To Artifice as an Artificer (II)

[Leon]

15th of Ash, 124

The crisp morning air blew on his face. The smell of oil and metal wafted from behind the door. The familiar melody of the rhythmic banging of the hammer. The closer he got to the door, the warmer he got. He took out the piece of paper and checked the address. It’s not like he would get lost in the city. The city was his playground, although it’s more of a battlefield than a playground. Leon straightened shirt and coat before giving a light pounding on the door. The rhythmic banging stopped momentarily before resuming. Leon knocked again, this time a bit louder. The banging stopped for a longer period before resuming.

“Hello?” Leon shouted as he banged on the door.

A metal thud could be heard followed by cursing. Heavy stomping then the door swung open. “What do you want?” The man half-shouted. “Go away, I ain’t buying any of your shit and stopped bothering people.” The man tried to pull the door shut but Leon wedged his foot on the door.

“Yo, geezer. It’s me. Leon.” He announced.

The man pushed open the door and leaned in to get a good look at him. “I don’t know any-“

“My old man sent his regard.” Leon teased. “He said that you owe him the other half of the broken sword, from Ash of one-hundred ninth.”

The man pulled Leon inside the workshop and bolt the door shut. “Herr Wralux really said that?”

Leon let out a hearty laughter. “I already repaid the debt during my grandfather’s funeral.”

The man let go of Leon and slapped him on the head. “You could’ve made me drop dead of fright you brat.”

Leon massaged the area where the man slapped him, “Take a breather,” He paused and looked around the room, “Ah, is that why you ran off to the Capital? Because you’re scared that my old man’s gonna come looking for you?” he smirked. “Good call though. He’d be too old and would’ve gotten bored half-way on the journey here.”

The man shivered, “As if. Last time I saw him, he cut down a shadow beast single-handedly. That’s only like several seasons ago. Ask that friend of yours, Billy. He saw it too.”

Leon grabbed a nearby stool and sat down. “Come on, no one else would believe that a sixty something year old man could cut down a shadow beast in half, single-handedly.” His tone sarcastic.

The man pulled another stool and sat down. He grabbed a mug from the nearby table and chugged it.

“So, how have you been, Markus?”

“As you can see.”

“Sorry I cannot make it to Sven’s funeral”

“We also thought you were dead. That’s what Billy told us.”

“Leon Wralux’s supposed to be dead”

“So why are you here? Don’t tell me you’re feeling homesick and just wanted to catch up.” Markus furrowed his eyebrows. His tone was serious.

Leon leaned forward, “Always straight to the point,” He sighed and clicked his tongue, he took out a letter from the Guild. “For apprenticeship,” he continued as he shoved the letter to Markus.

Markus placed the mug down, read the letter, crumpled it and tossed it behind his back. “Franz.” He called out. “Franz!” he called out the second time, a bit louder than the first. “OI FRANZ! GET YOUR ASS IN HERE OR YOU’RE WIPING CLEAN THE WORKSHOP FROM TOP TO BOTTOM!” He shouted

Muffled thumping on the floorboards above them. “YEAH, I HEAR YOU, OLD MAN!” Franz shouted as he descended the stair. He looked up and locked eyes with Leon. “How…Leon?” he then turned to Markus. “LEON? MOTHERFUCKING LEON? THE SPAWN OF THAT DEMON OF AR-”

Leon picked up a gun barrel and hurled it at Franz, stopping him mid-sentence as Franz dodged it. “Shut up Franz,” Leon tapped his ears twice then pointed at the door.

Franz rushed down the steps and approached Leon. “It really is you, bastard. How could I forget that ugly mug of yours.” Franz reached out to touch Leon’s face but his hands were slapped away.

“I’m not a fucking ghost.”

“Prove it?” Franz sat cross-legged on the floor.

“What?”

“Prove that you’re not a ghost. Tell me something that only you would know”

“How will that prove anything? Even if I’m a ghost, my memory should still be intact or so the stories go.”

“Just tell me something that only both of us would know.”

Leon stood up then squatted on the floor beside Franz. “Yulia Wel-” He whispered just loud enough for Markus to caught wind of it.

Franz immediately covered Leon’s mouth. “Ah yes Leon, it really is you,” He chuckled nervously. “It really is him, old man.” He turned to look at Markus’s expression and caught him staring at him furiously. “W…wait, old man…… I never……” Franz chuckled nervously as he tried to back away from Markus. “We…..I…never…..” he stuttered.

“Just shut up Franz.” Leon said in an authoritative tone as he grabbed hold of Franz’s collar, pulled him back and stood between him and Markus. “You know he’s a coward thru and thru, right? He doesn’t have the balls to do anything.” Leon looked back at Franz then back at Markus. “He never got within an inch of her, I made sure of that.”

Markus glared at Franz before sitting back down, his fists uncurled.

“So,” Leon began, “What will it be, Herr Markus?” he asked, referencing to the letter from the Guild.

Markus studied for a moment before he opened his mouth to speak, “Northside, Little Lioren, tell that brat Leila, I sent you.”
Leon groaned in annoyance, “Why do I even bother?” he stood up and made his way to the door. “Hey geezer, let’s never met again.” He muttered under his breath loud enough for Markus to hear it.

Markus grunted, “I should’ve never answered the door at that time.”

Leon slammed the door and stood in front of the workshop. He took out a piece of cigarette and lit it, taking a long drag and exhaling slowly. “Good to see you still alive and kick’n geezer.” He muttered before hailing a carriage.

[Leon]

Leon stopped in front of the apartment’s steps. A group of children rushed past him apparent they were in a game of tag of some sorts. This place never changed. Even after the eclipse. He thought to himself as he strolled inside the apartment complex. Taking a right turn after the entrance, walked a few meters, then take a left turn and stopped in front of the sixth door. He knocked on the door rhythmically.

“Who’s there?” the little sliding bar on the door slid open and a pair of eye stared back.

“Welker. I want a meeting with Leila.” Leon answered as he showed the letter with the Guild’s seal. The sliding panel slid closed and a series of locks unlocking could be heard, the door was pulled open. Leon waited patiently until he was invited in.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” the voice called out from the dimly lit room.

Leon took out his revolver and aimed it at eye level on the door, “You know that from this distance there’s no use hiding behind the door.” He pulled the hammer on his revolver. The sound was deafening.

“Alright alright, just making sure it was the Welker we knew. Not some impersonator.” The door swung wide open and the man previously hiding behind the door came out with raised hands.

“Much temper, like old man. Much, much temper.” The goblin rattled on.

Leon scoffed and holstered his gun. “You’re still a chatterbox as usual, and you’re still as paranoid as ever.” He greeted the pair.
The goblin hopped of the stool and motioned Leon to follow him. They made their way through winding pathways and arrived at the underground casino on the apartment next door. The building that Leila had bought out.

“Madam, Welker here to see you. He got letter from Guild.” The goblin handed Leila the letter before disappearing back where he came from.

Leila opened the letter, read it thoroughly, occasionally glancing up at Leon. “Well, well, well.” She smacked her lips. “Even though it’s a letter of recommendation from the Guild, I won’t do it for free. Occupational hazard.”

“How much would the hazard fee be?” Leon asked.

Leila leaned back on the chair and seems to be in deep thought, “Two silvers for each meeting.”

“That’s highway robbery. Don’t you have a neighborhood discount?”

She scoffed and leaned forward “That’s my rate, Welker. Unless……” She paused. “Unless you come back to the neighborhood. We could’ve cleared out your old man’s shop, but out of respect for the dearly departed, we left it as is.”

“There’s not even that many costumers. Unless, you are stocking up for something.” Leon probed.

Leila laughed, “My, my, still as sharp as your old man. How about it, Welker?”

“Fine, two silvers for each meeting.” Leon replied. He knew that the discount wasn’t worth working under someone else. Besides, he just needed to learn enough from Leila to be able to start making his own golem. He didn’t need to go as far as being an expert in it. He had previously planned on looking for his former mentor in the military, but decided to cut ties, since he didn’t want that witch from Internal Affairs sniffing on the Jaeger Program. Although it had been several seasons already. Still, he didn’t want to risk it. Leon then took out two pieces of silver and placed It on the table. “So, shall we start, master?” he asked sarcastically.

Leila stood and motioned for him to follow her. She didn’t even take the two pieces of silver. She led him up the stairs and into another hallway. They stopped in front of the room at the end of the hallway, she fished out a key from her pocket and unlocked the door. Inside, the room was a stark contrast from the dimly lit hallway and the casino on the lower floors. With frosted glass windows with a clear view of the court below and the entrance to the apartment complex. The room was kept clean, with workbenches and tools lined up neatly on one side of the room and golem models lined up the other side of the room. Leila took of her coat and hanged it. She pushed the window slightly open letting in a breeze of cold air.

“So, when did you took your certification exam?” She asked, tying her hair up in a bun.

“Ash, two years ago. Haven’t been practicing though.” Leon replied as he settled down on the sofa.

“Been a while, then I’ll just go over…” Leila paused as she caught Leon staring in disbelief. “What? I’m still a certified Artificer. I also have a standard to keep and duty to fulfill.”

Leon chuckled, “I didn’t think of you as that kind of person.”

She sighed and sat down on the stool opposite of him. “So, shall we begin? I’m sure you still remember the concept of Artificing such as the two common archetype of wells used: the lure and shroud. The core and the body of the golem.” She stood up and made her way to a designated part of the workshop with the floors built from different material like the other floors in the room and it’s free of clutter. “It would be easier to show you.” She then took out her dragonshard foci which was in the form of a pen. “So, just to recap, there are three foundations of Artificing: The Circle of Minding, the Core and the body. Well, some include the overbody, but that’s debatable. That also depends on the purpose of Artificing that an Artificer wanted to achieve. As most golems do not even need an overbody to fulfill their intended function.” She sat cross-legged on the floor and motioned Leon to do the same. “So, imagine this, artificing is basically us humans and non-humans trying to play gods. Every aspect of artificing mirrored the biology aspect of the sentient species. Like the sentient races, every race had a similar body framework. Is there a sentient race with different body structure or framework?”

Leon shrugged, “The Aviale or the Rathari, I guess.”

“Well, they do have some additional features to them. But still, the same framework. Got a body, head, limbs. So just like that, the golem’s body provides structure and protection, much like our skeleton and muscular system support and enable movement. The outer layers, which could be made from materials like leather or metal, serve as a protective skin or armor. The design and choice of materials determine the golem’s strength, flexibility, and durability, just as our body is built for different physical tasks based on its muscular and skeletal configuration.” She paused and took a deep breath.

“Then the Aether well is a bit similar to our energy system. We need food and oxygen to be able to sustain our body’s function. Just like raw aether is used by a golem to energize and maintain its activities.” Leon added.

“That’s right.” Leila continued, “The Lure Well could be something similar to our lungs. Actively pulling oxygen or in the golem’s case energy, and then distributing the oxygen or energy to where it’s needed. But the lure well could only provide energy to parts that are connected to it or the core. The further apart the parts from the well or core, the more taxing it would be.”

“And the Circle of Minding is similar to our memory or brain, right?” Leon tapped his head twice.

“Both the Core and the Circle of Minding.” Leila corrected him.