Ch: 118.5 (Patreon)

I always enjoyed working around other people, even if I was the only one doing the work. There was just something about having somebody watching me that always made me want to do my best.

This was not one of those times.

I could deal with Tabitha giving me advice on any number of subjects, but smithing was not one of them.

“Are you sure you’re not going to ruin it?” Tabitha anxiously asks over my shoulder.

"I'm trying not to," I growl. I had already asked her to back up multiple times, and while she listened to me for a second, it didn't take long before she was hovering over me again, which was impressive, seeing how she was shorter than me.

"It's just my armor is essential to me and cost me quite a lot of money,” Tabitha reminds me for the dozenth time.

"I don't think I can do anything to make it worse," I reply snarkily, but we both know that isn't exactly true. Sure, Tabitha's armor had a massive dent in it, but the enchantments were still holding firm, and as long as they were still functioning correctly, the armor wasn’t technically destroyed. But if I did anything to accidentally compromise the many crisscrossing runes on the inside of the breastplate, I could do just that.

Tabitha looks at me with pleading eyes, making me sigh in defeat. "Fine, come over here,” I wave her next to me. “If you’re going to hover so closely, you might as well help me. Hold your breastplate steadily,” I instruct her. In truth, I was going to have to ask her to help me anyways, but it was better to make her think she wore me down.

Tabitha nods happily and moves as I direct her. I was stronger now and could probably swing my hammer with one hand, but I wouldn’t have much control. If I was going to fix Tabitha’s armor, it was better for me to have access to both my hands, and considering I didn't have any tools to secure her breastplate to the stone bench I was using as a workstation, she was going to need to hold her armor in place for me.

“No, like this,” I adjust Tabitha’s grip so her hand is as far away from the spot I'm working on to be safe. After all, Tabitha only had one working arm at the moment, and I didn't want to make things worse.

“Like this?” Tabitha asks inquisitively.

“Yeah, like that; just keep it as still as you can,” I anchor myself to the ground using Magic Threads and bring my hammer up.

Tabitha visibly flinches as I swing my hammer down. I’ve seen her caught off guard multiple times, most recently with the winged serpent, but she rarely flinches and never because she’s scared. Well, now, she looked terrified. I wanted to chastise her for having so little faith in me, but I was too busy focusing on my swing. That and I felt bad for her.

I wish I could've had the chance to heat her breastplate before trying to hammer the dent out, but I didn’t have the supplies to do so or the knowledge to heat something already enchanted. Plus, there was very little to burn down here, and even if I could find and gather enough scrap wood to make a fire, it wouldn’t be hot enough to affect the metal in the first place. And I couldn't heat it with magic either, as Tabitha’s breastplate had an enchantment to resist such things. So, the only thing I could do, was hammer the dent as is.

Using a combination of Precise Strike and Weighted Strike, I slam my hammer down with everything I have. The sound of ringing metal fills the room as I swing my hammer repeatedly, trying to fix the dent. But Tabitha’s tier 4 armor refuses to make my life easy.

After four full-powered swings, the metal barely moves an inch, but I don’t give up. Even if it's only slightly, I am making a difference. And seeing how my Stamina was full and I had nothing else to use it on, I might as well go until my arms gave out.

Slowly and agonizingly, I sweat over the piece of armor, only pausing momentarily to ask Tabitha if she was holding out okay. "Can you go on?" I wheeze halfway through, pounding out the dent.

Tabitha was sweating too, but not for the same reason. “I can go on,” she groans. I was sweating because I was using multiple skills simultaneously back-to-back, but she was sweating because she was holding onto her armor. Each of my swings sent powerful shockwaves through her armor and subsequently into her.

“Are you sure; we can pause for a bit?” I offer. Tabitha’s armor and the bench absorbed most of the kinetic energy but not all of it. I was worried all the vibrations might be aggravating her wounds too much.

“Hurry up and fix my armor because once you stop, I’m putting it back on, and I’m not taking it off again,” Tabitha threatens. Of course, I knew she was only partially serious, but if that was how she felt, who was I to stop her?

“Alright,” I’ll try to hurry. I lift my hammer over my shoulder again.

“Just do it right,” Tabitha says nervously, her tough exterior cracking momentarily, betraying how she truly felt.

I pretend not to notice how uncomfortable she is, choosing to simply nod and continue working.

The winged serpent did a number on Tabitha's armor. It took all my strength to move the metal barely, and the lesser dragon obliterated Tabitha’s shield and dented her chest piece almost on a whim. I’ll be able to straighten the dent out, but how will we deal with a monster that can hit that hard?

Tabitha's shield was gone, and just because I was pounding out the dent didn't mean her breastplate would be magically back to the way it was. Without properly reforging it, Tabitha’s armor will be forever weaker where it was dented. I haven't told her yet, as that conversation was sure to be painful, but Tabitha would have to be extra careful in the future. The only thing I could do was make it so it was no longer painful for her to wear.

Honestly, though, I'm surprised how much the armor took and how well it was still holding up, specifically the runes. I tried studying their 3D structures whenever Tabitha let me, so I was familiar with how complicated they were. And yet, even though multiple runes were stretched with the metal, the enchantment still functioned properly.

The basic runes I knew were extremely fragile, so seeing the much more intricate versions withstand not only the snake's strike but my hammer blows left me curious if there was something different about these or were higher tier runes just stronger than basic ones. I want to meet the artisan who enchanted it, but first, we must make it out of here alive.

“Almost. And there,” I swing my hammer for the last time. Wiping the dripping sweat from my face, I examine my work. It’s only a patch job, and I could only make it as flat as I did because the metal only deformed under the snake’s strength and was never torn, but considering my lack of tools, I was proud of my work.

“Can you help me put it on?” Tabitha asks in a monotone voice, but her eyes practically plead for me to help her.

“Of course,” I smile reassuringly. But while I'm helping her secure her Amor, I decide to suck it up and rip the band-aid off before I chicken out further. “I patched your armor, but" I struggle to deliver the bad news.

“But my armor will need to be replaced,” Tabitha finishes my thought for me, catching me off-guard.

“You knew?” My eyes widen, and I step back in shock.

“This isn’t the first time I’ve been forced to replace a piece of armor,” Tabitha lets out a long sigh and, with her right hand, rubs the spot where the dent used to be. The spot stood out as the metal was now a lighter shade than the rest of it, another sign that its structure was compromised.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” I hang my head apologetically.

“Why must you blame everything on yourself?” Tabitha rolls her eyes. "You did what you could; it was my inadequacies that led us to where we are now. We can blame ourselves all we want, or we can move on. Just like the potions, my armor did its job. Of course, I'll need to replace it, but that's a task for later." Tabitha said everything without emotion but was still affectionately rubbing her armor with a slight frown.

“I’ll do my best to help you get new armor, even if I have to make it myself,” I say, not as her student but as a friend.

“I look forward to it,” Tabitha's lips curl up and treat me to a rare smile that had nothing to do with battle. But, sadly, it doesn't last long. “Well, we ate most of our food, and you fixed up my armor, ready to check out the chamber you told me about?”

While eating, I told Tabitha about the death-filled chamber I sensed below us. She wanted to check it out, but why did it feel like she was deflecting? It was almost like she was trying to distract herself, which was okay, but I had two more things I wanted to do before we went down.

“Can we actually rest here for one more day?” I hesitantly ask.

“Really, I thought you would want to explore the most?” Tabitha is surprised by my request.

“Trust me, I do,” I stress. “But I gained a lot of skill levels I didn't have when practicing around the crater. So, if it's okay with you, I want to try and break through Mana Skin's test while everything is still relatively fresh in my mind. I wanted to try earlier, but I only now have the mana to spare, and if we go down, I have no idea if that will still be the case.”

It was left unsaid that we might encounter danger down there, and while we were more prepared for it, I wanted to improve my defenses before we ran into the next hurdle.

“I understand," Tabitha sighs. "If you need time, we can stay here for a day.” She slowly lowers herself and sits on the stone bench we used to fix her armor. "It's probably best I finish healing anyways,” she lazily comments before closing her eyes.

Again, Tabitha was putting my needs above what she wanted to do. I briefly considered putting my training off until later, but that would be thinking with my heart rather than my brain. It sucked seeing Tabitha down in the dumps, and I could only imagine how bored she must be after the last three days, but there was simply no better time for me to improve one of my most valuable skills.

So, before I give in to my emotions, I turn away from a seemingly resting Tabitha. Her light spell was still hovering over her shoulder, illuminating the room, so I knew she wasn’t really asleep. Instead, she probably just closed her eyes to give me a sense of privacy.

Moving a few feet away, I sat on one of the other intact stone benches in the room, and surprisingly, it was pretty comfortable. Like everything else, it was made from force-absorbing stone, so even though I was sitting on a stone, it felt softer, almost like wood. The bench was the perfect place to meditate, but before I did that, I shook out my legs and rolled my shoulders.

Most likely, I won’t be moving for an extended period, and I didn't want my still-healing body to lock up from the lack of movement.

While stretching, I steal one last glance at Tabitha, who still hasn’t opened her eyes again. It’s hard for her to sit there and do nothing, but it's crucial she heals properly.

Besides a few strips of jerky and a quarter of a waterskin left, we were out of supplies, so the countdown had officially begun. We had at max three days to prepare ourselves before our hunger pains returned and our fighting potential started detreating. But if I were to be any help in the coming battle, I would need to strengthen my defenses.

Closing my eyes, I sink into a meditative state. I could easily jump into trying to improve my skill, but I didn't want to rush this. I mean, I did, but I wasn't.

First things first, I regulate my breathing and examine Mana's Skin's existing barriers. After resting for three days, my skill was back to 100%, and all three layers were going strong. In between the barriers were small gaps, which I had filled with varying degrees of the death mana. It was a little funny because after absorbing the soul horrors, the toxic mana down here had started to clear up, and now the mana held between the layers of Mana Skin was more toxic than the stuff around us.

Creating a channel between my barriers, I let out all the compressed ambient mana as it would complicate things. I then reabsorb barriers two and three and am left with only a single barrier protecting me from the high levels of ambient mana.

Now that I think about it, I should see how bad it is without my skill now that I’ve gained seven levels. Reabsorbing the last barrier protecting me, I suddenly feel the total weight of the ambient mana around me. It felt like it was trying to rush into me, but my natural resistance kept the high mana levels at bay. I’m absorbing more ambient mana than I would like, so I quickly reactivated my skill, but it was nice knowing I could survive without it if I absolutely needed to.

Now for step two; while leaving a single barrier active, I mold my mana into threads. One by one, I knit my mana into hundreds of threads. This was where I previously started having problems, but it felt different this time. When I was practicing outside the crater, I could form the threads just fine, but now it felt like I had much greater control over them, so I continued confidently.

Very carefully, I start overlapping the threads. Usually, they would break down and meld together, but after using them to stitch Tabitha’s arm back together, keeping them separate felt like child’s play.

From a numbers perspective, I only gained two levels in Mana Manipulation and four in Magic Threads, but those six levels made all the difference. Mana Manipulation was tier 3, and Magic Threads was tier 4; sometimes, I forget because I have so many strong skills, but both were extremely powerful, and it was almost unheard of to gain that many skill levels at once.

I’d already passed two tests in Mana Manipulation, and after each one, my skill became harder to level, yet I earned not one but two levels for what I did. Because of the jump, I could feel the difference in how I could control my mana, and it was much easier to get it to do what I wanted.

Leveling Magic Threads also helped, and at the rate it was improving, it wouldn't be long before it reached level 40 and its first test. And as I think that, I sense a slight shift in my soul, and the threads become even easier to manipulate. I don’t even need to pull up my status page to know, Magic Threads leveled again, and hopefully, it wasn’t the last time.

It’s painstaking work, but I slowly conjure more threads of mana and continue to weave them together. I start small with a washcloth-sized piece of mana fabric, but it slowly grows as I add more mana to it. What I'm doing is quite mana intensive, but once I get it to the correct size and merge it with Mana Skin, it will be worth it.

After what feels like hours of molding and weaving my mana, eventually, I have a blanket of mana wrapped around me. I was tired beyond belief and sweating up a storm, but I couldn’t stop now. Controlling the blanket, I start squeezing it around me. I needed the weave to be as tight as possible if I wanted it to protect me.

The blanket feels like it’s crushing me more than the ambient mana in the crater did, but I push on. The threads threaten to give and meld into one another, but I don’t let them. Instead, I keep compressing everything until my mind and body are screaming for me to stop, and that's when I do it. I forcefully bind the tight fabric-like magic to my existing Mana Skin barrier.

The skills don’t mesh immediately and try to repel one another, but I refused to let that happen. I use all my magic skills to hold everything together through sheer force of will. And then it happens.

Finally, my skills stop fighting each other and lock together, and I feel a small explosion of experience in my soul. My eyes snap open, and I suck in a large breath of air. Through the sweat dripping into my eyes, I see Tabitha watching me with a smile on her face. “I take it you succeeded,” she beams at me.

“Was there any doubt?” I cockily reply.

“Not even for a second,” Tabitha replies without missing a beat.

Bringing my hands up, I slowly flex them, testing how everything feels. Luckily, there was no difference between my new type of barrier and the old one. The weave barrier took more concentration to keep up, so I couldn't form a third regular barrier on top of it, but that was okay for now.

It would require some testing, but I was confident my new two-barrier system would outperform my old three-barrier system many times over. Even now, I note one significant difference between the two. Mana Skin's old barriers were excellent at regulating how much ambient mana came into contact with me, but there was always a steady trickle, whether I liked it or not. But now, that trickle was cut off.

The only mana my weave barrier let through was what I purposely let in. It couldn't penetrate my new defenses even in this high mana environment. This was a game-changer.

I was practically vibrating with excitement. I wanted nothing more than to suggest we rush down to the weird mana anomaly I sensed, but my better judgment kept me from doing so. I finally leveled Mana Skin, but it wasn’t without cost.

My mana levels were down to about 40%; nothing that would affect my regain rate, but it will take some time to rectify it.

“You look happy,” Tabitha nods approvingly at me.

“I’ll need to test it, but I’m hoping I’ll finally be able to help you against the winged serpent,” I try to project my resolve.

“We’ll see about that.” Tabitha doesn’t immediately reject my offer, which makes me happy, but I know I'll need to prove myself before she lets me put myself at risk. “I take it you need some time to regain your mana?”

“I could probably be back to full in ten hours," I stretched my arms as they felt a little sore. "How long did I take?”

“You’ve been sitting still for the past four hours,” Tabitha quirks an eyebrow.

"Sounds about right," I'm not surprised. Weaving countless threads of mana took time, after all.

“Are you done?” Tabitha asks, shifting on her bench.

“Mostly, but there’s one more thing I want to check,” I tell her. “But I can do it while I’m recovering. The only problem is, it will require even more focus, so I’ll need you to continue watching over me if that’s okay with you.”

“More focus?” Tabitha tilts her head to the side in confusion.

“Yeah, technically, I’ll be asleep. Do you remember what I told you about using your new skill on your soul? I'm doing that," I don't hold back explaining what I'm doing, as I already told Tabitha what her skill is capable of.

"You want to go into your soul!" Tabitha's calm persona shatters and her eyes widen in shock. "Why would you want to do that?”

“Well, it’s a great place to rest,” I rub the back of my head awkwardly. “But mostly, I want to check the state of my soul. So many things happened these last few days, and I want to ensure everything is okay. In here," I tap my chest.

“Oh,” Tabitha looks like she isn’t sure how to react. “And you’ll be safe?”

“Yes,” I nod. “You just won’t be able to wake me up easily. I still don’t sense anything around us, even around the creepy room below us, but you never know. Will you be okay by yourself?"

"Who is the master here, and who is the student?" Tabitha gives me an incredulous look. “I can guard you; do your thing.”

“You’re sure," I ask for clarification, knowing it will annoy Tabitha.

“Go,” Tabitha’s eyes narrow menacingly, but I just smile at her.

“You're awesome,” I give Tabitha one last thanks before I sprawl out on the bench and close my eyes.

This was the last thing I needed to do before we explored the rest of the ruins. After this, we could finally start our preparations.

It was time to check on my soul.

**********

3,650 words.

My original plan was to drag out fixing their gear and unlocking the next level of Mana Skin over a few chapters, but I think this was better than that. I was going to try fitting Aaliyah’s soul stuff in here too, but the chapter was already getting quite long, and I wanted to have this out tonight.

The soul stuff won't take up a lot next chapter, and Tabitha and Aaliyah will continue with their adventure along with another status page reveal.

Please give me your honest opinions, and as always, stay safe.