Author Artemis

Chapter 072 - Mistake

Luckily, the Smith spotted the problem immediately and prevented further damage.

During his attempt to activate all of the enchantments at once, and only managing to activate eight of the heating strips, they all activated at full force. And one property of metal that every smith knows is that metal expands when heated. And one property of enchantments that every enchanter knows is that when the substrate of a material is altered, it damages the enchantment. Basically, the regular iron ...

Sarah's Story Chapter 009 - Consultation

They sat down with Sarah at the head of the table, and her parents on either side facing each other. Sarah instinctively recognized the pincer formation, and that her parents had her boxed in away from the exits…

Helen giggled, the first happy sound Sarah had heard from her in… how long had it been?

Probably since before James was kidnapped.

Stephen groaned. “Helen…”

“Oh dear,” Sarah’s mother covered her grin with a hand, “I’m just happy to see our ...

Chapter 071- Resources

After his latest near-death experience, it took some time for James to get back into the swing of things.

The crabs crowding the edge of his ward made for a good warm up.

As usual, the crabs were extremely aggressive, but their claws were no match for James' boots and greaves. And once latched on, they were easy to strike even without [Rapid Blow]. James smashed roughly a dozen crabs and took his time dismantling the carcasses, collecting the water magic crystals ...

Chapter 070 - Frostbite

James walked unsteadily along the cliff wall, away from the snowy passage and back towards camp.

The bird monster nesting cliff, blessedly, was still empty. James had no idea how long his ill-fortuned exploration had lasted. An hour? A day? He had entirely lost track of time within the blizzard, and during his recovery after escaping.

He hurried past the cliff full of empty nests, and passed by the ponds and pools. A crab monster skittered towards him aggressively, claws raised, a...

Sarah's Story Chapter 008 - Brawler

Sarah found herself sitting up in bed and her breath caught in her throat. She was unsure if she had yelled out that last sentence out loud, or if it had only been in the dream world. Her mother gave her no clue either, as she leaned in, years of stress and regret weighing down her expression as she nearly glared with a piercing expression, searching Sarah’s face.

“Wha-” she started, and Sarah felt the passage of time slow down around her and her body moved on instinct. Her though...

Chapter 069 - Snowy Passage

The Smith paused a moment to catch his breath and observe the opening. It was hard to see very far into the passage, as it was dark, and snow blew around fiercely within the passage. He turned a full circle, observing the area, checking for monsters.

The chill wind blew from the snowy passage.

The cliffs were devoid of monsters, possessing only small trickles of Pure Water and various ores.

The pebbly beach was mostly flat, with hills and valleys only inches tall and deep he...

Sarah's Story Chapter 007 - Sarah's Class Selection

Sarah instinctively noted her surroundings as her eyes reopened. A smooth floor, wide open space with no walls, dull grey sky with no sun, but also no clouds, flat lighting.

And a multitude of girls her age, no…

A multitude of copies of herself.

The vast majority were wearing her sparring clothes. But there were a few other versions of herself wearing other clothes. Off to the left was one of her wearing a baker’s hat and holding a tray of cookies. Behind the Baker was a...

Chapter 068 - Flow State

The next morning James awoke and cleaned up around the campsite, storing away the smoked meat from the day before.

Today James was going to clear the nesting area. He put on his armor, took his shield and hammer in hand, and after a quick scan for monsters, showing the area to be clear, he set out.

He was growing more comfortable with the lake as it became second nature to move quietly and avoid shouting. Still, he kept his distance.

By the time he reached the alcove where h...

Chapter 067 - Kiting

The walk back to the wards at the alcove entrance was uneventful, and quickly James found himself just around the corner from the bird monster nesting cliff. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself, and stepped around the corner.

The nesting cliff came into his field of view and almost right away he made eye contact with one of the birds flying around.

Squawk!

Immediately the battle was on. First one, then half a dozen, then fully dozens of bird monsters t...

Sarah's Story Chapter 006 - Spar

Two and a half years later

Sarah sat on the hard packed dirt, blindfolded, extending her senses outward. She could feel the firmness of the soil beneath her, and the sun’s warmth on her skin from above, behind her, and slightly to the right. She breathed steadily and quietly, the better to hear everything going on.

The wind rustling through the trees at the edge of the field.

The very faint sounds of the village down the road.

Birdsong from above – at leas...

Chapter 066 - Flocked

James froze momentarily, staring at the unexpected flock of bird monsters flying about the wall of nests. He took a step back…

Crunch

His boot made just a faint noise on the pebbles, but James saw it. One of the bird monsters sitting in its nest turned and made eye contact with him before squawking and taking flight.

He turned and ran, as fast as he could, away from the swarm. He managed about four steps before the first bird monster tackled his back, knocking the...

Sarah's Story Chapter 005 - Oath

Sarah sat down at the dinner table with her parents and was struck by how different everything felt. Her father was sitting next to her mother, close enough to bump elbows with her. Normally they sat across from each other.

And James was missing.

How could a house feel so much emptier with just one fewer person?

Her mother mechanically moved food from her plate to her mouth at a slow and steady pace as Stephen spoke to Sarah.

The search in the forest had ended. After a...

Chapter 065 - Waterfall

After a quick breakfast of porridge and some of the new smoked crab meat, James armored himself and took his Green Iron War Hammer in hand.

Walking out of the alcove, James stopped just shy of the edge of his ward and looked around. Down the wall, to the left, was the tunnel leading to the staircase to the upper floor. Turning his head to the right, he saw pebbly beach, the lake in the distance, the nearby pond, more pebbly beach, and then the wall to the right.

James decided to e...

Chapter 064 - The Pillow Incident

James turned, peering through the visor of his helmet out beyond the edge of his wards. Two crab monsters were posturing at each other with a bird monster carcass between them.

Right, the bird monsters.

James picked up his shield and his Green Iron War Hammer and slowly, as quietly as he could, crept forward. Pebbles clacked and clicked against each other with each step, but at the very least James minimized the rattling of his armor, now accustomed to how to best move within it. ...

Sarah's Story Chapter 004 - Resolution

Sarah awoke to her father shaking her shoulder gently. “Sarah, wake up, it’s morning.”

She sat up from the edge of the bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

The first thing she saw was her mother, glaring daggers at her father, but lying still on the bed and not saying anything.

She had never seen her mother look so angry.

“Helen, the Lord is leading the search and rescue efforts around where James went missing, and has been since last night.”

...

Sarah's Story Chapter 003 - Scared

Jared explained what had happened since roughly mid-afternoon: how he had sent James on an errand to fetch water from the river, how several hours later, around dusk, Helen had shown up at his home, and how she had dashed off after determining how long James had been missing.

Sarah was in shock. So was Stephen. Helen had been right to worry, and he had wanted to wait…

He felt like the worst father in the world, and the worst husband for doubting his wife like that.

Helen w...

Sarah's Story Chapter 002 - Emergency

Sarah had barely understood her mother’s shouted message when she heard a thump and groan coming from the direction of the kitchen. She set down the plates and walked to the door to see her father sprawled out on the ground just outside the back door.

“Dad!” she shouted, and ran over to help.

He was grimacing in pain, and raised a hand to rub the back of his head.

“Damn, she always gets the drop on me…” he groaned, twitching as his hand rubbed where his head had ...

Chapter 063 - Bombardment

James had no chance of reacting to the unbelievably fast water spear flying at him. It struck his shield with a loud ping and was reflected back to the lake before he knew it. The next thing he knew, a large chunk of his mana had been consumed.

But the [Reflect] enchantment held. And it hadn’t used all his mana, either. A minor success.

Terror and elation briefly warred within James before, even at that distance of hundreds of yards, James saw it. The t...

Sarah's Story Chapter 001 - Late

The night that Sarah’s life changed forever followed a day much like any other. Her older brother, James, had left in the morning for his apprenticeship with Jared, the village smith. Sarah herself didn’t see the appeal, but James seemed to love smithing. Other than whatever James had done to upset their parents so much on his Class Choosing Day, things had been peaceful. James and her parents had been awkward the first few days, but eventually they relaxed and the household had started p...

Chapter 062 - Revenge Match

First, James took some of his Blue Iron, not the Blue Iron that had absorbed undine essence, and forged a new pair of boots. This time, rather than spikes, he had designed a pattern of short, rounded studs. Enough to texture the bottom of the sole without sliding around as much on the smooth pebbles that made up the ground.

[Appraisal]: Blue Iron Studded Boots, Quality: Very Low, Durability: 14/14

After trying them on and confirming that his footing was more solid...

Chapter 061 - Attempted Drowning

The world was a tumbling swirl of water, bubbles, and the steep slope of the pond bottom as James fell head over heels towards the center of the pond, where it was deepest.

But although water splashed about everywhere, James wasn’t submerged in the water. The water of the pond was so densely packed with undine essence that the water would strike his armor and then bounce off vigorously.

This phenomenon continued for the few seconds it took for James to reach the deepest part of ...

Chapter 060 - Pond Investigation

The clatter of pebbles announced the arrival of a crab monster when James was about halfway to the pond. He turned to meet it and it ran sideways up to him with no hesitation, claws waving in the air until it was close enough to try to grab his ankle.

But as it made its charge, the Smith was prepared. In one swift motion he raised his hammer, and with unbelievable speed he struck the crab right in the center of its body, cracking its shell. Pebbles scattered and its legs splayed out in ...

Chapter 059 - Recovery

The crab monster repeatedly waved its clacking claws forward, as though it were banging them against the ward. It skittered side to side as it did, as if looking for any weakness in the invisible wall preventing it from getting closer to its prey.

James approached slowly, mindful of his injury and his poor footing. With each step he slid a bit, while the crab seemed to move effortlessly over the pebbles with its many legs. When he got close, the crab did back away, luring James out of t...

Chapter 058 - Second Floor Camp

After an hour of frozen terror and scanning for approaching monsters with nothing else happening, James calmed down enough to take stock.

A spider monster had sneaked up on him, and it was only dumb luck that he had spotted it before it attacked.

All his hammers and both his shields were over there, outside his wards.

His ward was a tiny little thing against a wall anyway, and would need to be reset. As he stood, he felt a sharp pain in his side. Moving slowly and g...

Chapter 057 - Moving Day Excitement

With the last of the Blue Iron James smelted, he forged a pair of tongs, the better to work with hotter metals without themselves melting and becoming damaged. Quenching them was something of a chore, given that they flash boiled any water they came in contact with for quite some time. It took several refillings of James’s quenching bucket and a prodigious amount of steam before the Blue Iron Tongs were finally quenched.

James began to suspect he’d have a use for the Basic Water Enc...

Chapter 056 - Avoidant

First, the Smith smelted and reforged his Green Iron Bucket Helmet into a Green Iron Visor Helmet, putting as much care into it as he could while he waited for his mana to recover. After two days, he was ready to enchant. He had decided to use slightly larger “tiles” for the enchantment, reducing the number of patterns that needed to be etched.

To his frustration, even with less patterns, enchanting the helmet still wiped out his mana reserves. James still didn’t know about the in...

Chapter 055 - Enchanting Experimentation

James awoke, full of vim and vigor. After a quick breakfast, he set up his enchanting tools and the two helmets.

He ground up one of the Water Magic Crystals, reducing it to fine dust, and carefully filled in the grooves of the first helmet with the stretched single pattern of the Basic Water Enchantment: Water Resistance template. Then, he produced some Aqua Magia, coated the entire surface of the helmet, including the visor, and began the enchantment itself.

He could tell the di...

Chapter 054 - Preparation

But first, his shield. He inspected it as closely as he could using [Enchantment Analysis] and [Enchantment Testing], trying to activate the enchantment as he usually did. He could tell the enchantment was there, it just didn’t seem like his mana was able to activate the enchantment. Almost like it was stuck.

He paused eating to focus, setting down the shield like he had when he had enchanted it the first time, even though it was already ench...

Chapter 053 - Everything All At Once

A lot of things happened at, effectively, the same time. First, there was a loud pinging noise from the Smith’s shield. At the same time as the ping, James realized that he had seen what looked like a large spear of water shoot out from the lake’s surface. Immediately following the ping, there was a loud boom as the spear of water shot back into the lake, the impact causing a huge geyser of water to shoot up. He stumbled back, tripping on the loose pebbles of the beach a...

Chapter 052 - Dungeon (start of book 2)

James stood frozen for a minute, thinking. He hesitated to take even one more step, because although he didn’t know much about Dungeons, he knew that Dungeons had traps. The traps were why Dungeons were so feared and generally went unexplored, despite the treasures within. Monsters, generally, could be handled by anyone with the proper gear and understanding of how to kill them. James himself was an example of this: even with no combat class, he was able to handle the low level mon...