Book 1 Chapter 24: What is found, can stay between us

Chapter 24: What is found, can stay between us

Spectre was currently walking to work, the last several days business had been booming. As he was capable of crafting sets for level 3 adventurers, from that level and below many of them appeared to use the mission board here to be able to use the crafting reward. Through this, Spectre had been constantly honing his metal manipulation skill and coming up with many different ideas.

He had actually earned just a 100 gold under a thousand, as on top of the regular orders there was specific orders for custom designs. He had begun to integrate what he called transformative weapons that the shop keeper helped him to paten. Spectre chose the symbol of hydrogen, as it was the same as his mind vessel he had seen in the crystal and he felt a deep pull towards. Before too long, many adventurers who came through the door here had a blue lit symbol on their weapons showing Spectre had crafted it. Some were axes that folded in, and could fold out into 'wings'.

Some were 3 sectioned nun chucks that could go back into a staff; he kept the design of his spear though because he wanted it to be unique and his own personal one. Surprisingly not many used the spear, as it was difficult to master its skills and most with an affinity would rather use a sword for offensive types, shield for defensive types, and blades for agility types. Support types would use a staff or scepter, so the spear, ax, halberd, or other types were rare. Even if the shape of the sword, blade or shield was different they were still thus that genre.

People who used nun chucks followed the path of Buddhism or martial training, and usually they were the ones with spears, chakrams, nun chucks as they were trained specifically in the use of that weapon. Lately Spectre had to buy more low to 2nd level crystals, as for almost every custom order they were a mind vessel or body vessel that wanted to utilize there weapon with magic. So he thus had been crafting magical weapons as of late, integrating his array design to tailor that type advancing its level and cost. Which they all payed for as it was very much better than a regular blade or socket weapon which they had to store energy into a crystal like a battery, before placing it in the socket using it up the material before having to resocket a gem.

Whereas, Spectre's array type was like a closed system and allowed magic to flow into it allowing constant use until the user was drained of any technique, style, attribute, trait or ability they had through the weapon.

People flocked here for these weapon types, as Spectre sold them at a very good price and they were well crafted and fast to be made, his business had indeed had an influx and boomed. The shop keeper was beyond happy, he allowed spectre to come here over a month ago to craft things. He assumed Spectre had come to be an apprentice but who knew he had great skills and knowledge of substances and ore. What a find!

Spectre had just walked through the door, when several groups of people waved at him. He strode over to the different groups who told him of the battle they just had, or a monster or beast they had killed for a mission and as promised gave him his choice of a piece of it. Which considerably compared to the gold he recieved, he had been stocking up many rare beasts pieces or items, and then reusing them for the next buyer or build to create even rarer items that mixed in the ability trait or part of a beast.

This was a perfect system of buyer, crafter and utilizer that Spectre had been utilizing as well as a system that the Shop keeper identified and found profound for a child just below 7 years old to use.

He informed Spectre of different ways to use this system, and to think ahead when orders were stacked up to ask for different things from bargains promised. With this, Spectre had spent most nights designing weapons and then awaiting groups to come the following morning to give him the required "Master piece" to lay into the other pieces he had for the design for orders. With this he became a beloved little youngster who never gouged anyone out of the best of things, as well as a respected young crafter seen as a genius with his hands.

Spectre finished up his conversations with big smiles and laughs filling each of the tables. Drinks rising up and pointing to him, for if not for the weapons he crafted they may very well have perished if not for the unique skills or traits the weapons had. This gave a gain to their inventory of skills, which furthered the ability to survive, defend or attack.

Spectre waved to everyone before hopping behind the table and sitting down and yawning. He really had kept up this routine for over a month now. He still gave a share to the Shop keeper, who respectfully took it but still allowed Spectre to take anything he wanted from the store as he knew Spectre would compensate him, so he lowered the amount given back in percentage for this fact.

He had been crafting many other items as well to go up on the walls, replacing them. He used what was already up there as to not waste merchandise, but used it in a new creative way that many passerbys would come to see. This was the second way he profited greatly, as it was a beast craft store now, and magical weapon shop. Many who came in, would later come back to buy an item that was marked on the wall they had seen and fell in love with. Spectre took them down until they came back, and if they were an evil self-righteous type then if they asked for it to be saved then he would leave it up anyway. They could still come back to get it….if it was still there of course heh.

The afternoon came shortly before Spectre had felt a strange twitch at his side, he turned to not see anything but his shadow flashing back in forth from the lights around. When he turned back, unknowingly the shadow would huff and then slap him on the side like a jester who would go back to acting. Spectre had kept his eyes on a mirror across the room and when he saw a little black Hand move around him he nearly jumped. Turning around and hopping off the stool, looking around to find no creature. Just his shadow…'no…don't tell me'

He stomped down on his shadow, and the leg should have been lifted up in a mirror image but it actually just moved out of the way like light was shining from somewhere else.

"So that's how it is!" He realized that the crystal from before had lost its color, it must've contained a shadow energy that had, when the box was opened, jumped to his shadow.

He couldn't think of any other reason why his shadow would have its own consciousness and be specifically attached to him.

"Come with me" He walked over to the back room, the shadow confused followed like a 2 d black image on the floor. Spectre closed the door behind him, and pointed to the wall, which the shadow went up to to be reach gaze. How was a child not utterly freaked out by this?

"You came from that darkness core didn't you?" He asked the Shadow.

The shadow nodded its head, which looked very strange without a 3 d aspect. Spectre wasn't actually surprised, as there were boundless possibilities and beings in the world birthed by energies.

Humans were birthed from many different elements, that is why they had the natural adaption to energies as well as affinities pertinent to blood line.

"You are now my friend, know what that means?" The shadow only turned slightly and sat on air, it nodded its head after a while. Friend must mean 'not an enemy', the shadow simply pondered.

As Spectre was a mind vessel he naturally exhibited that fact, to energy around him, with his lightning affinity being used in training and rubbing off to the shadow creature attached to his being, it sparked an intellect seed. Lightning was a catalyst to the consciousness, where plants were the catalyst to creation. Lightning was very rare for this fact.

With their consciousness's being shared, as well as the drop of blood that the shadow creature absorbed while within the darkness core it had created a bond of minds. Spectre's blood was potent, and from a line of powerful wielders, if his father had seen this he would have laughed his head off let alone the rest of the clan.

For this to occur it was beyond rare. Blood bonding needed energy capable of growth to take it while within the embryo stage, allowing it to manifest the 'DNA' as well as the energies of the giver.

If this failed or the blood was too strong it would rip the energy embryo apart. Somehow the shadow hadn't been ripped apart, it was the perfect casing of a high level Darknesscore from a deadly beast of the north that allowed it the perfect shield.

"Can you speak?" Spectre asked, weeding out the abilities and aspects of this shadow. It 'swiveled' its head back and forth, showing it could not speak.

'Damnit I really wish you could' Spectre thought turning around…

'Not my fault!' it thought back. Spectre jumped, 'we share a mental connection?'

'I guess so, I feel a tie between us'

'Seems I have a new companion, you are a shadow energy body, you can hide in my shadow… can you perform any other things?' Spectre was contemplating a lot of possibilities, he knew the capabilities of shadow affinity type mind vessels as he had read a bit about them.

'Not yet…I feel empty, I need more energy.' It said back in a smooth voice, it copied his voice back as it was the closest simile it could learn from.

'hmm…there are indeed sources of darkness and shadow out in the world, apart from that core I have not any other things with shadow energy, so it will have to wait until a lucky chance arises, for now just stay in my shadow and don't make weird shapes again and let others see! It could be dire to us both. '

'okay' it said simply back.

Spectre walked back out of the room, the last ten minutes had given him such strange thoughts to the possibilities of the world, with this shadow body it could be an advantage if he learned how to use it. He didn't think of it as a tool, but a companion as it was a conscious being. The shadow energy felt this, and the bond only deepened.

'not much to do today I guess' Spectre said to 'Shadow', as he would call it, because of its obvious nature.

"Hey, need an item crafted for me." A burly man said aloud as Spectre had been staring at the table in front of him scribbling on paper, he hadn't noticed the man come in.

"Oh uh sure, what'll it be?" Specter stored away the drawing in his pocket, looking up at the man with full attention.

"I would like…well I can't explain it right now, it's out back. You'll have to decide what to do with it. "The man said expressionless.

'I don't like the feeling of this man, I feel a draw to his energy' Shadow said in the back of his mind.

'What, he has the darkness affinity?' Spectre went on guard, as the only people with that dual type in the spring meteoric valley edges were the Darkwood clan, who had the plant and darkness affinity and spirit vessel types for dark affinity plants.

"Sure, come around the corner, and follow me this way." Spectre turned around, walking around the far corner behind the table, the man followed slowly behind and after a while turned the corner to see the back door closing as he assumed Spectre had gone through it.

He tread forwards, and as he reached the back door to open it he felt a cold sensation on the back of his neck as 4 flying blades pierced the back of his neck and through his trachea not allowing him to even scream in agony.

As the man tumbled back, Spectre released the flying board to catch him, the man crescent-moon-bent over it, Spectre turned and drove it to move back the other way. Since the counter was so tall, the body of the man was obscured from the crowd sitting down and laughing at tables across the room. Spectre walked into the office, hitting the latch after he had closed the door. Bringing the man down the cat walk and across until going down the steps. The shop keeper was down here and looked up as this dead mans body floated behind Spectre. The disk board tossed him to the ground in front of the shop keeper, he ripped up the man's sleeves revealing a withered tree design tattoo on the forearm.

"The deadwood clan… why would they be here?" The shop keeper like many in this city of the great clan, hated the evil Deadwood clan.

"For me, my master was killed by them, somehow they must've known he had an apprentice by the other two men who worked there who were gone that day. They must've been weary and captured them even more swiftly before torturing them to death to ask who else there was. They must've said a young boy, but had the will power to say no more. So they must be hunting down apprentices in a hundred mile radius of the city. We had come…from a city south, they must've expanded the search."

Spectre hid the fact it was here, as it would bring up information he didn't wish to say, and the Deadwood clan had been warring and attacking the great clan for years now so it wasn't uncommon for skirmishes and the death of civilians. To the shopkeeper it sounded like this young genius was just a refuge from a broken town of the south.

"I see…since you killed him, wherever this man has gone or been with… would arouse suspicion of his leaving. You may have known this and killed him… as if you hadn't and had disappeared he would raise a larger search for you. Well done…but…this still creates the problem of what to do.

You'll have to stop crafting above, and only craft down here. Ill spread the word that your master will take over, but you'll actually still be crafting. Since you'll have a master, they won't tie you with the other man. With both of you being gone, there will be nothing to investigate." The shop keeper pondered and knew this was the best strategy, he was with the underground and they constantly worked against the Deadwood clan, so helping Spectre was natural. He also thought well and liked Spectre, like many of the people upstairs.

"Thank you Senior" Spectre said with respect, "could I trouble you to…?"

The shop keeper laughed, understanding his meaning "yes, don't worry of the body."

"Mm thank you.." Spectre turned around, going back up the stairs, opening the hatch and closing it, before silently moving below the table crouching to the crafting room. Where, he stored a bunch of different material in his ring that he had gathered from different patrons. He began to craft every order for the next month ahead of time and by the time of the following morning he had finished.