NABC Chapter 207
Chapter 207
The process of Aether Imbuement started at one place: the Crystallization Array. It was the centerpiece and the object that delayed me immediately getting to work on imbued bullets. The array was the silver disk marked carefully with a runic script. If I had everything set up right, the runes would allow me to access the Aether even without being a Magi or Adept myself.
The whole process was closer to old-age alchemy than anything, where the alchemists of old sought to transmute iron to gold. Only, now, there was literal magic I’d be tapping into using the runic array.
The setup for the more powerful stuff involved a bunch more. Elemental Enrichment Chambers and Focusing Arrays were the tip of the iceberg, and not something I can make at the moment.
Not that I needed to. I wanted a simple fire-imbued bullet to begin with. It’d be easy, and a good starting point to see how much it would raise my firepower. If it was too little of a raise, I’d probably just forget about the whole Aether Imbuement Perk till I could make the higher-level imbuements. I had hope that it’d be effective though.
Anyway, the starting point was very simple. Once I had the runes set up, I needed to charge them. This could be done in a variety of different ways. If I was a Magi or Adept, I could literally just do it by hand. For me though? The safest and best way was to use something that already had the Aether flowing through it to jumpstart the connection like a car battery.
I withdrew Crow’s Celestial Compass with a thought. Shadows condensed on my hand, ebbing away to reveal the ornate compass. I set it down on the Crystallization Array. It didn’t react immediately, but then again, it could take a couple hours.
I checked with Aetherial Perception, watching the silver runes slowly seem to absorb some of the ambient energy from the compass. It’d take a while before I could actually start using the Crystallization Array.
Hmm… I looked around with Aetherial Perception activated, noticing everything seemed to be sharper and more focused. It was almost as if I’d been seeing with a slight blur, and now could see clearly. It made it easier to pick out even the slightest fluctuations of the Aether. A side effect of Panther’s Sight?
I adjusted Crow’s Canteen of Chaos to start producing gasoline before moving on to other things. While waiting, I wanted to go ahead and start on a few other things I had in mind.
I uploaded a simple small knife blueprint to the SITCH to start printing. I noticed the last fight with the Adepts--before Corvin and hella creepy Mother crashed the party--but I really didn’t have all that many knives.
It was an oversight on my part considering I had Throwing Weapons Master and barely had any actual throwing weapons. Hence, the dozen or so knives printing away. They were to be cheap, disposable knives I wouldn’t be worried about losing in a fight. I also uploaded a slightly different model to replace my emergency boot shiv.
While that all was printing, I shifted focus to designing a new piece of tech to solve a new issue of mine. How was I going to shoot the imbued bullets? The turrets could be easily modified to, but would I really want to waste high-quality bullets like these in a turret? Especially while I had a limited supply.
Of course, I could just make rifle bullets or the like, but then I have to worry about reloading the right kinds of rounds for the situation. It wasn’t a horrible idea, as long as I looked past the complications that might arise.
For one, I really didn’t need even more things complicating reloading and shooting in combat. What if I grab the wrong mag? What if I accidentally used my expensive Aether Imbued bullets? What if I the mag and waste them entirely? What if I didn’t even have my rifle at the ready? Too much to think about, and an over-complication of something I wasn’t necessarily good at to begin with.
So that raises the question; how am I going to shoot the Imbued bullets? I had thoughts to modify one of the pistols, but then I’d run into a similar issue as with the rifle, though to a lesser extent. Also, I couldn’t quick-fire a round. I’d have to draw the pistol, drop my rifle, and fire. Training could see the draw time greatly reduced, but otherwise? I’ll lose seconds, which could make or break a battle.
My initial solution after thinking it all through? A sniper rifle. Or, at least, that’s what I would’ve liked to go with. I’d be able to fire a large caliber Aether Imbued bullet that would do some serious damage. Already, I could see a bullet devastating Corvin in my mind’s eye. It was exceptionally attractive.
Except, a sniper rifle had its own issues. Mainly, I was never in a position to use a sniper rifle. In almost every fight I’d ever had, a sniper rifle would just get in the way. Especially since my fights were typically by surprise and close quarters.
That isn’t to say I didn’t want a sniper rifle. They were cool, so of course I wanted one. And it might make me approach certain situations differently if I had the option of super long range. But I'd never even held one, let alone shot one. I knew it had a bunch of calculations to get a good shot off, which wouldn't be too big of an issue for me. It just wasn't something I could get good at in the short term.
My actual solution? Wrist-mounted gun attachment for my shock gauntlets. Now, they weren’t the most practical of weapons ever. I could recognize that. There was a kind of wrist-mounted gun called the Avenger that Sentinel was working on in the stolen documents, and even had issues with it. For them, why make a wrist-mounted gun when they could instead further develop chrome arms with guns embedded in them? The Avenger was a mostly abandoned project.
Four things stood out as to why a wrist-mounted gun wouldn’t work, and why it’d be a bad idea. It just so happens that those four things didn’t necessarily apply to me. My, erm, unique set of skills let me bypass a few of the restrictions, and the others weren't an issue thanks to Sentinel's donated re
As if the heat activated it, the entire array thrummed with ethereal might. I shifted my vision once more to the Aether, watching as the flames themselves seemed to be energized and turn magical. The bright glow of the Crystallization array faded slightly, losing maybe an eighth of its brightness as the process ticked by.
Eventually, the flames surged brightly before condensing. A force seemed to apply to them, pressuring the flame into a small and smaller ball. The flickering light grew brighter and brighter as it condensed, like a small sun. Eventually, it turned into a small red bead flickering with an internal light. It was about the size of my fingernail.
I waited a few more moments as the array turned off, signifying the end of the process. I didn’t immediately pick up the Crystal Flame. Although there were certainly differences between the learning space and the real world, I had no doubt that some things remained the same, such as the Crystal Flame being extremely hot to the touch for a few minutes after the crystallization process.
Now I just needed to grind it down to dust--which was also a complicated process thanks to its volatile state--and mix in a small amount of Aetheria. Grinding it down required flushing the atmosphere around the crystal with an inert gas to keep it from combusting while hand grinding it. All of which I could do, though it’d take a while.
I could probably manage four bullets with this amount. Hopefully, their effect would pay off the pain of making them.