Solo Ultimate Protection

[Eridanus]

Thirty Chimes Past the Thirteenth Bell

Thus the scholar was now sitting cross-legged in his tent, having removed his outer top again and stripped most of his clothes such that he was only clothed at the minimally decent manner should someone suddenly burst into his tent. The idea was simple, the shield he created was wrapped tightly around his physical body, not that of his clothes or equipment. Therefore, while he was in the creation phase of the shield it would be more prudent to have as little impediments as possible in the shield to minimize complications in tasking, so that he could get the shield to understand properly which source he directed to it with minimum fuss and misunderstandings. God help him should he accidentally task his shield against his own clothes.

The warhammer that he borrowed was a medium-sized weapon, able to be effectively wielded with two hands but also capable of pairing it with a reasonably sized shield. All in all, it was a decent, all-rounded weapon similar to the long sword. However, that was not the reason why Eridanus wanted it. There were two common categories of melee weaponry, that of damage via lacerations, piercings and punctures, and that of damage via impact, breaking and crushing. While he had hopefully tasked against the former, he now needed to do so for the latter. That was where the warhammer came in handy to serve as a source.

Bringing the business end of the hammer such that it coincided with the astral construct around his bare skin, Eridanus used one hand to slowly but softly tap the hammer into his skin. Through the djed barrier, he did so he prepared the appropriate imagery in his mind as he worked, breaking into a low song to help direct his thoughts.

"Feel the surface, feel the deed
fear the vengeance, fear and take heed!
Though small at force, do encompass it all.
I command it to be so:
With this demonstration, expand with assumption.
Accept all sizes, accept all magnitudes,
accept all forces, herein lies the purpose.
Understand the concept, and protect from without.
Protect your heart, and the being soon follows."

Like what he did with the sword, half-way through his incantation the shield had begun to shimmer, accepting the source when his weavings provided enough information to define his tasking attempt. With this working, he would be able to encompass the entire category of trauma-causing weapons, ranging from hammers to blunt lances, or even to hybrids such as massive axes due to the combination of this tasking and that against bladed edges. In fact, if his tasking was successful enough, he could even protect himself from blunt ranged weaponry such as bolas due to the combination of this tasking and that against ranged weaponry.

[Eridanus]

Fourteenth Bell

Taking a moment to recover from the weaving, the scholar took this time to awaken more fully from his reverie to place the warhammer just outside of his tent, with the handle poking in through the entrance. That was to allow the helpful warrior to retrieve his weapon back but without entering the tent to disturb the vantha. As he did so, he took the time to ponder the his next tasking and to structure the incantation and the associated mindworking carefully.

I must be ready for this. I have already done so earlier, and there is no need to fear now. Hesitation leads to doubt, doubt leads to mistakes. Move forward with certainty, and charge confidently without regret.

Clearing all doubts that he had, Eridanus attempted to return to a calmer state, seeking the void-like peace that he sorely needed for the next step of this operation. It was important now that he did not suddenly bail out, for it would be detrimental to his health should something happen. Such as in the midst of expelling res, he happened to reverse the flow and absorb it in mid-materialization. Or perhaps, absorbing res and attempting to absorb his shield while preparing the formation of his res.

It was a delicate operation, to say the least. Such were the dangers of working two opposing disciplines at tandem. Especially to one as inexperienced as himself in both disciplines, which was why he made sure to keep a wide berth of time between the two so that he would not confuse himself. Using the two in a close span of time to each other is suicidal except to the most experienced of opposite-discipline-wielding magi.

The scholar brought his attention to the turbulent djed within his soul. Calming the maelstrom of uncertainty within him, he reached a figurative hand into the pool, pushing it out gradually and systematically. Without allowing his mind for error despite a niggling sense that the djed should remain where it was instead of pushing it out like he was doing, the calm state he eased himself into helped in providing the crystal clear, steel-like focus that assisted him in doing so.

Eridanus began materializing his djed into res, finally stopping with relief when there was a reasonably, pebble-sized amount hovering jaggedly before him. Eying it warily, he directed the ugly shape of the ethereal, glowing substance to his body, whispering words of encouragement to it (in a perverted thinking that he was somehow coercing the res when it was actually him who was solely responsible for its behavior).

When it reached the part where it hit the djed barrier, a fraction of it slip by the shield, eliciting a grin of delight from the mage. The exception programmed into his earlier tasking against res had succeeded!

Glaring at the res carefully, he began to mentally grasp the outer ends of the res, simultaneously reaching for the djed threads that formulated the astral construct wrapped around him. As he commanded the res to begin burning, he frantically began his weaving so as to incorporate this rapidly dying source.

"Flames of nature, flames of men:
hear me out as I seek my case.
Discard thy origins, though include them both,
when the interview begins in earnest
and in proper.
Beings of passion, beings of emotions,
beings of anger, beings of conviction.
Ivak's manifestations, its trace divine,
yet belonging to all, from the original to the created.
Thus,
shield against temptation, shield against wavering.
Guard from the heat of all three origins.
Sturdiness in fire, and so chaos is reigned;
Order is maintained in the test of the flames."

There was much uncertainty of his ability to deny flames of divine origin, but it could not hurt to try. Therefore he defined and categorized fire into three types; of natural origin, of magical origin and of divine origin. By using his own fire, a combination of natural and magical - in terms of fully combusted fire and those still mixed with res - it served as the basis for him to triangulate the third, and with this it should seal the dangers of searing heat away from his mortal flesh.

[Eridanus]

Thirty Chimes Past the Fourteenth Bell

The mystic art of elemental crafting that wizards call "Reimancy" was more than just the ability to control fire. Due to the scholar's ineptitude with this particular magical discipline, he could only control one of the basic four elements. Yet, he understood the dangers of the rest. While it may be foolhardy to isolate his body from air and water - since unlike nuits he required both to continue existing within his mortal shell - he required no sustenance from earth. Thus, his next tasking would be to defend himself from the earth element of reimancy.

Grasping a handful of soil from the ground, he let is fall through his fingers, observing the grains of dirt as it fell back to where they belonged. Like water, the earth had so many faces, and so many forms. When unified they presented a tough solid face, but when interacting with water they became congealed and mucky. When dry they are brittle and fall apart easily as soft particles.

Taking the soil within his palm again this time consisting of a few small pebbles as well, he pressed it onto his skin, but actually phasing them into the shield that was hovering mere millimeters away from his body. The scholar connected his mind with the astral barrier shimmering above his skin, opening his mind and that of the shield to accept the dirt as the base source for his next tasking. There was a soft blue glow at the space where the soil and his shield intersected, and the soil began to disappear from his palm as the arcane ward absorbed and assimilated the material into its complex djed tapestry.

"From the bosom of Semele,
thou which acts as the warmth of Kihala;
of which one is present everywhere,
present universally but forgotten universally.
I hereby remember thee and thy many faces,
whether in state or in origin,
and it is with regret I beckon away from my abode.
Turn away and never come before me,
for my shut doors are for all of thy faces."

The mage's musical form of casting magic finished at the last note as the last of the soil disappeared into his shield. Like what he did with that of fire, he defended his barrier against the many possible origins of soil, whether it be created artificially through magic, or existing naturally, or if possible - created through divine magic. However, there was an additional parameter this time, which was that of tasking against the various forms of soil, whether it be dry and soft or solid and hard. His tasking was two-fold in that it also protected him against the more solid form of earth - that of stone and its variations.

The vantha brooded as he clasped his hands together, his eyes searching the contents of his tent as he considered any other effects that he could protect himself with.