Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
I thought Alchemist hated speaking Baguette?
-
For all readers and writers
After much ado, our new tagging system is here and being rolled out to the userbase. Read more here!
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 (Young Justice/Gamer/Multicross OC)
- Thread starter Mister Ficser
- Start date
I thought Alchemist hated speaking Baguette?
- Location
- England
It is currently the Fourth of January AS FUCK.
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
If there is, Alan Moore should probably win it. The man wrote some really fantastic comic books, generally, but he had no business writing Batman.
Honestly, there are a lot of writers that conflate humanizing a character with giving them deeply problematic flaws or making them make deeply disturbing decisions.
- Location
- Parts Unknown
For those of you who don't know, Bruce Timm is a piece of shit who has a fetish for Batgirl/Batman. He is the only author of Batman comics to write that in, and the only ones who take it seriously are his disgusting fans.
It was NOT in the original Killing Joke comic. Just the shitty animated movie adaptation.
Edit: He was also heavily involved in the creation of Batman: The Animated Series, which explains some shit.
It was NOT in the original Killing Joke comic. Just the shitty animated movie adaptation.
Edit: He was also heavily involved in the creation of Batman: The Animated Series, which explains some shit.
Last edited:
- Location
- Ohio
Yeah, that was very weird thing. They basically said that Batman was dating Barbara in Mystery of the Batwoman, hinted in the Batman Beyond Return of the Joker that they were a thing, and sometime after...Tim they just broke up. Likely after Barbara was shot and gave it up.
Kind of figure the reason he went for so long was he saw his life as Bruce was a dumpster fire because of his bad decisions, and so tried to cling to Batman as hard as he did so he didn't wallow in his failures.
Pretty sure that it was implied that Wonder Woman going off with the Justice Lord's Batman was what caused him to fall into that little affair, especially since him and Selina's relationship...broke fundamentally in some way.
Pretty much him feeling sorry for himself and clinging to the one female who didn't leave him...
Yeah, animated Batman made a cold and lonely bed for himself, and he had to sleep in it.
It was pretty much implied that Bruce felt that he made a mistake and betrayed Dick, and was trying to break it off with Barbara. Only to find the kid was his, Dick found out, and their relationship shattered.
-------------------------------------------
Thing is even if it was Dick with the Titans, it was said by Batman Tim was with the Titans in the Animated Universe, and Robin was implied to have never left Gotham until he was nearly 19...
It was a very confusing timeline, especially since neither Robin used a bo in the Animated Series. Honestly combining all those shows left the timeline of many of them a mess, like a jig saw puzzle.
Especially since it was implied that Barbara was Dick's only serious relationship, also that Batman and Barbara only got together when she was maybe...twenty?
It is just confusing as hell.
---------------------------------------
Hopefully you can unravel this gordian knot of confusion...
- Location
- United States
Oh thank goodness. I mean, I get it, it is Cannon is "A" timeline, but still. I don't mind my hero's being human, I do mind when they do something that stomps all over what their stated morals and lines are.
- Location
- Paradise, Hawaii
I have to ask? Barbara miscarriages due to Joker shooting her, but Gordon, her Father & Commissioner does not know?
Is this the reason behind Commisoner Gordon storming Wayne Estate & Mansion with Police & finding Batman's Lair?
Saw the snip a while ago.
Is this the reason behind Commisoner Gordon storming Wayne Estate & Mansion with Police & finding Batman's Lair?
Saw the snip a while ago.
Last edited:
Kinda puts the Scarecrow Gas Nightmare Barbara has in TAS in a new light.
And for the whole reasoning Dick goes on to leave Gotham and disassociate from Bruce My personal Headcanon is that when Bruce took Jason in he decided to give Jason the name Robin when we know the name Robin is one of the last things Dick has of his Mother
Honestly the whole Batman and Batgirl thing was bound to happen eventually somewhere.
Can someone tell me what did he use here?
I dont remember any spell or ability that he could have used outside zone of truth, and if i remember right it dont have the whole aura of pressure thing.
Zone of Truth on the roof, Wish'd up Command Spell that Bruce has no chance in hell of saving against, Aura comes from Epic+ level dragon deciding it's not accommodating the punchy little man with his punchy little fists.
Or it could be an off brand use of the gravity magic that Al ate a while back during his field trip with Tiff and Wonder Woman.
Multiple options, really.
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
A combo attack for all of the above, I'd say.
Unfortunately, Bruce doesn't have enough practice with the game to perform a c-c-c-combo! breaker.
Oh, good. No threadmark was a tipoff, but ugh.
Note that in original canon Batgirl IS older than Robin by a couple years, IIRC. Old enough to get on with Bruce? He would know the seven week date, his words were pretty harsh there.
Daecl
CURSED BY THE DICE
Oh man, totally missed this line first go around. Itching from what is presumably a repeat of the holy water rain? Not a great sign for how this Bruce is doing.
I am fairly certain this scenario isn't one we have to worry about, from what I've been able to find, Teen Titans is most likely a continuation of The Batman (2004) that takes place after the series finale. Even has a tie in comic from what I remember.Sorry you won't like that
Batman gets Batgirl/Barbara Gordon pregnant with his kid (Batman Beyond 2.0 #28)
Ah, yeah that incarnation of Dick used a Bo, still doesn't fit with his Angst and Work Alone Statement though
I just assume that came about after the series ended, seeing as this is most likely a few years after at the very least.
- Location
- UK
That's a really good point. Of course, the junior villains (at least, the intelligent ones who can hope for more) are being given the impression that they're being groomed for mastermind/leadership/genius positions. but the whole thing makes much more sense as a setup to develop "mauve shirts" who will be reliable powered minions that can be sent on missions that require a degree of intelligence and power, but who'll also be used to taking orders (any bets on in-Hive conditioning?), and constantly ready to take a paying job from a good (criminal) employer because they're never actually making enough from their own career to live in the standard to which they would like to become accustomed.
In ten to twenty years, HIVE Academy will be turning out a nice assortment of tough mooks, low-powered-mystics who can work a couple of spells, illegal entry experts, and reasonably intelligent leaders of small teams who will know when to push an attack and when to dump the loot and retreat. Long-term investors in the Academy will have got their money's worth.
(Now as long as 'Darknessa' doesn't ask: "So, Ms Kyle, if you're making a lot of money out of your thefts... why are you doing a temp job here at this Academy during your off-work period, rather than retiring to a tropical island to sip Mai Tais while your arm heals up?")
I'm enjoying the story and agree with others that any Batman/Barbara romance options feel unhealthy all around. Plenty of actual villains and Batman character conflict/angst without making him a complete piece of shit.
Looking at soul defenses could the MC learn from a group like Bleach's Fullbringers?
If he can manipulate souls that should at least suggest some ideas on how to defend his own soul against manipulation. I'm not sure if it'd look like restructuring his soul, adjusting how it's bound to his body, finding ways to empower it, or just being able to control and manipulate it if it becomes separated from his body somehow. Being able to split and then heal the different pieces of a soul could also be useful (from other settings). Could he armor his own soul in the souls of others (villains, lonely unbound souls, mindless souls) so they take soul damage instead of him?
As far as items Ragman's suit of souls sounds like it would be worth looking at. The capabilities are nice enough but the fact it is using souls to create the effects is why I think he'd be interested. It also can sense evil souls at a distance which means sensing and diagnostics of some sort. It would likely require a bit of magic and science to duplicate its abilities or defend against similar mechanisms but seeing how it does what it does would be the first step.
Ragman (DC Fandom)
Less interesting but observable or stealable might be the Chains of Hades from god of war.
That being said I feel like generally getting items for the item themselves doesn't do much for the story or MC. If he gets an item then he'll inevitably need to grind the internal dungeon a few times and/or combine near duplicates. It's a bit unfulfilling and skipping some of that grind takes away a lot from the perceived impressiveness of his new toy. I think Kary is in the same headspace I am when it comes to the grind (grind smarter so all your time isn't soaked up by trivial stuff, spread out your grind so you can enjoy spending time with close friends and family).
If he's getting an item to understand how it works so he can make something better using fundamental principles I find that more interesting to read. He's putting in work, running into problems he can't punch, and also considering what he's doing from a few different angles as he works and reworks his ideas. Maybe Kary would be helpful for bouncing ideas off of, devils and demons traditionally do trade in souls. A training arc where he's forced to interact with someone else or observe other characters and then figure out what the heck he's seeing would also be interesting. If they come with him then you can sprinkle in training updates from time to time as he's doing other stuff so his progress feels earned without having to devote a dozen updates to establishing the world and his interactions. Have the trainer just show up like in a cartoon and then they get developed in story bit by bit to whatever level you need.
Ah well, I'm looking forward to more and hope at least some of those ideas prompt the words to flow. Even if it's a "that idea won't work I'll show him how it should be done" scenario I'll take it
Looking at soul defenses could the MC learn from a group like Bleach's Fullbringers?
If he can manipulate souls that should at least suggest some ideas on how to defend his own soul against manipulation. I'm not sure if it'd look like restructuring his soul, adjusting how it's bound to his body, finding ways to empower it, or just being able to control and manipulate it if it becomes separated from his body somehow. Being able to split and then heal the different pieces of a soul could also be useful (from other settings). Could he armor his own soul in the souls of others (villains, lonely unbound souls, mindless souls) so they take soul damage instead of him?
As far as items Ragman's suit of souls sounds like it would be worth looking at. The capabilities are nice enough but the fact it is using souls to create the effects is why I think he'd be interested. It also can sense evil souls at a distance which means sensing and diagnostics of some sort. It would likely require a bit of magic and science to duplicate its abilities or defend against similar mechanisms but seeing how it does what it does would be the first step.
Ragman (DC Fandom)
Less interesting but observable or stealable might be the Chains of Hades from god of war.
That being said I feel like generally getting items for the item themselves doesn't do much for the story or MC. If he gets an item then he'll inevitably need to grind the internal dungeon a few times and/or combine near duplicates. It's a bit unfulfilling and skipping some of that grind takes away a lot from the perceived impressiveness of his new toy. I think Kary is in the same headspace I am when it comes to the grind (grind smarter so all your time isn't soaked up by trivial stuff, spread out your grind so you can enjoy spending time with close friends and family).
If he's getting an item to understand how it works so he can make something better using fundamental principles I find that more interesting to read. He's putting in work, running into problems he can't punch, and also considering what he's doing from a few different angles as he works and reworks his ideas. Maybe Kary would be helpful for bouncing ideas off of, devils and demons traditionally do trade in souls. A training arc where he's forced to interact with someone else or observe other characters and then figure out what the heck he's seeing would also be interesting. If they come with him then you can sprinkle in training updates from time to time as he's doing other stuff so his progress feels earned without having to devote a dozen updates to establishing the world and his interactions. Have the trainer just show up like in a cartoon and then they get developed in story bit by bit to whatever level you need.
Ah well, I'm looking forward to more and hope at least some of those ideas prompt the words to flow. Even if it's a "that idea won't work I'll show him how it should be done" scenario I'll take it
Isnt my realname
This isn't my real name.
- Location
- Not Here
Yeah, what happened to the utility belt?
Lycanthromancer
The Arcane Fuzz
- Location
- USA
Stolen and Inventory'd, most likely.
Isnt my realname
This isn't my real name.
- Location
- Not Here
Be hilarious if it was returned via Robin, or given to Robin as a trophy.
- Location
- Ohio
Another thing is that it is later revealed that Blood is mentally influencing the student body of HIVE Academy, making it more appealing to be villains, and suppressing things like too much sympathy/empathy. Essentially making sure they think in a certain way to ensure they become the Villains they want them to be in the future.
Getting paid for minions ready made from orphans and such, that fill roles for people like Lex Luthor, and other people who need some hired power.
If I recall the Titans found out that the prick was using his abilities to make them accept the future careers they chose for them, not fight the subtle brain washing, and basically accept the encouragement to be as misbehaved as they want to be outside the school.
------------------------------------
I kind of wonder what would happen if Yuffie launched her own Pseudo Chocobo Ranch in Jump City, to unleash herds of wild Chocobo and see what happens in the chaos.
Another idea is her and Tiffany enchant a large fan into a kind of enchanted snow machine, and troll Titan's Tower. Basically covering the tower in snow, or at least burying the lower levels. Only Robin and them try and figure out how to disenchant it or break it, and instead make things worse and worse... Until they finally get the big leagues involved...
After accidentally causing ice sprites that are like lesser Shiva's to manifest in the clouds above Jump City, and when they feel threatened they...summon Shiva as their queen...
It would be kind of funny...
Getting paid for minions ready made from orphans and such, that fill roles for people like Lex Luthor, and other people who need some hired power.
If I recall the Titans found out that the prick was using his abilities to make them accept the future careers they chose for them, not fight the subtle brain washing, and basically accept the encouragement to be as misbehaved as they want to be outside the school.
------------------------------------
I kind of wonder what would happen if Yuffie launched her own Pseudo Chocobo Ranch in Jump City, to unleash herds of wild Chocobo and see what happens in the chaos.
Another idea is her and Tiffany enchant a large fan into a kind of enchanted snow machine, and troll Titan's Tower. Basically covering the tower in snow, or at least burying the lower levels. Only Robin and them try and figure out how to disenchant it or break it, and instead make things worse and worse... Until they finally get the big leagues involved...
After accidentally causing ice sprites that are like lesser Shiva's to manifest in the clouds above Jump City, and when they feel threatened they...summon Shiva as their queen...
It would be kind of funny...
Chapter 293
Project: Gamer Ver. 2 Alpha Build 2.9.3
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
19/07/2003 (TT)
Tiffany waited with her eyes closed as the magic she was manipulating slowly, slowly lined up to where she wanted it. As the little dots and lines that represented an enchantment painstakingly etched themselves into the concept of the ring she was working on.
"Stirry-stirry, stir-stir stir it up~" a small, high-pitched voice sang from another station of the workshop. "Shaky-shaky, shake-shake shake it up!"
The little doll, Chica, had slowly grown to be a regular fixture in the workshop. The thing insisted that it was a chirurgeon, whatever -that- was, and that it needed to make healing potions. Which was kind of weird, given that the potions didn't work on it or the other dolls.
Not that Tiffany was actually complaining, though. The little chicken's potions -did- work on her.
"Hey, Alchemist?" Tiffany called out to the room, her eyes still closed. "Got a question for you."
"What's up?" the man asked from somewhere behind the girl. The last she'd seen, he was charging up some kind of gold-colored gemstone that was about the size of a fifty-cent coin.
That had been an odd lesson. Once she and Bonnie had moved beyond making petty enchantments with petty soul gems, he'd taught the both of them how to repair and recharge the gems by themselves.
She'd never really put much thought into how his Repair spell worked until he explained that it was Time magic. The details were mired in conjecture and riddled with question marks but, as he'd explained, the spell would restore a distinct, non-living object to its best condition. Which he'd shown off by taking a spent shotgun shell, casting the spell on it and showing her the brand-new shotgun shell it turned into.
"I was thinking about trying to go out on patrol," Tiffany said. "You know, get an idea about the city from overhead, get a feel for the alleyways. Just... get out and do stuff."
"...I have no idea why teenagers insist on patrolling in costumes," the man said with an aggrieved sigh. "Still, if that's what you want to do, I won't stop you."
"I kind of just... I want to get out and do some stuff on my own," Tiffany admitted. "Batman thought I could be a hero, and I want to -be- a hero. Not just... Not just someone that holes up and hides away when things get tough."
"That was honestly a pretty reasonable response, you know," Alchemist gently chided her.
Which was kind of weird. She knew that Robin or Kid Flash would have given her grief about letting her emotions control her. And her own parents didn't really care so much about how she felt as opposed to what she was doing.
So basically being told that it was okay to be depressed? It felt really weird.
"Have your powers come back, yet?" the man asked, pulling Tiffany back out of her thoughts.
"No... Well, mostly no. My System is at sixty-something percent but I managed to figure out how to use a few of my Skills." Tiffany opened her eyes as the ring she'd been working on finally absorbed the last motes of magic, becoming more than just metal and stone. "I've got Recover and Treatment back, so I can fix anything that doesn't kill me."
"Alright then," Alchemist absently agreed. "If that's what you want to do, like I said, I won't stop you."
"...I was actually wondering if maybe you might be willing to help me a little bit?" Tiffany hesitantly asked. When Alchemist didn't respond, too focused on the ring in his hands that he was feeding magic into from the little golden gem, Tiffany continued. "Uh, Kary mentioned you had this big fire sword? I was wondering if I could borrow it?"
"...Why would you need a giant fire sword?"
"Well, uh, you know how half the time, people don't fight Batman because they're intimidated?" She waited a moment until Alchemist gave her a brief nod. "Well, I was thinking-"
"No," Alchemist cut her off and shook his head in the negative. "I get what you're thinking, and the weapon would be intimidating, but eventually something is going to press you to actually use it just because you have it. You play Chicken long enough, you -will- find someone dumb enough to ram themselves onto a burning blade of fire."
"...Oh," Tiffany mumbled. That... was actually a pretty good point. "So, uh... what should I do instead?"
"Hang on one..." the man held his hands out around the ring as though there was a large, invisible ball around it. One that he was steadily compressing. He slowly clenched them together until they closed around the little black circle. "...second. Alright, let's make you something useful but non-lethal. How does that sound?"
"...Good?" Tiffany watched, a dull ache in her chest as the man opened a system window and began tapping away at it. "That sounds... good."
"Have you picked out a costume, yet?" Alchemist asked as he set out an old, iron war-axe on the enchanting table alongside a mace made out of some kind of green metal.
"Yeah. I've been enchanting most of my own gear, too," she told him, watching as he broke down the two items for their enchantments. "That ring I just made has one of the elemental shield spells in it, the one for electricity. So it's as good as wearing a suit of light armor and it cuts down a big percentage of electrical damage!"
Which seemed like a good idea. The other two elemental shield spells that she'd picked up off the set of rings, one each with a spell for Fire Shield, Frost Shield and Shock Shield, that he'd gotten for her and Bonny would have been useful... But neither fire nor ice were instantaneous like an electrical shock. They could be defended against, within reason, whereas shock damage couldn't be.
"Do you have any gloves yet?" Alchemist asked as he brought out a pair of golden gemstones, just like the one he'd used to enchant his...
Tiffany had been using the enchanting table when Alchemist had done that. Was he experimenting with one of the other enchanting styles?
She couldn't remember which one didn't need a worktable.
"...Not yet," Tiffany admitted. "I've got a hoodie, a bandana with eyeholes cut out, some cargo pants and I had Kary buy a bag of holding for me that I've been filling up with Chica's potions."
"Good enough to start with," Alchemist told her as he pulled a pair of cut-resistant work gloves out of his inventory. "Let's just add something..."
Right up close, Tiffany could actually see little distortions start to surround one of the gloves while, at the same time, the subtle but unnatural glow around one of the gemstones started to fade. After about thirty seconds, the man was done with the right glove and then got to work on the left.
"Here," the man offered the pair to her. "I didn't want to make an enchantment that would need recharged, so I sacrificed a lot of potential power to make those permanent instead. Both of those gloves will absorb about five points of stamina and magic, per hit, from whatever you're fighting."
"...So I can exhaust people by punching them?" Tiffany asked as she slipped the gloves on. They were a little bit loose but she supposed that would fix itself, eventually.
"That's what I was thinking, yeah," Alchemist agreed as he snapped his fingers and the now-broken gemstones were made whole. They didn't regain their glow but they could at least be recharged, now. "It's not perfect, of course, but it's still a lot better than blunt head trauma or whatever else Batman ends up doing to people."
"Batman doesn't kill," Tiffany said, almost on reflex.
"Batman doesn't kill on purpose," Alchemist argued. "In a free-for-all at a construction site, things happen. You hit people, they fall down. Depending on what they land on? They might not get back up."
"...Oh," Tiffany mumbled as she flexed her fingers. "That's... not good."
"It's not," Alchemist agreed. "Batman does his best but he's not a god. Sometimes, despite doing our best, bad things still happen. Anyway, don't think too hard about that. Just make sure that you don't leave anyone where they'll get run over and you should be fine."
"...Yeah," Tiffany agreed. She wasn't sure what else to say, and Alchemist had turned his eyes down to focus on the ring he'd made. A strange little thing that had arcs of electricity jumping through the eye of it.
Instead she headed for the door, she wanted to get ready to go out and see what Jump City was like after dark.
"Hey, Alchemist?" Tiffany asked, stopping at the doorway to turn around and look at the man. She met his eyes, curious and concerned and... alright, Alchemist was definitely judgemental but he wasn't being critical of her and that was so, so much more than she'd gotten from anyone else in a long, long time. "...Thank you."
-----
In the distant past, in the year two-thousand and three, conveniences such as Wi-Fi didn't exist. True, it had technically been made six years prior but it simply was not commercialized until well into the year two-thousand and four.
Personal digital assistants, laptops and cellphones that could utilize the wireless information field were rare and expensive.
Which meant that Alchemist wasn't using a laptop as he sat in a small, out of the way coffee shop. Instead he had a book in hand. One that was well-worn and written in a language foreign to the reality he currently occupied.
'On the Formation and Use of the Modern Soul Gem as Observed by Sotha Sil'
'The manufacture of standardized soul gems for use in ritual spells and enchanting is an art which I have watched evolve with grand fascination. In their raw form, having been cut from the flesh of Tamriel, a soul gem can be roughly graded based on two main factors: size and clarity. Larger soul gems that are densely opaque have proven capable of storing larger, more powerful souls.
However, throughout the last few centuries, great strides in magnifying storage capacity while reducing the size of individual gems has shown great promise. In the recent past, a soul gem capable of housing the manifested essence of a greater Daedra would be a massive, weighty object perhaps as large as the head of a particularly clever Argonian.
This, of course, made the storage and transportation of such artifacts incredibly unwieldy and horrifically unprofitable. The number of slaves needed to ensure a caravan of reasonable size reached its destination safely was simply too great an investment with no promise of guaranteed safety. Or even financial return!
Instead, some rare few alchemists have made great strides in the creation of a refined soul gem. These artifacts are not significantly larger than a standard gold coin but have proven capable of housing even the essence of the majestic Golden Saint, the handmaidens of Sheogorath himself!
Not very long ago, I came across a most curious artifact. The Star of Azura. An absolutely fascinating device, perhaps the size of a teacup and it seemed to be both bottomless and ineffably reusable. How it accomplished these feats I was unable to determine during the short century in which I held the artifact in my own library before it was reclaimed by the Mother of Roses. Not only was it a fascinating subject of study, it proved to be an invaluable tool in many of my other research projects.
Unexpectedly, I actually found the loss of the artifact to be quite troublesome. As such, I thought to make an honest attempt at a mortal recreation. Of function, if not form.
To this end I sent two of my daughters to collect an alchemist of appropriate skill and, once the elderly Altmer disclosed the secrets of soul gem refinement I made to manufacture my recreation.
The first step, he explained, was to gather together the broken fragments and shards of soul gems that had already been spent. They were, it seemed, already attuned to the process of being used. Thus I was instructed to create a solution that would separate the inert components from the active minerals that actually stored and discharged magicka. The appropriate list of ingredients and steps to successfully brew the needed solution are detailed below-'
"This is nice," Kary commented in her seat across from the wizard. "It's a lovely day, the coffee is rather pleasant... When was the last time we made to enjoy a day like this?"
"I don't really know," Alchemist admitted as he idly turned a page in the book. "Honestly? Not being in a hurry feels kind of... off."
"You need to stop thinking like a human, love." Kary shook her head but there was a soft smile on her lips. "You have time, more than enough that you needn't concern yourself with getting everything done so quickly."
"I'm usually better at managing deadlines," Alchemist argued, though his words lacked any heat. "Though I guess I'm not used to having so many at a time."
"And what now?" the woman asked as she waved to the other patrons of the coffee shop. "You seem rather directionless, of late. Have you been struggling to decide on what you would invest your time in?"
"...Honestly? Yeah," Alchemist admitted with a shaky grin. "I could be working on Jinx's chainmail, making the parts for the golem, digging into a fire crystal... but I've just been playing around a little bit with enchanting, supervising Tiff and Bonnie. Which has been nice, don't get me wrong, but part of me kind of feels like I'm not moving forward fast enough and it isn't taking well to being told to calm down."
"Hmm..." Kary made a sound of assent. "I'm sure you'll adjust, love. You've always been admirably resilient."
Alchemist didn't have an answer for her, not really. He wasn't sure what to say to keep things moving, either.
Instead he just took a sip of his hot chocolate and kept reading-
'-one of my nominal improvements involved creating a gestalt soul gem. Utilizing the methodology the alchemist explained before his expiration, I crafted a more complex mold that could only create a single modified soul gem in comparison to the surprisingly efficient castings the alchemists would perform.
While the overall form would appear to be comprised of six interlocking 'Grand' soul gems, I found that the actual storage was only equivalent to four of the formerly named gems. While this did prove to be an interesting development it also proved to be ultimately pointless. No known creature on Tamriel has a soul of sufficient size to adequately fill the Gestalt Gem. This also proved to be a failure in terms of re-use, suffering under the same limitations as all other soul gems.
It would appear as though the extraction of magicka is inherently disruptive to the physical form. How Azura got around this issue remains a mystery. Unless, of course, her star is in part non-physical?
As a Daedric Artifact that did not come from the hands of the dwemer, it is entirely possible that Azura's Star may in fact be formed of Chaotic Creatia that has been attuned to a specific material which is only superficially similar to the form of a soul gem within the realm of Mundus. Lending credence to this possibility, rumors have been circulating of odd, Black Soul Gems coming from Coldharbour, the realm of Molag Bal.
As that is one of the realms I least enjoy, I have yet to substantiate these rumors. Though, if they are indeed capable of capturing the soul of man or mer then this may open the door to new possibilities. I will see about having some of the Khajit reserved for testing.'
Alchemist silently sipped at his chocolate as he continued to read through the distressingly disturbing journal. Across from him, Kary was doing much the same, though her book looked to be a fantasy novel.
He envied her, and more than a little bit. The information hidden within the journal of Sotha Sil was growing increasingly unpleasant as the man had gotten closer and closer to taking a running jump over the Mengele line.
At least Alchemist's other half, across town and silently tailing Tiffany, wasn't dealing with any crimes against humanity. No, he just got to experience quite a lot of second-hand embarrassment as two groups of teens fought each other for the entertainment of one very weird, very annoying, one-eyed creep.
-----
Well, 'tailing' Tiffany might have been something of a strong word for what the other half of Alchemist was doing.
He was keeping an eye on her, true, but he wasn't personally following her or tracing her footsteps.
That was half the point of scrying magic!
The girl might have been a stranger in a strange place but she was building her confidence back up and Alchemist saw no need to undermine that. He was ready to step in if things went absolutely haywire but, short of that? Tiffany finally felt motivated to get up, go outside and do something on her own.
Still, keeping an eye on the shallow saucer that was displaying an over-the-shoulder view of what the girl was doing didn't really require that much focus from him. Which left him with some time to work on things and no real direction.
The mage silently sighed and pulled his newest creation out of the inventory and held it up in front of his face.
A thin, ebony band framed the world as he looked through it. Jutting through the center of it, a thin current of blue light jumped, popped and crackled audibly. Slipping the ring onto his left ring finger, the pointer fingers on both hands already being claimed by different rings, Alchemist immediately felt... like he was trying to stretch something and it felt about ready to tear.
~~ +8 HP! ~~
And, every second that it was on, he was getting a notification that he was gaining hit points?
The wizard hissed in discomfort before sliding the ring off, noticing immediately that the stretching his... something had just experienced let up.
As far as experiments went, that was brief but informative.
The ring itself-
~~ Jolt Ring ~~
~~ Inflicts (5) points of lightning damage on the wearer per second. ~~
-had been made using the Dunmeri enchanting style. The Nordic one, while significantly stronger, was also incredibly rigid. The Heartlands style was much the same, if limited like the Nordic style in a different way.
Alchemist glanced at the scrying pool, confirming nothing critical needed his attention, then focused on the ring again.
With a sigh, the mage opened his system and navigated to the Perks menu. He'd guessed that he might run into an issue in trying to wear a third ring but he'd also figured it wouldn't actually matter. Well, he'd thought wrong.
Opening the segment on Epic Perks, Alchemist selected 'Additional Magic Item Space: Ring', dropping twelve points on something he shouldn't functionally need.
The man shivered, his other half nearly spilled his hot chocolate as he felt something... expand? He knew he didn't actually change shapes or change sizes but it was almost like he...
Alchemist almost wanted to make a reference to outlets in a house but he didn't know if that would fit.
Maybe something along the lines of having an expansion card installed in a computer, opening up room for a new port?
Regardless, the wizard slipped the ring back on to his finger. It still felt weird, and not just in the 'eating tiny electric shocks' kind of way, but it was tolerable. It was... fading.
~~ +8 HP! ~~
The wizard hummed as he considered that number. It repeated, endlessly, once every second. Something he was sure he'd find annoying in short order.
He knew he had full absorption on his ring from another source. But there was more than just that. He had two distinct sources of resistance that were unrelated to the shard he'd eaten a few days back. Twenty-five percent came from another perk but there was also a little bit that was factored in from a piece of equipment, the factor he'd ripped out of the mask of the dragon priest, Zahkriisos from Solstheim. That one offered fifty percent additional defense.
So Alchemist's total electrical resistance actually came up to one-hundred and seventy-five percent absorption. Meaning that electrical damage healed him for more than it should have harmed him.
~~ Passive Ability: Lightning Resistance has reached level 2! ~~
And, if that kept growing at a reasonable pace? Alchemist's overall resistance would tick over one-hundred and eighty percent sometime soon and he'd be getting nine hit points per second instead of eight!
...Not a particularly big deal, the wizard knew. It wasn't intended to jump up to an amazing level of immunity. The wizard just wanted a little bit more insurance if, somehow, he was ever caught without the ability to call up his arms and armor.
Alchemist glanced at the scrying pool again. Tiffany was hesitating, struggling to decide what to do as a trio of villainous teenagers were running rings around the Teen Titans.
...Eh, nobody was dead or dying. That was basically the same as saying everyone was fine. Right?
Instead, the mage backed out of the Epic Perks menu, back into normal perks and began searching. He had two-hundred and thirteen perk points to spend and he'd gotten a solid read on just what the limits were on enchanting without any extra boosts or modifiers.
And that limit, without any risk of failure, was abysmal. Admittedly that was with the Dunmeri style of enchanting, which came with so many limitations on power that it was almost painful. But it was also the only style that offered Alchemist the freedom to make advanced enchantments.
The Nordic style didn't allow an enchanter to create an artifact that would harm the wearer and the method used by the Mage's Guild in the heart of the empire of Tamriel might allow for such an enchantment but it would only activate once and then the object would need to be taken off and then put back on. Which was workable, certainly, but absolutely tedious.
To create a passive effect, Alchemist had to have a soul gem filled with as much power as a greater demon. He had to know a spell of the correct type to work into the enchantment. Then he had to be mindful of the fact that the Dunmeri style had harsh limitations on scope that was based off of a combination of material and size of what was being enchanted.
And passive enchantments, permanent effects, were comparatively large. A Dunmer enchanter could literally create a ring that would cast a healing spell, strong enough to bring a warrior to full health from the very brink of death. That same enchanter would then struggle to create a passive healing enchantment that might restore three or four hit points per second.
Alchemist was thankful that part of the formula for how those enchantments were made was based off of Intelligence and Luck, two stats that far exceeded anything natively possible in the game, Morrowind.
Without cheating.
The five point enchantment he'd put into the little ebony ring that was shocking his finger?
That was the limit of what he could make, even using a material like ebony. He hadn't told Tiffany that he'd cast Fortify Skill on himself before making her gloves, doubling his results. Perhaps, if he...
Alchemist set that line of inquiry to the side as he began selecting perks. He needed to focus on one set of activities at a time, otherwise he'd never get anything finished.
~~ Perks selected -
(Novice) (Initiate) (Adept) (Expert) Master Enchanter: New enchantments placed on an item are (20) (40) (60) (80) 100% percent stronger!
Regalia: Enchantments placed on rings, pendants, amulets, circlets and clothing but not armor are 25% stronger!
Skillful Enchanter: Skill enchantments placed on items are 25% stronger.
(Fire) (Frost) (Lightning) Elemental Enchanter: Elemental enchantments placed on weapons or armor are (25) 50% stronger.
(Petty) (Great) Grand Anima: Enchantment sources have their magnitudes increased by (33) (66) 100%
Ritual Enchanter: Knowledge of how to manipulate natural phenomena to improve the power of your enchantments has been granted. Absorption spells which drain life and magic can be made more powerful if cast in the shadow of the eclipse, lightning enchantments become more impactful if crafted within the heart of a thunderstorm and countless, similar pieces of knowledge have been made available to you.~~
Fifteen perks. Most of which were just variations on making the numbers go up. Which, fair, that was a core facet of the Gamer system...
But Alchemist was actually most curious about the last one he selected. He'd half expected to get some kind of information dump but there wasn't anything like that going on.
Which was honestly kind of nice. The Epic Perks for the various Metamagics had been excruciating for that exact reason.
No, there was just a strange, quiet certainty in the back of his mind. A little bit of awareness that, if he were to craft a weapon and enchant it with Light right now, he could capture a little bit of the noon sunlight and it would bite the undead just a little harder, cut through them just a little easier. An effect that was less numeric and more... thematic.
Alchemist hummed as he watched Tiffany jump into the middle of the brewing brawl between the Teen Titans and H.I.V.E's star students, shouting something at Mammoth.
Idly, he wondered if that was intentional on her part. If she wanted a rematch against an iteration of the boy that beat her, handily, once upon a time.
Whether she did or not, it still promised to be interesting...
And it almost definitely reinforced Alchemist's refusal to give the girl a chunk of sharpened, burning steel.
Disclaimer Me Do: I own nothing you recognize. And most of what you don't recognize, I still don't own.
_________________________________________________________________________
19/07/2003 (TT)
Tiffany waited with her eyes closed as the magic she was manipulating slowly, slowly lined up to where she wanted it. As the little dots and lines that represented an enchantment painstakingly etched themselves into the concept of the ring she was working on.
"Stirry-stirry, stir-stir stir it up~" a small, high-pitched voice sang from another station of the workshop. "Shaky-shaky, shake-shake shake it up!"
The little doll, Chica, had slowly grown to be a regular fixture in the workshop. The thing insisted that it was a chirurgeon, whatever -that- was, and that it needed to make healing potions. Which was kind of weird, given that the potions didn't work on it or the other dolls.
Not that Tiffany was actually complaining, though. The little chicken's potions -did- work on her.
"Hey, Alchemist?" Tiffany called out to the room, her eyes still closed. "Got a question for you."
"What's up?" the man asked from somewhere behind the girl. The last she'd seen, he was charging up some kind of gold-colored gemstone that was about the size of a fifty-cent coin.
That had been an odd lesson. Once she and Bonnie had moved beyond making petty enchantments with petty soul gems, he'd taught the both of them how to repair and recharge the gems by themselves.
She'd never really put much thought into how his Repair spell worked until he explained that it was Time magic. The details were mired in conjecture and riddled with question marks but, as he'd explained, the spell would restore a distinct, non-living object to its best condition. Which he'd shown off by taking a spent shotgun shell, casting the spell on it and showing her the brand-new shotgun shell it turned into.
"I was thinking about trying to go out on patrol," Tiffany said. "You know, get an idea about the city from overhead, get a feel for the alleyways. Just... get out and do stuff."
"...I have no idea why teenagers insist on patrolling in costumes," the man said with an aggrieved sigh. "Still, if that's what you want to do, I won't stop you."
"I kind of just... I want to get out and do some stuff on my own," Tiffany admitted. "Batman thought I could be a hero, and I want to -be- a hero. Not just... Not just someone that holes up and hides away when things get tough."
"That was honestly a pretty reasonable response, you know," Alchemist gently chided her.
Which was kind of weird. She knew that Robin or Kid Flash would have given her grief about letting her emotions control her. And her own parents didn't really care so much about how she felt as opposed to what she was doing.
So basically being told that it was okay to be depressed? It felt really weird.
"Have your powers come back, yet?" the man asked, pulling Tiffany back out of her thoughts.
"No... Well, mostly no. My System is at sixty-something percent but I managed to figure out how to use a few of my Skills." Tiffany opened her eyes as the ring she'd been working on finally absorbed the last motes of magic, becoming more than just metal and stone. "I've got Recover and Treatment back, so I can fix anything that doesn't kill me."
"Alright then," Alchemist absently agreed. "If that's what you want to do, like I said, I won't stop you."
"...I was actually wondering if maybe you might be willing to help me a little bit?" Tiffany hesitantly asked. When Alchemist didn't respond, too focused on the ring in his hands that he was feeding magic into from the little golden gem, Tiffany continued. "Uh, Kary mentioned you had this big fire sword? I was wondering if I could borrow it?"
"...Why would you need a giant fire sword?"
"Well, uh, you know how half the time, people don't fight Batman because they're intimidated?" She waited a moment until Alchemist gave her a brief nod. "Well, I was thinking-"
"No," Alchemist cut her off and shook his head in the negative. "I get what you're thinking, and the weapon would be intimidating, but eventually something is going to press you to actually use it just because you have it. You play Chicken long enough, you -will- find someone dumb enough to ram themselves onto a burning blade of fire."
"...Oh," Tiffany mumbled. That... was actually a pretty good point. "So, uh... what should I do instead?"
"Hang on one..." the man held his hands out around the ring as though there was a large, invisible ball around it. One that he was steadily compressing. He slowly clenched them together until they closed around the little black circle. "...second. Alright, let's make you something useful but non-lethal. How does that sound?"
"...Good?" Tiffany watched, a dull ache in her chest as the man opened a system window and began tapping away at it. "That sounds... good."
"Have you picked out a costume, yet?" Alchemist asked as he set out an old, iron war-axe on the enchanting table alongside a mace made out of some kind of green metal.
"Yeah. I've been enchanting most of my own gear, too," she told him, watching as he broke down the two items for their enchantments. "That ring I just made has one of the elemental shield spells in it, the one for electricity. So it's as good as wearing a suit of light armor and it cuts down a big percentage of electrical damage!"
Which seemed like a good idea. The other two elemental shield spells that she'd picked up off the set of rings, one each with a spell for Fire Shield, Frost Shield and Shock Shield, that he'd gotten for her and Bonny would have been useful... But neither fire nor ice were instantaneous like an electrical shock. They could be defended against, within reason, whereas shock damage couldn't be.
"Do you have any gloves yet?" Alchemist asked as he brought out a pair of golden gemstones, just like the one he'd used to enchant his...
Tiffany had been using the enchanting table when Alchemist had done that. Was he experimenting with one of the other enchanting styles?
She couldn't remember which one didn't need a worktable.
"...Not yet," Tiffany admitted. "I've got a hoodie, a bandana with eyeholes cut out, some cargo pants and I had Kary buy a bag of holding for me that I've been filling up with Chica's potions."
"Good enough to start with," Alchemist told her as he pulled a pair of cut-resistant work gloves out of his inventory. "Let's just add something..."
Right up close, Tiffany could actually see little distortions start to surround one of the gloves while, at the same time, the subtle but unnatural glow around one of the gemstones started to fade. After about thirty seconds, the man was done with the right glove and then got to work on the left.
"Here," the man offered the pair to her. "I didn't want to make an enchantment that would need recharged, so I sacrificed a lot of potential power to make those permanent instead. Both of those gloves will absorb about five points of stamina and magic, per hit, from whatever you're fighting."
"...So I can exhaust people by punching them?" Tiffany asked as she slipped the gloves on. They were a little bit loose but she supposed that would fix itself, eventually.
"That's what I was thinking, yeah," Alchemist agreed as he snapped his fingers and the now-broken gemstones were made whole. They didn't regain their glow but they could at least be recharged, now. "It's not perfect, of course, but it's still a lot better than blunt head trauma or whatever else Batman ends up doing to people."
"Batman doesn't kill," Tiffany said, almost on reflex.
"Batman doesn't kill on purpose," Alchemist argued. "In a free-for-all at a construction site, things happen. You hit people, they fall down. Depending on what they land on? They might not get back up."
"...Oh," Tiffany mumbled as she flexed her fingers. "That's... not good."
"It's not," Alchemist agreed. "Batman does his best but he's not a god. Sometimes, despite doing our best, bad things still happen. Anyway, don't think too hard about that. Just make sure that you don't leave anyone where they'll get run over and you should be fine."
"...Yeah," Tiffany agreed. She wasn't sure what else to say, and Alchemist had turned his eyes down to focus on the ring he'd made. A strange little thing that had arcs of electricity jumping through the eye of it.
Instead she headed for the door, she wanted to get ready to go out and see what Jump City was like after dark.
"Hey, Alchemist?" Tiffany asked, stopping at the doorway to turn around and look at the man. She met his eyes, curious and concerned and... alright, Alchemist was definitely judgemental but he wasn't being critical of her and that was so, so much more than she'd gotten from anyone else in a long, long time. "...Thank you."
-----
In the distant past, in the year two-thousand and three, conveniences such as Wi-Fi didn't exist. True, it had technically been made six years prior but it simply was not commercialized until well into the year two-thousand and four.
Personal digital assistants, laptops and cellphones that could utilize the wireless information field were rare and expensive.
Which meant that Alchemist wasn't using a laptop as he sat in a small, out of the way coffee shop. Instead he had a book in hand. One that was well-worn and written in a language foreign to the reality he currently occupied.
'On the Formation and Use of the Modern Soul Gem as Observed by Sotha Sil'
'The manufacture of standardized soul gems for use in ritual spells and enchanting is an art which I have watched evolve with grand fascination. In their raw form, having been cut from the flesh of Tamriel, a soul gem can be roughly graded based on two main factors: size and clarity. Larger soul gems that are densely opaque have proven capable of storing larger, more powerful souls.
However, throughout the last few centuries, great strides in magnifying storage capacity while reducing the size of individual gems has shown great promise. In the recent past, a soul gem capable of housing the manifested essence of a greater Daedra would be a massive, weighty object perhaps as large as the head of a particularly clever Argonian.
This, of course, made the storage and transportation of such artifacts incredibly unwieldy and horrifically unprofitable. The number of slaves needed to ensure a caravan of reasonable size reached its destination safely was simply too great an investment with no promise of guaranteed safety. Or even financial return!
Instead, some rare few alchemists have made great strides in the creation of a refined soul gem. These artifacts are not significantly larger than a standard gold coin but have proven capable of housing even the essence of the majestic Golden Saint, the handmaidens of Sheogorath himself!
Not very long ago, I came across a most curious artifact. The Star of Azura. An absolutely fascinating device, perhaps the size of a teacup and it seemed to be both bottomless and ineffably reusable. How it accomplished these feats I was unable to determine during the short century in which I held the artifact in my own library before it was reclaimed by the Mother of Roses. Not only was it a fascinating subject of study, it proved to be an invaluable tool in many of my other research projects.
Unexpectedly, I actually found the loss of the artifact to be quite troublesome. As such, I thought to make an honest attempt at a mortal recreation. Of function, if not form.
To this end I sent two of my daughters to collect an alchemist of appropriate skill and, once the elderly Altmer disclosed the secrets of soul gem refinement I made to manufacture my recreation.
The first step, he explained, was to gather together the broken fragments and shards of soul gems that had already been spent. They were, it seemed, already attuned to the process of being used. Thus I was instructed to create a solution that would separate the inert components from the active minerals that actually stored and discharged magicka. The appropriate list of ingredients and steps to successfully brew the needed solution are detailed below-'
"This is nice," Kary commented in her seat across from the wizard. "It's a lovely day, the coffee is rather pleasant... When was the last time we made to enjoy a day like this?"
"I don't really know," Alchemist admitted as he idly turned a page in the book. "Honestly? Not being in a hurry feels kind of... off."
"You need to stop thinking like a human, love." Kary shook her head but there was a soft smile on her lips. "You have time, more than enough that you needn't concern yourself with getting everything done so quickly."
"I'm usually better at managing deadlines," Alchemist argued, though his words lacked any heat. "Though I guess I'm not used to having so many at a time."
"And what now?" the woman asked as she waved to the other patrons of the coffee shop. "You seem rather directionless, of late. Have you been struggling to decide on what you would invest your time in?"
"...Honestly? Yeah," Alchemist admitted with a shaky grin. "I could be working on Jinx's chainmail, making the parts for the golem, digging into a fire crystal... but I've just been playing around a little bit with enchanting, supervising Tiff and Bonnie. Which has been nice, don't get me wrong, but part of me kind of feels like I'm not moving forward fast enough and it isn't taking well to being told to calm down."
"Hmm..." Kary made a sound of assent. "I'm sure you'll adjust, love. You've always been admirably resilient."
Alchemist didn't have an answer for her, not really. He wasn't sure what to say to keep things moving, either.
Instead he just took a sip of his hot chocolate and kept reading-
'-one of my nominal improvements involved creating a gestalt soul gem. Utilizing the methodology the alchemist explained before his expiration, I crafted a more complex mold that could only create a single modified soul gem in comparison to the surprisingly efficient castings the alchemists would perform.
While the overall form would appear to be comprised of six interlocking 'Grand' soul gems, I found that the actual storage was only equivalent to four of the formerly named gems. While this did prove to be an interesting development it also proved to be ultimately pointless. No known creature on Tamriel has a soul of sufficient size to adequately fill the Gestalt Gem. This also proved to be a failure in terms of re-use, suffering under the same limitations as all other soul gems.
It would appear as though the extraction of magicka is inherently disruptive to the physical form. How Azura got around this issue remains a mystery. Unless, of course, her star is in part non-physical?
As a Daedric Artifact that did not come from the hands of the dwemer, it is entirely possible that Azura's Star may in fact be formed of Chaotic Creatia that has been attuned to a specific material which is only superficially similar to the form of a soul gem within the realm of Mundus. Lending credence to this possibility, rumors have been circulating of odd, Black Soul Gems coming from Coldharbour, the realm of Molag Bal.
As that is one of the realms I least enjoy, I have yet to substantiate these rumors. Though, if they are indeed capable of capturing the soul of man or mer then this may open the door to new possibilities. I will see about having some of the Khajit reserved for testing.'
Alchemist silently sipped at his chocolate as he continued to read through the distressingly disturbing journal. Across from him, Kary was doing much the same, though her book looked to be a fantasy novel.
He envied her, and more than a little bit. The information hidden within the journal of Sotha Sil was growing increasingly unpleasant as the man had gotten closer and closer to taking a running jump over the Mengele line.
At least Alchemist's other half, across town and silently tailing Tiffany, wasn't dealing with any crimes against humanity. No, he just got to experience quite a lot of second-hand embarrassment as two groups of teens fought each other for the entertainment of one very weird, very annoying, one-eyed creep.
-----
Well, 'tailing' Tiffany might have been something of a strong word for what the other half of Alchemist was doing.
He was keeping an eye on her, true, but he wasn't personally following her or tracing her footsteps.
That was half the point of scrying magic!
The girl might have been a stranger in a strange place but she was building her confidence back up and Alchemist saw no need to undermine that. He was ready to step in if things went absolutely haywire but, short of that? Tiffany finally felt motivated to get up, go outside and do something on her own.
Still, keeping an eye on the shallow saucer that was displaying an over-the-shoulder view of what the girl was doing didn't really require that much focus from him. Which left him with some time to work on things and no real direction.
The mage silently sighed and pulled his newest creation out of the inventory and held it up in front of his face.
A thin, ebony band framed the world as he looked through it. Jutting through the center of it, a thin current of blue light jumped, popped and crackled audibly. Slipping the ring onto his left ring finger, the pointer fingers on both hands already being claimed by different rings, Alchemist immediately felt... like he was trying to stretch something and it felt about ready to tear.
~~ +8 HP! ~~
And, every second that it was on, he was getting a notification that he was gaining hit points?
The wizard hissed in discomfort before sliding the ring off, noticing immediately that the stretching his... something had just experienced let up.
As far as experiments went, that was brief but informative.
The ring itself-
~~ Jolt Ring ~~
~~ Inflicts (5) points of lightning damage on the wearer per second. ~~
-had been made using the Dunmeri enchanting style. The Nordic one, while significantly stronger, was also incredibly rigid. The Heartlands style was much the same, if limited like the Nordic style in a different way.
Alchemist glanced at the scrying pool, confirming nothing critical needed his attention, then focused on the ring again.
With a sigh, the mage opened his system and navigated to the Perks menu. He'd guessed that he might run into an issue in trying to wear a third ring but he'd also figured it wouldn't actually matter. Well, he'd thought wrong.
Opening the segment on Epic Perks, Alchemist selected 'Additional Magic Item Space: Ring', dropping twelve points on something he shouldn't functionally need.
The man shivered, his other half nearly spilled his hot chocolate as he felt something... expand? He knew he didn't actually change shapes or change sizes but it was almost like he...
Alchemist almost wanted to make a reference to outlets in a house but he didn't know if that would fit.
Maybe something along the lines of having an expansion card installed in a computer, opening up room for a new port?
Regardless, the wizard slipped the ring back on to his finger. It still felt weird, and not just in the 'eating tiny electric shocks' kind of way, but it was tolerable. It was... fading.
~~ +8 HP! ~~
The wizard hummed as he considered that number. It repeated, endlessly, once every second. Something he was sure he'd find annoying in short order.
He knew he had full absorption on his ring from another source. But there was more than just that. He had two distinct sources of resistance that were unrelated to the shard he'd eaten a few days back. Twenty-five percent came from another perk but there was also a little bit that was factored in from a piece of equipment, the factor he'd ripped out of the mask of the dragon priest, Zahkriisos from Solstheim. That one offered fifty percent additional defense.
So Alchemist's total electrical resistance actually came up to one-hundred and seventy-five percent absorption. Meaning that electrical damage healed him for more than it should have harmed him.
~~ Passive Ability: Lightning Resistance has reached level 2! ~~
And, if that kept growing at a reasonable pace? Alchemist's overall resistance would tick over one-hundred and eighty percent sometime soon and he'd be getting nine hit points per second instead of eight!
...Not a particularly big deal, the wizard knew. It wasn't intended to jump up to an amazing level of immunity. The wizard just wanted a little bit more insurance if, somehow, he was ever caught without the ability to call up his arms and armor.
Alchemist glanced at the scrying pool again. Tiffany was hesitating, struggling to decide what to do as a trio of villainous teenagers were running rings around the Teen Titans.
...Eh, nobody was dead or dying. That was basically the same as saying everyone was fine. Right?
Instead, the mage backed out of the Epic Perks menu, back into normal perks and began searching. He had two-hundred and thirteen perk points to spend and he'd gotten a solid read on just what the limits were on enchanting without any extra boosts or modifiers.
And that limit, without any risk of failure, was abysmal. Admittedly that was with the Dunmeri style of enchanting, which came with so many limitations on power that it was almost painful. But it was also the only style that offered Alchemist the freedom to make advanced enchantments.
The Nordic style didn't allow an enchanter to create an artifact that would harm the wearer and the method used by the Mage's Guild in the heart of the empire of Tamriel might allow for such an enchantment but it would only activate once and then the object would need to be taken off and then put back on. Which was workable, certainly, but absolutely tedious.
To create a passive effect, Alchemist had to have a soul gem filled with as much power as a greater demon. He had to know a spell of the correct type to work into the enchantment. Then he had to be mindful of the fact that the Dunmeri style had harsh limitations on scope that was based off of a combination of material and size of what was being enchanted.
And passive enchantments, permanent effects, were comparatively large. A Dunmer enchanter could literally create a ring that would cast a healing spell, strong enough to bring a warrior to full health from the very brink of death. That same enchanter would then struggle to create a passive healing enchantment that might restore three or four hit points per second.
Alchemist was thankful that part of the formula for how those enchantments were made was based off of Intelligence and Luck, two stats that far exceeded anything natively possible in the game, Morrowind.
Without cheating.
The five point enchantment he'd put into the little ebony ring that was shocking his finger?
That was the limit of what he could make, even using a material like ebony. He hadn't told Tiffany that he'd cast Fortify Skill on himself before making her gloves, doubling his results. Perhaps, if he...
Alchemist set that line of inquiry to the side as he began selecting perks. He needed to focus on one set of activities at a time, otherwise he'd never get anything finished.
~~ Perks selected -
Regalia: Enchantments placed on rings, pendants, amulets, circlets and clothing but not armor are 25% stronger!
Skillful Enchanter: Skill enchantments placed on items are 25% stronger.
Ritual Enchanter: Knowledge of how to manipulate natural phenomena to improve the power of your enchantments has been granted. Absorption spells which drain life and magic can be made more powerful if cast in the shadow of the eclipse, lightning enchantments become more impactful if crafted within the heart of a thunderstorm and countless, similar pieces of knowledge have been made available to you.~~
Fifteen perks. Most of which were just variations on making the numbers go up. Which, fair, that was a core facet of the Gamer system...
But Alchemist was actually most curious about the last one he selected. He'd half expected to get some kind of information dump but there wasn't anything like that going on.
Which was honestly kind of nice. The Epic Perks for the various Metamagics had been excruciating for that exact reason.
No, there was just a strange, quiet certainty in the back of his mind. A little bit of awareness that, if he were to craft a weapon and enchant it with Light right now, he could capture a little bit of the noon sunlight and it would bite the undead just a little harder, cut through them just a little easier. An effect that was less numeric and more... thematic.
Alchemist hummed as he watched Tiffany jump into the middle of the brewing brawl between the Teen Titans and H.I.V.E's star students, shouting something at Mammoth.
Idly, he wondered if that was intentional on her part. If she wanted a rematch against an iteration of the boy that beat her, handily, once upon a time.
Whether she did or not, it still promised to be interesting...
And it almost definitely reinforced Alchemist's refusal to give the girl a chunk of sharpened, burning steel.
Last edited:
- Location
- Philippines
How's Alchemist gonna react if him and his gang gets caught up in the Teen Titans Go crossover?