Inflame (The Completionist Chronicles Book 6) Dakota Krout (sci fi books to read TXT) 📖

Legion gave him one hundred reputation a day, which meant he could gain one point of reputation each day with the Dwarven Council by literally fighting their war for them.

“If you wanted cheap magical things, you should have joined the Elves,” Havoc chuckled darkly. “Good thing for us that you didn't; our histories show what actual Ritualists can do.”

Joe looked up hopefully, wondering if he was about to get invited to the Grand Ritual Hall. Havoc ignored him and waved at the papers in Joe's hands. “Use those; the others will show up when possible.”

“If we're going to be like that…” Joe decided to fully embrace the suck. Somehow, he understood at a deep level that his accomplishments for the most part would be going to pay back the cost of what he would be making. He was going to have to go all-out if he were going to achieve grand accomplishments that would overpower the negatives of getting there. “I also want powerful Cores, and blueprints for defensive installments. Siege equipment would be nice, but only if they are buildings. Get me anything that you think would be helpful, just like we agreed before I jumped into the landfill.”

“He’s starting to get it.” Havoc’s shoulders started shaking, and soon he was roaring with laughter. “He's finally starting to get it!”

The Dwarf watched on as Joe got back to work, waiting until the human was fully distracted before letting out a small fart. It shimmered away as rainbow smoke before dissipating entirely, while Havoc kept a close eye on the human to make sure he didn’t notice.

Chapter Twenty-One

“It’s been three days, human,” Havoc whispered into Joe’s ear, the deep voice buzzing unpleasantly. That, combined with the surprise visit, caused Joe to slap out in shock. He missed by a wide margin, and Havoc waved at him to hurry. “Time to step up to the plate and grab the bull by the horns.”

Joe frowned at the Dwarf with slight disgust. “Where did that come from?”

Havoc looked surprisingly proud about his terrible mixed metaphor. “I took a council-designed course on humanity. They only let a hundred people in, but it gave us a nice look at your world's previous technology and conversational ability. Stop trying to dodge the question. Either show me what you have and what you are working on, or get out.”

“Fine, take a look. Chill.” Joe produced his redesigned ritual diagram and handed it over. “I know this spell, ‘Wither Plant’, and I’ve reached Apprentice five with it. I managed to make a scroll, and converted that into a ritual. Thanks to the spell scrolls that you ‘acquired’ for me, I was able to join this with a draining spell, making a first generation ‘Mana Wither’ spell.”

“Why did you do that?” Havoc tapped the diagram, making Joe wince. “What does it do?”

“Careful with that, please; it is the only prototype right now. As to why, you need some background information first.” The Reductionist took the paper back and gently set it on the floor. “One of the difficulties of my rituals has always been the fact that I need to assign the targets before I activate the ritual. That is, I need some blood from everyone who wants to participate or will be forced to participate. Unfortunately, that is considered a component, meaning I can no longer use blood as a targeting method. Even trying to reduce my own blood only gives me common aspects. Nothing special. However…”

Joe tapped at the inner circle of the ritual, “I am still able to create a… let’s call it an ‘opt in’, which is made with what is essentially my personal mana frequency. In short, I can directly build myself into the ritual. That allows me to activate it, direct it, turn on or off, and so forth. The draining element serves two functions. One: it is terribly and intentionally inefficient, as it drains mana impossibly fast from anyone that is participating in powering it. Two: I don't need to build in selected targets anymore. Anyone who uses mana within the bounds of the ritual are automatically considered to have ‘opted-in’ to powering the ritual. I thought that perhaps I could use this to empower other rituals or store energy, but…”

“Just doesn’t work?” Havoc nodded knowingly even as Joe looked at him with hope. “If you constructed mana batteries, you might be able to use this idea to charge them, but ambient mana won’t just get pulled in, am I right?”

Joe regarded Havoc with great interest. He had not been able to figure that detail out and had thought that perhaps it was an idea he would need to let go, but it sounded like something Havoc was familiar with. “No, I can't just use ambient mana. You’re right. But if I cast a spell in the area, it starts to drain me as long as I am within the area of effect. Why won't it grab from the environment?”

“You only have basic Essence in the air; nature doesn’t generate mana. It collects it. That’s how you get mana-imbued objects. First thing you’d need to do is find a way to suck up what’s in the air, then combine it together to make Quintessence. Still, that’s not mana, but it might serve as a supplemental power source if your target is natural, or flowing through a body.” Havoc rubbed his beard consideringly. “Things breaking down do generate mana, but only things that have been imbued with mana. Throwing away a banana peel and facilitating a breakdown will generate Essence, but not mana. Damaged gear, components, anything that is tossed away will release their stored mana as they decompose… you see what I’m getting at?”

“What’s the difference between mana and this ‘Essence’? Oh, you’re thinking that I could use the mana released from the landfill to power rituals in the landfill?” Joe shrugged at that thought; it was something he had already planned on pursuing. “I would need an extremely powerful ritual