―Maimonides

Iron Chestplate: A roughly constructed chestplate, fitted to The Gamer. Reduces all incoming physical damage by 5. Requirements: 20x Iron Bars, 100 Mana.

Iron Greaves: A set of plates to protect the wearer's thighs and calves, fitted to The Gamer. Reduces all incoming physical damage by 3. Requirements: 15x Iron Bars, 75 Mana.

Iron Boots: An armored set of footwear, great for keeping your feet attached, if that's your thing, and fitted to The Gamer. Reduces all incoming physical damage by 2, increases the damage from unarmed strikes using feet by 5. Requirements: 10x Iron Bars, 2x Werecat Hide, 80 Mana.

“That’s all my Iron Ore,” John breathed with satisfaction, checking over his inventory. He had three pieces left, but there was nothing worth making that took so little. At best he could make a piece of jewelry or a trinket, which he still didn't have the power to enchant. He’d opted not to try any of the gear on, given the excruciating heat he was already tolerating to have made the gear in the first place. Since it said that it was specifically fitted to him - and since his notifications had never lied to him before - John didn’t feel the need to test his luck. Besides, he'd spent enough time waiting for his mana to regenerate between crafts. Now he was out of mana, tired, and ridiculously overheated. The mess hall was calling his name.

“Fascinating. Actually, incredible. If it wasn’t for your low mana pool and the fact that your Crafting ability requires mana for even non-enchanting aspects, it would be an incredible ability. The fact that it’s instant alone would allow you to power entire armies…”

“Speaking of which,” John grumbled, “I would very much like to enchant this gear. Obviously I won’t ask for any from you, since I’m sure you need the strongest you can find for the soldiers who are currently allowed in the field, but I still want to improve myself. I’ve used up most of my mana here, but all the same…”

“Your ban remains,” Moira sighed, choosing to acknowledge John’s obvious emphasis, “but I can already see where you’re going with this. I will send for a tutor to instruct you on the basics of adding magical qualities to items.”

“Just like the instruction I was supposed to get on the Abyss? Listen, Moira, it’s not like I’m asking much-“

“I did not assign you a tutor,” Moira interjected, her tone suddenly more fiery than the forges around them, “because we have not had more than a scant few hours to rest since I first encountered you. Every waking moment for all of our Knights has been to protect our borders, protect our interests, and protect you. Despite your abilities and potential, John Newman, you have yet to contribute more than accidental assistance to our war efforts.”

A silence fell between them, punctuated by the distant hammering of metal and the glow of molten metals. John met Moira’s eyes without doubt, and she returned his gaze without shame.

“I just want to be the best fighter I can, Moira. I've been shoved in and out of fights since I got these abilities - I'm starting to realize that confrontation isn't exactly optional in the Abyss."

"Took you long enough," Moira grumbled. "Very well, follow me. I'll make arrangements for you."

Moira's "arrangements" ended up being a tutoring session with one of the Inquisitors, ironically. Considering John's recent discovery of what exactly it was they did, he was rather off-put by the decision, but it seemed the Inquisitors were the only ones not yet busy. There had been several Cabal captured since the start of war, both from the encounter John had taken part in and others, yet there were still a surplus of Inquisitors… for now. So it was that John met Nathaniel, a man in his late thirties with a shaved head, a scar running down his right arm from shoulder to wrist, and a monotone voice and personality that would've lulled John to sleep like an Academy lecturer if he hadn't been learning about literal magic.

"Yes, that's right, that looks good," the man said as he inspected the carving John had just finished making on the shoulder of his chestplate, "perfectly replicated. Runes are by far the simplest form of enchantment, but also one of the weakest. Their inherent stability and the ease with which you can control the effects of the enchantment are convenient, but since they're typically no more than a paint, oil, stain, or occasionally a physical marking like this one, they don't have any innate ability to hold magic.

"Runes you expect to need constantly active - for instance, any rune meant to protect you in case of a surprise attack - will need a constant charging from your mana supply or from gems. Most gemstones once properly cut have an innate ability to contain mana; by keeping them on your person and tying them to the rune, you will be able to ensure they don't drain too much of your mana at an inopportune time."

"I have something like that," John said, pointing to the ring he'd crafted a while back, utilizing the Bronze he'd earned a while back. "It doesn't have a gemstone, but it stores mana… and health!"

"Let me see that," Nathaniel muttered, pulling John's hand over. He leaned in until his nose was practically touching John's fingertips, narrowing his eyes at the metallic object. "That's… impressive work, actually. As I said, gemstones are one of the few objects innately capable of containing mana; their unique structural composition provides a sort of circuit for the mana; amethysts are generally considered the most effective for this. This ring is made with the metal woven in such a way as to mimic that circuitry - it's a crude mimicry of the leylines present in gemstones. It could contain life essence as well, had one the talent and skill to manifest such. This one seems only able to contain a fragment of what even a poor gemstone would contain, but it is still an impressive piece of work. Anyone who can create this should… well, they're certainly different fields, but creating an object like this should require more knowledge and experience with magic than a simple runic enchantment."

"I'm kind of a special case," John mumbled. "So you said this rune is meant to stop magic?"

"Indeed; it should emit a magical pulse to disrupt most standard magical offenses. Obviously it won't have much effect if someone should hurl, say, a table at you."

"Yeah, I get that. So if I just-"

Skill Innovation! New Skill Learned!

Runeforging Level 1 - Add a magical rune to a piece of equipment, utilizing materials or a crafting tool capable of marking/scoring the equipment. Effects, charges, recharge cost, and activation requirements of the rune are determined by its origin, composition, and setting. Runes that have lost all charges will be inactive until recharged. Maximum 1 rune per piece of equipment; may not place runes on trinkets or other pieces of equipment besides armor/weapons. May not place runes on enchanted items.

Rune Crafted! Rune of Disruption - Reduces all damage taken through magical mediums by 5. Charges: 5 / 5, Recharge Cost: 25 Mana / Charge

"Good lord, it's practically worthless in combat - the mana cost is insane!" John complained, glancing over his window as the rune lit up in a light blue glow.

"You may be able to craft more efficient runes in time, but generally speaking storage of magic in equipment has never been a tool to be actively wielded. It's simply another way of being prepared."

"That's something I've been sorely lacking in, so thank you. What about more advanced forms of enchantment though, like the kind on the Order cloaks and a few of my trinkets? Can I store spells in something, like a rod, to-"

"As quickly as you picked that up, it will take a great deal of time to learn those. Practicing this will be more rewarding in the short term that this war will hopefully occupy. Frankly, I'm not the greatest teacher either; this is hardly my specialty. Unfortunately Lord Brighton has all of our Enchanters working twelve-hour shifts for some project meant to swing the tide of this war. I haven't seen what it is yet, but I pray it ends this quickly. I knew one of the men that died in the raid that started all this, those Cabal dogs."

"They will pay for their crimes, and Springfield will finally be rid of their terror."

Moira strode into the room with purpose, followed closely by an obviously annoyed Tricia. Seeing her anger was a bit concerning, but John was glad to see her no longer quite so subdued around Moira.

"For now, though," Moira continued, glancing between the two of them, "we have matters to discuss. Nathaniel, thank you for your assistance with this - the others require your aid with one of the Cabal soldiers we found scouting our perimeter."

"Yes, my Warden," Nathaniel loyally swore, stepping quickly from the room.

"It hasn't been that long since we split up, Moira; what, a few hours? Maybe?" John noted, glancing between the two of them. "What came up so quickly?"

"Between your observations during your highly discouraged foray into combat while still afflicted with this object," Tricia chided, "the name you were able to give us thanks to your abilities, and the analysis of your aura, we have done as much as possible to uncover the secrets behind this particular object."

"It has been… unfortunately difficult," Moira noted, just a touch of sadness entering her voice. "The loss of contact with the Opekuny and the loss of resources available to our Order have been devastating. What records we have of similar objects have been a mixture of horrifying and promising; we have found similar objects in the past, crystals and orbs which assimilate into a being - truly rare and powerful magic, but not entirely unheard of. However, our records are no longer as global as they once were, and what confirmed cases we have documented in the past have ranged from objects designed to rapidly kill the person that wields them to fantastical enchantments which increased their mana capacity, amplified their spells, or even altered their flesh and blood."

"Unfortunately, even if we had dealt with something exactly like this in the past, we can't be sure it would be exactly the same enchantment," Tricia jumped in, a drone projecting a screen with a picture of John and what looked like his vitals on it. "Even if we assume your abilities allow you to infallibly identify an object based on its properties, you have never seen an object like this before, and during our experiments your Observe failed to note any changes in your body. It seems we will not know the exact effects of this 'Shard of Bishamonten' activating until-"

"Until it is too late," Moira interrupted, sighing. "As loathe as I am about the idea, we've had to resort to less… reliable methods to guess at its properties." Tricia shot a seething glare at being interrupted in the middle of one of her explanations but continued on when Moira did not add anything else to the conversation.

"Quite… there are some very minor fluctuations in your aura, but they're almost undetectable. Frankly, if I didn't have some data on you from just a few days ago - rather extensive at that - I wouldn't even be able to tell that this object is inside of you at all. Without risking an activation, which seems to be difficult enough on its own, there's no way of examining it. Frankly, I'd still like to try, but it's too risky considering the possible results . We've only seen a single activation - if we assume that the effects intensify in a linear manner, or that it only has identical effects but amplified at each stage, we will almost certainly be risking disaster."

"So you have no idea what it could do, can't draw any comparisons from the name or what I've told you, and you don't even know if something crazy is going to happen next time it activates?" John said, sighing as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose. "Basically, I'm screwed. So am I just sitting this war out?"

"Unfortunately we cannot afford that, either. Ordinarily, I'd never risk something like this, but Tricia has drawn some conclusions that have swayed me toward allowing you back in the field - on a highly limited and very case-by-case basis until we have more information available, you prove you can handle yourself… or until our need grows too great to ignore."

John's spine tingled at the serious tone in her voice. Silence hung in the air for a moment as he turned his eyes toward Tricia, who was working on one of her drones. The image of John had faded, and in its place now appeared a screen showing an Asian-style painting, depicting a group of people celebrating on a hillside. The camera highlighted and then zoomed in on a section of the painting, depicting an armored man standing with a lengthy staff, smiling and watching his dancing friends.

"The person named by the shard, according to your abilities, was Bishamonten. That is a Buddhist god; specifically, Bishamonten - or Bishamon - is the Japanese name for Vaisravana, a Buddhist god. He was known as the guardian of the north, a deity of warriors, and a fearsome protector."

The image switched to a statue of a man who looked relatively normal, except for his excessively angry expression that bordered on demonic. He was still armored in similar fashion, and the spear that he wielded had the elegance and practicality of a truly intimidating weapon, at least to John's untrained eyes.

"So… you think this shard is going to make me like that, but you're okay with me going into the field?''

"Despite some of his portrayals," Tricia replied immediately, "Bishamonten is not regarded as an excessively hostile or angry god. No more than most, though as with any religion some of his characteristics depend on your exact reading of the text. Generally speaking, though… he's a very non-threatening person to be modeled after - to your allies, of course. Bishamonten is a guardian, not a destroyer. He has a reputation for generosity, is considered one of Japan’s "Seven Gods of Fortune", and he is often portrayed as bringing justice to the evil and unworthy. You described an anger overtaking you when the shard activated, but did you ever feel a desire to harm Seras or to seek out further conflict?"

"Honestly… no," John mused, thinking back to how he'd felt in the moment and running over it in his head again. If he had felt anything like that, he probably would've been a lot more worried; hurting Seras was the last thing he ever wanted to do. "I just got really pissed at the minotaur, like really pissed, beat it into a pulp after it was already dead. But when I stopped, I just felt powerful. Kind of primal."

Tricia nodded heartily. "I do not have the slightest idea of why the Ice Queen of the West would have bestowed this upon you, John Newman, but if your shard lives up to its name, then I do not believe she had any intentions of turning you into an unthinking, unfeeling rage monstrosity."

"How certain are you of that assessment, again?" Moira pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Judging by Tricia's **** and snub of Moira, John guessed that Moira had already heard that answer.

"At least… seventy percent."

"Right, so thirty percent sure you could very much try to kill us," Moira sighed, shaking her head. "Keep that in mind, please, John. There is a very good reason why I am not returning you to active duty in full, despite how eager I am to crush the Cabal."

"This is all really informative, but what's the endgame here? Why tell me now and cut off my lesson, instead of waiting for tomorrow when I'm coming back for more testing?"

"Because tomorrow will be too late; you're going with Etriyya on a scouting mission. The Cabal exposed themselves while moving supplies earlier today while you were undergoing your testing; they moved an entire shipment of Foriian Dust to a safer location to avoid our raids, but until they moved it we were not entirely certain it was one of their storehouses. Once they revealed it, we raided it immediately - it's disturbingly close to our borders, and their defenses are stretched thin at the moment.

"Our soldiers secured it and recovered what they hadn't already evacuated, but to our surprise they also reported that most of the Inquisitors' tools they stole from us in the initial raid were housed there and that there were numerous runes and ritualistic symbols around the area. They appear to have been obscured, but in a rushed manner - our Knights couldn't identify their purpose but believe that someone more familiar with the arcane might be able to. I can't risk sending Enchanters out that far; the work could take days. I'm hoping that with Tricia's drones, Etriyya's advanced magical prowess, and your Observe abilities, you might be able to piece together what they were doing there, why they stole those tools, and why they would leave them in such an unsafe place while extracting the Foriian Dust. Many of them would be fairly valuable for a low-level gang like the Cabal, for use or sale."

"Alright, we leave soon then, I assume?" John got a nod in answer. "I want Seras to come with me."

"Good, I'm glad to see you're finally making use of those creations of yours," Moira said with a cocky smile.

"It was her choice."

"Well, I encourage all of them to make similar choices; we need more manpower, and given your potential instability, the more bodies I can place between you and a fight, the better. Don your new armor, John Newman. You're going into Cabal territory, no matter how shallowly - always be prepared for the worst."