107: Complicated

Gluttonous Chef’s Knife

Durability: 100%

Magic Power: 177

A very well-forged chef’s knife. Imbued with the essence of a gluttonous monster. Created by Leopold Celister. Made from mythril and hydra bone.

Provides a Moderate boost to the Potency of Culinary crafts.

Provides a Minor boost to the Crafting Speed of Culinary crafts.

Provides a Minor boost to the Duration of Culinary crafts.

Additional effect: Gorger

Every time this item is used to make a culinary craft, increase the Quality of this item by 25%. Can stack twice. Gaining a third stack of Gorger resets current stacks of Gorger to zero.

Eris looked over one of the knives that was given as a gift from the many crafters, feeling the tingling of magic in her fingers humming under the surface. It really was a beautiful knife, with swirling patterns in the metal and incredible carvings in the bone handle. It even had Eris’s name engraved into the base of the blade, for Seven’s sake. A glorious work of art.

“Underneath the Durability, there’s something new- Magic Power. This knife has a value of one-seventy-seven.”

Grace furrowed her brow. She was one of the only of Eris’s tutors that were permitted in on this conversation, since most of them were busy crafting away for level progression. Specifically, those who were the lowest level, since they would get more of a benefit for having their progression increased because they took less time to reach the next level. If a level five person needed a hundred days of work to get to the next level, but a level twelve needed a thousand, then the amount of days with Eris’s bonus went to ten and one hundred, respectively. Sure, the higher levels would have been getting just as much of a bonus, but there was a more likely chance that Eris’s bonus could tip a lower level person over their next threshold.

So, Rocky, Hima, Rachel, Ophelia and Addison now had magical tattoos and were crafting away. Meanwhile, a now-dressed Eris, Grace, Tatum, Bailey, Charlotte and a guest Eris wasn’t expecting were sitting around in Eris’s workshop.

Elmas, wearing her signature dark blue uniform, furrowed her brow. “And what about one of the new tools you made yesterday?”

A few brief glances in various directions followed.

“All hovering around sixteen-hundred; give or take a few dozen points.”

Bailey whistled. “Well, that’s certainly a way to put a numerical value on estimated power. But what’s all that business on ‘consuming’ magical items? Like… do you just eat the knife or something?”

“We’re in a time crunch, so there isn’t much point in standing around and talking about it,” Eris said flatly. Then, she willed her intention towards the magic held inside the item.

It was warmth in her fingers. It was tingling in her knuckles. It was a vibration in her palm and shivers that ran all the way up her arms. Looking down, the knife was glowing. Like a light from deep inside the very center was reaching outwards as if the opaque materials were completely translucent.

“Or you can do that, that works too,” Bailey nodded.

The light continued, and Eris could feel the magic flowing under her skin like hot water. Furthermore, there was a tingling in the back of her head that Eris wasn’t focusing on right now. It was just the knife. The knife in her grip. The sand rubbing off the surface and falling through her fingers.

The sand that was coming from the knife.

“Is the knife disintegrating?” Tatum asked. Eris nodded.

“Yeah, I think it is.”

It certainly seemed to be- especially since after just a few more seconds Eris wasn’t holding anything anymore. Opening her hands let out a puff of dust that fell to the floor in a pile that was a kind of translucent white. Eris let out a sigh and followed the tingling in her head. Oddly like her ‘bonus skills’ with Masterwork, it almost seemed like a different view needed to be taken- looking at something from a different direction or opening a different page in a book.

Malleable Arcana

Magic Power: 177

Stat Modifications: 3

Culinary Potency: 0% bonus.

Culinary Crafting Speed: 0% bonus.

Culinary Duration: 0% bonus.

Enchantments: 1

Gorger: {Level 1}

Every time this item is used to make a culinary craft, increase the Quality of this item by {25%}, stacking up to {2} times. Gaining another stack when at the maximum amount resets the number of stacks to 0.

Eris took a deep breath.

“Okay, so I now have a hundred and seventy-seven points from consuming that knife, as well as three different stats and an enchantment that all look like they can be upgraded. Everything from that knife, actually.”

Tatum cocked an eyebrow. “Hold on, you can upgrade enchantments?”

“Seems that way,” Eris huffed. “And I’m guessing that it takes this Magic Power stuff since I can apparently store it just like Desire. Let me see if I can spend it.”

“Hold on, shouldn’t we talk about this a little more?” Grace asked. “This seems pretty important-”

“Like I said before; we don’t have the time to talk about it.” Eris huffed, focusing her intent inwards. “Plus, there’s practically a treasure trove of magical items all given to me that I can use, so that’ll more than make up for a few points being spent on testing.”

Unsurprisingly, Eris could feel the new value in a way similar to Desire and spending it on her other skills. It was still distinctly different, but overall the same sensation. Like how Desire was akin to pouring water from one cup into another, this seemed a bit more like sand. It was… crunchier.

It took a lot to level up Gorger. Of her hundred and seventy-seven points, exactly seventy-seven were left when she finally felt the enchantment tremble and swell in her mind. A hundred points, on the dot. Meanwhile, Gorger predictably looked different when Eris checked again.

Gorger: {Level 2}

Every time this item is used to make a culinary craft, increase the Quality of this item by {50%}, stacking up to {3} times. Gaining another stack when at the maximum amount resets the number of stacks to 0.

Eris nodded, then turned her attention to the stats that were there. Since they each listed a ‘bonus’ that was at zero percent, that could only bring the assumption that they, too, could be upgraded. When Eris actually went for it, the feeling was inherently different from both the enchantment and spending Desire. Instead of filling a cup, it simply felt like Eris threw five points down a bottomless pit. Confused, Eris looked back.

Culinary Potency: 5% bonus.

Eris threw another point. The bonus went up to six percent. Another brought it up to seven percent. It went up to ten with no problems, and even twenty-five with nothing else seeming to happen. The same went for both of the other stats, until all three of them were sitting at a twenty-five percent bonus with two measly points left over. Eris let out a long sigh.

“Okay, the enchantment took a hundred points to bring to level two, so if it follows the same pattern as my Desire, that means it’s probably gonna take a thousand for level three, then ten thousand for four, and so on and so forth. The stats are different though. Every point I put in seems to correlate to a one-percent bonus that’s added to it.”

Bailey furrowed her brow. “Huh? The enchantments I at least kind of understand, but you’re upgrading stats? How does that work?”

“How the crap am I supposed to know?” Eris asked. “What I see is exactly as follows; it says Malleable Arcana right at the top, with my current Magic Power I have stored just underneath it. Then it says ‘Stat Modifications’, and says all three of the ones that were on that knife- Culinary Potency, Crafting Speed, and Duration. It said all of them had a zero percent bonus, but I put twenty-five points into each and now it says they have a twenty-five percent bonus. Then there’s the enchantment at the bottom, which is now second level.”

Grace was furiously writing everything down, while Tatum leaned forward in her seat. “Okay, well now the question is whether these are completely passive effects for you, or whether they’re bonuses you apply when making an item with those modifications.”

Elmas narrowed her eyes. “In what way?”

Tatum turned to look at the woman. “Well, if they’re bonuses that passively apply to her, then it means she can make herself incredibly powerful but also somewhat limits her options. For example, if she dissolves an item with a Vitality bonus and puts a crap ton of points into it, it could theoretically make her extremely hard to kill by getting crazy bonuses. However, she’s not a fighter, nor is she even capable of fighting because of Pacifist.”

Tatum cocked her head. “On the other hand, I’m imagining that it’s a separate multiplier applying to specific stat modifications whenever she makes an item with them. You said you have a twenty-five percent bonus to Culinary Potency?”

“Yeah,” Eris nodded.

“Well, then my assumption is that Eris could make two different knives, one for culinary work and another for woodcarving, both in the exact same way with the same amount of points spent and everything completely identical except for the stats. One would have Culinary Potency and the other Leatherworking Potency.”

“And the one with Culinary Potency would be a bit stronger because it has that additional modifier,” Bailey said. Tatum nodded.

“That’s my assumption. Not that it applies the benefit to you, but makes any production of that modification from you stronger.”

“Sounds fair enough,” Eris sighed. “But how is it being applied? Is it taking the ‘Minor’ benefit that it gives to the target and then multiplying by that percentage, or simply adding the percentage afterwards? Is it happening before or after Adept Artificer’s overall multiplier, and how will these bonuses interact when I end up able to change them to Moderate and Greater bonuses and stuff?”

“Who knows?” Bailey shrugged. “Honestly, I think that we’re pretty much past the point of trying to calculate exactly how much of a bonus something is giving when it comes to your items. I’d say that as long as you’re making your numbers and multipliers bigger, it doesn’t matter how they’re calculated- just that everything you make is stronger than the last.”

Eris let out a long breath. “Alright, everyone help me gather up all the gifts. May as well drain them.”

Bailey chuckled. “At least now you don’t have to worry about trying to give them all back since you can’t use them.”

“Yeah, because destroying every single one of them and turning them into dust is so much more thoughtful,” Eris remarked sadly. At that, Tatum chuckled and stretched her arms above her head.

“If you get a broom, you can still give them back. Just saying.”

Naturally, conversation continued even as Eris was getting covered in residual sandy dust of disintegrated magical items. A pair of smithing tongs crumbled away in her grip as she spoke.

“Well, someone has to put the idea out into the world, so I’ll do it. What do we think would happen if I try to consume the Obelisk?”

“Nothing good,” Elmas replied flatly while handing Eris a rolled-up apron. “If the Obelisk is our only connection to what could be dozens of other Echoes, we definitely don’t want to destroy it- and that’s disregarding the question of whether attempting to do so would make it erupt and kill all of us.”

“Not to mention, you have to be touching the things, right?” Grace asked. “The Syndicate doesn’t even want anybody to try and use the Obelisk right now, much less you. It’s too risky.”

“Alright, but what about the necklace?” Tatum chirped. “If she can potentially get that enchantment that lets her copy skills and level it up, who knows what’ll happen? She might be able to get more than one skill from each person, and might even be able to do it faster than eight hours. That’s a huge boost.”

This time, Eris shook her head as well as apron-dust from her hands before accepting a hand saw from Bailey.

“I don’t want to risk it. Even if it has…” she looked down and Inspected the silver, recoiling a bit. “By the gods... even if it has three hundred and sixty-four thousand Magic Power, we don’t even know for certain if that enchantment can be upgraded. Or if I can learn it. Or if I can put that enchantment specifically on an item. And if this necklace really is my tether to Vojemala, that’s a little too important to give up when we still know almost nothing. For something like that, it’s better safe than sorry.”

“Yeah, fair enough. What about all those old artifacts that are going to be arriving in… how long?” Tatum glanced over to Elmas. The older woman furrowed her brow.

“Tomorrow for the ones from Kormunja’ar, and the day after for the rest coming from Spider’s Eyrie.”

Eris shrugged. “Well, all of those could definitely be an option. Elmas, how do you think the Syndicate will feel about me turning every single one of their priceless artifacts into a sandcastle?”

The woman paused, biting the inside of her cheek. “I… There will be discussions on the matter, I am sure. I cannot assume anything more.”

“And what about Charlotte?” Bailey asked, pointing to the armoured Knight standing on the other side of the table. The brunette flinched, looking up.

“What about me?”

Bailey rolled her hand to further the gesture of acknowledging Charlotte. “Well, she’s wearing what is effectively the cumulative efforts of the Syndicate’s best crafters. If you really can eat enchantments, stat modifications and magic power, then you can strip her naked and have a damned feast.” Bailey grinned. “Then maybe you can absorb the magic items, too.”

Charlotte went red. Elmas coughed.

“The issue with that is that it would also be removing all of the equipment from Eris’s personal protector. I can all but guarantee that the Syndicate would order you to re-equip her before any of your Wonders, so it would push back the creation of their items yet again, and I fear you don’t have that kind of time.”

“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure you’d still be able to find whatever enchantments you want somewhere throughout Marrix,” Tatum said. “Chances are, the Syndicate’s gonna start funnelling half the total item production of the city through your doors anyway. You’ll be a Magic Power millionaire by tomorrow.”

“But with probably a thousand things to spend it on,” Bailey chuckled. “It probably won’t actually get her all that far, truth be told. However, as crazy as having an entirely new resource to spend is, there’s still other skills from the level up we kinda glossed over.”

Eris wiped the remains of a hammer from her palms, then grabbed a pair of thick smithing gloves offered from Grace. “Well, Empowered is really simple. Ten CP for an extra stat mod, and levelling it up lets me put the same modification more than once.”

Grace nodded. “I’ve heard of skills like that, allowing a stat modification to be stacked. It limits the versatility of what an item can provide, but also allows for an incredible ability to double or even triple down on one very specific thing.”

“Yeah, well Benediction is the more interesting skill, so I already levelled it up twice.”

Elmas furrowed her brow. “Excuse me?”

“Yep,” Eris shrugged, wiped off more dust, then rested her hands on a very powdery table while speaking.

“My first level skills took twenty-five points of Desire each to level up, and my second-level skills took two hundred and fifty. I figured by that same logic that my third level skills would thus take twenty-five hundred, but they actually just took two hundred and fifty again. Levelling them up a second time took twenty-five hundred, just like my second-level skills did.”

“So… what?” Grace asked. “Do the skills you get from levelling up only have their base cost increased every other level?”

Eris shrugged. “Or that all of them have the exact same base cost no matter which level I get them at, and it was just my first level skills that had some kind of ‘friends-and-family’ discount. Honestly, we probably won’t know until I reach fourth level to get a bit of confirmation on how exactly this is working.”

“And what are the skills currently at right now?” Grace asked. Eris responded plainly.

Empowered {Active} {Level 2}

For every 10 Crafting Points spent on Empowered, the craft gains 1 additional stat modification. Each stat modification may only be applied {2 times} on a given craft.

Benediction {Active} {Level 3}

Engage in a Lustful ritual to activate Benediction. Choose 1 of your applicable skills. That skill gains a {300%} bonus to its effects. The bonus lasts until Benediction is used again.

Tatum blinked. “So you can choose one of your skills and straight-up quadruple the power of it? That is beyond insane.”

“Especially if I choose to use it on Wonders of Artifice and give each person a fourty-times boost to their level progression, which then equates to me levelling about two hundred times faster than normal. That seems more than a little strong.”

The room fell silent, and Elmas actually sounded a little irritated. “Why did you wait until now to say that? We might have finished the ritual by now, whatever it is!”

Eris remained calm, giving a small nod. “Oh, definitely. It’s called a ritual, but it can probably be done in a couple of minutes.”

Bailey’s face lit up. “Well, what are we waiting for? If there’s some sex ritual you can do to quadruple how fast you’re levelling up, we can do that shit right now! How many people do you need for it, and what do you need us to do?”

Eris’s voice remained flat. The details of the ritual weren’t written or displayed anywhere, but focusing on the skill in her mind gave the impression of what was needed for completion. An incredibly simple, incredibly quick ritual that would be no difficulty whatsoever to accomplish. There was only one problem.

“It only needs to be me and one other person,” Eris said. Bailey stood up and began unbuttoning her shirt.

“Well then I fucking volunteer! Let’s get you that bonus, Cutiepie! Do we need to to anal or something, because I’ll do it even with that monster of yours if I have to-”

Eris shook her head. “No.”

Bailey slowed her movements, her shirt halfway unbuttoned as her face began to fall. “Then what’s wrong? What do you have to do?”

Eris let out a sigh. “The ritual is completed with either me or the other person getting pregnant.”

Bailey froze completely.

“Oh.”