Warcraft story - Chapter 4

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[You’ve unlocked the Squad Leader skill!]

[Your Discipline attribute has increased from 1 to 2! Discipline Perk point gained.]

[Your Commander skill has increased from 1 to 2! Commander Perk point gained.]

[Your Spellbreaker skill has increased from 1 to 2! Spellbreaker Perk point gained.]

That was a lot. Not surprising, considering what had been going on lately, but it did seem the System liked to group them up and drop them all at the same time. The information that came with the Commander skill was actually quite useful as it pertained more to tactics suitable for this world. She had a lot of experience commanding troops from before, but there was a difference between commanding soldiers armed with shuriken cannons and hover-tanks, not to mention space fleets, and commanding troops armed with bows and swords. Some things always remained the same, such as the importance of logistics and deceiving your enemy, but battle formations and the advantages certain terrain conferred to your troops were very different.

Where the Commander skill was all about leading armies, the Squad Leader was all about leading small-ish groups of soldiers, and working in a squad. It was all about teamwork, and perhaps more importantly, it was also about how to best teach others to do what you wanted. It would be a useful skill in the future, albeit with limited utility for now. No one would tolerate being lectured by someone so young.

For the Perk points, the choice for the Commander Perk was rather obvious. One of the options simply stood above all the others in a world without proper radar and communications. Battlefield Awareness allowed her to maintain perfect awareness of the position and status of all the forces in a battle, as if she had a bird’s eye view of the battlefield. The Perk did specifically warn her that it only applied to forces she was aware of, so it wouldn’t stop her from being ambushed by completely unknown forces. She decided to save the Discipline Perk point for now. There was nothing immediately useful in her current situation. There was a perk in the new Squad Leader skill that helped when training small groups, but since she wasn’t in one, and it required the skill to be higher level...

The options for Spellbreaker Perks were interesting. There were several Perks that would make it easier to just remove negative effects from her allies, and later on, they would lead to Perks that would make it easier to do it in an area. However, she ultimately chose a Perk called "Anti-Magic Zone," which gave her the ability to project an area around her that would suppress any and all magic inside. It was a Perk with several tiers, and the first tier didn’t make the area void of magic, but it did reduce any effects significantly. The further along Perks could improve the effect, increase the size of the area, and even allow her to project the area somewhere else other than around herself. She also suspected that later Perks would allow her to only suppress the magic of others and not her own, but that was not visible for now.

She went through her normal morning routine and ran to the harbor where a cutter was already waiting. The ship took her to the Isle of Quel'Danas, where she'd wait for any patients that she could help remove spells from. One patient had already arrived overnight, whom she managed to help rather easily. As with all things, the more you did something, the easier it became, and the poor ranger cursed by a troll wasn't among the worst cases. The improved skill also helped, extending her knowledge on the subject. It was as if she’d been doing this for a lot longer than she had in reality.

Most of her morning was spent in meditation, and doing it so close to the Sunwell meant the effects were vastly improved. She could sense the body of water symbolizing her mana growing. She still hadn’t managed to see the bottom, or even the edges, but she had managed to make a decent dent in it with a full day of focused casting. Apparently, she would need to cast some more complicated or powerful spells to really test her limits.

“Bored?” Thelion’s voice brought her out of her meditation.

“Not while meditating, no. Though I wouldn’t mind if there was more to do. Not that I wish more of our people would get cursed, of course. My desire for training isn’t more important than their suffering.” She was quick to add.

"Well, maybe I can help with that a bit. How about I teach you some of the basics when it comes to wielding a sword?" He pulled out a pair of slightly curved wooden swords. When she saw the look she was giving him, he almost took a step back.

"I'm not sure you want to walk down that path." She said with a smile that could’ve sent a battle-hardened warrior running for the hills.

She had no experience using the standard weapon of the rangers, the bow, or a shield like the Spellbreakers or most of the warriors of the Quel’dorei. Sure, there was some similarity in firing a gun and firing a bow when it came to estimating distances, tracking and leading moving targets, and estimating the wind, but firing a bow and a gun were fundamentally not the same thing. However, what she did have experience with was using a sword and a spear.

She’d walked the Path of the Warrior, even becoming lost on the Path as an Exarch for a long time. As a Howling Banshee, an aspect warrior dedicated to melee combat, she’d mastered the power swords, mirror-blades, and even the executioner spear. She’d also been an Autarch, the Path of Leader and Commander, where leading the warhost from the front was the norm. But most importantly, she’d spent a lot of time on the Path of the Seer, first as a Warlock, a combat-oriented seer, and later a Farseer, a seer that got lost on the Path, using both a Witchblade and the Singing Spear. She’d used both weapons for longer than the city of Silvermoon had existed.

Granted, she no longer had the muscle memory, nor was she used to fighting without her powers, so it wasn’t like she would be able to fight even remotely close to a level she was accustomed to. But she would still not lose to this man. So, if Thelion thought he could teach her something about the use of a sword, he was sorely mistaken.

He laughed a little awkwardly. “Show me what you’ve got.” Not taking her warning entirely seriously and tossing one of the swords at her.

Fine then. His loss. In this case, literally. She tested the wooden blade in her hands for weight and how her body reacted to it before getting serious.

As she looked up at Thelion, he involuntarily took a step back, a sudden instinctive fear running down his back. She’d never been a soft girl. She was serious and fair, and never abusive, violent, or angry. Now it was like she’d suddenly donned a mask. A mask meant for war, and her eyes told him a story. A story about how she was going to murder him. And she was not going to be gentle about it. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all…

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“Commander Thelion.” Anasterian acknowledged the presence of the leader of the Spellbreakers as he entered his rooms. “Seeing you inside my chambers is rather rare. I’m going to go ahead and assume this has something to do with my niece.”

“Yes, my king. I need to clarify a few things. Your majesty failed to mention Lady Selessa was a burgeoning Blademaster.” There was a slight accusatory tone in Thelion’s tone, which couldn’t possibly be true, as it would be highly improper.

“Is she really that good?” Anasterian wasn’t exactly surprised after having learned a little about her background. He was also not surprised they were having this discussion. There was a reason he’d assigned Thelion in particular to teach her, even before she’d told her story. Or at least the little of it that she’d revealed. Thelion could keep a secret. He already kept several others.

“I’d say she’s better, but there was an unnatural struggle to how she fought. It was like her body was unable to keep up with her true abilities. This isn't the first time I've noticed something anomalous about her, which raises some questions. Questions I haven't asked before, but now I feel I must ask as the leader of the Spellbreakers, even if it potentially pits me against my king." Thelion's tone was both apologetic and filled with resolve. That wasn't unexpected. It was the job of the Spellbreakers to take down magisters who consorted with forbidden magic or demons.

“I suppose I can give you a bit. I can’t answer in detail, or tell you too much, but if it makes you put your mind at ease, ask your questions.” Anasterian allowed, while sitting down opposite the man.

“Is something possessing the body of your niece?” He went straight to the important question.

“No, at least not in the sense you’re implying.” His answer was measured and gave enough information to read between the lines.

‘Not possessed by a demon or anything in the traditional sense, but maybe something that could be considered a possession of sorts.’ Thelion thought to himself, nodding.

“Is she a Quel’dorei, or something in disguise?” He asked the next question.

“For all intents and purposes, yes, she is one of us," Anasterian responded, once again leaving a bit of wiggle room, but denying the obvious accusation.

Thelion started putting the pieces of what Anasterian had said together. “She’s been something else before, hasn’t she?”

"Yes," Anasterian answered directly for the first time.

“Something that includes being a warrior…and a leader? I’m starting to sense where some of the new ideas your majesty has been implementing might’ve come from.” Spellbreakers were also the king’s bodyguards, so of course they knew what went on in meetings behind closed doors.

Instead of replying, Anasterian just smiled, pleased that his most trusted subordinate was smart enough to make those connections on his own.

“What was she before?” Thelion asked the next important question.

“Nothing you’re aware of. The rest is her story to tell, if she so chooses. She hasn’t told me very much either. Enough to not worry about it, except as concern for someone I care about. She's with us, and in addition to potentially being a great asset, she means a lot to both me and my son. Do keep that in mind. I can tell you that in some ways her previous existence wasn't entirely different from ours."

Thelion slowly nodded his helmeted head. “That is…intriguing. And I can see the potential benefits. Last question then. Are you planning on making her your heir?”

That question caught Anasterian by slight surprise. It wasn’t like the thought hadn’t occurred to him, but he had not expected Thelion to ask the question. Not yet anyway. He was a very young king himself, something that caused him quite a bit of trouble in fact. On the other hand, because of his youth and Selessa’s nature, there was every chance he might outlive his niece. But there was also a chance he might die young. “I’m certain she’ll rise to a leadership position in our society sooner or later, but my heir? That I cannot say. This is a bit of an odd situation, and I have high hopes for Nallorath as well. Interestingly, her presence has improved his outlook and mentality as well. She might make a great war leader, but a king? Or in her case, Queen? That remains to be seen.” He got lost in thought for a moment. “By her own admission, she has experienced nothing but war until coming here. She has…trouble adjusting to peace.”

"That…explains a few things," Thelion remembered seeing how the girl reacted to certain stimuli. The way she seemed constantly wary and looking for enemies, and scanning any room or space she entered. How jumpy she seemed when it came to sudden sounds. And the way she’d absolutely devastated him with the wooden swords. It hadn’t been a fight. Despite his advantage in reach and strength, there had been nothing he could do to her. He’d never seen anyone taken apart so completely, and the fact that it had happened to him didn’t exactly make it feel better. And her ‘war mask’ as she’d called her change in demeanor after she’d finished abusing him was really something to behold.

In fairness, she really had warned him.

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[You’ve unlocked the Reflexes attribute!]

[You’ve unlocked the Light Weapons skill!]

Yeah, she’d seen that coming. She had expected something like that as soon as she'd picked up the wooden sword yesterday. She'd guessed there were some weapon-related skills from the previous unlocks, and since this was the first time she picked one up with any serious intent, it made sense she would unlock a skill.

Reflexes was an interesting attribute. It wasn’t speed, not exactly. That was covered by Body. Speed was mostly about muscles anyway. No, Reflexes was, as the word implied, about her ability to respond to stimuli as quickly as possible. Where Body was about her muscles, skin, and bones, Reflexes was about her senses, her response time, her ability to process information, her mind, and her neural pathways. Where Body was about speed, Reflexes was more about agility and perception. The ability to sense an impending threat, react to it, and change direction mid-motion. The feeling of time slowing down when adrenaline filled your system. Perception of her own speed and the speed of others. It included things like hand-eye coordination as well, interestingly enough. And like Body, it was almost entirely performance-based, not information-based.

Light Weapons was, as the name implied, about the use of light and one-handed weapons. It wasn’t just swords, though swords were a part of it. She would’ve liked to say the skill had nothing to offer her, except, somehow things like the use of most bows were also included. And daggers. And more ridiculous weapons like war glaives. Who in the name of Khaine used something as ridiculous as war glaives? Such an impractical weapon. Sounded like a Mon’keigh invention, like the ridiculous lightning claws she’d seen them use, except even more stupid. It also dealt with dual-wielding. Something she was extremely familiar with, and perhaps due to her previous life, she was already ambidextrous.

Moving on, she hoped Thelion didn’t carry a grudge. He had seemed a little stumped yesterday, after their sparring session. If it could be called that. No offense to Thelion, he wasn’t bad, but the level of martial skill among the Quel’dorei didn’t seem to be on a particularly high level. Magic was the core of their society, and it showed in the lack of martial spirit. Perhaps she had something to train them in once she was a little older. A small grin spread on her face at the idea of what would happen once she was handed a spear for the first time.

[You’ve unlocked the Heavy Weapons skill!]

[Don’t bully the poor man too much.]

Oh? Did the System just give her a new skill, without the need for sleeping, just to avoid having her humiliate Thelion further? How generous. And out of character, which made it suspicious.

As expected, the skill was all about polearms and two-handed weapons, ranging from huge war bows to two-handed hammers and axes. The skill did give her some ideas.  Her psionic abilities didn't really apply, and this world didn't have the technology, but she did wonder if she could replicate something like the Mon-keigh thunder hammer. Unlike some of the other idiotic inventions of theirs, a simple hammer with the power of thunder could be rather useful. And magic could do wondrous things to people in armor. Perhaps not the weapon of choice against trolls, but surely there would be bigger and more armored enemies in the future. The Quel’dorei couldn’t be the only ones that had discovered the benefits of armor. Trolls only eschewed armor because of their regeneration, which just seemed silly.

As she performed her morning routine before going outside, she was somewhat surprised to find she wasn’t alone at the breakfast table. She hadn’t seen much of her father after she’d woken up here. Even her mother was a more frequent visitor, which was saying something. She’d gotten the impression from overheard gossip of the servants that the relationship between her parents was something of a scandal akin to Anasterian’s dalliance with Nallorath's mother, and that was one of the reasons he wasn’t warmly welcomed on the Sunstrider Isle either. He was tolerated and to an extent respected, but not welcomed. There was also a political dimension to the scandal. As her mother had not married into another family, they were both still officially Sunstriders, and thus in the line of succession. Something that could result in dynastic issues should something happen to Anasterian. Something the Quel’dorei had managed to avoid so far.

“Selessa. It’s been a while.” Her father’s voice was rather warm. The few times the two had met, her father had been perhaps the most affectionate member of their family, which wasn’t saying much. Displays of affection were not common in the royal family.

“Fath-…” She was about to respond, but her words stuck in her mouth as her magic sight made it very obvious his entire body seemed to be made entirely of magic. Quel'dorei were magical, but they were not made entirely of magic. “Huh. That’s not what I expected.”

She remembered her very meager Psyker senses giving him an impression of the man when they'd first met, and now she was beginning to see why. His father grinned a bit, noticing her sudden discomfort. "Ah, it seems you've finally developed your magic sight. I was beginning to wonder if you would. As usual, though, you don't disappoint."

He suddenly weaved magic that was more complicated than anything she’d seen before, by several orders of magnitude, and suddenly no sounds from the outside could be heard anymore. No birds, no sounds from the kitchen, no sounds from the guard's armor rubbing together, nothing. It wasn't just sound. No scents, no sights from outside the window, no light, nothing. It was like this whole room was suddenly isolated. Yet, she wasn’t afraid. If her father had wanted to hurt her, he could’ve just done that instead, and it’s not like she could’ve stopped him.

“There. Now we can have this conversation without any worry about being overheard or interrupted.” He quickly explained. He noticed the look in her eyes and laughed. “Hungry for knowledge as always. Maybe I’ll show the spell to you when you’re older. Much, much older.” He was perhaps the first person who didn’t react to her eyes.

“You’re not Quel’dorei, are you?” She asked rather bluntly, just putting it on the table to get it out of the way.

"No. Although, on some level, I am while I am in this form. That’s not the interesting question though.” He was obviously enjoying this and was pushing her to ask the right questions. And the words ‘while in this form’ were quite suggestive.

“What…no, that’s not it, although still interesting. The question you want me to ask is, am I?” She realized.

“Yes! That is the real question, and what a good question it is. See, our kind don’t really procreate with the other races. Not intentionally anyway. This form we take is supposed to be fully made of magic, as your magic sight told you before. Theoretically, you should be fully Quel’dorei, but their kind, just like mine, are very magical in nature due to the effects of both the original Well of Eternity and now the Sunwell. Did you know the Quel’dorei used to be trolls? Before they became Kaldorei and later on Quel'dorei, that is." He threw out a rather startling fact so easily.

“I knew about the Kaldorei and the effect the Sunwell has had on our people, but my reading hasn’t revealed the troll connection.” She admitted.

“Yes, I suppose it wouldn’t. It’s not something they like to advertise, and only very few and select people even know about it. Most of those who do know try to ignore that fact. To get back to you, your entire existence is something of an enigma. Put bluntly, you should not have been born from my union with your mother, yet here you are. You outwardly display only Quel’dorei traits, but if we dig deeper…well, there are hints of other possibilities. See, my kind, when we are born, are rather dumb for the first year or two, and then rapidly develop our intellect. We reach a level of mental maturity much sooner than the elves. We are also naturally gifted in many things, magic chief among them, and Nallorath has given rather glowing reports on your talents. Sound familiar so far?” He asked with a knowing smile.

He'd obviously misunderstood the reason for her maturity and quick learning, but she wasn’t going to correct him, for now at least. He’d reached his own conclusions, and so far they suited her purposes. “I can see some parallels.” She vaguely said instead.

“On the other hand, our young use their magic instinctively, doing things like teleporting around without even realizing it, and this is not something you’ve exhibited. Yet you have the magic sight that’s so crucial to my kind in particular. Other races can develop the same ability, but it requires decades of dedicated work to do so. Work that you’ve obviously not had the chance to do. So, you seem to exhibit some of our traits, but not others. I have to say, I’m curious as to how things develop.” He exuded a kind of curiosity that Selessa had associated with the scientists of her former life. The crazy and less-than-ethical kind of scientist.

“Right. So, getting the obvious question out of the way then. What are you?” She got to the point.

“I suppose you have limited enough knowledge to not be able to figure that part out on your own, even if it would be entertaining to see you try to work it out. In general, our kind are known as the dragons, and I specifically come from the Blue Dragonflight. Every flight has their duty, and it is our duty to safeguard and monitor the use of magic in the world.” Now the blue stripes in his hair made sense. The man was practically advertising his identity. Not exactly subtle. Taking refuge in audacity.

“I can see why your kind would be here then. There’s the Sunwell and the Quel’dorei use magic in rather abundance.” She nodded in understanding.

“Hmm, I should probably mention that due to some circumstances, there are fewer members of my flight left than there ought to be, so even just me being here for so long is quite rare. That’s also why I’m rather curious as to how you will develop. See, once we reach a certain point in our life, we have a ceremony called the Visage Day, where we assume our humanoid forms for the first time. I wonder if you’ll have a draconic form on your Visage Day.” He speculated.

“That’s…ok then. Something to keep in mind.” Maybe if she was offered some sort of Perk, but otherwise probably not. Again, the dragon was coming to some wild conclusions, possibly because he wanted them to be true. Likely because he’d told her their numbers were so low. “You implied there are other kinds of dragons.”

"Yes, well, there are five flights, and other sub-species. We Blues are the guardians of magic. Reds are the guardians of life. Greens are the guardians of the Emerald Dream, don’t ask. Bronze are the guardians of Time, and the Blacks are the warders of the earth and the deep places. In case you see other dragons among the Quel’dorei, they’re most likely to be from the red, as they’ve always had a bit of a connection with the elves. Probably because the leader of their flight and the Queen of the dragons has taken a Quel’dorei as her visage. They’re not frequent visitors either, but they do seem to spend more time among the mortals in general.” He explained.

“I suppose you have a real name as well?” She asked, after a moment of thought. She’d heard him called Azur Spellmyst. Rather on the nose.

“Oh, of course. My real name is Sapphiron. And to answer your next question, I promised your mother to be your teacher in magic now that Nallorath has taught you the basics and has gone back to his own studies. We'll need to see what you've managed so far and how much of my flight is in your blood. I won't tolerate mediocrity. I’m going to show you how to cast magic like a Blue Dragon should. I will not have my daughter shame my name.” On that point, his voice was quite stern.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She wasn’t planning on being mediocre either, and who better to learn from than a dragon charged with safeguarding magic?

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Selessa was reading one of the books provided by her father as Anasterian came into the library with Talanas and Nallorath, and the trio were clearly arguing. “…and I’m telling you, this isn’t so simple. We’re already going to ask a lot of the magisters to build the wall in the Thalassian Pass. They’re going to have to fight several battles, and counter both the troll casters and deal with the Loa. They can’t deal with this as well.” Anasterian argued.

"Technically, it's possible, but not very practical," Nallorath added his opinion.

“Then we are at an impasse. We can’t take Zul’Aman without taking down the walls.” Talanas turned to look towards Selessa. “Unless our little box of surprises has more ideas.”

She closed the book with a small smile. “What’s the problem then?”

Talanas sat across from her, with Anasterian and Nallorath taking seats on both sides. "One of our dragonhawk riders managed to avoid the troll bat riders and make a pass over Zul'Aman to scout things out. In addition to finding out the trolls have even larger numbers than we anticipated, we also discovered a potential problem. It makes sense in retrospect, but it seems we're not the only ones who can build walls. The city is surrounded by a wall made mostly of earthworks and palisades, while the core of the city, with all their ziggurat temples, is surrounded by a rather tall and thick wall of stone. We suspect that the latter one is also magically reinforced. As you know, our plan calls for the rapid taking of the city so that we can focus our forces to defend the Thalassian Pass. Well, the wall is going to make that difficult.”

"And as I explained, the magisters won't be able to tear the walls down with all the other things they have to deal with," Anasterian added.

"So? You have siege weapons, don't you?" She looked at the three men, who all looked at her like she'd grown a second head. "Don't you?" She asked again with a tone that was less sure.

"We haven't had to siege anything since the days of the old Kaldorei empire," Nallorath explained gently. "Back then, everything was done with magic."

“So, what are these siege weapons you speak of?” Talanas asked, clearly curious. “I assume they have something to do with sieges just by the name.”

"Oh boy." She exhaled hard. "Ok, so in theory, siege weapons are designed to bring down walls and other defenses with minimal effort. Usually, the basic mechanic is to hurl something large and heavy at a wall to break it. Wait, what do you use as weapons on our ships?”

"Magisters and bows mostly," Nallorath replied.

"Right, so, surprise-surprise, certain smaller siege weapons are also great at ship-to-ship combat. Some weapons, like the ballista, can also be used against larger mobile targets like cavalry or ships. They're less effective against walls though.” She explained, though she noticed the other three had trouble understanding her.

She pulled out a piece of paper and a quill before outlining a couple of basic designs like a ballista, a catapult, and a trebuchet. She decided against going for cannons right away, as that was a more difficult concept to explain and required an industrial base of sorts. This world wasn't ready for artillery. "The easiest one to explain is the ballista, and it’s basically a giant crossbow, shooting a bolt the size of an elf or a troll at the target. They’re less effective against walls, but they tend to be more mobile if you slap wheels on them, and they’re great for ships.”

“I would imagine they might be effective against giant animals as well, correct?” Talanas asked with a certain gleam in his eyes.

“Yes, but I would advise trying to hit the giant bats of the trolls as they’re too agile in the air.” She countered. “A normal bow or magic would be more effective there.”

"I was thinking more along the lines of the Loa, actually," Talanas explained with a sudden evil grin. "Especially if we catch them by surprise. The Loa might not fall to such mundane projectiles, but if we enchant these bolts…"

“I see where you’re going with this.” Anasterian nodded eagerly. “Selene, could you perhaps help design these things?”

She considered for a moment. “I know the basic principles, but these kinds of weapons are super archaic by the standards of…well, my previous experience. I can do the basic design and give suggestions, but I can’t do much when it comes to picking materials or more granular things like tensile strength.”

Talanas nodded. “Don’t worry. We have plenty of experience in that field. Bows are something we understand very well, and these ballistae seem like just larger versions. We’ll need to run some tests, but I have a very good feeling about this. This could do wonders for our naval forces as well. We should get Admiral Goldleaf in on these once we get a design down. I know he’d love a naval weapon that didn’t rely on the magisters.”

“Agreed.” Anasterian nodded. “What about these other designs?” He pointed at the other two drawings.

"Well, the one we really need to take care of the walls is the trebuchet." She explained the concept of counterweights, momentum, and the advantages of chucking a huge mass of rock at your enemy.

The three men stared at the design for a while until Anasterian spoke. “You know, this changes things. If this thing really can hurl the kind of weights you’re talking about, then it makes most fortifications useless. The only reason it doesn’t do the same to the Ban’dinoriel is that our walls are protected by magic. Most walls don’t have that power.”

“Any other ideas?” Nallorath asked with a pleased smile.

“Well, the other way to deal with fortifications is to make your enemy not want to be inside. To make a really simple analogy, you really don’t want to stay inside a house that’s already burning. You don’t need to use these weapons to necessarily chuck things at the walls, when you can just chuck things over the walls and into the city. I’m sure you could imagine all sorts of nasty things that would make their lives inside the walls rather unpleasant.” She suggested rather cruelly.

“I’m sensing you have ideas.” Anasterian prompted.

“I don’t know if you gave an equivalent, but there are substances called wytchfire and white phosphorus…” She wasn’t sure it was a great idea to institute the idea of chemical warfare, but then, she came from a universe where there were no rules on war concerning cruelty.

------

For the next few weeks, Anasterian had her working with the Quel’dorei craftsmen on designs. The old master crafters were skeptical at first, but once she displayed some of her designs, their wariness due to her age vanished. These were people that only cared about results, and she wasn’t the first child to have novel ideas. Alternatively, some of the crafters likely thought she was an adult, but somehow her growth had stunted. Either way worked for her.

[You’ve unlocked the Crafting attribute!]

[You’ve unlocked the Nature skill!]

The announcement was a little surprising since she hadn't expected an attribute for such a niche field, but it made sense. This was an attribute purely based on knowledge and results. It very minorly improved the dexterity of her fingers and the accuracy of her strikes if she were to work in a smithy, but the main benefits were knowledge and an eye for detail. Once the attribute unlocked, she was swamped with knowledge on all sorts of creative work, ranging from smithing to alchemy, to leatherworking, to building houses, to even baking a cake. For now, the information was highly limited, but at least it told her what sort of fields she might be able to access as skills.

Speaking of, the Nature skill was all about crafts based on the knowledge of the natural world. Engineering, chemistry, and designing things based on physical characteristics. Maybe a more fitting name for it would've been physics and biology. The major fields seemed to be engineering and, ironically, alchemy, as the physics of this world was inextricably linked with magic. The magic in nature and the magic in plants meant all her previous knowledge of such things wasn't directly applicable. It all needed to be adjusted to account for the new variables of this world. And as all skills under Crafting, it was heavily knowledge-based, injecting her mind with more information than any other skill before, with the possible exception of Arcane.

As she worked with the crafters, both the attribute and the skill quickly reached the second level, and she also unlocked two other skills associated with crafting, Magical Crafting and Creation. Magical Crafting was all about enchanting and inscription, while Creation was all about turning materials into armor and weapons via blacksmithing, leatherworking, and tailoring. Those two fields she didn’t really dabble in, but Crafting and Nature allowed her two Perk points.

The choices were not difficult, as there were two very fundamental Perks in the Nature skill that complemented each other and would help in all types of crafting. Eye for Errors allowed her to spot any mistakes and errors in anything she or others designed or crafted, while Eye for Improvement allowed her to come up with little ways to improve anything she or others made or designed. The two were really meant to be taken as a set, so she did. She wouldn’t just suddenly be able to spot errors in masterworks, but both Perks would improve in direct relation with her Crafting skill, and as they improved, she would be able to spot things more accurately.

As it happened, both became rather handy when they were designing the siege weapons, as she really had remembered only the general outline of the designs, but now she could provide actual, tangible ideas to improve the weapons. Something everyone involved was rather pleased with. It took months of slow improvement and testing materials before they had working prototypes, and another two years until they had designs that could be produced in large numbers. At that point, every warship was outfitted with ballistae, and they knew they had what it took to take down the walls of Zul Aman.