

      "This is… amazing."

      Master Alice sighed.

      "Is it? Well… I guess so. The first few times — maybe a few dozen times — I was amazed, as well. However, there is certainly room for improvement. For example, it is usually too difficult for me to replicate Transcendent enchantments. I also spend too much essence on each attempt — this one is my first for the day, but starting from around the third, I'll have to substitute my own essence with soul shards. It costs quite a penny."

      Sunny shook his head.

      "Still."

      Internally, he was thinking about something else.

      So far… what both Infusers and Forgers did sounded a lot like the early stages of his own journey as a sorcerer, only built on a different foundation.

      The foundation Sunny had used was observation, study, and understanding. By examining countless weaves, he slowly learned to separate particular patterns of ethereal strings from the radiant tapestries. Then, he deciphered the meaning of some patterns, and learned how to replicate them.

      For the longest time, his entire repertoire was nothing but replication. Just like the petite enchantress had said, it was very much like assembling a Memory from building blocks — only, in his case, Sunny had to prepare the blocks himself. Later, he attained some liberty in how to implement them, thus gaining the ability to attune the copied enchantments according to his needs.

      The foundation the forgemasters of Valor used, though, was based on power and happenstance. There was a lot of skill and shrewd calculation involved in how they created Memories, sure, but they ultimately relied on the unique nature of their Aspects instead of understanding.

      Funnily enough, at that stage, the result was the same. A Memory Sunny could create a few years ago would have hardly been superior to a Memory created in the forges of Clan Valor.

      The difference, though, was that the path these enchanters followed was static, while his was not. Since the forgemasters relied on their Aspects to forge Memories, they were doomed to be forever limited by the boundaries of their Aspects.

      But Sunny could develop and learn. His only limit was his enlightenment and comprehension. So, even though he had been no different from a Forger in the past, he was infinitely more capable than any of them could ever be now.

      He had already delved into the very essence of weaving, gleamed its secrets, and grown capable of creating unique enchantments instead of copying the ones provided by the Spell — therefore, he did not need to follow someone else's blueprint, or be limited in what he could build by the shape of available blocks.

      If he was correct, then his current level was akin to the most revered rank among the forgemasters — the Spellsmith… or maybe even already beyond that.

      If not, then it was going to be soon.

      Sunny smiled politely.

      "What about the Spellsmiths, then?"

      Master Alice glanced at her partner, then shrugged.

      "Those are very few. All of them are members of the Valor family, and most are direct descendants — the children and grandchildren of the Warden. This guy here is a rare exception, since he is at best a very distant cousin to Princess Morgan… oh, and to you too, Princess Nephis!"

      She beamed at Nephis, then sighed wistfully.

      "Spellsmiths… can imbue armaments with mystical traits and enchantments directly, without having to copy them from somewhere else. I'm not really sure how it works, but their Aspects are all rather unique. They also possess a wealth of knowledge, the best equipment, and receive the most resources. Well, no wonder — after all, the senior and most distinguished Spellsmith of the royal clan is the King himself. His craft… it's on a different level, entirely. Almost miraculous."

      The petite woman glanced at Master Snow and added in a slightly embarrassed tone:

      "This guy can explain better. He'll be done with the current task in a bit, and then, you'll be able to see a demonstration."

      Sunny nodded. He had surmised that Master Snow was the kind of artisan who got completely absorbed by his work — so, it wasn't wise to try to distract him now. If anything, he was surprised that Master Alice was so accommodating.

      There… she was staring at them again, wasn't she?

      His smile almost faltered.

      "I have a couple more questions, if you don't mind."

      The petite woman shook her head energetically and picked up a second bone arrowhead.

      "Oh, of course! By all means. Anything you want, Master Sunless... I mean... no, n—not anything! I didn't mean it that way..."

      Sunny stared at her for a moment while considering his words.

      "Forgemasters can also create Echoes, can't they? I've seen a few."

      Master Alice nodded with relief.

      "Y—yes — in theory. And we do, sometimes. Forgers can create very crude automatons, while Spellsmiths can create true artificial Echoes. The process is not much different from forging Memories, just… way more time-consuming. It can take a senior Spellsmith an entire year or more to craft a single Echo. By comparison, dozens of Memories can be crafted in the same span of time. So, artificial Echoes are quite rare. They are mostly forged out of curiosity, for research, or to test yourself."

      Sunny nodded. It made sense, somewhat. Echoes were never equal to the original, so arming Awakened elites well was a more efficient way of spending resources.

      And then, finally, the last question… not the most important of them, but one of great interest to Sunny personally.

      "And… the names. Who comes up with the names for the forged Memories? And the descriptions?"

      Master Alice seemed a little surprised by the question.

      "Uh… excuse me?"

      Sunny leaned forward.

      "Well, you know. This bone arrowhead you made into a Memory. Did you give it a name? Something like, I don't know… [Bonehead]? [Bone and Arrow]?"

      The petite woman gave him a strange look, then shook his head.

      "Oh, no… the Spell names them for me. Some of the Spellsmiths have the ability to name and describe their creations personally, but most don't."

      She lingered for a moment, then added politely:

      "If you are curious, Master Sunless, I can check…"

      The petite woman turned her head and stared into the air, clearly studying the runes.

      "Huh. That's strange…"

      For a moment, Master Alice had an incredulous expression on her face. Then, she shook her head with a hint of bafflement.

      "The Spell seemed to have named it… [All Aboard]? What does it even mean? How... embarrassing..."
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  2. Offline
    zigzagzarf
    zigzagzarf
    + 9 ⋅ 0 -
    chicks flaw is she stays horny
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    1. Offline
      wotpe
      wotpe
      + 2 ⋅ 0 -
      Alis? More like Alust peepo010 exit
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  3. Offline
    Darrell Amp
    Darrell Amp
    + 5 ⋅ 0 -
    I am curious about Echos. with Sunnys ability to weave if he can learn to create them as well. This has interesting possibilities.
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  4. Offline
    ArMiks
    ArMiks
    + 9 ⋅ 0 -
    glad to know we're not the only ones sailing the ship
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  5. Offline
    Lrb
    Lrb
    + 3 ⋅ 0 -
    Isso na verdade pode ser a falha dela kkk quem sabe.
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  6. Offline
    Reii
    Reii
    + 8 ⋅ 0 -
    lol they'll commit honorable sudoku once they learn whom they just snubbed oru2x
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      AllenGT9
      AllenGT9
      + 6 ⋅ 0 -
      Sodoku? Rofl I might just shave to commit seppuku after reading this.
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        Evinie
        Evinie
        + 6 ⋅ 0 -
        Yea wtf, I think he mean't honorable subaru whoknows
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          Turnc4406
          Turnc4406
          + 2 ⋅ 0 -
          Horrible Mitsubishi, you say?
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  7. Offline
    Shelly
    Shelly
    + 20 ⋅ 0 -
    Acting embarrassed about something commonplace is a horrible idea infront of the two people who lack the most common sense in the world. 2 worlds actually
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      EVOLT
      EVOLT
      + 4 ⋅ 0 -
      Eye candy is back at it again sigh
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