NOVEL NEXT Chapter 82 - Mana Bike MK I
Grabbing the last two corded molten cables that he fashioned from the braided molten webs attached to the mana engine, Archie connected them to the front two sides that connected the axles.
He'd etched onto every square inch available on the molten cables mana pathways that properly regulated the mana that would flow into them. He'd made sure to properly solder them onto the connector runic script atop the inner side panels of where the front sawblade wheel was.
Once the corded molten cables were properly connected, the fiery-orange globes above the dark purple bags, the telltale sign of Gaze of the Forgefather, scoured both the wiring and the runic scripts that covered the subframe of the bike.
Clicking his tongue, Archie snaked his hand past the wiring within the internal frame until the tips of his fingers reached just beside the mana engine. Pushing out mana from the tips of his fingers, he then molded said mana to become thin, braided cords of mana that snaked synchronously forward to wrap around a semi-loose molten cable, pushed it inside its socket, and twisted until he heard the click of the locking clasp.
Dispersing his newly made extendible mana digits, he gave one last look over the bike's internals before digging his heels into the sand and sliding out from under the bike, which was propped atop his two anvils.
He quickly stored away the large steel sheet he soldered together out of the smaller ones he'd use for rune testing,g along with the various cores he placed under it to act as a makeshift creeper.
Dusting off his hands, Archie went over to his table where he had various pieces of heavily nature-infused Magmasteel, two-inch frames, and placed it atop the bike's Igneous frame. He'd used Magmasteel for its stronger durability than normal steel, but gotten rid of its heat-retaining abilities as the bike was made to be run on his nature mana and not on a combustion engine nor fire mana.
Once he finished attaching the last outer frame piece onto his bike, Archie took a step back and took in his creation, ignoring the notifications that blared as he stared.
The bike stood at four feet in height, pretty tall compared to pre-system integration motorcycles. It's Magmasteel's burnt red frame blended well with the Igneous' black subframe but horribly with the two giant steel sawblade wheels.
All in all, it looked like a hybrid of sport and dirt bike with sawblade wheels, fitting for an apocalyptic world like their own. Would what's happening right now be considered an Apocalyptic scenario? Archie wondered before giving his creation an Identify.
Nature-Attuned Mana-Bike MK I (Rare):
A fully functional vehicle made from the corpse of an E-Grade Igneous Golem, Magmasteel, and Starforge Steel. Forged by Archie Gracefield, an E-Grade Novice Forgesmith. This vehicle was designed in the likeness of a motorcycle from the 72nd cycle, heavily modified and empowered by the runic scripts etched alongside the internal components of the Mana-Bike. The Starforge Steel, salvaged from the husk of an idol, though deteriorated from time and sudden strenuous use, has been fashioned into a Nature-Attuned Runic Mana Engine. However, due to the Starforge Steel's deterioration, it has lost much of its Mana Retention and Mana Efficiency capabilities. Effects: Soul-Bound, Self-Repair, Physical Reinforcement & Kinetic Enhancement. Status: Excellent. Requirements: Lv 70+, Nature Affinity & Humanoid Race.
"Yeah…gonna need to find a way to get a…paint job on it," Archie yawned, his eyes bleary and exhaustion hitting him in full. "Not sure…what color though."
Deactivating all his active skills, Archie collapsed onto his bed, sinking into the soft embrace of its woolen sheets and mattress. He welcomed the blissful pull of sleep.
Archie woke hours later to the sound of birds chirping and sunlight streaming through the window. The rays glinted off the metal shrapnel scattered around his mana bike, reflecting onto his face and pulling him from his desperately needed slumber.
Turning himself to the opposite side, Archie pushed aside his mask to rub his eyes and face. Now facing the Mana-Bike, Archie smiled at his creation, his joy and excitement now unrestrained by the overwhelming exhaustion he felt by the end of its creation.
Pushing himself off the bed, Archie stretched his tense joints and peered at the Group Tutorial screen.
Group Tutorial
The 72nd cycle has begun; thus, a tutorial is needed to increase the survivability of the newly integrated myriad races. The Emernigan Isle is filled with various creatures from across the universe, each providing Tutorial Points upon their death to their killer. Tutorial Points can be exchanged between individuals, as a form of currency. Tutorial Points will be used to gain rewards after the full tutorial is completed.
Completion Criteria: Survive for 60 days
Number of Survivors: 527/1250
Blinking owlishly, Archie stared at the Time Remaining section of the screen. "...I worked on the bike for three full days?" he exclaimed. That's way longer than I thought… I thought I'd been working on this at most for a day and a half, not three whole days.
Archie shook his head before releasing a sigh; "At the very least, it wasn't anything longer than that."
Reaching into his spatial storage, Archie grabbed a handful of jerky strips and went to look over the notifications he'd previously ignored.
*Your Profession has reached Lv 69 – Points allocated, +4 Free Points*
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*Your Profession has reached Lv 74 – Points allocated, +4 Free Points*
*Your Race has reached Lv 73 – Points allocated, +3 Free Points*
*Your Race has reached Lv 74 – Points allocated, +3 Free Points*
*Novice Forgesmith profession skills available. Choose one of the options*
Looking at the last notification, Archie was about to check the options he was offered, but looking at his bare hands and chest covered in ash and grime from working on his Mana-Bike and dungeon diving. Wanting to get rid of the filth atop his body, he covered himself in Forgesmith's Flame.
Once he was sure the filth was gone from his body, He grabbed both his Cragforge Gauntlets and Sentinel Platiniteshell Chestpiece out of his spatial storage. However, just before he put on his gauntlets, he noticed something off about them.
The runes were weaker, and parts of the runic script had even started to fade.
"The hell?" Archie muttered before activating Gaze of the Forgefather and confirming the runes indeed were weakened, and a select few looked to be starting to fade.
Placing his gauntlets on the table, Archie peered inside his chestpiece and found the same issue.
"I guess this is what Runic Mending would be used for," Archie commented. Staring at both his gauntlets and chestpiece, Archie debated whether or not he should choose the skill if it was offered to him.
He could still repair the runes without issue, even without the skill; they just needed to be re-etched with new mana ink. The only benefit of the skill would be to save time.
But then again, he could be fighting against hordes of enemies, like when he was protecting Evelyn, but out in the open. Eventually, his armor would take enough damage to start damaging the runes, and the skill would be a huge boon for him whenever he got into prolonged fights.
Sitting back in his chair, Archie took out his Runic Scriber and filled it with his mana before he began to re-etch the runes and runic scripts within his gauntlets and chestpiece.
There was no need to debate whether or not he'd pick the skill. If there was no other better skill, then he'd pick it, else he wouldn't, it was as simple as that. Besides, it was considered to be a vital skill for keeping runic gear in top condition, so if he didn't select the skill, then at his next skill selection, he'd choose it.
And if that didn't happen, then he'd try to figure out how it worked by himself and learn the skill without the help from the system. Besides, with the god of Forgesmithing on his shoulder, if he gave any advice on how to learn the skill, then he'd eventually learn it.
Once he finished re-etching the runes and runic scripts, Archie donned his chestpiece and gauntlets before looking at the skill options he was given.
Runic Sizing (Uncommon):
With this skill, you are able to reduce or increase the size of a rune without sacrificing its power. Smaller and larger runes open up new possibilities, allowing you to fit powerful enchantments into areas where they couldn't previously go.
"Oh? This looks pretty interesting," Archie said as he read the skill description. He could indeed see the potential of the skill.
For one, it would have been invaluable when he was etching runes inside his Mana Revolver. He couldn't count how many times he had to stop etching the runes and runic scripts because he ran out of space to work with.
So, this skill was indeed something he could see a lot of potential for. Especially with creating nanites, Archie thought with a smirk, remembering his chat with Bralmir a few days ago.
Rune Erosion (Uncommon):
This skill, when active; allows you to channel your mana into runes and gradually erode their magical pathways, making them inert. The longer you maintain focus, the more the rune weakens, though you must be careful—this process can also destabilize nearby runes.
Another very interesting skill.
He had been given this skill option previously and almost disregarded it, if not for the fact that, judging by the way the skill description was written, it could be used on runic items not created by him. Making it a perfect counter for any fights he got himself into, where he might face opponents wielding runic gear.
While most likely he wouldn't use the skill when sparring, as it might ruin his opponent's gear entirely, when he wasn't sparring, he could see it being one of the most useful skills he'd spam. Maybe even evolve it to act like what he did with Material Insight and get it to perform like an AOE attack.
The more he thought about it, the more he grew to like the idea of picking the skill. However, the next skill caught his attention even more so.
Runic Amplification (Rare):
With this skill, you can temporarily boost a rune's power, making it far more potent for a short period. However, this comes at a price—amplifying a rune places a heavy strain on it, causing parts of the rune to fade or degrade. The greater the mana invoked, the more fragile the mana pathways become.
"Fuck," Archie nervously chuckled, his hand rubbing the lower half of his face. As he did so, he noticed that he had a beard, albeit a patchy, scraggly one, but a beard nonetheless. It was weird that he'd just noticed that now, but then again, he rarely saw his own unmasked reflection.
Until it's fully filled, I'll probably keep the mask because I know for a fact until I grow a proper one if I show my face how it is around Henry, I'll never hear the end of it.
Brushing away the thoughts of having a glorious beard, Archie focused back on the skill description in front of him.
It looked good. Really good.
For both combat and experimentation, this had to be up there with Runic Sizing. He'd be able to test how much the rune or runic scripts could handle and adjust accordingly when experimenting with them in his forge. He'd also be able to give himself the 'Oomph' he'd need when fighting.
"I can feel the kick already," Archie chuckled as he thought of using the skill on an Impact Dynamo punch.
Rune Extraction (Rare):
With this skill, you can safely extract a rune from an item you've crafted or own. This skill opens up the opportunity of reusing powerful runes that may have been bound to previous gear.
"Well," Archie sighed before dismissing the skill description. "Always gotta have a boring skill to balance the exciting ones."
Runic Mending (Uncommon):
With this skill, you can repair a rune without replacing it altogether. By channeling mana into the rune's structure, you can restore its power and effectiveness, making sure that even heavily used items maintain their magical properties over time. Runic Mending is a vital skill for keeping runic gear in top condition over the sands of time.
"Hmm," Archie muttered as he stared at both Runic Amplification and Runic Mending. While he might have had to debate choosing between Runic Sizing and Runic Mending, both were very useful for different use cases on opposite sides of the spectrum; Runic Sizing for experimenting and Runic Mending for combat and quick repairs.
But considering he was about to run the last Sigil Dungeon and fight the final Group Tutorial Boss in a few days, he wanted to be at his strongest, and this skill looked perfect for both rune experimentation and combat.
Thus, making him select Runic Amplification as the skill he wanted.