The Wandsmith [LitRPG, Isekai, Harem]

"Do you intend to kill them all?" Ruenne'del asked.

"No. So long as we scatter them, anything below Nascent rank shouldn't pose a problem for the local hunters," Ori replied.

"Ori is right," Freya added. "This seems to be a stable species and relatively benign. With their crystal carapaces, they could become a fine, regional source of resources. And whether we wipe them out or not, the natural balance will be disturbed. Still, it's best not to leave a void, else something more invasive, or worse, might fill it."

Spell: Prismatic Weapon

Type: Active, Enhancement, Combat,

Characteristic Requirements: Wisdom ≥ 50, Intelligence ≥ 150, Will ≥ 240

Other Requirements: Harmonic Affinity

Effects: Imbues melee weapons with a prismatic field that enhances penetration against mana defences, grace, auras, and paracausal barriers. Prismatic Weapon also enhances physical sharpness and armour penetration, increasing damage against both natural and discordant foes.

Description: Prismatic Weapon envelops the caster's weapon in spectral energy aligned to their Harmonic Affinity. With each strike, the weapon emits a focused prismatic pulse that bypasses most magical protections, directly damaging targets through wards, grace fields, and aura-based defences. Simultaneously, the weapon's physical characteristics are enhanced—becoming unnaturally sharp, precise, and effective against reinforced or unnatural hides.

These dual enhancements make the spell exceptionally dangerous in combat, particularly against discordant entities such as Infernal, Abyssal, or Underworld creatures.

Notes: Base duration is ten minutes. The potency of Prismatic Weapon's paracausal penetration scales with the caster's wisdom and intelligence. Physical Penetration scales with the caster's Will. Mana cost scales the size and quality of the weapon enhanced.

Artefact Name: Prototype Array of Duælism

Type: Experimental Multi-Weapon Array

Characteristic Requirements: Toughness > 100, Strength > 285, Intelligence > 100

Other Requirements: Duælism, Harmonic and Abyssal affinity

Effects: Grants an 1800% increase to sharpness, toughness, and physical and arcane resistances and range to Breath, Grace, and Intent extensions. Conversely, the range and coherence of harmonic and abyssal spells are increased by 1800%, while aspects of sharpness, toughness, and resistance are added to all spell effects.

Description: The Prototype Array of Duælism is an experimental artefact crafted to explore the concept of Duælism in multi-wielding combat and spellcraft. The weapons within this array are honed to an extraordinary degree, offering an 1800% increase in sharpness. This allows them to cut through most mundane materials with ease. Their toughness is similarly enhanced, ensuring that the blades remain unbroken and effective under most situations. With an 1800% boost to physical and arcane resistances, the array provides near-impervious protection against conventional and magical attacks. Beyond its physical enhancements, the Prototype Array of Duælism significantly amplifies the range and coherence of harmonic and abyssal spells. This staggering 1800% increase allows the wielder to cast spells with unprecedented precision. This dual enhancement ensures that the array is not just a set of weapons but a channelling focus for powerful and far-reaching magical effects.

Notes: The Prototype Array of Duælism requires proficiency in both physical and magical combat. The wielder must be skilled in dual-wielding and possess affinities for both harmonic and abyssal magic. The artefact's complex enchantments are accessible only to enchanters of high rank.

A blade from Ori's Prototype Array of Duælism gleamed in the twilight, enhanced with Prismatic Weapon and wielded by one of his ghostly hands. It carved cleanly through the carapace of a Nascent-ranked mega-turtle the size of a car. A high-pressure jet of steaming blood hissed from the wound, and Ori was glad he'd kept his distance.

"Wow, did you just admit I was right? You feeling alright, Freya?" Ori asked, grinning.

"Wild luck means you should end up being right by accident more often than you actually are. Don't let it go to your head, Ori," Freya replied dryly from within his skull.

Ori snorted. "Ha!"

They continued like that for hours, weaving back and forth across the region, hunting down more Aether-Warped creatures. By the time Twilight's version of daylight crept in, the forest around them lay charred and broken. Smouldering remains were scattered across the undergrowth, and the trees, surprisingly resilient to the beasts' orange heat-ray attacks, had already begun to regenerate. The sight reminded Ori that mana and Peritia likely affected flora just as much as beasts and animals.

He stood surveying the devastation, his thoughts a tangle of awe, grief, and quiet apprehension. Massacring monsters as a way of life wasn't something Ori had ever truly prepared for, and now, with the smoking ruin laid out before him, he realised just how far he'd come and what such a lifestyle might actually feel like.

Coming to terms with that reality and how it aligned with the person he once was and the person he still needed to become would take time. But, as far as first impressions went, he felt… oddly fine? Something about being a White Mage seemed to inure him to the gore. Where once he might have dissociated, as he had when fighting demons by the hundreds, now that numbness was replaced by a deeper, long-term awareness of consequence.

After long discussions with his bonded and the sobering updates to his accolades following the destruction of Ghigrerchiax, Ori had started viewing his actions through a broader lens. If he was going to treat Twilight as a potential home, then the impact of his presence, on the land, on the people, on fate itself, was something he could no longer afford to ignore.

He brought up his character sheet, eyes scanning the growing list of numbers. His Peritia had finally passed the threshold for an attempted racial evolution into Arch Human, though he suspected the hidden requirements remained unmet.

In addition to fulfilling the Librarian's quest to help raise the High Human Matriarch, Ori would also need to provide three more examples of living High Humans to ratify his method and gain royalties from the Library of Fate. Only then would High Humanity be officially recognised.

After transforming the Seed of Aether gifted to him by Harriet into the Aetheric Heart, forming the foundation of his evolution into a High Human, Ori knew he would need to do something similar using Mana. The complication was that he already possessed a Mana Nexus, and there was no known or documented method for evolving one's Mana beyond that stage.

For full ratification of High Humanity, it seemed likely that Seeds linked to other paracausal energies, Grace, Breath, Quintessence, and potentially even Peritia, would also need to be demonstrated, not just Aether and Mana. That meant finding candidates compatible with methods he could realistically guide or expanding his abilities and affinities to encompass those additional energies.

It was just one of several medium-term, high-stakes challenges he would need to overcome in the coming year or two.

However, more pressing was the state of his Aether.

With a quiet exhale, Ori turned his attention to the Aether Rift. Ever since forming his Warlock bond, he had felt a tightness in his chest. So far, it had little effect on his abilities, but he knew forming any new bonds would be impossible until his Aetheric and Soul Capacity increased.

"So, I guess I should go and close the rift," Ori said to his bonded.

"While we are of the Fae, and more resilient to Aether than most, my last experience in close proximity to a rift… gives me pause," Freya said.

"That's fine. It's probably safer if you both keep your distance," Ori replied, trying to sound reassuring, though he felt a sudden spike of disappointment through his bond with Ruenne'del. "What is it?" he asked.

Ruenne'del shrugged. "I wanted to see."

Ori hesitated. He wanted to accommodate her somehow. He knew her nature—her intrinsic desire to seek out new experiences and witness all that fate might offer. Normally, he would override such impulses for the sake of safety. But the more time he spent with Ruenne'del, the more he understood the relationship between a Leanan Sídhe and their chosen. For her, pain, struggle, even death, could be preferable to safer, more predictable outcomes, as if a life without both sweetness and bitterness held less value than no life at all. It was a profoundly alien mindset Ori couldn't personally adopt, but one he was beginning to respect.

"Alright. According to Lysara, there's a small clearing. If you stay as far back as possible while keeping line of sight, maybe it'll be fine. Freya, stay with Rue and keep an eye on each other. It shouldn't take long."

"Okay, Ori. Be safe," Freya said, zipping out of his soul space in her sprite form and settling on the pink-haired fairy's shoulder. Ruenne'del nodded and followed at a measured distance as they walked on in silence.

The dense forest gradually thinned, the trees around them darkening and warping into twisted, corrupted forms, far more menacing than before. And then Ori felt it. That familiar, primal tingle of Aetheric energy, thrumming in sync with his heartbeat. It grew louder with every step, pulsing in time with each breath, until a familiar light shone from between the trees.

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There it was.

Ori turned to Rue and Freya. His emotions churned between caution and wild anticipation as they neared the edge of the source. Within a hundred yards, he signalled for them to stop. Their nods confirmed understanding.

The forest opened into a shallow crater. At its centre, a gash in reality yawned open. A light, blue beyond blue spilled out into the world. Filaments of energy, sharp enough to shear through a mortal body, snapped and stretched like cosmic cobwebs as Ori walked calmly through them. Their energy released harmlessly into the air before coiling around the vortex at the centre of the storm.

The sensation was electric, like standing too close to something radioactive. Ori could feel the potential for cellular damage, for forced mutation. This was energy that could bend reality based on subconscious desires, changing anyone caught in it without warning or permission.

But Ori was an Aethermancer.

And this rift was his fuel.

His Dream Domain unfurled as his body shifted into an astral Avatar. He hovered ten feet above the crater floor, eyes level with the centre of the rift. His Aethermancy, tied to his Progenitor accolade, flared, his aura and spectral hands glowing with a prismatic radiance beneath the rift's deep blue glare.

With every spectral hand he could summon, Ori reached into the heart of the rift and then beyond, willing the wild, chaotic energy to bend to him.

For the first time in centuries, this part of the forest fell utterly still. The rift pulsed, syncing with his heartbeat. Its Aether resonated with his astral form… then surrendered to him.

It spiralled into his Aetheric Heart, expanding his soul and enhancing him in deliberate, controlled waves. His intent guided the current. His will sealed the transformation.

Within seconds, his Aetheric Capacity had doubled. The sluggishness that had weighed on him since forming his latest bonds lifted, replaced by a sharpened clarity, a renewed intensity to his energy levels and focus he hadn't realised he'd lost.

As the Rift sealed, its stolen energies now his own, the jagged tear in reality narrowed like a wound being stitched shut. When it was done, Ori released his domain and dropped, rather ungracefully, to the crater floor.

"What did it look like from your side?" Ori asked his Bonds. All three had joined him at the edge of the crater, overlooking the warped landscape now absent of the source that had once fuelled its growth and mutation.

"It was fun to see," Ruenne'del said, a small smile tugging at her lips, the exhilaration she felt beneath the surface plain through their bond.

"Something about you floating without wings gives me the shivers," Freya shuddered. "But aside from that, I'd say it was a less dramatic display of your proclivities than usual."

"Did either of you feel anything?" Ori asked. "Any trace of Aether reach you? Any side effects?"

"No, Ori," Freya replied, while Rue shook her head. "What about you? Did the Aether do what you expected?"

Ori shrugged. "I definitely feel better—like I gained a few levels or spent some Peritia on my stats. Physically, everything's smoother. The tightness in my chest after the Warlock bond is gone too. But the biggest change? My Mana. It's jumped, like five or six times what it was."

"Show us," Freya said, settling on his shoulder. Ori shared the update through the Library of Fates.

"By my reckoning, I'll need at least ten more Rifts."

"But there are only three more nearby that we know of," Freya said, brows furrowed.

Ori sighed. "Yeah. Looks like this is going to be a bit of a long-term project. Still, with that much Mana, I might be able to figure out how to evolve my Mana Nexus too."

"Evolve your Mana Nexus?" Freya asked, raising an eyebrow. "This for your second racial evolution?"

Ori nodded. "That, and I kind of want to dive deeper into Mana itself. My comprehension's already at the third rank, but I can't help feeling there's more to it. Like there are things Mana should be able to do that no one's figured out yet—or at least, I've not seen anyone manage it."

"Normally," Freya said, crossing her arms with a sigh, "I'd write that off as naïve fantasy. But you? You're the unfortunate exception,"

"What do you imagine?" Ruenne'del asked, her voice scratchy as ever but genuinely curious.

"Well… Mana is the magic of thought, right? A form of conscious interaction with the world. But it can also cause feedback, reflect awareness, inform the mind, shaping it in return. So what if there was another step? Where Mana wasn't just shaped by thought but became a form of thought itself?"

"Like an elemental?" Freya asked, brow raised.

"Sort of. But not with a soul, more like an automaton or a calculator. A mind without will, made of magic."

"What use is a mind without a soul, Ori?" Rue asked.

Ori shrugged. He didn't have a solid answer yet. But the idea sparked that familiar, restless fizz of excitement in the back of his mind, a sense of discovery not yet made but close enough to chase.

"Did you find what you need to help her?" asked Headman Jasson, the fae in charge of the hamlet of Ike, as Ori and Rue returned.

Ori nodded. "I think so."

"You think so?" The tall, lean, red-haired Sciurukin's voice sharpened, clearly unimpressed.

Ori met his gaze evenly. "She's Aether-Warped."

Jasson went pale. "No."

"She's likely ingested a small amount," Ori continued, his tone calm but authoritative. "It's begun to alter her, but she's fae. Your nature gives her a degree of resilience. That's why she's in pain, but not at immediate risk. Not yet."

Jasson looked stricken. "Can you help her?"

"I think so," Ori said again, carefully. "The safest option would be to leave things as they are for now—let her adapt. I can offer guidance on how to manage the changes, how to understand what the Aether is doing to her. Risky, yes, but it won't kill her. Not immediately."

"Can't you just... remove the Aether?" Jasson asked.

Ori shook his head. "If I tried, it would likely kill her. The Aether is part of her now—woven into her body and soul. To pull it out cleanly would unravel both. I could rebuild the body, but the soul... That kind of repair would be a violation. Painful. Crude. And frankly, I don't know how." Ori replied honestly.

His voice held weight, the presence behind it pressing down with subtle force. Split Mind helped twist the space around him, projecting calm control, forcing Jasson to feel the seriousness of his words.

The headman swallowed, his voice low. "Is there another option?"

"I can help her adapt," Ori said. "Guide the Aether warping along a more stable path."

Jasson hesitated. "You mean... Aethermancy?"

Ori shrugged, unwilling to confirm or deny.

"But she's a child," Jasson said. "A mortal."

"I'll leave the decision to you. I'm heading out again tomorrow—you've got a few days to think it through."

He stepped past the man, leaving him to his thoughts, and returned to the longhouse where Rue was waiting inside.

Ori sat in the dim glow of the fire, Ruenne'del curled beside him in a rare slumber, Freya resting quietly within his soul space. For the first time in days, he was alone with his thoughts.

The trials in the forest had changed something within him. His White Mage class was no longer a vague archetype of light and healing. It had begun to crystallise into something more grounded—a synthesis of mind, body, and soul. A path shaped not by tradition, but by necessity and experimentation.

He had let go of the idea of pursuing White Magi of the Luminous Void. It was elegant but distant and too far removed from the work he had already begun. Aether, Mana, and Peritia were now the foundation of his progression, the core of his future evolutions. He would also need to understand Grace and Curses, if only to rid himself of his divine curse and better protect his bonded.

Extra-planar travel would have to be its own class. He was confident a slot would become available. If it came to it, he was more than willing to delay selecting Progenitor to make room. The future demanded flexibility, freedom of movement, and the ability to support his bonds, wherever they were.

Ori looked down at his hand, flexing fingers that had carved infernal taint from corrupted souls, and considered which Rift and its associated nest he and his bonded would clear next.