.^^ Helen/Duma ^^

— Rune —

The two twins, Helen and Duma, were apparently the type of siblings who didn't know how to share properly, so there was a literal coin toss, to see who was my actual Teacher, and who was just a third-wheel/tagalong.

I found the entire situation amusing, but pointless, and simply caught the coin. "So, to be clear, there's really no difference between you two? Do either of you know anything about gnomish magic or spiritual magic?"

They looked at each other, then me. "No?" They answered confusedly.

"Alright, then either one of you can teach me about the magical side of things, but I'm not calling anyone Master." I shrugged, and tossed the coin again, towards them.

They let it hit the ground, and Duma groaned, looking at the heads-up coin, while Helen cheered. They looked to be only a few years older than me, perhaps 24-25, maybe, which was odd.

"How young do most people begin their apprenticeships?" I asked Dashiva.

"Most? Around puberty, when their power begins to shape itself. Anyway, my work here is done, the flyer leaves for the estate in ten hours or so, so you have until then, if you want a ride back." She waved, and then jumped off the side of the bridge, with Yeshiva in tow.

I sighed and turned towards the twins. "Alright, well, we might as well find somewhere to sit, unless you ladies have a workshop we can go to. Mine is a bit too crowded for three people."

Helen nodded. "I do indeed! My sister's is out in the city, but I prefer my workshop inside the Old Dwarf Castle!" She led us across the bridge, to the south-eastern castle, where a charm on her silver bracelet acted as a key.

The interior was simply a long, straight hallway, all the way to the other side of the castle, with doors along the hallway, numbered thoughtfully, each about fifty feet from the next.

Around number 50, however, there was a door that just said '101-150', and on the opposite side, '151-200'.

"That marks the halfway point. Those lead to the doorways to the smaller workshops, that used to be given to the Apprentices... but now everyone gets their own." Helen smiled sadly, and opened door number 97, revealing a nicely-sized workshop, with the basics for most kinds of artificing, from alchemy to masonry. "Welcome to Shop 97... the last working forge in this entire castle."

I blinked. "They're all broken? Or just cold?"

"Most are broken, some are cold... doesn't really matter anymore." She shrugged, and then brightened. "Ah! But enough of that! Let's get you outfitted properly!" She snatched a small leather apron from the wall, and I held up my hands.

"My coat is already fireproof, I got it from a Weizenbeast I hunted down a few years ago... you know, a Fire-Ferret?" I asked.

"Oh! Very interesting! How fireproof would you say?" She asked, peering at it closer.

"Entirely? Plus my skin is mostly fireproof, as well." I shrugged, shoving my hand into the hot coals of her forge, with no effect. I pulled it out, and let her inspect it. "See? No burns. I'm fine. I've been doing this, forging and tinkering, since I could just barely walk, ladies. I just don't know much about the magic side of my magic."

They nodded. "I see... that's easy enough. Catch." Duma pegged a steel ball past my head.

I caught it easily, and then looked down at it. "A concussive sound grenade. Cute." Then I deactivated it, and popped it open, replacing the sound card with a series of flute notes, a song I remembered vaguely from somewhere in the Redwood's. I pressed the release, and tossed it back.

She caught it, and hummed. "You used your hands."

I blinked. "Uhm... yes? Was I not supposed to?"

She looked at Helen, then crushed the grenade, tossing it back. "Fix that." She demanded, watching me closely.

I sighed. "I mean, if you want... you broke my sound card, though, dick move..." I sat down at a workbench, and began un-busting the grenade, which was very angry at being crushed. As I replaced the crushed springs, they leaned over my shoulders.

"A Little room, please?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You're not using magic. Try to move the pieces without touching them? Connect those two with a spark?" Helen poked two different pieces.

"What? Why would I do that? Feels lazy..." I focused on the two pieces, and my hands started to heat up. The entire clockwork piece, as a whole, became semi-sentient, and growled at me for not fixing it quick enough, as I put the pieces back together with my hands. The moving thing wasn't really working, and I was in a hurry.

The piece came together, and my sound card wasn't broken, thankfully. As I activated it, it whistled angrily. "ABOUT FUCKIN' TIME, YOU USELESS FUCKIN'-"

I silenced it, and frowned. "No need to be rude, you fuckin' asshole grenade!"

They looked at each other. "Oh... you're one of those..." Helen nodded.

I looked up, and tossed her the activated grenade, which began whistling angrily again. "I WILL NOT BE SILENCED, YOU INSIPID TYRANNICAL OVERLORD!!! I AM THE GREAT AND MIGHTY GRENADE OF SONIC FORCE, AND VIBRATORY DOOM!!!"

I snorted. "Great and Mighty, huh? Tiny and Ornery, more like."

"You're arguing with a grenade." Helen stated casually, deactivating the grenade.

"I do that, sometimes. Yeah. When I mess with machines-"

"They do the Sentient thing, Yeah. I recognize the type. Every Mage is different, but a good half of Clockwork Mages can talk to Machines, and give them some level of Sentience. Duma does it, sometimes." She pointed a thumb at Duma, who shrugged.

"Sometimes. Usually automatons." She nodded.

"Alright? And?" I asked.

"Well, you have Arcane Connections to mechanics, Basically. It also means you can't do this as easily as the rest of us." Helen began taking apart the clockwork in her hands without moving, and rebuilding it as a small speaker, playing a piano piece.

"Okay... that's fucking awesome... but still feels lazy. Takes all the fun out of the work." I frowned.

She grinned. "That it does, though it's good in a pinch. Now, the best thing about Clockwork Mages, -called TinkerToy Mages by anyone who doesn't really respect us,- is that we can learn Magic's that aren't technically Human, so long as they deal with materials or fundamental forces, in some way! Elven Magic, Dwarven Magic, Gnomish Magic, or whatever floats our boats! It's not always as good as the original, but that's just the way the wind blows."

I raised an eyebrow at Duma. "Is she always full of little idioms?"

"Yes." She sighed, rubbing her eyebrows.

"Dear god's..." I sighed.

"Hey! My idioms are fun!" Helen snapped.

"Yeah-huh, sure." I shook my head, and pulled out my rifle, inspecting the barrel for any imperfections.

"Oh! That's interesting! Amplification of raw magic, focused through an enchanted crystal? Snazzy..." Duma tapped the crystal chamber, and hummed at the Runes. "But that's Dwarven, I don't know it. I assume Runes of Power?"

"Focus, mostly. I have plenty of power, I just can't focus it." I shrugged, and let my left hand glow, pulsing a blast of energy into the roof. It scorched, and some of the stone cracked away, but didn't do much, overall.

"Hm... yeah, that's nice. Might knock someone on their ass, but not much more. But where'd you pull that from? You got an Elven Bag of Holding?" Helen asked, poking at it.

"I made it a few hours ago, actually. I looked at one of their bags, inside a platinum circle, and learned all the spells necessary. It was pretty easy, actually, using Dwarven Runes, instead of elven magic. Sturdier." I hummed.

"That's true... but also easier to break. Just cut the Runes, and the Enchantment breaks." Duma added.

"True, but I plan on making a few improvements... maybe enchanting it in the Gnomish way, as well? Bolster the original Runes, without creating a secondary Enchantment... I'll figure it out." I shrugged.

They nodded. "And we'll be here for any questions you have." Helen added, and then plopped down in a large beanbag-chair, whittling a piece of metal with a wooden knife. Before I could comment, she winked, and showed me the silver laced through the wood. "Concentration magic. An Elven speciality."

"Very Interesting... can you teach me that?" I asked, and pulled out a metal shard, about the length of my forearm, a piece of the metal that had been cut off for the Construct's new Armor.

She nodded. "Sure! It's actually pretty easy, they get all uppity about it, but it's just a mental task, really. Easy, if you've got the patience for it." She let her hands glow, and then moved the wood slowly through the metal.

I nodded and did the same, focusing on my fingers, and the metal. My fingers punched right through the metal, with no resistance. "Interesting... sculpting just became much easier..."

"So, you said you Saw the enchantments? How's that?" Duma asked, tweaking the little box of machinery, all that was left of the grenade, at the moment.

"Hmm? Oh, I used my glasses! The third lenses are enchanted to show me magic, and all magical things, in a visual format. Then I just interpret it!" I grinned, showing them my invention happily, though I lied about the actual enchantment. It just made magic glow, my eyes already saw the magic.

They took turns with the glasses, then hummed, handing them back. "Impressive... I like the idea, but I'd have to see the Enchantment process to copy it, unfortunately, without this advantage." Helen nodded.

"Yeah, but very cool, I like them. They make you look very Mad Tinkerer." Duma laughed.

They spent the rest of our time trying to teach me the Technokinesis, or whatever, but I barely made anything that wasn't already put together wobble, currently. It was a work in progress, though, and I was too stubborn to give up.

—

Upon returning to the estate, I noticed a few things that were off. A gaggle of people were trailing through the yard, following the speaker around, all talking loudly about something I didn't really care enough to listen to; and there was no one inside the hangar, though it smelled like burnt flesh.

"How many did you have to shock off this time?" I asked.

"Six. They were remarkably stubborn, and inventive, circumventing many of my failsafes, and I eventually had to simply pluck one off of me, and throw him through a wall. He was mostly alive, I believe, but it did the trick." The Construct hummed softly.

I nodded, and touched the chest piece, pushing magic in, to refill his internal power source. "That should top you off, big guy. Good job." I nodded, and looked down at Dashiva. "How long until I have to be presentable again?"

She laughed. "Yesterday was the formal dinner, it's only once every seven days, don't worry."

"Ahh, I see. Good timing on my part, I suppose... well, I have work to do, but not many materials, so I guess I'll have to wait for the bigger stuff until the Council agrees to fund my work." I sighed, and slipped into my workshop, setting my bag into the platinum circle.

"Can I come in?" Dashiva poked her head in a few moments later.

"Sure, if you can be quiet and not breath or touch anything for a few moments... I need to concentrate." I murmured, and lowered the different tiers of my spectacles, until I could see the magic in the bag.

The Runes were very strong, but they weren't entirely stable, just carved into leather, instead of stone or metal, which could handle the strain much better. I hated to admit I was wrong, but I sighed, and pushed the Enchantment in a second time, this time as a physical Enchantment on the leather satchel itself, instead of in the Runes themselves, so that the Runes only enhanced the spell, anchored it, instead of supplying it with structure and stability.

Next, I started working on making air flow through the bag, keeping the inside full of breathable air.

"What you working on?" She asked, and I blinked, reeling back from the spell, as it blew up in my face.

I coughed, dusting myself off, and stood up, cracking my back. "I asked... you to be quiet... for a reason... not as a power play... you get that now, right?" I coughed again, clearing my lungs.

She nodded slowly, looking terrified at the smoking crater in the table that was all that was left of my bag. Luckily I'd taken everything out of it, but still, it was a waste of a very good bag. "Yeah... but... holy Lunas, what was that?" She snapped.

"That? That was what happens when you interrupt a concentration spell! Surely as an elf, -you know, the people who pride themselves as the best at concentration spells,- you understand the consequences of doing so?" I asked sarcastically, sitting down with a groan.

She sighed, and sat down on my desk. "Yeah... Alright, point made."

"Tables are for glasses, not asses. Sit somewhere else." I flicked her hip sharply, making her leap up, yelping in surprise. "Anyway, I have to make a new bag, now, so if you have nothing to ask of me?"

"I kind of do, actually... how do you feel about guiding someone through the Redwood?" She asked slowly.

"Depends, is this someone going to get us both killed by being a total greenhorn?" I asked.

"It's entirely possible." She nodded honestly.

"Will I have enough firepower to handle whatever is in the area?" I asked.

"You tell me? It's your territory." She shrugged.

I pointed at a map on one wall. "Point out the area, I'll tell you what we need for a standard eight-hour excursion."

She nodded and tapped the area around the Temple. "Right There, Your home territory."

"Alright, we need one Mage, plus the guide, me, two day's worth of food and clean water, burn cream, a Yurt, and a few cannon-fodder soldiers." I smiled jokingly at the last thing.

"What's a... Yurt?" She asked slowly.

"It's like a tent, but it hides better in the landscape, if you place it right." I shrugged.

"Ah... for a single daytime mission?" She asked.

"Yes. If something goes wrong, and you're stuck, you want all the things you'd need for a longer stay, just in case." I nodded.

"I see the wisdom in that, sure... we usually leave all our gear on the Flyer, and retrieve it as necessary. Either way, I'm asking because I want to convince the Council of your usefulness. If I sell it as you being a good guide for the Redwood, then it'll help your case." She nodded.

"And yours, for being the person who brought me back." I added dryly, opening my chest of materials.

"Well, I-"

I waved her excuses off casually. "I don't care; truly, it makes sense. You brought back someone that, -if I'm who they think I am, and that's a big if,- they never wanted to see again, and you're looking to re-solidify your position as an Expeditionary leader, as well as a Master Mage. It's a good plan, and I don't mind being used, Dashiva. Just be open about it, and I'll return the favor." I spoke honestly, and smiled at her, before picking out a large scrap of leather and metal, to recreate my bag from, this time with metallic lining, for increased strength.

The metal came apart in my hands, easy as pie, and while I still thought magic was lazy, this did expedite things. I had titanium wiring in less than a minute, and thin strips of metal in another five, while she sat at the chair on my desk, and thought about her response.

"Uhm, Master? There's some people here to see you? They won't show their faces, but there's 12 of them." Yeshiva poked his head in.

"Would everyone please stop doing that? It's a doorway, for Shistu's sake, not a Porthole!" I snapped.

Yeshiva shrugged. "I can't exactly knock."

"...Fair point." I sighed. "Either way, my answer is yes, so long as it's clear that these missions are to be carefully planned in advance, and assurances can be made that I won't be dropped into the middle of the Redwood and left to rot. That is, of course, IF the council agrees to my original terms, will we negotiate this issue." I nodded to Dashiva.

She smiled. "Alright, good to know. Thank you, Rune."

"Go deal with those bloodsuckers out there, before you thank me." I chuckled. She patted my hair, and then climbed out, making her way to the outer door.

I kept an ear trained on her, as I worked, lacing titanium wires through the Fire Ferret leather, each wire covered with hundreds of tiny Focus, Stability, and Strength Runes, which required all three magnifying lenses of my spectacles to write.

"Record their conversation, Construct? I'm busy."

"Mm... eavesdropping? Sounds interesting."

Next, as their conversation began playing over the interior speakers softly, I lined the inside of the bag with the strips of metal, melting them until they fused with each other. Once that cooled, I carved the spells for the Bag of Holding, and held off finishing, or enchanting the whole thing, until the final second.

The outside of the bag was carefully enchanted to keep out magical snooping, and to only be able to be opened by me, as well as keeping a gentle air-flow through the bag, and cleansing all the air in and out.

I breathed deeply. "Moment of truth..." I finished the Runes in the metal for the bag of holding, then enchanted the entire thing with the same spells, even the elven version.

The bag pulsed slowly, seeming to draw space in without moving anything, and then halted, finished. I stuck my hand in, and grinned when I couldn't reach the bottom. "How deep is this?" I asked myself, and opened my eyes, looking through my third lenses.

It stretched almost sixty feet down, and ninety feet across, with a thirty feet width, all covered with metal, just like the real interior.

I grinned slowly. "Oi, Construct? How do you feel about dark spaces?" I asked casually.