NABC Chapter 704 Team Leaders
Chapter 704 Team Leaders
chapter 704 team leaders
karl instinctively disliked this man, even before he noticed that the man was using a transformation spell to keep up his young master disguise. he couldn't really judge the man for his vanity when he had also been considering using magic to increase his height, but something about him just struck karl as off.
soul sight told karl much more about the head of research and development. he was definitely human, but his soul looked slimy. like food scraps left outside to rot in a bucket of water, the outer layer of his soul seemed to have a greasy, rotten sheen.
the man swung a lazy kick at fizzspark, only to pull up short when cara appeared between them, baring her teeth.
"put your beast away, researcher. such a creature doesn't belong in the lab."
karl sighed, but he didn't reprimand cara.
"i would recommend that you refrain from kicking coworkers. we enforce a zero tolerance for bullying policy." karl insisted instead.
"since when?" ambrose scoffed.
"since about four minutes ago. now, it was a pleasure to meet you, researcher ambrose. but i have an orientation to finish with engineer fizzspark."
[can we ask for new people? these ones are defective.] remi asked.
[probably not. but i think we can sort them out easily enough without killing anyone and ending up in a royal prison cell.]
a third person came over to their argument, and karl smiled as he saw a familiar facial structure for the first time in ages. duke ambrose was 190 centimetres tall and whip thin, while fizzspark was half a metre tall. not at all like home. the other researchers had also been gathered from across the nation, with a dozen different regional appearances.
however, this man stood a solid hundred and forty centimetres, no matter what direction you measured him in, rippling with muscles, and a beard that he tucked into the apron at his waist.
granite shook his head. "at this point, i could bend it in my fingers. it's nearly as soft as pure silver. it was made for mana compatibility, not actual use."
karl nodded, then mentally began to calculate the design before remi held up a sheet in her space.
"i think this is what you need. stronger, more durable, sharp edges, and an amplifying effect for skills that pass through the blade." she offered.
it was nearly two hundred runes in total, but remi had done her homework, and she had included depths for all of them as well as spacing between the portions that weren't linked. all karl would need to do was arrange them for use on the blade's particular shape.
[thank you remi. you're a lifesaver.]
cara was still standing between the human and the gnome, until fizzspark climbed on cara's back to get a better view, as the void badger was taller than she was.
the gnome's fear levels had fallen faster than expected, and karl just wondered how long it would be before she realized she was now cara's friend. whether she liked it or not.
karl began to carve the runes, working from the root of the blade to the tip, flipping the blade regularly so he could write everything in order and not lose the meaning behind the phrases that he was adding to the blade.
when he finished the runic inscription, it was time to test the blade's actual quality.
the runes went from bronze to silver, then to gold. the three team leaders all breathed a sigh of relief, then karl continued, bringing the runes to a rich amethyst as the inscription reached royal rank.
"now for the moment of truth." karl informed them.
all three looked confused, but karl continued, and the deep purple runes slowly turned to the glowing red of deep earth rubies.
the blade pulsated with power as karl's work reached monarch rank, then it settled to a gleaming surface so smooth it could be used as a quality mirror.
"that, ladies and gentlemen, is a monarch rank runic blade in the dwarven runecrafter's style. now, how about we test it to see how well the intended attributes merged?"