Chương 125: Mass Hammer

As soon as I returned to the castle, I visited Shatter. As the other blacksmiths were cleaning up, I called him to the very edge of the blacksmith shop, then whispered, "How close is that new set of armour?"

"It's done," he replied, speaking softly.

"I was wondering when you would drop by to pick it up."

"Did anyone see you making it?"

"No one. I was careful, only making standard components individually, and assembling them when no one was around."

"And the shield?"

"It's ready. The paint's just drying. I'll go get the gear." Shatter ran back into the blacksmith shop, then returned with an armful of leather pouches. He placed them on the counter and said, "That should be all of it. Nothing's enchanted, though." I took the pouches in my arms. With my enhanced Strength it barely weighed down on me, but I could still tell it was heavy. I told Shatter, "You're getting stronger, too."

"Not as much as you. I'm still only a Copper."

"You're getting there. Figure out any solutions for your leys yet?"

"Nothing conclusive," he said.

"But I'm working on it."

"Thanks for the help, again," I said.

"Now I've gotta go find a place to hide this. If you need any help with anything, let me know."

"I think you're going to be plenty busy in the coming days, Levi. You don't need me piling more on you."

"That may be. Still, take a rain check."

"I have no idea what that means, and you need to get out of here before anyone sees that armour," Shatter said.

"Now go." ~ ~ ~ After a quick bath to clean off the smoky residue and sweat of the day, I returned to the barracks. Brawl and Anchor were already back, and they watched me stuff my spare armour set into the drawers below my cot.

"You're going ahead with your plan?" Anchor asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"I have everything I need."

"You have papers, brother?" Brawl asked.

"To prove you are a thegn?" I nodded.

"They're coming."

"And your face?"

"Well, let's test it." I attached the illusion pendant to a string I kept in my desk drawer, then hung it around my neck. The amulet activated as soon as it came in contact with my chest.

"Woah," both Anchor and Brawl said, staring at me.

"It worked, I take it?" I asked.

"No one will accuse you of being a dupe, that's for certain," Anchor said.

"You look a little…off, brother," Brawl said.

"Slightly unnerving. But that is probably for the best, because I do not want to look at you for long. Every now and then, it ripples, but as long as you wear a helmet most of the time, it will hold." I laughed, then used the reflection on the inside of the windows to take a look for myself. It was exactly how Alis had described—my hair was lighter, my eyes were piercing blue, and my skin was slightly paler. That calmed my nerves. She earned her keep with this one.

Now, if she could pull through on the thegnage papers, she'd have my trust. If not? Well, I'd be able to run away, lose the disguise and armour, and return to being Levi. For the moment, it would work.

"There's one more problem," Anchor said.

"You're pretending to be someone else in order to hold land. That's not Levi's land, that's…whoever this is."

"But I should be able to transfer land to a dutiful soldier who has earned it," I said.

"Then I can worry about getting myself an actual thegnage later—I'll at least own the land." The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Who are you going to challenge for it, brother?" I nodded.

"Some lower thegn from the border regions, between Ceonwin's domain and Hinlaw's. I have a list of names…but I'm sure there's at least one who will agree to the challenge." Then, I dropped down on my cot, splaying my arms out to the side.

"I'm beat. I've got a long day tomorrow, and—" I cut myself off.

"Shit. I've gotta merge some Skills."

"You do that, sarge," Anchor said. He blew out the candles.

"Brawl and I will catch some rest, too, and we won't bother you." I stared up at the bottom of the cot above me, then shut my eyes and pulled myself into my nodespace. The priority was advancing my Art to a higher tier. Once I improved it enough, I could more accurately simulate the central floor guardian, we could practice properly, and my squad's personal training under the effect of the gravity well would be far stronger. We'd continue improving faster.

My nodespace, at least what I imagined of it in my mind, was crowded with multicoloured skill orbs. I sorted my Skills, pushing aside the ones I didn't want to touch—[Spearmanship], [Quick-Witted Crossbow Use], [Jousting], [Lancework], and [Memory Modification]. The rest, I kept open. First, I needed one last Journeyman-tier Skill to merge into my Art.

And, knowing that I wanted my Art to be more precise, I hunted down the Skills I figured I could achieve that with, in order to merge a knowledge Skill that would allow me to taint my Art with a higher intensity gravity manipulation. I took [General System Knowledge], [Focus Manipulation], [Force Amplification], [Enemy Redirection], and lastly [Impact Resistance] as fodder—though it still had some relation to gravity, with how important it was to my stance.

I began with [Focus Manipulation] and [Force Amplification] as the core Skills, then added in [Enemy Redirection]. All required precise movements, intense focus, concentration, and precision, and would hopefully bend the Art in the way I wanted. After mashing together the two core Skills, I added in [General System Knowledge] and [Impact Resistance]. All five Skills became one: [Precision Forces]. It was Journeyman-tier. But there was more than enough left to merge those Skills into my Art.

I could enhance it, finally, and take the next step we needed. I started with [Art: Directional Gravity Manipulation], then added [Precision Forces]. Next, I added [The Weight of Things]. Working together, those would make my Art far more direct, accurate, and powerful, and it would keep the area contained in a small location. Hopefully, about a similar size to what it currently was. I would still have control over which way it pulled, though—according to the books—I could now pull from multiple directions.

Next, to keep it focused, and so as to not water-down the Art, I added [Balance] and [Team Movement]. Team Movement wasn't perfectly related, but when it came to controlling directions and commanding things, it was a good Skill to add to a gravity art. Multiple sources from the library confirmed that conclusion. Once I added the last two Skills and finished the Art, I paused and assessed the outcome of the Skill. Advanced tier. It was called [Mass Hammer]. Oh. Oh.

With a name like that, how was I supposed to just sleep? That had to be a good thing. When an Art got its own name, instead of a generic descriptor, it was stronger than most. I wanted to test it right away, but it was already late, and I was exhausted. I checked the Reading Slate, just to make sure I was seeing it properly.

My list of Skills now read: Skills: Spearmanship (Apprentice), Quick-Witted Crossbow Use (Journeyman), Art: Mass Hammer (Advanced), Memory Modification (Novice), External Squad Synergy (Apprentice), Jousting (Novice), Lancework (Novice) A much shorter list now, but seeing the Advanced-tier Art there was enough to make my heart race. Forcing myself to maintain my discipline, I tried to relax enough, and eventually, I did sleep.

In the morning, I woke up as early as the sun rose, then rushed to the stable for my squire training. All throughout the morning, while I practiced with Lord Ceonwin, I spared half of my attention on learning the new effects of my Art. When I had a break, while I took the monotonous task of brushing down the horses, I experimented. The trees made excellent targets. I used my focus, imagining a column for the Art's area of effect.

It already told me where it was going to trigger, and I knew how far it was going to spread, without even having experimented on it yet. I targeted a tree, imagining a vertical well. But before I could even trigger the Art, my mind gave an extra suggestion, as if it had rammed itself in from the outside. I had one more condition to set, one more variable I could choose now. I focused at the bottom of the cylinder where my gravity would take effect. There was an orb there, now.

I couldn't see it physically, but I imagined a sphere about a foot wide. I had the option to pull in one direction or two, now. I could create a second column of influence if I wished, in a different direction, pointing toward the sphere. For now, I set it to only pull in one direction. It ripped straight downward, pulling on the tree, shearing off its branches and splintering the main trunk like it was a lance.

The branches stabbed down to the ground, moving in the blink of an eye, before embedding themselves in the dirt and pulling even deeper. The dirt compressed into clay before my eyes. A shockwave hit me a moment later, the weight pressing in my chest, the sound was deafening—something between a rush of wind and a roll of thunder. Lord Ceonwin and his two squires stopped and stared at me, as if to ask what I'd done. They glanced at the tree, and their mouths hung open.

I cut off the Art and pulled my hand back in, then said, "Sorry. I merged a bunch of Skills last night, and I needed to test it. But since there's really no free time…" Lord Ceonwin shook his head.

"Test it in the Labyrinth, Levi. Don't destroy my forest."

"Sorry, sir. I didn't think it would be that strong."

"And if you do it again, I will tell Morph," he said, a half-joking glint in his eye.

"And Sage will let him rip your arms off."

"Yes, sir. It won't happen again."