Echoes Of The Seven

Thankfully, Eris had the forethought to bring spare clothes. Witnessing both Jaxie and Alex leave their own Giftings in wet clothes after they vomited holy water all over themselves made it an easy choice. Alex had the duffel bag resting beside her on the bench. As soon as the door leading out of the waiting room opened, Alex’s gaze turned up towards Eris. Brown eyes widened.

“You’re taller.”

“It seems that way, yeah. Mind passing me my clothes? These jeans are killing me.”

Alex nodded, her blonde curls bobbing. Eris gladly accepted the duffel bag and vanished into the washroom for a few moments. She wore jeans because she didn’t think that her body would change all that much. Now that she had grown several inches, she was very thankful for her spare bottoms of choice being a pair of sweatpants. Unfortunately, her shoes were cutting off the circulation to her feet, so those had to go. Her sweater got a healthy dose of ‘intestinal tract splash zone’, so that was removed and stuffed into the bag alongside her shoes. At least her shirt still fit kind of okay. It was very snug and Eris couldn’t quite roll up the sleeves as far as she usually liked, but the dark green fabric was clean and wasn’t on the verge of tearing.

Regardless, it meant that the first of Eris’s projects now that she was a crafter was simply going to be re-sizing her clothes. Eris didn’t have much time to dwell, since stepping out of the washroom revealed that Alex must have gone outside to go get Jaxie. Both of them were standing there.

It was almost comical to look between them. On the left, there was Jaxie. Six foot two with long, long brown hair so dark it may as well have been black, topped with piercing blue eyes that melted steel beams. Her skin was tanned from years spent practicing outside and her black tank top showed large, muscular arms.

On the right, there was Alex. About six inches shorter than the Berserker beside her, Alex’s hair was almost as bright as her pale sundress. Someone looking at Jaxie could take one glance at her serious visage and only assume that she was one of two things- a lumberjack or a warrior. Meanwhile, a person looking over Alex would probably get the impression of a sweet girl working at a flower market. At least until that person got on her bad side and received a broken jaw because of it.

Still, the two couldn’t have looked more different. The only similarity they held between them was the look of pride and curiosity as Eris walked out of the washroom. Jaxie’s jaw even dropped a little bit. Eris saw the brunette’s eyes wander up and down her body, taking in all the changes.

“You’re taller.”

“That’s what I said,” Alex grinned. Eris smiled meekly and walked forward.

“I got Artisan.”

“Well, no surprise there,” Jaxie chuckled. “I’m not sure it was possible for you to get anything else.”

She arched her back and reached her arms way above her head as she stretched, to the point that her tank top slid up to reveal half an inch of her toned stomach. After she laxed, she cracked her neck.

“Alright, who wants breakfast?”

Eris shrugged. “I could eat.”

“Of course you could,” Alex rolled her eyes. “You just vomited a couple gallons of magic water all over the floor.”

Jaxie tilted her head down. “Why do you think I asked? Come on, I saw a sandwich cart starting to set up down the street.”

As was tradition for each other’s birthdays, Jaxie and Alex took point on a day of celebration. Naturally, that day of celebration began and ended within the span of twenty minutes and consisted of cheap sandwiches. Curious, Eris held hers in her hands and cast a tentative Inspect its way. Thankfully, it was just as easy as opening her stat window. All Eris had to do was will forth the intent and words hovered forefront in her mind.

Southshore BLT

Portions: 2

A sandwich inspired by both southern coastal and central cuisine. Created by Leopold Fraizer. Made from bread, tuna, bacon, lettuce, tomato, cheese and mayonnaise.

“Woah.”

Jaxie looked over at Eris and must have pieced together why she was staring at her food. Jaxie grinned and focused on it as well.

“Ah, the Southshore BLT. A sandwich inspired by both southern coastal and central cuisine. Having fun?”

Eris tried not to acknowledge the fact that Jaxie mentioned far less information than Eris was seeing. “That is so weird,” she mumbled.

“Stop playing with your food…” Alex muttered. Jaxie rolled her eyes.

“Oh, like you didn’t Inspect everything you saw when you got Gifted.”

“Pardon me, but it isn’t exactly like we have time on our hands. We have to leave for Marrix tomorrow.”

Eris scoffed. “Sorry that my parents were inconsiderate in their timing.”

“How about you both pull the sticks out of your asses,” Jaxie stood, “and focus more on enjoying this moment?”

All three girls looked at each other. Eris nodded.

“Right. Food now, training later.”

Unfortunately, ‘Food’ only lasted for a few more minutes. Eris intended to save the other half of her footlong sandwich for lunch but she scarfed it down before she even realised that she finished the first half.

That meant the inevitable conversation that Eris had been dreading emerged far sooner than was ideal.

Which was never. Ideally.

“So, an Artisan.” Jaxie began. “What’s that like? What kinda skills ya got?”

Hearing her words sent a dagger through Eris’s sternum. Every second Eris spent thinking about the consequences of being a class that hasn’t been seen in over four centuries freaked her out more and more. Eris trusted both of them with everything, especially Jaxie. But this was something else entirely. Demeri said that Eris had been ‘the last of the Echoes’, but also that she was the ‘final Gifted’.

To say that was concerning was the biggest understatement in the world. Did that mean that the Giftings wouldn’t work anymore? That nobody else could get a class? The Gifted made up almost the entire Syndicate, and it took every single person to even hold off the Hollow for this long. If nobody else could become Gifted, then that meant they were the final generation of the Syndicate. The last line of defense. Even if they could hold off the Hollow, eventually all the Gifted would die of old age and leave the world defenseless against corruption. The world was completely, unequivocally screwed.

But Eris was an Artificer. The last Echo. Perhaps she could become powerful enough to turn the tide of the war against the Hollow? Sure, she had some interesting skills now, but she certainly wasn’t strong enough to single-handedly wipe out a world-eating magical plague. Should she tell Jaxie and Alex? Maybe they could help somehow.

Nope. Not now. That would have to wait until Eris could put together a plan.

Speaking of which, she was used to figuring things out quickly. She had enough journals and sketchbooks shoved into her laboratory filled with nothing but design sketches and crafting formulae to make Alex’s head spin- and she was far from stupid. Understanding how things worked, how different functions, different pieces, and different ingredients all fit together to create the final, refined project was Eris’s specialty. If this step is done too early, or this section is attached before that one, then it makes this other step more difficult. All of it was a puzzle to be solved.

But now, Eris’s mind was fragmented. She couldn’t even begin to understand the full scope of the starting position for what being an Artificer entailed, much less what steps she needed to take now in order to prevent the final product from collapsing later.

“Uh, Ell?” Jaxie nudged Eris again, a frown of worry now twisting her lips.

“Huh?” Eris shook her head to clear away the thoughts and refocused her attention.

“You okay?”

“Uh, yeah. Why?” Eris tried to sound casual. Jaxie narrowed her eyes.

“Because I asked you what being an Artisan is like, and you just started staring into space like you didn’t even know what planet you were on.”

“Ease off, Jazz,” Alex playfully reached over Eris to smack the taller girl on the back of the head while they walked. “She’s probably trying to figure things out, just like you and I did after the Gifting.”

Jaxie huffed. “I was just curious. So…” She nudged Eris again with her shoulder. “How many skills do you have? I have four.”

“Same here,” Alex said.

Both girls turned to Eris. She swallowed. “Uhh, four.”

“Is that including Crafter’s Cunning and Crafting Points?” Jaxie cocked her head.

“You remember?”

Alex scoffed. “Do we remember? You never shut up about it.”

“Crafting Points have a distinct maximum per item,” Jaxie began quoting, “-which limits the potential strength of an individual creation. However, since all Crafting Points are replenished for each craft instead of a time-based regeneration like Mana, it makes Crafting Points invaluable for production of a large quantity of effective items.”

“Oh.” Eris coughed. “Sorry. Uh, anyway… yeah. Those two and then two more. One that lets me spend CP on increasing a craft’s Durability and then another that gives a passive bonus to Quality for all my crafts.”

“Cool.” Jaxie smiled. “That means we’ll have an upper hand when we get to Marrix.”

“Because Ell will make us stuff for free while all the other students have to pay for their gear?”

“Hey-” Jaxie turned and wagged a finger playfully. “I still intend to pay her, dumbass, at least for the cost of the materials.”

“And the rest?” Alex raised an eyebrow, humour glinting in her brown eyes.

“Girlfriend discount?” Jaxie grinned and slid her hand into Eris’s. That made Eris’s heart leap up into her throat.

Eris remembered when Jaxie’s palm was rough and covered with callouses from training. That had vanished after her Gifting and hadn’t returned. Now her fingers, though strong enough to wield her weapons with devastating efficiency, were soft and smooth. Eris imagined that her own hands felt different. If anything, hers had been more rugged than Jaxie’s were pre-Gifting. Not only were the callouses stiff and unyielding, the numerous scars from mishaps with knives, saws, sharp wires, glass and more had made Eris’s skin the texture of eighty-grit sandpaper. That was probably all gone now- replaced with sweat and clammy-ness.

Eris swallowed deeply. Why was Jaxie holding her hand like this? Girlfriend discount? What about last night? Did this mean things weren’t completely screwed up?

Jaxie gave a small squeeze before letting go and wrapping her arm over Eris’s shoulders. Eris panicked.

What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Was Jaxie just being her normal, friendly self, or did this mean something different because of what happened? Should Eris be worried or excited? Why was her chest getting warm?

Fuck!

When the three arrived at the abandoned distillery that had effectively become their home-away-from-home, they split off into their normal arrangement- Jaxie and Alex exercising or practicing combat drills with various weapons in what used to be vineyards, while Eris stood in the ramshackle laboratory she built on the inside. The planks of wine barrels had been straightened and repurposed to make workbenches, the stomping vats were filled with clay and a homemade bellows to make a forge, and even the glass bottles had been melted down to make lenses of varying magnification for projects that required detailed work. The simple fact that this place had been the communal dump of Kelshiir for decades meant there was no shortage of material for Eris to use- even if all of it was literal trash.

Eris dropped her duffel bag onto one of the tables and walked over to a series of wooden shelves filled to overflowing with assorted materials. She grabbed several pieces of leather. It was mostly the outside scraps left over after carving out the shapes she needed in the past, but there was still more than enough left over to work with. After all, she needed new shoes. Walking on cobblestones for twenty minutes in a pair of socks hadn’t exactly been comfortable.

Eris barely managed to head over towards her bookshelf filled with notes before she heard the door to the distillery close. She turned to see both Jaxie and Alex standing there. Jaxie had her arms crossed like she was getting pissed off, yet her face held the same curious grin as Alex’s.

“Not that we’re in private,” the Berserker began, “Care to tell us why you lied about your class?”

“W-what?” Eris stuttered. Alex calmly adjusted her sundress.

“You’re a terrible liar, you know that? You get all flustered and avoid eye contact.”

“I- uhh, I don’t…”

Jaxie took a step back and crossed her arms. “Cut the shit. You’ve been dodgy at best. We’re not idiots. If you really did get an Artisan like you wanted, you would be running down the street cheering. But here you are, barely holding it together. Your hands haven’t stopped shaking once.”

Eris looked down at her hands and sure enough, they were trembling. She could only assume they had been doing that ever since she left the Gifting chamber and was too lost in thought to notice. Alex huffed.

“We also know that you wouldn’t act like this if you got a specialist crafter, either. You knew the possibility existed and were prepared for it, even if you didn’t like it. This isn’t that. Whatever class you got caught you completely by surprise.”

Eris couldn’t look them in the eyes. Instead, her gaze was firmly affixed to her socks. So much for trying to keep this a secret from those two. She hadn’t even made it a half hour.

“Yeah,” Eris mumbled, “it did.”

To her surprise, both girls stepped forward and pulled Eris into a three-way hug that was so tight Eris swore she could hear one of her ribs pop. She wasn’t sure what to do, so her hands hung awkwardly by her side. Jaxie craned her head down and nuzzled it in the crook of Eris’s neck.

“It’s okay. You can be in our party. We’ll make sure you’re safe while you figure out how to fight like us.”

Wait, what? In their party? Learn how to fight?

“What are you talking about?”

Jaxie and Alex both pulled back from the hug, eyes filled with concern and a fresh dose of confusion.

“You… you got a combat class, right?” Alex’s brow furrowed. “That’s why you’re all freaked out, because you’re gonna have to go fight.”

“Huh? No, not at all. I got a crafting class.”

Their confusion was painted so thick on their face Eris could practically see it dripping onto the floor. Jaxie was the one who spoke next. “Then why the fuck are you being so weird? Which one did you get?”

Eris wrung her hands together. “Uhh, I’m an Artificer.”

Both girls stared blankly. They looked at each other, shook their heads, then looked back at the redhead. Jaxie gave a questioning shrug. “Are we supposed to know what that is?”

Well, that was one way to remove the tension of the reveal.