Chương 101: Chapter 99 - Ungacrazy.

"Well you know" she chuckled nervously.

"No I do not know, tell me." Valerius insisted. She sighed, looking away.

"I cannot tell you." Valerius took a huge bite of fish, tearing it off angrily. A look of pleasured satisfaction came from his face as the spices hit his tongue.

"My family has a deep involvement in some of the affairs here. Feltonia's deepest desire is to reconnect with the greater Everplane. It was said there once was a path, shrouded within the mists of the Edge, traveling through would bring you to the seas of The Infinite Blue. Supposedly this was also the only way to get to other worlds within this realm, as each is shrouded in mist. I can't tell you more than that, for this is just folklore from my homeland."

"Why do the Cats of Feltonia desire to reconnect with the Everplane as you call it, so greatly?" Nythera asked. Perhaps the world is far wider than I could fathom, but does that mean our wars and conflicts in Vathrial, the great war of the Cinderscorch and such are nothing but petty squabbles? The Tianshiang Empire that controls a third of the world is… nothing but a weak little backwater? Valerius savored the tail bits, delicately biting into each one as if it was a cracker.

"In Feltonia, these myths are accepted as fact by some. We yearn to reconnect with the Cats of the wider Everplane, our people are mighty outside of this realm. We could call upon truly great powers."

"I see, so a desire to exert your will on Aelthyr then." Nythera pondered it quietly.

"A desire to survive." Valerius corrected "Have you studied nothing? The monoformics control 70% of all land on Aelthyr, the ancient empires and kingdoms that once lay closer to the Center long since wiped out. It is the belief of many that these many years of peace are nothing but a preparatory stage for them to conquer and purge the rest of the world." A whole world nearing extermination, but would this actually be good for Myrraval?

If the monoformics came they wouldn't necessarily continue the fluxcutters or exploration of Tesset. We could be safe. Or it could be so so much worse. As long as Tesset stays here I guess it's not a huge issue. The rest of the meal washed down well with an amber liquid, leaving Nythera slightly buzzed.

"I would appreciate it, Valerius, if we could eat this fish again." Valerius nodded. I really don't want to kill or see anyone at this school die, well not most people at least. Surely there is a better way to handle this? … Nythera stood before Ungavir Goods, the entrance to the gaudy store no less embarrassing than it had been before. Well he already offered to help upgrade my prosthetic, so if anyone is going to have what I need, it'll be him. Doesn't hurt to look. With a rattling ring she shoved the door open.

"Aaa Welcome Newcomer to Ungavir's Goods!" A voice echoed from the back.

"Ungavir, I am here to talk about a business opportunity for you" Nythera answered. Time to see if we can get another hidden ace.

"Ah very good" He lumbered out of the back "I knew you were fated to return to Ungavir's humble store from the day we met. Ungavir knew it!" his antler hat had been replaced by a metal helm with a ridiculous spike sticking out of the top.

"So, what can humble and honest Ungavir do for the madam" he bowed deeply with exaggerated extravagance. This guy is anything but humble or honest, which is good because neither of those will help me get what I need.

"I have some ideas, schematics even" she pulled several rolls of parchment out of her cloak.

"But I need you to help me source both materials and an arcanist capable of the job. Can you do it?" Ungavir toss a bundle of merchandise off the table and laid her designs out.

"Hmmmmmm""Madam, Ungavir knows you tried quite hard on these, however… these are not sufficient for one of your standing." he chucked nervously. Nythera gestured for him to continue.

"You have lost five ring slots, one glove slot might or might not work and possibly the armband slot as well. Ungavir believes we can take all of these slots and make them into one enchanted item. Such a thing has been done before." he suggested.

"Are there any risks?" she asked.

"Well it is often considered to be experimental science, this craft has not been perfected and test subjects are scarce, but slot-merging has been attempted since ancient times." Ungavir frowned.

"But I am not sure how exactly we will enhance your magics, I need more details if we are to do so."

"Its projectile magic, I can launch something from the stump of my arm. We can get into details later. Do you have materials and arcanist capable of making such a project though?" Nythera asked with a look of doubt.

"Ungavir may have some rather unique, albeit expensive options and a certain, reputable underground arcanist, maybe Ungavir has these." he grinned.

"That crystalline lens Ungavir bought from the West Edge might be useful." Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Hours passed, and before long Nythera and Ungavir stood over a table laughing maniacally. Both had bloodshot eyes.

"This is going to cost a fortune, I cannot believe you put talons on that part, and are you sure the composite material on the lens rim will balance the reaction?" Nythera giggled.

"Do not worry, the minerals we added should compensate for it, maybe. Ungavir's arcanist is the real issue, he is going to kill me when I come to him with this. Are you sure you have enough funds for this order?" Ungavir asked with a hint of worry. Nythera nodded vigorously "Yes, money is not the issue. But where did you get all these parts? Some of these fluxspawn pieces are strata five and some I'm not even certain about, the lens is at least strata six…"

"Do not fear, Ungavir's shop collects a global assortment, from all four edges, only the finest ingredients. This crystalline lens is near impossible to use and half the materials you selected are too volatile to be used normally. West Edge Crystal with Dunsteel Glass, it'll be near indestructible when it is done, but who else would need something for a missing arm? Mm this could be used as a shield too." Ungavir drifted off into thought.

"When can you get it done?" She asked.

"This kind of order, even for Ungavir's fantastic arcanist, will take a long time. Ungavir needs to keep such… touchy work quiet, wrong people might get wrong idea about what we are doing. Just give Ungavir an ember downpayment, rest on completion, discount if you let Ungavir observe the artifact in use." he held out his hand.

"Deal" She took it and shook, wincing in anticipation. Ungavir looked at her with a strange curiosity. For once, someone is not crushing my hand! Nythera handed over a small bag of embers, watching most of her remaining stock be spent. This upgrade could become a new hidden ace, from my left arm, regular arm-cannon fire, from my right? A decimating shot nearly on par with what the Aether Culverin had been. No one will see it coming, who would think my strongest weapon was tucked on the end of my missing arm?

I might even kill Gladius in one hit when this is done…. Ungavir knelt on the ground and held his hands together, with his head down,"Ungavir gives thanks for this grand opportunity and prays for success, oh Lord of Mist" he chanted. He stood up and dusted off his clothes "Hopefully the Lord answers my prayers. This endeavor is certainly a worthy one, Ungavir thinks."

"What was that prayer too?" lord of mist? Veymur? Is the Assembly of Kronan also on Aelthyr?

"Oh it's just a custom from Ungavir's homeland, it does not mean much" he waved her off.

"As soon as its done, Ungavir shall contact you. This will probably be at least Frigid tier artifact, perhaps even Blizzard, so prepare enough heat to counter it."

"It's going to be a cold item? Not hot?" she asked.

"Yes the Dunsteel glass is cold and despite being from the West Edge, famed for its scorching heat, the Crystalline lens is also a cold part." Ungavir confirmed. Nythera nodded and went to exit. Well this will do, if he scams me, I'll have lost a huge portion of my wealth for nothing. Unless he plans on fleeing from the city I should be able to force him to pay me back.

"One last thing miss" Ungavir spoke with a hint of caution.

"Yes?"

"This Blizzard tier artifact, given its slot-merged and focus on pure skill amplification, it might be uh…." he hesitated.

"Well? Ungavir, what is it?"

"A tad bit illegal, or rather grey area, borderline outlawed perhaps?"

"You mean this item is illegal in Tesset?" Nythera cocked an eyebrow questioningly.

"Maybe, the glass-crystal resonance amplifier with everything else you crammed in could triple the power of the energy going through it, the only reason they don't use artifacts like this more is because it is dangerous, hard to control… and most people don't have a half dozen extra slots waiting to be used" Ungavir admitted with a guilty look. Nythera shrugged "Let's just keep this experiment between us, it's only illegal if they find out." She closed the door, the sound of raucous laughter audible from inside. …

She rushed through the halls, trying to get back so she could get to cantrip class on time. Can Ungavir finish that thing already?! It's been a week with no report. To think it took 20 embers upfront, I'm beginning to think I've been robbed. Kronan wills it, I'm probably going to have to pay him in tokens if he does manage to finish it. If I get it before midterms, I'll be able to ace the exam with no issues. She turned the corner rapidly, nearly tripping on her own feet and slammed into a wall.

Ow, what the fuck is wall doing- oh"Hello Gladius" she said to the wall.

"Nythera, what are you doing here?" he sneered. Is he stalking me? Why is he here? Thought you could off me and regain your pride, did you?

"What do you mean, what am I doing here? I'm a blasted student on my way to class, what are you doing here?" she fired back with a snort. I should not have said, I'm just going to get him angry.

"Well, I'm here because I am here to uhh" he stuttered, looking away. Nythera caught movement from behind him, further down the hallway. Oi, isn't that his sister? Another one of the royal brats then. What is going on here? I need to get out of here before I end up dead and my body dropped in a river.

"Well you see, you seemed like true nobility so I was thinking we could uhhhh." Gladius stuttered again, looking at the ground. I get what this is"Fine, you want another duel then? We can fight. Right here, right now" Nythera readied her skill. A look of fear showed deep in his widening eyes. Gladius turned and sprinted down the hallway What the Hel is his problem? Did he not want to avenge his defeat?

These royals are so weird, well as long as Rowen doesn't find out what happened it should be fine, he'd kill me if he knew. Nythera rushed down to cantrip class with a skip in her step, memories from the confrontation already fading. Time for my class, I need to help my lessers after all. She walked in with pride, ensuring all were able to observe her entrance. Taking a seat near the center of the room, she unattuned flux dancing above her with a flick of the wrist. Trivial.

"She is so annoying, what a prick" a student behind her whispered. More and more students looked away from her orbiting, flashy display.

"Alright class, today we are going to try to specific elementally attuned cantrips. Wait like elemental only? Oh shit.