Clanks, tinks and hisses filled the air as he walked down the street. Merchants and NPCs got out of his way, hunching their sholders to better shield themselves from the unnatural sight. Two more blocks and he arrived at a shop with a wide open front, a crossed hammer and tongs image board hanging overhead. He stepped inside, and there was a slight tick as his eyes changed color to better see in the smoke filled room. The smith walks over and greets him.

"C0nqu1stad0r, my favorite customer. What can I do for you today?"

"I'm here for typical upgrades, Brodden. Do you have any new ores in stock?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. Perfect for a mage like yourself. Some prospector brought this tin ore in; chock-full of black quartz it is. I cant get the stuff to alloy with copper, but it sure responds well to mana. Maybe you could use it in one of your contraptions?"

"That does sound interesting. I will give that a try, and also I need six ingots of steel, one of copper and one of iron. And if I can use your forge in the corner again I will pay you double for the metals."

"Nothing like a paying customer to warm my heart. You are welcome to it, and I'll even have an apprentice work the bellows for you. That will be 13 silver 50 coppers. I am only charging you ten coppers each for the tin ores since I cant find a way to process them."

C0nqu1stad0r payed for the metal and went to the indicated workspace. A shirtless young man with toned body and a few small scars from flying embers walked over to the large bellows and started pumping them. The forge glowed. C0nqu1stad0r removed his shin grafts and stored them in inventory. Those can be worked into plated boots later once he gets the leather for it. Taking two ingots of steel, he heated them in the forge and started drawing them out on an anvil. Longer, more heat. Wider, more heat. Thinner, a little more heat. Then he used the anvil horn to curve them to approximate shin guards, quenched them in oil, and set them asside.

Next the iron and copper ingots were melted down side by side. Once molten, they were woven together with the skill Mechanician Cord to produce a metal cord with both strength and flexibility. C0nqu1stad0r then opened his left forearm and replaced the spool of frayed and battle worn cord with this new cord. As the blacksmith had no use for this alloy, the system did not recognize it as a craftable material, and C0nqu1stad0r had not found a repair skill for it yet, it was now trash. He stashed it in inventory anyway.

The shin guards were cool enough to work with now. C0nqu1stad0r placed permenant Enhance Defence and Enhance Speed enchantments on the inside of each, and then attached them on his legs with Graft. Two enchantments was the limit with this material and size. He could wear greaves or studded leather on top for additional defense, but this is expensive enough already.

Three steel ingots went into the forge, slowly melting together. These were hammer welded and folded and flattened into a breastplate shape. This large piece of armor was big enough to hold his newest enchantment, Enhance Regeneration. The shin plates would have needed a jewel to hold this enchantment. Then the new chest armor was Grafted in place.

Finally, the new tin ore was placed in the forge. It melted like tin, but the quartz did not float out with the rest of the slag. The metal could not be spread out to form plates, but it could be fashioned into jagged quartz-tipped shapes. C0nqu1stad0r fashioned a new claw for his left hand with the material, and it worked nicely. Several sharp spikes that come together in a smooth knot, with a shank extending the opposite direction.

Smithing Level increased

This ore would also work for capping mage staffs or making wands, come to think of it. And there was plenty of time for thinking while he waited for his mana to recharge. Only the one point from his base mage class still went into intelligence. Both enchanting and mechanician skills are high cost but focus on battle preparation instead of use in battle. Once his pool was full again C0nqu1stad0r detached the steel claw from his left hand and connected the quartz tin claw to the spool. It looked fragile. The steel claw went into inventory in case the new one breaks in the middle of a dungeon dive.

Now C0nqu1stad0r concentrated on the structure of the claw and forearm, and used Spring Loaded. The shank of the claw aligned with rails that grew flanges to protect the moving parts, and the claw then retracted along the arm until it clicked. Last step is to enchant this experimental weapon. The smith said it responds well to mana, so let's see.

Enchant Stunning. The quartz tips started glowing with silver light and yellow accent hues. C0nqu1stad0r received the feedback from the skill which let him know the claw could take two more enchantments of the same level. Very nice indeed. Enchant Corrode Armor. A malicious purple light started alternating with the silver. He could probably fit a freeze effect on too, but decided to leave it open. There is a chance the next enchanting skill will be better. The quartz really adds a lot to the mana capability of the material.

C0nqu1stad0r put the last steel ingot in the forge. His mana was recovering again, as affixing the claw and enchanting it had drained him. This last item was a blade for his dominant arm. He stretched the metal out as long as his wrist to elbow, part of the length being used for the extra thick tang. He folded the metal and hammered out one side, leaving the other side thick and giving the whole thing a teardrop crossection shape. When looking straight on from the thick side it looked like a simple spike with devastating piercing power.

When it cooled, he added the usual Enhanced Damage enchant and attached to his right arm. This blade rests along the arm adding a couple inch spike to the elbow when it is not locked forward. In its forward position it sits directly in front of the venom gland that C0nqu1stad0r added before the last boss fight. Now, he can either smear venom on his weapons or engage this blade which almost works as a hyperdermic.

Now C0nqu1stad0r felt confident in his ability to deal with anything 8 levels above his own. This combination of stun, corrode, and poison in quick succession should decimate anything.

Level up!

You have 2 unassigned points

You receive 1 Int 2 Wis 1 Dex

You receive 3 skill points

These skills are more craft-like than other mage skills, which leads to non-combat levels like this one. Let's see what the next choices are.

Skill Trees

5 points remaining

Autonomous Hexaped - your mechanical skills have increased to the point where you can build a six legged contraption that moves under its own power.

Requires Biomechanical Winch and Spring Loaded

5 points to unlock

Spring Powered - increase jump height and movement speed with a high tension spring assembly in your legs.

Requires Spring Loaded

2 points to unlock

Shoulder Mount - this space appears under utilized. You can fix that.

Requires Strengthened Frame

3 points to unlock

Enchant Replenishing - increase mana recovery rate

Requires Enchant Regeneration

3 points to unlock

ElectroNeurosis- weapon enchantment. 10% chance of paralysis 20% chance of disabling a limb

Requires Corrode Armor and Stunning

7 points to unlock

C0nqu1stad0r decides that waiting one more level to get the weapon enchantment is the best choice. With his smithing done, he says goodbye to the NPCs and heads to a tailors shop. There he purchases leather and works his old enchanted shin grafts into knee-high plated boots.

Plated Riding Boots

4 armor

Enchanted

+4 armor

+2 speed

Value: 15 silver

He sold them to the leather shop for 13 silver and checked his status.

Name: C0nqu1stad0r Class Mage (Mech/Ench) Level 18 (0%) exp to level 6184.7 Vitality 15 Health 851 Strength 15 Mana 1566 Dexterity 20 Stamina 491 Intelligence 23 H regen 10 (85s) Wisdom 36 M regen 54.5 (29s) Charisma 5 Armor 49 unspent 0 Carry limit 135 / 186 Money 5g 22s 42c

Time to go kill more things.

. . . .

Four Trolls lumber towards him in the large cavern. The glowing mushrooms in clusters on the walls and ceilings help little with their eerie light. The trolls have a thick hide and renown health regeneration, and now finding four of them together puts C0nqu1stad0r in a tight spot.

He starts running along the wall to the right, forcing the trolls to work around each other to get to him. Then he shoots his claw at the first one. It works just liked he hoped.

-35

The claw sticks to the troll a little off center and the enchantments get to work. The troll staggers and sits down, a hole slowly growing in his thick hide around the claw. The corrosion loosened the claw and it falls free. C0nqu1stad0r activated the winch to reel it back in just as the next troll came around the left of the stunned one.

The trolls were grunting and hooting as they swarmed towards him. He pulled out an expensive jar of Binary Tar and threw it between the stunned troll and the new closest one. It shattered, flinging tar onto both before the binary reagents mixed and exploded into flames. Rearm the claw. Spring Loaded. C0nqu1stad0r draws twin swords from inventory, smears them with poison, and runs at the tolls thrashing about in the fire.

One sword into each troll to start it off, making sure the damage over time from the poison and burning tar is maximized. Then the dance begins. Duck under the burning arm swinging his way, stab twice into the corroded chest of the troll, and hop back to avoid the overhead swing coming down like a hammer. Thinking again how this is a crazy way for a mage to fight, he tries to hamstring the troll on his left to prevent it from flanking him. Just then, the third troll makes it around the burning tar puddles and closes in from his right. Pointing his arm high up a wall C0nqu1stad0r launches his claw. The claw sticks and he starts reeling himself away from the danger, but the impact with the wall cracked the quartz tin claw and it lets go when he is halfway there. Cursing the experimental usage of the metal for such a critical device, he continues his retreat. The two uninjured trolls are still closing in on him. He swaps the swords for throwing knives as he continues to lead them around the cavern. They will do little damage, but he has quite a lot of them from his early blacksmitthing. Working methodically, he walks backwards while throwing poison-smeared knives at the trolls coming at him. 10 yards, and a third of the knives miss. The trolls are running like gorillas, their long muscular arms swinging just like front legs, making an awkward loping pace that brings them closer at a frightening speed. 5 yards, and the DoT poison is struggling against the trolls' combat regeneration skill. C0nqu1stad0r runs out of poison, but is still throwing knives. 2 yards. The drool pooring down their chins matches the crazed hungry look in their beady eyes. The yellow eye orb shows all the way around their dark irises. C0nqu1stad0r draws his swords again. The lead troll raises an arm and swings powerfully, some of the small knifes falling from its thick hide. C0nqu1stad0r dodges, glad he has twice the dexterity of these monsters. The second troll staggers a little, trying to make its way around the swinging limbs of the fight.

It is out of stamina. The weak point of the troll's regeneration ability is while they are in combat they cannot recover their stamina. Now it is as easy as killing kittens. 8 foot tall kittens with long arms that do 180 damage with a single hit ... but still kittens. He side steps another hammerfist swing, and runs the sword in his left hand into the troll's armpit. Then immediately he hops backward, leaving the sword in place. Every movement of the troll's arm now enlarges the wound, blood squirting out in sickening little jets. The other troll staggers closer, and C0nqu1stad0r punches it with the fragmented claw bound on the back of his arm. No damage, and the stunning effect fails but the corrosion starts to eat away at the thick hide. The troll falls over, but a wild flailing arm still connects and sends C0nqu1stad0r flying backwards.

131 damage received

Standing back up, C0nqu1stad0r realizes the trolls have chased him most of the way around the cavern, and the two previously lit on fire are nearby. A few thicker puddles of tar still burn on the ground around them. Running again, he scoops up a glob on the tip of his remaining sword. Still running, he goes straight to the first troll and rams this burning sword right into the unprotected part of its chest. The troll howls in pain, falling over backwards with all limbs flailing. And then the struggles stop.

725exp

The other burnt troll and both of the ones that chased him around the cavern close in. They are walking now, unable to run until they get out of combat and recover some stamina. The one in the back falls on its face, and bleeds out from the sword still lodged under its arm. Then there were two.

725exp

C0nqu1stad0r's own stamina is running low, so he walks backward matching the pace of the trolls. While he strings them along, he detaches the broken claw and reattachs the steel one. One more Spring Loaded and he is ready to end this. C0nqu1stad0r aims carefully and launches the claw. It ricochet's off the stone floor between the legs of the crispy troll and sinks into the shin of the straggler. He starts running again, heading back towards the trolls but off to the side. He makes it part way before starting the winch, and it proves enough to pull one troll off its feet as he and the other troll are both dragged across the floor to each other. Stopping the winch he jumps on top of the troll with the burnt patches. The new blade on his right arm swings forward and locks. He drives the single edged blade right into its neck, through vein and windpipe alike.

725exp

The last troll grabs the chord connected to its shin and pulls hard. C0nqu1stad0r is yanked towards it, but managed to roll to the side when it tries to crush him. He cannot contend with it's strength, but the battered and poisoned troll cannot land a hit. The wearied combattants go through the slow dance of death, until the troll has been perferated enough to put an end to it.

725exp

C0nqu1stad0r picks up the drops and also his various weapons from around the room. If only he could find a metal that alloys with that quartz tin, he could double or triple the enchantments on everything.