Bonded Summoner

Ophelia hammered the molten alloyed steel with both strength and focus, sandwiching it between the anvil and her heavy hammer. She focused on watching the steel’s heat levels through her gnomish goggles, able to discern the difference in temperature with every blow.

Sparks flew with every strike against the metal, and as the temperature began to lower, she recast her [Runic Forging Flame] to raise the heat back to her desired yellow-white color, never stopping her blows. Ophelia empowered the strikes with her very [Technique], her strength, stamina, and holy mana coalescing into powerful blows, stronger than even the ‘power hammers’ Jake had told her about.

Her [Runic Smith Hammer] enchanted by Jake coalesced the mana, hardening and reinforcing the steel in ways she did her best to try to understand. While her smithing had recently reached [Advanced Smithing Level 1], she was only beginning to understand and use the sub-skills contained within. She knew if she was going to craft equipment that was going to keep up with her family’s usage, she would need to master [Magic Metalworking], [Essence Infusion], and [Essence Transfer].

Ophelia quenched the hot metal in the barrel of mana-infused water, and handed the finished plate to Berri– Wait, Berri?

“What are you doing up, Berri?”

Berri gave a somewhat downcast smile at Ophelia. “I got woke up by…well I think Jake and Fhesiah are still…enjoying themselves?”

Ophelia gave a small grimace. Jake did his best to be considerate by cutting off the bond’s emotions and thoughts at times like those, but sometimes the demoness…well, when she initiated in the middle of the night, he was taken off guard and would forget, partially because everyone else was sleeping for their own emotions and thoughts to not remind him of it. It was for this reason that she was here forging in the middle of the night. Apparently, even Berri received the errant emotions, and woke up too.

Often Ophelia would just prod him and he would apologize for his mistake, but it was certainly easy for him to get lost in the moment. Other times, he would notice the errant thoughts and emotions even in the moment, and fix his mistake. He likely knew Berri was awake by now.

“You couldn’t go back to sleep?”

“It’s fine. I was... thinking about things, and I realized you were awake too. While the sound isn’t loud, I can feel the vibrations of you forging through my body. I need to keep working on getting better, too.”

Ophelia knew Berri was nearing the [Advanced] level on her [Leatherworking] and [Armor Crafting] skills. Their plan was for them to work together to make armor for their family. While Ophelia had the [Essence Infusion] skill, Berri had the [Essence Extraction] skill on top of that.

Berri could extract the monster’s essences from equipment, allowing them to then be infused into metals, leathers, and clothes. The extraction skill was difficult, and Ophelia thought that one of the reasons Berri was so good at it was because she was monstrous herself. Ophelia had much better luck with [Essence Transfer], but found the skill to be too limiting.

While Berri could extract the essence she desired from a material, focusing on only the aspects she wanted to take from the special monster materials, essence transfer did more like it sounded: it moved all the essence of what made the monster’s material powerful into the other material. It did this by more or less merging the two materials together.

Monsters often had weaknesses, and essence transfer would ultimately transfer that weakness over to the desired material. It became impossible to transfer conflicting monster essences, and while it was possible to transfer more than one essence if you found the right balance, it required you to be much pickier with the ingredients, which was not always an option.

Essence extraction allowed Berri to take the best parts of several materials rather than just one, and then she or Ophelia could infuse those essences into equipment while it was being forged. Once they got the hang of it, anyway.

Berri took the offered plate and began working it into their current item: a drakescale armor with plates. They were more or less trying to recreate their current armor, to finally catch up and match what they were wearing. Once they matched they could surpass it, as they knew that the skills they were training were only barely used to improve the equipment they had purchased. It appeared those sold on the market were not made by masters of their Tier, and were more mass produced to be sold. Most likely, the truly skilled only made it for their own Guild, or managed custom orders.

Of course, they didn’t only make armor. Ophelia also planned on making weapons and shields, and she knew she was only a few weeks away. Unfortunately, she did not think they would have much ready before the [Fortress Assault], but she didn’t think she would be very far off. If she pushed hard on improving her skills now, rather than item results, maybe she would have enough time to make something before they reached the contested world they decided to go save.

Ophelia started working on the next alloyed-steel plate and said, “You’ve improved so much in such a short time. I know Jake is happy that you are so driven.”

Berri smiled as she added a small curvature to the metal plate to make it slot better into a particular section of the armor. “You think so? After seeing how hard you work, I couldn’t help but find myself working hard as well. Besides, making this armor is fun. I love seeing all the small pieces come together. Knowing that one day I can make my own armor is exciting. Up to now, I have only been able to repair it. I never imagined I would be able to surpass it, but I think I’m almost there!”

“The Framework really makes it possible, right? It’s only been a few weeks for you, and you’ve nearly caught up to me.”

“I…like to think it’s Milord, instead. His bond, and his desire to make us stronger, better…I feel like with his help, I can do anything.”

Ophelia laughed. “That might be true, but you should take pride in what you accomplish as well. I know Jake is proud of you, and I am, too. I know you think you’re cursed, but I bet you’ve always been special. You deserve appreciation for what you’ve always done.”

Berri began to tear up, “Oh, thank you sister!”

Ophelia barely had enough time to set her hammer and tongs with her next molten steel plate down on the anvil before she was enveloped in a hug. She turned her body and returned it, and she blushed at how good it felt to be enveloped by the much larger girl’s massive chest. She felt almost like she was a child again, being hugged by her own mother.

“You’re welcome, Berri. [Divine Reinforcement] was certainly borne of Jake’s desire to make sure we would be strong and successful. The bond was from him wanting to be close to us, to love and understand our wants and needs. I don’t know what’s next, but I know what we have is very special. I’m glad to have you as part of it.”

“Thank you, Ophelia...What is it like? Sharing thoughts and the hearth bond. We–I’m… a little scared.”

“I don’t think that sharing thoughts was really that big of a deal. By that time we were very close with our emotions, and you can both cut it off. I had made him my Chosen, and that made us closer than thoughts in many ways already. For me really, the thought link is just convenient: most of the time.

The hearth bond really makes you feel like you are close. I feel like we are an extension of each other, and our desires are starting to merge.” Ophelia smirked. “Jake needs to look out, or he might start looking for fights.”

“Doesn’t that mean he’s going to be very horny all the time, too? Then, by extension, you will be?”

Ophelia froze. She had not considered that the demoness would also be influencing his desires too. She realized that eventually, even Berri would be influencing Jake to an extent. Just what would happen then? Would he be wanting to make babies all the time? Wanting to start his own baseball league? Then Ophelia and Fhesiah would be right there with them? She shuddered. Just what if the next girl had even weirder desires? They definitely had to be careful–

Berri withdrew with a beaming, sly smile on her face, getting back to work. Ophelia didn’t know the snake woman that well just yet, but if she read her correctly, it looked like she probably realized that Jake would want what she wanted, if she formed that Hearth Bond. While she acted childish at times, she knew that it was just that: an act. Berri had a supernatural cunning that it would not do for her to be underestimated.

Her coordination and precision in her actions were unmatched. When they sparred, Ophelia was absolutely amazed at how quickly Berri reacted to things she did. With [Ride of the Valkyries], she could change course midair several times, and often once people committed to making an attack, she could punish those that tried to lead her movements with a blow.

But not Berri. After only two or three swings, she realized this, and she started her swings with just a little less strength. What that accomplished was as Ophelia made corrections, Berri did too: and then it was Ophelia being punished for thinking that she could sneak past the blow without blocking. A blow with 30% less of Berri’s maximum strength was still a blow that must be dodged or intelligently blocked.

She likened the corrections Berri made with quick harrying steps with a weapon mid thrust or slash, but instead with an articulating body and tail. If anything, thanks to learning to counter Ophelia, Berri learned how to more effectively best a trained opponent. Her ability to feint with that giant club became absolutely ridiculous with her tail and body being able to move forward, back, or side to side while swinging her mace in different ways. Even when Ophelia thought she had a bead on the weapon, the massive tail would slam into her, knocking her away.

Facing Berri was like facing two opponents at once, maybe even three. Without her magic, she wasn’t even sure three of her would be enough: the superior attributes, size and mass allowing her to really accomplish more than one should be able to. It took both her and the demoness pushing to their limits to really put Berri on the defensive.

Still, Ophelia loved the challenge Berri represented. It filled her with excitement as she pushed her own limits facing such a powerful enemy, knowing that enemies of Berri’s size or greater were quite common. On top of that, the idea she got to fight alongside such a powerful ally meant she knew they could accomplish amazing feats together.

[You’re both already awake, crafting? …Did we wake you again? I’m sorry…]

“You can make it up to me by fighting me with your new [Technique]. We still haven’t fought with all four states yet.”

She felt the small trickle of fear and reluctance over the bond, and she smiled knowing that he still weathered the fear of pain to better himself, to be as strong as he needed to be.

[Of course, my battle angel. I’m still working on the last one, but I’ll make sure you’re satisfied.]

Ophelia said to Berri, “Jake is awake now. Let’s head to the training room. Jake is going to make it up to me for waking us up early. You should ask for something too, you know.”

Berri looked thoughtful, but excited as they traveled to the training room. Jake arrived in his workout clothes, with Fhesiah in tow, looking like she was very satisfied with her evening, now wearing her robes.

Berri looked excited, “Berri would like…A massage! You woke me up in the middle of the night, and you can make it up to me with a massage!”

But instead of Jake’s voice like she expected, she heard another instead, “Oh dear, did we wake you? It wouldn’t do for Jake to be the only one to pay for my neediness. I’d love to give my sister a massage. Why, I bet your back must really be suffering? You poor thing. Come over here, let your little big sister take care of you.”

Berri now looked conflicted, but Ophelia thought her expression was leaning more towards ‘depression.’

Still, she brightened up with a forced laugh, “Right! Please take care of me, sister!”

Jake and Ophelia worked through their stretches and their normal weight lifting routine, spotting each other, and helping each other stay motivated. They weren’t sure how much impact this all had, but felt that at a minimum, it helped with some of their muscle memory. They had added a lot of compound exercises rather than those that target individual muscles to supplement their training with weapons.

They worked through the obstacle course with body plates, and a goal of theirs was to purchase more magical means of increasing the difficulty, such as increasing the gravity, or a magically enhanced resistance suit. She hoped that these things weren’t some kind of placebo effect, them being sold on the market having some sort of impact. Between Fhesiah’s alchemical supplements and their core, it was hard to tell if their gains from all their efforts were really accomplishing anything or not when it came to building muscle or strength.

The obstacle course did help with their balance and agility, though, and they did make sure to do squats and other lifts on a balance board to make sure they were getting at least something out of it. One thing she had no doubt at all in her mind, though, was that their weapons training and sparring absolutely helped them. The muscle memory gained from using her spear or defending against attacks with her shield were unquestionable, along with the skill gains from [The Framework].

They finished their workout, and she put on her equipment and helped Jake put on his with glee. As always, she just couldn’t wait to fight. One of Jake’s states really made him unstoppable! Another was boring to fight, and the other was only a slight improvement. This last state, she wasn’t sure how often he would end up using. It didn’t really match his ‘play-style,’ he said. Still, having it as an option would be quite powerful.

Some of the runes on his armor lit up with a different color than she expected: red. While she knew his weapon normally would too, they were using their training weapons, which weren’t really enchanted. However, his shield was. But she noticed that it did not light up at all, not even a little like it normally would when they flooded their runic enchantments with mana. He noticed Ophelia’s attention to that detail.

“That’s one of the costs of this state. I can’t really use my shield with it, and any defensive runes are not activated.”

He stowed away his shield. Sometimes, they trained with their spear two handed for the odd case where they could potentially lose it, or where the extra reach of a larger spear might help. When facing such massive opponents, if it weren’t for their inertia dampening option, there wouldn’t even be value in having a shield at all.

She felt the limit for their shield’s inertia dampening was currently for creatures Berri’s size or slightly below, otherwise it was much smarter to dodge or use a barrier, even with their shields. Maybe Jake could improve the enchantment and change that, as she knew when they reached Tier 2 the creatures they faced could be much more massive.

Jake charged at her, and she used her [Ride of the Valkyries] to meet him with her shield much earlier than where he likely would have wanted in his thrust. Just as she was about to meet his body with a thrust of her own, a runic wave of force slammed into her like a monster’s fist to the gut, blowing her through the air a dozen meters.

She recovered rapidly, not even needing to flap her wings to have magic control over her momentum. She caught herself and flew right back at him. She felt the telltale signs of more mana being released and furiously pushed her own into runes to form her own spell: [Runic Barrier].

A large spear of flame blazed towards her, and she was shocked at the power of it. It was covered in the runes used to make it, and she could tell it was being empowered by his Technique, similar to the one that was boring to face. She knew he chose fire to keep things relatively ‘safe’ because, as powerful as that was, the fire would not harm her nearly as much if she could not stop it. Their affinity through their goddess protected them.

Her runic barrier shattered, and she braced her magically infused wings to her shield as she pushed through towards Jake. The runic spear of fire slammed into her, and she was shocked as she was blown careening backwards, the spell being even more powerful than she had thought. She had planned on her momentum and magical defenses to allow her to bypass it. She could feel Jake a little worried, it seems he was surprised at the efficacy as well.

Still, she righted herself, and this time took a more circuitous approach to Jake and to dodge rather than simply eat the next runic spear if she could. He launched two runic spears of a much smaller size this time, aiming one where she was headed and one a little to her right. She went to the left, only to find two more of the same, cutting her off.

Ophelia maneuvered easily between the two, but then she realized that this was his goal in the first place, as a third one was released shortly after. Even with her ridiculous maneuverability, she wouldn’t be able to avoid this one. She grinned as she cast a runic barrier that she had empowered, now knowing what to expect from his runic spears of fire.

She sped up as the spear was intercepted, and Jake back-pedaled as he released a wave of frost that slammed into her. It slowed her, but she still struck out with her spear, aiming for his shoulder as she filled herself with the flames of Hestia to counteract the cold. Jake parried, and Ophelia was surprised to find herself being shocked with electricity, or thunder magic, she realized. Her arms holding the spear spasmed, but she managed to hold on and move herself backwards as Jake returned with an attack of his own.

Ophelia only barely managed to block his blow with her spear, only for her to be shocked once again. So, Jake had managed to infuse his weapon with the elements, as part of this state? Ophelia was able to infuse her spear with the flames of Hestia, but she was interested in being able to do this with any element. She could sort of do the same due to the fact that her spear was also a staff with a focus like Jake’s by firing a spell while in melee combat, but this appeared to be different.

Jake continued on the offensive, but once again now that she knew what to expect, she blocked the blow with her wing infused with mana, and kicked him in the gut before slamming the butt of her spear into his helmeted temple, knocking him off of his feet.

She held her spear at his throat, and he just had a wry smile on his face. “I had made that state to mostly be supported by you girls, like the more defensive one. The shock effect would be much greater on my Champion’s Spear staff with the right runes. I don’t see myself using this state very often, but I know having a more offensive but less limiting option is good to have. What do you think?”

Ophelia thought about it. “Was there some reason why you didn’t try to lock me down or control me further? The frost spell was the right idea, even if it doesn’t work well against me…”

Jake sighed, “Control spells are just weaker in this state, too, I will have to rely on it being a side effect from offensive frost spells. Once I’m able to have a fifth state, I think that will be my next one: one that improves Control spells. This one is called [Wrath], and the idea was to make myself able to cause a lot of damage with magic to one or many enemies, at the cost of defense and the ability to cast heals and barriers. Between you and Berri, it’s not as much of a problem.”

Jake grinned, “Plus, thanks to you, I can cheat. There’s many shenanigans I’ll be able to pull off thanks to your Chosen specialization. Thanks to you, I can be much stronger and not give anything up. We’ll really be able to take down powerful enemies together.”

Ophelia was filled with excitement imagining the fights and glory that they would gain, destroying outsiders and saving people from ruin. She pulled Jake up and kissed him on the lips, surprising him slightly. He had gotten used to how excitable she was during training, and had started expecting kisses and hugs almost as much as he expected being properly ‘reminded’ of his flaws.

“That’s what you call it in your mind? Reminding? I wish being reminded didn’t resemble being beaten.”

His words were full of complaints, but his feeling of fondness and love didn’t go away. He knew the value of her lessons, and she was filled with pride knowing how strong he’d become working together with her. They had a long way to go, but they would continue to work hard to be the best they could be.