Side Story: Falk's Goal

Unlike the other invasion points in the world, the one by the city of Jacaar was nearly empty. The armies that had been stationed there during the first wave had all left, leaving no one in preparation unlike the many other locations, nor were there logistics crews or builders. Even those who’d chosen to return to the city for the time they had before the next wave would begin were avoiding that land, not just because of what it represented, but also thanks to a deal that had been struck between that city and the nation of Anailia.

If anyone was to go out there to see what was going on, all they would find would be a meager campsite, a ring of metal, and two men, one of them hard at work with the sounds of a clanging hammer echoing through the hills, and strangely enough, singing.

“Heat the metal, bend the shape, beat the edge until it’s straight,” Falk let out as he worked, something he hadn’t done since his own days as an apprentice, an old habit slipping back as he lost himself in his task, shaping an intricately constructed sheet, alloyed with materials that would leave anyone’s eyes bulging before he got the shape just right and moved on to the maddening task that was enchanting, trying to replicate the ridiculous system his student used as he forced himself to ignore the migraine that had been his companion for weeks of work while he pressed his mind for each bit of mana he laid down.

If he had the leeway, he would have thought that the work he was doing after so much theory-crafting and designing with his student may have been some sadistic attempt to gain him a strange mind skill instead of helping him awaken to the third tier like he was aiming for, but he didn’t have the room to think of anything else as the hours wore on, grinding him down into nothing as the massive ring that encircled the gate slowly grew thicker.

With the circumference what it was, just encircling it once had been monumental, the act of making and laying down plates taking two days to get that first circle, with him not trying to balance being precise along with fast, instead pushing beyond his limits to be both as he teetered on a knife's edge, always just a single misstep from falling off in the end, until he noticed the loss of light, telling him it was time for his single break a day.

<ACQUIRED SKILL MIGRAINE RESISTANCE LEVEL 0>

Ha, well, as far as mind skills go, this one ain’t so bad. The boy’s gonna end up mighty jealous if he finds out given his months of pain though. ‘Course, this also means I’ll need to work even harder from now on.

“You know, as interesting as it is watching a friend kill themself, perhaps you could give yourself a day off?” The only person with him, the great spirit and his longtime friend, Abrus suggested, and not for the first time. He could see how hard Falk was pushing himself and knew just how fragile mortals were. Even if he knew they’d have to say goodbye one day, there was no reason to make it any quicker.

“You know I can’t,” The yeti answered as always, collapsing to the ground where a bowl of stew was already waiting for him. “If this sort of thing was easy then anyone would get there. The boy was right, I can’t keep doing small things to try and push myself over the edge.”

“Making legendary items is no small thing.”

“But it’s not large enough either.”

Abrus could only sigh. “I could at least help a bit, you know.”

“You’re making most of the materials I need and bringing me the rest. You’re helping plenty.”

“I mean genuine help, not just materializing some raw elements for you to work. You could keep up the alchemic aspect and I could fit them into the end plates, or I could at least cover placing them down after they’re forged.”

The offer sounded like a siren’s song to Falk’s tired ears, but still he denied it, no matter the longing that twisted his heart. “No. I need to do every part of this Abrus, otherwise, if I fail I’ll always be left wondering if that’s what kept me from getting it. Right now I know I’m giving all I can, if I still don’t get it after this then I’ll at least be able to accept it and figure out what to try next.”

“As long as you don’t have a heart attack in your sleep.”

“Ha, if I do then you’ll just have to rush me to the nearest healer I guess.”

“I think I’ll just ask some life spirits to stay in the area instead to look you over at this point. Of course, I think I already know what they’ll say. Can you at least sleep a little longer?”

“Four hours does me plenty. If I can function on that without my work gettin’ worse then that’s all I need till it’s done. If it does look like my quality’s starting to slip I’ll give myself an extra hour.”

“Fine, since you seem to want to cancel out whatever lifespan extension awakening would give you, I’m at least handling one thing you can’t say no to.”

Using just a bit of his power, Abrus reached out to Falk and pulled, extracting everything that was stuck in the yeti’s fur that could be manipulated by the earth affinity as flecks of metal and dirt came out, far more than anyone would want to see coming away from their body as his dark fur got back to being a few shades closer to its natural white.

“...I’m sure looking forward to a nice wash by the end of this,” He ultimately said after being forced to confront just how filthy his current lifestyle had left him.

“Probably something to do before your talk with Sonya,” The great spirit agreed. “Luckily you’ll be able to pop in the city when you’re done here in… How much longer do you have to go?”

“If I’m lucky a couple weeks, if I’m not a few months.”

He ignored the comment about Sonya. With all he had to do still, he didn’t have anywhere near the leeway to think about how he wanted to approach that reveal, even if the boy making things so clear to him had been a shock when it had first come up. If he let himself think on it, he wouldn’t be able to devote everything he had to the task at hand, putting him on the same path of wondering if he’d have been able to succeed with his project if he’d just been able to give it his all. That wouldn’t be fair to her or him in the end.

“Well, at least you’ll get to enjoy my company.”

“Ha, and I appreciate it,” He told him, making his gratitude plain as he finished up his stew and laid down. “Do me a favour and make sure I wake up?”

“It’s what I’m here for.”

“Great.”

It was less than a second after that he was asleep, the sounds of his hammer still ringing in his dreams throughout the night before he’d need to repeat it all over again.