The morning haze drifted across Eastwell's northern edge, where a modest stone wall now marked the boundary of Felix Mavis's land. Construction had begun just days earlier, but the builders worked with a quiet determination, supervised directly by Taskmaster Roddak and his guild members. Stone by stone, the sanctuary rose—but Felix's focus had shifted elsewhere.
In a quiet chamber on the edge of the estate, set temporarily with formation plates for spiritual insulation, Felix worked.
He didn't pace or mutter. Instead, he sat on a worn mat, legs folded, talisman paper spread out before him like a scholar before battle. Behind him, a small, enclosed habitat had been constructed—no taller than a shed. Inside it, a large, non-aggressive beast sat motionless.
The Duskshell, a creature of the Soul Awakening Realm, early stage. Its shell resembled slate and onyx—layered, mineralized, and covered in subtle cracks that pulsed with faint silver light. The beast made no sound. It simply breathed, each inhale and exhale subtly pulling in ambient spiritual energy.
It had been purchased through a group of mercenaries that had captured it alive while protecting a caravan. They didn't understand what they had. Felix did. Or at least, he thought he might.
The talisman creation process was built on a fixed model. Craft, inscribe, bind energy, and seal. Upon use, the energy discharged violently—burning the inscriptions to ash. No artisan had successfully created a multi-use talisman, at least not in any publicly documented form. Some legends existed, but they were vague and ancient.
Felix aimed to change that.
The Duskshell's unique trait had captivated him since he first examined its report: upon receiving damage, it absorbs nearby energy and regenerates the damaged portion of its shell. Not rapidly, not instantly, but steadily—and more than that, efficiently.
What if that same principle could be applied to a talisman?
A regenerative talisman—one that drew from the surrounding spiritual energy to slowly repair itself after use.
That was the vision.
Felix sat quietly, fingers lightly resting on a test sheet. His perception had advanced, thanks to his continued focus on the Breath of the Mystic Vessel. That method had not only given him resilience and perception—it had revealed something deeper: a function within his spiritual core he had come to call the Essence Condenser.
It acted as a sort of pressure chamber, compressing energy into denser forms without destabilization. That alone had let him push the boundaries of talisman layering—adding dual effects, longer activation windows, and enhanced control.
But none of that would matter if the talisman still turned to ash after one use.
He dipped his brush into a new mixture of ink—infused lightly with Duskshell beast core powder. Beside him, three dormant Duskshell-related beast cores lay encased in bronze formations to prevent their energy from leaking. These had been retrieved from dead variants, also through mercenary trade.
Using a thin brush, he began writing. The process wasn't hasty. Every stroke was deliberate. The formation was layered with segments for energy absorption, containment, and a spiritual 'memory' loop designed to hold the talisman's structure.
Hours passed.
The first version failed.
The second emitted a spark of promise—an afterglow that lingered for almost a second after activation. Then it tore itself apart.
Felix didn't scowl or frown. He inhaled slowly and adjusted the array. He didn't want immediate success. What he wanted was stability—an array that didn't decay entirely after use. Even the smallest survival of the formation would be a miracle.
The third version survived half a second longer.
It wasn't much.
But it didn't fully burn away.
That was new.
Outside, Rin visited with supplies—her steps light but concerned. She didn't interrupt when she saw Felix working, just set the basket of dry fruit and prepared food near the door.
Inside, Felix continued. His body moved with the steadiness of someone deep in spiritual alignment. The Essence Condenser within his core helped him refine small pools of spiritual energy for injection—not bursts, but careful infusions. He channeled that into each talisman with surgical intent.
He called it: Adaptive Shell Layer, Research no. 1.
The structure was layered like a spiritual echo. Upon use, the effect triggered, but a secondary seal, hidden beneath the surface, attempted to draw in ambient spiritual energy and restore the burnt layer.
The formation succeeded—in a partial way.
It survived.
A talisman that, after activation, still had visible inscriptions intact, albeit faded.
Felix ran his fingers across the paper. No warmth. No burning.
He placed the talisman on a new spiritual detection plate.
It pulsed. Weakly.
Still alive.
Still functioning.
It couldn't be reused—not yet. But it had not been destroyed.
That night, Felix sat alone beneath a half-constructed roof of his future workshop. The stars blinked gently above him. He sipped tea from a simple clay cup, hands covered in dust and ink.
The Duskshell slept in its enclosure. Peaceful. The energy in the area felt faintly thinner—drawn toward the beast in a slow trickle.
He opened a new journal.
Observation:
Duskshell regenerative mechanism is slow but sustainable. Energy is pulled from environment through micro-resonance.Talismans with similar design may require ambient-rich zones to remain functional post-activation.
First Research Result:
Activation succeeded. Partial structural preservation achieved. Array did not decay fully.This confirms viability of multi-use conceptual framework.
Next Goals:
Develop storage layering to preserve structural integrity.Build a dual-absorption seal with Essence Condenser methodology.Ensure talisman doesn't weaken spiritual field around it dangerously.Attempt second-use test.
He closed the journal.
There was no joy in his expression, only focus.
No one had told him to try this. No sect had ordered it. No master had guided him.
But somewhere deep within, Felix knew: this could become his legacy.
Not merely powerful talismans and inscriptions. But a breakthrough—a new chapter in talisman crafting. A path no one else dared walk.
He breathed deeply.
There would be months of failure ahead.
He welcomed it.