POV: Yufren, the Völsung Clan smith.
Date: Þórri 24th, 798 AD. (Alt: 5th February, 799 AD.) Location: Götaland (Ancient Sweden.)
He walked out of Den stora kupolen (The big dome) in churning thoughts, remembering all that had been shown with stark clarity over the previous 2 nights.
'The moon, where was it?' Yufren asked himself, remembering his battle in that false reality with the orange orb of endless night that overwrote the sky with its malicious streaking light. 'Is this unwritten history?' The smith paused to calm himself, shaking his head.
He had been in the dome this day to question some information again from the great scientist God, he had read the books, the knowledge guided by the runic injectors and the external memory players. Yet seeing its functions and following its evolution for a creature he had recognised once as false was another, so much randomisation, so many dead due to not being the 'right' circumstances for their survival. It appeared that luck was the deciding factor for life to appear as it is. And Heath would tell him that he is correct.
That our own driven morphology has made us human-centric through biasism, where every soul that matters would need to understand that they were not 'the shit,' and that one must know there will always be mistakes to be done, especially one of a higher power such as Heath himself.
"It is a good eye you had seen the moon's nonappearance, but that is a story for another time." The tall God looks rueful, past history playing along his every pore just from his expression alone. "I know you have more questions, ask me. What is wrong?" Heath sits down by him, ready to listen to a task he had been thinking on over the past week. "I have been wondering about your upgrading of the adaptable hilts with both *Dyḗusium and celestial bronze. Are there newer features you are adding that work with the enchantments?"[1]
"There is, I will be creating 3 that are more spiritually tied to the soul. Just as one can call and disappear their adaptable hilt, the 1st is: 'Chaining,' Chaining uses part of the life force sapped from a foe to then be propelled further to the next enemy-sought target." . . .
"The 2nd is: 'Stealth,' Stealth means the weapon can utilise a minor version of the cover of impairment, making it undetectable both in visual or magical means until it strikes its target." Heath sniffs slightly, rubbing his nose as if he was being talked about. "The 3rd is: 'Leeching,' Leeching means the weapon has the power to transfer the life force sapped from a foe, similar to 'Chaining,' but to heal wounds and injuries of a selected person instead, providing support to allies and enhancing the overall effectiveness of the wielder in battle." Heath pauses.
"And I will be removing 'Magic Efficiency' from the list. I can combine it with all other enchantments thanks to these prerequisite materials." Heath finalised his comment, which was met with a supportive nod by Yufren.
"'Leeching' will be very powerful. -HOWEVER-, will that not cause Hel's anger toward you?" He asks. "I feel she would not care." Heath taps Aghi by his side, the sæxknífr (Dagger) simply rotating in place to show it does not oppose that form of magic. Yufren suddenly feels his bag on his back lighten, then in the same blink, it became slightly heavier than before, Heath having done it without a pre-plan. The smith simply shook his head while rolling his eyes, the timing never becoming more perfect than that. "There is another thing to know." His teeth shine in a smile.
"Is it about more weaponry? You have to know I cannot give you too dangerous a knowledge." Heath responds in a monotone forwarding, obvious in repeating with knowing the Smith's sly look, but Yufren keeps it wide and through.
"Not that. Do you wish to join a celebration?" That was a surprise. "My girl's Burðardagr (Birthday) is coming up, and she had wished to have you in it with the gift of the cat plushy." Yufren saw Heath's face scrunch in the eyebrow and cheek regions. "I will rework my worksheet, as I am currently making my 3rd game." Heath now earned a look of confusion from those who had heard him. "A punishment by Gorm and Leif for not following my promise of using less magic." After the little explanation, it was left to be.
"What will it be?" Yufren questions, Heath figuring out how to best describe it. "Imagine the 'keyboard' I had made, it plays music which, over a period of beats, you will have to copy the movements of a dancer in front of you. It is from my home realm. Known as 'Dance Dance Revolution!'"
"I am still figuring out the music library and what moves would be best for the thousands of songs once connected to the DNA medium server." Heath now mumbles, having to deal with this with only his current skill he had come with by the usage of magic. "You would think creating an entire simulated reality was more complicated, but noᵒ." He chose to joke, for the internal laws of the program kept it running at a fastened pace upon the hyper-stable protein structures. Yufren's face was an '*Eh?*' in not knowing how to comment.
". . . Alright, tell her I will come, but I can only be there until sundown." Heath got a pat on the arm for that, Yufren now walking off with thoughts of how happy his daughter will be to hearing that. He waddles through the portal, coming back home to their two-story apartment room, finding her playing with the false window.
"You are really interested in the thick jungles, hunang (honey?)" He sees her playing with a bonobo, both doing hand charades and arm flapping with each other in play, Yufren brought her above his head while Artkrea had her arms raised. "Oh, you little monkey~." Yufren played aeroplane with her now, carrying her around while the bonobo clapped with positive reactions in response, after the 4th round around the room, the bonobo heard something break in the background, giving a startled reaction before running a scamper off-screen.
Yufren covered her face in case it may have been a predator, but it was a herbivorous red river hog, sniffing the ground as to find fermented fruit that had fallen off the trees. It trotted off, Artkrea finding it annoying that his hand still covered her vision and trying to pull him off.
"Sorry." The smith apologised, letting her go onto the carpet again to play with her other toys that had been made for people her age: Brain teasers, image puzzles and randomised word guesser games designed in multiple mixed wooden or metal products. She had shot through many of them, finding it to be too easy after having a fastened education. A soon-to-be 15-year-old must have some way to have, after all, right? She was rather excited to know that her friends and Heath would come around, her emotions flushing as a teenager's would.
"*Hrn*" Yufren switches channels from the jungle to the savannah, watching the mid-day sun shine brightly over the arid environment in stellar rays of light. He gets a small glass of 0% Beer on the side, sitting on the stylised minimalist couch he chose for his lounge.
The sun travelled a finger-span of distance before her friends came around, Arnþórr, Bjern and his father Bori, little Guðríðr and the wide Hámundr. Heath was not far behind them, carrying a box that he kept a secret until after he gave a present to her, a custom not yet introduced until now. "a-What is it?" Artkrea questioned Heath, testing its heaviness by trying to lift it, but it did not budge off the ground. "You will see later, but first. There is something I had wished to show you." He warps in the object with smoky dramatics.
Heath slowly leans out a smaller gift, in a box that was ≈ 2-Model m^(3) (0.6465-m (2.1209-feet)^(3).) Placing it down in front of her to then automatically open itself, leading the way to a mentat-foci auto-tool. What is it specifically, you may ask?
It is multiple hovering tools connected to a physical tether that works both as a battery and way to give a connection to her direct consciousness: An adaptable self-cleaning brush that can change its features, size and roughness. A toggleable automatic needle that can self-connect selected threads, and can change its curvature, shape and sharpness. And an unlimited choosable-colour threads with variable textures and thicknesses. She could directly crochet or magically sew clothes with just her will now, the magic helping to self-telekinetically manage its actions down to the minutiae.
And it works with the provision of a 'final product.' It will simulate the best course of action to create it, to then replicate the object in their imagination. "Once you touch that button there." Heath points to the small circular decrease by the side of the machine.
"It will be bound, only to you." Heath saw her expression's morphing to one of. . . Love at first sight. She moved at a speed reserved for adrenaline, touching the inside of the button with zeal. Seriously, the second she could think, she pictured the clothes she had wanted to cast into the world. The speed of the machine surprising Heath, for he had not set it to be that fast. The needle is now autoclaving a hoodie, with a picture of Heath, Artkrea and Yufren holding hands like a family group together in front of a forest. Highly surprising with its accuracy.
"Aw, that is adorable." Heath saw that it was his size in the form he chose for this realm, too? 'How did she even get my measurements?' Heath gave a familial side glance, nodding to her while putting it on over his tunic.
"I can see you speeding behind those big eyes, breathe." Heath caressed her arm gently, as how his mother used to do to him whenever he would get stressed. The slow movement across the skin feeling soothing to her and returning her to a 'normal' pace. "I know your daughter will definitely use this machine every chance she gets." He stated to Yufren, who chuckled at his antics while grasping his own beard in a tug to keep his head from going too far back.
"*-A HaHahʰ!*Oh, you have made her not sleep for the next 2 nights, that I know!" The smith treats the other children and his brother-in-arms Bori to a nice betting set upon the table, for who won the most games of that night will earn a few sweets to take home.
"Now that all of you are at the table, before you start. I will bring in the cake!" Heath trawdles off before dimming the lights with his magic, bringing in a softened sugar cake with a similar texture to hard frosting, designed to the appearance of a Chibi-Artkrea knitting a sweater that had a pattern on it saying "For a special girl!" With the number 15 on the front of the rounded edge. Heath pretends to grab something in the air, before blowing it onto the cake, replicating candlelight now as a floating wisp above the table.
"In my old realm, the einkamaðr (Special person) would blow out the light to wish upon their most important day." He looked towards Artkrea as an uncle would to a niece. "Go on, do it!" Heath's smile helped to show how to. "*PHOᴼᴼᴼ!*" The sound of her blowing struck.
The light dissipated from the blow, the original room turning to its normal lustre again as everyone clapped loudly, enjoying the little charade. Heath prepared the knife next. "In the same vein, you can cut your own slice of cake, let me help you." Heath held her delicate hand and allowed her to get a rather large slice, happy that she will enjoy it. "Everything on there is edible, so, dig in!" Everyone had their own slice, one leftover that will be for Artkrea later. One they finished eating and had put away their plates, they began playing.
The first game was Pictionary, a picture of a gorilla drawn by Artkrea with the mind-controlled brush at first, easily recognisable and then seen as a cheating tool before it was banned for normal drawing utensils. The next drawer was Hámundr, and he drew. . .
The suggestion of a cow, but the image looked closer to a goat from the face and eyes, it took the addition of large udders underneath for Bori to correctly state after a while of guessing, somehow being more stressful than being in battle. Next was Guðríðr, the suggestion being a wolf, whose ears at first made it look like a fox until the addition of a large snout and an incredibly thick, furry body, having only 3 Model seconds left before Artkrea guessed successfully. Next was Yufren, this suggestion being a shark, sadly, he lost this round as he made the body too round and plump compared to its real counterpart's streamlined form.
Now it was Bori's turn, with his suggestion being a butterfly, which was quickly said by Artkrea, many of the people at the table going easy on her to enhance its fun. Next, it was Heath, and it came to a repeat for 3 rounds.
And as you had probably understood, for the star of the show, it was Artkrea who won the mixed bowl of sugar-coated, caramelised and fudgy sweets all for herself! She would definitely enjoy it over the next few weeks. And now, for the next game: Jenga. The overall games now being won by Yufren for his better strategic mind in physics. Others around the table had also noticed that Heath never won any of these games, seeming to wish to allow others to win for the fun while acting happy for their finishers.
'Well, all I have to say is thanks, then.' Yufren kept silent throughout that ordeal, moving to other game boards and types where everyone else had a chance at winning. A rather fun evening enjoyed by everyone involved in all of their opinions.
By the bringing in of the Pie-face knockoff, it was time for Heath to leave. Before doing so, he had a round at turning the nob ever so -gently- to make it hurl-launch the cream into his face, staining his beard in a thick white layer like pudding. He began acting silly by licking part of it off where it could be reached before deconstructing it entirely. Now, before the sun was no longer visible from the false window, Heath put all of their focus upon the large immovable box, showing the small lever on the back that was Artkrea's portion to switch.
She flicked it, the edges slowly opening in concentric planes to flat-pack under the gift, soon showing a cube designed with faces designed to be edited or covered in designs. Three ports connected through an efficient portal matrix system, oh, they knew what it was.
A private server, just for her! The same size as the original version, it could hold a few Ronnabytes as discussed before, enough for a realistic simulated environment the size of a continent. She showed it off to the others, putting a few decals and other personal touches to the exterior before connecting it to her personal Uni-pod. Hugs inbound, Heath was happy to please, but all the more stressed for leaving late now. He gave the best parting he could manage before warping to the starting creation of the Dance Dance Revolution! copy.
The group in their room partied the rest of the night away for Artkrea's birthday, joining in a few final games before everyone else settled for the night. All went to their rooms and were ready for bed, Yufren sitting his daughter into her bed before going off to his own room.
Nope, seems she wanted to test her server's capabilities, the incredibly silent technology working the next few hours of the night until dawn, she was figuring out how to characterise a small landscape with the UI tools available before being caught. But being the doting parent he was, she was not grounded, simply made to spend the rest of her day off from all electronics. Of course, with the whole spiel of 'taking responsibility to make sure their sleep hygiene stays well or that they will not grow up properly.' We will just skip that part.
Artkrea was creating a bunch of new clothing using the arcanomechanical kit. She did the same as yesterday: Hoodies, tunics, laurels and trousers with a detailed mental image per setting. Sometimes her proportions were off with no model to base it on, but it was fun.
By the third clothes pairing that used a combination of reds and blacks in matted colouration, something had occurred outside that stirred a commotion. Yufren runs out to see what the ruckus was, only to be suddenly swarmed by the people, asking about how it was having Heath visit them for their party. Just at the same hand-swipe after, the crowd disappears, everyone having been teleported back to their rooms, and a Bus-Guard golem sent to guard their door. The smith ghostly grumbles after scratching his eyelid, thanking the golem with a mutter.
"Well, there goes my nap. Hey Art (Shortform. Artkrea!) Let us get some lunch." Yufren takes his leather jacket off the hanger while grabbing a small walking snack for both of them from the won sweets pile. Artkrea followed him out, and they went to the once temporary campsite now retrofitted as a marketplace.
New pastries and foods are shown off with the greater variety of available ingredients, combinations crafted up by the brightest culinary artists of their region. One of the once homeless from Vanaheimr showed off with a gratuitous look in his eye for being able to do his passion, pursuing the creation of a sweet cream roll that was between a filled doughnut and an inverted sweetroll. Light blue food colouring was mixed into the sugar coating that was bordered with a soft, pillowy crust, looking like a lake surrounded by sandy hills.
"I call it a rjómigjǫf-lǫgr (Gift of the creamy water (sea).)" He passes them from an automatic oven, closing the door gently to keep all of the others warm and fresh. "Try it, please." He smiled kindly, hoping to give the father-daughter duo a happy memory.
Both each have a bite of their own doughnuts, tasting a nicely sweetened, condensed milk texture from the cream that poured into their mouths, flooding their taste buds with the herbally-tinged, crusty dough. Both enjoyed how complicated the flavour mapping of layering depths was, working together to make a palatable, delightful treat. "Thank you?" Yufren finished his appreciation with a question, hoping to know their name. "Brynja." The baker nods, refocusing on his second oven for the other sweets.
"We will come again, Brynja." The smith nods after having such a lovely meetup before going to the next stall with his daughter. Rather than small pastries, instead selling nature-themed cakes. The bakarskona (Baker woman) at the stand asked them from the options, where they chose the 3rd option.
Crafted with a flaky puff pastry pie crust in the shape of an open tree trunk, it was completed with a textured bark coated with the usage of brown hardened fudges. The pie was filled with a medley of fresh apples and mixed berries beside decorative sugar leaves. Green food dye was used to visualise a mossy appearance on the 'log edge' of the crust, and was finished with a drizzle of caramel to mimic sap dripping down the tree. "This one's called sœtkaka-viðr (Sweet cake of wood.) Here, slices." She passed 2, both taking a fork to stab at it.
"Are you Fríða? I had asked Heath who the creator of the cake was for this one's Burðardagr (Birthday) yesterday." Yufren earned a nod, now immediately praising her for her ability to create incredible designs in such small details.
"It is something the Saviour had helped me learn. Most of it goes to his aid." She pulls a strand of her black hair behind her ear in reaction, happy that she could fulfil one of her dreams in creating tasty food for others to enjoy. They take the slices and forks with them together, now sitting down upon a bench to let the rest of the day go by. Going unnoticed, a Bus-Guard golem was patrolling the surroundings, never seen by the normal people as it was continuously under camouflage to avoid scaring the others.
By the end now, they go to one of the last stands that sells drinks, now buying a 1.5% alcohol cocktail with a zesty-powdered rim to be tasted when one puts their lips upon the glass cup. Yufren had a cyan-blue coloured one while Artkrea had a mossy-green one. Sipping slowly.
They thanked the drykkona ((drykkr meaning to drink) lady) in the stand, whose name 'Gunna' was seen on the glass they held. "Where had you bought these custom-made glasses?" Yufren asks, soon pointing towards a printing machine down by the end of the line where you would input your design from your Uni-pod and would then use your identification to collect the amount that had been 'printed.' Working with all materials. "Heath?" The smith asks her, an easy answer. "Heath." She repeats back, for who else would come up with it?
As Yufren and Artkrea came out of the area where they were selling food, there was a stand that was calling out to all who passed by to give these items for free. Most people would walk away as they saw no need for a backpack with the Drone golems beside them, but the ones we were focusing on are interested.
The daughter grabs one of the bags, soon opening the lid to see an infinite void appear within. "What is it?" Artkrea asks. "A 'Bag of Holding,' as called in English, a design from Heath's realm that stores all of your items in a pocket realm that one can quickly access, throw in or retrieve items from by putting their hand in!" The kaupmann (Shop man) Ingi described, soon showing an example by pulling out an incredibly long stick that should obviously not fit in the bag from his own. "Having a full storage size of one of our homes!" He finished, almost in reverence at the magitech.[2]
"An entire home? Would it not get heavy?" Yufren asks, wondrously stumped by such a spectacular object. "No, as that was part of Heath's will instilled into it." The description of its internal runic structure to gain no weight was simply described as the great scientist God's directive. Simple and impactful.
""We will take it!"" They say in unison, happy at having 2 priceless artefacts added to their collection. "Everything is free, I am surprised you are not having more customers." Yufren comments to Ingi, seeing him '*Kuh*' in response, shrugging his shoulders. They now leave the area in an all-time high mood, wholly triumphant. Now coming home with the Bag of Holding, they set it down and put everything Artkrea had made into her own, setting it as the designated dressing storage bag. While Yufren was planning something, but what was it?
A 'heist' of the steel ingots to then be used in his smithy. He travels to the (elemental farm,) going into the pitch-black insides with a flashlight, quickly reaching the steel ingots to then put more into the bag as was freely available.
He walks home with 10s of Long tons of metal, still with enough space in the bag to put in his tools for the next day. He is going to assemble something BIG.
[1] 1: 'Distance,' Distance means it can travel further through the air without expending greater magic. 2: 'Knockback,' Knockback means that it is capable of putting friction upon objects it contacts to the direction it was travelling towards. 3: 'Magic efficiency,' Magic efficiency means it has greater redundancy and circuitry to absorb greater amounts of ambient magic, including a small battery within its disc. 4: 'Punch,' Punch means it can pierce through higher-density material without dissipating, meaning it can go through multiple layers of different materials. 5: 'Speed,' Speed means it can travel the same distance as it usually can in less time, potential energy spent more efficiently with minor magic boosting. 6: 'Splash,' Splash means when it comes into contact with a surface, it can release part of its magic to seep and act visually like an acid, disintegrating materials at a fast rate.
[2] ᛉ (Protection / Shield / Elk Rune,) ᛇ (Yggdrasil / Yew Tree / Dream Rune,) ᚱ (Horse / Ride / Journey / Thor Rune,) ᛟ (Heritage / Estate Rune,) ᚾ (Need / Hardship Rune,) ᛗ (Man / Human / Self Rune,) ᚠ (Cattle / Livestock / Wealth Rune,) ᛖ (Horse / Twin Forces Rune,) and ᚨ (Odin / Inspiration / Wisdom Rune.)