AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Chapter 165: Tradable Weapons II

Arnold hesitantly started to test the new forge and slowly built his confidence. He would sure master it in a day or two, but right now, they had to test another function on the new forge. To start trading their weapons with the Sandines they had to consider the possibility of them falling into the hands of the Kingdom.

So, they had to find a way of hiding their craft and making the tools unusable. Hiding the drawings was something that they already planned, not only for the weapons but for all tools. For common tools, coating or drawing on the inner part would be enough, but metal weapons were different. Fortunately, the discovery of the energy conducting metal opened a new possibility.

To someone that observed the stamper Array, it would look like a very simple and common design, but for now, only Karl could draw it. The design was based on the magic re-drawer but instead of reinforcing the drawing and concept, it would transfer the Array to another location. Concept couldnt be created, only reinforced. So, designing a tool that could draw an Array was unrealistic. However, they could create a tool to transfer a drawing.

Although this wouldnt revolutionize Alchemy, it would allow for others to place drawings when Alchemists werent present. Another possibility would be recycling drawings by transferring them to new tools. For example, tools that needed a change on its crafting material.

The stamper only had three Arrays. An Activation A. (square) to activate the effect, combined with a Signature Extraction A. (pentagram) to extract the drawing pattern, the metal properties and the concept. In the drawings center, the Manipulation A. (one triangle inside of another) would move the metal and concept to a new location following the same pattern which was originally drawn.

Compared to the redrawer, the Array had a few differences. On the redrawer, the drawing pattern and ink properties are extracted separately to repaint the Array, while the concept is reinforced through a focus Rune. The stamper, on the other hand, first gets the energy signatures, for the concept, the drawing pattern, and the material used for the drawing (metal in this case). Then, it moves everything from the reference to the new location. In other words, it transfers the drawing.

Although the stamper only used simple Arrays, the other Alchemists still didnt have the mastery required to use the Arrays like this. The Signature Extraction A. effect, for instance, it wasnt easy to extract the three properties separately but at the same time, or set the Manipulation A. to move the physical drawing (ink or conductive metal) without offsetting the concept imprinted into it.

In fact, Karl was now focused on improving the Arrays to save energy and time, trying to draw them as concisely as possible. Like the previously discussed temperature regulator Array, which was also formed by only three Arrays. A Spiritual Extraction A. (Signature Extraction A. with a Spiritual Gate inside) to get the chosen value, combined with a Focus Rune to form a specific concentration. And a Property Extraction A. (star form) to get the thermal control from a MQ magma crystal.

Finally, to group the stamper and the temperature regulator effects, he used an Adding A. with a Direction A. (triangle) and Stimulus Rune on its center. The former would direct the effects to the metal placed over the forge and the latter would increase the area of the effects. The Addition A. allowed the effects to be used independently, so the blacksmith could choose when to use the stamper.

Aside from sharing the Direction A. and Stimulus Rune, the effects had to be grouped instead of drawn on separate tools to allow a thin layer of conductive metal to be added inside the weapon without jeopardizing its structure. Both the metal used for the weapon and the conductive metal would be heated and merged. However, the stamper effect would prevent the conductive metal from mixing with the other metal while also keeping its concept and form, even in the liquid state. The blacksmith could then, lower the temperature before releasing the stamper effect.

Of course, they still needed to test the weapons for possible structural problems. Additionally, the metal drawing had to be very thin to dont interfere with the weapon. With the drawing hidden inside, nobody would be able to recognize it or see any differences in the weapon. Even so, they had to make the weapons unusable in case they fell into the Kingdoms hands.

Karls first idea was drawing a spiritual lock on the weapons, which would tie their effects to a user, but that would be difficult since they wouldnt have contact with the Sandines. Even if they crafted a spiritual configurator, it would reduce the usability of the weapon by limiting it to a single user while increasing its cost greatly.

In the end, the solution was to make the effects temporary and create a charger to renew them. So, even if the Kingdom got the weapons, they would only be useful for a few hours. To make the effects temporary, Karl just had to add a Contain Rune as a supplier for the effects. The fact that the drawings would be placed inside the weapons helped a lot because the drawings wouldnt have contact with the environmental energy. So, the tool would truly become effectless when discharged.

Actually, to deactivate the effects even when in contact with energy, one just had to combine them with an Activation A., but that would also mean an extra cost. After some tests, they came up with a good ratio of drawing cost and energy autonomy. Using MQ energy crystals the weapon could stay charged for two days or up to eight hours of use. The Beastkin might argue that eight hours are not enough, but who could fight more than that in a day?

To add the temporary effect, all weapons would have a Contain Rune connected to an Activation A. drawn on the weapons handle, which would then be connected to the effects. Since they are naturally stronger, besides swords, the Beastkin also use war hammers and throwing axes to fight. For the swords and axes, they would draw the Sharpness and Toughness Runes, while the hammers would have the Lightness and Toughness Runes.

The powering Array would be formed by combining an Activation A. (square) with a Contain Rune, and a Direction A. on its center to push the energy forward in the connection line. The activator would be placed in the handle to activate the tool by grip.

In the sword and axe, the Runes would be simply connected to the powering Array. In the war hammer, the Toughness Rune would also be connected directly, but the Lightness Rune would need to be combined with a Deactivation A. (square with a line crossing it) before its effect could be transferred to the hammer by a Direction A. (triangle). The Deactivation A. was a simple modification to the Activation A. that would invert its effect and block the energy when it was pressed. The deactivator would be placed in the hammers side, so every time it hit something, the lightness effect would be dispelled allowing the target to bear the full weight of the weapon.

The weapons charger would need to be powered by two or three MQ crystals. To activate it, one just had to put the weapon on it and pressed the activator. The charger Array would combine two effects and direct them to the Contain Rune in the weapon using a Direction A. (triangle) on its center. The Activation A. (square) to keep the tool on standby and a Focus Rune to concentrate the magic energy before transferring it to the weapons Contain Rune.