“I never stopped you before,” Ori said, glancing over his shoulder with a smile to soften his words.
“One never knows whether a crafter prefers privacy, or has trade secrets they’d rather not disclose.”
“I’m certainly that type of crafter, but you’re under a non-disclosure contract, and I could do with some advice,” Ori replied.
“Oh? Normally, that sort of advice comes with a price.”
Ori turned to her and gestured at his desk, strewn with crafting materials and paper diagrams. “I’m cash poor, and I don’t have a licence to sell anything, but maybe I could tweak or adjust some of your gear in return?”
The hazel-haired elf chewed her bottom lip, eyes distant as she sank into contemplation for a long moment. Ori had only asked offhandedly. After almost two years with an old man watching over his shoulder as he worked, he had grown used to company while crafting.
He also had another motive. Knowledge, any knowledge about the world, its people, and its history, could be useful. Even with Freya’s rote learning in his mind, Ori had long since pushed against its limits. Now, after meeting the ancient elven woman from a subrace he had never encountered before, he wanted her perspective on matters relating to him, yes, but on anything else as well.
Ori returned to his task while she considered in silence. He began crafting the dozen or so enchantments Martel Wheeler had recommended for diagnosing and shaping enchantments.
Within minutes, he had made the first set of tools —the originals, as designed and taught by Martel: rulers, compasses, and a flat iron surface—a tabletop for specific forging techniques, along with several iron blanks carved with runes. Each blank offered a different kind of feedback in the presence of enchantments, from a humming vibration to lights that corresponded to affinities detected within a mana circuit, rune, or engram.
The second set were improved versions of the same tools, enchanted and refined by the first. Their accuracy improved, surfaces flatter, edges straighter, and their runes and enchantments were more compact and mana efficient.
By the fourth iteration, many of the diagnostic functions fit within a single iron blank, while the flat iron, about the size of an A3 sheet, had micrometre-level flatness.
After two hours, Ori completed his fifth and final iteration for now: a wand.
Using techniques originally developed for crafting Void Storage rings, he carved ten sets of enchantments into a thin sheet, then turned it inside out. The enchantments formed a small internal storage space holding virtualised versions of the diagnostic tools. Their readings fed into what would normally have been a void ring’s interface, a virtual space Ori planned to improve later after leaving room for future enchantment upgrades.
He had been burning to do this ever since leaving the Soul Garden and had only crafted Tess’s set first to allow her more time to get used to the artefacts and their abilities before her trial. After naming and binding the result, Ori exhaled in satisfaction, recognising it as the first in a long line of innovations he intended to bring to his craft.
Artefact Name: Sensing Gizmo
Type: Sovereign Channelling Wand of Sensing
Characteristic Requirements: Intelligence > 1000, Perception > 1000
Other Requirements: Void Affinity, Enchantment Classes
Effects: Maintains an internal void pocket containing virtualised diagnostic tools.
Description: Crafted by Ori after multiple iterations, this wand condenses a full set of enchantment diagnostics into one implement.
Notes: The external enchantment space allows for modular upgrades, leaving space for expanded functions and additional enchantments.
The item in question resembled an aluminium knitting needle: clean, long, and slender, with a tip carved to a fairly sharp point. As Ori considered soul-binding it, Caoimhe approached.
“May I examine it?” she asked.
“Sure.” Ori handed the artefact over.
Caoimhe turned the wand in her hands, studying it with open curiosity.
“You used the voidwright method to hide the enchantments. Why?”
Ori shrugged. “It seemed a good way to disguise and protect the enhancements. I don’t really know any other high-level methods.”
Caoimhe nodded. “Uniquely elegant. Very alien in design. Had I not watched you craft it, I might have judged it an artefact from outside of Fate.”
She handed it back.
“You are young,” she said, more statement than question, “and in as much need of my tuition as your paramour.”
“Tuition? Do you mean leadership?”
“Not necessarily, though I’m sure Tessalyn will share anything you need to learn.” She continued.
“Then what do you mean then?”
“For example, you hide in plain sight, afraid to act lest you draw attention you cannot avoid. Yet with the affinities I sensed from your aura, neither hiding nor inaction is in your nature.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Du?list, Bondweaver, Progenitor. Unique accolades granted by Fate, each one enough to make an entity. That you're the Demon Bane signifies the fact that Fate has chosen to concentrate your races' providence upon you; meanwhile, Light and Lightning affinities, each notorious for their antipathy to discretion. And with each item you craft, this tendency is proven; it’s as though you have no interest in conforming to contemporary styles or traditions. Wondrous artefacts, yes, but artefacts that will get you noticed, and soon.”
“But I don’t intend to mass-produce them,” Ori said.
“As long as you intend to use them at all, it will be the same.”
“So what do you recommend?”
“You need to craft multiple personas for yourself. As for the details, that will cost you.”
“What do you want?” Ori gave her his full attention. “You want me to craft you something?”
“A wand, yes.”
“Alright. That should be possible, depending on the specifics. Do you have something in mind?”
“I… don’t have any materials apart from this section of spirit wood. But in addition to my consultation, you may browse and learn from my collection of enchantments and runes. Some of them you’ll need to learn in order fulfil my request, others might be helpful to you, or be relevant to my further consultations.”
“So, in exchange for a wand, you’ll give me advice and access to some runes?” Ori asked.
“I will.”
Ori thought it over.
After seeing his work, she was plainly envious, and she saw him as a chance to obtain something exceptionally rare and costly for the price of what, to Ori, sounded like a common book and a few conversations. He was willing to help, but he was also short on time. With Tess’s trial in the morning, he wanted to recraft his array, though in retrospect he knew that, with all the experiments and prototypes to build and test, it would take longer than he had left to make something he'd like.
“Alright. I’ll make your wand in exchange for two days of consultation and access to your enchantments and runes. Thrice do I swear,” Ori agreed by forming a casual oath, deciding that while lacking his Prototype Array of Du?lism would reduce his peak combat power, nothing short of an Immortal Ranker or higher should truly threaten him without it. “Now tell me what kind of wand you want me to make.”
It was morning once again, and after a night of crafting, collaboration, and discussion, both Ori and Caoimhe Niamhán were satisfied with their respective transactions.
Her wand, unlike most of the types Ori had made to date, was a Ritual Wand rather than a Channelling Wand. It was closer to a staff in function: mana reservoirs, materials, and complex spells were combined into discrete units of use, meant to be cast far faster and with far greater effect than a Channelling Wand.
The drawbacks were the far higher characteristic requirements, alongside the one-time or limited-use nature of most wand workings.
Caoimhe cradled her newly named and soul-bound Pinnacle Ritual Wand of Nurturing, Weathersong. The artefact had been whittled from a rich, dark-brown length of spirit oak, a material Ori had never worked with before. Using voidwright techniques, most of the runework lay folded away in unseen dimensions, allowing the foot-and-a-half branch to keep its newly debarked, unvarnished natural appearance.
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Within it sat several self-contained rituals from a life-magic school Ori was keen to learn more about. They related mostly to trees: germination and accelerated growth, pest management, and several modest self-defensive workings. Each embedded ritual carried a long cooldown, borrowing mana from Fate to replenish consumed mana and materials. Ori had learned the principle while designing Tess’s void storage ring, and he had implemented it in Caoimhe’s wand as a matter of course. The addition alone vastly increased its value and raised its awakened rank by at least one tier.
Partly because of that, the supposedly world-weary elf was now stroking Weathersong like a child on Christmas Day, eyes bright and still faintly disbelieving.
“Just out of curiosity, how much would that artefact sell for, assuming I found the right buyer?” Ori asked.
“Hm? Oh.” Caoimhe blinked, coming out of her daze. “Sale… I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to tell you now. Pinnacle-rank artefacts are staples of high-end, realm-wide auctions. They’re usually announced a year in advance, with catalogues arranged to draw buyers from across the realm and beyond. This ritual wand, with the recharge function, is specialised, but it would still fetch… hmm… Ten thousand plat, at auction.”
“Is that a lot?” Ori asked, shrugging at the woman’s expression as she looked at him askance.
“A single plat, short for platinum, could buy you… well it changes across realms. In Dremshire, it can buy you a decent plot of land, likely everything in this village and its surroundings. There’s no common exchange for gold or silver, and I don’t know the rates in this realm. But in more practical terms, a basic Void Storage Ring could go for between one and ten plat depending on the location. The Void Soul Storage version, a hundred—”
“Wait, what!? That wand is worth a thousand rings?” Ori gaped.
Ear tips burning, Caoimhe shrugged, then unsummoned Weathersong as if afraid Ori would snatch it back. Ori stared into the distance, then a slow smile blossomed on his face.
“So, what you’re saying is that Wandsmiths are loaded, yeah?”
“Loaded with wealth is a common expression, yes.” She stood, brushing down the fabric of her dress. “But make no mistake, what I shared with you was just as valuable, if not more. Were it not for your voidwright techniques that hide the enchantments completely, I might not have suggested this trade.”
Ori nodded. “I did learn a lot. Now, you said something about personas?”
“Indeed, I did,” Caoimhe began. “To hide your nature, but not your means. Currently, while a thin film of anti-divination protects you from most high-level scans, it should be impossible to act openly with the full might of your abilities while also keeping your privacy. So I recommend creating a second identity, splitting your magic and abilities into separate synergies. For example: the you of now, the quiet White Mage healer, with a rare and valuable, but not outrageously so, wand with its own wand spirit. A man capable of minor miracles of healing. And then your other persona: the one you fight with, the one who faces nobles and Immortal Warlords.”
Ori frowned, thinking the idea was somewhat basic.
“I mean, yeah. Wearing a mask sometimes. It’s not a bad idea, but nothing I haven’t considered before.” Ori said, failing to hide his wince at the thought of wearing a mask.
“It’s less the idea, and more the implementation. Look.” Caoimhe opened her rune book to a page Ori had glanced at before. “Here, and…” she said, turning the page, “...here. This one.”
It took Ori a while to understand where she was coming from. Anti-divination enchantments could only do so much, but combined with techniques that distracted or amplified certain aspects far more than others, he could see how the magical version of a caped crusader could work.
“Alright, I think I understand. So what do you think my other persona should be?”
“I have no idea. Beyond your enchanting, I don’t know your methods, but whatever you choose, it should incorporate those artefacts you bandy about as if they were wooden spoons.”
“So I should show that I’m a High Enchanter?” Ori asked.
“Aye, though you could do a good job at pretending to be one stage higher.”
“Arch Enchanter?” Ori frowned. “I don’t even know what the requirements for that are.”
“As a Wandsmith, your class title does not change, and makes no distinction for enchantment rank. So, produce enchantments at the speed and quality you do, I suspect you would be eligible for an arch enchanting class already.”
“I mean, I did get this before I awakened. Maybe I just need a new accolade?” Ori said, sending over the details via the Library of Fate.
Accolade: Mortal High Enchanter (Very Rare)
Legend: Awarded for consistently producing high-level enchanting at a rate and standard considered exceptional across Fate. The Mortal High Enchanter soul-bound and re-enchanted an Immortal-rank artefact later named Seraphine’s Beacon. The Mortal High Enchanter crafted a Mortal Yewheart Channelling Wand of Life, refined defensive enchantments such as Dreamwalkers’ Ward, and later re-enchanted it into Dreamwalkers’ Lesser Aegis. The Mortal High Enchanter also crafted tools intended to break hostile enchantments, drinking bladders that produce drinkable water, and minor jewellery pieces, including a life-burst ring, a void-linked bangle, and a chain of Encapsulated Dreams, before advancing a Nascent Channelling Wand of Lightning until its wand spirit became a lesser elemental.
In battle, the Mortal High Enchanter etched a soul-rending enchantment onto a broken dagger. All feats were achieved before awakening, enabling high enchanter classes upon first class selection.
“I’m not sure what I’m more appalled by: the fact you were already a High Enchanter before you awakened, or that such an accolade is only Very Rare,” Caoimhe said, aghast.
“Do you have any idea how someone becomes an Arch Enchanter?”
“Few, I’m afraid. Those who are tend to be close to divinity, realm lords, and racial guardian spirits. With that rank, stature and influence may be either the cause or the result.”
“Hm.” Ori considered. “So if I create an enchantment with a realm-wide effect, I might earn an arch enchanting accolade?” For a moment, he remembered the Lesser Terraformer accolade he received after destroying Ghigrerchiax. Perhaps repeating the feat, with more deliberate enchanting and better technique, would be enough. He was not certain. For one thing, destroying planes was not something he intended to do without cause. Beyond that, work with wide-ranging effects demanded power and methods he did not yet have ready access to. Still, as he weighed his options and some of the more dangerous ideas prompted by his new voidwright inheritance, his expression turned thoughtful.
“It might be just as simple as mass producing something popular, influential and highly sought after.”
Ori nodded. “You’ve given me much to think about, Caoimhe. Thank you.”
Most of it was not actionable today. He stood, deciding against soul-binding the new wand for now. Instead, he returned to his bench to craft the sixth generation of his Gizmo, adding new enchantments and diagnostic tools for spaces, voids, teleportation, gates, and planes, an area of research that had held his attention since Ghigrerchiax.
“How are you feeling? Nervous?” Ori asked.
The light of dawn had grown bright enough to burn away the morning dew, and activity across Strafhollow could now be heard from Ori’s cabin, just outside the town walls.
Ruenne’del and Tess had returned after training through the night and most of the morning, and were now ready to set off for their trial. Ori could see Tess’s nerves in the set of her shoulders, in the white-knuckled grip across her bow.
“A little,” Tess answered.
Ori wanted to say he would be there to save her if anything went wrong, that he loved her, trial or not, that none of this was worth it if she came to harm.
“You’ll do great. I’m sure of it,” he said instead.
Tess smiled, cheeks flushed. To one side, Ruenne’del watched him, her emotions over the bond muted. Ori came to recognise it as a suppression, a form of empathic privacy. He was sure she meant to make him less concerned, but it had the opposite effect. Still, despite the tight knot in his chest, he let it be.
He turned towards her, a thousand thoughts pressing at the surface: fear, confusion, pride, love. He did not hide them, and for reasons he did not understand, his emotions made Ruenne’del smile.
“So, you said I should stay far away. What about Caoimhe? You said Freya can join you, but not the rest of my bonds.”
“The were-pixie can help. No one else,” Ruenne’del said.
Freya stirred from rest, emerging from Ori’s forehead in her sprite form, then transformed into a pixie and settled on the Leanan Sídhe’s shoulder.
“We will be fine. We will come back.” The pink-haired fairy darted in for a kiss. Ori caught her at the waist, pulled her close, and held her in a tighter embrace.
"Wild luck!" Freya huffed in annoyance, temporarily transforming into a sprite to buzz around them while her perch was made untenable by their union. “Ori, respect Ruenne’del’s seeing,” Freya lectured after she returned to Ruenne'del's shoulder. “It’s possible that your presence would make things worse. If we end up in a predicament we can’t manage, I’ll contact you.”
Ori nodded. “Look after each other out there,” he said, stepping back.
When they vanished into the forest, Ori felt lost and uncertain.
“It’s hard, isn’t it? Sending them away,” Caoimhe said, approaching from inside the cabin.
Ori sighed. “I feel like there’s something else I should do. Like I can’t just sit here.”
Caoimhe shrugged. “Just because you can’t interfere doesn’t mean you can’t do something else. Perhaps more enchanting?”
Ori glanced at his new soul-bound wand, then shook his head. He could not tell whether what he felt was ordinary anxiety about the trial, or something else entirely, as he reread the details of his newest wand and weighed his options.
Artefact Name: Ori’s Void Sensing Gizmo
Type: Immortal Channelling Wand of Sensing
Characteristic Requirements: Intelligence > 10,000, Perception > 10,000
Other Requirements: Void Affinity, Enchantment Classes
Effects: Maintains an internal void pocket containing virtualised diagnostic tools.
Description: Crafted after multiple iterations, this wand is the seventh refinement of a set of general enchantment diagnostics. It condenses a full kit of inspection and testing functions into a single implement, with advanced sensors designed to detect, analyse, and reconfigure enchantments and sigils. The toolset also includes dedicated diagnostics for spaces, voids, teleportation, gates, and planes.
Notes: The external enchantment space remains modular, leaving room for upgrades, expanded functions, and additional enchantments.
“I’m going out for a walk,” Ori called out to the woman behind him after shutting the door, setting the wards and locking up. “You have somewhere to stay?”
She waved away his concern, “I'll be fine.”
His walk took him to the lake beside Tess’s family’s lakeside cabin. Skipping stones across the wind-rippled water, Ori turned over the idea of personas and his own feelings about it.
In truth, he was starting to like the person he was becoming, and the thought of adopting personas felt like a betrayal, a fracturing of himself. His original plan, to stay hidden until he was strong enough, had always seemed workable. A temporary hardship now, then a full reveal to Fate when he was ready. It was a plan made months ago, right after finding Freya and ending the trial. But now, with the ever-growing list of quests becoming more urgent by the hour, beginning with rescuing Merin Tyr and her family, Ori was running into the hard limits of staying low-key.
Beyond that, how would he even divide himself? Caoimhe had suggested a humble White Mage and a more ostentatious Arch Enchanter, but would that mean that if he needed to heal as one, or kill as the other, he could not? It seemed absurd.
Still, there was a kernel in what Caoimhe had shown him that appealed. Not a mask that concealed, but a series of enchantments that revealed and magnified, transforming the person to expose that which lay within. Most people kept parts of themselves restrained, parts that did not fit their society, or their self-image, or the face they showed to all but those closest to them.
He had brushed against the idea with his glamour, the High Human, whose presence sharpened reality around him, with the ground underfoot seeming firmer with each step. But there was more to Ori than his race.
In that dreamlike state within the Crucible’s trials, Ori had touched something deeper: his astral avatar, unbound by restrictions, conventions, or expectation. Inhuman and somewhat apathetic to law and nature, whimsical in its desires, curiosity and application of power, it was not a state he aspired to in any literal sense, but being able to express that side of himself, a side he suspected the people who truly cared for him already knew and accepted, might be a good thing.
By the thirtieth stone skipped across the lake, Ori had come to an internal understanding.
“Humble White Mage by day, badass avatar of magic by night.” Ori chuckled to himself as he sketched new crafting plans and settled on a name for his second persona. Plans that would soon draw realm-wide consternation and acclaim, and a moniker whose echoes would one day stretch across every corner of Fate.
book 2 of the Sword Saint went live. At over 20k words more than expected and a self-imposed preorder deadline to reach, the 2-week mini-hiatus unfortunately became +4.
The Wandsmith, I’m considering not stubbing and publishing the series on KU, and instead going the Patreon and advance chapters route. I’ll still refine and heavily edit the early chapters, but with a combination of posting across more sites and communities, I hope to reach a wider audience.