17 - Eyebox and Cigarettes Pt. 2 [Cherno]

The second pertained to [Thaumaturgies], mainly focusing on the idea that the Voidkey being implanted would most likely catalyze the formation of a rudimentary offensive Thaumaturgy best suited to the user. It stated that if they still lacked one even after implantation, they would be given a “Blasting Ring” as a substitute.

At last, the third remaining section… Was about magical defenses.

“Another vital function of the Voidkey is allowing you to raise an effective Barrier - yes, a magical shield, just as real Thaumaturges do. Your barrier will naturally take on the properties of your most dominant elemental affinity, if you have any. Otherwise, it will be a shimmering arsenic-green bubble.”

“The two most common barrier types are Dynamic and Fixed.”

“A typical dynamic barrier’s coverage is a 30-180° cutout of an ovoid or sphere around the user, and can be reoriented at a limited speed. Fixed barriers take less energy to maintain and consume less energy to dissipate impacts, and typically have a coverage of 90-360°, but full-bubble barriers are rare. Fixed barriers also expand twice as quickly as dynamic barriers. All of these advantages come at the cost of, as the name implies, not being able to adjust the barrier’s facing whatsoever.”

“The third most common type, though uncommon by comparison to Fixed and Dynamic barriers, are Hybrids; these possess traits somewhere between both categories and can be redirected, but the barrier must be dissipated and reformed at its new facing. Barrier coverage is fixed for nearly all Thaumaturges. You will most likely possess a 30-60° dynamic or 90-150° fixed barrier.”

“While some Voidkeys can modify or override the characteristics of someone’s Barrier, the Voidkey you were issued will do no such thing. It will do nothing more than act as an amplifier to make your barrier operate at a practical level of efficiency. They were mass-produced for the armies of ancient Jas’raba, and if that was good enough for them, it will be good enough for you.”

“IMPORTANT: Most impacts on your Barrier catalyze a Thauma-burning reaction that generates particularly dense impurities, or “Hard” Entropy, which cannot be dissipated while you have a Barrier raised. Exceptions to this rule include continuous sources of strain, such as environmental Anathema radiation or Sustained Beam-type spells.”

“Barriers are typically weak to Kinetic damage such as concussive strikes, but strong against Energetic damage such as fire or lightning - meaning that blocking the former generates more Entropy, and the latter less. Lacerative damage, such as blades or claws, is very weak against both Barriers and Wards, but highly effective against soft targets - that is to say flesh.”

“In the event that your Entropy Tolerance or Dissipation (most likely both) turn out to be insufficient to power a Barrier against a given threat and you lack physical armor, Wards will come into play. Think of them as magical armor that is stripped away before you can truly be struck. The damage category strengths and weaknesses of Wards are opposite to those of Barriers. Just as with Barriers, your Voidkey will grant you the ability to form rudimentary Wards by simply burning Thauma, channeling it to whichever area needs reinforcement, and focusing your intent. Be warned: Forming or repairing Wards is Entropy-intensive and time-consuming.”

“Just as the Voidkey enhances your attributes, it also enhances the efficiency and other properties of your Barriers and Wards. It is your life. Do not sell it for alcohol or cigarettes, you will not be issued another one.”

Krahe stopped the playback, sick of that old man’s sanctimonious tone. She opened her [Fleshgrafting] menu and took a look at the Voidkey’s details. Marginally interesting, but no big revelations here.

[JAS’RABAN THREEFOLD VOIDKEY]

[Tags:]

First-order

Voidkey

Ancient

[Details:]

Thaumic Throughput +G2

Entropy Tolerance +G2

Entropy Dissipation +G1

Barrier Catalyst (Basic)

Ward Catalyst (Basic)

Toking from the cigarette, Krahe raised her hand and, just as she had done before, tried to form a Barrier. It startled her just how quickly and easily her smoke swirled together now, and sustaining it now burned little enough Thauma that it didn’t even built up any Entropy, not even coming close to reaching the limits of her Throughput. As before, its position and facing was fixed in relation to her own body, but she could adjust it by reforming it elsewhere. In combination with the fact she could somewhat adjust its coverage by changing how much Thauma she burned to power the Barrier, it was clear that her natural Barrier type was a Hybrid.

She let it go, attempting to follow the eyebox’s advice pertaining to these “Wards”. Besides the ridiculous amount of Thauma she had to burn just to cover her left hand, it was almost pathetically simple, no more complex a task than retouching power armor ablative plates with ceramide spray. A second skin of condensed smoke took shape as she worked, soon reaching the limits of her Tolerance. The moment she stopped, the skin-tight Ward vanished from view as if it had never existed. Krahe took this opportunity to trigger a Purge. Wisps of dense, black smoke escaped from her skin and swirled about her, and she felt her Entropy melt away in moments. It was nearly twice as fast as letting it dissipate normally, there was no doubt. Her annoyance at the obnoxious tone of whomever was recorded on the cassette was now tempered by gratitude for such vital and utterly basic information about this world’s magic.

It took her the better part of an hour to completely cover herself in Wards head-to-toe. In that time she smoked one more Arrha cigarette and, through experimentation, learned that she could use the cigarette’s smoke as an aid for casting Breath Thaumaturgies, reducing their energy demand by around one-fifth.

Krahe hadn’t been in this good of a mood in a long time. This world was utterly gorgeous, and the technology she’d encountered thus far promised that civilization was at bare minimum industrial-age. Her thoughts, however, turned to corruption. She knew, in her heart of hearts, that it was inevitable.

This world, without a doubt, had its equivalents to the Bergmann and Whitestone Financial Group. Be it an actual financial group, a merchant clan, an entire mercantile country, warlords, extortionate landlords, guilds that sought to destroy the competition, so on and so forth.

On the smaller scale, wrongdoings were inevitable.

Whether Megacity Gamma or this world, there was always work to be found for a private investigator.