Students! This is our first class, but lucky for you, I'm the fun sort of professor. So instead of boring you poor kids with the whole basics, which I'm sure you would have at least gotten an advanced understanding of, or else let's be honest.
None of you would be in my class if your knowledge wasn't at least at the level of a normal fourth year of a normal college. But this is Chae-Heights College for greater learning and applications. Everything you know about magic was born in these very halls.
Let's move on! This is Grimgineering 101! It is here we will discuss the essence and process of the creation of grimoires. In this class you will learn to shape the arcane in whatever shape or form it might manifest as. The natural resources of the world become malleable clay under the transformative power of your hands and mind.
To create a grimoire is to create a single tool of absolute magical mastery. Which is why there is an ancient name for what the Grimgineers are now called. Because of what we can do, give house to spell cards to manifest the will of the Path-walker upon reality. To create tools of all shapes and sizes that can defend, attack, create, destroy and nurture the very foundations of the universe.
Once we were called.
Divine Smiths!
First Lecture Recording: Professor Jerosas Babinbill.
Azrael was looking at the rock of death that he had purchased the day Thomas was killed. Since he was born with the death affinity but was unawakened, finding this rock had been a thing of extreme luck. There was never going to be a guarantee that he would awaken, given how long it had taken, and then no guarantee that there would have been any death affinity materials available, for him to make his own grimoire. Not unless he travels to the Death Region of Grim-Earth, but he wasn't suicidal.
No one who goes there has ever returned, even though there were rumors of ancient ruins and treasures. And death affinity materials and beasts that could be used to make a variety of grimoires. So at the end of it all, he was stuck with just this rock of death, and what it could do.
The first time he had seen it, it had created an invisible fog of death that was wrapped around the fisherman he bought it from. The man looked a little bit sickly, like he was just a step closer to the grave …. Like he was marked. He shook his head, hitting backspace on his keyboard multiple times until he had a clear document in front of him.
There was no time to waste, death affinity materials were harder to get, and might take quite a bit of time to find. So Azrael had exposed the rock and instead had Emilia's mother help him purchase rare metals for the grimoire he was about to make. Next, she was going to take his blood and a sample of his tissue back to her lab. She was going to run tests and consult an expert friend of hers in order to come up with the right primers, materials, and spell cards for his body path. But as far his grimoire was concerned, it was now up to him to create it.
Since this was a Mortal-I grimoire, the rarity of the materials he had to use would not be that high. Which meant putting the Grimoire together should not be a problem, except of course, he was dealing with a death affinity material, and since this rock was going to be his primary, it would have the most influence on the spell card he chooses, once the grimoire is complete.
"Alright, what do I have to work with? The analysis bay should be done cataloging that damn rock." Azrael muttered as he turned a few lines into the document in front of him.
On it, were the dimensions and measurements of his grimoire, and exactly what form it would take. Since it was all for revenge, he would be going after nothing more than what could help him cause the most damage. Guns would be hard to deal with without a tech affinity, plus those were not his style. He was fast and sneaky enough to close the distance before you could so much as call his name.
Plus his new affinity for darkness and its shadow aspect. For a body path, he could not have asked for anything better. Emilia's Mom had said the same thing too. He had a body built for stealth and speed. No one would ever see him coming or catch him leaving. And he liked it just like that. Anything loud and flashy would leave him exposed and probably bring more trouble for Emilia and her mother. He needed to be silent.
Azrael got to work. Designing a grimoire was a dedicated process. For a start, he needed a deeper analysis of the rock he had found. He moved away from his computer, easily maneuvering through the darkness of his room until he was standing in front of the analysis bay. There were so many strange and unrecognizable materials being found every day; the A-bay, as it's called, used magic and science. To determine the properties of the materials, cross referencing them against millions of other samples that have been logged in.
The A-bay still had quite a few more minutes before it could be done with its analysis, which meant that Azrael had to focus on the other materials. First things first, though, he needed to be sure what shape or form the grimoire would take. Because of this, he had already made up his mind. Guns or any form of ranged grimoire were too flashy, swords or other weapons too exposed. A dagger was the right way to go, at least for now. It was easy to conceal and far easier to move around.
Still, designing this dagger would take a lot of inspiration and imagination… one of the few things Azrael lacked without outside interference. The veil over his emotions made it harder for him to enjoy simple things and draw inspiration and feelings from the surrounding things. In this case, he got a bit of a cheat. He was going to quit smoking in honor of Thomas, but he never said alcohol and music were off the table. Besides, there was no way in hell Azrael was leaving Thomas's secret stash of rice wine to waste.
A son started playing in the background, as Azrael took two quick shots of the wine. Then he hunched over another workstation where a drawing pad was sitting. His fingers moved, his sketch dancing according to the rhythm of the music being played. His heart thumped, his feet shifted slightly, he was lost. The song took him to a different level of thought and existence than he had ever thought possible. Everything was clearer to his ears now than before; the acoustics and vocals. The mournful tone that the song had and how it asked to evoke feelings of grief from him. His veil rippled, the leak of emotion lasting for only a second, but it was more than enough to give Azrael the inspiration he needed to complete his design.
He looked down at what he had drawn, then smiled. Now he just had to apply the calculations he had made, and get to shaping the materials. Before that, though, he moved back to A-bay. It was done with its analysis, and was ready to tell Azrael exactly what he was dealing with. The A-bay gave a quick breakdown of what it noticed from the material. For one, it had trace elements that were not native to the planet. This means the rock was a piece of meteorite that the fisherman had been able to fish out of the Damantic ocean, and it had been near a trench if he could remember. Seems that trench will be getting a visit in the future.
Further tests showed that it had traces of residual energy that seemed to have expired. Further tests and comparison led to the analysis of it not just being a piece of meteorite, but what was left of a dying star. Which explains where the death affinity came from. Many rumors about the high gods, say stars are individual sparks of his consciousness, true pieces of his soul. A star dying would or could be similar to a person, and then they showcase the death affinity once it happens.
Since it was more like an ore, he should have no problem melting it down. But not fully though, there were parts of the meteorite that had what looked like precious stones on them. He'd have to cut them properly and attached them to the blade. Next, he had to make a mold for the blade. He had a 3d printer for that. It also had a forge mode to it, so that it could get the meteorite to a molten state in no time. As for the other materials, since he was going for a dagger, he needed to worry only about the hilt.
In this case, he'll be using <Wraith Wood> it was the closest he could get to a death affinity material. It was an extremely durable wood that could house ghosts. The full tree itself is particularly nasty as it's in the habit of sucking out a person's mana and life force until their source is drained. Never enough to kill them, of course, but you'd be left vulnerable for other predators to come rip you apart.
Azrael got to work carving the hilt. He used a precision laser tool that did all the carving and shaving for him, while he put the design he wanted onto it. The hilt would stretch to cover the back of the blade, at least by half. It would shape it to look like a hunting knife, the dull edge would be covered with the hilt, while the sharp edge would have tiny serrations running along it. It was a nasty weapon of death he was making. He had to ensure if a single strike didn't kill you, you'd still bleed out due to the severity of the wounds.
Azrael finished up with the carving of the hilt, bringing it closer to his nose as he sniffed. The scent of wet wood and the eerie sound of soft ghostly wails seemed to fill his room. The wraith wood was actually an earth affinity material. Earth Affinity with a Ghostwood Aspect. He could never wrap his head around it, as ghost should have probably been under the jurisdiction of death or soul affinity.
"I should fill these grooves out. Should make them more aesthetic and filling them should reinforce the hilt. But with what? I need to be able to keep the conductivity between the Death star Alloy, and the Ghost wood blade. Already, death and earth don't have much of a synergy with each other, not unless there's something symbolic to strengthen the bond. This is magical engineering after all."
Azrael looked around his room before finding a round marble the size of a ping pong ball sitting at the very top of one of his shelves. He let out a happy whoop, then stopped himself. It was strange, his veil seemed less and less unstable since Thomas passed. He wasn't sure what to feel about that, but these random bursts of emotions were unsettling, they weren't anything that he was used to. Nevertheless, he grabbed the marble, which was pitch black, and seemed smoky at first glance…until Azrael pulled at the edge, and it started coming apart like strings or threads.
"It's going to be super annoying weaving these Darkness Affinity Spider Threads. But they should be able to bind both materials easily. These materials are a conduit and a balancing material. And the properties of the Ghostwood should take easily to the death star. I'm going more for a combination of symbolism as opposed to the materials. Well, there's everything I need; time to pour the ore into the mold."
With the music still playing in the background, Azrael feel deep into putting his grimoire together. He watched as every last drop of the death star ore was placed into his recently printed 3d mold. Since all of this was happening within the working area of his portable forge, he could control everything from outside the machine. The tool had been a gift from Thomas on his seventeenth birthday. It made it easier for him to break down and build up materials without having to leave the comfort of his perpetually dark bedroom.
The ore cooled rapidly, transforming into a dull gray blade that was quickly bathed in fire…dragon fire. Everything here had been built from the ground up by Thomas, and he incorporated his affinity into the things that needed flames, even the stove. Soon enough, the blade was red-hot once more, and that was where his magical hydraulic press came into view. A fiery hammer took shape above the blade. Azrael quickly set the intensity and weight of the hammer, then adjusted the heat out, before taking a step back.
"Smash Away."
*Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!*
Azrael let the sound of the magical fire hammer smashing impurities out of his blade fill his room. Even with how loud his music was playing, the sound of forge against metal still filled the air. He got to work on the Spider Threads. Using his laser tool, he threaded the vines through the Ghostwood, creating a significant spool of it at the top. This should at least help him use the dagger at range, and since the threads were darkness affinity, they should synergize well with his body path.
He had to weave the threads to be a little bit thicker, especially at the hilt. Then he packed them into the grooves of the greenish-black hilt. At closer look, it seemed as if the dark green hilt had black highlights that looked like black smoky shadows. Parts of the thread hung loose around the spot where the blade would join the hilt, but that was on purpose as the threads would be grafted to the blade, creating a conduit between it and the hilt. This should also help create a strong connection: darkness, ghosts and death…even if earth was in the equation. They all fit a certain theme, and he was sure it would make the grimoire a lot stronger than normal. Well, they just have to find out.
Azrael turned to the fire hammer. It had dissipated, he had to quench the blade and observe to see if it still needed more hammering. But that's when he heard a knock on his door.