“Six hundred and twenty-five mana a second.” Joe gulped as he looked at the armor. “If it took five full seconds to reduce a dagger, how long will this take? I can only hold out for two and a half seconds. Are you sure we should do this? The armor is definitely going to break, and I am not going to be able to capture all of the aspects…”
“Did I tell you to hesitate? Or did I give you a task to complete?” Havoc waved a hand imperiously at Joe. “Get after it.”
Joe started pouring his mana into the ritual, and the breastplate began to shine. One second passed, two… and Havoc slammed a bottle into Joe’s mouth. The human was so shocked that he almost failed to continue, but he gulped the liquid down and watched as his mana was restored. It stayed at full for another five seconds before starting to drop slightly, and the breastplate vanished at the end of ten full seconds from the beginning of the process. “Havoc! What was that?”
“Rare-rank Mana Philter. Hard to come by, very expensive. Using those like bathwater will really make the court-martial stand up and take notice. Mainly because I think we have a single Dwarven alchemist in the entire Oligarchy?” Havoc ignored Joe’s sputtering and demanded, “Well? A breakdown, please!”
“That’s… I… over six thousand total mana used.” Joe deflated and started going over the details. Havoc listened greedily, writing Joe’s words out on a pad of paper. “I gained one hundred and eleven Unique aspects, eighty-two Rare, two hundred ten Uncommon, and a bunch of the lower ones.”
“Good. Now, any class experience gained?” Havoc smiled knowingly as Joe checked and found a big fat zero waiting for him. “Now, what do you think you need to do to get experience?”
“Since reducing things does not give experience by itself, I can only assume that I will get experience when I make things with the aspects.” Joe was almost bowled over by Havoc clapping a hand on his back.
“Good! Oh, if you got that wrong, I was going to punish you so badly. Now, how do you make items out of aspects?”
“I have… let’s just start testing, alright?” Joe pulled paper and ink from his ring and started to draw a circle. The paper took the ink, but as soon as the circle was complete, the entire thing burst into flames. “Ow!”
“You aren’t hurt,” Havoc scoffed as Joe dropped the flaming paper. “You were just surprised. I know you are wearing a shield of some kind. What was that all about? Why didn't that work? You’re so bad at coloring that the deity of artistry cursed you or something?”
Joe pulled up his notifications again, already sick of needing to open them so frequently.
Attempt at creating a ritual circle detected. Warning: all crafting can only be completed via aspect usage!
“I can only use aspects?” Joe slapped at the screen, only to have his hand go right through it. “How! How do I use them?”
Checking… no skill trainer available. Aspect crafting tutorial is available for purchase! Cost: 5,000 reputation with a deity of your choice. Reputation loss must leave you at neutral or above!
Joe stared at the black-hearted fee listed. “Kind of pigeonholing me here, aren't you? This seems like a blatant attempt to force me to regain favor with Tatum.”
There was no response, though Havoc looked at Joe a little strangely. Joe shook his head. “I just got the opportunity to get a tutorial on crafting with aspects. What do you think? Is that usually worth doing?”
Havoc’s eyes practically bulged out of his goggles. “Never, never turn down a system-generated tutorial. You cannot get a better, cleaner, more direct tutorial or method of training anywhere. It practically offers to make you the subject matter expert for the entire Zone!”
“Guess… I’ll buy it then.” Joe accepted the cost and watched as various numbers dropped precipitously from his status screen.
Aspect crafting tutorial purchased! Would you like to take the tutorial now?
Joe didn’t hesitate to accept. He was practically useless without his ability to even make a simple ritual diagram, let alone draw a circle. “Yes.”
Chapter Twelve
The world around Joe faded into a dense fog immediately. He wasn't entirely certain if he had been moved from his position, or if he were in the same spot but completely zoned out. Joe was standing in a world of mist, but the condensation began to visibly coalesce in front of his amazed eyes. Joe flinched as the shifting world began speaking to him in a powerful voice. Every word from this unknown being burned itself into his brain, making it nearly impossible to forget.
Crafting with aspects is the process of seeing beyond what is, to what could be. By using energy directly and following the pattern created with alchemy, blacksmithing, or a myriad of other crafting styles, you are able to minimize and standardize the requirements for every part of the crafting process. Let us review the different standard materials.
A weak dark grey flame appeared and was introduced at the same time.
Aspect of Trash. This is the most basic form of aspects, but also the most widely used. Every item, consumable, or anything else crafted… makes use of aspects of Trash. It is the most basic aspect and is more useful than you may ever comprehend.
Three more wispy flames appeared in front of Joe, a light grey, white, and silver. The voice continued speaking.
In order, these are Damaged, Common, and Uncommon aspects. For the majority of all crafting, these are the aspects that are going to be the most frequently used. We’ll begin with a simple example of using aspects in crafting. Let's make a Beginner-ranked ritual diagram.
In order to make a Beginner-ranked ritual, two ritual circles are needed. Let's work together to create a ritual using aspects!
Joe rolled his eyes
