When A Mage Revolts

After discussing about the forbidden spells with Frank, Benjamin had dinner and went back to his room.

Originally he had planned to meditate to gather more water elemental energy, but when he sat on his bed, he couldn’t help but frown like he had forgotten something important.

….what did he forget?

After frowning for a good while, Benjamin suddenly had an epiphany.

Previously in the Underground Remains, he had found a dead adventurer in one of the hidden rooms. He had taken two old and broken books from that corpse and kept it in his bag as some sort of reward. He’d forgotten all about them until now. Since he was free, he decided to take them out for inspection.

The dead explorer must’ve been a mage. Although he seemed to be from a distant past, the books were still printed in an understandable language. Benjamin hoped that the wisdom of these ancient texts might lend him some help or inspiration.

The two books looked quite broken, even their titles were obscure. After flipping a few pages, Benjamin felt like this was the recipe for some concoction.

Apparently by mixing some monster parts into a dye, then by using some plant vines one would make an organic fabric which could in turn be knitted into a cloth. When the cloth was mixed with the dye using some special technique, it would enhance the strength of its wearer.

Upon reading this, Benjamin couldn’t help but frown.

Isn’t this…..isn’t this a recipe for a Magical Instrument?

Once upon a team, Magical Instruments were commonly used by mages. From crystal balls, to staffs, magic robes and even specialized earrings, these items provided a massive advantage for their wielders. However, after the war, the art of creating these items were either lost to history or stolen by the church.

In the modern day, Magical Instruments practically became synonymous with the priests, and became known as "Divine Instruments".

Whereas for the mages, Magical Instruments were not as popular as Magic Potions. Even in nations where magic was an open practise, Magical Instruments didn’t receive much attention, and were at risk of extinction.

To find a Magical Instrument in Ferelden was tougher than going to heaven!

Benjamin had never expected to find such a gem in the corpse of the explorer.

However, after giving it more thought, the art of Magical Instruments only started to fade in the last few centuries. To find the recipe and blueprints for it in the corpse of an ancient mage in the ancient Underground Remains shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone.

Rather than be surprised, Benjamin was more than happy! Previously while he was in Helius, he had always lusted after the idea of owning his own Magical Instrument one day. He’d always been jealous of the rich priests who didn’t wield any abilities, but were still formidable opponents simply due to their Magical Instruments.

Not to mention, if Benjamin was hellbent on leaving a mark, how could he disregard good equipment?

Because of all that, Benjamin started to look at the two books in a different light.

This was the true major reward of his adventure!

In a moment of excitement, Benjamin started to read the two books in detail.

Due to the books’ old age, many parts were obscured or completely illegible, that made the experience of reading it something like riding an emotional roller coaster. One moment Benjamin would find it leading to something interesting, and the next it’d just be a blank page. After some filtering, Benjamin narrowed it down to 20 useable blueprints.

20 blueprints that were still legible.

Amongst all the blueprints, most of them were related to knitted Magical Instruments such as capes, robes, clothes and even flags. They all had unique effects, some expanded focus, some increased its wearer’s elemental powers. It was just….stunning.

Benjamin couldn’t help but sigh in awe to be able to acquire these books. All those months of being a good person probably lead to karma delivering this to him.

If he makes everything on that list, not just Benjamin himself would benefit, heck, all of the mages would literally "level up" if they were to each get one of their own. If they can even automate the production process, they could even sell it or use it to attract new recruits!

For whatever the two books were worth, they were definitely a huge step forward strategically.

Of course, however, Benjamin didn’t dare to celebrate too soon. First he had to test the feasibility of the blueprints, if he can’t even find the materials/ingredients to begin with, then all this would still be useless.

So he started flipping through the books in search of an easier blueprint he could try out.

Until he stumbled upon the "Hurricane Cape". Despite its name, it looked more like a cloak than a cape. By wearing it, the owner’s wind elemental energies would become significantly stronger. Benjamin chose it cause it looked like the easiest compared to the rest.

Coincidentally, their warehouse nearby had a lot of materials that were prepped for the potion mages to brew their potions, and amongst all that was all the necessary pieces needed to make the Hurricane Cape.

Benjamin excitedly got up, and headed towards the warehouse.

"The skin of a wind wolf, blood of a long tailed ferret, Polygonatum leaves, and the feather of a dark crow….."

The ingredients and materials necessary to make a Magical Instrument was much more complicated and rare than the ones used for magic potions. As this was his first time doing this, Benjamin took extras for everything just in case he failed and needed to restart.

After giving it some thought, he even called up the lady boss from the tailor shop earlier for "technical assistance."

As he got everything in place, Benjamin took a deep breath and began the process of making the Hurricane Cape.

Using the Icebreaking Spell, he conjured a series of tools: ice scissors, ice needle, ice mortar, ice pestle.....compared to making a normal cape, the Hurricane Cape was at least a few times tougher. Luckily Benjamin could control these items telekinetically, and the lady boss was giving him advice on his side, else it might’ve taken forever to complete.

"Let me see…..first is to create the magic fuse, which would be the strings here."

Following the instructions and the layouts on the blueprints, Benjamin put the ingredients into the ice mortar and used the ice pestle to beat it all into a paste. Very soon, all beastly parts and the blood mixed with the plants were mixed into a dark green paste that emitted a pleasing aroma.

Upon seeing this, Benjamin quickly threw in the fur of some goatlike beast, and under the instruction of the lady boss, he made the fur into a brown fabric string.

"This should be it, that’s what it says on the blueprint," the lady boss nodded as she held onto the book,"don’t worry, this is very sturdy, no matter how bad you are at this, you can’t mess it up too much."

"..."

She sure didn’t hold any punches back with her words.

Then, Benjamin decided to just hand the stitching and sewing equipment to the lady boss so she may show off her skills by making more fabric.

As for Benjamin, he turned to focus on the main element of the Hurricane Cape - the complete skin of the wind wolf.