Excellent choice of writing utensils! As you can see, when you are crafting at a higher rank, all aspects below that rank are also used to stabilize and enhance the higher-rarity aspects. By crafting more carefully, increasing your skill level as a Reductionist, or as a crafter of the type you are attempting to emulate, you will reduce your overall resource draw.
Let's move on to learning to craft in different disciplines that you have started upon! Please choose one of the disciplines that you would like a happy tutorial for! Options: Alchemy, Blacksmithing, Enchanting.
“I need at least to know how to make the main crafting implements for all three of them, so let's just go in order.” Joe selected alchemy, and the tutorial began immediately. He needed to use a cauldron that the system provided, and what looked like a giant stirring spoon that he was required to make out of aspects. It was a strange spoon, because beyond having a scoop, it also had a lid on it. That allowed him to stir, collect, and contain the aspects as he made a potion. “This makes me rethink drinking actual potions… if I can make them out of simple Trash aspects, what am I putting in my body?
Pondering the fact that he could convert human waste into viable potions was fairly disgusting, and he resolved to use Draughts—made from Common aspects—at the minimum from now on. There was one additional component to consider with Alchemy, and that was controlling the temperature of the cauldron. At this level of potion making, it was fairly straightforward. Still, he knew that there was going to be plenty that he could learn from alchemical skill trainers.
From there, he moved on to blacksmithing, which required him to make an ingot hammer out of aspects, then use a normal anvil to craft the strange energy into a solid material. Slamming a hammer down on energy was a new experience, and one that he looked forward to repeating in the future.
Enchanting was a pleasant surprise, because he found that he could use the same inscription tool that he created when drawing ritual diagrams. After he had absorbed the four crafting disciplines that he knew currently, Joe thought the tutorial was going to complete itself. Instead, it threw a curveball into the entire system.
Great work! Now that you have created various materials and consumables, let's try making a Rare-ranked… anything! When going from Uncommon to Rare, an additional component is needed! Energy!
“Isn't all of this energy?” Joe muttered to himself. Luckily, the system clarified for him in the next few lines of text.
One way to think of the difference of crafting Rare-ranked objects and above is to assume that it is an ‘endothermic reaction’! Not only do you need the same components as you did before, you also need an energy source that allows you to force the components to react in a new way! Only, instead of adding heat, you are adding power directly from: a Core!
Joe decided to go with what he was most familiar with and began making a Student-ranked ritual diagram. To save on time, he crafted his inscription tool in a similar manner to his Common aspect writing implement, but turned the top half of it into an eagle feather, making a fancy—but not too fancy—quill. It worked, and he started sketching the fourth circle of the ritual diagram immediately. This time, not only did he start seeing a decrease in his resource bars, but an additional empty, energetic blue bar appeared. Joe didn’t think too much of it until he tried to draw the circle and nothing happened.
Please bind the Core to the aspect section in the crafting tab of your status sheet. For the purposes of the demonstration, you have been granted a Core that you can bind immediately!
A shining, round Core appeared in Joe's hand, and he had an idea. Using his Ritual of Reduction, he attempted to reduce the Core directly.
Item: Core (Rare).
Energy value: 5,192/5,192
Reduction cost: Cannot break energy down further!
Seeing no other option, Joe followed the directions and found the Core tab, added the Core, and tried drawing once more. The resource bars went down, the circle was drawn, and the ritual diagram was completed. Joe inspected the energy resource bar, wondering how much of that core he had spent.
Energy value: 4,751/5,192
“So, I spent about four hundred and forty-one points of energy from the core.” Joe mused, looking at the bars and trying to get a feel for how the conversion worked. “How…?”
You have completed the tutorial! Another tutorial may become available at a later date, based upon your usage and accomplishments. Try new things and increase your class to unlock further instructions!
With no more warning than that, the foggy world around Joe vanished, and he found himself back in the room with Major General Havoc. The Dwarf took a long draw of a thick cigar and stared Joe down. “Well? Are you going to take a tutorial or not?”
“Already done.” That answered one question for Joe; he had not moved from his spot in the world.
The goggles covering Havoc’s eyes gleamed. “An instant download of information? That's a very good tutorial, indeed… as expected of the system. So… you learned new things?”
“Show me.”
Chapter Thirteen
One of the greatest benefits of having his Legendary codpiece was that Joe could bring things out of it to any part of his body whenever he wanted. It was time to show Havoc what he had learned, and Joe knew better than to hold back. With a thought and a handful of mana, Joe grasped forward and called forth an aspect of Trash.
The dark grey wispy fire appeared and was immediately surrounded by his light blue mana. Joe didn't bother to put much effort into the design, making a simple stylus. After it was formed, the
