Icarus Awakens

Daniel would have one last visitor that night. Long after Hunter had departed, again with Tak, long after many people had gone to sleep and beyond the duration of Craftsman’s Repose. Daniel was tired. All he wanted to do was finish the armor and get to bed. It would be an early morning, a day filled with more of the same monotonous work, but he had to finish the armor. When he reached the final step, he suddenly realized something and shouted at Alost. Murdon was there in five minutes, a look of genuine concern on his face. “Is the armor ruined? We have some excess budgeted for mistakes but if the armor-”

“No, no it’s fine. Stand here.” Daniel gestured quickly, moving aside. His hands were on the patch of heliorite that had been infused with mana. It was the only spot on the ore he could touch without reprisal. “Sorry, I didn’t think about fitting the armor to you. I got the right basic shape but it needs to fit perfectly and I don’t think I could do your tail or helmet without you here.”

“I see.” Murdon shuffled in place, unsure. “What do you need me to do?”

“How fast can you take off your armor? Oh.” Daniel blinked as Murdon entered his field of view and he realized the draconoid already had it off. He’d never seen him like that, even when they’d first met Murdon had been encased in steel. Now? He was tiny! Well, still bigger than Daniel. He hadn’t lost any of his true height, but without the mass of steel around him Murdon looked gangly and half a meter shorter. “I wanted to wear this as soon as I was able,” Murdon explained, chafing somewhat under Daniel’s goggling eyes. “I just stand here?”

“Yeah! Right. I’m going to walk backward with this, don’t touch it! This will take a few minutes.” Slowly, Daniel began pulling at the heliorite. The tip of a helmet started to form from the metal, which Daniel refined with his other hand. “Going to be honest, I don’t know what I’m doing here. I’m working mostly by instinct.”

“I trust you’ll be fine,” Murdon lied, not at all familiar with how Artificers enchanted despite knowing another one. At least he kept the anxiety over his armor out of his voice. “It is hard to believe something so small will become-”

“Oh, shoot!” Murdon immediately winced, though this was another false alarm. “Color! I can’t change the color of the metal at this point, but anything else, like straps, I can change the appearance of. What do you want?”

“Black,” Murdon said after a moment’s thought, hoping that would do something to mute the garish golden color. “I’m surprised at the degree of control you have.”

Daniel double checked to make sure there was absolutely nothing left to decide, before sighing. “It’s the heliorite. It’s making things easier. I don’t think I would have gotten straps or anything else at all if I was using metal appropriate for my level, though I'm not sure.”

“Hmm.” Murdon watched as more of the armor, more of his armor, came out of the ore. After a minute, it was clear it’d take some time. “Are you able to talk while you are doing this, or do you need to concentrate?”

“I can. On the tricky parts I’ll have to focus, but for most of it but, wait.” Daniel was silent as he navigated the area where the helmet split to allow it to be placed on Murdon’s head. “Ok, should be good.”

“It has been some time since we spoke privately. I did not expect to have even this moment.”

Murdon was right, it had been a while. The last time the two of them had been in relative privacy was when Daniel had spilled out his life’s story. Now here he was making enchanted armor. “A lot has changed since then, yeah. Uh, thanks, by the way. For everything.”

Murdon chuckled. “I should be thanking you. This armor, what do you know of our currency?”

“Ah, I’d meant to ask someone. Nothing. Thomas showed me a coin once but, yeah, I haven’t had to use money here.”

“Of course not. If I’d made people pay for food during this they’d have been right to rebel.” There was a hint of bitterness there, slipping out in a moment Murdon felt vulnerable. But mostly, there was sadness. “I have not handled this well.”

“What? We’d all be dead if it wasn’t for you. Or worse.”

“Some are dead.”

Daniel couldn’t look up to meet Murdon’s gaze, but he wanted to. “You can’t blame yourself for that.”

“A Tyrant was born under my watch. Two, perhaps, if Jonus had been tainted before his death. That is unforgivable. Instead of punishment, I am rewarded.”

Daniel was silent, but only because the helmet was finished and he had to swap pieces. He was making a full set of armor, but it would come in parts. Fortunately, the heliorite would only need to be primed once, and it was now just manifesting everything in sequence. He handed the helmet to Murdon, then went back to drawing out one of the arm pieces. “I don’t know what to tell you, honestly, but you’re wrong. You’re a good person, and you’re not the one who took advantage of your power.” If Daniel could look up, he might have noticed Murdon deciding not to tell him something. Instead, he continued, “I still don’t get how most of this world works, but to me, you’re a god damned hero. Uh, like the concept, not the class. Does that get confusing here?”

That made Murdon smile, but only halfway. “Sometimes. Your words are kind.”

“They’re right! You’re putting your own life on the line here! Not just that, but back then too.” Another pause at the elbow joint, and Daniel didn’t continue the thought when he’d finished it. “You just need to see everyone’s faces at the end of this. When you do, you’ll realize what you’ve done and who you’ve saved.”

“What about the faces that aren’t there?” Murdon asked darkly. Daniel didn’t have an answer for that. Not one he hadn’t already given. He was also no stranger to depressed moods as of late. He’d had to get dumped, go on a journey of self discovery, and rocket into the sky to get peace from his, and even then it wasn’t all gone. Murdon would need time. When the hand was done and handed to Murdon, Daniel picked his focus off the table and unlocked it quickly before handing that too to Murdon. “Here, look.”

The draconoid gazed blankly at what was in his hands. “You’ve shown me this already. I still can’t read this language.”

“The picture.”

“Oh, I see. Hmm, your kin?” Daniel nodded, working on the other armpiece. “I can have trouble with humans this way, but these two are almost identical. Interesting. That would make this your world. It is beautiful.”

“Parts of it.”

“Did you want to speak of this? Here there is time, privacy, and trust.” It was Murdon’s turn to adopt a consoling tone. “You have spoken of it some, but I imagine it has been hard to find those to confide in.”

“It’s fine. I mean it’s not, but I’ve been here long enough haven’t I?” He shook his head. “I miss them. I’d go back now if I could.”

“And I’d let you, as long as you finish my armor first,” Murdon said with a hint of playfulness.

“Heh. I’ve worked on this long enough that I couldn’t just let it go. What kind of Artificer would I be?”

“A rested one. It is quite late, I hope you will not need to extend yourself every night.”

“Well, I don’t think I’ll need to. Your armor and Hunter’s will take the longest and I wanted to get them out of the way. It’ll be better tomorrow when I get to take a break now and then.”

Murdon considered for a moment what armor for a ringcat would look like. It wasn’t unheard of for barding to be created for monsters, though it was rarely done because of the higher demand for mortal armor. Out of everything, armor was the most desired piece of equipment an enchanter would make because of how it interacted with the Knight class, and because of how difficult it was to get enough material in one piece to make a full set. “I would much like to see how that turns out. Is that what you will use your portion of this material on?”

“Yeah! I think it’ll also help avoid friendly fire. That scarf thing is helpful but I’d like to be sure.” Daniel finished the second arm and handed it over. The breastplate began, twice as wide as the helmet but still appearing from the same area of heliorite. A faint shimmering light bordered where raw material and forged metal were separated. “I’ll try to make a crossbow for myself too. It’d be cool if I could get some kind of laser version, but I doubt it. It seems like I’d need something more than the basic ‘make a magical weapon’ enchantment I can do. At the very least I can improve the design of my old one.”

“Ever consider branching out? Becoming familiar with multiple weapons is generally a good idea.”

“I don’t know if I’m a sword guy. And don’t you normally just use an ax?”

Murdon was unarmored but still had both of his axes on him, just in case. “These aren’t my only weapons, although I haven’t had much cause for the others. Before this, I was part of a team that hunted monsters,” Murdon explained. “Especially once you reach level three, or start fighting level three monsters, you’ll encounter those with quirks like damage immunities. Having more than one way to fight is essential. What is the limit to the kind of items you can produce?”

“Well, right now if I can think of it I can make it, at least as far as shape is concerned and it fits a base enchantment I can do. I can’t make a cart, for example. I don’t even know if there are enchantments for those.”

“Hmm. Tomorrow, I will bring you something to examine. I assume you prefer ranged weapons?”

“Yeah. Thanks!” A decent portion of the breastplate was now finished, although Daniel didn’t seem to be struggling with the weight. “With the powers I have heavy hitting weapons like my crossbow are probably the best, but I’ll take a look.”

“You might like them. I’ve noticed you don’t armor yourself well. Regeneration can pull some weight, but it is better to avoid wounds altogether.” Murdon glanced at the parts of the armor already made. “I may be biased when it comes to that.”

“No kidding. I don’t see how you live in this stuff.”

“It’s a feature most Knights receive well before level two. Our Foci are our armor and we are the only class that can use them as such. Not being able to bear it for long periods of time would put us at quite a disadvantage.”

“Huh, didn’t know that.” Daniel thought for a second and then beamed. “If that’s the case, you’re going to like this.”

“What?” The seed of a grin was nestled in Murdon’s face, waiting to be nurtured.

“Well, when I bound my Focus, the heliorite gave it some extra effects that didn’t apply to the other items.” Daniel toggled his flashlight, which had comparable brightness to the standard Earth version in its level 1 form. “This, and my Focus now has ‘level five durability’. If that means what I think it does, and it’s the same for you, this armor is going to make you way tougher. Maybe as tough as Kob was.”

Murdon nodded his head. “It is well known to my class how that works. Foci of every kind grow stronger if something powerful is used to make them, however it is only in durability that they reliably improve.”

Daniel looked slightly put down that his big reveal had been known to the dragon man, but he supposed someone like he would have known about that already. “So what does your other armor do that’s special?”

“Nothing. I still have yet to awaken my own Focus Enhancement feature, and it has no enchantment.”

“It doesn’t?” Daniel asked in surprise.

“Enchanted armor is very expensive compared to other items, even though Artificers will often make it over other products for the profit when they can.”

“But you hunted all the way up to level 3. You still couldn’t afford it?”

Murdon sighed as they reached a sore point. “I sold the set I used to have when my former team dissolved.” There was a finality to how he ended the sentence that made it clear he didn’t want to go into that. “It is almost bittersweet to know this armor has such a critical weakness in the enchantment. Using it after our battle with the dragon is likely unwise.”

“Oh.” Daniel looked at the armor piece he was currently making, driving home that it was too late to change anything that important to the item. “Oh damn! I didn’t even think about that. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Murdon waved a hand. “We would need the link effect for the upcoming battle. I will just be sure to keep my old armor and exchange it once we are out of the region.”

“You could keep using it. Make sure people you travel with have some of the bracers? I mean, if people don’t know about the enchantment’s weakness you could make it work.”

“It’s still a weakness, and a fatal one.” Murdon looked back up. “Don’t mistake my melancholy for disrespect, please. You are doing me a great service.”

“I’m glad you brought it up! I didn’t think about making Hunter’s armor a normal variant since the lightning immunity will be important for the dragon. But if I want to make something he can keep using…” Daniel let that thought fade, and Murdon didn’t comment. The draconoid was disappointed and trying not to show it. “Uh, you haven’t heard from Evalyn, have you?” Daniel asked after he’d started on the last piece.

“No,” Murdon said, still slightly down. “And our lack of protection against the terror condition is the largest weakness we have aside from the pure gap in power between us and our opponent. We can spread out the Bards to have a minor effect on individual squads, but it will not be enough.”

“I think they can do it.” Murdon just looked at him, waiting for the explanation. “I can play music through my Focus. It doesn’t have the effects Bardic music has, but I can give them something to play together.” Murdon blinked, still reserving words for a later date. “Uh, she talked with me and mentioned that was the major holdup with them cooperating. No one would want to volunteer their music for the others to steal.”

Murdon shook his head. “Bards and Heroes. They’re the most obstinate and pretentious of the classes. Why couldn’t they mention this in the meeting, or just pool their talents to make a new damned song as a group?”

“That’s a good point. Maybe it’s a group project kind of thing, they’re worried about people slacking off?” That sounded stupid as soon as Daniel said it. “I mean, do you know why they hate each other? Evalyn said there was history, but it still doesn’t seem like it’s fully based on reason.”

“Hrhm, no idea. You’re right, though. It’s nonsensical. You’d think the threat of mutual destruction would foster cooperation, but the only thing they agreed on was not working together. Though if Evalyn’s changed her mind, then maybe there is a chance. This changes things, for the better, but I will need to speak with her. Thank you for telling me.”

“Not like I have much else to do but talk.” Daniel drummed his fingers against the armor he was holding. “That, and trying to stay awake. If you weren’t here I might have to talk with Hunter just to stay up. If he was here.” The draconoid shifted beside him, and Daniel suddenly realized he’d never told Murdon how Hunter was different. “I-”

“I’ve heard from Lograve about your peculiar companion,” Murdon interrupted, hearing the sudden strain in Daniel’s voice. “I am troubled by the similarities with that Rorshawd creature, but by all accounts, it was created long before you encountered the monster in the mountains. Still, it troubles me.”

“He’s fine, don’t worry about it! He’s-”

Murdon shook his head. “It’s not the ringcat, it’s you.”

“Me?” Daniel had to stop himself from looking away from the armor. There was something ominous in Murdon’s voice.

“Your powers are odd. Even considering the rarity of your class, the relative strength and variety of what you possess is beyond a normal level 1 mortal. Your bond can only go so far to explain it.”

“Well, I am level 2 now.” Murdon inclined his head as if to indicate that didn’t matter. Gestures weren’t as consistent as words seemed to be crossing over from Earth, but Daniel decided not to overthink it. “As far as everything else, it’s just synergy, like I keep saying. The enchanting stuff is a bit broken but once I run out of heliorite I’ll be back to the basics until I can find more magical material. There’s also the Dual Soul thing. Even though that’s gone, I didn’t lose any of the attributes or powers I got from it.”

“Precisely. When you first arrived, we were concerned you weren’t what you said you were.” Murdon paused for just a second, this time enough into Daniel’s periphery for the Artificer to notice an omission. “You seemed to have more classes than levels, which is impossible. That matter has been resolved,” Murdon said to ease the tension building in Daniel. “But still it troubles me. The threat posed by monsters, normal ones, I understand. I can plan for them. Other mortals, like the Tyrant, are complicated but I can still comprehend the dangers involved. This is beyond me.”

Daniel laughed nervously. “Nothing about this world makes sense to me. I keep going back and forth on whether I want to fight something again. After the dragon, after those people died, that messed me up and all I wanted to do was avoid even thinking about it. But against the sparkbats, fighting with your buff, that was something nothing from my world could compare to. Getting my Focus back and figuring out some stuff about my powers has made me feel better about it, but I saw everyone who died in Roost’s Peak.” The memory returned, lives snuffed out like distant candles. “Their auras just disappeared moments after the dragon found them.”

“That was not a fair fight. Even so, you persisted. I cannot think of many who would survive such a thing unchanged.”

“Lograve said something similar. A few people have, actually.”

Murdon saw the ankles of the armor now appearing from the fist-sized concavity in the heliorite and knew it was almost done. Daniel probably hadn’t needed him once the section covering the tail was finished, but there were things the Artificer had wanted to talk about. Home, fear, and grief. Daniel wasn’t in a good place despite his assurances, that was clear. “In all other regards, the upcoming fight will require everyone to be where they are most needed. However, it may be best if you are spared. Your most applicable talents are your enchanting, which will be done before the fight, and your scouting. I hardly think we will need a power to let us know where the dragon is.”

Daniel rubbed a thumb against the greaves in thought. “You gave me a choice like this before.”

“Will you make the same one?”

Daniel was afraid. They were going into this fight with the knowledge that people were going to die. It was a certainty, no matter what he made, or what Murdon planned. Only one of them had a reasonable chance of survival, and it wasn’t him. I’d be an idiot to say yes. Fuck, I might as well be jumping off a cliff. Except that might not kill me since I’ve already done that twice, no, three times? Too many times. There was something else though. “What about my friends?”

“They cannot be spared from this fight,” Murdon said simply.

He had seen people die back in Roost’s Peak. That still weighed on his mind. How fast it had happened, the years of life they had lived only for it to have meant nothing. It had cost them Kob, and it had cost him Claire. No, no, that was my fault. Despite this, Daniel could only think of one thing worse than dying or living with the memories of those who did: hearing that his friends had died while he had stayed behind. It was that same instinct that led him to follow Parduc, to stand to defend Thomas, even to keep his composure when he’d fought the sparkbat swarm. It was a part of him he’d never have found back on Earth.

The soles of Murdon’s armor were the last to appear as the armor finished. As it finally finished. Daniel wanted to faint, but most of the armor was occupying his bed. When he handed it to the draconoid, not having answered him, the Knight placed it below the breastplate. Murdon gazed upon glowing, golden armor with black straps fully laid out in front of him. “Lograve will never let me live this down.”

“I’ll do it,” Daniel said softly.

“What?”

“I’ll fight.” Murdon didn’t have a response to that, other than a critical gaze. Whatever he saw, he approved of. Thanking Daniel, he left so the Artificer could rest. As he lay on the bed, feeling the indentations in the material from where the metal had sat, he reached out just before falling unconscious. Hunter? There was no response. That didn’t worry Daniel. Even if it had, he wouldn’t have been able to stop sleep from claiming him moments later.