Chapter 118 – It Gets Bigger!

  “Turns out television is a great way to learn a language if you have a magical translation device. I just wish mine didn’t leave my tongue feeling like I licked a battery when I use it.” – Anna

  A few days after the incident with a ‘rogue agent’, courtesy of the FBI, Kurt was down in his vault. He was currently helping Anna with some enchanting. Most of that help had been with ordering her some supplies and just giving her access to his mana batteries but he was just happy to see her get back into the saddle with enchanting.

  “So, I normally don’t have such, umm exacting copies.” Anna said while studying the knives she held. “Normally there is a lot of variances, or they don’t match at all.”

  Kurt nodded. “Yup, modern manufacturing at its finest.” He popped the knife out of its kydex sheath. It was a strange blade to say the least but it was also what Anna had asked for so he just ordered them and placed a back order for more.

  The knives were all the same. Each had a three-and-a-half-inch blade that sloped up toward the spine, making a sort of right triangle shape. The last inch of the spine was also sharpened, bringing it to a razor sharp diamond cross-section perfect for the thrust. The handle was a micarta material and relatively thin with a slight hook at the back to seat the pinky finger while the bottom of the blade acted as a fore stop.

  “The steel appears to be excellent quality as well.” Anna further commented while popping each of them out of the sheath to lay on the table. “I wonder how they will turn out, hopefully the conductivity is high after binding.”

  “How’s that?” Kurt asked

  Anna turned around to face him. “I told you how the enchant works right?”

  “Kinda but not in detail.” Kurt passed his knife over for her to lay out with the rest.

  “Right, so these are bound weapons. Only one person will ever use it. Should that person die, the weapon will break down into a sort of dust.” Anna began explaining. “They can be unbound but it results in the complete destruction of the weapon anyway so it’s pointless”

  “So, it’s soul bound.” Kurt surmised.

  “What? No.” Anna looked confused at the term. “Well, I guess you could think of that, but it doesn’t actually have anything to do with the soul.”

  “Ok, beside that point, how do they work?” Kurt just wanted to move on; he didn’t think she would understand the reference to popular fantasy tropes and games.

  “Right, so after I enchant them, and the user binds it, then it will adopt some characteristics of their mana or affinities. Mine for instance tends to coat itself in a slight sheen of water. It doesn’t do much in a fight but then again my affinity for water isn’t by any means an optimal one for a weapon. But all three of them I have made have had this trait when the user wills their energy into the blade.”

  “Huh, what if they don’t have external energy? Like say an orc or shifter of some sort?” Kurt wondered aloud.

  “They still have an affinity but they might not have as great an effect. An orc with the affinity for fire might just have a slightly hot blade but not to the point it does much.” Anna answered while rolling her shoulders. “The user also imprints on the other forms of the weapon. So, there is some variance between the sword and pole arm shapes.”

  Kurt just nodded, figuring that he would find out more when she was done enchanting this batch of knives. Anna had come over to borrow his workshop, asking for some input on things and to let Bont roam around for a while. He didn’t mind her staying over for a couple days or even co-opting his workshop since he wasn’t using it for much except the armor he worked on in his spare time.

  Taking a deep breath, Anna took one of the knives, placing it on the enchanting plate and keeping a hand on it while her other one held the plate. He learned that her method of enchanting required much less setup but could still benefit from some of the tools he had.

  Watching closely, Kurt saw the knife suddenly shift out of focus, like he was looking at it through poorly adjusted binoculars, seeing a double image. It then became slightly blurry and hard to look at as a soft purple glow began to emit from the edge of the distortion. He could smell ozone while the feeling of raw mana crawled over his skin like a cold breeze. Before he could think much about it, Anna was done, and she was setting the knife aside.

  Kurt was curious about how she was able to so quickly enchant an item. Her whole process had taken at most a minute but had consumed a large amount of energy stored in his mana batteries. At the rate she was going, he figured that she wouldn’t get much more than ten to twelve of these with the mana that was stored in the battery.

  Sure enough, half an hour later, Anna was panting lightly while sitting next to a dozen slightly glowing blades. She had run out of the battery at the tenth knife and finished the last two with her own stores which had taken longer.

  For the last two, she had even pulled on the atmospheric mana. It was a much slower method and obviously took a much longer time to enchant as both of those had taken five times as long as the others.

  Taking a long pull from the water bottle she had, Anna sat up and looked at him. “What did you think?” She asked with a smile that showed her little pointed canines.

  “That was something. I have never seen an enchanting method that worked without a catalyst of some sort.” Kurt let his admiration show. “Both my uncle and I require the carving or runes before a surge of mana to activate them. One of my cousins does chemical enchanting but that really works best on raw materials rather than individual items.”

  “Thanks, I am pretty lucky to have this skill.” She said, beaming with pride.

  “How did you do them so fast?” Kurt asked. “Normally it takes a certain time investment to make an enchanted item.”

  “Oh, it took me days to make the first one.” Anna admitted. “I have to lay the layers of the enchant on one at a time and sometimes it doesn’t work. When that happens, I have to start all over.”

  “But after the first one?” Kurt led.

  Anna nodded. “Yeah, once I get the first one then its smooth sailing as long as I have power.”

  Kurt then remembered that all her enchantments had a quirk. “You said that all your items had a sort of phrase they need to use?”

  The smile on her face suddenly vanished, replaced by a nervous tension in her jaw. “Yeah, that I have no control over. I only know what it is after I make an item the first time. At least, that is how it has been for the first five things I made.”

  “You have no control over it? What did you make? I remember you saying something about this blade and a ring of some sort?”

  Anna nodded. “I think it is pulled from my subconscious. The blade and ring were after I started learning English and I think the culture I immersed myself in played a part of that. The first three were from my home but the phrases can be said in English.

  “Besides the blade and ring, I also made an earing that clips on but allows you to understand almost any language. There was also a small stone that you can use to point in the direction of what you consider ‘home’. The last one was a coin that would vibrate whenever someone was paying too much attention to you.”

  “And they each had an activation phrase?” Kurt asked.

  “Yeah.” Anna nodded. “They were sayings in the fey realm. Or at least in the part I was from. It’s a big place.”

  Kurt nodded, he had heard many stories of how large it was and knew many of the inter realm pathways actually passed through the fey realm in some way. The fey realm was a sort of naturally formed pocket dimension that spanned the known universe, touching realm and acting as a bridge for many.

  “Want to see how my enchanting works?” Kurt offered. He thought she already knew but wanted to return the favor.

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  “Oh, that’s ok. I have seen your method many times. Though I can’t use it, I am very familiar and appreciate the way it works.” Anna said with a smile, tilting her head slightly. “Want to get these bound? To you and the girls at least?”

  Kurt agreed and they moved up to the basement only to find it empty. They then followed the logical progression and went upstairs to find both of the girls talking with Penny who had clearly just stepped in. She was holding her laptop and quickly stepped over to the counter to set it down.

  “… a big one this time. That or super strong monsters inside.” Penny was saying as she turned the screen to face them.

  “I’ll get Kurrrrrt… Oh, you are here already.” Val said as they crossed the living room. “Got a big one according to the boss lady.”

  “Please don’t call me that.” Penny groaned.

  Val sniggered. “Oh, sorry I forgot only Jamie can call yo- OW!”

  Kristi had chopped Val right between the ears with the edge of her hand. “Don’t tease or you will be teased.”

  “Ow. Like you could tease me…” Val muttered but the words died in her throat as Kristi crossed her arms and arched an eyebrow, her expression all but begging Val to test that assumption. “Ahhh, right. So, about that rift?”

  By this time Kurt had reached the counter and was studying the dizzying array of information that was constantly in flux as Penny’s screen updated with new data every second. He couldn’t make heads or tails of it, so he looked up to his handler.

  “It’s going to be big. It has double the energy levels of any rift you have cleared so far.” Penny said. “Want me to call Jade and get her team on standby?”

  “Probably for the best. Just tell them to assume they are going in with us.” Kurt said. If this was going to be a big rift, he wanted to go in guns blazing so to speak.

  “Release the hounds!” Val crowed as she turned to head to the basement. “Haha, always wanted to-” CLANK. “OW!”

  Kristi had taken the opportunity to pitch an empty soda can at her, catching the rambunctious vixen right in the back of the head. “They are not hounds. Have some respect.” She said primly.

  “I’ll show you how to respect…” Val muttered as she just rubbed the back of her head and continued to the basement.

  “What was that?” Kristi called.

  “NOTHING!” Val said and departed in her trademark scamper, ears flat and tails thrashing behind her.

  Anna watched the interaction in amazement, normally she was the one getting steam rolled by Val’s boisterous personality. “How did you do that?”

  “Hmm?” Kristi asked while retrieving the now dented can and putting it in the recycling pile.

  “Val, how did you get her to mind you? Normally she is so dominate in everything.” Anna clarified.

  Kristi chuckled. “Oh, it’s nothing. She likes to pretend to be the boss out here because Kurt lets her.”

  Anna turned to Kurt, raising her confused face to him. Before he could answer, Val reappeared from nowhere, startling everyone as she popped into exitance only a couple feet away.

  “Let’s just say I appreciate it because in the bedroom I can get really subby.” She cooed while wrapping herself around Kurt like a shoulder cape. It was unclear if she was showing her affection toward him or using him for cover, possibly both.

  “Moving on!” Penny declared, her face having already turned pink from a blush. “I texted Jade and she will be here in half an hour with her team.”

  “How long until the rift connects?” Kurt asked. His eyes tracking Kristi as she pulled Val aside and they had a whispered conversation at the far end of the kitchen.

  “This one should be open in an hour.” Penny answered before turning to Anna. “Want to go on this one?”

  “I-is that allowed?” Anna asked, looking very startled. “I thought I was still in training.”

  Penny waffled her head back and forth. “This would technically be job shadowing and field training. You don’t have to go if you don’t want.”

  Anna looked back and forth from Kurt to Penny. “Is that ok with you?” She asked the question to Kurt, only just noticing that Val and Kristi had stopped their whisper war and had zeroed in on their conversations the way Bont did when he saw another animal that may or may not become food.

  Kurt just shrugged. “Fine by me. Got gear?” When she shook her head, Kurt nodded before looking at Penny, a slight squint in his eyes. “Let’s go get you some gear then.”

  *****

  “So, this is all yours?” Anna asked while looking at the open lockers.

  “Yeah, go ahead and take what you want. Val can help you get set up for a pistol.” Kurt said while swapping out his suppressed rifle in .300 Blackout for his latest in 6mm Max. “Wait, do you know how to shoot a pistol?”

  “Ummm… kinda?” Anna answered, sounding not at all sure about her answer.

  Kurt shot Penny a look. The woman in question just sighed and made a note on her tablet. She muttered about scheduling and how ‘if he was so concerned maybe he should run the weapons training class’.

  Anna just looked between the two of them before she suddenly seemed to remember something. “Oh, while I am looking at these, do you all want to bind your weapons?” She passed them each one of the knives she had just created.

  Kristi stopped stacking magazines in a box and turned to take her knife. “Bind what now?”

  “These are the switch blades that Anna told us about when we first met.” Kurt said. “You just have to push a little mana into them and it will bind to you.”

  “Looks more like a dagger than a switch blade.” Val said.

  “No, Val, these are the ones that turn from… Ah, you’re fucking with me.” Kurt suddenly realized that Val was pulling one over on him.

  “I would rather be fucking you…” Val muttered under her breath while closing her eyes to push a little mana into her knife.

  Kurt snorted and just focused on doing the same with his blade. He knew his previous affinity was for manipulating elemental mana. He didn’t know how that would translate to this weapon but was excited to find out.

  As he focused on drawing his energy to his hand, he gathered it and squeezed on the handle of the knife, like he was trying to compress the energy that had pooled between his palm and the hilt. If he had his eyes open, he would have noticed that the mana wasn’t the neutral white color he normally had but a deep, rich amber-gold hue.

  Regardless, the binding took and he felt the blade pull more mana than he was pushing in before it suddenly warmed. Once it matched his body temperature, he knew the binding was complete. He opened his eyes to see Kristi already looking at the knife she had bonded while Val hummed in satisfaction a moment later.

  “The phrases are ‘that’s not a knife’ and ‘I need some shaft’ to make it change forms.” Anna said while her fuzz seemed to ‘poof’ slightly in embarrassment while the skin underneath reddened. “Ahem you might feel a little pull on your mana the first time the change happens but that is just to set the form. It will flow smoothly after that.”

  Looking at the girls, they just shrugged and at once they intoned the words. “That’s not a knife.” They made sure to do the accent, just in case.

  Kurt did feel a little pull at his mana, like it was a spell that he needed to fuel for a fraction of a second. Once that pull faded, he watched the blade suddenly morph and grow in his hand. He was very thankful that the vault was large enough to have them all spaced out otherwise there might have been blood.

  The blade that had formed in Kurt’s hand was interesting to say the least. It was a back-sword or perhaps, a half-back in this case as the last third of the spine was also sharpened, meeting the primary edge in a fine point. The hilt and cross guard met a modest basket that wrapped to cover his thumb and fingers while providing a small loop for his pointer finger to rest in. All in all, it looked like a weapon that would have seen use in the late eighteen hundreds on some English military man. Approving of the heft and feel, not that he had any knowledge of swords use, he looked at what the girls ended up with.

  Val was holding what looked like an arming sword with a long hilt to allow for two hands despite the short, tapered blade. The guard was a simple quillon that had a thick, diamond cross-section with not much in the way of design. The pommel, opposite the micarta-like grip was also a diamond shape, matching the plain adornment of the guard. She seemed rather pleased with the blade and was inspecting the edge with her thumb.

  Kristi on the other hand was not what Kurt predicted. He thought she would have some giant of a blade, making use of her frankly terrifying strength. Instead, she was holding what looked like an estoc mixed with rapier.

  Her blade had a slightly flattened, diamond cross section all the way down to the needle like tip. The guard was a long, swept design that had a disk like bolster in the front, separating the long handle from the blade.

  They all got a good eyeful of each weapon before reciting the next phrase and once again feeling the mana pull. This time they had learned from previous experiences and had stepped back to the far corners of the room.

  Kurt ended up with a war hammer that was on a very long, metal reinforced haft making what he thought was called a lucerne. When he rested the spiked butt against the ground, the even spike-ier top was just above eye level. The head of the war hammer was a deeply grooved face, looking like a meat tenderizer on steroids. The reverse side held a wickedly pointed and slightly curved spike that extended for several inches from the shaft.

  Looking up, he saw Kristi with a pole axe. It stood taller than her when accounting for the spike but that was secondary to the flat faced blade just below it. The blade had a wedge shape where it connected to the rest of the head, providing excellent stops for blocking or hooking. The reverse side was a hammer like protrusion, matching Kurt’s for aggressiveness but running a little longer and making a more rectangular shape.

  Val had ended up with a partisan with the shaft as long as she was tall. The middle point of the ‘W’ shaped blade stood five times as long as the two winglets beside it. Just below there was a cross guard, similar in nature to a boar spear but set lower than the blade by several inches. The cross guard looked like it would be a good place for a boot as well as catching an attack.

  “Super cool.” Val said while running her hand along the faceted shaft of her new spear.

  “I like how I got weapons that don’t need a ton of skill to make use of.” Kurt said, well aware that he had no idea what he was doing with anything more than a knife. Even a knife was pushing his martial ability as he only had some very basic instruction in that field.

  Kristi cocked an eyebrow at him. “Why? I thought you would be very skilled in weapons after your time in the military… right, guns. Never mind.”

  “Something to fix later.” Kurt said.

  “That means we get to spar with a different kind of spear than we normally do.” Val said while making a very rude gesture with her hands. To make the gesture, she had her spear butt resting on the floor while it was propped against her shoulder. Kristi took advantage of that position.

  She tapped the side of the spear shaft with her poleaxe, knocking it against the side of Val’s head and getting a yelp out of the frisky fox. “Anyway.” She started, holding the axe in front of her again. “How do we get them back?”

  “Hmm?” Anna asked, amused expression on her face. “Oh, right, you just have to say ‘just the tip’ and it will shrink into the hand holding it or the dominate hand if you have both on it.”

  “Val, having clearly not learned her lesson and unable to help herself once more chimed in. “That’s what she said. HA! Miss- Ah fuck!”” After delivering her one liner, Val skipped back to avoid the smack from Kristi only to run right into the workbench, pinching her tails between her and the heavy maple slab of a work surface.

  Kurt just sighed and face palmed before he looked to Anna. “Are you sure you still want to go with us into the rift?”