Back in the house, Althea folded her sleeves with a smile as she raised the intricately carved wooden amulet in front of her.
While her husband was out, she could finally finish her job!
After so many hours the past few days and today, it was still not yet done, but at least she had progress!
She happened to have been inspired while studying the new magic tools she received from Ferrol's aborigines and the Golds. She ended up locking herself up most of the day trying to ride the inspiration.
This was the anniversary gift that took so many weeks to prepare. She started when she got the skill, but only recently had she seen real progress.
She was super ashamed she took so long to finally be able to put it into practice, but she was optimistic—at least she understood it in the end!
If the aborigines knew what she was thinking, they would cry. Most people would take years to even understand the first step!
Magic tool knowledge came from the elves! It was super difficult to comprehend for normal humans!
But Althea had no idea of this detail and focused on finishing her pendant. Hopefully, she could complete it before her husband came home.
The primary inspiration for this one was the walls of the territory. She had spent a lot of her time outside hunting without her husband just… staring at the walls.
Fufi was always around to guard her, of course. She also chose hidden areas so people wouldn't see her. What would she do if they get concerned by her stiff staring at the wall and then report to her husband?
She drew whatever array she could see in her new array notebook, which would probably be as thick as her plant book someday.
Before going home before the war, she also took note of the level 3 walls in Fargo and noticed the differences between a level 3 and a level 5 system wall.
It wasn't just the size that varied, but also the arrays embedded in. For the Level 5 Walls, the arrays were bigger, more numerous, and much more complicated. The difference was like elementary and university level, except she barely tapped into the elementary level at this time.
There were also several new lines connecting parts of the circle and chords. It was all quite complicated and even her big brain had a hard time finding the relationships between the lines, circles, and patterns.
In fact, after so long, she knew for a fact that she didn't understand the arrays yet. She had a vague feeling that it would take years to master the craft, and frankly she was looking forward to it a bit.
Other than the walls, she also studied the arrays under the farms—the ones that could increase the growth rate and survivability of plants—but she could only draw it (for now) as it was too complicated and mind-boggling.
She also studied the other tools a lot and learned some patterns that appeared in some similar functioning tools.
For example, there were patterns of chords and segments that appeared both in the aether letters and aether board. There were also similarities between the aether letter and the sound stone (a stone that could record a few seconds of sound at a time, sold to her by Otto).
Anyway, there was still plenty of trial-and-error and experimentation that went on the past few days, which went a lot slower when she had to shift her attention to the war.
The Magic Tool skill she received had the inheritance of integrating arrays onto the tools, so she focused on studying the arrays first. Of course, the level and effectiveness of the arrays varied greatly.
She also had to practice a lot of the past few days (before the war) about how to make arrays in the first place. For now, this was something that had to be completely self-taught.
It wasn't easy. She had to 'summon' specks of aether with her elements and create a desired line. After this, she'd have to keep them stable. This was the most difficult part. It was not easy to keep the complex forms uniform and stable for a long enough time so that her inherited skill—the integration skill—could work.
Even after a few seconds, the forms always softened and disintegrated. This was what she was left with that morning and she had to force herself out of the laboratory—which was against every fiber of her being—to participate in the festivities outside.
She had been focused on keeping form stable—and had been doing so—since she got home. During this time, her mana and health would reduce a bit, so she always had a cookie nearby as she did so.
Each failure, she would learn her weak spots—which was mostly in the intersections of the lines—and added a bit more effort there.
She wiped the sweat from her brow with her sleeve, mumbling about how difficult this was…
However, if any of the more informed aborigines were there, they'd be gaping in shock.
They didn't know much about arrays or tool making, but they were certain the masters were having a harder time than she was in creating something!!
Anyway, Althea was not aware of the differences in her techniques. She was just focused on her job.
Time ticked by, bit by bit. She tried to create a stable pattern, over and over, until—
[Used! Magic Tool Creation (C)! -250 Mana!]
The pendant released a special light, as if softly exploding. It was similar to how binding with Battle pets appeared, except it was an item that kept glowing for a while before it calmed down.
The whole time, the light was reflected in Althea's emerald eyes, and when it faded—revealing the end product—the sparkle in her orbs brightened even more.
[Created! Pendant of Protection (E). Capable of blocking 100 attacks from level 10 monsters.]
Althea squealed, the long hours of work finally paid off!
It's here! Her first Magic Tool!