Eternal Rest

The company stayed the night in their new accommodations. Bones didn't sleep, as he didn't need to, and the dwarves could apparently sleep anywhere—on a bed without a mattress and sheets, at the table, and even under the table, as witnessed by Hemdus. On the third day, they packed their things and left, but not before Darsumi worked his way around the entrance, properly covering it up. Bones had to admit, the dwarves were good at what they were doing.

It was evening when they returned to the smithy, and contrary to what he expected, the dwarves didn't take up drinking. Each headed their own way. Darsumi went to set up a meeting regarding a heist job, and Hem took up his hammer and got to work. Bones once again witnessed the virtue of the dwarves. He had seen Hem lazing about before, but once he started working on something, the dwarf didn't stop until he finished!

Bones left the workshop and sat at the table in the kitchen, took out a mana potion, and poured himself a drink. Once again, he would spend the night at the smithy. Hem was apparently used to other dwarves spending the night over, so he had rooms to spare on the first floor. Bones was an exception to the rule and was allowed to stay.

The following day, Hemdus obtained a set of tools for Bones to practice mana engraving. The first tool resembled an ice pick, tailored for engraving on hard surfaces, while the other took the form of a pen, intended for smoothing the engravings made by the first tool. Upon inspecting the tools, Bones could swear they weren't cheap. Both instruments were enchanted with minor durability enhancements. Proper engraving tools would typically be dual-enchanted with durability and mana infusion enchantments, making both mana infusion and engraving smoother and more manageable.

Bones had imbued mana before. It occurred during the fight with the Viper, the miniboss, in the dungeon. Initially, he imbued his summoned lance, but due to the extreme mana cost, he switched to imbuing his sword. If he remembered correctly, the sword shattered not long after. Bones examined the tools in his hands and noted they weren't made of iron or steel; they were crafted from something else—a reddish metal well known to dwarves as orichalcum. "Alright," he thought, "I should find myself a quiet spot in the workshop so I wouldn't be in Hem's way, and get to it!"

The workshop was spacious but rather cluttered. As Bones entered, tools in hand, Hem approached and offered him a few tips on getting started. "It's all about control! Ye have advanced mana manipulation, don't ye?" Bones nodded, and Hem continued, "Good! Imbuing mana isn't as difficult as ye might think! Ye just need to channel yer mana into it and then expel it out, eh?" Hem added with a wink.

To further clarify, Hem continued, "Ahem…wut ye need is to infuse mana and channel it gently, like making love to yer lady, ye ‘no? Channel her, Bones! Channel her…"

"I think I got the picture, Hem. I didn't ask for it, but I got it," Bones replied dryly. "I'll go over there, to that spot way over there." He motioned to a remote spot on the other side of the workshop.

Hem nodded approvingly. "That's right, ye need yer space! Go, Bones, and remember!"

"Don't say it..." Bones thought.

"Channel heeer..." Hem couldn't resist adding.

Bones headed over to a spot and retrieved the thickest bone from his inventory. He wasn't expecting to succeed on the first try, but rather to get a feel for it. He began by infusing mana into the tool and felt the energy leave him. The tool lit up faintly with blue veins running through it, and he adjusted the bone, ready to make contact.

As the tool and the bone met, Bones started to chip away at the outer shell, creating lines. The first line was faint, and the second went too deep as he struggled to control the mana output. Channeling wasn't difficult in itself; it was the constant and steady flow that proved challenging to control. Bones made a mistake, and instead of channeling mana through the tool, he expelled it in a burst, shattering the bone.

"I didn't expect it to be easy, but would it kill me if it were, for a change?" he mused.

Bones wasn't going to let the first failure deter him, of course. He retrieved more bones and continued his attempts. Unbeknownst to him, Hem stopped working and watched from afar, his eyebrows raised and mouth agape. He hadn't expected Bones to infuse the mana so easily. Usually, it took time for newbies to successfully infuse mana into the tool and even more time before they could channel it through the tool and into the object they were engraving.

By evening, Bones had managed to engrave the lines properly into the bone. They were rough lines, but they could still be considered a success. However, the system didn't seem to think so, as Bones had yet to receive the prompt for the profession. With the lines made, Bones took the other, smaller and thinner pen-like tool and began smoothing out the lines. It was detailed but easy work, and by midnight, Bones had finished. Hem said goodnight and left Bones to his work. Barely acknowledging Hem's departure, Bones remained focused on engraving. By morning, he had met the minimal requirements, and finally, the awaited prompt appeared.

New profession available: Mana Engraving

Accept: Yes/No

Bones accepted and was now officially a mana engraver. However, he knew he was far from done with learning the profession. Like any other trade, engraving required practice and hard work.

"Boney? Are ye still working?" Bones turned around and saw Hem at the door of the workshop. "What do you mean? What time is it?"

"It's morning. Have ye been working ole nite?" Hem asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Apparently so. I made good progress and learned the profession just moments ago."

"Oh? That's nice, good fer ye, Boney! Want a coffee or an ale?"

"Um, coffee would be nice, thank you."

"Arright, come on." Hem motioned for Bones to follow, then stopped and turned. "Wut profession?"

"What do you mean, what profession? Mana Engraving, of course," Bones replied.

"Huh...are ye going to start learning the runes already?"

"Not yet, but soon, yes. Why?"

"Nothing, @%#%(*." Grumbled Hem and left the workshop.

Bones was puzzled but followed nonetheless. Today it would be just him and Hemdus. The others were too occupied with the necessary preparations for the shop's opening. In the afternoon, Hemdus left the smithy and headed towards the construction guild, where, to everyone's surprise, he took on two apprentices.

The first shop would open in Stonefalls in one week's time. Among the general adventurer necessities like sleeping bags, tents, and water containers, the shop would offer armor and weapons tailored for bronze rankers and those below.

As the dwarves began filling the store with a variety of goods, Bones placed his bone decoration for sale in a small corner of the shop. It was a small, cat-shaped construct made out of bones. During his bone shaping practices, Bones had crafted many small and simple figurines, and he believed that the ones made recently were good enough to put on display.

Once I gain more experience, I should try shaping larger and thicker bones. Maybe even my own! Last time... Bones shook his head and dismissed the idea. He remembered that one time he tried to shape his arm and... his failure was etched onto his soul. The pain... was very real.

The runes were different. More complicated than engraving lines. They looked simple, but the intent behind each rune was intricate. Not only did the runes have to be precise, with little room for error, but they also needed to possess aim, design, end, goal, intention, objective, object, and purpose. All of this together fell under intent, and the effectiveness and function of each rune depended on the user's ability to inscribe it. What that meant was that even a simple rune connecting and lighting up manaposts had a clear intent inscribed behind it.

The runes held great value when inscribed on armor and weapons. The process of inscribing runes on wearable items like armor, weapons, and accessories was called enchanting and required more intent than, for example, inscribing runes on manaposts. Runes could make armor sturdier and resistant to a specific damage type, for example.

Bones' interest in mana engraving and runic smithing was a bit different. He didn't plan to enchant weapons or armor, but rather to enchant something else that had been tested and experimented on before, albeit being greatly frowned upon and made illegal in many kingdoms. He planned to enchant his body—bones, to be more precise.

He knew it was only a matter of time before he wouldn't be able to keep up with other classes physically, even in an empowered state. His solution to his weakness was found in engraving, and eventually, he wanted to inscribe runes on his body. It wasn't his original idea. Many had tried to do so before, and the results were disturbing, to put it mildly. Not all were failures, though. Some races had better and more adaptive mana constitution than humans. One such race were the Rune Elves.

From what Bones found in the books about them wasn't much, but enough to give him an idea. The Rune Elves were natural casters, and their tradition and culture involved inscribing runes onto their bodies once they reached a certain age. The process was very painful, but once done, their ability to cast was among the best! The runes on their pale bodies looked like tribal tattoos, giving them that barbaric warrior look.

Bones didn't know if inscribing runes onto his bones would work, but he didn't see any reason why they wouldn't! He had to try at least. He wouldn't test it on himself first, of course! That's what he had the golem for! Another thing he learned was that it wouldn't do him any good to use just any simple material to inscribe the runes on. Just like with the bones that shattered when he was practicing engraving, he needed better and higher quality materials—or in his case, bones.

He considered using human bones for creating a golem as he was most familiar with human anatomy. The other option would be the bones of a monster. They would be a better option of the two, as monsters held physical superiority, but would also prove to be more difficult to inscribe precisely because of that.

There was also the matter of the quality of bones. The level and origin of the bones would dictate the capability and level cap of the created golem.

For now, bronze-rank bones would suffice. "If I show up with a human skeleton golem, I'd imagine people would freak out. It has to be monster bones! A more difficult route it is, then!" he mused.

Bones diligently toiled away in the workshop, meticulously crafting the bones for his next experimental golem. His goal was clear: to fashion a simple golem, slightly shorter than himself, with concise instructions for movement. He understood that simpler commands would facilitate smoother execution, making them ideal for this initial test phase. And the objective would be to gauge the efficiency and fluidity of mana flow from the nucleus through engraved bones.

Despite encountering challenges in shaping the larger bones, he preserved until he finished. The bones he worked with were harvested from the massive Steel Tusk Boars he acquired after clearing the dungeon. By the time nightfall descended upon the workshop, Bones had painstakingly completed the shaping process.

The next step would be to engrave the lines in a simple, straight pattern to make the flow smoother. However, he would have to postpone this task, as he just sensed dwarves entering the smithy. A dozen dwarves, to be exact!

Bones quickly cleaned himself with a dirty towel resting by the hanger and headed for the exit of the workshop. Before he reached the exit, he could hear the clamor and shouting of each dwarf trying to outdo the other. Once he appeared, the clamor settled down, and all eyes turned to him. "All eyes on me, huh?" he thought wryly.

"Alright... I thank you all for coming here tonight," Bones began, addressing the assembled dwarves. "I'd like to start with a simple joke I know all of you will appreciate."

Confusion clouded the faces of the onlookers, their expressions contorted as if they were about to ask, "What?" But Bones paid no mind to their bewilderment and pressed on.

"Hm... sorry! I'm wrecking my skull for a good joke about dwarves, but I keep coming up a little short!" he quipped with a wry smile.

Silence enveloped the room as one of the dwarves dropped and broke his mug on the floor. Eyes widened and faces flushed with surprise. But then, as if on cue, the smithy erupted with boisterous laughter. One by one, the dwarves approached Bones, offering greetings and admiration.

"You've got balls!" one dwarf exclaimed.

"No, not anymore!" Bones replied with a grin.

The last to approach was Darsumi, who greeted Bones with a deadpan expression. "I thought all undead were dead serious?"

…

The night buzzed with activity, yet no productivity was achieved in terms of work. Dwarves threw a lavish feast and brought out kegs of ale to keep the spirits high. Even the city's only silver-ranked enchanter, a human, graced the gathering with his presence. He and Bones engaged in deep conversation, delving into the intricacies of engraving and enchanting throughout the night.